(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

all right well we're there in Matthew 13 and we're just focused in on the last little piece of that chapter and it's interesting in that chapter because it gives us a little bit of insight into the relationship of Christ and his physical family on the earth if you look at verse 54 it says and when he was come into his own country so Jesus is going back back home it's like pastor Anderson was talking about that he was raised in Sacramento it's like when he goes to Sacramento you know and here Jesus is going back to his own country and notice in verse 55 is the the people are saying is not this the carpenter son is not his mother called Mary and his brethren so here we find that Jesus had brothers and their name James Joseph Simon Judas and his sisters are they not all with us so we find that he's got sisters so of course we know that the Catholic teaching that Mary was a perpetual virgin is a lie Jesus here it's very clear that he has some physical brethren and tonight I want to preach kind of a unique sermon and at least unique to me I don't I've touched on this subject in sermons before but I don't think I've ever preached an entire sermon on it but I want to talk about how to deal with your unsaved family members how to deal with your unsaved family members and this sermon could also apply to close unsaved friends maybe you had some friends that you were very close to before you got saved or it could also apply to say family members who are worldly and they're not really on board with the things of God and you know the I think that the reason that maybe I haven't preached an entire sermon on this is you know sometimes when you don't deal with things maybe they're not on your mind as much and I am what you would call a second or maybe even a third generation Christian depending on what part of the family you're looking at but something I love about our movement is that we are reaching brand new people with the gospel of Christ we're not just recycling a bunch of you know IFB's like the IP movement they just you know switch members around you know we are actually reaching new people and this is something that is important for what I would call a first generation Christian my wife is a first generation Christian and what I mean by that is she was not raised in a Christian home she was the first one in her family to get saved and just just out of curiosity let me let me ask this you know raise your hand if you would if you are a first generation Christian meaning you are the first one you were not raised in a Christian home there you go that just kind of shows you know why this sermon is kind of needed and all these kids should be raising their hands right well all these kids are if we're asking for second generation Christians all these kids would raise their hand I would raise my hand who's the second generation or third generation Christian all right so so we see there's a good good mixture here most churches you would find that there's probably not that many new believers and I'm not saying you're new believers but believers that were reached by that church but that's why this is so important to kind of talk about these things and understand these things and you know I want to give you tonight I just want to give you five statements to kind of help you have some principles from scripture in regards to dealing with your unsafe family members well let me ask this even those of you that are second or third generation Christians you know how many of you raise your hand if you've been accused of being in a cult man you know I think that that's pretty common you know right or you've been accused of just being radical you've got family that just thinks you're a little overboard or a little insane all of those things would apply to this sermon so I want to give you just just five statements in regards to how to deal with unsafe family worldly family family that doesn't really see eye to eye and I want you to realize you know the first thing we can take just from the passage we read it's it's true when the Bible says about Christ it says for we have not in high priests which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities you know if you are in that boat where you've got family that attacks you or you've got family that doesn't get you or you got family that isn't with you you know Jesus was in that boat also he had brethren that didn't believe on him initially and he had brethren and we're gonna see that here in a second but I want you to notice if you notice all those hands that went up you know you're not alone you're sometimes we when we have trials we're going through we may feel like we're the only ones dealing with it but just realize you're not the only one that's been you know being accused of being in a cult right all those hands went up you're not the only one that maybe has in-laws or grandparents who are attacking you because you're homeschooling your children the Bible says there are no temptation taken you but such as is common to man but God is faithful when I'll suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it and that word temptation you know we often think of the word temptation as like being enticed to sin and the word temptation definitely means that but it can also mean like a trial or a test we know Abraham was tempted of God so you know you may be going through that dealing with family having those problems but realize that Christ also dealt with it and not only that other believers are dealing with it there's people in your own church that are dealing with it so let me give you five statements just five principles to kind of help you with this thing number one if you've got a pen if you happen to have a pen with you you maybe you can write these down I understand if you got a baby on your lap but number one I'd like you to know this realize that reaching your own family may be difficult reaching your own family may be difficult just by the fact that it's your own family you know especially if you want to give the gospel to your own parents just something about the fact that they change your diaper you know what I mean something about the fact that they raised you and and they they've known you since since day one it may be difficult for them to want to hear you because if you're there in Matthew 13 we of course read verses 55 and 56 where it talks about the family of Christ but notice the response that Christ gives in verse number 57 he says the Bible says this and they were offended in him but Jesus said unto them notice what Jesus said a prophet is not without honor now he's saying a prophet does have honor does get honor he says a prophet is not without honor save he's saying except for in his own country and in his own house and he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief now realize if Christ who's God in the flesh if Christ who can perform miracles if Christ who's teaching these great teachings if Christ who these people he grew up around should be able to attest to the fact we never saw him lie we never saw him disobey his parents there was something different about this guy if Christ can show up in his own hometown and have people just be hard and not want to hear his message and and and not want to give him honor then realize then it's gonna be the same way for you and Jesus taught that it is often the case that close loved ones family members friends it's easy for them to reject you because they feel like they know you so just realize that reaching your own family may be difficult go to you're there in Matthew 13 go to John chapter number 7 you're in Matthew so just a few books over Mark Luke John John chapter 7 and look at verse number 1 John chapter 7 in verse 1 the Bible says this after these things Jesus walked in Galilee for he would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill him so he's he's traveling in the northern part of Israel not going down to the southern part because the Pharisees want to kill him the Pharisees are persecuting believers to now the Jews feast of the tabernacle was at hand this took place in in Judah notice verse 3 his brethren that's talking about his physical brothers James Joseph Judas those guys his brethren therefore said unto him they'll part hands and go in and go into Judea that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest for there is no man that doeth anything in secret and he himself notice that what they say seek it to be known openly and you can kind of sense a little bit of bitterness there yeah cuz there they've got you know famous brother right their brothers preaching all these sermons thousands of people are coming to hear and preach and they're kind of and they obviously they realize there's a reason why he's not going down there and he does end up going down there in secret you know but when he gets there he preaches openly but they're kind of just poking fun at him and say why don't you go down there aren't you wanting to get all this fame aren't you wanting you know kind of the same thing people say to us you know why do you have to put those sermons on YouTube why do you have to do those interviews you know are you just seeking all this but look we're just seeking to spread the gospel we're seeking to proclaim the Word of God and they're kind of you you can sense the bitterness notice the end of verse 4 if thou do these things show thyself to the world but notice verse 5 for neither did his brethren believe in him and we see here that initially the the brothers of Christ his own physical brothers did not believe in him so just realize that reaching you know if you get frustrated say why can't I get my brother saved why can't I get my mom saved or why can't I get my dad saved or why can't I get you know my cousins or whoever don't let that frustrate you too much just realize that reaching your own family may be difficult even the brothers of Christ did not initially believe on him so the first thing we see is that it's reaching your own family may be difficult here's the second statement I'd like you to understand not only do you need to realize that your own family may be difficult to reach but you need to determine to reach your family even though it's difficult you need to realize that it is possible to reach your family it may just take more than look you can walk up to a perfect stranger knock on their door introduce yourself give them the gospel in 20 minutes and get them saved here's why because they don't know you because they don't know anything about you because they don't know you know all the stupid things you did as a teenager and all the you know they don't know all that it may be different giving the gospel to your parents or your grandparents or your aunt or your uncle or your own siblings but you need to determine to reach your family even though it may be difficult now if you're there go back to Matthew 13 just real quickly and look at verse number 55 Matthew 13 and verse 55 we're given the names of the brothers of Christ notice what it says it's not this the carpenter's son it's not his mother called Mary and his brother I want you to notice these names his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas I want you to notice that two of the names there are James and Judas now you can keep your place there in Matthew but go through the book of Galatians Galatians chapter number one Galatians chapter one you got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Romans 1st 2nd Corinthians Galatians Galatians chapter number one and look at verse number 18 in Galatians chapter number one you've got the Apostle Paul and he's kind of giving a testimony of his own salvation and the things that he did shortly after his salvation and in Galatians chapter 1 and verse number 18 I want you to notice what he says the Bible says this then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter that's Paul telling us what he did and a boat with him 15 days notice verse 19 but others of the Apostles saw I none save notice what he says James the Lord's brother so I want you to notice that in John we saw that his brothers did not believe on him but by the time the Apostle Paul has been saved for several years he goes to Jerusalem and he tells us that he met with James the Lord's brother so you know we can kind of get from that that his brother is though they did not initially believe on him they eventually believed on him and I mean I would imagine if you watch your brother die and then you you know and then you see him three days later I'd imagine you and at some point just realize okay you know it's true that I never saw him lie it's true that I never saw him give mom attitude it's true that I never saw him do anything wrong but I watched him die and now he's back you know so eventually they believe but here's what I want you to understand it was his brothers were bitter were mocking his ministry not believing on him but here we see that eventually James the Lord's brother was saved in the Apostle Paul's meeting with him go to the book of Jude last if you go to the end of the Bible the book of Revelation right before Revelation you got the book of Jude Jude look at verse number one there's only one chapter Jude 1 remember the names of his brothers there was James and Judas well we're told in Galatians 1 that Paul met with James the Lord's brother and Jude 1 1 the Bible says this Jude the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James so whoever wrote the book of Jude had a brother named James Galatians tells us that there's a man named James who's the Lord's brother so I think we could probably take from that that look his brothers got saved and even in the book of Acts in the upper room the brothers are mentioned Mary is mentioned and his brethren are mentioned being there and here's what I want you to understand Jesus's own brothers did not believe on him but eventually they did so you know what in my life and in your life we need to determine that we need to realize that it's gonna be difficult to reach our family but don't let that you know stop you don't let that be a hindrance just stay at it and you can see your own family get saved as well and we see that the brothers of Jesus were saved go to the book of John John chapter number one if you're there in Matthew you got Matthew Mark Luke John John chapter one and here's what I want you to understand all right and what I'm gonna say may sound a little contradictory but just just let me explain your family may be the hardest to reach because of the fact that they're your family but your family may also be the easiest to reach just because of the fact that they're family you just need to realize not all family members are the same some may not want to hear it from you because they're related to you others may only want to hear it from you because they're related to you so you say well what do we do we just preach the gospel to all of them and also realize this that some may not want to hear from you today but they may want to hear it from you next year because circumstances change things happen in people's lives and if you live right and you've got a good testimony before them they'll know who to go to when they need those answers they'll know who to reach out to and here's what I want you to understand most salvations and church growth a church can explode and growth and you guys are exploding and growth so you don't need any advice but a church can explode and growth if people learn how to reach their own family if people learn how to give the gospel to their own family you're there in John chapter 1 look at verse number 40 notice what the Bible says John chapter 1 in verse 40 the Bible says this one of the two which heard John that's John the Baptist which heard John speak and followed him was Andrew notice what it says Andrew Simon Peters brother he first findeth his own brother Simon and saith unto him we have found the Messiah's which is being interpreted the Christ notice verse 42 and he Andrew brought him Peter to Jesus and when Jesus beheld him he said thou art Simon the son of Jonas thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation of stone the days following Jesus would go forth into Galilee and find his Philip and save them to him follow me notice verse 44 now Philip was of the city of the city of Andrew and Peter Philip findeth Nathaniel so you've got Andrew finding his own brother then you've got Jesus reaching Philip then you've got Philip finding Nathaniel you see how the growth could be exponential if everybody gets involved if everybody does their part Philip finds a Nathaniel and say them to him we have found him of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did write Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph and if you think about just think about the twelve apostles you know the Bible says this now the names of the twelve apostles are these Simon who's called Peter and Andrew his brother James the son of Zebedee and John his brother and then it goes on to say Philip and Bartholomew you know and it gives us the rest of the names there but here's what I want you to understand of the twelve apostles four were two pairs of brothers so that shows you the power that we can tap into when it comes to reaching our own family when it comes to getting our own family members safe but here's what you need to understand and you know like I said at the beginning sermon I grew up in a Christian home so I did not have to figure out how to get my brother saved and my sister saved and my parents say you know my my grandfather was a pastor so on my mom's side I would be considered like a third generation Christian my dad was reached by missionaries in Venezuela so on his side I'd be like a second generation Christian the point is this this is not something I've had to deal with a lot but in my family we have had to deal with this on my wife's side and you know with my wife's family she was the only one that was saved you know at 17 years old she'd grown up a Catholic and and then her family was you know Catholic or nothing and she in her life you know we have seen her mother saved her sister saved her older brother saved her younger brother saved her childhood friend saved her brother's childhood friend saved and you know here's here's what you need to understand she did not get them all saved you know within three months of her own salvation now she tried she tried to give all the gospel but guess what they were just like you're in a cold why are you not wearing pants anymore why are you going you're knocking on doors now you're going to church how many times a week you know they all thought she was weird they all thought that she's gonna drink kool-aid you know they they thought she was gonna go to Guyana or something and they did not want to listen you know they did not want to get so it didn't happen within the first three months but you know what she gave him the gospel she gave him the gospel a couple times several times and then she just waited and she just and here's what she waited for the right opportunity because you will find that people will come to you when they are to the point of receptive that's why the Bible says in 1st Peter 3 15 but sanctify the Lord God in your heart and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason or the hope that is in you with meekness and fear and you know the biggest mistake that I see with believers you know I've been pastoring the church for six and a half seven years now and the biggest mistake that I see is that new believers they want to try to cram the gospel down their entire families to them you know and if it doesn't happen when they're the first two weeks they're just upset and look you should do it and as long as they're receptive as long as they're friendly as long as they want to hear you should preach the gospel to them I'm not telling you not to do it but here's what you want to avoid you want to avoid this idea where just every time you see your family you know every time there's a birthday party every time there's a wedding every time there's any event where you see your family where you're just gonna sit them down and preach the gospel to them look after you've given the gospel to them clearly one time two times three times you want to just try to back off and just wait for the right time and just wait and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh the reason of the hope just be ready to preach the gospel to them and I believe that you will see many people say in your own family eventually if you're consistent if you're not getting backslidden if you're just staying with it and just talk to people and don't just cram it down their throat so here's so you say what can we learn from from the life of Christ and the family of Christ well number one realize that reaching your own family is difficult you know prophet is not without honor save in his own country and with his own kindred is what the Bible says in the book of Mark Jesus said with his own kin but also determined to reach your family even though it may be difficult but here's the third statement I want you to get and go go with me to the book of you know just real quickly go to the book of Mark Mark chapter number six I just want to show you this verse where Jesus said his own can March chapter six March after six in verse four the Bible says but Jesus said unto them a prophet is not without honor and this verse he says but and Matthew 13 he said save but in Mark 6 he says but but he's still saying except for in his own country but I want you to notice what Mark 6 says and among his own kin and I believe that Jesus said that you know referring to his own family the fact that his own family had had not believed on him at this point and his own house now you're there in Mark go to the book of Luke Luke chapter number 14 so you need to realize that reaching your own family is difficult and you need to determine you need to resolve to be patient and try to get as many people in your family saved and right with God but here's the third point and here's where I think a lot of people don't understand this and here's what I've noticed the people who cannot grasp this thought that I'm about to make will fail in the Christian life if they've got a family that's trying to hinder them here's point number three you need to be ready to separate from your family if they are hostile or a hindrance to spiritual things you need to be ready to separate from your family if they are hostile and a hindrance to spiritual thing now look before I even go go further go to go to Luke 14 obviously the best thing would be for you to have a great relationship with your physical family and with a spiritual family that's the best and if your family is not hostile because here's what I found too sometimes it's the new believers that are hostile sometimes it's the new converts that are a hindrance you know if your family's not hostile towards the things of God if they're not hindering you they think you're weird they think you're odd but they still love you they want to spend time with you hey don't burn that bridge all right you know what if Jesus would have done that then maybe his own brothers wouldn't have got saved but here's what you need to understand if they're trying to hinder you if you've got grandma and grandpa taking your children off to the side and trying to tell them hey everything your parents are teaching you is wrong you need to be ready to cut them off you need to be ready to separate from that family you need to be ready to separate from your own physical family only if I want to make that real clear only if they are hostile and a hindrance or things of God now let me make another and give you another disclaimer I'm not talking about your immediate family some of you are like sweet I'm gonna go divorce my wife this week my wife is hostile look that's your wife all right and I'm not saying to separate from your children that are ten years old living in your house and I'm not and also not saying to separate from your parents if you're living in their house and you're the child all right I'm talking about you know extended family in-laws aunts uncles parents sing about things of that nature Luke chapter 14 look at verse number 25 Luke chapter 14 in verse 25 notice what the Bible says Luke 14 and verse 25 and there went a great multitude with him and he turned and said unto them notice what Jesus said if any man come to me if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters now when you read that you think like Jesus you know you want to say hey mom dad sister I mean but I like the next statement because he kind of puts it into context he says yay and his own life also so I just let you know that it's not that you're supposed to have this personal hatred towards your dad or towards your mom because you're not gonna hate yourself right in fact the Bible says that that we love ourselves we take good sex but here's what he's trying to say don't allow anyone even yourself to come between you and God and notice what he says he says if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sister yay and his own life also he cannot be my disciple notice Matthew chapter number 10 you're there in Luke just go back to Matthew chapter number 10 look at verse number 34 Matthew chapter number 10 and verse number 34 Matthew 10 34 the Bible says this think not that I am come to send peace on earth I came not to send peace but a sword for I am come to set notice what he says I am come to set a man at variance against his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law and a man's foes shall be they of his own household he that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me he that taketh not his cross and follows after me is not worthy of me look at verse 21 same chapter you just go up in the chapter verse number 21 notice what he says the brother this is talking about end times persecution but he says the brother shall deliver up the brother to death and the father the child and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death and here's what you need to realize is that Jesus is teaching here that we have to be ready to separate and we have to be ready to walk away from and we need to be ready and listen to me sometimes you know we I see believers do this they're just banging their heads against the wall where they're just trying you know you're just trying to get your family and again if they're not hostile I'm not talking about that but they're just against you they're just fighting you at every moment you know every time it's the opposite every time you see them they're bringing up the fact that you got to put those kids in public school and what are you doing to them and why are you having in that religion and and I watch believers they're trying to like explain it to their parents they're trying to explain to their grandparents they're trying to explain to them the Bible and what the Bible says they're trying to explain to them why they dress the way they do they're trying to explain to them why they go soul money they're trying to explain why they educate the children and here's what you need to understand if your family's not safe they're not going to get it The Bible says, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto them, neither can they know them, because they are spiritually deserved. They're not going to understand it. Now, if they're not hostile, if they're not hindering you, keep the relationship. But if they're just trying to stop you, you've got to be ready to cut that thing off. You've got to be ready to separate. You've got to be ready to say, hey, we're following Jesus, we're following the Word of God, and we're going to go with the way that God does it. So you've got to be ready to separate from your family if they are hostile and if they are a hindrance. And you know, here's what you need to understand. The Bible says, wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And that applies to family. He says, be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And you need to understand that if those unbelievers are related to you, hey, you can't just be yoked up with them if they're trying to stop you, if they're trying to hinder you, if they're trying to, you know, if you used to be, have a lifestyle, you know, where you were just listening to Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre, right? And every time you show up, they're just blasting Snoop Dogg, trying to get you to come back. Hey, you may need to cut off that relationship. I'm just, I don't know that about brother Chris. I'm just, but you know what I'm saying? Maybe you used to drink, and they're just constantly trying to get you to drink. You know, they're just always scheduling the church events on Sunday night, right? You know, or Sunday morning, trying to get you to not go to church. You need to be ready to just cut off that relationship, and you need to be ready to separate from your family if they are a hindrance. But there's another thing, go to Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter 12. So the Bible says, so what we need to learn from the Bible is you need to realize that reaching your own family may be difficult, but you need to determine to reach your own family, even though it may be difficult, and just be patient with it, and don't be hostile towards them, and don't just try to cram it down their throat. Give them the gospel as many times as they are receptive, but if they don't want to hear it, you know, be respectful of that. And by the way, that's just good soul winning advice. You know, when you're out soul winning, if someone says, I don't want to hear it, and you're just still preaching to them, look for someone that's receptive, look for someone that wants to hear it, and even with your own family. But here's the thing, there may come a time when they come to you, and they're ready, and they're not going to say, hey, I'm ready to get saved, but they might start coming to you and start asking you questions about church. Look, when family has been hostile about the things of God before, all of a sudden wants to know how your church is doing, they probably want you to give them the gospel. They're probably ready, they're probably looking, they're searching, they're realizing that there's something that they need. So determine to reach your family, though it may be difficult, but if your family's hostile, if they're hindering you, you have to be ready to separate from your family. But number four, here's a fourth statement. Replace your physical family with a spiritual family. You need to replace your physical family with a spiritual family, especially if you're practicing separation. And like I said, the best thing would be to have both. The best thing is to keep a relationship with your physical family and to have a church family, but you have to be ready to separate from them, and you need to have a spiritual family, but you need to, especially if you're separating, and look, separating doesn't necessarily mean that you just never talk to them. It just may mean that you have to regulate some of the influence that they have on you or on your wife or on your children. You need to be ready to replace your physical family with a spiritual family. Matthew chapter 12, notice what Jesus said in verse number 46. Now again, this is before his brothers were saved, and we're not sure if Mary was saved. I mean, I'm sure she was, but we don't know at this point, but notice Mary's not with the right crowd. Matthew 12, verse 46, notice what the Bible says. While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without. Now, stood without means that they weren't part of the group that he's preaching to. So here's the question I've got. Why aren't you guys in church? Why aren't you at the preaching service? They stood without, designed to speak with them. Then one said unto him, behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, designed to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, now notice the attitude that Jesus had towards brothers. I'm sure he loved them, but they were unbelievers. They were hostile in some ways. They're mocking his ministry. They're saying, why don't you go down there and get yourself killed? You know, notice what he says, who is my mother and who are my brethren? Notice verse 49, and he stretched forth his hands toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and my brethren, for whosoever shall do the will of my father, which is in heaven, the same is my brother and my sister and my mother. You know what Jesus was saying? Jesus was saying, my family is going to be those who are going in the same direction that I'm going, which is the things of God. And at this point, he's saying, look, they're without for a reason. He's saying, this is my family. And by the way, that's why the book of Proverbs, go to Ephesians, Ephesians chapter two, while you go there, I'll read for you from Proverbs 18. Proverbs 18 says this, a man that has friends must show himself friendly. And there is a friend that's sick of closer than a brother. And you know, you will find that you can develop relationships where you will have a spiritual friend that may even be closer than your own physical family. And you know, that's, that's the great thing about the Christian life. I mean, the great thing about Christianity is that we were born into a new family. We were born into a spiritual family. Those of you that are those first generation Christians, you might've had a dysfunctional family. You might've had an upbringing where dad wasn't all he was supposed to be. And mom wasn't all that she should have been. And you know, it was a bad environment and all that, but look, when you got saved, not only did you get salvation, not only did you get eternal life, not only did you get redemption, not only did you get forgiveness, you got a new family. So you say, well, my, my, my dad was a drunk and my dad didn't take care of us. And my dad didn't love us. And my dad wasn't there for us. But you know what? You got a new heavenly father. You've got a new family now that you can get connected to Ephesians two and verse 19. The Bible says this now, therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Notice chapter three and verse 14, Ephesians chapter three and verse number 14. The Bible says this, for this cause, I bow my knee unto the father and our Lord Jesus Christ of whom, notice what he says, the whole family in heaven and earth is named. See when you got saved, you got born into a family of God. And isn't it an amazing thing? My dad, when I was growing up, my dad used to always say this to us as kids about being a Christian is amazing because we, you know, we moved, I was born in Venezuela and we moved from Venezuela when I was four years old to the United States of America. And when we moved here, we got connected into a local church and we immediately, you know, my family became friends with other believers in that church. And my dad would always say this, isn't it amazing that you can move to another continent where you don't know these people at all, but you've got Christ in common and you're just a family. I mean, some of you, you know, you, you go visit the Sacramento or you go to Texas or you go wherever and you meet believers that you've never met before. But it's like instantly, it's just a brother. It's a sister. It's a family, you know? And look, maybe, maybe your family cut you off. Maybe they're the ones that say they don't want anything to do with you. Maybe they're practicing separation from you. Hey, just realize you have a spiritual family. And by the way, that's why church is so important. That's why you can't replace church with just watching videos online. I'm all for videos online. I'm all for MP3 videos or audio and I'm all for the YouTube videos. I think all of that's great. I think, you know, people are, but look, you know what you can't get from the preaching online is a friend. You know what you can't get from the preaching online is relationships. You know what you can't get from the preaching online? When you miss the live stream, there's no one calling saying, Hey brother, I've noticed you missed a live stream the last three weeks. Nobody calls you and says that, but when you miss church three weeks in a row, you might have someone say, Hey brother, how you doing? I miss you. We love you. We're praying for you. You know, there's something about a spiritual family that's important. Look, you can get the preaching online. I get that. Now I think the preaching is better live anyway, but you know, you can get it online, but you know what you can't get online is a spiritual family. It's relationships and friendships. It's a brother that sticketh closer. It's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. You were born into a new family, into a family of God. Go to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter number 33. So here's what we said so far. Number one, realize that reaching your own family may be difficult. Reaching your own family may be difficult. A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin, right? But you ought to determine to reach your family, even though it may be difficult. You should make it a goal of trying to get as many of your family members saved, but don't fall into this trap. And I've watched it happen to people in our church where it's like, you know, I'm missing church because we're having this family event and I'm just trying to give the gospel to my... Look, if they're going to hinder you, if they're hostile, pray for them, let somebody else give them the gospel of Jesus, you can't let them stop you. You can't let them be a hindrance to you and be ready, you've got to be ready to separate from your family if they are a hindrance. But let me say this, and here's the fifth statement. You need to be tactful when practicing separation from your family. You need to do the best you can to be tactful and graceful when it comes to practicing separation from your family. Are you there in Genesis 33? Look at verse number 12. Genesis 33 and verse 12. And we're jumping into the story where Jacob and Esau have been reunited. Jacob has been gone for years and he's now reunited with his brother. But here's the thing about Esau, is that he's living a worldly lifestyle. You know, he's a fornicator, he's not living for God. And in Genesis 33 and verse 12, the Bible says this, and he, that's Esau, said, let us, he's talking to Jacob, take our journey and let us go, and I will go before thee. And he, that's Jacob, said unto him, that's Esau, notice what he says. My Lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me, and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. Let my Lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant. Here's what he's saying. You go on ahead. Let my Lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children is able to endure, until I come unto my Lord unto seer. Now notice what he said. He says, you go on ahead and I will come to you to seer, but I want you to notice what he does. Look at verse 15. And Esau said, let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, what needeth it? Let me find grace in the sight of my Lord. So Esau returned that day on his way unto seer. So Esau is trying to get him to go to seer. Jacob says, hey, you go on ahead until I come unto my Lord unto seer. But then notice verse 17. And Jacob journeyed to suck off. Is that seer? No. And built him a house and made boots for his cattle. Therefore, the name of the place is called suck off. And Jacob came to Shalom, the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from peranoram and pitched his tent before the city. Now you say, well, is Jacob lying to Esau? He may have been. I don't think he was. I think Jacob did eventually go to see Esau for a visit in seer because later on in Genesis 35, we see Jacob and Esau both together bearing their father. So, but here's what I, here's what I think Jacob was doing because Jacob, wherever he went, he was moving. He was going to set up his house there. And I think just Jacob did not want to live with Esau. I mean, the Bible says can two walk together except they be agreed. And Jacob, I think he just realized we're not on the same page here. I don't want to go and live next to Esau. So he tells him, you go on ahead. I'll see you later. He goes to suck off, sets up his house, sets up where he's gonna live. I do believe he eventually went and saw because it seems like they're at least, you know, on, on good terms at the funeral of their father Isaac in Genesis 35. But here's what I want you to understand. When Esau says, hey, let us go and take our journey. Let us take our journey and let us go. I want you to notice, you know, look at verse 14 again. You know, here's what you don't see Jacob doing. Let my Lord, I pray thee pass over, pass over before his servant. Here's what you don't see Jacob doing. He's not saying Esau, listen, you're a fornicator and you're wicked and you're a drunkard and I don't want to be around you and I don't want to live next to you. He just says to him, go on ahead. And look, you may disagree with what I'm about to say, but some of you, the reason that people hate you at work and the reason that you're just not going to get your co-worker saved is because when you're, you're unsaved co-worker who doesn't know anything about the Bible, doesn't know anything about you says, hey, the guys are going to go get some beers tonight. You sit there and rip them apart and say, you know, just preach them the Bible and tell them, look, he's not saved. He doesn't understand. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying, no, you know what, you go on ahead. I'm going to go home. You don't have to sit there and explain all these things. You just got to get him saved. He's not going to get it. You don't have to explain to everybody why, you know, why can't go there because your wife dresses like a whore because you're, you know, look, you don't have to explain all these things to them. And they're not, I'm talking about, they're not saved. I'm not just a coworker, just a neighbor, just someone you barely even know, but you're going to, you know, you want to act like you're preaching on YouTube or something. You want to rip everybody up with all your Bible knowledge, which is great. But look, we do need to realize that when we're talking to unbelievers, what they need is salvation. And sometimes we need to just use a little bit of tact. The Bible says, let your speech be all way with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer every man. And we need to just be careful and be a little discerning and realize that maybe your family's just not going to understand some things. And sometimes you just have to say, you know, we're not going to be part of that. Or, you know, we can't make it or thanks for the invitation. We've got church. I'm not saying to lie to them, you know, thanks for inviting us, but you know, we go to church on Sunday nights, but you have to sit there and just rip them apart and tell them how wicked they are. Because look, all you're going to do is just burn that bridge. We should try to be tactful as much as possible. Go to Luke chapter four and verse 22. Luke chapter four and verse 22. I want you to notice how Jesus himself who had unbelieving family and family that wouldn't even, they weren't, they were without, they didn't even come to you and preach. They didn't come in. They said, Hey, we got to talk to Jesus. Tell him to come talk to us. We're not going in. I want you to notice what the Bible says about our savior. Luke chapter four and verse 22 and all bear him witness and wondered. Notice what it says about Jesus at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, is this not Joseph's son? And again, this is unbeliever speaking. Obviously it's not Joseph's son, but they marveled. They wonder at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And by the way, again, all of this implies a soul winning. When you're knocking those doors, you know, you don't have to necessarily go down every rabbit trail about everything that's wrong with somebody's religion or whatever. Preach them the gospel. You know, I do think we need to deal with certain things. Obviously, if they don't believe in Jesus being God, you got to deal with that. You know, obviously if they don't believe in certain things, you got to deal with those things. But I just think sometimes we want to, we want to preach and it makes us feel spiritual and we want to make people look stupid or make them feel, you know, like they're just these wicked sinners. Just try to have some grace and try to be a little tactful, especially when dealing with your own family. Try to be like Jesus and have words that are gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. The Bible says this, if it be possible as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. Now look, we realize, we realize that there's some people who you're just not going to live peaceably with. It doesn't matter what you say. It doesn't matter how kindly or tactful. It doesn't matter what you do. They're just going to attack you. They're just going to be mad at you. They're just going to be angry. We get that. You know, be ready to cut those people off. Be ready to separate. But just make sure that the reason that your family won't hear the gospel is not because you're just a jerk when you're giving it. And it's not because you're just rude when you're giving it. And it's not because you're trying to like hold all these heavy doctrines that they just, they're just the natural man that understands it, not the spirit of God, the things of God. They don't understand the things of God. You know, try to be tactful as much as possible. If it be possible as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. So what do we see? Realize that reaching your own family may be difficult. Determine to reach your family, though it's difficult. Be ready to separate only if they're a hostile and a hindrance. Make sure you're not the one that's hostile and hindrance. Replace your physical family with a spiritual family if separating, but everyone should have a spiritual family if they're connected to. And lastly, as much as possible, be tactful when practicing separation from your family. Now look, I'm not speaking to you tonight in theory. These are things that we've had to deal with. We have had, my wife and I have had family members go on the local news in our city, you know, and attack us. All right. And there comes a time where you're not being graceful. We get that. There comes a time where you're just cut those people off and, you know, they're not, they're, they're, they're your enemy at this point because they're making themselves your enemy. We get that, but just, we need to try to be tactful and you need to try to just have discernment. Look, in our lives, I'm talking about my family. There's people, I'm talking about people that are very close as far as, you know, families concerned that we've just had to cut off, that we've just said no. I mean, and there's, there's people in our family that we've cut off until they're no longer hostile or till they get safe. There's some people in our family that we just cut off, you know, as far as we're concerned, they've been, God rejected them, so we reject them too. And we have no reason to ever see them or talk to them again. So I'm not up here just speaking to you in theory. I'm telling you that in your Christian life, sometimes you've got to make these decisions and you got to be ready to do that. And there's people that worship their families to the point where they're not willing to serve God to the point of, look, if you've got a family member that's a sodomite, you need to cut that person off, right? You've got to reprobate, you know, well, my uncle turned out to be a pedophile and this and that. Look, God rejected them. What are you going to do for them? If God gave up on them, what are you trying to do being around them? You need to cut them off. You need to protect your family. We get those things. We understand those things. But here's, here's what I want you to understand. There's no like real clear answer for any of this. All of this, your situation is going to be different than ours. Every situation is going to be different. So you need to really think hard about when it's time to cut someone off. You need to think hard about when it's time to no longer give the gospel to somebody. You know, you've given it to them two or three times and it seems like they're getting a little irritated. You've got to use some discernment. And I would just encourage you to really spend time in prayer about these things. Don't just make flippant decisions. And here's the thing, don't just cut a family member off flippantly either. Really think about it. Ask God for wisdom. Ask God to help you. You know, the Bible says this, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. And just ask God to give you wisdom and discernment. How do I deal with this family member? What should I do? And here's what I believe. I believe that God will guide you and God will help you. And God will make it clear through the preaching of his word, through the reading of his word, how you should deal with family. But here's what's interesting. Didn't, didn't we see that Jesus taught a lot on this subject? He dealt a lot with the subjects. He taught a lot of the subjects. So you should not just take this position like, oh, well, whatever. You know, there's, there's a reason that you are part of that family. And you may be the reason that everyone in your family gets saved. You may be the, you may be, you may be that one that changes the family tree. You know, before you got saved, it was just a worldly family. It was a Catholic family. It was a non-religious family. It was an atheist family. Whatever it is, you may be that one that gets to turn it around. You may be that Andrew that reaches Simon Peter to Christ. You, you may be that one. So don't just take a neutral position. Realize that it's difficult, but do everything you can to reach your family. But be ready. Be ready to cut them off when they become hostile, if they become hostile. Let's bow our heads and have a word of praise.