So take your Bible and go to First Timothy, chapter number one, and by the grace of God, we'll finish chapter one tonight. As you are aware on Wednesday nights, at least the majority of Wednesday nights, we're going through the book of First Timothy, this wonderful pastoral epistle that to me favors the bylaws of a church. the instructions to a church on how to conduct itself. In fact, Paul says that is the reason why he wrote the letter to Timothy. In chapter three, he says, I'm writing this, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. And in this little epistle, this letter, Paul covers so many of the things that we need covered concerning a local church and how we are to conduct ourselves. And beginning at verse number 18, the last time we were in First Timothy, we finished at verse 17. So tonight we go to the next verse, verse 18. Laura Willen will look at verse 18, 19, and 20. And these are three verses that are quite interesting. They're unique. You might even have some difficulty personally and make an application to yourself because the emphasis here is on Timothy. Paul's putting the emphasis on Timothy, who is the pastor of the church there at Ephesus. And it also seems that in verse 18, Paul is reaching back and reconnecting to his original intent, his original thought that he left off in verse number four. Beginning in verse number five of the chapter, we have this parenthetical section where Paul deals with some other things. But really he's instructing, he's inspiring, illuminating the heart and the mind of this young pastor named Timothy. And here's what he says to him in verse number 18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee. Real quickly, that is a reference to the ordination of Timothy. When Timothy was ordained, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them, by those prophecies, by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some, having put away concerning faith, have made it shipwrecked of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. Now, those are interesting verses. But if you're going through a book of the Bible, you can't skip the verses. You have to deal with what God wants us to examine in those verses. So the next verses we have in our text is verses 18, 19, and 20, and they're emphasizing Timothy's ordination. Now I want to preach tonight on an ordained minister, an ordained minister. It was a privilege for myself to be ordained by the men, the presbytery that was conducting my ordination service and counsel. It was a stressful time. Because unless you've ever been through an ordination, you're the guy in the chair, you're the one being ordained until you go through that. There's really not much of a way to explain what that is and what that means. Here you are standing solo or sitting solo and there's a group of men. And most of them or some of them are older than you, more experienced than you. And now they're going to proceed to ask you questions. They're going to find out what you know, what you don't know. And they usually bring a long list of questions, many different topics. Most of it theological, few of it may be ministerial, but they'll begin to ask questions. And at the end of that ordination council, if they see fit that you have so-called passed the test, they'll lay hands on you and they'll pray over you and ask God for certain blessings and things in your life. And what they're doing is they are ordaining you. They are confirming that they put their stamp of approval on you and your capability in the ministry. Now, I was asked the question, and many are asked this question in their ordination. I was asked the question by my pastor. He said, what if this council chooses not to ordain you? What will you do? And I said, I'm still gonna preach because God called me to preach. However, I don't believe that we need to have rogue preachers, long rangers, I believe God has set this thing up in such a way where the church of Jesus Christ confirms and sends out its preachers into the ministry. God calls them, God sends them, but he does so through that local church and men of God in their lives. We need, preachers need accountability. We need accountability. I have two men in my life. that if I need strong counsel, if I need rebuke, if I need direction, I have two men in my life that help me in that area, Brother Bobby Stewart and Brother David Phillips. They counsel me. They give me direction. If need be, fuss at me. We need accountability. Every one of us do. None of us need to try this thing on our own, this idea of I don't need the local church. What fool come up with that idea? If you're saved, you need the local church, a place that you can be faithful and people can not watch you to criticize you, but God wants us to notice when someone's hurting. God wants us to notice when someone is losing it, if you will, in their spirituality. God wants us to be accountable to one another. God doesn't want you guys to pastor each other as one pastor for a church, but he does want us all to be accountable. He does want all of us to be concerned with the spiritual health of one another. And so it is with a pastor. And that's why a pastor goes through that ordination. In fact, let me begin by saying this tonight. Look at verse number 18. This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy. I want to say something about the covenant of an ordained minister. The covenant of an ordained minister. Now, Paul says this charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee. According to the prophecies, and where he says prophecies, he's not speaking necessarily in mystical terms. The word prophecy in the Bible, yes, sometimes it means foretelling something, but oftentimes, if not most of the time, it means foretelling something. Declarations. Instructions. Directions. Commands. All of those things fall under the term prophecies. And he's saying, Timothy, when we, as the men of God, placed our hands on you and we gave you direction and we gave you instruction, we gave you enlightenment, we gave you the truth of God's word, that went on before you. He says, based upon that, I am commanding you. Now, here's my point. Timothy accepted those instructions. He accepted those prophecies, if you will. He said yes to this. If he says no, he doesn't pass the ordination. He says yes, that means he entered into a covenant with those men that ordained him. They said yes to him, and he said yes to them. In fact, Paul says a few things about Timothy's ordination. Look at chapter four, verse 14, chapter four, verse 14. He says to Timothy, neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy. That's that same instruction in chapter one. With the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. That's the ordination council. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number one. 2 Timothy one, look at verse number six. He says, wherefore I put thee in remembrance, this is Paul again talking to Timothy, wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting on of hands. He's speaking of that ordination council. Now in chapter five, go back to 1 Timothy. Look at chapter five of 1 Timothy. Look at verse 22 and watch Paul's warning to Timothy. Watch Paul's warning to Timothy about ordaining other preachers himself. He says, lay hands suddenly on no man. Neither be a partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself pure. He says, lay hands suddenly on no man. In other words, don't ordain anyone quickly. They need to go through a proving time themselves before you put your stamp of approval upon that individual. So we see the Bible has a lot to say. Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 1. So we see the Bible has a lot to say about Timothy's ordination, but there's a covenant involved here. If you walk into my office in the old church, go straight through the side door here, go to the corner, you look to the left behind the desk up on the wall, you'll see my ordination certificate. I'm very grateful for the names that are on That certificate, a few of them have went on to be with the Lord. One is my pastor, Dr. Ed McAbee. His name is at the top. One is my uncle, Jimmy, Jimmy Upton. His name's on there. He's in heaven. He was on my ordination council. And I'm very grateful for the names of the men that are on that ordination. I'm grateful for the date or the dates of my ordination. On September 19th, 2003, was the ordination council. The next day, September 20th, was the ordination service. And I'm very grateful for those dates. They're very special to me. And here's why. My father, my dad, died and went home to be with the Lord on September 19th. And his birthday was September 20th. We didn't plan it that way. We planned the ordination, picked the dates, and it wasn't until the day of the ordination council we realized that was my dad's birthday and death date that I was ordained on those particular days. So a lot of special things surround my ordination, and I'm very grateful. But in that ordination, I entered into a covenant with those men. They said, Joy, this is what you believe. I said, yes, that's what I believe. And many of those beliefs, I had to spell it out. I had to explain it. Here's what I believe. Here's how I stand. And if at any point in time in my life, in my ministry, I choose to go against what I told those men on that day, I am obligated to find one of those men who are still alive and take them back, my ordination, say, I am not approved anymore. I told them where I would stand. I looked at my pastor in the eyeballs, and I promised him I would only use a King James Bible. If I ever lay down a King James Bible and pick up another translation and preach out of that, when I get to heaven, I have to apologize to my preacher. The point is, when a man is ordained, he enters into a covenant. with those on his council, he's telling them, I'm going to be what you think I am right now. I'm going to be that for the rest of my ministry. I believe it's a very serious issue. That's why the Bible says so much about it. But consider the commands to an ordained minister. In verse number 18, he says, this charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith, and a good conscience. There are three commands here. An ordained minister must be a man that fights. He says that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Now this warfare is not against the church. And a preacher's certainly not to fight against Christians. In fact, in chapter number three, concerning the ordinations, excuse me, the qualifications of a pastor. Look at chapter three, verse three, talking about the qualifications of the pastor. Not giving a whine, no striker. Y'all know I'm not allowed to run around and hit people? I'm not saying I've never wanted to, but I'm not allowed to. That's what it says. Not greedy a filthy lucre, but patient. I'm supposed to be patient with you. I'm obligated. If I become an impatient pastor, I could risk disqualifying myself. Not a brawler. That's someone who's always looking for a fight. I'm not allowed to look for a fight. I'm to be a peacemaker. However, There is a fight to be fought. He says in chapter 1 to Timothy that thou mightest war good warfare. In fact, go to 2 Timothy real quickly. Look at these verses. And these verses are not just simply applicable to a preacher. They're applicable to all of us. Look at 2 Timothy 2, verse number three. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. The ministry is very difficult. Our dear brother said that a moment ago. He was running from the call because of the difficulty he saw in the ministry in his father's own life. But the Bible commands that you endure hardness as a good soldier. Verse four, no man that woreth entangling himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who had chosen him to be a soldier, to be a soldier. We're in the middle of a fight, a war, and an ordained minister is called to go to war, not against people, certainly not against the church, not against Christians, but against hell itself, the demons of this world, the influences of this world, whatever is out there that wants to spiritually destroy this body, a pastor, a God-called ordained minister has been called to go to war. I'll say more about that in just a moment. An ordained minister is to be a man that fights. He's to be a man of faith, verse 19, holding faith. What you say you believe, you hang on to it. To be a man of fidelity, honesty, integrity, look what it says, a good conscience. The only way a man can minister with a good conscience, he has to be honest. He has to do things correctly. He has to have integrity, fidelity. That's one of the reasons why I don't mess with the money here at Fundamental Baptist Church. I don't even have a key to the office where they have the records. I don't want a key to that office. I don't feel like I'm tempted, but I could have a bad day just like anybody else could. There's no sense in me even putting that in front of myself. If I need to counsel with a lady, I'm not gonna go in my office and shut that door. You know how many preachers and ministries have been destroyed because the preacher was an idiot and he shut the door behind him with a woman going through marital problems or whatever? That's foolishness. Ladies, you're gonna get used to it. If I'm gonna counsel you, If we can talk out here and open where everybody's seeing that's one thing But if we have to talk privately my wife's gonna be with me My wife's gonna be with me Every time there's no exceptions And even if I did have a key to that room where the records are kept even if I did shut the door I with a woman inside, and I did nothing. The Bible says abstain from all appearance of evil, first of all. But number two, I already know I've crossed a line that I've placed in my life. My conscience will be bothered. In order for me to keep a good conscience, I have to make sure I don't cross those barriers. And by the way, I know I'm talking about an ordained minister. There are barriers that are good for you in your life as well. in 1 Timothy. Paul tells Timothy, you're to be an example to the believers. So if I'm to be an example to the believer, that means you have to be engaged in the warfare as well. That means you need to hold faith. You need to know what you believe, why you believe it, and stick with it. And you need to have a good conscience. You need to live in such a way where your conscience doesn't beat you up because you're always doing something that causes you to be guilty. You need a clean, pure conscience. In fact, Paul is a wonderful example of this. In fact, even in 2 Timothy, take your Bible, go to 2 Timothy chapter four, the last chapter of 2 Timothy. In fact, this is the last epistle, the last letter of the apostle Paul. He's gonna die very shortly after 2 Timothy. But look how he dies. Remember, the three commands for that ordained minister, you are to war good warfare, holding faith, good conscience. Look what Paul says about himself just before he dies for the cause of Christ. 2 Timothy 4, look at verse 7. He says, I have fought a good fight. There's that good warfare. I have finished my course. That's that good conscience. I have kept the faith. He's holding faith. Y'all see that? Paul is finishing like he has commanded his young preacher to do. And wouldn't it be wonderful when you come down to the end of your life, whether you're ordained or not, wouldn't it be wonderful for you to be able to say on your deathbed, I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I did what God wanted me to do, and I have kept the faith. I got saved, I believe the Bible, and I let this world believe in the Bible. That's a good way to live, friend. That's a good way to live, and that's a good way to leave. Go back to 1 Timothy, please, chapter one. We see the covenant of an ordained minister. I am obligated by those who are on my council to continue faithfully. I've been given some commands as an ordained minister. Every ordained minister has. But lastly, notice the conflicts of an ordained minister. Now I mentioned earlier, and Paul mentions earlier, fighting that good warfare. An ordained minister will face conflicts. Ordained ministers and Christians in general have inward spiritual battles. That's why in verse 19 he says, holding faith, that's inward, and a good conscience, that's inward. Those are inward spiritual battles. There'll be things that come up in a preacher's life or a Christian's life that will cause you to question what you have believed. That's why he puts the command, holding faith. There are inward struggles in anybody's life, temptations that may be there that'll cause you to do something foolish and sinful and it'll damage your conscience. These are real inward spiritual battles that preachers and everyone face. But the preacher also has, as well as others, outward spiritual battles. That's why he says in verse number 18, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare. Remember, this warfare is not against the church or Christians. Let me tackle this issue real quickly. If I, in this pulpit, or any other preacher in this pulpit, is preaching that book, That's not an attack on you if what we're saying out of the book contradicts you. If you're living one way and we show you a verse that says you're living wrong, that's not an attack. But we're living in 2024 where everybody thinks, everybody's so sensitive. We're eating up with snowflakeology. Nobody can take it. The Bible says in 2nd Timothy that you are to endure sound doctrine. You have to endure sound doctrine. Because sometimes it hurts. It rubs the wrong way. But it's not an attack on you. Well, I'm leaving the church. I'm out of here. That preacher jumped on me. No, he didn't. He told you what God said. The problem's not the preacher or God or the Word of God. It's you. It's not an attack. My war, any preacher's war is not with the people. You wanna see who we're fighting? Take you to a very familiar verse. Go to Ephesians 6, please. That great warfare chapter in the Bible, Ephesians 6. Look at verse number 12. Ephesians 6 verse 12, I'm going to start reading. You catch up when you get there. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. But against principalities, these are spiritual entities here against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Those are terms for demons and fallen angels and hellish creatures. It's not human beings, not flesh and blood. but satanic entities. That's who we're fighting against. Hell, Satan, his demons hates this church and any other Bible-believing church. I had a preacher who used to attend here, told me maybe six, seven months after I got here, called me on the phone, he said, He said the devil has tried to destroy fundamental Baptist church so many times. But it always comes back stronger. And I don't think we've seen our last attack. I wish we had it. That'd be really nice. We've not went through our last trial as a congregation. But there's a reason why. You're sitting here tonight and we have a good Wednesday night crowd in a very nice building on nice property on a very hot Louisiana Wednesday night. There's a reason why we're still here. Because greater is he that's in me and you than he that's in this world. And the fight is not with each other. It's with Satan. It's with the demons of hell. That's who this battle is against. Now, go back to 1 Timothy 1. We'll finish this thought tonight. We're talking about the conflicts of an ordained minister. I'm not going to get turned there, but in 1 Corinthians 9, the apostle Paul lays out instructions for how a church is supposed to take care of its preacher or preachers in general. how churches are to take care of its ministers. And in there it says, who goeth a war of his own charges? He's comparing that preacher to a soldier that's gone to war because we're in a war. When a preacher climbs in the pulpit, he is in a war. There's a fight taking place. I'm not trying to garner sympathy or anything, but it's just the nature of the ministry. Hell hates what's happening this very second. That was why last October, I'm convinced of it. October 11th, I don't think I'll ever forget the date. I'm preaching in this pulpit on Satan's desire to destroy Israel. Just a few days after Hamas invaded. And those four doors and those doors were blowing at the same time. An explosion takes place on the telephone pole. Every wire in the postage had to be changed. Clint could have lost his life that night. My family could have lost their lives that night. We were all in danger and didn't even know it. Clint goes to touch that water heater to turn the water off because it's spewing everywhere, not knowing the damage and not knowing that electricity was still flowing through the house, even though all the breakers were off. And the Holy Ghost told him, don't touch that. The Holy Spirit literally saved his life that night. There was a war going on. I was preaching on the war in the Middle East. There was one going on over here. Hell hates Fundamental Baptist Church. By the way, I hate them too. I know I don't get in all those stories. I wish you could know my pastor. They nicknamed him Bulldog for a reason. One, he would attack. If he knew he had to attack, he'd attack, but his jaws would shake. Like a bulldog when he had to it was he could get brutal. I'm not going to go into the details. I'm not I'm going to be very, very. I'm going to slip around things on all the details, but he had to deal with a demon possessed young girl in the church. And she looked at him in a demonic deep voice and said, I hate you. At the altar, I hate you. Wish you knew my preacher. He looked back and said, I hate you, too, devil. I hate you, too. And then pulled all jaws, just a flapping. I hate hell. I hate the devil. I hate demons. And they hate this church. But greater is he that is in me and he that's in the world. I gave you this quote before Kenneth Ridings, that great Southern Baptist preacher from North Carolina, said years ago, he said, if he said you are in God's will, If God is not finished with you, you are invincible. You're invincible. That's not an arrogant statement. It's a truth. If you're in God's will and God's not finished with you, you're invincible. But that doesn't mean the fight doesn't get scary. It doesn't mean it doesn't get tiring. It does. The ordained minister has to engage. He's a hireling. They'll be gone as soon as it gets difficult. Going to the next easy job. I had a family member pastored. I say family member. His wife is like a distant cousin. I don't know. I don't have enough fingers to tell you how many churches he's pastored. And every time it got hard. He go find another church. That's a hireling. He was a good man. Morally, he's a good man. He was a good preacher, but he wouldn't stay and fight the good fight of faith. That's why I appreciate men like Brother Rusty Silvertooth. When he walked into this place, it needed a Rusty Silvertooth. And he stayed for 19 years because he's not a hireling. And by the way, he cleaned some stuff up while he was here. And I'm thankful for that. But that's what a man of God does. He stays and he deals with the fight, not against the people. It's not against the church, but it is against spiritual wickedness in high places. Look at what he says in 1 Timothy 1. He says in verse 19, hold of faith, good conscience, which Here's part of this conflict, which some, some ministers, having put away, and the implication is there, they threw it away willfully. They got rid of it willfully. They didn't want it. Want what? Concerning faith. They didn't hold the faith. And they made shipwreck, have made shipwreck. They ruined their ministry, it's just wreckage now. That's what happens. When a preacher doesn't fight the good fight of faith and he gives in, he doesn't hold faith. He crosses boundaries. He makes shipwreck. Watch what he says here. Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander. Paul's naming names here. And I'm gonna give you my philosophy on naming names. He names names of men here that are absolute heretics. We know that. He's naming, he says here, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. He's talking about their theology, and I'm gonna show you that in just a moment. He doesn't want them to blaspheme anymore. They need to learn not to blaspheme. They are heretics. There's two groups of people that Paul would name. He would name people who were absolute heretics, Hymenaeus and Alexander. In fact, let me prove that they're heretics real quickly. Go over to 2 Timothy chapter 2 real quickly. I don't want to spend a lot of time here. 2 Timothy 2, look at verse 17. And their word, what they're preaching, will eat as doth a canker, a gangrene, a cancer, a disease. of whom is Hymenaeus. There's that guy. And another friend, Philetus, who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith of some. These were heretics teaching a false doctrine that the resurrection had taken place already. It was destroying people's faith in the word of God, in the Bible, in Christ. They were heretics. There's Hymenaeus. He also mentions Alexander. You know 2 Timothy? Look at chapter 4, verse 14. 2 Timothy 4, verse 14. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his words. He names these heretics, these false doctrine preachers. He names them because he has to. They're that dangerous. But he also names Someone who walked away from him completely left the ministry and got out into the world. That's Demas You're in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 look at verse 10 for Demas hath forsaken me having loved this present world He came Demas in that interested now Demas might have had rock theology, but he walked away he left the ministry and Everybody's gonna know it he names him Everybody knows it, he names it. Everybody knows Hymenaeus, Alexander, Philetus, these are heretics, and he names them. They're teaching false doctrine, they're destroying the faith of others, he names them. But there was this conspicuous group that Paul refused to name. Go to Philippians 1 real quickly, Philippians 1. He would not expose this group by name even though they were wicked. and not doing right, if you will, by the Word of God and the church and the ministry. Look at Philippians 1. I'm almost done, by the way. I know what time it is. You need to be very glad I know what time it is at times. Philippians 1, verse number 16. Excuse me, let's look at verse 15. Look at verse 15, I'm sorry. Some indeed preach Christ, even of envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely. They're preaching Christ, but they're doing it to try to hurt another ministry. They want to fight other good preachers. Not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. Here's someone who's preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, but they're trying to hurt the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Look at verse 17. But the other of love, knowing that I am sent for the defense of the gospel. What then, notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense, whether they're faking it or in truth, they're real, Christ is preached. And I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. He did not name their names. They're trying to hurt his ministry, but they're preaching Christ, and he refused to name their names. And that's why there are some names I won't Mention I won't call out outwardly and loudly from this pulpit Because though I don't think they're good men and I even think they're hurting the ministry. I have to rejoice that they're preaching Christ They're preaching Christ Who will we call out those who aren't preaching Christ They're preaching heresy, but they're preaching Christ and but they're hurting the ministry, though they're preaching Christ, Paul avoided mentioning them. And that's why I need to be careful with what I say and who I speak of. Now go back to 1 Timothy, I'm wrapping this up. 1 Timothy, chapter one. That doesn't mean I don't ever want to call their names. I mean, if you know who I am, you know I like sometimes to call a name, but I'm obligated by the scriptures to not call everybody's name. But he says, of whom Hymenaeus and Alexander whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. What does this mean that he handed them over to Satan? There's not a lot of information in the Bible about this, but I'll give you this and I'll close with this. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, we have a man who is having an immoral affair with his stepmother. But he was arrogant about it. He was unrepentant about it. And the church at Corinth was proud that they were putting up with it. And Paul said, you need to purge out the old leaven. In other words, excommunicate him. Paul said, we turn him over to Satan to destroy his flesh that he might be saved in the day of the Lord. In other words, what Paul said is, we're gonna kick him out, you kick him out of the church, get rid of him, hand him over to Satan, so hopefully he will learn that he's wrong, and if he's lost, he'll get saved. If he's saved, hopefully he'll get right, but this'll make sure that he, we'll do our best to help him get saved, because if we keep him in the church, and we keep pettin' him, and lovin' on him, and helpin' him think that this is okay, he'll never get saved if he's lost, and he'll never get right if he is saved. At the end of that chapter, Paul said, if anyone who has called a brother is a fornicator or they're covetous. He listed a bunch of things. He says, you don't eat with them. You don't fellowship with them. If they're unrepentant, if it's someone who is struggling in sin, they're fighting it. They don't want to live that way. That's a different story. We help them. But if someone who's living in gross, open sin and they don't they don't think there's anything wrong with it, they're going to keep living that way. And today in our churches, we're dealing with transgenderism and homosexuality, things of this nature. And they don't want to repent of that. They don't want to they don't want to straighten up. They think they're right. They think they're OK. Paul's plan according to scripture here is excommunication. You've got to go and we're not going to take you out to eat. Now if it's your own family. That's a different story. It's your son your daughter as tragic as it is. That's family. You're obligated to look out after your family but the rest of us. we have to disassociate ourselves with someone who's called a brother or a sister in Christ. We know there's sinners out there. They do this all the time. That's a sinner. We win them, we go after them. But if it's a brother or a sister who's living like that and they will not repent, they will not get right, they gotta go. We have to cut off that relationship because if they stay and they, and their sins are massaged, and they think everything is just fine. And this is just a church, and we are loving, but we're unloving if we use love as a cloak for putting up with people's sins. That's dangerous. That's dangerous. And I believe that's what Paul was talking about here. He said, I hand them over to Satan, we excommunicate them so they'll learn not to blaspheme. Yes, he loves everybody. but he will not tolerate sinful church members. Ever. And we will go with this over anybody's opinion. In fact, if you don't do it like this, it's not love. It's not love. Y'all understand me? It's loving. to put your stamp of approval on somebody else's sin.