Step into some waters that preachers need to step into. With all the chaos going on in this world and in our own country, churches and pastors have always been a very calming influence. Ones that can just kind of keep their heads and say, let me give you God's perspective on some things. Because all this chaos that we're seeing, it's because people aren't thinking right. People aren't thinking straight. And regardless of which side you want to pick in any issue, people just aren't thinking straight. It's almost like common sense has, it used to not be common, but now it's like it's absent. It's like it's non-existent. Outside of a few folks and so tonight I just want to talk to you about about the Bible and give you the Bible thing and it's a the title is twofold Simply the Bible says there is no difference There is no Difference and I call this the Bible cure for racism bigotry class warfare and social unrest I Want you to listen to me? The Bible cure for racism, bigotry, class warfare, and social unrest. These are not new issues. They're new to America in many ways like we've seen. But these are not new issues in the context of the world and world history. And so the Bible gives us one simple statement. could fix an awful lot of trouble. There is no difference. You say, Preacher, there's differences. Oh, we're going to talk about that. Yes, there's differences. But there really isn't a difference. And let's talk about this. Look at Romans chapter 3 and verse 21. And we'll read verses 21 through 26 responsibly. Romans 3, verse 21, the Word of God says, But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there is no difference For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at this time, His righteousness, that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. And then let's pray. Father, we ask that you would help us tonight, give us a lot of wisdom as we discuss this needy things of the hour. And chaos abounds, but your grace more abounds. And I pray that we could inject you into some of these discussions that the world could see Christ. Help her in as she sees her need. Boy, I pray that we wouldn't fall into the arms of false saviors, but that we would look to the true Savior. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Our world is riddled with bigotry. Class warfare, now social unrest, they call it, which is basically a nice way of saying people don't know what to do, so they're doing bad stuff. They're so frustrated, they're so worked up, they're so frothed up in all of these things that they don't know what to do, so they feel like the only thing they can do are bad things, whether that be rioting or looting or shooting people. Craziness. My frustration lies with the people that should be helping the situation often just pour fire on the situation They often end up causing more problems and more difficulties in America we've seen this and it's been throughout the world but in America specifically for these last decades this class warfare and People found out a long time ago that if you can pit one group of people against another group of people, then you not only tear down the unity of the things they have in common. You see, we all forget we're Americans. We all forget we have to live in the same town. We're neighbors. We go to the same stores. We live in the same country. All that's forgotten because of these micro-divisions. And the Bible says, and Jesus said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. So Satan's no fool. All these divisions, and we see classes of people pitted against each other, the rich versus the poor. Is that really the battle that needs to be fought? Now make no mistake about it, in everything I'm going to say, there are injustices in the world. There are rich people who get rich by taking advantage of other people. There's no doubt. I used to work for some of them. I worked for a guy one time, and I said, your definition of saving money is taking it out of my paycheck. And he would. Every contract he would break, and every time he owed me money, he would find some reason to give me less. And I eventually stopped working for him, but I didn't go burn his house down. There's always injustices in every area of life. But the real battle in the world is not the rich versus the poor. I've never worked for a poor person. Think about what I said. I've never worked for a poor person. Poor people don't give people jobs. The very fabric of an economy is based upon there are some people that are willing to do work that other people are willing to pay them for. Now, you can get into all the details of that, but common sense tells me I need to find somebody that wants something done and listen to what I'm going to say. Maybe they just don't want to do it themselves. They can pay me to do it. I'll take your money. I'll happily do it. Rich versus the poor. We live in a world where poor people are taught they are owed something. America used to teach that if you're born poor, one of the great promises of America is if you work hard enough and you try hard enough and all of these things, you have the opportunity to become anything you want to be. But now that thought is being removed and there's no reason to try. Because the truth is you don't deserve everything you have and somebody needs to just come in and take some of yours and give it to me, but they forget that the same person has the power to take what I've got and give it to somebody else. These things never work well. Communism, socialism, all these ideas, they don't work, they're unscriptural, they're unbiblical. But the devil and even some people in our world want you to see the world as rich versus poor. I've worked with poor people. I've seen people eat out of a trash can. I don't like it. There are changes that need to be made. But the people that should be trying to fix the problem are the ones teaching us to hate each other. And there's the rub. We are taught in the last few generations that it's old versus young. And this really started back in the 40s and 50s. And probably before that, there's always been kind of this generation gap. But it was my music versus dad's music and mom's music. And that was your lifestyle, but we're young. And we're just different. And that might be how you live, but this is how we live. And it's almost this old versus young. And it ought not be that way. The Bible says that the older teach the younger, and the younger are to respect and honor to take care of the older. You see, there's a symphony at place in the way God created the world. There's a symbiotic relationship where one takes care of the other. One has something to offer, and the other has something to offer. And if one of us dies, we all die. If one of us suffers, we all suffer. But unity begins to be torn apart by these micro-divisions. We're taught this whole racial thing. Whites vs. everybody. Whites vs. Mexicans. Whites vs. Asians. Whites vs. Blacks. Whites vs. whatever. And then we're not even Americans anymore. This is an Italian-American. This is an African-American. This is an Asian-American. I told somebody recently, I don't know what I am. Back when I was born, we weren't keeping track. It was like, I'm kind of English, and I'm kind of this, and I'm a mutt. And the truth is, all of us, we just kind of look around and say, well, I'm just a mutt. I'm just kind of everything. It wasn't a big deal. I was an American. People used to come to America because they wanted to be an American. People from Mexico came to America to be an American. People from Puerto Rico came to be an American. People from Italy came to be an American. People from France came to be an American. People from England came to be Americans. That's why they came. It wasn't a big deal. But what happened? Someone taught us that, oh, there's differences, and so you have to divide down these lines. It's ridiculous. Satan is the master divider. And by the way, it's not just whites versus, you go all around the world, there is bigotry all over the world. Every country you go into, there's bigotry. And it's usually the majority is bigoted against the minority. It's usually the way it is. You can go to another country where you're the minority and you can feel very uncomfortable. And even unsafe. Nowadays, it's this whole cops versus whoever. You got people shooting policemen. More police officers killed last night or today. Crazy. And the reasoning doesn't even matter. Well, there's bad policemen. Well, I've had bad doctors. My wife's had bad doctors, but we don't go shooting doctors. I got falsely arrested one day. I got thrown in jail for almost three days. It happened on a weekend, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. I got thrown in jail. I'm a preacher on my way to soul winning. I get arrested over a clerical error. I get thrown in the holding cell. They didn't even have paperwork because nobody knew why I was there, so they couldn't process me to get a hot meal and a warm bed. I slept on concrete for two days in a 55 degree holding cell with a three foot by three foot blanket. Was that fair? It taught me some things. I'm like, I don't belong here. They're like, that's what you all say. No, really. I don't belong here. Why am I here? You know why you're here. Really, I don't know why I'm here. I walked up to the place and they're like, we don't know why you're here. That's what I'm telling everybody. Well, since we don't know why you're here, you can't. We don't know what to do with you, so go over there. Crazy. Now, I'm not putting that up to... And here's what you do. Well, my experience is worse than yours. Okay, so we're going to do that. Well, here's my scar. Here's my scar. Here's what happened to me. Okay, do you want to play that game? Listen, maybe you had it worse than me. Maybe I had it worse than you. Division! We'll fight over anything. You see, the world wants us to focus on differences and then declare one group of people better than another for some reason. This group is better because... This group is better because... This group deserves specialized treatment because... This group deserves more money because... See, there's always this idea of deserving and who's better and who deserves more, who deserves less. Those are all the wrong questions, folks. The truth is not a one of us deserve anything but hell. Look up in here in the preacher, young people. Not a one of you deserve anything but hellfire. You say, well, I don't like that. I didn't say it. God said it. That's right. Amen. I just want to show you a couple things tonight on how God sees the world. Let's kind of push the reset button on all this craziness. I just want to take you to some portions of Scripture. And when these things come up, I want you to be able to talk biblically about them. I want you to be able to kind of pause, push the pause button with people and say, well, have you ever considered this? Or maybe the Bible says this, or here's the answer for all this mess that's going on. And the Bible gives us some good things. And I have no doubt somebody's going to take something I said and, listen, now it's everybody against everybody. It's the LGBT, and now they've added a Q. I don't even know what the Q stands for. I don't even know what that means. I guess you can just add any letter behind it. L-G-B-Q-T-T-Q-P. Let's throw preachers in there, because why can't I get specialized treatment? I mean, we're different. We're weird, amen? Nobody likes us, so what's the problem there? Listen, you're a homophobe. Really? Have we gotten to the place in America where two grown-ups can't look at each other and say, I disagree, without one of them wanting to stab the other? Have we really gotten to the place where two adults can't say, you know what, I disagree with you and here's why, without you wanting to burn my house down and plaster me all over the news and write newspaper articles about me and stalk my family? Is that really where we're at? Because that's what happens. Let me tell you this before we move on. The battle is none of these things. The true battle is good versus evil. The true battle is God versus Satan. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. There is a spiritual battle taking place that you and I can't see with our physical eyes. We can sense it with our spirit. We know of it through the Scripture. But there is a spiritual battle taking place that has nothing to do with each other. It has to do with God versus Satan. And who are we going to align ourselves with? Listen, I just always want to be on God's side. Give me an issue, let me find out where God is, and that's where you'll find me. That's where I want to be. How are you going to vote? I'm going to find out where God is, and I'm going to do what I think God would do. I want to vote for people who I think are closest to the Scripture. It's very simple. It's good versus evil. We don't have to break it down into all these micro wars and fights. Let me show you how God sees the world Look at Revelation chapter 5, and we've looked at this verse previously. Revelation chapter 5. God acknowledges the difference among humanity, because there are obvious differences. Look, we look different. If you're from a different part of the world, then you look different from other people from a different part of the world. That's just common knowledge. Does that make one of us better than another? Let me ask you this, if somebody's disabled, does that make you who can walk better than someone who can't walk? Does that make you that can hear better than someone that can't hear? If your skin's darker than mine, does that make you better? If your skin's lighter than mine, does that make you better? No, not at all. There are differences in the world, but the differences aren't meant to divide us. Differences can be acknowledged and appreciated without them causing division. Look at Revelation 5 and verse 9. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood. And we see these divisions out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. So there's four divisions here God sees. Let me just explain these. A kindred is a family difference. Listen, every family in this room, you do things differently. My family's going to do things different than yours. We probably eat a little bit different food. We live in different houses. We probably structure our family a little bit different. Now, all of those differences are fine as long as they don't transgress Scripture. As soon as what your family does transgresses the Scripture, now it's a sin. And that's still not a me-better-than-you problem, that's a good-versus-evil problem. But all of us are different. And so God acknowledges family differences. Then he goes on to talk about the tongue. God acknowledges language differences. Languages divide. We find that out at the Tower of Babel. There's a natural division along communication lines. And so, languages are very different. English is a very different language than, let's say, Spanish. And English is... Spanish is very different than Chinese. And I've learned how to say two Chinese words, nǐ hǎo, which means, give me my food. No, it doesn't. It means, hello. And shì shì. Shì shì. What's that mean? Thank you. And I'm usually saying it when I'm thanking them for my Chinese food. Amen? Thank you very much. I'm going to go home. And General Tsao is one of my best friends. I just love the guy. We've become close over the years. But it's a very different language. But you know, you hear those people talking and it just kind of sounds like... What is that? It's almost like babble to us. Because there's a natural division. But I don't look at them and say... Look, they're different. No, they're different. They're different. God acknowledges differences. He acknowledges family differences. He acknowledges language differences. He acknowledges the next word is people. These would be cultural differences. And listen, in America, our food's different than even in England. We look a lot the same, we talk a little bit different, but the food is... Listen, I don't eat bangers and mash. I usually don't have a meat pie. I don't like the liver. The kids are singing about liver and all this kind of stuff. And listen, some of those cultural differences are wonderful. Like, thank God for the different foods and the Chinese food. And we were in Chicago and I got to eat some good old-fashioned Spanish food. And praise the Lord for that. And I love Italian food. Some of those cultural differences stay. But we don't look at food usually and say, oh, I hate you for your food. I hate you for your... It's just... It's acknowledged. You know, I appreciate that. I don't like that so much. But we're not willing to go to war over it. But there's other cultural differences. People tend to dress a little bit different. People tend to... Their music is a little bit different between cultures. And so there are these cultural differences and God acknowledges those. And then we see the last one is nation. There are national differences. Our nation does things different than other nations. And we have different days, like 4th of July. Other nations don't celebrate the 4th of July. I guarantee you, England doesn't celebrate the 4th of July. Wasn't a good day for them. And so, there are these national differences. But watch this, God sees the differences. But in heaven we're all together. In heaven we're all singing the same song. In heaven we're all trusting the same God. We are saved by the same blood. Here's the world's cure for racism. Don't notice the difference. Pretend like there's no difference at all. And we're all kind of like, but there's a difference. No, there's really not. Pretty sure there's a difference. You can't say that. Okay, but there's still a difference. You know, there's like some rebellion in us that's like, we all intuitively know that's not the answer. The answer's not just to pretend like that there's no differences. The answer is to acknowledge the differences and to appreciate the differences. Who's the best people? God tends to like all of them. It's like asking, what's the best tea? I don't know, what kind of mood are you in? What's your taste like? Do you want a white tea? Do you want a green tea? Do you want a black tea? Is it morning? Is it noon? Or is it night? What about coffee? Do you like a single-bean variety? Do you like a multi-bean variety? Do you like a dark roast, medium roast, light roast? Do you like a mix? Do you like it from Africa? Do you like it from Asia? It's like, which is the best? Well, you can have your preference, but the truth is, folks, it's all still coffee, and it's all drinkable. But see, what happens when we talk about food is the differences become appreciated and, oh, this cheese is a little different. And, oh, that adds a little bit of different flavor. But somehow when we look at people, when we look at cultures, when we look at all these things, we begin to think that they're enemies versus something that can be appreciated. God says, I look at your differences and I acknowledge them. and I appreciate them, but you're all the same on the most basic level. Watch this. Every person alive needs to eat to live. Every person alive needs to drink water to live. Every person alive needs to drink clean air. Every person alive needs to feel loved. They want to feel appreciated. Every person alive needs a savior. Every person alive is loved by God. For God so loved the white people that He gave. For God so loved the black people, hashtag Black Lives Matter. No, no. For God so loved the world. We're all important. God loves everybody. And if you think different, you've got a problem with God. I go down south and preach about racism, and it's like, whoa, can he do that? I was like, yeah, still, yeah. It's in the Bible. I'll preach anything in the Bible anywhere, anytime. Let's go down to North Carolina and preach against tobacco, amen? Let's go out to Coors in the shadow of Bush Mountain and preach about alcohol. Listen, folks, it doesn't matter where you're at or when you're at or who you're with, the truth is still the truth. God loves Everybody. So, here's one of the biggest fallacies in the world, this whole idea of race. I hate it when we talk about different races. Do you know that there aren't different races in the world? That there's one race? It's the human race? The human race? White's not a race. Black's not a race. Asian's not a race. All these kind of things. There are no races. They've actually in recent years changed the word, the definition of race to a social construct. It's interesting how they try to play with words. They've tried to change it into a social construct. You know where the idea of race came from? Was it the negative byproduct of evolution? Darwinian evolution taught that there are some people, there are some humans that are more evolved than other humans. And so there are some of us people alive that are more perfect than other groups of people. And that's where you see this idea of race come into being. Listen, why did Hitler believe that his was the master race, blond-haired, blue-eyed Germans? Because that came from an idea of Darwinian evolution that said that, listen, they thought that black people were apish. They thought that other people who didn't have white people who didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes weren't as evolved. And folks, we're still living in this world using their verbiage, and it's a verbiage of division. There are no races. There's one race, human race. Every one of us is a descendant from Adam and Eve. And if you go back from that, if you go back to the flood, every one of us is descended from three sons. Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Everybody else in the world came from the same family. Let me show you an interesting verse here that you can use in all this mess. Look at Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. I hope this helps you. We need to have an answer. We need to know a scriptural concept of all this mess. Look at Acts chapter 17. And the great verse 26, this is part of a message. Verse 26, and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. So it's interesting, you can study where Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah, you can study where they settled and people groups tended to settle in specific areas or habitations. And then based on where they were settled, then you see all the variations come through that we see different colors and different heights and different, the difference between the dominant recessive things that were able to come out because of family groups. Don't you know that families tend to look alike? that my kids tend to look like my wife and I? They don't look like the mailman? If they did, I'd be asking some questions, amen? It's like, this is a problem. That ain't supposed to happen. And so, yes, there are family differences. But that doesn't make my family better than yours or your better than mine. Look here. The Bible says we are all of one blood. You cut us open, we all bleed red, folks. We all have the same basic needs. Look at Romans chapter 3 again. Romans chapter 3. Look at verse 9. What then, are we better than they? No, and no wise. For we have before proved, both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh God. They are all gone out of the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. And look at me now, the Jews had a real problem with bigotry. They thought because they were God's people that they were better than everybody else. And God had to teach them, listen, you are blessed, but you're not better. We all need to understand that. God loves everybody. Jesus Christ died for everybody. And that makes everybody valuable in the eyes of God. And so here we see, are we better than they? God had to teach the Jews, you're not better than anybody. And I would like to just scream out to the world, you're not better than anybody. Nobody's better than anybody. Look at Galatians chapter 2. The apostle Paul actually dealt with this in the church and among the apostles themselves. Galatians chapter 2. The Jews were so bigoted. Remember that God had to go to great lengths showing Peter in a vision that he was supposed to take the gospel to the Gentiles. He didn't even want to take the gospel to the Gentiles. When the gospel was first preached, they were only speaking to Jewish people, folks. If they were knocking on doors, they would cross over where the Gentiles lived, they would only go to the Jewish sections of town. That's why the book of Acts was so powerful, and God taught them, no, no, the Gospel's for everybody. Look at Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 11. But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. I like that. Go to the person who's causing the problem. Here's Peter, he's supposed to be leading the people, he's supposed to be teaching the people, but he's perpetuating this bigotry. He's perpetuating this class warfare. We got a lot of people that have made an industry that have gotten famous and rich off class warfare. I just want to ask you, what does Reverend Jesse Jackson do that's reverend? And you'll have to forgive me. I'm a preacher. I worked hard for my degree. I put up with a lot of stuff. We're out trying to reach sinners. And when somebody's called reverend, it's kind of like, why are you called that? The Reverend Al Sharpton, when's the last time you heard him talk about Jesus? You say, oh, preacher, you're on holy ground right now. No, it's unholy ground. It ought not be holy. If you're a reverend, talk about Jesus. If you're a reverend, talk about peace. Preach God's Word. You say, well, you're a racist. I don't care if the guy's purple. If you're a reverend, preach about Jesus. You're the one causing racism. You're the one making it always about race. If somebody's a sinner, it doesn't matter what color they are, they're going to go to hell without Jesus. Crazy stuff. But here's the Apostle Paul. He confronts Peter to the face. People are watching. And he comes up to him in a crowd and he puts his finger in his face and says, I blame you. Well, what was the problem here? Look at the next verse. Verse 12, For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles." So understand the leadership from James and the church in Jerusalem. They weren't around. Peter would sit at the table with the Gentiles and eat. But then we go on to say, "...but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision." And other Jews disassembled likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas was also carried away with their dissimulation." So, when the bigwigs weren't around, the Jews from the church of Jerusalem, Peter would eat with the Gentiles. As soon as they showed up, Peter said, I can't eat with these Gentiles, because I'm afraid of what the Jews are going to think, because Jews think that they're less than us. And so, other Jews and Barnabas also, inside the same church, also began to separate from other Christian believers, and now there was a division, there was a class warfare, there was bigotry, there was racism. I'm a Jew, you're not. And the Apostle Paul got in Peter's face and said, you know better than that. You know the Gospel tears down that middle wall of partition. You know that there's no circumcision or uncircumcision, no Jew or Greek, that all in the Lord were the same. And folks, listen, there are people today that are afraid to just speak the truth and say, listen, you're fighting the wrong battle. There isn't a difference. There's not all this kind of stuff. You shouldn't be dividing over all this stuff. But we're scared to say just kind and honest words because we're afraid of repercussions. Listen, folks, sodomy is wrong, and if you want to hate me for that, you can hate me, but I'm big enough boy to just be able to look you in the eye and say, you know what, I disagree with you. I stand where God stands. I think all this other kind of stuff is wrong. But I just want to stand where God stands. And if I make a mistake and someone says, hey, look, you're not standing where God stands, I want to be humble enough and a big enough person to say, you know what, God, you're more important than my personal feelings, and so I want to move to where you are. Are we better than they was the question? The answer is no. So what's the answer to all this? The answer is, number one, God sees the world differently than we do. God doesn't see the world as races. He sees the differences, He acknowledges them, He appreciates them, but He also tells us there's really not a difference at all because we all need Jesus. Number two, we're all made from one blood. You cut us all, we all bleed red. Number three, nobody's better than anybody else. We're all sinners. The ground's level at the cross. Hey, you know what? If you're talking to a rich person, you need to be able to look a millionaire in the eye. If you don't have two sins to rub together, you ought to be able to look a millionaire in the eye and realize that he's no better than you, and you're no better than him. The ground's level at the cross, and hopefully we're pulling out of track because rich people go to hell. Can I tell you about Jesus? Look at Ephesians chapter 2 while we're here. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11. Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh who were called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hands. Again a division. We're better than you because we're circumcised and you're not. Verse 12, that at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our what? Peace. You want peace in the world? You want peace? Look to Jesus. Israel versus Palestine. You want peace? Both of you look to Jesus. You want all this kind of craziness going on. You want peace in the world? Look to the Bible. Look to Jesus. Jesus will bring you peace. Verse 14, For He is our peace, who hath made both, what? Let's read it again. Verse 14, for He is our peace who had made both, what? One. We're one. No, we're different, but we're one. Well, we look different. Yes, you're right, but we're one. Well, we eat different. You're right, but we're one. Well, we talk different. Okay, you're right. Those are differences, but we're really one. We can acknowledge the differences without fighting over them. And I'm not talking about sinful things, I'm talking about just within the realm of right, within the realm of just being different, not sinful. This is a big deal for missionaries because a missionary will go to a tribe in the Amazon and let's say that they're not wearing any clothes. And we say, well, that's just a cultural issue. No, that's a problem, biblically. And this is a real problem for wherever you go, they feel like missionaries are trying to Americanize the people. And so if a missionary goes to Mexico, it's very important that the missionary does not focus on Americanizing the people, but he has to deal with certain cultural issues that might be sin. But it's a fine line and we have to teach people, I'm not trying to change your culture, because all this other stuff may be right and good, but that's unbiblical. It's not an America versus this or that idea. It's a God versus sin idea, and God says that's wrong. And so we have to draw these lines throughout life. But the Bible says we are made one in Christ. Verse 14, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. So Jesus Christ breaks down the walls that separate us and bring us together. Is it any wonder that Satan wants to divide us? Listen, within our church, we're from all different backgrounds. We're from different parts of the countries of some people. We're from different demographic groups, we're from different socio-economic groups, we're from different backgrounds and cultures, and God brings us together and we live in harmony until Satan begins to magnify the differences. And maybe they're not sinful differences, but they're different. And so we can get in trouble by magnifying those things. Let's look... Well, let's leave that alone. Let me read this verse to you. Romans 3.22, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, undo all upon them that believe, for there is no difference. The Bible says very clearly, everyone's a sinner, and everyone needs to believe in Jesus, and that everyone can be saved. Romans 10.12, for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. So there are differences that can be acknowledged and appreciated. But it's never a matter of who's better than who. That's never the right question. Because God loves everybody. Jesus died for everybody. We're all the same race, the human race. We all have the same blood. Let me show you one last portion of scripture that deals with the treatment of one another. Look at Romans chapter 12 and we'll be done. Okay, so people are different. How do we treat one another? Can we just be honest for a minute? It's not a race thing. Do you know, sometimes people are just sinful, or people are ungrateful, or people are mean, or people are rude, and we just have a hard time dealing with people like that. Listen, there are white people that I can't stand being around because they're obnoxious. I said, what are you, racial? You don't like white people? Well, I happen to be one. It's not that issue. But sometimes there are sin issues or there are differences where this is a bad trait. Sometimes bad traits begin to take hold. You know what the Bible says about the Cretans? Remember Paul? They're slow bellies. Paul said about a whole island. They're all lazy. And more things. People didn't say, oh, you're racist against the Cretes. You know what, sometimes bad habits, sinful tendencies will tend to grow within a group or a region or a group of people, and it's not racist to just look at it and say, hey, you know what, this group over here, you might have some issues that have kind of become prominent that need to be dealt with. That used to be called preaching. That used to be called teaching. I think that there are every community Every family, every tongue, every people, every nation has sinful tendencies and issues that need to be dealt with. Look at Romans chapter 12. How do we deal with people that are different? How does this work within the church? How does this work in our world? I look at verse 9, let love be without dissimilation. That means learn to love people without faking it. You know a lot would go into this world if we just learned to love each other. I hate to say this, folks, and I don't mean any disrespect to our president, but he's not helping. It's not disrespectful to point out the fact that he's not helping. What difference would it make if somebody stood up that had some clout and said, listen folks, all this is foolishness. We need to love each other. Stop worrying about what you can take from each other and start thinking about your brother more than yourself. Well, let's get back to some Scripture here. But no, it's like, hey, you better watch it because of them, and you better watch it because of them, and they've been taking advantage of you, and you've been taking advantage of, and all this frothing and fomenting, and what are we going to do? Craziness. Look what it says, "...abhor that which is evil, and cleave to that which is good." We need to be able to identify evil. Notice it's good versus evil. It's not culture versus culture. It's good versus evil. Identify the good in every culture and cleave to that. Identify the evil in every culture and cleave to that. Or disdain that, abhor that. So go on. Verse 10, "...be kindly affection one to another with brotherly love." Boy, that would change things, wouldn't it? Well, you're different than me. What do I do? I'm going to be kind to you. I'm going to treat you like a brother. Do you know that you don't always like your own siblings? Amen? But we treat them kindly. We're supposed to, anyway, or Dad will knock our heads together. In honor, preferring one another. This is so important. If we could honor one another. Because you're different doesn't make me better or you worse. And watch this. Every human being deserves a measure of respect because God made them and God loves them. Don't miss what I just said. Every human being deserves a measure of human respect It's almost like we've lost that. Look what it says in verse 11, not slothful in business. Don't be lazy. Find something to do. Do it. Can I just say about this whole minimum wage thing? Minimum wage was never meant to support a family. I think our economy needs fixed. There's obvious issues. But our economy wasn't built so that you can have absolutely no skills and be able to take care of a family. That's just not the way it's supposed to work. The idea that my son could graduate or become 16 and go work at McDonald's and make 15 bucks an hour, that's insane. It doesn't make any sense. And what you notice is the government's not helping because the government's not talking about top-end jobs, they're talking about bottom-end jobs. Don't ever miss what I'm saying. Government has a vested interest in you needing them. That's right. Government needs you to need them. Let's move on. Verse 12, rejoicing. Oh look, verse 11, fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Let's get back to the Lord. Let's stop fighting each other and getting back to the Lord. Verse 12, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer. What if we prayed about these things instead of getting so frothed up about them? Distributing to the necessity of the saints. What if we started caring for our brothers again and the world again and if we saw someone in need we would try to help them? What if we were given to hospitality instead of separation and all of these things? What if we, verse 14, we bless them which persecute you? Bless and curse not. Verse 15, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that do weep. This shows caring. I'm happy for you when you're happy. I'm sad for you when you're sad. Care about one another. Verse 16, Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. These are all good Good things for humanity. You say, okay, what if you've just plain been done wrong? And listen, you've been done wrong, there's people that's been done wrong, you've just plain been done wrong. Look at these last verses. Recompense to no man evil for evil, but provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place under wrath. What do we do with all that anger? This is so important. What do we do with all this anger? You give it a place. Where is that place? You give it to God. Give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. Watch this, this is mind-blowing. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil. but overcome evil with good. That's what God says you should treat others regardless of how they treat you. This stuff would change the world. Father, I pray that you'd help us, pray that you'd give us wisdom concerning this and that we'd be able to help folks. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed, let's stand. Listen, this is a big deal. The world's gone crazy. We all have issues that we struggle with and fight with. Listen, don't be pulled into picking a side. Don't feel like you have to pick a side between this group or that group. Just believe God. Trust God. Be on God's side. As the piano plays, you come, the altars open.