Ephesians chapter 4 And The first part of the the chapter Get there just a moment here This is going to be one of those preventative messages, all right? But we've not looked at this in some time, and I felt like it was something that we probably need to look back on, all right? Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1. It says, There is one body and one spirit, even as you are called, in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Then look down to verse 12, okay? He says, "...for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." We'll stop reading there. So in the portion we just looked over there, we skipped. He's speaking of his work from Calvary to the Resurrection, and then he lists the gifts of the offices he gave. He gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors. But we're not going to focus on that portion of Scripture tonight, all right? I want us to look at One key phrase in particular. Okay back in verse 3 and then in verse 13 He says endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace and then in verse 13 he says to we all come in the unity of the faith and Those two words unity. It's the same word And it's actually, I was just looking, look at this again this afternoon, it's the same root word that's used in John 17 when the Lord prayed just before He went to the cross. And He was praying, prayed in John 17 that the Father would make His disciples one, that they would be one. And, you know, as he said, even as we are one, and the Father. And so that unity is what the Lord prayed for. I was thinking also of, and this is just kind of preliminary here, I was thinking of Peter. And, of course, tonight the Lord was betrayed. And the Lord told him in Luke 22, He had warned him that Satan had desired to sift you as wheat. Of course, Peter denied that, and Peter, he said, well, I'm ready to die with you. And he says, Peter, I'll tell you of a truth, basically, before the clock crows three times, you're gonna deny me thrice. And then he said there that Satan desired to sift Miss Wheat, but then he said, but I have prayed for thee. And when thou art converted, not speaking of salvation, but basically when you repent, when you realize you've done wrong, you realize the Lord was telling you, you're gonna mess up. You're getting ready to mess up. But after you get right, strengthen the brethren. And of course, thank the Lord, Peter did that. Peter did get right, and he was greatly used of the Lord in a tremendous way. But the Lord, of course, in his omniscience, knew what was going to happen to Peter, warned him ahead of time. Peter failed the Lord anyway, and yet he did repent, he did get right, and he did strengthen the brethren. But what the Lord warned him about there, he said, And that word sift, it's just like if you were to shake a pan and you're shaking out all the impurities. Like if you're panning for gold or if you were sifting flour, you know, when you're looking for impurities, you're going to sift through it. And so the idea is you're going to divide it. And sometimes the devil will certainly allow, I shouldn't say that the devil will allow, God will allow the devil to bring things into our lives, and he may bring things into the life of our church, that the devil wants to use to sift us and to divide us. And that's certainly not what the Lord desires. the Lord wants there to be unity. That's what he prayed for, amen? He prayed just before he went to the cross, pray that they would be one, even as we are one, speaking to the Father. And so, this here in Ephesians 4, this is what the Lord prayed for, and Paul is, of course, through the Holy Spirit, giving us instructions as to how to do that, amen? And this is preventative preaching, amen? I've been thinking on this, and you know, As we're looking forward to what God's going to do this year and in the next year, we want to make sure that we guard, just like the verse says, we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. It's interesting here, it doesn't say make unity. We already have it. Amen? We have a blessed unity in our church, and we don't have to fake it. The world, they have to fake that. They have to come up with all kinds of creeds and associations, whether it be religious or secular, whether it be... you know, work-related, you're in a union at work, or you know, whatever. They try to build this bond, and you know what? It doesn't work because it's built on selfish ambitions, selfish motives, all right? We have a union that is supernatural because it is based on Christ. Amen? But the devil certainly hates that, and he wants to divide the body of Christ. Speaking of the members, individual Christians within churches and churches between churches, and we certainly see that happening in the world, and we want to endeavor to protect the unity. to keep that unity. We already have it, but we want to endeavor to keep that unity. Amen? So, with those thoughts in mind, let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll begin working through these verses tonight. All right? Let's pray. Lord, thank you for this evening. Lord, I thank you for our church family. Thank you for every person who's a member. Lord, even those who may not be members, but they regularly attend. And Lord, we just ask you to bless each one. And Lord, we pray for us here tonight that you would especially speak to our hearts. Lord, we would be open to receive what you have for us from your word. And Lord, this is not my thoughts or ideas. Lord, this is from your word. And Lord, I pray you would instruct each one of us. Lord, I need this as much as anybody. And Lord, we're all human. I pray that, Lord, we would endeavor to protect the unity that you have given to us. Lord, the family of God is a beautiful thing. And Lord, We know that you gave your blood for it, Lord. You purchased us with your blood. The devil certainly hates your church and the bride of Christ. May we, Lord, not give in to his ways, Lord, and be sifted, Lord, but may we be unified that we may accomplish your work together and bring glory and honor to you. Help us, Lord, remind us, and Lord, help us to go forward in your work even greater. as a result of what we learned tonight, in Jesus' name, amen. So, he says, first of all here, that to—oh, where am I at here? Hold on. My notes just—did my notes literally just disappear? No? Okay. I had the wrong notes. I was like, now wait a minute. I know I had more notes than that. All right. Okay. So he says in verse 1, We understand what a vocation is, it's our job. And it's interesting, that word vocation means a calling. And he says, the calling wherewith you're called. Do you realize, Christian, I think most of us do, if you've been in our church, especially in any length of time, you'll understand this, I mention it a lot. You've been given a job. Amen? The Lord expects us to be busy about His business. We're not just to check in on Sunday, you know, so to speak, in church. No, there's a work for us to do. And it's not just for preachers. It's not just for missionaries or evangelists, whatever. You know, God has a work. And it may not be that you're called in a full-time ministry. It may not be that you are you know, behind a pulpit, so to speak, or in that type of position. But there is definitely a work God's called you to do. And Paul reminds us of that here. He says, "...to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you're called." We're on a walk worthy of that. We're to acknowledge that, okay? And he's going to tell us how to do that, okay? He says, So he has several words here to describe how we're to do this, okay? He says, with lowliness, it speaks of moderation, okay? Having a humble opinion of oneself, you know, basically like humility, okay? It would be the opposite of pride. And We'll look at that, these kind of go together here, all right? So meekness, okay? Meekness is the opposite of self-assertion and self-interest. Meekness puts God's priorities above our own. Sometimes we can exalt ourselves, and that's pride. And we say, oh, I can do this, I can handle this. And we neglect our time with the Lord. We neglect to pray. We think we've got a handle on it. We're all good, so to speak. Then there's other times that we are pious. And we we had this false Spirituality about us. Okay, and we're pretending to be spiritual when really we're not Okay, you know if if your spiritual life is all about telling others how spiritual you are There's something wrong That's the wrong kind of piety. That's being pious. That's not piety. That's being pious. It's a false pride, so to speak. Piety would say, I can't. There's no way I can do that. There's no way I can serve God. There's no way that I could serve in the church. give more. There's no way I could sing a special in church, whatever. I don't have any more time to do whatever. That's many times, and I understand we have to have balance and such, all right, and we have boundaries and things, but we should be able to fit in serving the Lord. amen and just to always use the excuse i can't i can't there's no way i could do that whatever um we're being pious and that that's almost the opposite end okay pride says oh yeah i can do this and i can do that and you know uh pride would be that the person is always trying to serve and always trying to do more and always trying to get in and do whatever they can, and they never consult the Lord. They're never asking for prayer because they realize they're weak. They're simply always asserting themselves. They're running on personality, so to speak, or energy, their own strength. They're doing it in the flesh. that the pious person says, oh, I could never do that, I could never serve, I could never help with junior church, I could never help on the bus, I could never do such and such, whatever it might be, and always making excuses, I could never, I could never, I could never. And really what God wants is someone who doesn't think of himself at all. Not that I can't, or not that I can, but Lord, you can. That's the meek person that just says, Lord, you can. And they had their focus upon the Lord. And we trust God. And Lord, if you want me to serve, if you want me to help in Sunday school, you want me to sing a special in church, Lord, if you want, you know, a pastor's got this work he'd be coming up, and Lord, if you want me to be involved in that, you're gonna sort out my schedule to where I can be there. My heart's there, and Lord, I want my feet and hands to be there, amen? And Lord, I'm trusting you to help me be involved. I want to help my church. And that is the meek person. And you know what? They may come and say, Pastor, I'm not sure how my schedule's going to work out, but I'm praying I can be here that day. I'm not sure how good I am with kids, but if you need me to help with some of the kids, I'm willing to help and do what I can. You know, Pastor, if you... I'm not good with a lot of skills, but I can clean the church. If you need somebody to clean the church, I'm available. I'm just making themselves available. And they're not concerned about getting the glory. They're not so concerned about themselves. They never want to serve. They just make themselves available. They have the right balance. Hey, I'm available for the Lord to do whatever because He can do what He wants with me. That's a meek person. You know, Moses, he was pious at first, wasn't he? He made all the excuses. He said, Lord, I'm slow of speech. I can't talk in front of people and all this. And that was a lie. He'd been trained in the best schools of Egypt. He knew all the languages of his day, all right? But he made all those excuses, and the Lord finally went along with him, all right? And said, I'll send Aaron along to help you, but you can do this. And as you see Moses going before Pharaoh, and you see him progress in his maturity and in his reliance upon the Lord, alright? When you see them coming out of Egypt, you see him standing before the Red Sea, and there they are trapped, Pharaoh at their backs, and the sea before them, and he simply says, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. There was no timidity there. There was no, oh, what are we gonna do? Aaron was not there. He was leading the nation himself, trusting God. He had matured. And that's the kind of maturity God wants of us, okay? Not that we are so proud and boastful that we're trusting ourselves to do things, but not so timid and pious that we, oh, we could never do anything for God. But right here, the balance. Hey, Lord, I realize I can do all things through Christ. was strengthened of me." That's a meek person. And here, that's the kind of mindset, again, Paul, he says, that we need to have if we're going to walk worthy of our vocation. Amen? He says, with long-suffering. Long-suffering speaks of patience. Okay? Endurance. All right? Paul told Timothy to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Sometimes we have to just grin and bear it, amen? Sometimes there are things that come in our life, I was reading in James this afternoon, and the trials of our faith that come. And sometimes the Lord allows trials, we understand, not to tempt us with sin, but the trials to purify us, to purge us, to make us a stronger Christian. He's purifying the gold, amen? And he wants to perfect us. And sometimes we have to just endure those things. with all lowliness, amen? Here he says, forbearing one another. Forbearing one another. Boy, sometimes we just need to put up with things and put up with people sometimes. I didn't write the verse down. Let's see, it's over in Romans. Just turn over there if you will, okay? Romans chapter 12. Find it in just a moment. I didn't jot it down in my notes, but I know it's right in there somewhere. Romans 12. 18, verse 18 there. He's given lots of practical instructions, and he says, And that verse, it means sometimes just to grin and bear it, you know? So sometimes we have to grin and bear things, and you know, the Lord made us different, the Lord has gifted us different, and the Lord understands that. He did that on purpose, amen? We see that back in Ephesians 4, okay, further on down, all right? But He has made us that way, okay? And sometimes we need to, again, endeavoring to keep the bond of peace, we're going to have to forbear one another and be patient with one another, okay? And so, again, not preaching at anybody tonight, okay? I'm preaching at me, if anybody, okay? This is preventative preaching, amen? But we certainly need to do this, amen, to protect the unity of the Spirit. Notice it says, forbearing one another in love, all right? So to forbear, we do this with love. The reason that we endure in things is because we love each other. There ought to be that love. There ought to be a genuine love. Speaking of an agape love, 1 Corinthians 13. Not just a touchy-feely love, so to speak, but there ought to be a common brotherhood. And there is a brotherhood in the body of Christ, amen? And sometimes if two brothers aren't getting along, there needs to be a sacrificial love, okay, that goes beyond just a filet-o love, that there's that sacrificial love, a give and take, just like with a husband and wife, okay? The bond we have as brothers and sisters in the Lord is the, Besides our marriage, okay, should be that the most special bond and fellowship that you have with another human being. You realize that the brothers and sisters sitting in this room tonight, you're gonna be with for all eternity. You might as well get used to each other. Get used to me, all right? You know, hey, that puts us on a whole nother level. That this is more important than getting along with workmates, getting along with even your family. Hey, we're the family of God. And praise God for that. Amen. It supersedes all cultures and preferences and whatever you want to throw in the mix there. Hey, we are family. And we need to love one another, amen? And if necessary, demonstrate meekness and forbear one another in love, amen? And he says, verse three, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. Endeavoring, it means to react with speed. Boy, there's other places in the scriptures where this word endeavor is translated to be diligent, to study, or to labor. It's used in 2 Timothy 2.15 where he says, study to show thyself approved unto God. So it'd be like Paul saying, endeavor to show thyself approved. So he's saying, hey here, we need to endeavor to keep the union of the Spirit. So let's put that in a practical, how do we endeavor to keep the unity of spirit? Well, maybe we recognize that there's some things that make a certain individual irritated. And it doesn't mean that we always irritate them. But we should protect them from those irritations, amen? You know, we know how it is with a husband and wife, right? Let's be honest tonight, okay? We're in church, all right? You know what makes your spouse just, you know, you know what aggravates them, all right? Y'all's quiet now. Hey, he's been married eight years, all right? Eight years right there, okay? He knows, amen, amen, all right? He's going for eight more, amen? And you know what? We don't just go pushing those buttons. We shouldn't, okay? We should study and be diligent to avoid those buttons, amen? For you know what? The same thing works in the church with the family of God, amen? We should endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Hey, study and know one another. Hey, that's why we have fellowships, amen? Somebody just asked me, I think it was yesterday, they said, Pastor, when are we going to have another fellowship, you know? And I love that. I love fellowship, and we need that because we need to get to know each other. Hey, we need to know how to pray for another. We need to know how we're doing spiritually, how we're growing, what our needs are. We just need to know each other so that, you know, We have common interests in things, and you know, it's not always spiritual things. I understand that we have a lot of spiritual things in common, amen? But there may be some common interests we have outside of church and such, and that's all right. Hey, there's no better group to fellowship with, amen? No better group to have a round of golf with, right, Brother Brian? Amen. No better guys to go fishing with, all right, than the guys right here. Amen. Hey, this is our crowd. Amen. And we need to endeavor to know one another and to keep the bond of peace. Amen. He says it is secured by peace, this bond of peace. I've often said this, you've probably heard it before from me, the Spirit of God is the oil that makes the machinery of the church operate smoothly. You know, the church is more than just an organization. We understand that. It is an organism. It is a body. Amen? It is a living body. We're not just an organization. We're not just a trust, you know, whatever. But we are the living body of Christ here on earth. And yet, it takes the Spirit of God for us to function properly. And He is the oil, so to speak, that makes the machinery run smoothly. If you run your car engine out of oil, you're going to lock up. You're going to burn out. And sadly, a lot of Christians, okay, they may be one of the central pieces of the motor, so to speak, within the church, but if they're not relying upon the oil of the Spirit, so to speak, they're doing things in the power of the flesh, they're going to burn out. they're gonna burn out. You're gonna throw a rod, okay? And you know what? The whole engine's gonna suffer. The whole church will hurt. Hey, we gotta make sure we're relying on the Spirit of God to do the work, hey? And that we're allowing Him to keep us at peace with one another, amen? Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Notice he says, to keep it. Again, we're not to make peace, okay? We're to guard the peace. We already have peace. I mentioned this as we got into the message. The world tries to make peace, and we know that churches, charismatics, ecumenical movements, they try to sign covenants and creeds and all this thing. They sign agreements, okay, we're going to not bring up this issue, we won't use this Bible version or whatever, and they make all these that they give up all their stands and such, trying to be unified. We don't have to do that, okay? If we're part of the body of Christ, we have a relationship, again, that supersedes all those earthly commitments, okay? We don't need to try to make peace and to make unity. We need to build on the unity we have. Hey, we're brothers and sisters. And that ought to unite us. That ought to give us a kindred spirit, amen? That our spirit bears witness with their spirit, that we are the children of God, amen? That there ought to be that unity of the Spirit. And the Lord says it's there, we just need to protect it. Again, because the devil's going to fight that. Going back to Peter, he wants to sift us. He wants to destroy that. And I would challenge you, now, if you're not at peace, it may be that the devil's been shifting you around. He's been sifting you in the cauldron, so to speak, and he's just been shaking you up, and you need to let the Holy Spirit give you that bond of peace. Just bring it back, amen? And especially if that's between another brother or sister, amen, in the Lord. Notice, let's skip down, okay, to verse seven. And verses four and six, that's all really good, but just for time's sake, we're gonna skip that tonight, all right? Verse seven, he says, unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Why is it important that we protect this bond and we endeavor to keep this unity and we keep things flowing and working together so well within the body of Christ? Because he's portioned out to us a measure of grace. A measure of grace. And here, this is a reference to spiritual gifts, okay? Not just spiritual gifts, but opportunities. Pastor Paul last night talked about, Friday night talked about stewardship, okay? And we're to steward what God puts in our hands, whether it's our physical resources, our relationships, opportunities He gives us, and that includes spiritual gifts. But He gives us a measure of grace. You know, this word measure, It means just what it says, it is a measurement. It means God has got the tape measure and said, all right, there we go, that's a, I'm not gonna pretend I know how long that is, all right, but let's say that's a meter, all right, and then God says, that's exactly how much you need, right here. God won't give you something to do that's more than you can bear. God knows how much you can take, and he knows your limit, he's measured it out. Wow. God knows the strength you need to accomplish the will of God for your life. God says, I want you to serve right here. This is what I want you doing in your church. You've got an opportunity to serve. This is what I want you to do. And I'm going to give you this much grace to get the job done. I promise. Paul said, my grace is sufficient. That's what the Lord told Paul. That's true for every child of God. Amen. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. We say, and again, it goes back to that right mindset, okay? We're not to be the proud one saying, oh, I can do it, I can do it. We don't need to be the pious one saying, not me, I can never do it, I can never do it. We need to say, I can, Lord, with your strength. You've measured it out. Everything I need, I have in Christ Jesus. He's measured it out. It won't go beyond my abilities in Christ. I'll have exactly what I need to accomplish the work God gives me to do. And you know, when we each do our part together, then the work of God goes forward. Amen? Hey, we each have opportunities, He's given us grace, He's given us the abilities, spiritual gifts, and when we each work together, then the work of God goes forward. And that's what God desires. Amen? He has portioned out His measure of grace. Every child of God receives a gift, and each one of us is given exactly what we need. Let's look down then at verse 13, okay? He says, "...until we all come in the unity of the faith." So here we have the purpose behind all this, okay? So he's portioned out what he wants us to do and how he wants us to serve, what he wants to give. He's enabled us to serve Him, all right, to accomplish His work. And then He says, all right, why did He give these to us? Let's read verse 12. I forgot verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. So here is the purpose behind it, okay? The perfecting of the saints. That word perfecting speaks of maturity. He wants us to grow, that we may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He wants us to become more and more like the Lord, amen? He wants us to accomplish the work. Again, we're called to do a work. And it may not be that you're standing behind the pulpit or behind the lectern each Sunday. It may not be that you are in a official position within the church, but you have a job to do. The Lord wants all of us to be busy serving Him. And He's going to give us the grace to do it, amen, to accomplish what He's given us to do. For the work of the ministry, for the edifying then of the body of Christ. The word edifying, it means to build up, to build up. It comes from the root word behind it is an edifice. And so it's kind of like scaffolding. And you see a building being built, as they're putting those walls up and such, and they're doing the work on it, they've got the scaffolding around it to help those workers to be able to get to those crevices and places where they need to be in a safe manner, all right? And what is it? It's helping them, it's holding them up. It's supporting the work. And here, that's the idea behind this word edifying, that we would hold up each other. Think of our theme verse for this year, Hebrews 10.25, amen? We're to not to forsake the assembly of ourselves together, but so much the more. Why is that? For the edifying of the saints, that we would come together and edify one another, to build each other up. And again, if we go back to what we read in the previous verses, we need to protect the unity because if that front is not unified, it's not going to edify. Without unity, you're not going to have edification. We're gonna be tearing each other apart. We're gonna be breaking each other down. And you know what we need? We need to protect the unity so that, hey, we've got something to build upon, something that's gonna support us, something that's gonna support the work God is doing through us, amen? And he says, hey, we want to perfect the saints. We wanna accomplish the work of the ministry. We wanna edify the body of Christ, amen? And then he says, how long are we gonna do this? till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." Wow. Now, that won't be accomplished fully until we get to heaven. But we're to be working on that every day, growing more and more like the Lord. Amen. He wants us to be unified. Again, that word unity, it's the same word that Jesus prayed for there in John 17. Let's turn over there, okay? John 17 and verse 22. Let's look back up in verse 20. He says, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. So here he was not just praying for the 11, okay? He wasn't just praying for the disciples he had there in that moment that was following him in his earthly lifetime. But he said, but those that shall believe me through their word. He was speaking of us, amen? This was his prayer for us, wow. He says that they all may be one. as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Wow. How are we going to reach the world? Is it through giving up doctrine, giving up standards, and making compromises and such, and well, we'll see that we're all just gonna, the world will see we all get along, and then the world will appreciate us more, and that they'll feel more comfortable in our services and things if we kinda let some standards go and such. No, it's just the opposite. Just the opposite. We need to be one with our brothers in Christ. We need to be united in Christ. We need to be, we need to make more of Him, amen? And we need to be united in Him, not in what the world wants. You know, there's these churches these days that, you know, they go out and they're, what do they call it, seeker-friendly, you know? They take surveys and such. What do you want to, what do you look for in a church? You know, that unsafe community, you know? That's not what we're about. You know, we're unified in Christ. And we want to make much of Christ. And as we focus upon Him, then we ought to be unified as believers together in Christ. That's what He prayed for, all right? That the world may believe that Thou hast sent me. And He even says, He uses the comparison, as Thou, Father, art in me, and I in Thee. Wow. You don't get any closer than that. You know, Jesus told I believe it was the Pharisees he was speaking of, he says, I and my Father are one. If you've seen me, you've seen, he told the disciples, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. There was no division. We understand that the Trinity, and it's a blessed doctrine, the three in one, and yet they're one. Three distinct persons of God in one person. That's the way we're supposed to be as brothers and sisters. Yes, we're individuals. We don't lose our uniqueness when we get saved, our personality, all right? But we are to be identified in Christ. and not to be just identified as the one that can preach the best, or the one that can sing the best, or the one that has all these talents or skills, whatever it might be. But we just surrender all those talents to the Lord, and He uses them how He sees fit. And He fits us into the body, the way that He wants to use us, and where He wants us to serve. Amen. You know, again, I thank the Lord for our church, and this is preventative preaching tonight, but the Lord brings individuals into our congregation when we need them. and with what we need. And I'm not just talking about financial resource. I'm not really talking about that at all, okay? The Lord takes care of our needs, amen? But He knows that the talents and the skills that we as a congregation need to be able to reach our community, to be able to serve one another, to be able to serve people who come in and visit our church. He knows those things. And God brings us together. He unifies us, amen? He gives us that unity, and we need to protect that unity till we come to the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man. Again, that work is going to continue until we get to heaven, but that's the work that we need to allow God to do in our lives. and that we need to be active seeking His will to fulfill that in our lives every day. Amen? In closing tonight, I just ask you, are you seeking to edify your brothers, sisters, and the Lord? We have people that come and they're not members, maybe they just visit every now and then and such. Hey, if they're saved, we need to edify them. We need to help them. Of course, if they're not saved, we want to reach them, amen? We don't know a person's heart, I understand that, but hey, we certainly want to edify those that name the name of Christ. We want to help them. You know, I forget, some preacher from years back, he said, you know, that the church is not a place to show off. I'm not quoting exactly. It's not a place to come show off how spiritual you are and how good you are. He said the church is a hospital for hurting hearts and broken souls. And if they can't get help here, where else are they going to go? Hey, that's what we're here for, amen? We're here, and we don't have all the answers, but we have the one answer, and the answer's the Lord, the Word of God, amen? And we wanna build them up, we wanna support them and help them. Maybe there's a brother or sister in the Lord that you've had some differences with, and you need to sort that out. Hey, you know, the devil, again, he'll sift you. He'll sift you. He'll break you down. As I mentioned a while ago, you'll be the one that's not relying on the oil of the Spirit. You'll be the one that's burned out. You'll be the one that's hurting. Don't let that be you, Christian, okay? Don't get burned out over something that shouldn't be an issue. Something that really, hey, it's not a Bible doctrine. It's not, hey, it's just my opinion. It's just a preference, you know? And man, something so small you allow to become a big deal, so to speak, and it robbed you of the joy of the Lord, and then it robbed you from the rewards that you could get from serving the Lord. Don't let that be you tonight. Amen? Let's endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit. Let's edify one another.