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Amen. All right, so keep your place there in 1st Timothy chapter 6. So we're finally back in our in our boot series. We're talking about the boot is the six sins that will get you kicked out of church. And we've gone through three of them already. We've gone through being a drunkard, we've gone through fornication, we've gone through being covetous, and tonight, well I guess we have three left, tonight we're going to talk about sin number four, which is being a railer. We're going to talk about being a railer, what it means to be a railer, and let me just say before we start the sermon that as far as I know we don't have a problem with this in this church. So, but what I can say is that we are probably going to have this problem at some point. So we're going to talk about what it means to be a railer, but I just want to come off and say that, you know, I'm not yelling at anybody specifically because as far as I know this is, you know, we're a small church and thank goodness we don't have this issue. Maybe we do and I just don't know, but I'm pretty sure we don't. But I want to talk to you about the dangers of this. I want to talk to you about what it means to be this, how it happens, and just things, really four main things that you need to guard yourself from, especially in a church. And then I want to talk about, just I'm going to take this opportunity tonight to talk to you about, you know, being a church member and how we can be better church members and get this culture that we need to have here at Verity Baptist Church. So it's a good segue into a lot of good things to talk about. All right, so first of all, you know, the Bible talks about being a railer in several different verses. If you look at 1 Timothy 6.4, the Bible says, he is proud knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words. Whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmising. So first of all, in 1 Timothy 6.4, we learned that, you know, he's proud. It comes from a place of pride, being a railer. And you see that it's lumped in with all these different things called envy and strife and evil surmising. So there's a lot of bad things that are lumped around this word of railings, okay? 1 Peter 3.9 says, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, meaning if someone's railing against you, you shouldn't rail back against them. 2 Peter, I'll just read a few examples for you before we get into the sermon. 2 Peter chapter 2.11 says, whereas angels which are greater in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. Jude 1.9 says, yet Michael the archangel, archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said the Lord rebuke you. So rebuke thee, sorry. So railing is to complain or protest strongly and persistently about something. You know, when you think about railing, it's basically, you know, backbiting, complaining about, you know, things. Gossip leads to railing, gossip is a family member of railing. It's actually a pretty big problem in churches. It's, like I said, it's not, to my knowledge, a problem here, but I imagine at some point it will be. So we need to have sermons like this, we need to know what it is, how to identify it. So you're in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Where does railing come from? And why do people do it? Okay, this backbiting, this constant complaining about things. You know, look at 1 Timothy 6.4 and let's start reading in verse number 1. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honor, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed, telling us how we are to, you know, be as servants under our masters. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them because they are brethren, but rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing but doting about questions and strifes of words. Whereof come envy, strife, railings, and evil surmising. Turn to Proverbs 16. So we see that railing comes from railing and all these other things, by the way. Envy, strife, evil surmising. Evil surmising means, you know, plotting against people, you know, and all these types of things. Going around behind people's backs and doing all these types of things. It comes from a place of being proud. So what is the exact opposite of being proud? Is being humble. Okay, look at Proverbs 16 verse 18. The Bible says, pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. So look, pride is the source of the most dangerous sins. They all are rooted, they come from a place of pride. And railing, evil surmising, strife is, you know, it's no different. You know, it's this attitude, really, when it comes down to it, railings, gossip, evil surmising, all these things, it comes from a place of, I know better. I wouldn't do it that way. That's where it comes from, okay? And it's unfortunately a pretty big problem in churches. So let's talk about the railer. Let's talk about the railer. So we can identify this person and not get, you know, lumped in with this person. You know, this is the guy who, or the gal, who is basically complaining about people, especially leadership, by the way, they're complaining about how things are done constantly. Now personally, in your life, you need to be able to identify these people and stay away from these people. That is just personal protection for yourself. And an organization, if they want to be successful, whether it be a business or a church or whatever, they need to learn to understand how to identify these people, too. And they are good at identifying these types of people. Let me just say that. Because for yourself, personally, these people will lump you in with them. And let me just tell you that a bad attitude and being lumped in with these types of people, it's like a cancer. And it spreads to different people. And it can spread to you. You could end up in a situation where you're upset over things. You don't even know why you're upset. That's how it can affect you. That's how it can affect a person. So let's look at some specific examples. I want to give you four specific areas tonight to watch out for railing in your life. Turn to Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. The first area I want you to look out for, this applies mostly to men, is I want you to look out for railing in the workplace or railing at work. Because there, let me give you, just tell you right now, there is always this guy. There's always this guy. And you're all nodding your heads. He's complaining about the boss or the company or how things are run or policies or anything. You will always have this guy. He's going to be there. So what do we do as far as Christians? What do we do if we don't want to be lumped in with this type of person? You know, does this mean, you know, by the way, is this mean that you have to love everything about the way your company does things? Or about the way, you know, the the boss or the manager makes decisions? No, absolutely not. You know, young people especially that I've seen that cannot hold down a job. This is a big red flag for me. When I see somebody who can't stay in a job for longer than, you know, a few months or, you know, they can't even make it to a year, it is largely because of this. They either are a railer themselves or they just automatically are drawn straight to the railer in the company. And when you get a young guy who knows nothing because he's a young guy and he comes into a company and he just pretends, you know, he thinks he knows everything, that's just, it's not going to work out for him. So you need to be able to identify the railers. Look down at Ephesians 6 in verse number 5. This doesn't mean you have to love every single decision in the workplace that you work at. In verse number 5 the Bible says, Ephesians 6, 5, servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh. These are the people that you work for according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of heart as unto Christ. Not with eye service as men pleasers. Don't just tell them that you're gonna do a good job or you're gonna do things the way they want. Actually do it. This is saying that it doesn't matter who you work for. Look, I work for some dirtbags. I work for some fools in my life. But look, you go to work and you do your job as you're doing it unto Christ. That's the answer. You go to work like you're working for the Lord. That's the answer. You don't complain, you don't backbite the boss. You go and you serve at work like you're serving the Lord. That's what the Bible says. There is no reason under the sun that the Christian, that you shouldn't be able to walk into a workplace today or be a manager of a group of 20 people and say, that's the Christian, that's the Christian, that's the Christian. Because they work the hardest. That's the way it should be. It should be that easily identified. They don't complain. They do the job to the best of their ability. They're on time. They're not leaving early. You should be able to pick out the Christians because they should be serving at work like you're serving the Lord is what the Bible says. And it says it again in verse number six, not as I service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. And let me tell you something, that will change your attitude at work. Because, I mean, that will change your attitude. It doesn't matter who the boss is if I go to work like I'm serving Christ. If I go to work and I'm a lazy pile at work and I don't do anything and I'm trying to get by with as little as possible and and I'm complaining about everything, it's too hard, or I don't like the way they did this. You know, first of all, God's gonna chastise me for that. But I should work as I'm serving Christ. It makes it so much easier no matter who you work for. It makes it so much easier. Because I know who Christ is and I know what he expects of me. So that's what I do at work. That's what we should do at work. Okay? Example number two. Example number two. Railing at church. Railing at church. Like I said, we're a small church. We're just starting. We're a small, you know, pretty tight-knit core of people here. And as far as I know there isn't this issue here, but as we grow this issue will come up. And let me just prepare you for this fact. You know, you are probably not going to agree with every decision that is made here. As a matter of fact, let me just guarantee you're not going to agree with every decision that is made here. Okay? There's going to be decisions that are made at this church, because this is a pastor-run church. There are going to be decisions here that you're like, you know what? You know what, self? I wouldn't have done it that way, you say to yourself. Just keep those thoughts to yourself, is the main thing. It's when you start letting those things out that you're going to find yourself in trouble. Look, no two men are going to do things exactly the same. Do you understand that? Do you understand that no two men out there, especially, you know, strong, you know, men that like, you know, know how to lead, are usually not going to typically do things exactly the same way. Okay? Now look, if you see something, bring it up. If you see a problem, bring it up. I mean, there's a reason that when we have meetings at the church here with the leaders of the church, with guys that are serving in certain capacities, that when the meeting's over I go around the room. Brother Matthew, do you have anything? Brother Trevor, do you have anything? Brother Frank, do you have anything? If you see something, if you see a problem that needs to be fixed, bring it up. Look, leaders that never listen will soon be surrounded by people that have nothing to say. I believe in that. But things here, you know, look, I've actually been accused of being too direct at times. That may shock you. Okay? And I'm trying to get better and softer with people in my old age, but I can tell you right here that if there's something that comes up, you know, that is not going to happen here, I'm pretty much just going to tell you. That's the bright side of me. I'm not going to lie to you or tell you, oh, that's great, when it's not great. I'm going to try to be nice, but I'm just, there's going to be times when I say we just aren't going to do that. And that's okay. That's okay. All right? At the end of the day, folks, things need to run a certain way around here. And here's news for you, too. I'm not the pastor of this church, so I'm accountable. So things need to run a certain way, and I'm accountable for the things that happen here to my pastor. And I take that seriously. So if you see something, bring it up. I don't want you to get me wrong. But let me just give you a testimony on something that I've learned, and I'm sure my wife would agree with this as well. As I have moved from church member to ministry leader, there are so many things that I didn't understand that I now understand. There were things that I didn't understand at Verity Baptist Church where I was like, I don't really understand why that policy is there. I don't really understand why, but see, see what I was doing? I was like, self? I don't really understand why that policy is there. Self? I don't understand why things are done that way, but I just assumed, see, I have no experience in the ministry. I'm not proud as far as the ministry. I'm like, I'm sure there's a reason. I'm sure there's a reason. I'm sure that pastor and the leaders of that church that have been doing ministry for years and years and years and years and years, there's a reason that they do it that way. So that's the end of it. Myself and my conversation with myself is over at that point, you know? But if you go about and you let it go into backbiting and complaining, that is when things will go bad, okay? Because that turns into railing. Look, in general, just in general, if you're the type of person, and just think about this statement for a second, if you're the type of person, I don't think anybody here is, but there are people like this, and they're like, they're just destined for failure. If you're the type of person that has to be in charge, like you have to be in charge, but you're not in charge, it's always going to go bad. Always, okay? All right, so turn to Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. If you want to get leadership, you know, look, if you want to be in a leadership position, you need to learn to be in a servant's position. That's the bottom line, okay? And we've talked about that extensively. But here's what's going to happen. Well, let me just go back to the to the ministry testimony. I didn't really finish that thought, but here's the main reason that I have found that things are done certain ways where I didn't understand why they were done that way. And here's the main reason. Because you don't know the full story. Because me sitting in the pew, when I look up at a decision that's made in an organization, I'm like, yeah, I don't know why that decision's like that, or that why they have that policy there. And the reason is, and I can see it in many different areas now as I've gone into the ministry, is that I didn't know the full story. And I don't know the full story. So the bottom line is, as a layperson in a church, here's the thing. You're not going to know the full story. Probably most of the time, you're not going to know the full story. Because the leaders of the church, or the pastor of the church, is not going to sit down with you and just tell you all the things that are just his privilege to know, basically. That would be a disservice to other people in the church. Does that make sense? So there's a lot of things that people in the ministry know that so there has to be a certain level of humility taken at your level, and at my level. I'm accountable. I'm just as accountable to people as you are. All right, Romans 16, verse number 17. The Bible says, Now I beseech you brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. You will end up, this is what will happen, you will end up marked very quickly if you operate in this way where you have to have your way. And you're not in charge, but you need to be in charge, both at work or at church. This will affect you. You will be marked very quickly. There was a young kid several years ago that I really liked this kid, but he was just really struggling with holding down a job. He wasn't that young. He was in his late 20s, and he couldn't hold down a job. He was married, he had a child, and they're just like, man, I'm trying to help him. And he had just started a new job, and I was super excited for him, and he came in to church, and I was like, how's your new job going? How was your first day? And he said to me, oh yeah, well, you know, I found out, you know, that we're underpaid, and management is just taking advantage of us, and he just goes off on this rant. And I about picked him up and put him through the wall, because I said to him, he didn't even say he was talking to anybody, but I told him, I said, look, whoever you're talking to, you stay away from that person. You get to work, and you change as many tires as you can, and you do the best job that you can, and whoever that person you've been talking to on that first day, you stay away from him, because he's probably already marked, because that guy, that railer, he's always looking for the new guy to walk through the door. So he can grip, because most people are probably sick of his garbage. So he gets the, he gets the new guy, and he's gonna fill his ear. But you've got to stay away, or you're gonna end up marked with these people, okay? Young men, listen, this is how to not operate at a job, okay? All right, example number three. So we see railing at work, railing at church, things we need to be careful with. Example number three, railing with friends. Here's the thing, here's probably what's gonna happen here, I fear it's already happening. You're gonna make friends in this church. It's inevitable. I mean, thank God. But there's dangers in small groups, okay? And we are a small group, so it's, you know, it's not so dangerous for us. But you will never have small groups encouraged here. This, by the way, is one of the things that when I first started at Verity Baptist Church, where I was like, that's kind of a strange rule, I wonder what that's all about. It's, it's, what I mean by never have small groups encouraged, is that we're never gonna have young married groups, and all these separate little Bible study groups. And we're not going to encourage that type of thing here. Because what that does is it creates cliques, because where there's small groups, there's people that are excluded. That's the first reason. That's not really on topic of what we're talking about, but what inevitably happens in small groups is you end up with small groups that end up trashing other people outside of their group. It's dangerous. So we're never gonna have that kind of thing encouraged here, and with this sermon and with this topic, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go on a little bit of a rabbit trail for a few minutes, and I just want to talk to, and I'm glad that it's just the core people here tonight, I want to talk to you about a couple issues. And these issues are, I've talked to you a lot about culture, and the culture that it is my goal to bring to this church. Because let me tell you, and I, you may get sick of me hearing me say this, but let me tell you this, not every church, all, you know, churches may have the same doctrine, but they certainly don't all have the same culture. And it's very important to me that we have a very specific culture here. So let me just take a few minutes, and if the women, if they could take a break from the Monopoly game in the in the mother-baby room, do they play Monopoly in there? Whatever, yeah, if they could just take a break and listen, because I need their help too. I need you all to listen. Turn to Proverbs 18. Proverbs 18. I am, this is one of, I am very serious about the two things that I'm going to bring up here. Proverbs 18, look at verse number 24. Are you all there? I want you all to look at it. Proverbs 18 and verse number 24, the Bible says, a man that have friends must show himself friendly. You know, that doesn't sound like rocket surgery, right? But it's true. If you want to have friends, you must actually be friendly. And there is a friend that stickets closer than a brother. Look, let me, let me paraphrase this, a church that wants to be friendly must show itself to be friendly. And this is going to take effort from all of you. This is going to take actual effort, okay? So here's a specific detail that I want you to help me with. Here's the first one, right here. I want to have a group of men and women in this church that are constantly scanning for people sitting alone. Help me with this. I don't ever want to see someone in this church, whether it be a visitor or somebody that has been here before, sitting by themselves. I want to rely on the core group of people here, both men and women, to help me with that. Because that will help us be a friendly church. Because guess what? Your flesh, you know what your flesh is going to want to do? Garrett and Johannes are going to just, if they just want to just hang out and play chess. Because they're, they're the same age, they have the most in common, they seem to get along, they're friends. It's difficult for Garrett and Johannes to scan around and be like, oh there's so-and-so sitting by themselves. I'm gonna get out of my comfort zone and go and be a blessing to that person sitting by themselves. But that's what needs to happen, folks. And I'm not picking on you two guys, I'm just using you as an example. But this is what we need to be. It takes effort, it takes effort, it takes stepping outside that comfort zone, okay? Look, we need ambassadors of friendliness in this church. Look, somebody help me, one of the ladies helped me with this, I talked to her husband, one of the ladies helped me with this on Thursday night. We had some visitors come in and one of the, my wife was busy giving the gospel with somebody, we'll talk about that in a few minutes. And one of the ladies helped me with this situation, and that's appreciated. That's what we need, okay? We need people like that, that will just not even have to be asked, that will just see it, that are looking around for that type of situation. Because look folks, here's something you may not know. We are having people come in off the street here that are depressed, they're thinking about suicide, they're in the lowest part of their life. We're having those people come into this church all the time now. They're walking in off the street. Some of them are saved, they're all saved now, but they're coming in and they're at the lowest point of their life, and that's part of the first works, is just showing yourself friendly. You know, maybe they just need somebody to sit next to them, and I'll get into some more detail about what I would like you to do in these situations in a minute, but they just need someone to be loving towards them. That's what they need. So how's that for a Bible preach and fire-breathing church? We need to be loving towards people. You understand? Because I mean, these people are, they're at the bottom of the barrel, and that's part of the first works, is discipling people. So help me with that. Help me. Ladies, help us. Be watching. You can be an incredible blessing to people. That's the kind of church, and then when we have, you know, 80% of the ladies that are doing this, people will walk out of here and they will be like, that is the friendliest church I've ever been to, and that's what we want to be. We want to be the hardest preaching church there is. We want to hold nothing back. We want to preach what nobody else will preach, but we want to be friendly and loving towards people. So help me. That's what every single person in this room can do. Kids, you're not getting out of this. We need you too. There's little kids coming in here that have never seen a bounce house before, and we need you to be ambassadors of friendliness, because you know what? You guys, you kids, you like hanging out with just your friends, and I get it, but when you see other kids come in and other kids are going to come in here, you need to bring them in to your friends. You need to go up to them and say, hey, let me introduce you to the other kids in this church, and you know what? That will just, that could be the turning point in some child's life, and you kids can do it. You eight-year-olds, you nine-year-olds, you seven-year-olds. You could make that kind of difference in a kid's life. Okay, that's what we need to be. The second thing I want to talk to you about, the details, and I haven't, I brought this up to some of the men, but I was looking for a reason or a way to bring this up to the church. I want to bring it up now. I want to explain to you the logistics of personal workers and how this works in this church. Okay? Now, when people come into this church, off the street, off the sidewalk, most of them will not be saved. Okay? But the way that we're going to manage things and operate here is that what we need you to do is be friendly to them. We will have very specific people that will approach them at specific times to give them the gospel. Okay? These are what we're calling our personal workers of the church. Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento has several personal workers that are men and several personal workers that are women. Here, right now, it is my wife and myself. And that will change. But right now, it is my wife and myself. So what we need you to do when people come in and they sit down or they come to a potluck, we need you to be friendly with them. We need you to make them feel comfortable. We need you to get them whatever they need. We need you to talk to them. We need you to let us know that there's a visitor in the church. And then at a specific time after the church service, either my wife, if it's a woman, or myself, if it's a man, we'll approach them and offer to give them the gospel. And as we grow the church and get more personal workers, that will be your job as a personal worker should you serve in that capacity. But here's what we don't want. We don't just want just anybody just walking up to these people and giving them the gospel. And there's several reasons for that. I'm going to give you those some of those reasons. The first reason is this. This may be their only chance to hear the gospel. This may be it for them. Is their one chance? Is what they hear here? Another reason is that we don't want people being bombarded by people asking them, you know, what you believe, are you saved, all this kind of stuff. And they're just like, whoa. I mean that's happened before. Not here, but I mean it's happened. And there also is situations where people might have visitors come, like a relative or an uncle or a cousin, where they just don't want them approached. That way those type of situations, maybe maybe it's a relative of yours that you've tried to give the gospel so many times they're just they're just they're not there. And you've convinced them to come to church, you just want to hear them. They want to hear the preaching, but you're like, I don't want them to be pushed away. I mean that's if that's your prerogative. And we don't want to bombard those people either. So the only way it can be managed is through these personal workers. So what we need is for, I want you to always, like all the adults and the children, just be scanning even our own church people. I have seen it recently with our own church people sitting by themselves. Don't let it happen. Go up and talk to them. Hey, how's it going? How's work? Come up with four questions in your mind that you just asked generically to anybody. Here's a good conversational tip. Just ask people about themselves. How are you? How's work? How's your family? How's your children? All these things. I mean just make conversation. Make people feel comfortable here. Don't let people sit alone. All right? And look, if it's a woman sitting by herself, there's nothing I can do. I need help from the women in the church. And I need help from the men in the church with the men. Okay? Look, the church is gonna grow. We're gonna have visitors come in here. And that's the danger of a small church with a nice good core of people like we have, we're really plugged in, is that we just get so tight that people come in and they know right away, I'm not, I'm not part of that. I'm not part of that group. No, no, no. We don't want that here. Okay? And then again, the personal workers, just remember, there's visitors, just let us know. And we will handle the gospel. All you have to do is be friendly. Easy. Okay? All right. Back off the rabbit trail, back onto the sermon. Example number four. This is my last example, but it's my, I don't want to say favorite, but it's my biggest pet peeve out of all the examples. And that is railing online. Railing online. Look, the internet today has become a market for railing that is just accepted as okay. And I disagree wholeheartedly. It is still railing. So here's a rule of thumb, if you won't say it to someone's face, you shouldn't say it online. You know, people get especially nasty behind an anonymous keyboard. And it's almost turning into a generational problem. But it should not be, it should not be us. And look, once again, I've said this before, I can't follow you home, but I don't want to follow you home. I have no interest in that. But look, just remember that when you're online in all these different groups and all these different things, that you know what? You represent Verity Baptist Church. If people know where you go to church and you're throwing all this garbage on the internet, like I said, nobody here, but I mean, it could happen. You represent this church. Just remember that. You know, it's not okay. I mean, look, I've seen some very nasty things said online by brothers and sisters about other brothers and sisters. It's no good. We shouldn't be anywhere near it. Okay, turn to Proverbs 26. Proverbs 26. Here's a good way to measure, I'll give you a good way to measure how you, you know, knowing if you should get involved in something. And you know what? Just, I would never comment online on anything, ever. Period. Unless it's something positive, you know, don't get me wrong. You know, cheese sandwich, hamburger, or whatever. That's positive, I think. I don't know, maybe it's railing. I don't know. I don't know what that means. Proverbs 26, verse 17. The Bible says, he that passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him is like one that taketh a dog by the ears. I love that. If it's not your business, stay out of it. There's a lot of stuff that goes online, even in your world, that we need to stay out of. We need to not have any part of. Here's basically two rules. Just ask yourself this question. Does it involve me? And do I have any authority in the situation? And if both of those answers are no, which it almost always is, stay out of it. Or you might as well be grabbing a dog by the ears. Just stay out of it. Turn to 1st Timothy chapter 5. Look, here's another thing about online ramblings and all this stuff that goes online. Inevitably, if you are someone that knows everything online anyway, you will already be marked in the sense of people will look at you like, what are you doing all day? Seriously, it's gonna happen to you. If you're somebody that knows every single little detail about what's happening online, people are gonna be like, man, what in the world? What do you do all day? And that's the best case. Look down at 1st Timothy chapter 5. And this is a problem that especially in cultures like ours where the men are working, or they're supposed to be working, and the women are at home, this is a problem that the Bible actually says that the women are gonna struggle with more. I can't believe you said that. Look at 1st Timothy chapter 5, verse number 11. And look, men and women, any time I've seen railings and gossip and all these things get totally out of hand, it is always because that person has nothing to do. Remember a few weeks ago when we preached about unemployed, I went off about unemployed men? It's because when men are unemployed, they cause trouble. That's why it's almost a hundred percent of young unemployed, perpetually unemployed men that end up causing trouble in churches. A hundred percent of them. That's been my experience. Maybe there's a good one out there, but the Bible says they're worse than an infidel, and the Bible seems true from my experience at this point. So look, if you're, and even ladies, if you're spending tons of time online and you're feeding all this stuff to your husbands, and your husbands are going out telling people, they're just be like, man, isn't your wife raising your kids? I mean, what's she doing? YouTube all day? Facebook all day? Look, everybody knows. These people get marked easily. Everybody knows that so-and-so's wife is the reason he believes all these dumb stupid things, and that, you know, she's not doing anything except being on YouTube and Facebook all day. Everybody knows it. They're marked. So stay away from it. It's a terrible testimony. It's a terrible testimony. So 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 11. Getting thrown out of church for these six sins. Let me just read it for you again. But now I have written unto you, not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard extortioner with such a one know not to eat. Look, to the point where railing, where your railing becomes an issue it's found out about, that you're railing about usually the leadership most times, it's gonna get to the point where there needs to be biblical correction. You know, see Matthew 18. I mean, hopefully you've seen, you've begun to see the damage that a railer can do to a church. You know, and if correction doesn't doesn't work out, you know, you're gonna get thrown out. You know, seen it happen. It's not pretty. Nobody wants that to happen. But, you know, people openly question, openly questioning the pastor's decisions to other people and just, you know, they shouldn't be done this way and it should be this way and it should be, I mean, you're gonna get kicked out of church. I mean, at this point, at the point where it gets to that point, the person has already been talked to several times. I mean, most good men in a church in a situation like that are gonna even step aside and try to help who is ever doing it and be like, hey, you know, you can't operate this way and you're just gonna get thrown out. You know, it can be done in very manipulative ways, by the way. So be careful for this. You know, it can be done by just asking innocent questions. Well, did you know that the pastor, you know, forgot about this? Or, you know, just little subtle things like that. Or did you know that, you know, that they don't do this here? They don't do it this way here where they did it. They did it this way over here when I was there, but, you know, I just noticed. Very subtle little things like that. Those types of things, look, those types of things will do damage to a church. I mean, you can't operate that way. So what do you do if somebody comes up to you in situations like that and tries to do things like that? Well, you just have to just stop it in its tracks. Just be like, if somebody comes up to me and says, did you know that, you know, Brother Trevor and this and that and this and that, hey, well, let's go talk to him about it. Let's go talk to him. You know, Brother Trevor said this, let's go ask him about it. That's how you stop that. And if they go with you, and you thought you can get to the bottom of it, but most times you think, oh no, it's not a big deal. But now that they will know, now they will know that they can't come and talk to you in that capacity. So you can stop it, and it's pretty easy. I mean, personally, I think it's pretty easy to identify. It should be easy to identify if you're a mature person. And it's pretty easy to stop in its tracks as well. Just don't talk about people behind their back, first of all. And if you notice that somebody's coming to you with a problem that looks a lot like a dog, and they're like, hey, look at this dog, grab his ears for me. Don't grab the ears of the dog. If it's not your business, and somebody's trying to drag you into something that's not your business, don't grab the ears of that dog. If it doesn't concern you, and you have no authority in that situation, it's a dog by the ears. Friends. So it's easy to identify, it's easy to stop. Young men especially, I mean, listen to me. When you start work, when you start work, this man will be there. He will be there. You ask your dad, this man's always there. He's always there. He's always disgruntled. There's young men like this, there's older men like this. He's disgruntled, he hates the company, he hates the boss. You stay far away from this man. You say, I'm just here to do my job, to the best of my ability, and I just want to learn, and you just go to work like you're working for Jesus Christ. That's what you do. And you will go far. You just operate with some integrity, basically, is the whole point of the sermon. All right? Stay far away from it. It's contagious, you give you a bad heart towards people too. You'll find yourself just having a bad heart towards people you don't even know why. So, railing. There you go, folks. All right, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your rules in the Bible. We thank you for all the wisdom that you've given us that helped us just navigate this world that we live in, Lord, that helped us navigate this world that we have to go out and work in. Lord, we ask that you protect this church and give us some strong men and women that can recognize negative influences, Lord. Lord, I ask that you just give us a loving heart in this church to where when people come in that need not only the gospel, Lord, but they just need some people to just kind of love on them, that you give us a heart for that here, Lord. And just make us ambassadors of Christ, Lord, in all ways that we possibly can be. Lord, we thank you for your word and everything that you've done for us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.