See, the worst part is I'm the one that told them to do this last night. Yeah, so me and brother Tim are apparently rebels here. So, but look at John chapter six, John chapter six. And by the way, I'll mention this as well in the morning service. Maybe some of you saw it, maybe some of you didn't, but we got our pulpit, our custom made pulpit delivered. And it's custom because the Puerto Rican preacher can fit behind it. And it doesn't swallow me up, but it's big. It's really big. It's nice. I mean, the thing's got little places for electrical plugs to keep your iPad charged and maybe a spot for a secret. tool that may be used in case of necessity. You guys with me? All right. John chapter 6. Let's go to the Bible now. We're going to get in trouble. So John chapter 6. And it's just good to be in church. It really is. Brother Tony, this morning, we are all praying. And Brother Tony said, he said, I'm looking around this room. He goes, my circle sure has changed in a few years. And I thought that was really encouraging. Your circle ought to change the closer you get to Jesus. And I know what some of you are thinking, yeah, but one of them was a devil. Yeah. One of them was, just don't be Judas, all right? Look at John chapter 6 and verse number 61. I'm sorry, verse 60. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying, who can hear it? And this is all about the flesh and blood and the bread and the wine, the grape juice, and all that the Lord talked about leading up to that point. They're having a hard time swallowing that truth. Now, in the Bible, a few times the Lord commands someone to eat a roll, eat a scroll of the Word of God, if you will. It's a picture of that. And the commentary goes like this. It was in my mouth sweet as honey, but it was bitter in my belly. In other words, it's easy to sit and listen and go, yeah, that's right, yeah, that's right, yeah, that's right. And I'm not saying you shouldn't do that. You ought to amen that which is right. If it's biblically sound, your spirit, the spirit of God inside of you says, that's right. And every once in a while, expressing what's going on in the inside, letting it come out in a good way is a good thing. Having said that, it's a whole other matter to take what the Lord is saying and then do something with it. They're having a hard time with this. Look at verse 61, when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples, not the world, not the church down the road, the church that was meeting right there with him, and that's our goal today is to meet with him, amen, his disciples murmured at it. He said unto them, I like this question, does this offend you? Does this offend you? Let's go to Lord in prayer and ask for God's blessing on the Bible study this morning. Brother Joe, if you would do that for us, sir, please. Thank you for the chance to be here in church this morning, Lord. Thank you so much for everything you've done for us, Lord, from salvation to our daily lives and just everything that's coming up, Lord. It's an exciting time. Yes. And we're just grateful to be a part of it and that we would enjoy it and put our heads down and labor for you. And Lord, I pray you come back soon. Amen. Amen. Now, what you'll find in the Gospels, especially, is that oftentimes the Lord will give a truth. Sometimes He'll do it through the format of a parable, but not always. But He'll give a truth on something, and then later on in the chapter, or later on, He'll take the disciples aside, and He'll explain that truth. And kind of what's sad about this story here in this passage is that these people get so offended, they get so wrapped up in their prejudices and their own preconceived ideas of what the Lord can and cannot say and what the Lord can and cannot do, which is something, it's a temptation that we all have. The Lord would never say that. One time, I think I've preached on this, maybe even mentioned it recently, I mentioned that God is the one that sent a lying spirit, that God is the one that allowed people to be deceived. God is the one that sent that their way because they wanted a lie, therefore God gave them a lie. And I remember one Sunday in particular, I said that, something along those lines, and I saw the look on someone's face and it was kind of like this. Like, are you saying that my God did something wrong? I'm not saying God did anything wrong, but I'm reading the Bible as it is written, and that's what it says, is that God is the one that sent that. Now, later on, there's explanation of it, but when someone gets offended and they're not willing to listen to the Lord's explanation, I'll say it this way. In your life right now, the Lord is doing things. Some of those things bother you. You know when the explanation comes? It's not always gonna be down here. Sometimes the explanation's on that side. It's when you get up there at the judgment seat of Christ, the Lord's gonna go, hey, by the way, this really bothered you and this could have been a treasure for you. It could have been a great experience for you, but it's all burned up. Let me explain now what I was trying to do. At that point, it'll be too late to get the reward. Are you with me right now? But I want you to understand the Lord is going to do that. He's going to straighten everything out. He's going to make it all make sense. The problem they had is they had their own idea of what God could and could not say. Let me say it like this. When you are offended in your spirit, here's what usually happens. You start to murmur within, and eventually that murmuring will come out if it's left unchecked. Now look at Exodus. Go to the Old Testament. Look at Exodus chapter number 15. I mentioned this with some of the men that were meeting for prayer this morning, and here's what I've learned in ministry. I've learned this in business. I've even seen it in family. It's just the way it is in the human nature as a whole. Regardless of what platform you're dealing with people in, human nature is one that teaches this lesson. The people that complain the most usually contribute the least. Yeah. The people that gripe the most are the ones that will offer the least amount of help. And the reason I'm mentioning that is because in this passage, you know who's murmuring at the Lord? They're not the ones that are going to be there to take the flack later on. They're not the ones going to be boiling oil and put on a cross upside down. They're the ones that once the trouble came their way, they're gone. They're offended by the word. Look at Exodus chapter 15. What kind of Christian are you? Are you offended easily? Are you easily offended? Look at Exodus chapter number 15, look if you would at verse number 24. Now when the Lord, it's one thing for the preacher to ask, but if the Lord just sat up real close next to you this morning and said, hey, does that bother you? What do you think about that? That was my word. I know he's a braying donkey and he can get loud and snort and stomp his feet and run around up there, but ignore all that, just listen to what he's actually saying. Those are my words. Do you have a problem with my words? Can the Lord ask you that this morning? Look at Exodus chapter 15, look if you would at verse number 23. And when they came to Marah, that's a word that means bitter, those are bitter waters, they could not drink of the waters of Marah for they were bitter. Therefore, the name of it was called Marah." And the people, that's the Hebrew name for Mary in the New Testament, by the way, right? Isn't it interesting that the woman that the Lord would choose to beget his son on this earth, to carry his son as an infant, isn't it interesting that her name meant bitter? That's something. They're at the bitter waters, look at verse 24, and the people murmured against Moses saying, what shall we drink? You know what they could have asked? Lord, how are you going to do this? This is going to be great to watch. Lord, what great wonder will you perform? That's not what they ask. What are we going to drink? You know what I've learned about offenses? They're self-centered. When you are easily offended, it is a lack of spiritual maturity. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter number 3. When you are easily offended, it is a sign of a lack of spirit. I'll say it this way. It is a sign of spiritual infancy. And I want you to understand, I'm not even saying that as a derogatory thing. I think that when someone gets saved, they should struggle a little bit more with certain things from the Word of God versus someone that's been saved and in church for 20 years. My problem's not with this person. My problem's with this person. My problem's not with the one that just got saved last week. My problem's with the one that's been saved for 20 years and is still getting offended so easily. You've got to ask yourself, why are you still a spiritual infant? That's not God's fault. Those are choices. Let me say it like this. Being offended is a choice. You choose whether you are offended by the Word of God, you are offended by what God does, or you are encouraged by it. The Bible gives the illustration in Matthew 13 about the sower and the seed. And in some places, the seed goes on stony ground and nothing happens. In some places, it gets caught up in the tears and the weeds and nothing happens. In some places, it goes into good soil that's been turned over and fertilized and worked over and that soil like a good heart, is ready to receive the word of God. And when that seed gets planted there, it sprouts up into a beautiful tree bearing fruit. If you're not bearing fruit, it's not the seed that's the problem. It's the heart. And when you get offended easily, that's a sign of spiritual infancy. Look at 1 Corinthians 3 and look at verse number 1. And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto... What's the next word? Spiritual. I'm glad two people got that. Let's try that again. All right? Chapter 3, verse 1, and I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto All right, we're on the same page. But as unto what? Carnal. All right. And he's saying that even as unto babes in Christ, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. All right. So in other words, Paul's expectation for someone that just got saved is that they would be a spiritual infant. No problem there. The challenge comes in when you've been saved 10, 15, 20 years and you're still getting hung up on the same stuff. and you're still getting offended. Someone sat in my seat, I'm offended. Someone took my parking spot, I'm offended. Someone didn't shake my hand, I'm offended. The preacher told a joke that I didn't like, I'm offended. Just go on all the way down there and just keep going all the way down the list. You've got to ask yourself, why is that? According to the Word of God, a spiritually minded individual is thinking about other people. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 10. When you're thinking about other people, starting with the Lord as your priority. Let's say you're one of the disciples that hears the Lord talking about eating his flesh and drinking his blood. If you put the Lord as your priority, then what you don't do is you don't just walk away. You go to the Lord and go, Lord, I am struggling with this. I really and genuinely want to understand this because I know that even though I'm offended, you're right and I'm wrong. So help me out. That's the right approach to the Word of God. That's the right approach to the preaching of the Word of God. That's the right approach to your walk with Jesus. Most Christians today, when you hear sound preaching, look, I've said these before, and I don't say to make fun of people, but I will say, I want our boys to know it is absolute nonsense for them to think they could ever be a girl. You're not gonna be a girl if you're a boy. And if someone's like, oh, I don't know, that's kind of, you know, I just, then the problem is this, you are getting programmed by other things, not the Word of God. And when someone says something like I said on Wednesday night, if you draw a line with other Christians in your fellowship by how they eat their food, then there's something wrong with you. I got less amens there. You know why? Because you're not trans. You go, amen, get them preacher, get them crannies out of here. There's none here. It's easy to say amen. I start talking about something that hits a little closer to home, it's like, well, you know. Kind of want to cue the Seinfeld. Okay, let's just kind of just sit around and see what happens. No, guys, if it's biblical, let me ask you this. What does Paul do when he approaches Peter when Peter did what he did over food? I don't want to get seen around these people. They eat different. Did he not rebuke him? I don't think it's a secret. I try to eat well and all that kind of stuff. But I was in Mexico and let me just say this, we saw like zero salad, brother. It was carbohydrates and dairy fried for everything. I forget the names because they're not Puerto Rican names. I think that was one of them, right? There's different names in Merida for the Yucatan food that they have there. But you know what I did not do? After these people worked their tails off to host a big group from the United States who were going to go out and pass out tracts, you know what I did not do? Sorry, I'm not eating that. Now, if it was gonna make me sick and I couldn't get around it, I'd ask and we'd have a conversation. That's different. You understand that, right? I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the fact that you look down and you go, well, that's beneath me. Well, could you eat it for the sake of not being an offense? Well, I mean, I just don't. I'm not talking about something that'll make you sick. Look, I understand that. I've got people in my family that literally will throw up if they eat certain kinds of food. I'm not picking on you if that's your case. I'm talking about you going, you know, I don't eat that kind of food. I want a salad. They don't have salad. Well, we can make you a salad, but you're going to throw that up too. Because it's rinsed in water that you can't drink. So you know what I didn't do? I didn't go, well, that's not in my diet, so I'm not going to eat that. You know what I did? I thought to myself, it's a week. I'll come back. I'll run. I've got a wife that won't let me get away with anything. I can't eat any Cheetos in the house. Fritos come in and they go in the trash. So I know for sure I'll get back on track eventually. I wasn't going to offend my brothers and sisters in Christ. It's not worth it. You understand? So the way a Christian ought to be thinking is, I don't want to offend you. If you're concerned with not offending the Lord and not offending His people, you're usually going to be the last one in the room that gets offended at someone else. When you get the order reversed, you know what you're always doing? You're nitpicking everything. You're finding fault with everything. And you get offended with everything. Look at 1 Corinthians 10 and look if you would at, I looked up, I googled image offended and it was all female. I don't know why that was. Amen. All right, I'm going to get that one out of the way. 1 Corinthians 10, look if you would at verse number 31. Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offense. So, you know, the way that you ought to be living is, I don't want to offend you, Lord, and I don't want to offend your people. When people have to walk on eggshells around you, that's because you're a baby, spiritually speaking. And again, I'm gonna be straight up with you, I have no problem biblically with that when you're dealing with a newborn baby in Christ. You ought to be careful around them, you understand that? There may be some, I don't mean like off-color or wicked or even a dirty joke, but there may be some things that I would joke about with someone that are even biblical, that someone that's been in the Bible would understand a lot more, that I wouldn't say in front of someone that just got saved. They wouldn't understand it, they wouldn't get it. And furthermore, I would just be like, what in the world does that mean? I don't wanna plant a seed of doubt in their mind. Does this make sense, guys? So someone that's a babe in Christ that just got saved, fine. You've been coming to church for 20 years, and you're still getting offended at stuff? You need to check that at the door. Dear brother, dear sister, estimado hermano. By the way, I wrote something online, and the translation was completely off. Brother Elvin, if I say, eso salio chevere, what does that mean in English? It turned out nice, turned out great, right? Okay. It does not translate into, I'm going to get drunk. So someone's screenshot is something I wrote online, and they sent it to me like, this isn't right. I said, no, it is not. So just one more reason to not trust Facebook, okay? All right? But my point in bringing everything up that I'm bringing up, guys, is simply this. If you're a mature believer, you are concerned with offending the Lord and not offending his people. You're not constantly walking around going, don't offend me, don't offend me, don't offend me, don't offend me. You're pushing the button, you're pushing the button. You're saying, I don't like that. And I'm not saying you ought to go out of your way to be offensive. And I don't think a preacher should do that either. But I'm going to tell you right now, there's no way to preach that book without bothering someone. Some of you don't understand this. There are times when I'm putting a message out and go, Lord, can I just take that point out? You want to know why? Because I don't like that point. Because that point rubs me the wrong way. and I'm gonna get up and preach it, and they're gonna go, well, we know this about a human, I don't know, and I, I mean, like, that, that, but you know what, the Lord has, you know, the Lord has, I have to deal with the Lord, and go, Lord, it's not about me. See, the spiritually minded Christian is not always thinking about themselves. Let me tell you what the world does because of low, we have, we have the largest demographic of growth rate in suicide in America today is boys 10 to 14. Now, I'm gonna tell you what I believe about that. I believe if you tell men that they're obsolete, we don't need them, we don't need no man, and we don't, you know, I love when people, women, ladies, I'm sorry, but whenever women say that in the world, I'm like, okay, if you want equal opportunity, you want women CEOs, I wanna see more women posthole dickers. I wanna see more women landscapers. I want to see more women manhole sewage drainers. How come no one's fighting for that one? When you tell men that they're obsolete and we don't need them anymore, what do you think is going to happen? And then you tell girls, you can be a boss babe, and you can be blah, blah, blah. And the boys are looking across the aisle, they're going, well, it looks like they're more important than we are. No, you understand it never should be about who's more important. That's stupid. That's not biblical anyways. I'm not advocating that men are better than women. That's foolishness. That's not the moral of the story. But I will say this, when you do that with a whole generation of people, you're going to have some consequences. Now, what we've done in response is, okay, you're beautiful, you're wonderful, you're amazing, you can do anything. Let me say, here's the problem, though. If telling me I'm beautiful is supposed to make me feel better, then why are the rates continuing to go up? I'll tell you why, because at the end of the day, you're still making the object You. When you grow spiritually, you know how you grow? You grow by getting your eyes off of you. And getting your eyes on to the Lord Jesus Christ. A spiritual babe in Christ doesn't always know how to do that quite yet. And we should expect that and anticipate that. I'm thankful to be in a church where people get saved. and where they get discipled. And you know what? We ought to have grace with those that are younger believers. But I'll also tell you this, if you've been saved for 10, 15, 20 years, and you've been in a Bible-believing church, and it doesn't take much to offend you, you've got to check that out. You've got to see, well, what's in me that's causing it? I'll tell you what it is. It's you thinking about you. Ladies, can I help you out a little bit? I know some of you are really concerned about wearing the same outfit twice. No one's going to notice. You're worried about them noticing you. Guess what they're worried about? The same thing. Because we're all selfish. Everyone's like, oh, if they don't notice, I wore the same thing. I mean, a guy's like, give me a suit, a white shirt, and a blue shirt, and a couple of ties, and I'm good. Right? Remember the Hector? He's like, that's the train I'm on, right? But all real, all joking aside, you're thinking about this thing like everyone's thinking about you. They're not. Because they're as selfish as you are. And they're thinking about them. And listen, we joke about that, but man, if you really want to become more like Jesus Christ, you know what you learn to do? Quit thinking about you. You know why they're offended? Because they haven't grown. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 8. 1 Corinthians chapter 8. You're close. 1 Corinthians chapter 8. Look at verse number 13. And then we'll go to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Paul spent a lot of time talking about this kind of stuff with the Corinthian church because they were very carnal. And listen, let me make something very clear. Independent fundamental Baptist for years preached against worldliness, and I'm okay with that. Nothing wrong with that. You ought to not be a friend with the world. Friendship with the world is enmity with God. I'm all right with that. However, I think you could be a Quaker. I think you could be a Mennonite. I think you could be Amish, or like some independent Baptists are, practically the same thing, and still be very carnal. Let me help you out a little bit. Let's say I don't have a TV. And I'm not saying that you should or shouldn't have one. It's between you and God. Let's say I don't have one. But then I think, you know what? I'm more spiritual than Joe because I don't have a TV. Who's with me on that? You guys want to raise your hands? Amen. All right. So amen. Amen. Thank you, Brother Sean. I appreciate that word of testimony. All right. So now look, I'm separated. I don't have the TV. But I'm carnal as the day is long. Why? Because now I've taken something that I use to separate myself from the world and think about how great of a Christian I am. See, you have to understand your flesh is with you wherever you go. And you have to constantly check what it is your heart and mind are dwelling on. Ladies, I'm not just saying this. This is for everyone. Guys deal with it in a different way. But in the social media age in which we live in, you ladies are constantly comparing yourself to other women. The way guys do it is, you know, this guy has a four-wheeler, or a shotgun, or, you know, he went to the game and I didn't, or whatever else, or a BMW station wagon, you know, or whatever it might be. But the way that women do it is, look at that dress on her. I want that dress to look like that on me. All right? Now, first off, I'm not getting myself in trouble. If you want to make that dress look like that on you, then just maybe do something about it. and don't hate the other person that looks better in the dress than you do. Is this funny or what? I'm dying up here, guys. Secondly, quit thinking about you. It's just natural, though. It's so natural. Preachers do it. You walk into a church, their church building is nicer than mine. They got a ministry I don't have. They got more people. They got better. You know, whatever the case might be. You know, someone comes here and they go, you know what? I like that church sticker. Look at those logos. Oh, look at that. Oh, yeah, that's it. I mean, everyone's got something. Everyone's got something. And the point is this, when you are constantly measuring yourself against everything around you, you are going to be offended. you're going to find a problem. Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 8, look at verse 13. Here's how a spiritually minded Christian thinks. I'd rather go without something than trip up another believer. That's a spiritually minded... Look at 1st Corinthians chapter 6. We are in Laodicea, the rites of the people. You know, it's all about me. And listen, we all have, you know, for those that have children, all of our kids, we love them. No one is as smart as our kids. No one is as beautiful as our kids. I get that. You know, I learned something years ago. Doc said, you know, one time he was in a church after a baby dedication, and mom's like, isn't he beautiful? He goes, Lord, give me some. Lord, give me some. And he said, that sure is some baby, man. That sure is some baby. And I thought, I need to write that one down. But we all think our kids are amazing. And any time that our kid is called out for something, we automatically assume someone's picking on our kid. You know why you're easily offended that way as a parent? Because you're self-centered. You care more about your image than that kid getting corrected so he does right. Amen, amen, and amen. It's more about, I've attached my identity to my child, so when you correct my child, you're saying I'm doing something wrong. No, what I'm saying is you could be a perfect parent like God, and your kid's still gonna choose certain things that aren't right, and they should be called out for them. But when you're so attached to yourself, you know, I've seen people leave church, I'll never forget, true story, I was talking to someone about this this last week when I was in Mexico, but we had a, Miss Angie was teaching a Sunday school class, and there was a student in her class, and this kid was a little kid, I mean, like little, and he was dropping some language that probably wasn't good language for church. You guys with me? And, you know, the statement that she made after several times of trying to deal with it was, hey, if you don't clean that up, I can't have you in my class. I went and I spoke with the parent of that child, and I went to this person's house, and you know what they told me? That's not Christ-like that you would kick a kid out of Sunday school. How about, it's not Christ-like to have a seven-year-old drop F-bombs in Sunday school! Like, where are we at? You know what that is? It's all about me. I'd rather expose all these kids to language they've never heard anywhere than to deal with my child! Because they're special! How dare you? Look, every kid has their own needs and problems, and I'm not taking away from that. But you're not going to tell me that a kid can't understand when they're dropping language like that. That is wrong. And we're in a place in society where my kid can't be wrong. I mean, the teacher's wrong, and the principal's wrong, and the cop's wrong, and everybody's wrong. Except you know why that is? Because you're self-centered. And you'd rather sacrifice the character of your child than make you look like a bad parent. Instead of going, look in the mirror and go, you know what, I could step up a little bit. Maybe the Lord allowed this to happen to show me some things that I've been so busy, even in ministry, to notice some things in my kids, and the Lord allowed something to happen for me to go, I should jump on that. Hey, look, starting right here, none of us are exempt from this, guys. But you know what the baby Christian mindset is? How dare you? Why? Does this offend you? That's a choice. Now look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and we'll go to Psalm 119. Now my goal, I'm gonna just throw it out there, my goal is for us to be in John 7 on November 3rd, okay? That's my goal. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. And notice something that Paul says here. He kind of drills into them a little bit. We are in the church of the rights of the people. Do you understand this is not How do I say this? This is not my house. This is not your house. This is God's house. And so we have to accommodate all of God's kids. Are you with me? So when you demand something be done for you in order to make you happy, that's going to affect everyone else. And I have nothing in mind. I'm just throwing that out there. When that's the kind of spirit that is brought into the church, that's what Laodicea means, guys. Laodicea doesn't just mean bad Christian music and the preachers drinking beer after church. Laodicea means you in an independent Bible-believing Baptist church thinking about you more than others. That's Laodicea. It's the rights of the people. I'm more important than anything else here. I want to get my rights. Look what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse number 5. I speak to your shame. Is it so that there's not a wise man among you? No, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren. In other words, is there not someone in your church that could mediate some issues between you guys? Do you have to go to the secular law and secular judges and secular lawsuits in order to resolve issues in the church? Because that's what the Corinthian church was doing. Why? Because man, bless God, I'm going to be right. And I'm going to get what I know I deserve. That's why churches split. Not because of doctrine. I said this recently, I was preaching in Pueblo, I said, what did God, I would have people leave my church because of doctrine. I wouldn't mind it at all. Preacher, I think you're wrong. Here's the book, chapter, and verse. Okay, let's shake hands. Will you disagree? God bless you, brother. That's not why people leave church. They leave church because of some stupid stuff between people. That's why they leave church. They got their feathers ruffled. I can't believe you didn't consult with me before moving to Wheat Ridge. I'm sorry. I didn't consult with 150 people before we made that decision. You're right. You know who I did consult with? Almighty God. And there's some things that the Lord has done that I cannot ignore. Frankly, you want me to be honest with you guys? I don't want to drive from Bennett to Wheat Ridge. I'd rather drive to Aurora. This is much more comfortable for me. But at a certain point, you go, okay, Lord, I can't ignore this. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Look if you would at verse number 6. But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because you go to the law one with another. Why do you not rather take wrong? Let me ask you a question. Do you think Jesus took wrong for you? I'm not saying you don't address things. Sometimes they need to be addressed. But could you have enough Christian character to address it and still love and pray for that person and still go to church? I'm looking out right now and thinking of some people that aren't here right now because someone offended them. And they're not coming back. You say, what is that? It's right there. That's the problem. You know when you get up and think about the amazing grace of God and how much He took. You know, He became sin for me. Oh God, His grace is marvelous. Oh, and so on. And then someone crosses you and is like, dead. I'm done. You know what the problem is? You are all right with God taking all your wrong and you won't take any for anybody else. Look what it says here in verse 7. Why do you not rather take wrong? Why do you not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, look at this. Ye do wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. I did the sneaky preacher trick in Pueblo the other night. I said, who here in this church, Brother Sean was there, who in this church has been offended by another believer? I mean, 0.01 seconds, you know. Who here has offended some other believer? I guess all the believers that offended you are somewhere else. You're not in this church, right? That's the issue. Look at Psalm 119. It is a choice to be offended. You know what you could do instead? You could choose to love God and to love His Word above yourself. And if you do that, look, I'm not here telling you that's easy or that's automatic or that I've got that down or any of that. I'm just saying it's right. You understand that, right? People go, well, preacher, that just, it's not easy. Well, no, it's not. Neither is taking up a cross and following Him. Maybe that's part of your cross. It's just other people. You're like, oh Lord, help me to bear brother Adrian. Let me just tell you, if you're having trouble at the thought of carrying someone else's burden on your shoulders, someone else has got your name on their cross. Are you with me? Alright, so look at Psalm 119, look at 165. Great peace have they which love thy law, not their feelings, not their preferences, not their prejudices, Great peace have they which love thy law. Well, the Lord says in his word, you got to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Obviously, we went through and explained the whole thing. It's a spiritual thing. It's not a physical thing. Are you offended by that? Well, the majority of them were. They left that day. Look what it says at the end of this verse. And what's the next word? Let's try it one more time. What's that word? Nothing shall offend them. I would say this, we are living in an age where Christians are more offended with Christians than they are the world. And I'll tell you right now, you want to keep a church on fire? You know what you do? You love this book. Because you won't make it about you when you do that. You want to kill a church? Think about you. Let's go back to John chapter 6. Now that I've made a lot of friends, John chapter 6, look if you would at verse number 62. Now he asked them if they were offended by it, then he goes on to ask them another question. In other words, if you're offended by this, here's what the Lord is saying, if you can't handle this, you will not be able to handle seeing me go up. Here's another thing he's saying, if you can't handle this, you won't be around for the blessing to see me go up. Now, here's what I think a lot of Christians miss out on. They miss out on the fact that right now is the time to be offended, defrauded, you know, take whatever the case might be. In some cases, let's just be honest, in some cases, people might even try to take advantage of you. I'm not saying they're right for that. You understand that, right? I'm also not saying that there isn't a time where you can address that. I'm just saying, how do you respond to that? If your response is to try to take it out on God, I'm not going back to church. I love it when someone's like, I'm not going back to church. Okay, do you think God's sitting over the precipice of glory going, oh no, my entire plan for the ages is going to fall apart because they got offended and they're not coming back and I don't even know how people are still gonna get saved. I don't know how the gospel's gonna still go out. I don't know how the church is gonna, oh, oh, what are we gonna do? What are we, the Lord's not doing that. When someone stomps off and they take their toys with them to another sandbox, you realize God's not worried about that. You're the one that misses out. Can I just throw something out at you, just to be personal and relevant since we're talking about all this stuff? People have said some hurtful things to me and about me and about my family. If you're going to be a ministry gentleman, you better learn this right now. Not everybody's going to love you. And even the ones that publicly love you will talk about you behind your back. So when you live in a glass house, you're going to get shattered every once in a while. And let me just say right now, there have been times where I go, you know what? I get less trouble from business people. I'll just go do that. I'm fine with that. Let everybody else figure it out. You know what the Holy Spirit says? You better stop. Is that really what I want for you, or is that you talking? Are you thinking down the road, or are you thinking right now? You know, if I'd gone down that road five years ago, I'd never see what's going on right now. You see, the thing is, you don't realize what's coming. All you can see is right now. And when you get offended and you drop back, and the disciples no longer walked with Him, John 6, 66, you miss out on getting to see one of the most amazing events in all of history. There is the Lord talking. Look at Acts chapter 1. And as He's talking, you know what the Bible says? They're gazing up into heaven. What a thing. You know what this also speaks of? It speaks of His eternal position. He's not just a man, He's God manifest in the flesh. Look at Acts chapter 1. And look, if you would, at verse number nine, this is a prophetic thing that the Lord is stating. He's saying, hey, I'm going to do this. I don't even know that they all figured it out. They all understood everything to be saying in that moment. Surely they didn't because they didn't understand the flesh and blood thing. So they probably didn't understand the ascending thing. But look at Acts chapter one. Look, if you would, at verse number nine, Acts one, verse nine. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken. What's next word? And that's an important thing we'll look at as well. And a cloud received him out of their sight. And when they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went in what direction? Up. That's ascending up. Behold, two men stood by with him in white apparel, which also said, and he made a galley. Why stand ye gazing? Which direction? up into heaven, this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven." And it talks about him being at the mount called Olivet in verse 12. Zechariah 14 talks about him coming down and splitting that mountain into two in the second coming. Now, look at Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. And Jesus in John 6 is prophesying. He is telling the future before it happens. He goes, look, I'm going to do this. And if you're offended at what I'm saying right now, I don't know if you can handle that. And Christian, what I've learned with the Lord is that revelation is progressive. When you get saved, He does not give you all Bible truth at one time. Boom! And there it is, like downloading the entire mind of God. It doesn't work that way. You know what He says? Go to church. Read your Bible. Learn to give. Learn to be a giver. Learn to witness. All that simple stuff. Some of you still struggle with that 20 years later down the road. They're fundamental, but I wouldn't say that they're easy. I'll say it that way. The simple things the Lord teaches you when you first get saved, and then after that, you start learning about the doctrine of the deeps. You learn about the seven sevens. You learn about the seven baptisms. and the dispensation. You learn about how one day with the Lord is a thousand years, a thousand years is one day, and how a thousand years is a picture of one day of God's prophecy and how it lays out. And in the New Testament, He'll say after two days this happened, and it's a picture of Jesus Christ coming back after two days and two thousand years at the second coming. All that stuff. You don't start there. You get there. You know what God does? He gives you one piece of truth. How do you respond to that? And then He gives you another one. You know what happens? You get to a certain point and go, I'm not going any further. God's not going to make you go. Those disciples in John 6, some of them didn't follow Him any further. You know what that means? That's where their knowledge of Him stopped. You know where a lot of Christians are at? They get offended and they stop. Look at Ephesians 4. Is this making sense? Look at Ephesians chapter 4. I've had people tell me, preacher, I just can't be in the same room as that person. And I get it. I get it. Believe it or not, here's what you don't understand. Here's what you don't get. I get up on Sunday knowing what someone said about me and I still look at them and love them. And preach the word of God. And not make the message all about that one person. Easier said than done. But you know, all joking aside, that's ministry. If you knew, well if you knew. Are we checkmate? What are we doing here? The bottom line is we're called to minister to other people. You're not going as iron. Now think about this, iron sharpens iron. That sharpening comes from friction. They just, watch it, rub me the wrong way. I've had people over the years just like, it's not even that they did anything wrong, it's just something about them like, he's just a crusty old crab, man, I don't like him. You know, just, I don't know. But at the same time, you know, the Lord says you gotta love him. You gotta pray for them, minister to them, and take time with them. You don't need to be their best friend, but at the same time you go, I just can't be in the same room. It would be like the Lord coming to church and going, I can't be in the same room. You better thank God he can be in the same room. Can't you do that for someone else? Ephesians chapter 4, someone is offended in the nursery, good night. Ephesians chapter 4, look if you would at verse number 8. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now watch in verse 9. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? So I got a little bit of a, I don't know if we're going to get through all of it, what's new. But we've got heaven, which is to the north. and you've got the earth that hangs in the balance, and then you've got at... In eternity, you've got the lake of fire. Now, right now, if someone dies and goes to hell, the Bible says that hell is in the heart of the earth. As Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. That's where it is right now. If someone dies and goes to hell, Luke chapter 16, they're buried and their soul wakes up in hell, or is transported to hell, you could say. But in eternity, what does the Bible say in Revelation chapter 20? It says, death and hell shall be cast into the lake of fire. So what you've got is you've got basically polar opposite directions from each other. You've got the earth here, you've got heaven here, and eventually the lake of fire down here. All right, and where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. All right, now, when the Lord ascends up, you know what he's doing? He's taking his rightful place as the chief cornerstone. 1 Peter chapter 2 calls him a chief cornerstone. Look at Matthew chapter 21. And what that cornerstone did is that cornerstone came down through a humble human experience, and he was a stone of stumbling and a stone of offense. It's all connected. And people were offended at him. And to this day, 2,000 years later, people will still stumble over the testimony and life of Jesus Christ and reject him as their savior. He is a stone of stumbling if someone rejects him. All right. Look at Matthew, chapter 21. And this is Jesus talking to the Pharisees, and they were not fans of what he said here. They understood exactly what he was talking about. They wanted to kill him after what he said. Look at verse 42. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become The head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes He is a chief cornerstone and the the head he's called the head in Ephesians chapter 5 as The husband's ahead of the wife. So is the Christ the head of the church? all right, and he's the chief cornerstone and the head of the corner in regards to the placement that he takes in the universe, you know who's at the top the Lord and You know why the devil wanted that spot? You know why the devil talks about ascending above the throne of God and all that kind of stuff? He wanted God's spot, and he couldn't have it. And so he was offended by that, and what did he do? He fell. Alright? Just like people today will reject Jesus Christ and they'll trip over Him, they'll fall. Look at verse number 43. Therefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. That's a reference to Gentiles getting into it. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. That's the first coming. If you're taking notes in your Bible, you can put first coming right there. But on whomsoever it shall fall, what's the it? The antecedent to it is the stone. Well, you know what that means? Someday that stone's going to come down at the second coming, and when he falls on those it's going to grind them to powder. Daniel talks about a stone that is cut without hands that comes from up there. Is that Daniel 9? Does anybody know? Is that Daniel 9? Daniel chapter 2? So in Daniel 2, it talks about a stone that's cut without hands and comes down and destroys and shatters the kingdoms of this world. So what you're getting in Matthew 21 in these verses here at the beginning of the chapter, is a reference to the first and second coming of Jesus Christ, all in the same verse. But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when they heard it, what did they do? They got mad. Look at what it says in verse 46, they wanted to kill him. Well, why were they so upset? Because they knew what he was saying, all right? And so what you have to understand is that this is a reference when it says, if you're offended at this, what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascending up? Well, what he's saying is, look, if you can't handle what I'm telling you about my death, you're not going to handle me taking my rightful place back. Look at Hebrews chapter one, Hebrews one, and we'll get a chance to get all the Hebrews, but look at Hebrews one, and there is a, we'll end with this thought, there's a guy named Arius, this is Sunday school, so we'll learn something historically. There's a man named Arius, and that's where we get the doctrine of Arianism. Arius was a leader of the Alexandrian church around the fourth century. Now, any of you that have studied the Bible know this, that Alexandria is not where you should learn your Bible. Egypt's a picture of the world, and if anything, there's a very stark contrast between Antioch, the epicenter of the church, and Alexandria, a place where there's lots of confusion. There's even a ship that comes from Alexandria that gets broken. Remember that in Acts 27? Alexandria, Egypt's never a picture of a good thing. Alexandria, Egypt, is where you get, basically, the modern critical text. And the critical text that is touted as the oldest and the best are the ones that you get all your modern Bibles from. And it's a big lie. It's not the oldest, and it's definitely not the best. But Alexandria is where it's from. Arius was from Alexandria around the 4th century. Here's what he taught. He taught this. Jesus Christ is a created being. He is a created God. Here's one of the terms that's used, He is a begotten creature, a begotten God. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says that He is a begotten Son. But before Abraham was, John 8, I am. Jesus was not created. Now, if you're newer and you're a new Christian and you're trying to wrap your mind around all this kind of stuff, I always did when I was younger. I tried to figure out this, you know, if Jesus is God, then where was He before? You know where He was before? Sitting on His throne as the head of the corner. How do I know that? Look at Hebrews chapter number one. Hebrews chapter one. And look, if you would, at verse number eight. Hebrews chapter one. I'm sorry, look at verse 5. Verse 5, for unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my what? This day. Underline that. He was not an eternally begotten God or an eternally begotten creature. He was begotten in time, but he existed before that. Does that make sense? All right? This day have I begotten thee, and again I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. Now, look at this. Look at verse 5. Look at the end of that. I will be to him a father. You know why? Because he wasn't that way before. They didn't exist in that relationship. It wasn't that he was the son in eternity past. He was called the Word of God in eternity past. He was God. But once he decided to submit and go, I'm going to experience the human experience and come as the begotten son, that's when you see that relationship really start to take place. That's why he says, I will be to him as a father. All right, look at verse number six. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, the first begotten. Why? He's not, you know why? Because he's going to be the brother of many brethren. That's what it says there later on in Hebrews. He's not ashamed to call us his brethren. All right? Into the world, he saith, and let all the angels of God worship him. They have no business worshiping someone that's not God. You know why they're worshiping him? Because he is God. All right? And of the angels, he saith, who make his angels spirits, his ministers a flame of fire. But under the sun, he saith, watch it, thy throne, O what? God. He calls the sun God. Because He always was God before He came to this earth. It's just that He did not live a human experience. He had not been begotten as a human being until that birth in that stable, in the manger. Look what it says here in verse number... Yeah, 10. And thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth and the heaven and the works of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They all shall wax old as death of garment. I don't have time to run all the references, but basically, you know what the Lord is doing? He's covering this thing up. And eventually his glory, he's going to just take it all off. I don't mean in a blasphemous way or in a weird way, but he's going to take the clothing off of the universe as it is right now. And the elements are going to melt with the fervent heat, 2 Peter 3. And when that happens, you're going to have a new heaven and a new earth and a new Jerusalem. And all that's going to be in eternity before us is the glory of God. That's why there's no need for the sun. You know why? Because he lightens that city because his glory will be exposed. But not right now. Why am I mentioning this? Because he's telling me I'm going to send up to where I was before. Where was he before? Look at Hebrews chapter. No, go to the same chapter. Look at verse 13. But to which of the angels said he at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool? You know where he went back? He went back to his throne. He left the throne to come here. He went right back to it. Look at Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. Look at verse 1. Now the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Look at Hebrews chapter 10, one last reference, Hebrews chapter 10. But this man, verse 12, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, You're told, if you're coming from the Catholic faith, that every week the Lord has sacrificed for you, and you partake of that Mass, and when you partake of that Mass, you are receiving the grace of God through that Eucharist. And that Eucharist is blessed by the Holy Father, and therefore, when you take that Eucharist, you bring the grace of God into you, you are receiving salvation week after week after week. I don't receive salvation week after week after week. I was born again once. Why? Because he made one sacrifice for sins. Look at what it says in verse 12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Why? Because he is God. Go back to John chapter 6 and we'll wrap it up. Look at verse number 62 one more time. What? And if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was. And the last word in that verse is very key. Where he was when? Before so he basically when he went up when he ascended back up to heaven That was his way of saying I'm just going back to where I started and he was claiming to be God So in this passage when they're struggling with the idea that he's laying out It's a spiritual idea about you know flesh and blood and and the bread and the wine all that kind of stuff It's a spiritual thing. He's trying to teach them, but he's telling look if you struggle with that man you're gonna really struggle with me going back to where I came from and Because I'm going to be proving to you that I'm not just a man. I am God manifest in the flesh. And that whole doctrine of Arianism is garbage. Don't buy it, whether it's repackaged by Jehovah's Witnesses or some other group. It's the same garbage, just repackaged. The reality is this. He is God manifest in the flesh. All right? Let's stop there, stand and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you for the Word of God. Thank you for the chance to get into it. Covered what seemed like a little bit of ground, but hopefully, Lord, it went into