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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . So that was kind of interesting, thinking about that. You know, women have strength, too. It's not quite as easy as you would think. And you know what? Even though the man has been put in charge of being the head and being in charge of leading the wife spiritually and everything else, women ought to not just say, say, well, I don't need to be strong spiritually because my husband, no, you need, you know, you need to grow and get strong as well because you have your own flesh to fight against. Satan's not going to be like, oh, that's a woman. He doesn't care. He'll attack a woman just as much as a man, if not more. Preach Satan's attack on women. You need to be spiritually strong to be able to overcome. And you can be. The other observation I made that I thought was kind of interesting is that even children who individually have much smaller strength than a grown man could win against full grown men. So at the camp we had all these kids on one side and then for the first time there was two adults on one and then I joined in and I was a third. And man, that was humbling because both times the kids won. Now, granted, I didn't count. I don't know how many kids were on the other side. But, I mean, in my mind I'm thinking, like, no way are they going to be able to win against us. I mean, we were three. I'm not fit. But the other two guys were fit. I'm heavy so I have a lot of weight to kind of lean back with. I'm thinking they can't lift me. There's no way. If I just lean back with no strength, they're not going to be able to pull me over. But I was wrong. And I thought this was really interesting. And I thought that was really cool because the people who seem to have very little strength, though, when you add enough of that little strength together, they were enough to overcome and win. And when you work together, even if you might feel like I don't have a lot of strength, I have a lot of strength. When we come together as a body in a church, we get this extra strength to overcome the obstacles together. When we can all work together, we can all get our hands on the rope, and we can all pull in unison, and we can have that team working in this body, man, we can fight anything that comes our way. That's what Steadfast Baptist Church is doing right now. They've got the adversary literally attacking the whole church and trying to get the church shut down. But you know what they're doing? They're all pulling together as a team. And when you all pull together like that, you know, it brings you even closer together. When you fight those big battles and that adversary comes up, they're like, man, I don't know if we can take this one. And everyone's working together, they're going to win. They are winning. The world may not see it that way, but they don't have the spiritual eyes. I talked to Pastor Shelley about it, they're winning. He could see what's going on there. I could see what's going on. I've been over there. I was there when they were fighting the battle still early on. They're still fighting the battle. It's a long game, right? They've been at this tug of war for a really long time, but that's why you need the endurance, right? Not just the strength, you need the endurance to keep going and to keep fighting. And you know what? They're going to win. They're going to win. Turn to 1 Corinthians 12. And there's this concept out there. I believe this to be true. And you can see this in the world in general. There's a word called synergy. The basic concept here is that the whole is greater than the sum of its components. So if you think about like, let me just break it down real simple. You think of like a pie chart, right? Broken into many components. The way that this concept works, let's say you have a pie and it's split up into 10 pieces, right? One, one, one, one, one, one, one, and 10 of them. Individual pieces, if you were to add them all up, you'd have 10. But the way the synergy concept works is that, well, when you put them together and you have one cohesive unit there, you don't just have 10, you have like 15. This is what the concept is. So let's put it, that's what I'm going to express here. But if you think about this, you're like, well, how does that make sense, passive versions? I mean, you said there's 10. How could there be any more than 10? Because I'm talking about in terms of effectiveness or strength, there's kind of a multiplication factor when you can get the whole working together really well. A simple concept is like this. Think about a person who can play a musical instrument well. Just one instrument, and they can play that musical instrument really well. And you can listen to that one person play a musical instrument, and that's great. And you've got one. And then you've got another person who plays a different instrument really well. But when you start bringing, let's say you have four or five people who can play, and then you bring them all together, boy, the sound of all of them together in unison, in harmony, the work that's produced from that is way greater than just one, two, three, four. That great sound that comes as a result of all of them together, that's what synergy is. And you can apply this in many areas of life. You think about corporations. You think about businesses working together. And all of a sudden, hey, you do this really well. I do this really well. And then when they come together, it's like, man, we're really cranking out way more production because we're both working together. We didn't have to really change anything. But now that we're in unison together, there's even more being done. This is the concept. And this is how you could win at tug of war when you have that team that you might not even be stronger than your opponent. The opponent might be a lot stronger. And they might have a lot of people over there, too. But when you can work together really well and be in unison and all working together as a team, that gives you even more strength or even more power and even more effectiveness to be able to do what you need to do. And as a church, when we can all come together and fill different roles and we have all the different members of the church all lining up in place and all doing a job and performing together well, and you're doing this and I'm doing this and you're doing that, and everything starts working and gelling together really well, man, we could do great things. Man, we could be really strong. We're going to read through 1 Corinthians 12. I already kind of expounded on most of it, but let's just read the passage so you can see that I'm not just pulling this stuff out of nowhere. I think most of you probably already realize that. But this is a very fundamental concept of how the church works and how God builds the church and how He chooses where He wants the members to be and how a church ought to function. Look at verse 12 in 1 Corinthians 12. The Bible says, For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. So to make an analogy here, just like you know, there's a physical body that has many different members, fingers, toes, eyes, elbows, you know, all the different body parts. Well, so also is Christ. So this is where we're starting in context with the analogy. Look at verse number 13. For by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one spirit. It doesn't really matter like physically where you come from, things like that, that doesn't matter. Because you've all been made one. So these other differences that you might see externally doesn't matter. Because now you're all coming together to be part of one body. Verse 14. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I'm not the hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members, every one of them, in the body as it hath pleased him. Where I was talking about this morning, hey, we're here, we are, and we're created for his pleasure. And God puts people in the church where he wants them to be. And he has a role for you to fill. And you can't just say, oh, well, if I don't have this job, then I don't really, I mean, there's nothing for me to do, I can't. No, there's plenty for you to do. And God has something for you to do. And don't think that there's only one job that you can do, and someone else is doing that job, and I can't do anything. Now, don't have that attitude. What, do you think we all should just be an eye? And not hear, and not taste, and not touch, and not walk anywhere, and, you know, like, that's stupid. Right, that would be a terrible body. You can see really well, and you can't do anything about it. Great. Be like, we're the prophecy church, and we can just see. We can see things happening, and then we can't run away, or we can't do anything. No, you need the feet, you need the hands, you need, you know, you need all of it. You need all of it. We need a fully functioning body. And, you know, and don't ever think that, well, my job isn't that important. All the jobs are important, all of them. Just think when something goes wrong in your body that you don't ever think about. Once it goes wrong, you start to feel that. I don't care where it is. I mean, things like as simple as fingernails. You get one starting growing the wrong way, or, you know, like, man, that starts to hurt. I never think about my fingernails, but then when there's a problem with it, boy, do I know about it. Or if you're missing one, then you realize what they're there for. Right? You say, well, who cares about the fingernail? Well, you know what? You actually do care about it. You don't realize it. And, yeah, you know what? Some of the members, some of the body parts, they're not very glorious. They don't really get any credit. You don't really think about them ever, but they're still very important. There's a lot of things you could do in church and serve God with that you might not get any credit for. No one ever might really think about you doing that work. It might be a very thankless job, but you know what's still important? If it helps everybody getting things working and getting things run, great, because it's about the whole body, not about the one member being above all the rest of the members. And some body parts naturally will be out in the spotlight a little bit more. Some members, some positions in church are going to be just a little bit more up front. It doesn't matter. It shouldn't matter to you one way or another. Some people get to sit up here. I mean, Brother Peter gets to come up and wave his hands around, and everyone's looking at him. Right? And look, that's an important job. And I'm glad that we have Brother Peter to fill in that job. But that's not the only job in church. I don't want to have just a church if everybody's a song leader. We wouldn't even have any musicians if that were the case. It'd be like, who are you going to lead? I mean, I guess you could have singing, but if no one's got a voice, and everyone's just... Right? It'd be silly. Everyone's got to do it. So that's a job that might be in front of everybody. But you know what? There's a lot of other jobs that a lot of people do that no one might even realize is going on. And you know, this is one of the reasons why I made the mention and the shout out at the camping trip to my wife, because she's done so much work for this that a lot of people probably have, for the camping trip that we had, a lot of people don't even realize. You know what? And that's fine. And you know what? She doesn't necessarily have to get all the praise or credit or anything like that. She just keeps on working. It's nice to get some credit every once in a while. I think everybody should get some credit once in a while. But my point is this. You can do a lot of work and help things go along, and when you're thinking about the whole body as succeeding, it doesn't matter if you get the credit or not. What you're doing, though... And here's the thing. God sees what you're doing. God sees what you're doing. So if no one else sees what you're doing, that's okay. That's okay. Because God will bless you and reward you for the work that you do. And you don't need to make sure everybody knows about it. And I'll tell you what. If you were to leave going, oh, man, no one appreciates what I do, we'll feel it when you leave. And, you know, it would be nice to be able to pat everyone on the back that's doing a good job. But, I mean, at this church, it seems like everybody's doing a good job. To me, I might not tell you that all the time. Other people might not tell you that all the time, but, you know, we do care about you. But at the same time, I don't want to just focus on patting all the parts of the body all the time, because we've got work to do. Right? So let's get in our job, let's get in our function, and get to work. But don't think you're not important. Or that there's something you can't do. Or something, you know, I'm just a kid. You know what, when all the kids grouped together, they were able to pull three men down on the ground. Right? Everyone working together. They were able to do that. Let's keep reading the passage here. I forgot where I left off exactly. Maybe somewhere around verse 20. Let's start at verse 20. But now are they many members yet but one body. And the eye cannot say into the hand, I have no need of thee, nor again the head to the feet. I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor. And our uncomly parts have more abundant comeliness. You know, things like your liver is not very comely. Like it's not very beautiful. But man oh man is that an important job to have in the body. It doesn't look pretty to look on. In fact, it's hidden underneath, you know, your skin and underneath other parts that we tend to think look more beautiful. But you know what? You pull that out, it's like ew. That doesn't look... But, but don't leave me liver. I like you. I like you just where you're at. You're doing a great job. Verse 24. For our comelry parts have no need, but God hath tempered the body together having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked. That there should be no schism in the body. Schism is like a split, a separation. God doesn't want the body split up. He wants us fitly joined together. But that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular. We need to be able to come together in unity as one whole body to get this tug of war match and have that synergy working for us to do even more than any one of us. Even if you just added up the individual work that everyone can do when it's all working together does so much more. There's so much more strength there. There's so much more we can do as we come together and do more. And I think we're starting to realize we're a really cool stage in our growth as a church. I love all the stages of church but right now it's like we're on this cusp where we're starting to do some really cool things. We're starting to get a little bit bigger and do some bigger things as a group. Why? Because we have so many people helping. That's the only reason. And of course God is working and placing people here that he knows are going to fit in and do whatever work that he has already known that they're going to be good at doing. And will help with this church. It's exciting. Now the best part about getting the victory in a spiritual tug of war though is that you don't have to have more people on your side in general. Like I was just talking about adding more people at the church, coming together, you kind of get that synergy working for you. You can win a tug of war. But there's so many tug of war battles going on. Not just any one, but any single one of those we could win with God on our side. With God's strength. You know, if Christ be for us, who can be against us? I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. I could win every tug of war battle through Christ which strengtheneth me. Except the one against all the little kids. Jesus loves the little children, what can I say? He's on their side more than mine. There's a lot you can learn from tug of war. Who would have thought? So many biblical truths in such a simple game. And it didn't take place, the adult tug of war, I was really wanting that to happen. But now after the sermon, maybe we can have a men's, well I don't know about women's, tug of war. But if they want to, they can. Not a men's versus women's though, we're not going to do that. Boys versus girls, okay, we're not going to do men's versus women's. Anyways, I'm starting to ramble now. But thank God for this church. You're in the battle every day. Don't give up the ground. Strengthen the spirit. There is a spiritual battle going on. Obviously I made the tug of war thing. The Bible doesn't say tug of war, but we are soldiers. We are in a battle. We are in a fight. There is a wrestling match going on. It's not against flesh and blood, it's in the spirit. We need to be strong. We need to work together. We need to make sure we're not giving up that ground. And you know what? God has given us the instruction to do it. Now it's just up to us. Fight that flesh every day, but don't give into it. Don't give into it. Don't give up the ground. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for this church. I thank you for everyone here, dear Lord. I pray that you would please help us to be able to strengthen our spirit. I pray that you would please just help us to overcome the desires of our flesh and be able to just put forth just a little bit extra all the time. Lord, help us to just keep being able to push forward, push forward, push forward and not give any ground that we've gained. Lord, strengthen us. Be with us, Lord. Help us when we're weary. We love you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, we're going to sing one last song before we're dismissed. All right, church, if you could open up your hymnals to song number 397. It's all 397. Do as much when God is in it. It's all 397. On the first hit the harp is filled up right hand. There's a work for all to do. Hark, the voice of God is calling to the harp is calling you. Do as much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name. Does the place you're called to labor seem so small and little known? It is great if God is in it and he'll not forget his home. Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name. Are you they the site for service, body born for toilet care? You can still be in the battle, in the sacred place of prayer. Do as much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name. Sing this last one out. When the conflict here is ended and our race on earth is run, he will say to all the faithful, welcome home a child well done. Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it if you'll go in Jesus' name. Amen. Great singing. Thank you so much for coming, you guys.