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Okay, so we're going to go ahead and get to 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3. There's something going on here that I want to draw attention to in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3. Paul's laying down the law about these individuals that aren't working. He's coming across very stern, and rightfully so, right? He's saying, look, if there's anybody there that's not working, neither should they eat. And he goes even so far to say, in verse 10, For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that our some which walk among you, disorderly working not at all, but are busybodies. Now then that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. And if any, O man, obey not our word by this epistle, referring back to what he just said. He's saying, look, if people aren't going to obey what I just got done saying, and of course the rest of this epistle, saying, look, if they're going to hear what I just said about if they're not working, they shouldn't eat, you know, if they're not going to go along with that, if they're not going to get right, he's saying here, note that man and have no company with him that he may be ashamed. So this is, you know, you'd say, wow, Paul's drawing a hard line, you know, and he is, but, you know, it was right to do. Okay. And so, you know, and I'm all for, you know, drawing that hard line and, you know, telling it like it is, and, you know, we understand what church discipline is. It's something we practice here, but I want to draw attention to verse 15 because I think there's an, you know, sometimes if we're not careful, we can lose sight of the purpose behind, behind all that. You know, the purpose is of course, to make such an individual feel ashamed, not just so they would walk about, you know, feeling ashamed for the rest of their life. The point of that in church discipline is always to admonish that person to, so that they would get right. That's why it says in verse 15, yet count him not as an enemy, you know, but admonish him as a brother. And what I want to, what he's showing us here is that, you know, we should seek to restore backslidden people. You know, people get backslidden, they get into sin, you know, perhaps there's, you know, the specific example of second Thessalonians three where they're not working and they're to be disciplined by the church. You know, we should seek to restore them, you know, like he's saying there, you know, count them not as an enemy and say, oh, you know, this person got into sin. And look, I've seen it happen time and time and time again, where people, you know, we do exercise church discipline. People get into fornication, drunkenness, extortion, covetousness, you know, all these things, you know, some, you know, it's normally, mainly it's, you know, you know, when people get into drunkenness and fornication, that's probably the number one thing that I've ever seen people have to get dealt with by the church. But, you know, what I've also seen is those same people come back, you know, they get right, they get that sin in their life and they come back, you know, and when that discipline takes place, when people are put out of local churches as taught in First Corinthians chapter five, you know, we shouldn't develop this attitude of, well, now they're an enemy. Now, look, if somebody's kicked out because they're, you know, an infiltrator, they're a heretic, you know, they're a Judas, you know, that person is an enemy, you know, and well, that's how we'll count them. But we shouldn't just lump everybody together into that group. And, you know, there's some people that we are seeking to admonish them as a brother. And instead of just, you know, marking them off as an enemy and wanting nothing to do with them again, look, what we should do is admonish them as a brother. Now, I believe part of that admonishment that he's teaching there is the fact that we have no company with them. You know, when people are disciplined by the church, it's not that we're calling up and saying, oh, I feel so sorry. Why don't you know, hope you can get right. Let me know if you need any help. You know, the admonishment that Paul is teaching there is the putting out and having no company with. You know, this person has had all these Christian friends at church and stuff. When they get disciplined by the church, you know, all of a sudden, all those friends, they're not getting together for coffee anymore. They're not going to go do whatever activity. That is the admonishment that I believe Paul is referring to there. But we don't do that because we're marking them as an enemy. We're doing that so that that person would come to their senses and get right and get back on track with the Lord. I want to preach to you this morning, the title of the sermon is don't beat the backslidden. Don't beat the backslidden. You know, again, the point of chasing and church discipline is to restore the backslidden, not to rub their nose in it, you know, not to try to make them feel, you know, worse than they should. Okay. Now, if you would go over to second Corinthians chapter seven, second Corinthians chapter seven. You know, Paul is one is a great example of this because Paul is one, you know, who has dealt with people in the churches, you know, he drew a hard line. He was the one that was kind of, you know, laying the groundwork for all this, putting it into practice. But even in Paul's writings, you know, we see that the motive behind it, the purpose was so that people would get right with God, okay, to admonish them as brethren, as brothers and sisters in Christ. In second Corinthians chapter seven, verse eight, it says, for though I made you sorry with the letter. Now, he's referring back to first Corinthians, where he's talking about how they were to put the one, you know, put the guy out who was, you know, was committing fornication, even so much as not as named among the Gentiles that one should have his own his father's wife. I don't think he wasn't talking about his mother, probably the situation was, you know, the father was a stepmother or something like that, who knows what the exact details, but it was fornication is what he was getting at. And that first letter, first Corinthians, and he's saying, I made you sorry with that letter. So look, there's a time when, you know, when to make people feel sorry for their sin, you know, that is a biblical thing to do. And Paul says, I do not repent. He's saying, I feel sorry, meaning I feel bad that I had to do it, but you know what, that's my job. Part of the preacher's job is to, you know, it's not always fun to call out sin and to talk about the unpleasant subjects that we have to address in this world. But he's saying, look, I felt bad about it, but I do not repent, though I did repent. And it's kind of, you got to kind of think about what Paul's saying here, saying, look, I wrote that letter and I felt sorry. I don't repent for writing it, but at the time when I wrote it, I did repent. I felt, oh, I wish I hadn't, didn't have to write that. You know, in his heart, he didn't want to have to do it. You know, we don't want to turn into this, this vigilante mob that just wants to see people get punished by the local church or count every brother that gets out of sorts with the Lord as an enemy. That's not the point. And Paul's showing us that there here, you know, he is one that exercised church discipline, but he did it out of love and out of compassion for those individuals. He said, for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but the sorrow to repentance. You know, Paul's rejoicing over the fact that it worked. You know, they say, hey, have no fellowship with that man. You have no company with him. Put him out, give him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. That's what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 5. And of course, if you know the story, that guy got right. You know, he got put out, and he got the sin out of his life, and he was restored to fellowship. And that's what gave Paul joy in his heart. And look, that is always the motive, and that is the end goal. You know, whenever a church has to deal with somebody or see somebody who's backslidden and we want to admonish them and help them to get right with God, it's not so we can just make them feel bad about what they are doing, what they aren't doing. It's so that they would sorrow to repentance, and that's a reason to rejoice. Like there's nothing better than seeing, well, I wouldn't say there's nothing better, but it's a great thing when somebody who is out of sorts with the Lord gets right. And if you've lived the Christian life for very long at all, you know, we've probably all been there. We're on our way there. Nobody's perfect. And we should be careful how we treat others in that situation because one day it might be us. Maybe it might not be their sin or to that degree or whatever, but I guarantee you that everybody at some point is going to get out of sorts with the Lord. And look, maybe not to the degree of getting kicked out of the church or whatever, but isn't it a great thing when somebody who is not walking with the Lord begins to walk with the Lord again? It's a great thing. That's a reason to rejoice. The Bible says there's more joy over one sinner that repenteth than 99 just persons that need no repentance. You know, the angels rejoice over that. He's saying, look, I rejoice. Not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after a godly manner. You know, and I wish somebody would tell some of these liberal churches this. You know, these people that want to say, oh, you should never feel bad. There's no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. God's not mad at you. It's your best life now. Look, the Bible says there's a time when we should be, there is such a thing as godly sorrow. You know, we should be sorry for our sin. We should be sorry. We should be ashamed when we're out of sorts with the Lord. You know, whether it becomes a church issue or not, just between us and the Lord, it should make us feel that way. That's a natural reaction. Just like any one of us that have children, you know, if our kids got out of sorts with us and misbehaved and started running amok, and we had to straighten them out, you know, it would disappoint us if they weren't sorry. And they said, yeah, I'll stop doing it, but you know what? I ain't sorry about it. You know, we wouldn't, we would feel bad about that. It's the same way with us. You know, when we get right out of sorrow, God's pleased with that. God wants us to be sorry after a godly manner when it's appropriate. He says in verse 10, for godly sorrow worketh repentance, salvation, not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Look, we should not be like the unforgiving world. You know, when somebody sorrows and they repent and, you know, to salvation, you know, and when, of course, isn't necessarily referring to, you know, being saved from hell and going to heaven, but it could be because I preached Thursday night, the way of the transgressor is hard. He said of the guy in 1 Corinthians to deliver unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. You know, when a person gets right with God and gets the sin out of their life and starts walking with the Lord, they've saved themselves from a lot of heartache and sorrow. They've saved themselves from chastening from the hand of the Lord. So look, when someone sorrows and gets right and they don't have to, you know, that's something they shouldn't repent of and we should rejoice over that. Whereas the world, you know, the world is very unforgiving, aren't they? The world holds things over people's heads and bring things up. I mean, you think about people who run for, you know, high office, you know, people, they, what do people, what does the opposing side always often do? They'll dig up some dirt that if they can find any dirt or anything, you know, they'll bring it up and put it out in the limelight and just say, well, look what, look what they did 20 years ago. Look what they were into or whatever. They'll try to dig up dirt, right? I mean, think about how our modern justice system works. You know, people get convicted of a crime, you know, rightfully so. And they go into, you know, they go to jail, they go to prison, whatever, they serve their time. And you would think that's enough. You know, when years of your life have been spent in a cell, you'd say, oh, okay, I paid my dues to society. But no, what happens after that is that they get out and then they're on probation for years. And the system just continues to hang it over their head. You know, they can't vote. They can't own a gun. They can't, you know, get certain help. They, you know, they're cut off from so many things that other people would get. And they just go through a life struggling. A lot of them, what do they end up having to do? Turn back to a life of crime. It's like the, it's a cycle, right? That's, that's the, that's the sorrow of the world that work at death. You know, they're not, they're not forgiving people. Okay. But look, when we, when we are made sorry as God's children, that's not something to repent of. That's something to embrace. And that's something to rejoice over when people sorrow and get right. And we shouldn't beat the backslidden. People, you know, don't, don't kick a guy when he's down. Don't, you know, I've heard it said years ago is that Baptists are real good about shooting the wounded. You know, and there's a, there's a grain of truth to that. You know, it seems like sometimes in Baptist circles is that, you know, somebody gets out of the sword of God and people just thinking, well, it's just a free for all. It's just, you know, let's all just pounce on this individual. Now, I don't think that's necessarily the case in our church. You know, I haven't, I haven't seen a lot of that. Praise God for that. But just realize that, you know, the backslidden people, they need to get right. And, you know, if we need to have the proper attitude, you know, draw the lines where appropriate, you know, second Thessalonians, have no company, admonish them, but know where that line is, you know, and, and, and the whole, understand that the whole point is to get that person right. And look, if we're backslidden, we have to understand something is that as God's children, we are more accountable, not less, right? And just you being here this morning and hearing the sermon, you know, this is making you more accountable, you know, to God. Okay. If you would go over to Psalms, I'll have you go there. Yeah, go to Psalms 44. You know, in Luke, he said, for unto whomsoever much is given, Jesus said, of him shall much be required. You know, we should, we should want to stay right with God and get right with God because of the fact that if we have an understanding of what the Bible says, if we've been in church, if we've heard the preaching, we've read, you know, we've, we've been made more accountable. And God's, and what am I getting at is this, is that no one gets a pass. You know, no one's just going to get a pass on, on, on living a life of sin as God's child. The Bible says in Hebrews 12, you have forgotten the exhortation, which speaketh on you unto children. My son despise, not thou the chastening Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. You know, it's a loving thing to be chastened. It's a loving thing to be scourged, you know, whether it's by the Lord or, you know, through the preaching of God's word or reading his word or maybe a brother or sister in Christ comes to you and, you know, and just says, Hey, you know, you should, I noticed this and you should work on that, you know, or, or, or whatever, you know, that that's called admonishment. You know, it's, you know, you know, open rebuke is better than secret love. The Bible says it's better to, to hear the rebuke of the wise and the song of fools. The Bible says that's better to have somebody, you know, that's a loving thing when a preacher will get up and preach on sin or preach on false doctrine or admonish the body to get right in some area. You know, it's a loving thing when a brother and sister of Christ comes to us and tries to admonish us to get some sin of our life or develop some godly habit. That's a loving thing that they're doing. Does that mean it's necessarily an easy thing? Let me tell you, it's not, you know, it's, it's not easy to get up and preach some of the harder truths of God's word, but often that's what people need to hear. You know, and I wouldn't be doing my job as a preacher. I wouldn't be a loving person if I just wanted to get up and just, you know, tell you, you know, and, and never address, you know, people's sins or anything like that. That would not be a loving thing. And here, it's a loving thing when God chases us most of all. You know, it's a good thing that God doesn't just give us a pass and let us get away with sin and let us get out of sorts with him. It's a loving thing that God, you know, wants to bring us back into the fold and to love us. Okay. So that's God's motivation. You know, we see him, you know, he wants to, yes, he chases and he scourges, but the Bible says that at the end of that, you know, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness by them that are, by those that are exercised thereby. When we go through that scourging, when we go through that chasing hand of God, when we're out of sorts with him, you know, the end of that is the peaceable fruit of righteousness, if we'll receive the correction. You know, otherwise it's just more chasing, which is never fun, right? It's a loving thing that Paul said, you know, admonish them as a brother, you know, to bring them in, let godly, when godly sorrow works in a person's life, that's something to rejoice over. Okay. Bible says in 1st John chapter 3 verse 19, and hereby we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have confidence toward God. Look, there's, you know, here's the thing. The Bible says some men's sins are open beforehand and others they follow after. You know, there's a certain scope that the Bible can address when it comes to sin in the church. There's only so many things, you know, my hands are bound as the leader here as far as church discipline goes. You know, I just can't throw you out because you wore the wrong color tie or something. You know, I can't just make up these arbitrary rules, these standards. I can't teach for doctrines the commandments of men and start making up, and churches do that. Boy, do they ever. Okay. And I won't go on about that. You know, 1st Corinthians 5 is a very limited scope of the authority that the church has. But do you think that means that if it's not on that list, God just kind of, well, it's not on 1st Corinthians 5, so it's just a field day. It's just open. As long as, you know, or if it is on that list, as long as nobody else finds out about it, it's not going to be addressed. That God's not going to deal with it. Look, the Bible says here in 1st John that God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. Look, maybe it's not in 1st Corinthians 5. Maybe it's not something that the Bible is going to address through church discipline. But if we're out of sorts with God, if we're not right with God, God knows about it. And He'll deal with it. Are you in Psalms chapter 44? Did I have you turn there? Verse 20, if we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretch out our hands to a strange God, shall not God search this out? What is He saying? Look, if we're not right with God, isn't God going to know it? Of course He is. For He knoweth the secrets of the heart. Look, I'm just saying this morning that nobody gets a pass. We're all, you know, going to have to get out. Maybe, maybe not. Maybe some people are going to live their whole life and just always be right with God. You know, highly doubtful. You know, somewhere along the lines. Because maybe our actions are right. Maybe the things we say are right. You know, maybe our motives might even be right. But what about the way we feel about things and stuff like that? God searches the inmost parts of our being. You know, and you can't tell me that every single person is just 100% right with God through and through in every bit of their being. You know, there might be seasons of that. But we're always constantly having to repent, always constantly having to get things right. You know, and if we have some glaring sin, if we have something in our life that we know is that if our own hearts are condemning us over, look, God knows about it. And that should be enough to motivate us to get right. So what I'm saying is this. It's not a matter of whether or not we will get chastened. It's really a matter of whether or not we're going to get right. That's the question. Say, well, am I going to get chastened by God? Well, if you ever get out of sorts with God, yeah. The question you should be asking is, am I going to get right with God or not? The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 12, I'll read for you. Go over to Psalms 86. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Look, everyone's going to get chastened because nobody's perfect. But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. And he says there that God dealeth with sons. What son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? So again, it's not a question of whether or not we're going to get chastened, how to get things straightened out and work things out with the Lord. It's whether or not we're going to do that. Whether or not we're going to take the time and do what we need to do. And here's the thing. The question again is not whether or not we're going to get chastened by God, but whether or not we're going to get right with God. And that is an option. The chastening is not optional. That's coming. If we're out of sorts with God, it's going to happen. In some shape or form or another, it's going to happen. But does that mean everybody gets right with God? Because that is optional. Not everybody does. And the Bible says, he that being often reproved, hardened at this neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. So some people, they can get chastened by God and they can even say, yep, this is God chastening me. People can get into some sin that falls under the authority of the church and be disciplined by the local church and say, yep, that's what the Bible says. I'm out of sorts with God. I'm not right with God. And just continue down that path. That's an option. The chastening isn't. And people can continue down that path and then one day wake up and their lives are destroyed. Even to the point where God might even kill us and take us home. You say, will God do something like that? Sure. I mean, if we're of no earthly value, if we're just down here running amok and bringing reproach upon the name of Christ, maybe just say, well, like the old joke says, God brings some children home and crowns them, others he crowns them and brings them home. That is a biblical concept. What I'm trying to get across this morning is that we shouldn't beat up the backslidden. When people are out of sorts with God and they know it and they're trying to get right, that's a noble thing. That's a good thing. That's something that we should desire to see. And I've seen people express this openly. And I thought, wow, I mean, you've got a lot of guts putting yourself out there. People say, hey, I'm not right with God. I'm not of sorts with the Lord. And just kind of not going to detail, but just kind of say, pray for me. I'm backslidden. You know, openly, you know, and what should be our response? I knew it. I knew it all along. Of course you are. You know, it's about time you realize that. No, the response is, hey, I'll pray for you. Or give them a Bible verse or admonish them. Hey, read your Bible more. Come to church. Pray. Or just encourage them to get right. Isn't that what we want for people that are backslidden? Or do you just want to rub their nose in it and say, haha, I knew it. No, the motive of Paul, the motive of the Lord is that that person would get right and spare themselves the chastening. I mean, think about the fact that God wants the unsaved to get right. I mean, God is so compassionate that he even wants wicked sinners to get saved. And such were some of us. You know, how much more so his own child that gets out of sorts? How much more so his own backslidden, erring child? You know, if he wants some heathen sinner that doesn't even know him to get saved and come to the Lord, how much more so one that he has bought with his own blood that he has given his own son for? How much more does he want that person to get right with him who has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who has the ability to do works for the Lord, to serve him, and to earn rewards in heaven? How much more so that individual? How much more so us when we are backslidden? If you're in Psalms 86, you know, we should never underestimate the patience of the Lord. You know, obviously there's a line with God. You can push the envelope too far with the Lord. God has boundaries, right? But I think sometimes we kind of get this idea that God is just hovering over us, just waiting for us to step out of line so you can just crush us, right? And again, God does chase in us, and he will, you know? But we should never underestimate the mercy and the patience of the Lord. I think sometimes we lose, you know, especially when it comes to other people. When it comes to somebody else, that's not right with God. We tend to like, you know, see them through our own eye. You know, we say, well, God's looking at them like I would. No, you don't underestimate. Am I making sense here? We underestimate how patient and compassionate God is, and he's far more merciful and far more patient than any of us. I mean, consider some of these examples. Think about, you know, Abraham talking down the Lord to ten souls, and so I remember when the Lord was going, hey, I'm going to show Abraham what I'm about to do, and he said, I'm going to go to destroy Sodom. I'm going to go see if the cry of it is true, and he remembers a lot, and he talks him down from like 50 all the way to ten souls, right? Now, it turns out there weren't ten there because they got destroyed, but it wasn't that God giving mercy and compassion and patience to a very, very, very, and the Bible says they were sinners before the Lord exceedingly, and yet God even then was willing to spare if there was just a little bit of righteousness there. That's, you know, to me, that's a picture of God's, you know, patience and mercy. I mean, look how wicked and sinful our world's become, and I've just, sometimes I just think to myself, how much worse does it have to get before God just, you know, all out just gets the tribulation going? What's it going to take? You know, just tell me, and I'll help. I'll push it along, you know, without getting into sin, obviously, you know, and here's the thing. God is a very merciful person, very patient, and we should seek to emulate that when it comes to, you know, our brethren, our sister, and that are backslidden, and, you know, especially for our own selves. I think a lot of times people get out of sorts with the Lord, and then they just beat themselves up, and then they just get into this rut just thinking, well, I'm backslidden. I'm just, you know, there's no coming back. I just, you know, might as well just keep going. You know, you should be more patient and more merciful with yourself and understand that God is patient. Look at Psalms 86 verse 15, but thou, O Lord, are a God full of compassion. He's full of compassion. It's not like God just has a little bit of compassion over here that only a select few get. You know, if it's just a little bit of sin, or it's just, you know, you're just a little out of sorts, you know, you get a little bit of compassion. No, He's full of compassion. There's no end to it, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous, and mercy, and truth. Go to Psalms 112. This is an attribute of God that is brought up over and over again, and we see examples of it in Scripture. The Bible says in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us who are not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You know, God wants the whole world to get saved. Now, we understand there's some people that can't. You know, that was a sermon a couple weeks ago, or last week, but, you know, at some point or another, God's intention for everybody is that they would repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and get saved. That's for everyone. That's a God full of compassion, but sometimes we as God's own children could fall into this trap of, well, you know, I'd preach them a gospel, but they're just too wicked. Now, obviously, we understand there's people who are giving over reprobate minds. They're beyond hope of salvation, but a lot of times, sometimes I think, well, you know, I would admonish that person, but they're just so far gone. You know, we see, or it's some fellow Christian we know that's backslid, and we just say, you know, I would reach out to them and try to help them and whatever, but you know what? They're probably just so wicked that it's not even worth it. Is that God's attitude? Is that how God looks at things? No, God is full of compassion. He's merciful. He's long-suffering. Psalms 112, look at verse 4. Under the upright there arises light in the darkness. He is gracious and full of compassion and righteous. Go over to 1 Timothy chapter 1, 1 Timothy chapter 1. Think about what Jesus said to, you know, right before he was crucified, you know, when he was coming in on his triumphal entry, you know, riding upon the ass and the colt of an ass. He said in Luke chapter 13, you know, when he looked at the city, he said, Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee. That's a pretty wicked group of people, isn't it? I mean, when you're killing the prophets, when you're stoning them that are sent unto thee, when you're taking God's, the man of God, the preacher, the prophet, and killing him because you don't like what he's saying, because you don't like the message that he's bringing from the Lord, that's a wicked group of people, friend. I mean, and then they, we know what they did to Jesus. And is that, but was that God's attitude towards them? Was that, Hey, you know, the thou that stonest them that are sent unto thee, you got everything that's coming to you and I can't wait for it to get here. Is that what he said? He said, how oft I would have gathered thy children together as a hand doth her brood under her wings and ye would not. I mean, he's lamenting the fact that even as wicked as they were, even as out of sorts with God as they were, that his desire was to bring them back. You know, and it's that, that, and it's a very, you know, that analogy of, you know, a hand doth gather her brood under her wings. That's a very, you know, loving analogy, a picture, illustration rather. Are you in, you're in first Timothy one, the Bible says in one Psalms, one 45, the Lord is gracious and full of compassion. There it is again. The Bible's so redundant. Yeah. Well, maybe God is being redundant because people need to get this through their heads for their own sake and the sake of others, that God is compassionate, that he is full of, he's gracious, full of compassion, that he is slow to anger and of great mercy. You know, maybe we need to exercise that towards a lost and dying world. We should be that same way. Maybe we need to exercise that toward, you know, our, our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, you know, if they're out of sorts with the Lord or not, you know, maybe, or I won't say that I won't go there, but look, the Bible says the Lord is good to all. And maybe we need to exercise this compassion, like I said earlier, to our own selves and stop beating our own selves up and think that God has done with us. God is, you don't underestimate the mercy and compassion of the Lord. It's beyond measure. Look at 1 Timothy 1. Consider the example of Paul the Apostle. I mean, you want to talk about a guy who was, who was an enemy of the church. Paul, you know, when he was Saul. He says in verse 12, And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the mystery, who was before a blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious. I mean, he was hailing men and women, having them hauled away. And a lot of times they ended up dead. When they stoned Stephen, he consented unto his death. It was his feet that they laid their clothes at so they could go, you know, get busy killing God's, you know, deacon, one of the first deacons. He kills them. Paul was like, hey, good job. He was consenting unto it. He was a blasphemer. He was a persecutor. He was injurious to the church. You know, and I think sometimes there's probably a lot of people back then that would have just said, well, no hope for Paul. You know, just write Paul off. He says, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief. And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ was exceeding abundant. Can you see how exceeding abundant would have to be for a guy like Paul? I mean, here's Christ who just got done, you know, shedding his blood, dying, living a perfect life, doing all that hard work to save people and build his church. And along comes Paul, just running amok, just attacking, killing, having people killed, persecuting, you know, locking people up, blaspheming. And yet God, despite all that, puts him in, saves him, gets him saved and puts him into the ministry, makes him a preacher and goes on to use him to write the vast majority of the New Testament. I mean, Paul is not exaggerating when he says that the grace of our Lord Jesus was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And I don't think he's being melodramatic. I think a lot of people might be able to make the case, you know, that he really was a pretty bad guy before he got saved and got right with God. And I love verse 16. He says, howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy. Well, why did God do that? Why was God so merciful and long-suffering towards Paul? Why did he still count him faithful and put him in the ministry? Well, he tells us, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. He said he did that, that he saved me, the chiefest of sinners, to be an example to other people that would come after me. To say, like, hey, basically an example of, hey, you know what? I don't care how bad you are. I don't care how wicked, I don't care how backslidden you are. God is long-suffering and will forgive you and use you. That's part of the reason why he used Paul, to put him out as an example of God's long-suffering and mercy and compassion. So we should never underestimate the mercy and patience of the Lord when it comes to ourselves and other people. We don't want to beat up people who are trying to get right with God and hang things over their head. Like I said, even recently, I'm kind of preaching to the choir because in our church here, speaking more broadly in Tempe, like I said, I've seen people just come out and say, hey, I'm out of sorts with God. I'm backslidden. Pray for me. It was so encouraging to see other Christians in the church come to that person and say, I'm praying for you. And understanding that repentance is between that person and God. That they need to get right with God. I understand that sometimes if our brother has offended us, we need to go make that right. There's a time and place to take two or three witnesses. So on and so forth. I understand all that. But a lot of times people get out of sorts with God and then we feel like they owe us an apology. Like, well, I'd forgive them and I'd be merciful and all that, but I don't think they're sorry. Sorry for what? What'd they do to you? Nothing. Their repentance is between them and God and they need to get right with Him. Now, again, that's not to say we don't suffer as a church. The Bible talks about how we're all members of one body, right? And we all have different functions. We all have a different place. Just like there's a nose for the smelling, and eyes for the seeing, and so on and so forth. The ear for the hearing. We all have a part to play. So when the body, it'd be like if I just came up and lopped off a finger or a toe. You can say, oh, it's just a toe. Yeah, but the toes are important. They play a role. And if someone loses a couple of toes or whatever, they have to kind of learn how to balance again. Now, I remember when I got a vestibular neuritis. Who's ever heard of that? An infection of the inner ear. The nerve that communicates between the inner ear and your brain. The vestibular nerve. I remember a few years ago, I got infected there. It flared up and it took me weeks to even figure out what it was. That's a whole story, but I had to recalibrate because basically when that happens, the nerve doesn't fire at the same rate as the other one. And the vestibular nerve helps you know where your head is in space. So it's with your balance, your inner ear, that all plays a part. I'm not trying to give an anatomy lesson up here, but I'm making a point with this. I'm going somewhere. When that nerve got flared up, that one little nerve, just that little tiny part of my body got out of sorts. I couldn't walk. My eyes couldn't track movement as well. I'd move my head and everything would just go. And it happened right when we were taking church photos two years ago. So if you look at the church photo from two years, I'm just like. One kid's crying. I'm just like, this is us. Take the picture. One kid's screaming their head off. I'm over there walking around like a drunk practically. And if people moved and my eyes would try to follow them, I would just be like a vertigo. The point I'm making is that one little nerve threw everything off. And they said, well, if you don't get steroids in the first 24 hours, it's permanent. And I was like, well, that's depressing. And I was out of work for almost over two weeks. I couldn't even stand up and so on and so forth. And I had to give myself physical therapy. I had to throw a ball in the air and catch it. They say, well, you can recalibrate your brain to the new impulses. Because like I said, one nerve, they're both firing at the same rate. And then one gets infected and I can't do it. But one's still firing this fast, and this one slows down. So now your brain's getting these mixed signals about where your head is. And I had to recalibrate. Again, I did turn into an anatomy lesson. But the point is this, folks, is that I had one little thing go wrong in my body and it threw everything off. In 1 Corinthians 12, he's likening the church into a body for a reason. When we get saved and we have a New Testament church to go to, we have a local church to go to, and we're a part of it, the body grows, it can do more, it's stronger. But you start taking away a member here, take away a member there. Just cut off a toe here, cut off a toe there, lop off the end of a finger, lose part of a thumb, maybe pull out an eye. The body's going to suffer. It's going to be disabled. That's what he's saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. There should be no schism in the body, but that one member should have the but that the member should have the same care one for another. We should care about the other members in our church. We should admonish them. We should help them. We should pray for them. And when they're out of sorts with God, when they're repenting, they're trying to get right, that's the time to be kind and friendly and open and be encouraged yourself and encourage them. It's not the time to beat them down. Be like, it's about time you got that right. Whatever. Get this attitude. And it's out there. It's a self-righteous attitude. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. And you say, well, you don't understand, you know, somebody has a, you know, some brother in Christ, some sister in Christ, they've offended me personally. So I don't have to exercise compassion. I don't have to be full of compassion and mercy and tender and all that. Was that what Jesus taught though? I mean, he said, if thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him. And if you repent, forgive him. And if you trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day, turn again to thee saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him. You know, we should want to forgive people. We should cause us to rejoice when people get right with God. And we should want to forgive people, even if they've personally offended us. You know, we're legitimately offended. They've legitimately done something wrong against us personally. You know, we should still want to forgive. We should still want to be compassionate and get over that. One, because we're commanded to. You know, but it should come from a place of sincerity, not just, well, Jesus said I have to. We should really want to genuinely forgive people and move on and forget. I mean, I don't know how many times, I know I've let people down in the past, offended people, you know, that, and they've forgiven me. They've extended an olive branch, you know, and sometimes I wonder, what if they hadn't? You know, or what if they just held that over my head? What if they just reminded me of it constantly? You know, I probably wouldn't, you know, maybe I'd be a different person today. Maybe I wouldn't be here. I don't know. Maybe I would have gotten discouraged. You know, are you in Matthew 18? Did I have you go there? I'll read to you. Just go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. We know this passage. You know, Jesus teaches this like, hey, seven times in a day, if your brother fending turns, you know, you got to forgive him. Forgive him. And then, of course, Peter, it says in Matthew 18, came to him and said, Lord, how off shall I forgive my brother if my brother sinned against me? Off shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? So he wants to find out, like, are you being literal here? Like, so it's just seven times, right? Look, I don't know that anybody that's come to me and offended me seven times in a day ever, you know. Maybe you can think of somebody. But Peter here is just funny. You know, I love Peter because he's us. He's just, you know, sometimes he gets a bad rap. Like, I can't believe he said that. Oh, he's, you know, he should just shut his mouth. But I mean, this is how people are. This is just like the perfect, he's just a great example of human nature. He just kind of lays it all out there. And we can, you know, a lot of us, we don't want to identify with Peter, but we've all, you know, people have this attitude. How often do I have to forgive him? At what point can I stop forgiving my brother? At what point do I get to start, you know, holding it over their head and not forgive, you know? Is it seven times? Did you mean, is that what you meant? Seven times in a day, right? I just want to make sure I got the number right. Was it eight or nine, six? I can't, it was seven, right? Jesus saith unto him, I say unto you seven times, until seven times, but until seventy times seven. You know, I don't have a calculator in form. That's a lot, right? Is he putting, is he, and Jesus isn't putting a specific number on it. He's just saying, look, there's no amount of times, Peter. You should forgive and forgive and forgive and forgive. We should want to forgive people, and we should understand that, you know, often when it, you know, it's not, when it's not, you know, when it's not a brother that's offended us, you know, they're out of sorts with God, that's between them and God, and they need to get right with him. Are you in 2 Corinthians chapter, 2 Chronicles chapter seven? He says here, and the Lord appeared unto Solomon by night, so this is after the dedication of the Lord, Solomon by night, so this is after the dedication of the of the temple, and this is again familiar passage, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and have chosen this place for myself, for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, or I command the locusts to devour the land, or I send my pestilence among my people. What's he saying? If I chasten my people. Again, does God chase? Is God long suffering and merciful and full of compassion? Yeah, but there's also a line with God, and he does chasten, doesn't he? He's saying, look, if I shut up heaven, that there be no rain, California, if I command the locusts to devour the land, and that still goes on today, if I send pestilence among my people, that's it for them. They're done. That's a sign to you that it's time to just rail on them and rip them up, tear them up, and go up one side and down the other, and let them have it, and just unload on them, and remind them how bad they are. Can you see that happen? Is that what he's saying? He's saying, no, if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, even when it's got to that point where he's punishing the entire land with these natural disasters, if my people, which are called by name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. So, he's saying, look, they still can get right with me. In fact, that's why I'm doing that. That's why I'm pushing them. That's why I'm chasing them, is so that they will get right. You know, and a lot of times as a preacher, that's why you have to preach certain things. That's why you have to touch on certain things, is that so people will get right. Not because you're just trying to pound your chest or make people feel bad. It's because you want people to get right and live for the Lord, and so on and so forth, but notice there's a process there. He says there that if they shall humble themselves, right? You know the reason a lot of people just get out of sorts with God? They get backslid, and they never get right? It's because of their pride. You know, some people can't admit when they're wrong. It takes humility to say, I'm wrong. It takes humility to admit, you know, I'm wrong. It takes humility to hear, you know, the preaching of the Word of God, and when it hits home, when it steps on our toes, to say, well, yeah, but He's right. That's what the Bible says. That takes humility, and look, I've sat in services where it was like the preacher's up there, and he's just ripping my face, and I know because we talked about it. It's like, well, if it's good enough for the goose, it's good enough for the gander, and if one guy is guilty of it, probably there's five or ten other guys that need it too, or individuals, whatever, and just like, he's talking about me right now. He's ripping on my face. I can't believe it, and just getting mad, and just saying, oh, I can't believe this, and you know what made me mad? Is that he was right. Everything he was saying, I was like, it's true. It's true, and it's like he's just taking the Word of God and just showing us, you know, just hold it. It's like a mirror, like this is you. This is where you're at, and we don't like what we see, right, but we have to understand what we see is us, and getting out of the service, and just no fellowship tonight, honey. It's straight to the car, and we're just driving home, gripping the wheel, you know, but as I drove, started to loosen up, started to think about things, get home, a day goes by, maybe two, and I realized he's right. You know what all that was? Pride. That's all pride. You know, people want to get right. Those that were called by his name, if they want to get right with God, it's going to take humility, and a big part of that is admitting you're wrong. The cliche saying, you know, the AA slogan or whatever it comes from. I think it's AA. You know, how does that go? The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? That's true. How can you get right with God if you're so proud to say, well, I'm right with God. There's nothing wrong here. God's fine with what I'm doing. When he's not, that's pride. He's saying, look, you got to humble yourself, and then you got to pray. You know, you got to go to God. You got to talk to him. You got to, you know, what good, you know, if I offended somebody personally, like another person, and then in my heart, you know, I got humbled and said, you know what, I offended that person. What I did was wrong, and then never said anything to them. How is that going to lead to, you know, patching things up with them? How is that going to lead to forgiveness and restoring fellowship and restoring that relationship? It's not. That person doesn't know that I've, you know, repented in my heart, and I feel bad about what I did until I go to them and say, hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. And then that person can say, well, I forgive you. So it takes humility. It takes prayer. That's what prayer is, us talking to God, us asking God, God, forgive me. Help me get right. Right? And seek my face. You know, go where God is. It's in the book. Right? He's in the church. Go where he is. Get in the Bible. Get in church. And turn from their wicked ways. It's great that you're adding all this, you know, like, well, I'm going to get right with God. I've got the humility. I've confessed it. I've forsaken it. I've gone to God. I've prayed about it. You know, I'm getting, I'm reading. I'm going to church. But you know what? I'm still going to keep doing what it was that got me out of sorts with God. No, you also have to turn from your wicked ways. Whatever sin that is, you got to get that out and keep it out. Then I will hear from heaven and forgive for their sin and heal their land. A lot of times people, I think, get this attitude of, well, I'll just sin. And then I'll just confess it. And then I'll do it again later. And then I'll just confess it. And then I'll just do it again. Look, if that's the pattern that you've fallen into, you've never really confessed it. You've never really been sorry about it. There's a process here. The Bible says, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Go over to John chapter 21. We should never underestimate the forgiveness of the compassion of God. We should understand also that God, the repentance, is between that person and God. The Bible says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Yeah, we can go to God. We can confess. We can get it right. But often we don't. You say, well, you know, I know God will hear and if people humble themselves and repent and do all these things that God will hear. But, you know, but not this person will say, well, I know that's true for everybody, but not this person or not that person or whatever. And again, consider the example that we see in Scripture of God just forgiving people for things that we would just be aghast about. Consider the example of Peter. I mean, a guy who denied Christ at the most crucial moment, even after he was warned, hey, you're going to deny me tonight. Three times you'll deny me. It was even foretold. You know, he still did it and he felt bad. We know he went out and weep bitterly and all that. But what does he say in Mark chapter 16? I'll read to you in verse 7 when, you know, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the other Mary, they went to the sepulcher to anoint the body of Jesus and it's empty and they see the angel there, right? And the angels speak to him and say, be not afraid to seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him, but go your way and tell his disciples, but don't bother with Peter because he's so backslidden that I don't want to do with him anymore. He denied Jesus three times. So, you know what, just keep it from him. He's out. You know, there's no compassion. There's no mercy for him. He's so backslidden. He denied the Lord. We're done with him. Is that what they said? You know, he specifically said, tell his disciples and Peter, you know, because Peter, you know, but was that because Peter was still, Peter felt terrible about what he'd done instantly. You know, it says he went out and wept bitterly and he was probably doubting that he could even be used of God ever again. You know, and again, it goes back to the point I made earlier that we should not underestimate the compassion and mercy of God towards our own selves and think that, you know, we've gotten to some state in our life where just God's done with us. I mean, have you denied Christ verbally to other people yet? Have you done that? I know not the man. I know not the man. You know, just denied him three times. Look, even if you had gone that far, God wasn't done with Peter. He said, hey, go tell Peter the Lord has risen and that he goes before you into Galilee. There ye shall you see him as he said unto you. Of course, we know Peter goes there and the story goes on, but, you know, we still find Peter backslidden again in John chapter 21. It says in verse 15, remember when he comes to him and he finds his disciples out fishing on the boat, Peter says, I go fishing and all the disciples go with him. That's not what he was supposed to do. I don't have time to really go into that. I think God catches him again, you know, red handed like, hey, I told you to Terry, Jerusalem, what are you doing here? You're supposed to stay put until the day of Pentecost came. And here you are fishing. You're going back to the old life. Even after all that, Peter's still beating himself up and saying, well, there's nothing better for me to do than just go back and fish. And of course, Jesus calls to them. They say, it's the Lord. They jump in the water, they roll back and they sit down and they have a nice fish dinner. And then it says in verse 15, so when they had dined, Jesus saith unto Simon Peter, Simon, Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. And I don't believe he was referring to the fish. Some people debate, what are the these there? Well, he's talking about, do you love me more than fishing? You know, I don't think it was that shallow. That's kind of a dumb question. You know, if you're loving fishing more than Jesus, then, you know, you got real problems. But it goes back, he's referring back to the fact that Peter had said, Yea, though all men forsake thee, yet now I will not deny thee. He said, I am ready to die with thee. That same night that he denied him. What was he saying in his pride? I love you more than anybody. Though all these other guys forsake you and leave not me, I'm going to stick around. So Jesus, again, kind of bringing it back up, kind of calling him on the carpet a little bit, kind of reminding him of what he said and patching things up and clearing things up with him. He's saying, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. You love me more than these, these other disciples that are here with me? He said, Look, it doesn't matter. You know that I love you, and that's all that matters. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He's like, Look, let me give you a job to do. You know, Peter, Paul, excuse me, Peter, he's gotten right here. He's got the right attitude. He wasn't like, Yeah, of course I love you more than these other guys. You know, he couldn't really say that after he denied the Lord three times. And God and Jesus wasn't like, Well, I'm glad to hear you say that. You know, you can go now. He said, Feed my lambs. What's he talking about? He said, Go preach the word. You know, go, go be a pastor. Go be a preacher. Go serve me. He saith unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verse 17, He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, loveth thou me. Of course, he does this three times because that's how many times Peter denied the Lord. He saith unto him, He said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. And I just love the fact, you know, that the Lord is dealing directly with Peter about his situation. He wasn't like, Hey, John, do you think Peter loves me more than the rest? He wasn't getting somebody else involved. And you have to understand a lot of times when people are back, so when people need to get right with God, it's between them and God. And it's not, we don't need to sit there and beat people up and beat them over the head. We should encourage them. We should rejoice that they're even to that place in their life. You know, God wasn't finished with Peter and he gave him great responsibility. So the point I'm trying to make this morning really is this, you know, if we are backslidden or if someday we find ourselves backslidden, you know, I'm not saying you should excuse that, but if you want to get right, you know, if you want to get right with the Lord and get back into things, I'm just saying this, go easy on yourself. I'm not saying don't feel bad. I'm not saying, you know, Paul wrote his letter and he said, I'm glad you sorrowed though it were for a season, but don't turn it into the rest of my life. I just have to, you know, flog myself and crawl through glass or whatever it is. You know, people develop these, they just beat themselves up. Go easy on yourself. And you know what? Maybe if we see somebody else in that situation, go easy on them. Go easy on others. You know, when I was writing this, I thought back, you know, my own life, like I said earlier, of people that were patient and kind and compassionate and merciful towards me when I was not being, you know, an ideal Christian. You know, I first got saved and I had to work some things out in my life. And, you know, I remember there was this Christian family that had taken me in. I was friends with their son. And I mean, I was still pulling things, but you know, doing things I wasn't supposed to be doing. And you know what they were? Compassionate. They're like, you know what? We're not going to kick you out of the house, out of our home in the middle of a Michigan winter. We're going to let you go. And can you say, but you know what? You need to stop doing this. You need to start doing this. You need to go to church. You need to, you know, so on and so, and they try to encourage me in the Lord. And you know what happened is it worked. You know, I never forgot that. I always remembered how compassionate these people, how patient they were with me. So that's what I'm trying to get across this morning is that, you know, we shouldn't beat up people who are backslidden, especially when they're trying to get right with God. Let's come alongside and help them, encourage them to do the right thing. Don't shoot the wounded. You know, and we could talk about, and I got to wrap this up. You know, we could talk about the example of Mark. You know, remember Mark in Acts where, you know, Paul and Barnabas were going to go on another missionary journey. And Barnabas thought it good to take Mark with them. But Paul said no, because he went not with us to the work. You know, in a later, in another journey, you know, the previous mission they went on, at some point, Mark was just like, ah, I'm done. You know, kind of fell out, kind of quit halfway through or whatever. And because of that, Paul's like, well, I'm not taking that guy. He's a bum. You know, he's not, he doesn't go to the work. And the Bible says the contention was so sharp between Paul and Barnabas that they went their own ways. But what was, what, was that it for Mark? Was Mark just done at that point? No, because remember in 2 Timothy chapter four, Paul's writing saying only Luke is with me, take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitably for the ministry. And what I'm trying to get us to understand is this, is that when somebody's backslidden, that doesn't mean it's over for them. You know, if we're backslidden, it's not over for us. God is compassionate. He's full of mercy. And that we can still be used by God, like Mark, who wasn't right with God. You know, whether or not Paul's testimony is true or not, I believe it is, you know, that's kind of a matter of opinion, but it was, Mark did something. I mean, if he was really profitable early on, of course, Paul would have been like, hey, yeah, let's grab Mark and go. You know, but even after that, years later, Mark got right. You know, he got in service with the Lord to the point where now Paul is asking for him. Hey, bring him here. He's profitable for the ministry. So let's not shoot the wounded. If you would, go over to Galatians chapter six. We'll close here, Galatians chapter six. You know, we don't want to be the reason why someone doesn't get right with God. You know, I'd get back in church. I'd get that sin out of my life. You know, I'd start serving to God again, but, you know, when I got out of sort, you know, everyone treated me like a jerk. Or I know if I, you know, I know if I show my face or come around or whatever, people are just gonna, you know, pick on me or whatever, you know. We don't want to be the reason why somebody else doesn't get right with God. Now, should they get right with God anyway? Yeah, but that's not human nature. We shouldn't shoot the wounded. Look at Galatians chapter six, verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, right? So this is an attitude, a mentality, an approach that spiritual people have. So if we are lacking this, you know, we're the ones that aren't spiritual. Ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. You know, there's a good reason to have the right attitude towards people that are getting right with God, who are out of sorts with the Lord. Because it might be us that's tempted next, and we would probably hope that people around us would be spiritual enough to be meek and gentle and kind and compassionate towards us. He says in verse two, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. So just remember that, you know, if we see a brother, a sister in Christ who's backslidden, that they have to get right with God, not you, right? It's between them and the Lord. They have to get right with the Lord. It's not them getting right with us. You know, of course, unless they've offended us, you know, then that's another sermon. We talked about that a little bit. But they have to get right with God, not us. And the whole point is, let's not be a hindrance to them doing so. Let's go and pray.