We'll pray and then ask our God for his help tonight. That's Galatians chapter two and verse number 11. The Bible says, straight from the word of God, this is to the church of Galatia, and of course they would take the letters and spread them out to the other churches. The Bible says here, Paul speaking says, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I will study him to the finish, because he was to be blamed. For before that, certain came from James, the Bible says he did eat with the Gentiles. But when they were come, the Bible says he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. We'll stop there. We'll talk tonight about a tested friendship. A tested friendship. Let's pray. Father, we ask God for your help tonight. We ask God to rebuild. that you reveal to us great truths that will stir us, that will challenge us, that will feed us, and that will build our faith muscles and help us, God, to be about your business. We ask God to give us great courage in the midst of adversity. We ask God to help us to have fortitude and help us, God, not to simply surrender to the life circumstances, but be overcomers as we trust the precious word of God and follow the Holy Spirit. I pray God you took your word and let it come alive to each of us. Challenge us in certain areas of our life and change us when change is needed. Then I pray God if there's any other need that we have tonight that my mind can't bring forth because of his weakness, I pray God your Holy Spirit would make up a difference and that God will thank you. God forgive us for our sins and our shortcomings. Help us to die to self. That's it for now. Of course, here's something we do pray. My weak Jesus, but mighty Jesus. Amen. Amen. Maybe you see it. A tested friendship. Of course, to be tested also means to be proven. And all of us, every friendship will be tested. If you are a friend, your friendship will be tested. The question is this, how are you and I going to fare on the test? How are we going to do on this test that will come before us to prove whether or not we've got a true friendship, a friendship that's willing to be honest? Sometimes we're not honest in our friendships. You lay with each other, ask a friend, how bad does it look? It looks good, but it really looks jacked up. That color might not look as well on us as we think. When I met Jolene, I had some basic colors. Two, I think it was. And nonetheless, and I didn't realize I wore those colors all the time. I liked those colors. I thought the color was fine. And then she said, no, those colors don't really look. I'm like, you don't know what you're talking about. Amen. But nonetheless, as we got married, she started buying me some different colors. And I didn't like it. But I wear them to work. And what was amazing, Helene, is that folks from my job would say, oh, I like that color on you. I'm like, I'm saying to myself, I don't like this color on me. But they like the color. They never said anything about the other colors that I had. Come on. But every time I would wear the colors that she would choose and give me, I would get these compliments. And so I'm like, well, I guess the color must look good on me. But I don't really like it. But you know what she could have did? Said, well, he don't like him and I'm not gonna, he just walked around looking droopy and dead looking and then he'll be fine, I guess. But you know what? A true friendship will be tested. And we see here in the scriptures, there was a situation that was tested from a younger Christian and an older Christian. Because sometimes we might feel like, well, I mean, they're seasoned, they're a vet. So they can possibly be wrong or be off key. And who am I? I just got born again. What do I say? Come on. Well, let's look at old Paul. And he went on right now. But let's see how you respond into a situation. The first thing you want to look at is, number one, the right hand of fellowship. the right hand of fellowship. The Bible says in verse number nine of Galatians chapter number two, the Bible says, and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, this is Paul speaking, they gave to me, what did they give you? They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship. That we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision. Only that we should remember the poor, the same which I also was forward. I was in a rush. I was speedily to do. What's happening? We see that Paul actually had not been too long saved. He's with Barnabas, and Barnabas is known as a son of consolation or a son of encouragement, of comfort. He was always helping folks. And so therefore, I'm going to help you out a little bit with the story. When Paul got saved, nobody wanted to hang out with him. because Paul was a killer of Christians. He was on his way to, on the Damascus Road, and he was going to kill Christians. Not to have a party, but to kill Christians. But on Damascus Road, the Bible says he was saved by the grace of God and the power of God, and his life was changed. But when he went to beat the other Christians, they go, oh, here comes Paul. And Paul's got to move, man. And so Barber steps up and says, hold on. I've been with Paul, Paul's changed me. Paul's the real deal. You know what would be equivalent to? Somebody from the Ku Klux Klan, that's all over the news, that everybody knows about, he's the Grand Poopaw, and all the rest of them, whatever the words are, he's the grand guy, but all of a sudden he gets saved, and they say, well, you know, he's coming to the sunrise tonight. Y'all be like, we're not coming tonight. I don't know what they got going on. I don't know what they plan. Are you sure he's saved or is he undercover? Is he pretending like he's saved and he's trying to find out who's who? But we see Barnabas letting help and courage let them know he's a changed guy. And so here they give their validation by giving Paul We split in our church. I grew up and they said we give you the right hand of fellowship. I thought they just did it. I didn't realize it was in this country. Amen. Well, they gave folks the right hands of fellowship. But we received, they gave their approval, here we see, they're recognizing that Paul and Barnabas are being used of God, and the Bible literally says here in verse number nine, he says, they perceived the grace that was given unto me. That word perceived means to know. They knew, they saw the grace that was given unto me, and then the Bible said they gave me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship. That word right hands here, metaphorically, it means a place of honor or authority. So therefore, When they shoot their hands, they will let everybody else know that we recognize the grace of God in their life, but also we're saying that we're giving them, uh, recognize their authority and their leadership in the body of Christ. So they went somewhere and talk to somebody. They, oh yeah, they've been approved. They've been approved. By the way, things need to be approved. Just cause somebody jumps up and say, I'm saved. But about the proofs in the pudding. I mean, uh, I mean you don't just say well, I'm a believer You know, I don't forget my office to say this at church He would say, um, and we live in the Westside, of course, but a church over there. I don't know That's because reason why nonetheless, I don't forget he would say now ladies Take your purses with you. He says everybody in the church is not saying That's a big celebration. Well, because you're in the house of the Lord. Everybody in here, blood-bought, born again and redeemed. So we got no persons and everybody's laid wide open. But you all know who all saved and who all relapsed. Amen. I'm just saying, you've got to be careful, amen. The truth is the truth. Nonetheless, they received the right hand of fellowship. The second thing we see, though, something happens. We see the rightful opposition. The Bible says, Paul says in verse number 10, only they would that we should remember the poor, which is a good thing, the same which I also was poor when I was a herded dude, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. That word withstood means to stand against, it means to oppose. There was something that Peter was doing that caused Paul to say, hold on a second, I'm opposed to this. I have to stand against this because this is not right. This is the wrong way, the wrong thing to do. He says, and by the way, y'all, did y'all notice something? He said, I withstood him to what? The face. I was in front of him. I was not behind his back. I was not on Facebook or Instagram, or I wasn't on Twitter. I wasn't on the text message to other folks. No, I opposed. I will stand him to the face. So a lot of times, folks will oppose you behind your back. But they won't say anything when they're right in front of you. is smiling your face, and all the time trying to take your place. And there's a number that said it. It stabbed you in the back and all. Whole bunch of them songs. Some guys on the song, we talking about having no idea. Listen. But it's amazing, though, how often times we won't be in a person's face and tell them the truth. And we'll tell everybody else. Child, I know. I tell you. Well, I knew. But you didn't say nothing, though. What about you as a friend? Listen, but here is Paul. Paul sees what has taken place and is taking place and the Bible says that he who stood him, he opposed him and it was all biblical by the way. Look at the Bible. Hold your place here. Look what the Bible says over in 1st Timothy chapter 5, verse 19. Talk about tested friendship. Look at 1st Timothy chapter 5. And in verse number 19, the Bible says this. Let's back up and move to verse 17. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 5, verse 17, Paul says to a young Timothy, he says to him, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture said, thou shalt not muscle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his hiring. We'll shout and flip and all that. But watch what it says. Against an elder, receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Let me just stop there. But verse 20 says, them that Rebuke behind closed doors. Rebuke before what? All. Why? That others also may fear. The Bible says, Paul tells young Timothy, if the person has sinned, rebuke before all so that others may also fear. Then realize this is a serious matter. It is a serious thing. And by the way, Paul didn't just preach it, but Paul also practiced it. How do you know? Go back with me to Galatians. The Bible says here, in Galatians chapter number 2 verse 11, But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. Those two words, be blamed, means to find fault with. that was false, that was something that Peter had did that was not right, so therefore I withstood him, I opposed him. I said, this ain't right. Now watch what happens. We see the rightful opposition, but the third thing we see is the reason, or I've also titled this, Peter's relapse. Peter's relapse. What do you mean? The Bible says in verse 112, For before that, certain came from James, before they came. He that eat with the Gentiles, but when they will come, the ones from James. He withdrew himself, or withdrew, and the Bible says, and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. The first thing we see in his relapse, or his fall, or his flipping backwards, was this. He was inconsistent. In Acts chapter 10 and in Acts chapter 15, we'll read those two chapters later, but in those, number one in chapter 10, God deals with him about the Gentiles, and how he said, my lips have never touched nothing that was vile, and all this kind of stuff. And then God says, you know what, don't you call me a dead unclean, and I don't need all this stuff. I want you to go talk to Cornelius, and all the rest. But then in chapter 15, he stands up for Paul and says, listen, the circumcision, or the uncircumcision, they received, I'm gonna paraphrase here, they received Christ just like we did as well. And he was there saying, hey, this is the right thing to do, but he had to relapse. Now we see him, because he sees that coming from James, he's inconsistent, he is inconsistent, and the Bible says that he withdrew. That word withdrew means to draw back, to cover, to shrink. It also says he separated, which means to set up a boundary. He put on a line. Peter, what's up? Sometimes, if you and I are not careful, we will have a spiritual relapse. If you and I are not careful, we might have been delivered from something, some behavior, some mindset, but if we're not careful, we'll slip back into that same type of mindset. Knowing that's the wrong thing to think, the wrong thing to do. And here's Peter, he sees them coming from, oh, they're from James. That's the Sanhedrin, it ain't Sanhedrin, but that's the really, really religious guy. don't do it pretty much there's some Christians we get around and we know how they are and all of a sudden first of all I guarantee, can we get real? I guarantee you, almost guarantee you, that there were certain Christians that came in here from a different part of the body of Christ and you knew how they were, let's get real, about pants and women, wearing pants, some of them. Okay, but something like you know, I know how they are about that and how they are about this and all of a sudden we start feeling a certain way. We start sweating, we start, you know, one or two things. Well, not one or two things, but one or two things could happen and some other things too. Nonetheless, we get in their face or we might go, you know, jacket on. But why is it that we let pressure come and affect us in a wrong way? In a wrong way that could cause somebody else to stumble as well. And see, Peter is doing something that's about to affect some other folks, too. Let me show you. Because of this inconsistency, the moment we see it under the reason of Peter's relapse, not only that intimidation, the Bible says here, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them, which were of the circumcision. Because of these Jewish Christians that were coming, he feared them, and it caused them to behave in a certain way. And because of that fear, because of that intimidation, Influenced some other believers. Yep. How you know what the Bible says the Bible said verse 13 and the other Jews Dissembled likewise with him This word assembled here means to act hypocritically They were behaving as hypocrites or play actors. What was going on, brother? At first they was eating, they was hanging out with these Jewish Christians, not Jewish Christians, but these Gentile believers, but now the Jewish Christians come by and now they take off and they're running like roaches that we cut the lights on. I mean, they're all over the place. And then the Bible says, in the midst of this, when Peter does this, it affects these other Jewish believers in so much. deep here, insomuch that Barnabas, Barnabas was carried away with their dissimilation. And this word carried away, I said, I said, sure, it didn't mean he was upset about it. No, the word carried here in this verse means to condescend. It also means to take off together. He went along with them. Yeah And those who might not be very familiar with Barnabas Barnabas was that guy that stood up to Paul when Paul didn't want to take John Mark back with them when John Mark had took off and then John Mark comes back he wants to go back with them and Paul says you ain't going with us and then Barnabas says he's coming with us and the Bible says the contention between the was so sharp that Barbus took Mark and then Paul took Silas. They went their separate ways, but then down the road they get back together, because Paul writes in his letter and says, hey, bring Mark. He's probable for the ministry. But why, my soul, why was he probable? Because Barnabas still took him under his wings. It was Barnabas that broke Paul and said, guys, he's changed. But now here he is, he's been affected by Peter. Peter takes off, and Obama's like, OK, I'm going to. Think about that. What are you saying, Preacher? Say you were the Peter. or say you're the Barnabas, and you respond this way. Oh, by the way, Peter was an older Christian. See, Peter was saved before Paul. Peter was in the inner circle with Jesus Christ. It was Peter that was one of the three that was there when he went up on the mountain of configuration and would transformate. You know the words I say. Who was? He was right there in the midst. Peter. It was Peter that cussed. Jesus looked at him and he wept bitterly. Then she says, when you tell the 12 disciples to come, tell Peter, we want him too, by name. The same Peter, the same Peter, he takes on as an elder believer, and the rest of our faith is too, that even Mormons is carried away with that disillusion. What are you trying to say, preacher? I'm trying to say that as a born-again, redeemed person, that knows Christ as our Savior, the way we behave can affect the behavior of somebody else, because they are watching us. They're watching you as an example. If you are a leader in some way in their life and they're watching you and how you and I behave will affect other believers. Yeah It will hit them in a certain way that they'll respond because you know what this anyway, that's my Paul That's my people. I'm not a Paul not a Peter. You might not be to yourself, but somebody look at you like that When I look at my pastor, for example, y'all heard me mention my pastor many times. He's 91 years old, still serving God, going strong. Preaching a couple weeks ago, preaching the word of God. But one thing I learned about him, from him, among other things, is to love people. People who nobody else wants to love. a pastor that doesn't react first, but tries to think about it, and then gives a person a benefit of the doubt. And a lot of times he has brought people in to be a part of the congregation that everybody else is shunning, everybody else is running away from. We don't want them in the meeting. Why you got them here, Doc? What's going on here? And Doc says, you know what? Matter of fact, Dr. Moore standing up there and said something I'll probably say, why is he here? Doc said, you know why he's here? He's born again today. He's a child of the king. He's our brother in Christ. When I first came to the church there, and the way I had, this is, you gotta understand, this is 1989. This is when it wasn't as fashionable for men to have earrings in their ear. It's a little bit more fashionable today, but not back then. I had earrings in my ear, ponytail, all that kind of stuff, straight from the west side of Chicago. I'm down there in Georgia. I'm walking up in there like, which I wanna do. If you feel broken, jump. I got the attitude, but the Holy Ghost grabbed the whole of my heart and my soul, changed my mindset. Next thing I know, I was up there singing in the choir, exalting the Lord Jesus Christ, and there were folks who actually left church. Because me and Jolene joined. I didn't worry at the time. I had no idea. I found this out many years later. But you know what? When I was called to preach, there were folks that took Dr. Moore off the list. for preaching. Meetings he had had for years and years because they saw a black man married to a white woman, and they thought that it was a sin, so therefore they counseled the meeting that Dr. Moore would be preaching in, and God said these words. When one counseled it, two more took me up. There you go. Come on. What are you saying, preacher? If Dr. Moore was behaving the way that I wasn't accustomed to. And somebody said, Doc did that? I'm like, Doc? Well then, maybe something, maybe there's something to that. Busted, Doc also taught me this. Sitting there in his office, he told me these words. I didn't understand it as a young preacher, as a young Christian. He says, you can't live off my convictions. He said, you gotta get your own. And I'm like, what's Doc talking about? He's good for me. So you gotta live off your own. And then I realized the difference between a conviction and a command from the Word of God. There's many of us that have different convictions. We have different preferences. But it's not anything that the Word of God says. For example, it's not so much a conviction or a preference not to lie. The Bible says don't lie. It says thou shall not steal. It says it's okay to steal if you're hungry. It don't say that. But now we might have different preferences when it comes to music. We might have different preferences when it comes to different preaching styles. We might have different preferences when it comes to worship and things of that nature. But listen, that might be your preference. That might even be your conviction. But listen, brothers and sisters, let's not fight about it. Instead, let's just exalt the Lord Jesus Christ. We might be a little bit different. We're all different in some kind of a way. I mean, all y'all like, how many of y'all hear like mashed potatoes and stuff? Look at you, look at you. I got a conviction about that. The Bible calls it unnatural affection. I mean, I don't eat mashed potatoes. I'm like, you said we're preaching. You just ain't have mine. It don't matter, okay. Now I can't say that like I used to about green beans, because I don't eat green beans at all either, but my brother down there, down in Ohio, my baby, my mom right now, Stephen Beatty, now that boy, he did something to them green beans. He had cheese, But I'm talking about, alright, I went back and got sexies. That was a miracle. It was a miracle. I know something y'all gonna do. I'm gonna make some cheese supper. Leave me alone, big man. But you know what? What we do can affect us. Come on, but I'm watching the Bible says here. We still target we see the right hand of fellowship We see the rightful opposition the reason or Peter's relapse, but then we see something else Paul's response Paul says in verse 14 But when I saw come on Paul see Paul's precious being tested but when I saw That they won't not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel. This has to do with the gospel. I said unto Peter, before them all, if thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why? Why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? Why are you saying this? Why are you doing this? He goes on to say to him, We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not, come on Paul, a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith or by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. What was going on there preacher? Remember the gentiles were uncircumcised but they were believers. And see, with the Jews, they thought that a lot of them, even I think I say, they believe the circumcision was somehow tied in to salvation. And they want them to be circumcised as well. They said, but listen, this is a covenant between Israel and God. Read your Bible, go back to Exodus and Deuteronomy. But those two, those are the same. Verse 17, but if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, and therefore Christ, the menace of sin, comprehend. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I, through the law, am dead. Oh, I love this verse right here, y'all. Y'all do too, y'all heard it in the song. It says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, not I, but Christ, he says, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, come on, Paul, who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul says, I want to tell y'all something. I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead and vain. You talking to Peter? In a circle with Jesus? What are you? He gave you the right hand of fellowship. He's the one to say, he's okay. And now you're gonna say, Peter, you're wrong. That's tough. Friendship's being tested. But Paul said, listen guys, this is the right thing. When you stand before your brother and sister in Christ, and you see they're going down the wrong path, and you say, well, I don't wanna destroy our friendship. So that's gonna make your friendship stronger. Especially find out down the road that you knew and didn't say, but I don't wanna cause a problem between you and I. I mean, we've been homies for a long time. I mean, I don't wanna break fellowship, but you know what's amazing? True friendship. You'd get mad at one another and be okay. Because if y'all all getting along with everything so far, somebody's lying. OK? That's the truth of the matter, amen? I'm like a husband. I love my wife. And I'll say she's my best friend and all that kind of stuff. But we don't agree on everything. If I sit and say, we always agree on everything, man, we'll never have no problem. We never argue at all. It's just that somebody's lying. OK? Because there's things she don't like, and there's things I don't like. Now, I confess, there are times when I have not elaborated on the truth fully. Because y'all know how it is. Come on, y'all. Y'all are like, how does this look on me? Come on, man. Why are you asking me how I look on you? Survival. You know, you set me up. Well, do I look this way in this, or do I look? I mean, you know the words. You know the words. How do I look in this? That's a good color. I'm sitting there, that shit looks jacked up. But the other part, now I feel like, baby, that don't look good. Something's wrong. I don't know where it is, but something just ain't hitting it right. If I don't say anything, and she walks out the house, they say, man, she needs a friend. And by the way, most ladies, not all, but most ladies, when their husband walks out the door, at least a lot of the ones I know, to them, he represents them. And if you walk out the house looking all jacked up, they're like, man, you don't know why? I'm just saying. Some of the guys are like, move on, move on, brother. All the guys got silent. True friendship will be tested. And Paul sees what happened with Peter. So Peter's ain't right. Listen, what happened? The scripture says right here what happened, but I do believe that things worked out okay. How do you know that? Because I want you to go with me over to 2 Peter chapter 3. The reception from Peter. We see the reason of Peter's relapse, or the reason of Peter's relapse. We see Paul's response, and then we see the reception from Peter. Look at 2 Peter chapter 3. Now Peter wrote This event took place or this letter was written rather and look what Peter says in chapter 3 in verse number 14 The Bible says this in verse 14 Wherefore beloved see that you look for such things Be diligent that you may be found of him in peace without spot and blameless An account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation even as our beloved brother Paul. Also according to the wisdom, he's talking about Paul, y'all. To the wisdom given unto him have written unto you. As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things. in which are some things hard to be understood, where they that are unlearned and unstable rest. They do also other scriptures unto their own destruction. But know what he says, I don't know if y'all caught that. He says Paul, wisdom in his writing, as also in all this epistle. Even the epistle in Galatians. where Paul talks about what happened between me and him. Wisdom in all his epistles. Our beloved brother, Paul. That sounded like to me somebody that didn't have an ax to grind. It sounded like to me somebody that said he was right. Brothers and sisters, wouldn't it be awesome if we help one another in the right way And then that brother or sister get things right, and then look back and say, you know what? You are my beloved brother. Because you had wisdom, and you shared that wisdom, and you helped me. Let me give you this last verse and we're done. Go with me to Proverbs. Proverbs 9 in verse 8. Proverbs 9 in verse 8. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 9. 9 verse 8. Reprove not a scorer lest he hate thee. Watch what he says. Rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will yet be wise. Teach a just man and he will increase in learning. You know what? That when we rebuke there, it means they're correct. Reprove also means correct. But a person that's a mocker and a scorner, this lack of, he don't want to hear what you got to say, but a person that has wisdom. Say, hmm. They're right. I see what they're saying. Because this is what happened a lot of times. Some of us have experienced this. We've been taught, somebody's told the truth about something we said or did. And the first reaction inwardly, maybe not outwardly, maybe like, hmm. But then you go home, or you get in your car, and then the Holy Ghost sits down next to you, saying, you know they was right. You know. Your heart starts getting convicted. And you say, you know what? What you told me, it made me mad. It takes me off. But I'm glad you told me, because all of a sudden, the Lord is going to show me, you know what? That was the wrong way to behave. That was the wrong way to respond. I'm thinking right now, we're done. I'm just saying here, but you know because on Facebook something about anything on Facebook is out there, but anyway Danielle She put on Facebook About what happened to her at work at the pizza place? Yeah, some y'all read that yep, and she was telling a person is Bobby How much the order was for the pizza and the person was on the? And she said, people don't realize that Jesus is saving them. Something that nature. Because she wanted to take that pizza and smash that person in the face. Because I met a person, the person's in line. You know this is what we talk about on the phone. When you're in line at the store and paying for your stuff, get off the phone. Amen. I know he is on there, but all right. But nonetheless, I said, I put on there something like this. I said, girl, I said, I said, I said, I mean, I don't know what happened to Spartan, but I've been like, you know what? Anyway, anyway, anyway. She passed the test. Let me answer some questions. When our friendship is tested, how are we going to respond? I got two questions. First question is, how is your friendship affecting others? How is your friendship affecting others? Remember that in Peter's case, he affected Martinus in a negative way. In Paul's case, it helped Peter in a positive way. But then he asks us the question, how is our friendship, how is your friendship affecting others? Second question is this, are you being, are you being honest with them? Are you being honest with them? And the second one is just a simple statement. I do pray God to help us, help us. It really helped me as I was saying it. I pray God to help my brothers and sisters too. And perhaps God, there's someone that's been conversing with you for a few moments, and maybe wanna ask you to help us to be more honest with our friends in the right way, say things in the right way that would help them, to guide our mind and thoughts. Perhaps God, we might be the friend on the other end of things. We did the wrong thing, and we just want to get on track. But God, wherever these might be tonight, I pray God we come talk to you about it. Maybe it has nothing to do with this message whatsoever. But if folks want to come talk to you for a few moments. They can kneel at the altars, they can stand around the altars, they can sit around the altars, whichever way they need to come. But I pray God we come because the Spirit of God is prompting us to come. Maybe somebody wants to come pray for a friend. A friend that's in trouble. A friend that's in a dark place. A friend that's in a very harmful place. But they need someone to intervene and receive on their behalf to the place. I pray that they come tonight. We've heard the song, we've heard the sermon. Now it's time to respond. For it's your Sunday, we do pray. Not only Jesus, but mighty Jesus. Amen.