Good morning, I'm glad you've joined us for another Sunday School Hour with Scotty and his teaching on reciprocal living. Real quick, we have one birthday this week, it's Dwayne, Dwayne Jacob's birthday is this week, so wish him a happy birthday. And then I wanted to give you two announcements. One is we're going to have a picnic on the grounds on October 25th. So I need you to bring everything your family will need. Drinks, food, whatever it is that your family will enjoy. And because it's a picnic, don't, don't, please don't plan on putting a bunch of stuff in the refrigerator or cooking stuff here. That's why I called it a picnic. So you bring it in a basket or bring it in a cooler and just break it out. And if you want to share it with others, you can. And then secondly, we're gonna restart our in-person Sunday school November 1st, Lord willing. Now we're going to continue with this study on reciprocal living and we'll just keep posting it. So if you've been watching from home and you hear that we're meeting in person, don't panic. Keep looking for it on Facebook, Sermon Audio, or YouTube. Each week, we'll have it posted there. I've been blessed by it. I know you've been blessed. That's why you're watching again today, and we don't want that to end. So I just wanted to let you know that we are restarting in-person Sunday School, but we will continue this Reciprocal Living, at least until the end of this Reciprocal Living series, and then we'll sort of reassess and see where we're at. So let me turn it over to Scotty, if you'd lead us in our lesson. Thank you, Pastor. I started to say, good to see everybody. Good to see everybody. And this is study of reciprocal living, which is the one another commands. and called reciprocal living because of the reciprocal pronouns, each other and one another. There are a number of commands in the New Testament that talk about us loving one another, caring for one another, bearing one another's burdens and serving one another. And the handout looks like this. And we would really like for you to call the office if you're not getting the handout because we think it really helps if you are able to follow along because there's a lot of written material that will help you and enhance your learning experience and receptivity of the subject. We are going to talk about this morning Do not provoke one another. Now, I'm not a big negative person, so it's not really a favorite thing to talk about negatives, but to me it's positive, because if we talk about what we're not supposed to do, and we don't do it, that's a real positive. And I think that learning ahead of time what errors are and what errors were made in the New Testament really helps us to live a more godly life and a more Christ-like life. We're going to talk about some negative situations and we're going to talk about a difficult passage as well. But so this will be a challenge in a good way to learn from the mistakes of others, which is my favorite way to learn, not from my own mistakes, but from the mistakes of others. So let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for the privilege of really talking about your Word. We pray that we would all learn from it. I know I've learned this week. And Lord, I pray that you would bring us to the point where we wouldn't even consider challenging one another or provoking one another. We pray, Father, that you would bless this time that we have together. Be with everyone who is listening. Pray that your Holy Spirit would help them to gain something from the reading and teaching from your Word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So the outline is about what it has been normally. There's an introduction with some questions, command explained. I put in a context to help us with the context from Galatians 5 and a definition, some examples. distinction to help us with the word used in two different places, and then principles for us to apply, and then why it's important. I think that's always good to know what the ramifications are of not doing what Paul asked us to do and these commands. So the first question is on your handout is, what is the most contentious attitude in the church? What a question. Well, there is a lot of, um, And certainly the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil, but that's not it. And let's read Romans 12, 3, you see that verse listed. For I say, through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." So this verse tells us that we are not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to, which is a real pitfall in life. pride. I know some of you got it. I didn't hear you, but I know some of you got it. And what's the result of having this attitude of pride? Well, it's fertile soil for strife and conflict to grow and dissension, and disharmony, and all types of bad things that happen, arguments, disagreements, disunity, disharmony. Within the Christian fellowship, there are very, very few things that have as devastating effect as pride. Wasn't this the sin of Satan? I will be like the most high God. And I know that everyone knows this, but I always like to call attention to it when I talk about pride is that pride is spelled P-R-I-D-E. I-D-E, and it's the way we treat it. I, I, I, I. So when you hear that, sometimes when I do writing, I'm careful not to begin every sentence with I, so I don't give the effect that I'm prideful. But in Romans 12.3, Paul told the believers, do not, that's not, think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. Now he does not mean there that we should demean ourselves or degrade ourselves or downgrade ourselves. He does mean that we should examine ourselves and our abilities and determine how best God wants us to contribute to the life and to the work and to the ministry of the church and the body of Christ. And do that with contentment and gratefulness for the gifts that God has given them. Now, for some people it's about what they want. not what they have. And you know, you know, human nature, you know, if you have children on, on playground and you say, you cannot go past this edge of the grass, the sidewalk, their toes are on the sidewalk, right? Because that's human nature to test. But God has given us gifts and abilities and talents that he wants us to use. But so often, well, we want to do the other things and God wants us to do what he has tasked us to do. But when believers begin to overestimate themselves and try to do something they are not, the body of Christ experiences problems and difficulties. And it's from this kind of, and it is, high-mindedness and hardiness to say you know more than God what you should be doing. So that causes strife and conflict grows out of that. Now, one of the, I found some wonderful quotes for this. The quote that I found, a man named Moses Nomenandes, and I'm sure I butchered the person's name and I don't know who it is, but I like to quote, haughtiness toward men is rebellion toward God. And I read that and I thought, okay, how is my haughtiness, arrogance, and all of those high-mindedness, how is that rebelling against God if I treat someone else like that? And that took me a little while to figure out. I know you're sharper than this, so you'll figure it out right away. But what I believe it means is when I am haughty or prideful towards someone else, usually I'm judging them or I'm degrading them in some way to lift myself up. I have no right to do that. And that's rebellion against God, I think, because you're saying, God, you don't know. I know more about this person than you do. And I think that is wrong. And I like the quote a lot. Took me a few minutes to get it. But I think that's a very good quote. And there are many, many areas in which we rebel against God. And that's one we don't often think about. Also, I want to give an example. that kind of illustrates this high-mindedness or haughtiness in the flesh in a very stark example. I had an opportunity when I was a number of years ago, I was stationed in the military at McClellan and we had an old aircraft that was always, we had a number of aircraft that were always in need of repair. One had a special need and it was actually a perk for me because they didn't really need me. to fly this down to San Antonio from Sacramento. And they said, hey, Scotty, jump on this plane and go with them down to San Antonio and help out. So I flew down to San Antonio. I got down there and we got there in the middle of the afternoon. So we had all afternoon and up till the next day when we were going to take off and come back in another airplane. So I decided, well, what do I want to do on a Wednesday night? I said, ah, I'll go to church. I know we're downtown, staying in a hotel, not on base. So I don't have to worry about transportation. I can walk to this church and I would go hear the speaker. And I tried to research who that speaker was. And I looked and I can't find it. But I thought it was Wilbur Smith or somebody like that. And so I went to I went to this church and they were meeting in a chapel, which is bigger than this church, and they were having a business meeting. I said, well, you know, I really felt like I should come and I'll just learn from the people having a business meeting and see how they do things. And so I listened and they started out with prayer and they talked about the different projects they were working. There was a feedback to the congregation. Of course, I couldn't vote. or participate in any way, I could just listen and observe. And I thought, I'm okay with that. I'd rather do that than what the other guys on the crew were doing. So I decided I'm listening there and it got down to the last item. And it had a perfectly serene business meeting and everyone was in unity and agreement. But this last issue apparently was more contentious. Now, I can't even remember what that issue is or was. It was a number of years ago, 40-something years ago. But what I do remember clearly is the guy behind me. Now, I didn't sit on the back row. I sat near the back where people were sitting. And there was a man behind me, and I heard this man get up and kind of growl. And I thought, uh-oh. And he said, I have something to say about this. And I thought, this is not going to be good. And he began to say, characterize this motion and this activity the church was going to rule on as godless, hateful, ill-advised, and horrible language that really was an attack on the leadership and the church itself and their ministry. And he characterized it from the pit of hell and all of those kinds of words and images. And he grasped, you know, the thing I'm sitting on and I started to edge over and move over, you know, because he was really wound up. The longer he talked, the more angry he got. You know, he gripped the back of that pew that I'm sitting on and I thought, is this guy going to hit me or something, you know, make a point and hit me in the head? So now I'm making light of this, but it was horrible. And finally, he said the last thing, if this church votes on this and accepts it, I will never darken the door of this church again that loudly. And I thought, oh my, I hope he's finished. And I wondered if people might just vote on it so he would leave. I don't know. I'm sorry, I'm making humor there, but it was radical. It was uncalled for and it was outrageous and it was a challenge and an affront and it was provocative. And the speaker, I don't know how he did it. He said, well, thank you, Mr. so-and-so for your input. We will take that under consideration." And then they voted and accepted it, and he left. And I don't know what happened, but I wonder if the Lord just let me see that as an example of how we should not be acting. Obviously, this man could have said, I really disagree with this, and here's why. I think that involvement in this type of activity is not consistent with our mission, and maybe we should prayerfully consider that. Would you consider tabling it for 30 days while we prayed about it? Or some other point out areas that maybe it was a weak thing, instead of anger and bitterness and actually hatred, expressed a lot of So that is what we are not to do. And that's high-minded and that's haughty. And he challenged the leadership directly instead of asking questions and perhaps calling out issues. So what is the command here? The command, well, I mean, the basis of the foundation for this attitude is overestimating yourself. It's pride. It's high-minded and haughtiness. Self-glorification is huge. Pride loves to show how much we love ourselves and our breasts swell out and we're so proud of ourselves. And that's not right, okay? That's self-love. Getting attention. Galatians 5.25 and 26. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory. provoking one another, envying one another, and that vainglory is self-conceitedness, seeking our own glory instead of God's. What's the context here? Well, the error at the Church of Galatia was, and you see what was going on, false teaching and law and legalism. There was conflict and strife because there were false brethren and teachers who were trying to make believers be circumcised because that's what the Jews did. And they wanted them to keep the law of Moses externally. Paul found this was absolutely outrageous and certainly against all the fundamental and principles of grace. And he knew these people that were doing this were only interested in making a fair show in the flesh, quotes, fair show in the flesh, by getting people to submit to their teaching. And he says so in Galatians 6, 12 and 13, he says, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ." Now, what does that mean, suffer persecution for the cross of Christ? Those keeping the law weren't concerned about the cross of Christ. He's saying that Because if they adhered to grace, instead of forcing people to follow the law, that they would suffer persecution from the Judaizers and the Jews, and they would lose social status and Perhaps there would be financial consequences if they said, you need to live by faith, don't worry about what the Jews teach. And they weren't interested in theology, they just wanted to escape possible persecution from the Jews and loss of status. Okay, in verse 13, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law. They don't keep the law, but they desire you to have circumcision or to be circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Again, they wanted them to be subject to the external rights so they could glory in having them as proselytes or ones that they had recruited and to keep good status with the Jews. Okay, Paul here pointed the finger to the people who were vainglorious, they were conceited, they were proud, and he warned other believers not to imitate them because their main intent was not losing favor with the Jews. Now, what's the definition? The definition that we have here, and it's in your handout, is provoking one another is challenging the work, reputation, position, belief, of a fellow believer by words or actions to gain recognition, self-importance, or attention. That's self-love, self-glorification. And this type of activity very often is used with false teaching, with heresy, with people who are trying to disrupt a fellowship. They provoke one another. And it also usually causes contention and strife and disharmony, and you'll see self-glory and pride come along with it. Strife is usually inherent. Some examples. Now, the first example, we have two negative examples, 2 Corinthians 10, 12 and 1 Corinthians 3, 4. Since the negative and the positive are the first part of a passage and the second part of the passage is 2 Corinthians 10, I want to do the 1 Corinthians 3, 3-4 first. This passage Paul tells the Corinthians, the poor Corinthians suffered a great deal. I often think they're most like the 21st century church, but I don't like to say that and that sounds harsh. I don't mean it to sound harsh, but we have a lot of trouble as well. And we can look to the Corinthians to find out things that they did that perhaps we are doing. And I'm not saying we are doing it in our church, but I'm talking about the church in America and the church at large. 1 Corinthians 3, 3-4, For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions? Are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye yet not carnal? And Paul was telling them that they were living according to their fallen flesh and the old nature, if you will, and they were not serving the Lord. And the cause of the problems in the church in Corinth was just more than the external influences. It was more than the world. It was the flesh. And that was internal, carnal nature. living by the flesh, the weakness of the flesh. The Corinthian believers weren't unsaved, but they were saved living carnally, according to the flesh. And they were not spiritual, they were not controlled by the Spirit. And all believers have the Spirit, but not all believers are controlled by the Spirit. He said they were infants in Christ. He goes on to talk about that they were doing milk instead of meat and so on and so forth. So they were not mature. They were carnal Christians. And let's look at 1 Corinthians 10 now. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 12 is the negative part of this. The whole passage from 13 on is Paul's response, which is a positive illustration of not provoking one another. So Paul says to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 10, 12 through 18, verse 12, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they..." Now, I want you to listen how many times themselves is mentioned here in verse 12. Okay, verse 12. "...with some that commend themselves," that's one, "...but they measuring themselves," two, "...by themselves," three, "...and comparing themselves," four, "...among themselves five times are not wise." Now, what do you think the focus of of those people were. Themselves, five times in one small verse, they mentioned themselves, themselves, themselves. I think Paul did that on purpose because he was a very brilliant writer. This was a group of people who had come in to the church. And I'm going to read the second half, the positive part now. And then I want to share something that Warren Wiersbe said, to take a difficult to understand passage. This is a bit of a challenge, I think, to understand what's going on. And then we'll look at that and we'll figure out what Paul is saying. Verse 13, but we, that's Paul, will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you. For we are come as far as to you in preaching the gospel of Christ, not boasting of things without our measure, or outside our measure, that is, other men's labors, but having hope. when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, to preach the gospel in regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord, For not he that commendeth himself is approved, a person that commends himself is not approved, but whom the Lord commends." Okay. I thought that was a bit of a challenging passage. So I want to look to Warren Wiersbe. We've had several Bible studies. The men have done several Bible studies that he has authored. And he said, these false teachers were members of a mutual admiration society. They judged each other by, my words, they judged each other by their own standards. Well, how could you not come out ahead with that? And he goes on to say, consequently, they thought very highly of themselves. But, says Paul, Where were these great teachers when I risked my life to start the church in Corinth? That's a great question. Anybody can come along after the hard work is done, Wiersbe says, criticize the founder and take all the glory. Paul had stretched himself out to reach the people in Corinth in the gospel and he was hoping to get their assistance in taking the gospel on to the regions beyond. The Judaizers had come along and were boasting in a work that they had never accomplished. Paul's policy was to take the gospel where no one else had ever gone, while the Judaizers' policy was to invade another man's territory and take over the work he had done. Paul was wise enough to leave that matter to the commendations of the Lord alone. After all, it's the Lord who gives the commendations and gives a grace that we might serve Him. And He alone knows our hearts and motives. The apostle was willing to wait for God's well done and we should be willing to wait for that too. Now, he goes on and he makes three points about this chapter and I would like to just take a parenthetical moment and wait right here. So pause and then I want to make three points that he makes. Number one is don't be influenced by physical matters. The greatest servants of God are not always the most handsome and and the most strongest, humanly speaking. And Wiersbe says, how easily some Christians are awed by a Hollywood-style Christian worker who sweeps them off their feet with imposing looks or hypnotic oratory. You know, some people can speak so smoothly that it sounds so true, and it's not. This does not mean that we should deliberately strive for a careless appearance or practice mock humility. God has made each one of us differently and we must use what he's given us for his glory. Secondly, the most lasting work is done in the church when we use spiritual weapons and tools. It's one thing to build a crowd like some of the megachurches do, and it's something else to build a church. Theatrical programs, Madison Avenue promotional schemes, man-honoring displays that depend on the efforts of the flesh, these grab attention, but they will not receive the approval of God. We build through prayer and the Word of God, and this takes time, dedication, and sacrifice. Number three, don't judge before the time. Let God do the commending. Live for his approval and your life and your own personal ministry will be blessed. You may seem to be a failure in your eyes and in the eyes of others, but God may see you and your work as a great success for his glory and purposes. So I wanted to share those with you. and interrupt that because I love those principles. And those are consistent with not being swayed by people trying to provoke one another like the Judaizers did. So those are two negatives and one positive. Now we'll turn to the distinction on the top of page two of your handout. And there's a distinction between, Provoke is used in Galatians 5.25, as we saw, don't provoke one another, envying one another. And also it's used in Hebrews 10.24, as your handout indicates. And there we provoke one another to love and good work. So just to avoid all confusion and all issues, what's the difference? And how is it different? provoking one another in this prohibited or forbidden sense. And this is a command that says, don't do it. It's not like, hey, if you get around to it, don't do this. It's don't do it. Seriously, don't do it. Provoking one another like this needs to be distinguished from the command that we have to provoke one another to love and good works. And the two stand in 100, as we used to say in the military, 180 degrees out, direct opposites. And in Hebrews 10.24, we are to encourage one another to act swiftly and decisively in showing love to each other and in serving one another. And this provocation, that provocation in Hebrews 10, 24 stems from an unselfish interest in the welfare of others and the church as a whole, not from selfish interests and a destructive entrance. The glory, the only Interest is selfish from the provocation in Galatians 5, 25, and 26. And the word in 526, prokaleo, P-R-O-K-A-L-E-O, prokaleo. It means to challenge, and it's destructive, it's selfish motive, and it's also involved in self-glory. And the one in Hebrews 10.24 is Paroximos, and that means to stimulate or to incite. And here it's used positively in the construction for the unselfish motive of promoting people's holiness and them to love and good works. So we have some principles here, and I would like to share those and some examples. And the first one is, believers who provoke others are demonstrating discontent and ungratefulness to God, dishonoring Him. Now this is another one of those that I didn't think was self-evident, and I had to stop and say, now wait a minute. How is believers provoking others, demonstrating discontent and ungratefulness to God? Well, they're not taking the gifts that God has given them, and their assigned function in the body of Christ in doing that, they want to do something else. And that is ungrateful, discontent, and dishonoring to God. And it's a lack of appreciation for what you have in the body of Christ. Now, a quote that I found that Dwight L. Moody made, I love this quote. He said, God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves, because they are already full and there's no room for God to provide anything for them. And that's so sad, but true. And the example that I would like to share with you is a family friend told me about a woman who called them And this was not at this church, not anything around here. It was more than 20 years ago. And this woman was proudly proclaiming to this family friend that she had decided, she had decided to leave the church with her family. And as part of that, she proudly told the story of going to the pastor and telling him everything that was wrong with their church and why they were leaving. Now, essentially in the form of a rebuke, And for me, that was like scratching the blackboard with your fingernails. And I wanted to have access to that person to share with them biblical perspective, but I didn't think it would do any good. Here is a sad thing. And what was wonderful is the family friend said they spoke to this woman clearly about what, how wrong that was and how that was disobedient. And it certainly breaks this, don't provoke one another. And it was disrespectful to a Christian leader. And it was, we could spend like the rest of the time talking about what was wrong with that. Mostly it was dishonoring to God because these were not doctrinal truths. These were procedural things and times of Sunday school and that kind of thing. It was just horrible. It was just horrible. To speak to someone that was serving you humbly in God's stead, representing the Lord in leadership and rebuking that person, Satan probably was proud that day. It still bothers me, and it was more than 20 years ago. And I was almost sorry that family friend told me about it, because I never had the same opinion of that person. But it's not like we don't all sin, so it's important to recognize that we all do things that are wrong. But that is horrible. Number two, provoking others demonstrates a person is more concerned with his or her own reputation than he is for the reputation of the Lord Jesus Christ and that person's love for God. If you look back at the definition, provoking one another is challenging the work reputation, position, or belief of a fellow believer by words or actions to gain recognition, self-importance, or attention. So it's all of that self-glorification. And that becomes the focus, not the Lord Jesus Christ, not glorifying Him, not serving Him, not loving others, not loving the Lord. And it's rebellion. It's sinful. Number three, provoking one another is an evidence of not walking in the Spirit. Now, we know that provoking I'm sorry, we know that, I actually forgot a quote I wanted to give to you. For number two, where it talks about provoking others demonstrates a person is more concerned with their own reputation, a Jewish proverb said, If you harden your heart with pride, you soften your brain with it too. And I love that. If you harden your heart with pride, you soften your brain with pride too. So moving on to three now. Believers provoke one another. not walking in the Spirit. It's an evidence that they are not. Because the Spirit's ministry is to help us glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. So one that glorifies himself, they can't be walking in the Spirit because there's no room for anything to be filled. You're filled with yourself. So, number four, believers should discover and develop, let me read it from the handout. I've versed it a little different in the handout. Believers should not usurp, that means to grasp or seize, the roles and responsibilities of others. Instead, they should discover and develop and use their God-given talents to serve God in love to build up and serve other believers in the church. When we provoke one another, we glorify ourselves. We can't walk in the Spirit. The Spirit's ministry is to glorify Christ. And we need to do that by taking care of what God gave us to do, not what God gave other people to do. Isn't it funny? Oh, why is that person doing that? They should be doing this. Well, that's not my that's not my business. That's the Lord's business. OK, I wanted to share one last story of a Hawaii vacation. And what happened to Cindy and I, a number of years ago, we decided to go to the Big Island. We went, we enjoyed. On Sunday, we decided to go to this little church we saw that we thought was of a denomination that would be like-minded, and we went. And it was an interim pastor, and he spoke, and it was very interesting. His wife in the Sunday school played the piano, and they sang a little bit. Then the preaching service came and we stayed and the song service was good. We were staying for the whole service. Right after the offering, as I remember, a man came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and I thought, Uh-oh. I don't have a kid in the nursery. Nobody knows me here. There can't be a telephone call. And I'm going, what is it? What is it? So the guy says, come with me. And I thought, oh, man. Maybe tourists are supposed to give more money in the offering plate. So this is a true story. And I go in the back and outside, because the church is kind of open. So if you talk inside, it really echoes. And we stepped away from the church. And the guy starts talking about what's wrong with the interim pastor, who apparently had been a layman there. And I thought, I said, as soon as I could get a moment in edgewise, I said, sir, I'm a tourist, because I know people don't like tourists in Hawaii. I'm a tourist. I'm not a member of your church. I'm just visiting here to worship the Lord with you. trying to refocus his views, and he never heard a word. As soon as I stopped, he said, but you don't understand. I thought you might be a mature man, and da-da-da-da-da, and he starts going off. And I wanted to say, how would you know that I'm a mature Christian by the way I acted? I didn't put anything in the offering plate. Joke, sorry. And he kept on. And he talked about what this person wasn't doing. And I really didn't understand what his problem was with the guy. So finally, I said, sir, you don't understand. I'm just a visitor here. I'm not a member, so I don't have knowledge of the things of which you're speaking. And I would encourage you to go talk to this individual and help resolve it, because that's the biblical thing to do. But you don't understand. And he just went on. And I said, Finally, he stopped a second. He took a breath. I said, sir, I'm going to go back in and worship the Lord. I'm sorry for your issues. I would encourage you to speak to him directly and help resolve those things because it's important. All those issues that you mentioned are important and I'm sure you can resolve them. Thank you. Boom. I left. I didn't wait for any more. And I thought I made light of that again. But, you know, it was how horrible that is. How would a man Come into a service and drag another person out and start bad-mouthing somebody else that's out there serving the Lord right then! Right then! They should be back there on his knees praying for the guy when he was preaching. And I just, I couldn't believe that. And you may not like the way the person speaks or maybe their style of ministry or something, but none of the things that person mentioned to me were doctrinal issues, were inappropriate ministry, philosophy of ministry or anything like that at all. And so I thought, how, First of all, why would someone do that to someone they didn't know was a Christian? Because you might keep somebody from coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ from that. That person didn't know me. There's nothing outside of me that said, I'm a Christian. I think I was in a Hawaiian shirt. I looked like most everybody else in that church. Cindy the same way. And I was just horrified. And I wanted to say, what are you thinking, man? What are you doing? And perhaps he wasn't a Christian. I don't know. I often wondered what happened to that fellow, but if he kept engaging in behaviors like that, I would predict it would be a bad outcome. What's the importance of this? The importance of not provoking one another. Believers are to care for others in their church as they care for themselves. They need to love others in the church as much as they love themselves. Challenging and provoking disrupts the love and the fellowship and it creates disharmony and destroys unity and affects the vitality, the life of the church. Challenging and provoking does not reflect the love of God to those within the church those outside the church. It's not a positive witness for Christ. In fact, it could be used by Satan and the world to ridicule the Church and Christ and bring a reproach on the Lord's name. So remember, don't provoke one another. Do not do it. Don't fall into this trap. And may the Lord help us not to do this. Now, I don't have homework like don't provoke one another. That's a little hard, but I would like you to think about this and some of the issues and instances where you've seen this so that not to harbor a grudge, but to help you remember not to do it. I've seen enough to help me not to do it. And if you ever see me do it, you call me on it. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for helping us see your Word and what it means. And Lord, I pray that none of us in the listening of this video would ever be guilty of provoking one another, Father. that we would be envying one another, that we would be jealous of one another, and that we would be doing things that would glorify ourselves rather than glorifying you. I thank you for everyone that is listening. I pray your great blessing upon them. I pray for our church, that you would make us a mighty church, a church that loves one another. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.