Our Behavior Matters | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

you have your bibles and would join me tonight. 1 timothy, 1 timothy, chapter number three and verse number 14. i will say with pastor nolan tonight, it's always a joy to see such an awesome crowd here on a midweek service. and i know that it is that it is that refueling. it is that blessed it is that blessed time to come back together. amen. first kings or first timothy, excuse me. 1 timothy chapter 3:14 paul is writing to timothy. he says, "timothy, these things write i unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly, but if i tar long, that thou may know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of god, which is the church of the living god, the pillar and the ground of truth." truth. i know you've been standing for a moment, but let me just say this. when paul wrote and said, "i'm writing to you that you you should know how to behave yourself in the house of god." he is not referring to the sanctuary here. although there should be a proper decorum for the house of god. >> it's not the playground. right. >> right. and but but what paul is referring to here is how we behave oursself in the body of christ. we behave oursel within the body. that you would know how to behave thyself in the house of god, which is the church of the living god, the pillar and ground of the truth. sister ericson coined a phrase some time ago. it caught i've heard many use it. midweek matters. it's a little phrase of letting people know it's important to be at your church at midweek. so, she coined a little phrase, midweek matters. so, tonight i'm going to use a little bit of that and i'm going to i'm going to minister on this. our behavior matters. our behavior matters. jesus, tonight, thank you for what you've already done. thank you for what you're currently doing, god. thank you, lord, for your word that we're going to receive tonight. god, i ask you to anoint me and anoint the church tonight. that we will be the lighthouse to this city. that we will be, oh god, the city set on the hill. we will be a city of refuge for the hurting in our county. lord, we will be a place where the wounded can come, the wounded can be healed. a place where the sinner can come and the sinner can find a place, lord, to be redeemed. in jesus name i pray. everybody said, "amen." >> amen. >> you may be seated. our behavior mattered. when i mention our behavior, i'm talking about our manner of lifestyle. i'm talking about the words that you and i speak. i'm talking about the actions that you and i do. i'm even talking about our attitudes. think about that. our behavior matters. our words matter. our actions matter. our attitude matter when it comes to the advancement of the kingdom of god. paul says to timothy, he said, 'i if i tar a little bit, said, i i want you to know how you should behave yourself now, not sitting uh in the pew and uh not talking out loud in church or running to the restroom 15 times. he's not talking about that. although that is proper decorum. all right, >> snuck that one in on you, didn't i? he's talking about how you behave, your words, your deeds, your actions in the kingdom of god. now, if you have a little issue thinking this may be elementary tonight, let's go to the old testament in 1st samuel chapter 18, verse number five. we're going to find out how david went from being just an average shepherd boy to being the king of israel. the bible says in verse number five, and david went out whethersoever saul sent him. and look at that word. what's that next word say? and >> behaved himself wisely. and saul set him over the men of war. please watch how this goes. david behaved himself wisely. saul set him over the men of war. and he was accepted in the sight of all the people. and also in the sight of saul's servants. can you look at this with me for a moment? behavior. everybody say that with me. >> promotion. acceptance. >> can i tell you? it has to go in that order. you don't get acceptance then get promoted then start acting right. you have the right behavior. you have the right behavior. the right behavior gets you promoted. and then with the promotion, if you keep that right behavior and you don't let your promotion, you don't let your promotion change your behavior, then guess what happens? people start accepting you. so, david went from behavior to promotion to acceptance. verse chapter 18 again and verse number 14. doesn't seem like it gets out of david's system. and david behaved himself wisely in all of his ways. and look who else taugh caugh caught notice of this. and the lord was with him. see, even the lord rewarded the right behavior that david had. and the lord was with me. now let's flick flip back over to the new testament. now, now paul in the book of 1 thessalonians chapter 2:10, paul is talking to the church there. he's talking to bishops and elders and pastors and leaders and he's talking to them. 1 thessalonians 2:10 and he says uh to the leaders he says ye are witnesses and god also. he says not only have you witnessed but god also has taken witness how holy and justly and unblameably we have what? behaved ourselves among you that believe. now, here's where we're going to we're going to hitch our wagon to this tonight. we shouldn't first be concerned with how we appear to the world until we take care of how we appear to one another. >> that's seep into. okay? we we we don't need to we don't we got to do this for the world. you you see if if we don't have the right behavior one to another then when we do interact with the world we're just putting on a show. >> we're just putting on we're just let me tell you something. i'm going to tell you something. what sinners are very good at sinners are very good at spotting phonies. they're very good at spotting a phony. and so the only way that we can keep from being phony christians is to be real authentic christians that have the right behavior one toward another. look at jesus in john chapter 13 verse number 34. i think you're going to like this. john chapter 13 verse number 34. listen to jesus. a new commandment i give you. i guess we could say this is the 11th commandment. could we not say that? a new commandment. he's gave us ten commandments. he's g us a new commandment. we could we call this the the 11th commandment. what is it? that ye love one another as i have loved you, that you also love one another. by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if you have love one toward another. even jesus is telling the church that your effectiveness among a lost world which you're called to reach, your effectiveness is how you have the right behavior one toward another. well, what kind of love are we talking about jesus? well, look with me in john chapter 15 verse number 12. john 15 verse number 12. jesus again says, "this is my commandment that ye love one another as i have loved you." now, i'm going to tell you something. i'm going to tell you something. roll up your sleeves because it's going to take some work. well, how long is it going to take till the rapture? i just read to you something that if we're going to love like jesus loves, it ain't going to be one trip through the prayer line and it ain't going to be one strong tower camp meeting. if we're going to love like he loves, it's going to be a lifetime endeavor to love like he like he loved. how did he love? verse 13. greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. all right? that a man said, "no greater love than a man would lay down his life for his friend." now, i know those want to go to the extreme. well, you know, you know, i don't i don't know if i'd actually take a bullet or whatever. he's really not saying take a bullet because he already jesus already took the cross. he's not really saying i i want you to die for your brother. he's just simply saying when it comes to the betterment of your brother, i want you to lay down your life and i want you to prefer your brother. we'll get into this in just a moment. how many have heard us say this word? how many have you how many have heard this said at church? we need to be a first century apostolic church. how many has heard that? sure you have. you you've heard it before. we be a first century apostolic church. well, let me take us back over 2,000 years to the first century apostolic church. at first, on the day of pentecost, it was jewish people receiving the holy ghost. it was jewish people being baptized. but that was not god's ultimate plan. it was ultimate, god's ultimate plan was not only for the jewish people to become part of the ecclesia, the body of christ, but also for the gentiles, that's the non-jews. and so here, these heathen never been to synagogue, never had a rabbi teach them. matter of fact, they were idol worshippers. they had many different idols made of stone, people's devices made of pieces of wood. but in their minds it was a god. it was a god. they uh they would uh they would worship this god. and of course some of their ritual uh to worship this god had to do uh with bringing food with bringing with bringing food. uh my my wife and i visited the home of a hindu family and they took us into their their their worship room and uh there there were there was uh one uh idol in there had a woman and coins were coming out of her hand here and uh he told me he said that's the god of prosperity and he jokingly said to me he said i spend a lot of time with her i spend a lot of lot of time with her and then there was another god i forget i forget the name, but it was evidently um fruit and flowers had been brought and had been laid at this little altar that they had made. i noticed one thing about the fruit. it may have been a brand it may have been a fresh banana when they laid it there. i noticed one thing about the flowers. they might have been fresh and beautiful when they were laid there, but that banana, you could see the brown of of uh the sugar in the banana and you could see the flowers way wilting because there is simply no god but one. >> all right? simply no god but one. now, not only were these temples and pagans worshiping this way, but then there were added even temple prostitutes. there there were actually i'll show you in a moment how that this offering of meat to all to the to uh these gods that there was also fornication that was attached to this ritual this this ritual of worship. but guess what happened? god's spirit is greater than pagan theology. god's spirit because let me tell you something. christianity is not a culture. christianity is a movement to reach the hearts of lost people. doesn't matter where they're at in the world. people are looking for something. they're looking and they're searching. and so the gospel reached the pagans. it reached the gentiles. and the gentiles were believing in the resurrection of jesus christ. they were repenting of their sins. they were being waterbaptized in jesus' name and filled with the holy ghost and speaking in tongues. and of course, they stopped going to the temple. of course, they stopped they stopped doing they stopped going to the temple and doing that. but they ran into a little problem. you see, the jewish people that knew that an idol was nothing, they were getting a cheap deal. you can you can research this out. uh they were getting they were getting wholesale meat. and how they were getting wholesale meat was that when they would bring at the idol temples, they would bring the meat. the priest got a cut of the meat and then the the the the false god they were serving got the other cut. but the priest, he took the meat with him. but the meat that laid on the altar, instead of it rotting there, they would take the meat, go around the corner, and set up a little meat market there. and there they would sell wholesale meat. of course, they would know that this was meat that was offered unto an idol. so, you have these jewish people that now have this tremendous liberty in jesus christ. man, they're getting a good deal. they're getting a good deal on this meat. and they're going down and buy buying this meat. why? because they know that an idol is nothing. but you got these gentiles, that they have been brought up, they have been brought up to believe in this this idol. so somewhere in their conscience, they still believe that there's something to that meat. there's something to that meat being offered. there's something there. not only something there, but there's also fornication acts that are connected to this. so here they're coming in. the gentiles start seeing the jewish people buying the meat. and even as paul will say here in a moment, even sitting at the marketplace eating of this meat. of course, the jewish people knew there was there was nothing to this is a good deal on the meat and so and so. so it had to be addressed. if you would go with me, it had to be addressed in 1 corinthians chapter 8 beginning at verse number one. you wanted to go back and visit the first century church. here we go. paul says, "now, as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge." and what he's really saying there, he's saying, you know, we all have opinions. all right? that's really what he's saying. we all have opinions. knowledge puffth up or that word puffth means to inflate. all right, it means to inflate because everybody thinks their opinion is the right one. all right, so knowledge puffth up. but what did he say? but what charity does what? >> it builds up. so now he takes opinion and he takes charity which is god's love and god's love is looking out for the betterment of us. for god so loved the world that he gave. why'd he give? so that you and i could come into his presence so that you and i could be changed. now just follow this. knowledge puffth up. paul says but charity edifyth. verse two. and if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. in other words, he says, if you think you know it, you don't know anything at all. all right? there is no there's no know-it-alls. all right? a know-it-all doesn't know that he doesn't know it all. all right? that makes sense. he says, "if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. but if any man love god," here we go. "if any man love god," why are we here tonight? why are we here tonight? come on, confess it. why am i here tonight? >> i love god. it's the reason i'm here tonight. why you here tonight? because it's the best for me. god would never ask me to do something that wasn't for my betterment. i'm not here tonight making him more god. listen, he'll be more god. he'll be the same god that he is right now. if i never step another foot in this church, he's going to be the same god. >> so, i'm not here tonight to make him a bigger god, a better god, a wiser god. certainly not here to make him a richer god. i'm here tonight because i >> love god. why do i love him? because he has my best interest in mind. if any man love god, look at verse three. if any man love god, the same is known of him. that's it. he says, if you love god, guess what? he knows you. he knows you. you love god. he knows you. now, he gets into this. he's setting the stage here. he's setting the stage. he's saying, "your opinion is just an opinion. it just puffs you up. but love is what edifies. love is what builds up." now verse four, he dives back into it. as concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other god but one. for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, as there be god's many and lord's many, but to us there is but one god, the father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one lord jesus christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. how be it? how be it? there is not in every man that knowledge. for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto idol unto an idol and their conscience being weak is defiled. now he says let's just let's just put this on the table. we all know that there's none but one god. we all know that an idol is nothing. but our behavior is not on what we know. it's by what? how we affect those that don't have a clear understanding of that. and you say christian people don't act away and say, "oh, they'll get over it." that's not a christian attitude. a christian attitude is i know what i know. there's only one god. there's no there's no pagans that are alive. there's no pagans that are real. but not every man has this knowledge. so now what does he do? he turns to his tension toward his brother who has a weak conscience. verse seven again. how be it, there is not in every man that knowledge. for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak, is defiled. but meat commendeth us not to god. for neither if we eat are we the better. neither if we eat not are we the worst. he said let's just put out here. you're not closer to god because you refrain. and you're not further away from god because you eat of it. he's saying it has nothing to do with serving god. has nothing to do with serving god. then here verse nine. i want you to look at the first. could could could we all say out loud the first three words of verse nine? but >> he means pay attention. but take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to them that are weak. we're talking about behavior now. he says you have got liberty. you understand that there's no other god but by one. you understand there's nothing to an idol, but you've got to pay attention because you've got a brother or sister in the kingdom with you that has a weak conscience. they were raised up going to pagan school. they were raised up. the first words they could say was the pagan name of their god. they were raised up that way. it got embreded. it got embreded in them. although they have been born again, they still have a weak conscience when it comes to that to that idol. but take heed lest any less by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumbling block to them that are weak. for if any man seeing, he's talking about a man with a weak conscience. if someone with a weak conscience sees you which has knowledge sit at me in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened or built up to eat those things which are offered to idols? in other words, when he sees you doing that, he wants to revert back and go do that once again. and his conscience becomes emboldened that he would go back to that. you you see i never want to have a behavior. now obviously we don't have the issue today with eating meat. that's not a that's not a first century that's not a 21st century issue in the apostolic church. although i will tell you something we all need to work on. we all need to work on making sure that our behavior doesn't cause somebody to go back to a world that god redeemed them from. i i don't want my behavior. i let me let's just keep going. let's just if any man see thee which hath knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols? and through thy knowledge. see, you know there's nothing shall the weak brother perish for whom christ died. but when ye sin, oh, wait a minute, wait, wait a minute. i'm exercising my right. no, no, no, no. when our behavior becomes something, a lot of folks think, you know, well, i got i got the right to my opinion. you do, you know, i've heard people say, i'm going to give them a piece of my mind. make sure you can afford it. all right, just just make sure you report it. sure, you can give your opinion, but i'm going to tell you something. if your opinion causes somebody to go back to a world that god has brought them out of, then i'm going to tell you, we're going to stand before god for that. >> verse 11, and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish for whom christ died. but when ye sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against christ, wait a minute, no, no, no, no. we're talking about me and a brother. no, i'm talking about me and christ. because remember what jesus said about people that gave him food, people that gave him clothes, people that visit him when he was in the hospital, and people that visit him when he was in prison. what'd he say about it? he said, "i was in prison. you came to see me. i was sick and you came to see me. well, lord, when did we ever see you sick or naked and in prison? when when we see that, he said in that you did it to the least, you did it unto me. can i tell you maybe our behavior will kind of take on a new standard if we realize how i treat you is how i'm treating the lord. verse 11 again, but when you sin so against the brethren and wound their weak conscience, you sin against christ. now, here's what he says about it. here's what mr. paul that says there's no such thing as an idol. an idol is nothing. yada. there's nothing. there's only one god and there's only one living god. but here's what he says about it. wherefore, if me make my brother to offend, i will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest i make my brother to offend. paul is saying, yes, i've got the right to go eat that piece of meat. i know it's nothing. yes, i've got the right to go do this. but you see, when you're really watching your behavior, it's not your right you're looking for. it's how my behavior affects my brother. >> now, one reason paul will later even address this temple worship going later in the bible is because there were sexual sins that were connected. so, it wasn't just simply that. it wasn't just simply the guy's weak conscience. it wasn't just simply him him looking at the piece of meat and look at you. it was the environment that he had come out of this this fornication. because watch this. look at acts 15 verse number 20. because they begin to they begin to give standards. they begin to give standards in the first century church. and here's some of the standards. it says in verse 20, "but that we write unto them, these gentiles, that they abstain from pollutions of idols and from fornication and from things strangled and from blood." they said, "we're going to tell the gentiles, stay out of those places." all right? because there's fornication. there's fornication going on. and we're telling the gentiles, stay out of there because there's fornication that is connected with this idol. look at verse 29 of the same chapter, chapter 15. that you abstain from meats offered to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication that you that from which if you keep yourselves you shall do well fair you well. acts 21:25. as touching the gentiles which believe. we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from strangled and from fornication. now go all the way over to revelation 2:14. but i have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of balum, who taught bailo to cast a stumbling block before the children of israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. revelation 2 and 20. notwithstanding, i have a few things against thee, because thou suffest that woman jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetist, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. he was just simply saying that you need to understand your behavior. and i'm going i'm going to just try to bear my heart to you tonight. there are some things that are not sin, but we need to stay away from it. >> because older people in god may have the strength to see plum through it, but you got to understand, our babies in christ are looking at us and what we do. and i don't want to take my liberty and cause somebody to stumble and go back to a loss and a dying world. do you understand what i'm saying? yeah. now, i'm going to tell you, we don't have the issue of meat and idols and things like that. paul addressed it because it was causing many to go back to that world. but we do have behavior that causes people to go back to a world. we find it in proverbs chapter 6 verse number 16. here's some of the things we got to work on as a church. proverbs 6:16. these six these six things doth the lord hate. yay. seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devisth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift into running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that sweth discord among brethren. can i tell you something? there has been gossiping tongues that have caused more people to go back to a world and live in the world because they would say there was more love from me in which there's not. but this is how the devil deceives their mind. let me tell you something. we need to watch what we say. we need to watch what we repeat >> because what you say and what you repeat in a crowd more than likely will get to the person it was said about. but i got news for you. it changes along the way. i have never seen gossip get better as it goes from one person to the next. but i've seen it just snowball into something and by the time it gets to that person, it's so blow. it must be a it must be a part of human nature. it must be a part of human nature because all the way back in the book of leviticus, you know that leviticus, that book that brother osburn says you get out and read at night when you want to try to go to sleep, you know that book of leviticus. leviticus chapter 19 verse number 16. listen to this. this is god. thou shalt not go up and down as a tail bearer among thy people. neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor. i am the lord. this not some little cute thing pastors teaching on tonight. it's not some little, you know, you hear people say, you know, i told a little fib. i told a little white lie. no, no, no, no. it's a lie. >> there's no such things as a little fib, a little little white lie. no, it's a lie. and there's no little cute thing. oh, is it, you know, no, this is anything that could cause somebody to go back to a world of which god had delivered them from. i don't want to have anything to do with it. i want to have words that cause the world to say that church is a safe place to be. that church is a place i can bring my hurts. i can bring my terrible reputation. and there's a people there. they're going to pat me on pat me on the back. i uh let me pause here for a little comical story here. i was down at the movement training center the other day and was it caleb smith? caleb was there and uh and i walked in and there's a bunch of noise going on, dust flying all over the place. i didn't recognize it was caleb, but i thought, man, that boy right there, he looks just like caleb smith. he just just looks just like him. and i'm saying, of course, these kids grow. i mean, they they just one minute you look at him, next minute, you know, they're just so tall. and and so i got there's a lot of noise going on. and and i said, "and you look like you look like somebody and a young man goes to our school and and he's nice and smiley, you know, and and and he he spoke up and he said he said i i i i'm i'm i'm here doing community service and and of course my mind of course now let me tell you he's not in trouble he's getting hours about going to college. okay, but he mentioned community service and and and i said that's all right. i said hey man we're all flesh. i said that's all right. i patted him on the back. i said, "hey." and then i really felt bad, you know. i said, "hey, i want you to follow me for a minute." i i took him around the corner. said the carpenter, brother perry, were around the corner. and and i i said, "hey." i said, "honey," i said, "who does this look like?" she said, "caleb smith." i said, "exactly." she said, "yeah, >> it is." and he said, "ham, but but can i tell you i can tie this back together? god, don't have to help me." i wanted to let the guy know that told me he was getting community service and it was all right. i wanted him to know that pastor of that church on william blunt drive, i told him i had community service and he put his arm around me and said, "it's all right. it's all right." and that's what we want to do to a world, a lost and a dying world that is messed up. they have been they have been mashed down by society. fathers have left them. mothers have left them. family has left them. i want them to know to get down to the apostolic church because there's a god down here that can change your life. come on. don't you believe that tonight? don't you believe that tonight? >> tell you i'm gonna tell you why gossip is so bad. i want tell you why gossip is so bad. proverbs 18 and8. the words of a tail bearer are as wounds. they go down into the most innermost parts of the belly. i'm going to tell you something. to your carnal flesh, it may it may cause you to feel good that you're the garbage can of the church. it may make you feel good that you've got this knowledge and you want to tell it. of course, it's probably been added, too, because i've never seen gossip get better. >> but i'm going to tell you, to that individual that's trying to claw his way back to god, that individual that's already got a devil of condemnation on his shoulder every time he walks in, that that that individual that every glance from somebody, the devil wants to put it in their mind, they're thinking about you. they know what you've done. i'm tell you, i hate that devil. that's why i hope i can preach to be 150 years old. i hate that devil because he'll use every opportunity to discourage somebody. but we don't need to help him. >> i said we don't need to help him. and when we carry tails and it gets bigger and bigger and bigger and it finally gets back to that individual, oh my, that person said that about me. wounds. wounds. i want to be a nightmare. don't you want to be a nightmare to the devil? >> don't you want the devil to say when you walk into a place, oh, there he is again. oh, he he won't say, "heaven, help me." he'll say, "oh, hell, help me." he here's that person come in. they going to smile at everybody. they're going to invite everybody. they're going they're going they're going to tell every prodical. they're going to tell every backslider, "i miss you. we'd love to see you come back." >> because hell will tell them, "we don't want them to come back." hell will tell them. bible says that the words of a tail bearer. can i tell you? we need to be like david. nobody's got a right to tell bad news. well, you don't know how they hurt me. the only right you've got is to forgive them. >> you say, "well, they haven't asked for forgiveness." it doesn't matter. they don't have to ask for forgiveness. but you need to forgive them. >> saul hated david's guts. saul tried on numerous occasions to kill david, to nail him to the wall with a javelin. if saul would have had his way, he would have killed david many times in the wilderness. david had to run, take his mom and dad, and go on the run. he had to hide out in woods and caves. and the finally the day came. david had nothing to do with it. saul was killed in battle. saul died in battle. saul's son jonathan died. word came. 2 samuel 1 verse 17. i hope this all right tonight. >> i'm just telling you our behavior. >> what's my title tonight? matters. word came 2 samuel 11:17. david saul has been killed. jonathan's dead. david, he's gone. and david lamented with this lamentation over saul and over jonathan his son. also he bathed them to teach the children of judah the use of the bow. behold, it is written the book of jer. here's what he said. the beauty of israel is slain upon the high places. how are the mighty fallen? tell it not in gath. publish it not in the streets of ashelon. lest the daughters of the philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. ye mountains of gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offering. for there the shield of the mighty is violently cast away. the shield of saul as though it had not been anointed with oil. from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of jonathan turned not back, and the sword of saul returned not empty. jonathan, saul, and jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death. they were not divided. they're swifter than eagles and they're stronger than lions. you daughters of israel, weep over saul who clothed you in scarlet with other delights and put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. can i tell you something? he didn't say, "praise be to god for avenging me of my enemy. you know that low down dirty dog tried to kill me several times. i knew god would eventually get him." no, david had the right attitude because if you want to if you want to have merciful people around you and i'm going to tell you something, you really better be merciful because blessed are this not my words. these are jesus words. blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. you might be sitting high on the table right now. all your kids may be doing fine or you think they're doing fine. everything's going good. so, you feel like you got a right to be the garbage can of fac here, and you've got a right to expose everybody and tell everybody. but i'm gonna tell you something. there's going to come a day if you run with judgmental, cutthroat people, that's all you're going to ever develop around you. but if you can somehow be a merciful man and a merciful woman, you're going to have people around you that are going to be merciful. cuz you listen to me tonight, good people. there's coming a day either you will need mercy, your wife will need mercy, your children will need mercy, your grandbabies will need mercy, somebody you love will need mercy, and if you've not given it, he won't be there to get. but i want to be a merciful man. i want to be i want to oh, i feel the holy ghost. could somebody just help me praise him right now? if you love mercy tonight, if you if you if you love mercy this evening, no, david spoke every kind thing he could think about saul. you see, what we want first apostolic church to be is a safe place. we want first apostolic church to be the safe place for the sinner to come to and a safe place when the saint falls. galatians chapter 6 verse 1. brethren, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, that's a weakness. ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of christ. he says, you see a brother that's been over a saint that has fallen, a brother, a sister that has fallen. ye who are spiritual. you you you see spiritual people know how to restore. the word restore there is taken brother tony it's a medical word they use when a person would break an arm or a leg and they would set that bone. they would reset that bone. it was a very painful process. they called it restoring because that spiritual person knew exactly that physician knew exactly how to grab the leg or the arm. they knew exactly how much pressure to pop and to put the put it back into place. and and they knew they knew exactly. so he says, he says, "my brother, if a brother be overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit, not of judgmentalism, not the spirit of i told you so, >> but the spirit of meekness, considering thine own self also considering thine own self." you say, "well, i'd never do that. i'd never you." number one, you don't know what you're capable of doing >> outside of having a heart that is touched of god. >> you you don't know what goes on in somebody in somebody else. and and so he says, "you you you you you take it." i i i remember years ago i preached a message called how to heal a broken wing. how to heal a broken wing. god gave me a a a a a flashback of a memory that i had as a small boy. and and i remembered in the backyard, my my brother-in-law and sister live there now. i remember in the backyard of our house had a chainlink fence. and i i saw a bird that had evidently broken its wing and its wing was was totally just kind of all all folded out and the bird was hopping along. you see, if a bird doesn't have flight, that's his defensive measure. if if a bird is not able to fight fly, he can't get away from his predator. and i remembered our dog coming around the corner spotting the bird. and i tried to get in between that dog and that bird be because i i i just i i just had compassion upon that bird. and i was trying to shoe the bird out of the yard, but the the dog got around me and i had to turn my back. i had to turn my back because the dog finished the bird off. if that bird had had its two wings healthy, it could have flew up into a limb and got away, but it was helpless. and so when god brought that back to my memory, i went and researched and i studied how to fix a broken wing. and i found out that that that that it is possible that even though a bird has broken its wing, that that bird can can if it's taken, if it's caught, that that that that wing can be healed again and that bird after time can fly again. but the first thing, brother nolan, that that the instructions said, it said, "you've got to catch the bird and bring it to a safe place. but said, "be careful how you catch it." said, "it is fearful. it is wounded. it could injure itself even more if you don't come upon it gently. if you don't come upon it gently, it could injure itself." so, the first thing you got to do is take it. you got to catch it. you got to take it to a safe place. and then it said, you take the broken wing and you fold it back in the natural position and you place it against the body. can i tell you, i want this to be a safe place >> where people with broken wings can come and we can we can be easy with them. we can come and get a hold. we're not compromising. we're not compromising the message. we're not well, it's about time you lower the bone. it's about time you keep your nose out of my business. all right. >> i'm fishing. >> stay out of my hole. all right. all right. you're not compromising. you no, no, no, no. it's not lowering the boom. it's getting them in a safe place because they're wounded. and you got to you got to take that broken wing. you got to fold it up and you got to put it up beside the body. you let it stand right up here with other people worshiping god and magnifying god. you you let it be among the church of the living god. a and and and and you keep on working with it. it said it even said this. it said, "make sure that the water dish that you give the bird is not too deep because the bird cannot keep its balance and the bird could actually tip over into the water dish and drown in the very water that you're trying to nourish." and it goes through a whole process. but it said, "the day will come when you cut the tape and you take the bird and you release the bird again and let the bird fly." i'm so thankful that god's got a method of restoring fallen people back to him. restoring. i i i'm telling you, i'm coming against condemnation tonight in the name of jesus christ. there is grace before the fall. there is grace during the fall and there is grace after the fall. you just got to understand what i'm talking about tonight. come on, give him praise right now. give him glory right now. give him honor right now. could i ask you kindly tonight? could i ask you kindly tonight? i'd like to preach five more minutes. just five more minutes. who who give me five minutes? will you raise your hand? oh, that's that's four or five hours. i just need five. i just need five. would you just give me five minutes? we've all wondered, brother ericson. we've all wondered. what kind of man was job? one that feared god and cheweth evil. we know he was rich. we know he had faith. but do you know one of one of job's friends in job chapter 3 and verse chapter 4 and verse number three, one of job's friends tell us what he was like in job chapter 4 and verse number three. here's the friend talking to job. job, behold, thou hast instructed many, and thou hast strengthened the weak hands. thy words have upholden him that was falling and thou hast strengthened the feeble knees. you know what job? yeah, he was rich. yeah, he had faith in god. but i'm going to tell you something about my brother job. he'd find somebody that was struggling. he'd find somebody that was staggering. he'd find somebody that was weak in the faith of god and he'd go help them out. he'd go give them some words. you're going to make it. oh, you're going to get back up. oh, you may have fell off the wagon, but you're going to get back up. i see something good in you. i see god going to do something great in you. god's got great things for you. i would ask you tonight, if you know of people in the church that have fallen and got back up, speak good words to them about how god will use them, is using them, and lift them up and build them up because my behavior matters. my behavior matters. well, let me see where i can get off this. let's go to james 5:19. brethren, this is where we get the anointing with oil at, too. we were real, man. we we're a church that anoints with oil. yeah. james 5:19. brethren, if any of you do heir from the truth and one convert him, let him know that he which convertth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sin. come on, jew. jude, tell me a little bit about it. jude, tell me a little bit about it. jude, jude chapter 1, verse number 22 and 23. and of some have compassion. look at the next three. look at the next three words. would you say it with me? >> what does compassion do? >> may make the difference whether they come here on a pew or go get on a bar stool. >> it may make the difference where they get them a bible, buy them a bible on their way out of church tonight or go and call their drug dealer to get them another fix. i'm telling you, compassion can make the difference with people if we can just give them some compassion. others saved with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh. i want to end with this tonight. been brought out of egypt, been brought out by the blood of the lamb. been brought out by a pillar of cloud fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day. been brought out through the red sea of dry ground. watched every egyptian that beat my back drown in the middle of the red sea. watch mana fall from heaven. watch water come out of a rock. but god said, "this is what i want you to do." in exodus 23:9, "also, thou shalt not oppress a stranger, for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing that ye were strangers in the land of egypt." my god, church, let's not forget where god has brought us from. come on, dust dust your coat off a little bit. dust your attitude off a little bit. you wasn't always wearing a tie. you wasn't always in a dress, sis. all right. i had an anonymous note sent to me one time because i told i told of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day when i was 15 years old. somebody sent an anonymous note to me that simply said, "pastor, i want to be your friend." and please do do that story any longer because it really hurts your image as our bishop and pastor. get you another bishop >> cuz this is my story. >> this is my song. praising my savior all the day long. this is my story. i remember where he brought me from. i remember how he brought me out. i remember. i remember. i remember. and i want to tell it. why do you want to tell it? i want somebody to look at me and say, "if god can do it for him, god can do it for me." come on. if you're thankful for that, have a let's have a couple of minutes right now. can we praise him right now? can we love him right now? can we magnify him right now? jesus, thank you for bringing me out of the pit. thank you for bringing me out of the horrible pit. lord, when i didn't know there was one god, i didn't know how to be baptized. i didn't have the holy ghost. i didn't know what i was supposed to do. i was a cussing man. i was a smoking man. i was a lying man. i was a cheating man. but god, god, you got a hold of me, god, and you changed my life. >> come on. how many is glad behavior? could we say my title before we go home tonight? could it be the last thing we say in the whole message? on the count of three, could we could we all say it? because i'm gonna tell you something. i'm gonna tell you something. i never want heaven to record that i said something that caused somebody to turn around >> and go back to the idol temple >> and be like, "never, never never never." and if you said something, if you say best thing to do, brother ericson, come close with prayer after we say the three words. or brother nolan is see you got a microphone. you want to come? you want to come? put it on the father's tab. come on, get up here. i'm going tell you, y'all. just ask god. god, forgive me. god, forgive me for what i've said. god. >> maybe maybe you'd even you sit in the company of somebody, you probably ought to get with them, you know, because repentance is one thing, but if you can do something, if you can do something, call them up, say, "hey, you know what? i i said some things." and number one, i don't really know if all i said was truth. that's what i heard from what i heard from what i heard from who i heard from who i heard from who i heard. god, just forgive us because i want first apostolic church to be a safe place, >> not only for the sinner to come. i want it to be a safe place that when families fall, when men fall, when women fall, when kids fall, that they're not looking to say, "oh, god, i don't want to be at this place anymore." but they understand there's mercy here. >> there's mercy in this house right now. there's there's grace in this house right now. there's mercy. oh, there's mercy and there's grace. there's mercy. there's truth. there's mercy. there's mercy bathing. there's mercy. there's a god. there's a god. there's a god that loves you. there's a god that died for you. >> there's a god that says, "i forgive you." brother nolan's going to pray, but could we all say the three words of my message tonight? on the count of three, would you say it if you going to live by it? on the count of three. one, two, three.