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Amen. Welcome to Matthew chapter 12. In case you're wondering, we're going to hit it in two sections. We'll be doing just over half of it tonight. We're straight out of Matthew chapter 11. We did that in one evening. We did that last week. If you remember, we saw Jesus sending out the 12 disciples, but also leading by example, and then going to teach and to preach in their cities. We talked about that. The point was made that he went to teach and to preach in their cities. We saw John the Baptist, the greatest man that ever lived. We saw him. He had a moment of doubt in prison. When you have moments of doubt, it doesn't mean you're some wicked person, some sort of wicked Christian. Obviously, he was in prison, but it's at times a persecution often when people do have moments of doubt. Jesus reminded how? By reminding him of the Scriptures. Sorry, that's how he responded by reminding him of the Scriptures. Jesus Christ then made that point, saying, look, I'm fulfilling Scripture. He's basically saying, look in your Bible, John. That's a response we should all have when we have those low moments in life. We saw how John was the last of the Old Testament prophets and had the same spirit and power as Elijah, along with a lot of similarities in their lives, but he's not a reincarnated Elijah or something strange like that. We looked at how the rejectors found fault in both John and Jesus, basically because they're finding reasons to reject, aren't they? Rejectors will just find any old reason to reject. Then Jesus, if you remember, was rebuking the cities that had seen his mighty works and still rejected. We talked about how that's kind of worse for them. It said, obviously, in chapter 11, that's worse for them in the day of judgment. We talked about how you could apply that to people that are just around the word of God and hearing it and seeing those miracles, hearing the gospel preached. If they reject it, that's scary times, isn't it? He said, didn't he, in verse 24, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee. I don't think it's talking about when Sodom got destroyed. It's talking about that judgment day to come, the day of judgment. Even those wicked Sodomites, it'll be more tolerable for them than those open rejectors of the clear Jesus Christ there. He's talking about these cities. He's there. He's performing miracles. He's preaching to them and they're just rejecting. That's a big warning, isn't it, for people as well. He then made the point, didn't he, that the truths are hidden from the so-called wise. They're delivered instead to these new believers there, these babes. He's revealed them unto babes. That's something that we can all remember, can't we, when we look at these people. They must be so wise, so clever because they've studied this. They've got this great vocabulary or these great letters after their name. If you're saved, you already have more wisdom, don't you? You already have more wisdom than these types of people. Then the chapter ended with Jesus extending that offer of eternal life to all ye that labour and are heavy laden. All ye that labour and are heavy laden. He said, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. We now go into Matthew chapter 12 and verse 1. It begins with, at that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn and his disciples were an hungered and began to pluck the ears of corn into him. I'd like to just pray quickly before we continue with this chapter. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for these great verses I'm going to preach through now. Please just help me to preach them accurately now, Lord. Please fill me with your spirit. Help me to preach boldly and help me to just preach as you'd want me to preach. Help everyone to have open ears now and just be receptive to your word. Help me to edify everyone here, Lord, and in Jesus' name I pray all this. Amen. Here it's said that he went through the corn. The corn in the Bible seems to be a kind of generic term for what we would probably call grain. Some would even say it includes beans and peas and things like that as well. It's just a sort of generic term and you see just corn being used for all of that. The disciples are plucking basically some sort of edible crop and eating it. Is this theft? They're just walking through fields picking corn. I mean, what on earth is going on there? Is a farmer going to suddenly run out with maybe not a shotgun but maybe a bow and arrow or something? Well, if you turn to Deuteronomy 23, it shows that, of course, this wasn't theft. See, if you were hungry, you could go into a field and eat, but there were a couple of rules to stop you taking liberties in Old Testament Israel. Deuteronomy 23 you're turning to and from verse 24. So Deuteronomy 23 and verse 24 says, When thou comest into thy neighbour's vineyard, then thou mayest eat grapes thy fill at thine own pleasure. This is Deuteronomy 23 and verse 24. But thou shalt not put any in thy vessel. So you can eat their grapes when you go into someone's vineyard, but you can't start carrying them out in a tub or a basket, etc. Verse 25 says, When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbour, then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand. But thou shalt not move a sickle unto thy neighbour's standing corn. So you can pluck it, but you can't bring your harvesting tools and start cutting down a load of it. Now you're thinking, well, why on earth can you just help yourself to your neighbour's stuff? Well, I mean, just firstly, there weren't a load of fast food places around the supermarkets on the corner. And when you were walking, you know, just stop by, you know, the whatever version we, you know, we have here, you know, the little Tesco extra or something else. You know, there wasn't that. So it was obviously quite a handy way of sustaining yourself when out and about. But it was also part of God's welfare system as well, wasn't it, that you could help yourself. And bear in mind with that different, you know, you might be thinking, well, that would only have been maybe a month, you know, in a year when it's old or different crops were harvested at different times a year as well. And then if you were really poor, then you could go and get those gleanings and you could get basically the things left behind after harvest. And you could obviously try and store up and things if you're really in a bad way. But ultimately, God's welfare system didn't mean that you had to work. Wasn't you didn't just sit at home and wait for the for the food and money to come in. You know, it involved you going out and doing something. And obviously, if you were unable to do that, you'd hope that someone would do that for you. And then there was also the kind of the responsibility of the temple and the priests, et cetera, to also help out the fathers and widows and those who were unable. OK, so that's what's going on here for them. It's not that they're necessarily so poor or anything else, but they're out and about. They're in a field. They're allowed to pick in that field. Now, it says in verse two, but when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. So don't forget, again, this is the Old Testament still, isn't it? We might be reading the gospels here, but the Sabbath was still observed. What was the law of the Sabbath, though? Well, if you know or you have a finger, sorry, maybe I should have said it in Deuteronomy, just go to Exodus, so back a couple more books to the book of Exodus in chapter 20, Exodus 20 and verse 10, Exodus 20 and verse 10 says, But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. That's a Saturday, by the way. The first day of the week was a Sunday. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. Now, obviously, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Sabbath. OK, so we don't worship on the Sabbath. And a point with this as well is that we just worship because the first day of the week is a precedent we see set in Acts. They came together on the first day of the week, and that's why we worship on a Sunday. There's not a rule or law to that, but it's definitely not a Sabbath. OK, now, what was the rule here? Well, not to do any work. Were they doing any work? No, they were eating. OK, yes, they were having to, you know, actually pick the things. You're not really calling that work, are you? I mean, if you call that work, then you would call it work going to the supermarket, wouldn't you? And having to lift things off the shelf. I'm so tired because, you know, the attendant there is not getting everything for me. It's not work, OK? They're just picking food and eating it. So why are the Pharisees saying that it was not lawful? Because they were a bunch of self-righteous holier than now, weren't they? OK, so they're just trying to find fault. And there are a lot of these types about who are constantly trying to find fault in everything you do. It's something we have to watch out for because, you know, it's the sin of the flesh in a way. It's to make yourself feel better about things that you try and find fault in everything someone else is doing. And you get these people around, sadly you get these people in churches sometimes, and a lot of the time it's wicked people in churches that try and do that, who are clearly openly wicked in all sorts of sin. And then they're trying to grab something that you do, trying to score points off you or trying to make out like you're some sort of wicked person because you don't tick whatever box they think you should. And a lot of the time it's things which aren't clear commands in the Bible, right? Here, I mean, it's clear they're not doing anything wrong here, yeah, but people love to do that, OK? And a lot of the time it comes from a low self-esteem. Sometimes they're just trying to make themselves feel better, but often it comes from just pure wickedness as well. And God hates holier than now. There's a smoke in his nose, OK? They really irritate him. So Jesus, if you remember these people, he's described them, these Pharisees, as hypocrites, as covetous, as full of extortion and excess, yet they're trying to find something to criticise him and the disciples for, yeah? And it's bizarre when you look at it, isn't it? You're thinking, wait a second, these are people that, obviously the famous chapter 23, but throughout the Bible, at least throughout their gospels, you can see Jesus just letting rip on the Pharisees and telling them and others around who they are. I mean, right, in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, you've got John calling them a generation of vipers, and yet these people are trying to find fault with them picking some food on the Sabbath day. I mean, it's remarkable, really, isn't it? Just unbelievable. Who on earth, like, these are the guys that are full of extortion, excess, they're covetous, they're vipers, they're, you know, they're twofold, they're trying to make, they come to see a land to make one proselyte, and then they make him twofold more the child of hell than themselves. So these guys are children of hell, they're children of their father, the devil, these are like full on reprobates, yet they're still trying to find something to go, look what you're doing, look what you're doing. That's what reprobates do, don't they? That's what they love to do. And look, like I say, other people can do that, they can do that a lot. And something I was thinking about is some sort of, some of the typical things you'll see around churches and as a Christian and from these sorts of people, that people will do a lot. And especially a lot of the time it comes from the most sinful people will be, for example, how you raise your children. And it'll be something that's got, it's not about scripture, it's not about a clear command that you're disobeying, just they want to find someone, I wouldn't do it like that, I wouldn't, it's like trying to like somehow find a way of proving that you're not as holy as they are or something else, or maybe it will be some hobby you do. So people love that one, some hobby which again isn't, you know, there's no clear verse or anything else, but that will make me feel better if I can criticise something. Or maybe even vocabulary people use as well, because people love that one, don't we? Haven't we seen that recently? Yeah, look, you know, we don't want to go out to offend people, do we? But people will get so worked up about what they consider to be swear words, for example, whilst letting all sorts of heresies and other things go. And it's absolutely bizarre, isn't it, when you think about it, because there is no verse in the Bible that tells us what words are and aren't acceptable. It's ultimately, it's something, it's a worldly sort of, worldly terminology or whatever you want to call it, there's worldly standards with that, and yeah, we don't want to go out and try and upset and offend people, but it's bizarre what people will put up here and then put something else down here, isn't it? And it is strange, isn't it? But here these are wicked reprobates, and it is reprobate behaviour doing that, so, you know, it's something that we don't want to have associated with ourselves, do we? We don't want to be those types of people that are always trying to pick on something, something that's not clear just to try and make ourselves feel holier. Well, how did Jesus deal with this? Well, verse 3 says, But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was an hungered, and they that were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? So this was in 1 Samuel chapter 21. We're not going to go there. You know, basically David's fleeing from Saul, and they end up, they're in sort of, they're in, they end up eating the hallowed shewbread, basically, okay? And because there is nothing else, there's no common bread for them to eat, so they eat this kind of the shewbread, which wasn't lawful for them to eat, there's nothing else to eat. The priest decides, you know, he makes sure that they've kind of kept themselves from women, etc, for the last few days, and he makes that judgement call. Okay? Basically, these people are very hungry, and he's like, look, this is all I've got, and I'm going to give it to you, he makes that call, okay? Then he says in verse 5, Have ye not read in the law how that on the Sabbath days, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? Now, he's referring to the weekly offerings on the Sabbath, because there were offerings to be made on the Sabbath as well. The priests would have to still perform the sacrifice, wouldn't they? So they're basically working, aren't they? But is it a problem? No. Okay? It's not a problem. And that's something that they're told to do, and they do it. Now, the point being is that they don't have an issue with those things, but they're trying to find fault with Jesus Christ, Son of God. But what I find interesting is we've just gone to Exodus 20, and he could have gone there, couldn't he, Jesus Christ? He'd just gone, What are you talking about? This isn't work. We're plucky as a corn eating. But instead, instead of just going to the clear verse of the Bible, he actually gives two examples, and he gives an example of David, how they let it go with David, and he is ultimately the son of David, isn't he? He's a prophesied Christ. Then he gives an example of the priests, and he is, you know, the ultimate high priest, isn't he, really, off the order of Melchizedek. And he's just saying, Look, you'd let these two go. And I think in a way he's kind of saying, Well, you know who you're talking to here? Because then he says, But I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. And look, sometimes we look at this and we're thinking, Well, they're just seeing him as a man. No, they're rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, OK? They're there with the word of God in front of him. You know, he's been doing all these miracles, these healings, these amazing things. He is God in the flesh. He's the Messiah. He's the prophesied one. They're openly rejecting him, OK? And that's what he's saying. He's saying, Look, you'd let it go with that. You know, those things weren't a problem, were they? And now you're having a go, and who are you talking to? You're talking to one that's greater than the temple, him, because he's God. That's why he's greater than the temple, because he's God in the flesh. He said, But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. Now, this is from Hosea, chapter 6, verse 6. Again, you have to turn there because I'm just going to quote it for you. It says, For I desired mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. OK, so it's not the regular offerings. It's not like the do's and don'ts. Look, we love the do's and don'ts, right? OK, look, we want to try and please God and everything else, but ultimately it's what's in our heart that's important, isn't it? And they had the rituals down to some degree, but they didn't have the right attitude. I mean, basically here, you know, these are people that are hungry and picking ears to call them. It's absolutely ridiculous. But in the same way, that priest with David chose, you know, he said, OK, look, I think he ended up getting killed for it as well because of doing the Edomite, didn't he? But ultimately he looked at it and he said, look, these guys are hungry and he made a call, didn't he? Because he chose mercy there, didn't he? And we should have a heart for people, shouldn't we? And some people, and again, we've got to be careful there, some people can get so caught up in the sort of do's, don'ts, you know, ticking every box, that we just don't have a heart for people. And God wants to see mercy more than sacrifice. He's not saying, look, I want you to forget all the sacrifices. You know, I was only joking with that stuff, as long as you have mercy. He's not saying that, but where's a heart, right? A heart should be on trying to be what God wants us to be, not just, oh, I've got to tick every box, everything else. We should have a heart, yeah? That's what he wants to see, is a heart for people, mercy for people. Because then he goes on, doesn't he? Because then he kind of shows this. Verse 8 says, for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. And just a reminder, again, they're criticising God in the flesh here, yeah? Then it says, and when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue. Okay, so he's like proving this point now, isn't he? He goes into their synagogue, and behold, there is a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days, that they might accuse him? So this guy's got a withered hand. They know, because they've seen him healing. So again, they've got no defence. It's not like they're like, oh, who's this guy? Oh, I can't believe he's doing it. It's like this guy's been healing all these people. Jesus Christ is healing people. And now they're saying, oh, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? You know, let's see if you're going to do this one. Now we're going to really have a reason to be angry with you. Could you imagine having such a hard heart as that? Could you imagine that? Being that hard-hearted that you're angry that he's going to heal someone on the Sabbath day? And he said unto them, what man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay hold in it and lift it up? So he's saying, look, if you had a sheep, you'd help him on it. So what are you talking about? You absolute, like, you know, just either liars, hypocrites, idiots. Then how much then is a man better than a sheep? You hear that, animal lovers? Yep, a man is better than a sheep. Again, you wouldn't believe it nowadays, would you? But yeah, how much then is a man better than a sheep, wherefore it is lawful to do well on the Sabbath days? Then saith he to the man, stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth, and it was restored whole like as the other. So withered is like some sort of shrunken hand, isn't it? That's an amazing miracle, isn't it? I mean, can you imagine seeing that? Seeing some guy with like some withered up shrunken hand, deformed hand, and in whatever way it is, and then Jesus Christ just basically tells him to stretch it forth, and then it's just suddenly back to normal. I mean, most normal people would just be, praise God, amazing, can't, you know, wow. You know, how amazing. This guy, you'd be like, how do you feel, you know? You'd be like, let me see that hand. You'd want to check it, wouldn't you? You'd be like, hey, catch this, you know. You'd be glorying in it. But what would the Pharisees do? Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. Just, and you could like, again, you could read over these verses and just, oh, yeah, the Pharisees, you know. But that is absolutely unreal, isn't it? And in a way, the truth is stranger than fiction, isn't it? Because the more you kind of are around and been around these types of people, the more you can see that, can't you? He's just held this guy, they want to destroy him. Is it because it was the Sabbath? Is it because they've got such zeal for the Sabbath? Is that what it's about? No, it's just the best excuse they can come up with. It's because they're God haters. That's what it's all about. They're God haters. They've been trying to find something and the best they can come up with is, you're healed a guy on the Sabbath. I mean, before that, they were really grasping at straws. They're like, you plucked some food off in the field. You know, how dare you profane the Sabbath? Then it's like, he's kind of disproved them on that one. You know, you're going, well, what about what David did? And what about the priest? It's like, you healed someone. It's amazing, isn't it? Absolutely amazing. But when I look at that, it makes me think of these modern-day enemies of churches like ours. And there's a lot of those. And obviously, we've kind of had some real first-hand experience now over the last couple of years with these types of people. And it's amazing, really, isn't it? Because when you think about it, they're seeing teams of people in a church like this going out soul-winning. No other church in this country, other than the churches that some of us here, have ended up going to, you know, where it's the people that are here that maybe were going out of soul-winning. No other church is seeing teams of people going out multiple days in the week, turning up for marathons every month, the rest of it, going out soul-winning. Multiple salvations, lives change, watching people coming into the church. All of us here watching those lives just change over that course of, you know, however long we've had now, coming up to two years soon. All those miracles that you're seeing happening, all those blessings of God, just the way He's just given us that first building, which meant we could afford to just move in and make a building how we needed it. All these, just a miracle after miracle. And then these people, they're just trying to find something. It's amazing. Isn't it amazing? It's like anything. It's like, He shouted. He shouted. He shouted at a pregnant woman. It's like, but I didn't. Regardless, even if I had, could you imagine that? Could you imagine that? Something's got to be done. He healed a withered hand. It's that sort of thing, isn't it? I'm not trying to compare myself to Christ, but it's that ridiculous, isn't it? Because it would have been for anyone else. If there's any other kids, they could have got something on Pastor Thompson. It would just be like, look what he's done. It's just, you know, how can we put up with this? Forget everything else. It's like, we've got something. That's really what they're looking for, isn't it? For them, it's like, we've got something because he's not going to be able to prove that we're lying. I mean, that was ridiculous, but that's what the enemies of God really, because it's not me, it's the church. And it's like anything, anything they can get a hold of. And obviously like that, we've seen that, haven't we? But this goes on in all churches. You know, they're like, I can't believe that that pastor preached on, you know, a women's role in the home, you know, I'm done with this, you know. And it's like off to like liberal Baptist church where no one's doing anything for God. Well, as long as he doesn't preach something that's going to prick me. Or, you know, I can't believe that, you know, he didn't, he was just so, so impolite. And then they start trying to just generate stuff, don't they? So recently we've had, you know, someone who's recently been kicked out. It's like, you know, I can't believe that brother Ian would say that these people are unsaved. What sort of a, you know, what sort of a kind of horrible judgmental, you know, how dare he? It's like they tick every box, every single, like what? They're ticking every box we're seeing here. They're standing up trying to find fault. It's like, but that's the reason to be so angry and to start then trying to like, like attack us on our Facebook channel and trying to defame the church to others and stop them coming and like, what on earth? They'll just find anything, won't they? Oh, well, if it's not, it's like, I can't believe, you know, how judgmental they are. How about that one? So judgmental because they kick people out for the sins that the Bible tells to kick them out for. What judgmental people, who are they to, who's he to decide that, you know? And again, it's just like anything they can, anything to try and criticise and try and find a way to weaken others to get them out of the church, to tear down the church. But it goes on around, obviously, in real churches. And here's some other ones that I was thinking of, like things that people don't justify. This is one that I've heard a lot, abuse of the pulpit. You've heard of this one, yeah? So I'm sick and tired of the abuse of the pulpit in the NIFB. What's that even mean? What is that? Abuse of the pulpit because, I don't know if they're talking about Pastor Anderson once climbing on the pulpit. I thought that was hilarious. But I don't know if it's that or, I still like want to get up the guts to do that one day. I'm joking. But I don't know if it was that or maybe they're talking about how dare they preach against this or shout this. I don't even know what that even means. But apparently that's enough reason to be railing on all sorts of social media outlets and just horrible insults to men of God to pass the things. Oh no, that's all right because I've decided they abuse the pulpit or something. The unloving one you hear a lot, don't you? So unloving, you know something needs to be done about these unloving churches because we don't just so love, love and preach like the fake Christian. So therefore that's justification for trying to tear down every church, every one of these churches because they're just so unloving. They abuse the pulpit or like we see amongst many because of their stance on Zionism. How about that? Because we preach what the Bible says about those that say they're Jews and they're not but the synagogue of Satan because we dare to preach the truth, you know that's reason to basically want them tear down. I don't want anything to do with anyone from those sorts of churches. I don't want those sorts of people in my churches. All these pastors around the country like that just can't, they're anti-Semites. What are you talking about? We're not really against the Semitic people. We're just preaching what the Bible says about these weird Eastern Europeans wearing funny outfits pretending they're Jews. But no, apparently that's the reason they want to tear us down, to want to destroy us. The post-trib position that we have, post-trib pre-wrath rapture as the Bible is so clear about. But apparently that's the reason we wouldn't fellowship, wouldn't have those sorts of people in our church because we're not pre-tribbers. But it's nuts, isn't it? It's like anything they can find. And again, it's all unbiblical really. Like I said, that one that we had recently, that I heard recently, he said someone's unsaved. Shock, horror. Tear that church down. How dare they? Who do they think they are? That nom-de-nom liberal church around the corner would never do anything like that. That guy who's kind of hands up in the air when he sings, he would never say someone's unsaved. So what sort of an animal is this? Tear it down. It's all got to be scrapped. And this is exactly the same attitude as the Pharisees. And it's funny because what would they call us for preaching the whole council of God? Pharisees. You Pharisees because you believe that women shouldn't cross-dress or dress like whores. You Pharisees. You. But who are the real Pharisees? These people that are just trying to find excuses to tear down men of God, women of God and churches of God. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence and great multitudes followed him and he healed them all. So did Jesus stop doing the things of God? No, he just carried on in another location, didn't he? He just carried on in another place. He didn't go, oh, no, they want to destroy me. OK, that's it. I'm just going to, you know, back to like house church now, guys, you know, don't do anything. We'll just hide out. Never come out. No, he just he just went somewhere else. Still people to save. Still stuff to do. There's still work to do. But it said he withdrew himself from thence. The great multitudes followed him and he healed them all. He healed them all, by the way, not just special ones. He healed them all, didn't he? Funny that. And charged them that they should not make him known, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, obviously this is Isaiah, saying, Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry. Neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust. Now, Matthew's quoted the prophecy in Isaiah 42, yeah, how he didn't come to fight. It turned over to Isaiah 42. He's basically saying he didn't come to fight and argue in the streets with these God haters. That's what I believe he's saying here. What's the bruised reed, and what's the bruised reed and smoking flax about? Well, in 2 Kings 18, 21, Rabshakey is trying to discourage King Hezekiah and Judah, and he says this. Your turn to Isaiah 42, 2 Kings 18, 21. He says, Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust him. So the bruised reed being something weak, yeah, that's what he's basically saying. It's weak, you know, you're trying to, because at that point they're thinking Egypt's going to come and help them, you know, and in this siege. So he's talking about Egypt. Now, the smoking flax that he's just said, he said, and smoking flax shall he not quench, is a plant that linen comes from apparently. I didn't actually know that, but apparently that's where they get linen from. Now, interestingly, it's first mentioned in Exodus in Egypt too, and apparently Egypt was well known for flax. Now I might be reading too much into this, but that's quite interesting that both mentions are talking about Egypt. Then Isaiah 42, where you've turned to, look at verse 1. It says, Behold my servant whom I uphold, mine elect. Okay, and by the way, he's just said about that. I think he's just, Jesus Christ, when he quoted it, he said, Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved. Here it's swapped for mine elect. In whom my soul delighteth, I have put my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Let's continue, verse 2, it says, He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. He shall bring forth judgment unto truth. And now here's a key verse here, verse 4, I believe. It says, He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth and the isles, basically the nations, the Gentiles, the isles shall wait for his law. So I believe that's who the bruised reed and smoking flax is, and that's, you know, for me, about to burn, it's smoking, right? This is talking about, I believe, the Gentiles, the most synonymous with Egypt, the world, the Gentiles. That was to happen en masse after his death on the cross. Now, you know, there's a couple of different, you know, beliefs, or at least false beliefs. There are people that try and teach it like the Gentiles were Plan B, it just kind of, you know, there was never even a plan to save the Gentiles. That's ridiculous. And I think I kind of, we went through this a few weeks back, and I was just showing verse after verse after verse in the Old Testament talking about him being a light unto the Gentiles, et cetera, OK? So, but then you can go the other way and go, oh, well, you know, Jesus Christ was just out preaching to Gentiles. It's that, well, he did say that he must, you know, he came first to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, OK? And that was to fulfil those, you know, those promises, et cetera, but it was always to go out to the Gentiles, and ultimately it was going to be en masse to the Gentiles afterwards, wasn't it? After his death on the cross. But until then, he wasn't going to be quietly destroyed by the Pharisees, OK? Point being there, he was to go to the lost sheep, set judgement against the rest of the house of Israel, because ultimately the rejection was basically, I mean, a lot of them were basically getting turned reprobate, weren't they? OK, they had rejected the word of God, the word of God, the word of God, and then Jesus Christ comes and the word of God is in front of them, he goes basically throughout the town cities, but the point is he's not there to just now just get killed by the Pharisees, right? Because ultimately it's for him to condemn those who don't get saved, he dies on the cross and then it goes out with the rejection of those remaining, then that pushes the apostles and then others out to the rest of the world and to preach to the Gentiles, right? So I think that's why he's often telling people not to make him known, not to say what had been done unto him, because really it's not his time yet, is it? He's trying to go everywhere, go to all those cities and towns first, give them that chance to either accept or reject, OK? So go back to Matthew 12 and verse 22 with that in mind. It then says, Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him in so much that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the son of David? So he's healed this blind and dumb guy and they're saying, isn't he the son of David? Why the son of David in case you're wondering? Because they're all aware of the many prophecies concerning David and the Christ, right? Ezekiel, you don't have to turn to 34, 23, is one of many which says, And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, OK? So that's why they talk about the son of David, so that's referring to someone of the loins of David, etc. OK, and they know that ultimately that's the Messiah, that's the Christ. So verse 24 says, Now, we covered this in chapter 9, and I'm probably going to cover it again next week, how saying that Jesus possessed is basically something, is one of those unforgivable sins, OK? But it's because they're saying that he has a devil, it's calling the Holy Spirit basically a devil, yeah? It's saying that he's possessed. I had someone ask me about this the other day in an email, and was saying, you know, I said something about Jesus once, you know, I felt really weird after, am I basically, you know, he didn't sound my reprobate, he was saying, can I be forgiven? And I asked him, you know, what did you say? And the guy said, well, basically, he said, if something doesn't happen in his life, then you're, and the translation, and, you know, and I don't really want to say it, but it was basically like a, you know, female dog, yeah? It was like he was insulting Jesus Christ. But clearly, you know, we see that blasphemies against the Son of Man can be forgiven and shall be forgiven, right? But it's blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and that's something different, that's basically calling him possessed. And, you know, some would say, you could argue that that was maybe something for them, something for those days, but I see a religion where a lot of them still call Jesus Christ possessed with a devil, OK? That religion is what we know of as Judaism, what unfortunately many, many sort of Judeizing-type Christians seem to think is these sort of great people to be worshipped. No, these are reprobates, OK? Those people that are calling him possessed by a devil have never forgiveness, the Bible says. But we're going to talk about that a bit more next week. And Jesus knew their thoughts and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself, how shall then his kingdom stand? So his point here is how would that work if Satan was casting out his devils? It would just be a very odd situation, wouldn't it? But that's kind of the obvious kind of application there, but everything that Jesus Christ says is truth, isn't it? I think Jesus Christ doesn't use a falsehood to make a point. Everything he says is truth. He said every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And then it made me think, just looking at that first part of that verse there, that think of the result of civil wars throughout history, and all those kingdoms end up being brought to desolation, don't they, in one way or another. And I was thinking just recently, think of nations like Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Sudan, pretty effective way of destroying a nation, isn't it? Because when they start fighting against each other, eventually they're brought to desolation, aren't they? And the state of some of those nations, I just had a quick kind of look on some of those nations, what's going on with them right now, just horrific, horrific like such dangerous places now, just the fighting, the war, just civil war, just complete unrest, just destroyed, destroyed what were at one point recently fairly prosperous nations. And, you know, there's a lot of evidence, there's a lot of foul play involved which has caused that. The old saying is divide and conquer, isn't it? Because every nation or every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. And that's a much cleverer way a lot of the time than going in and invading that nation, isn't it? It's just to basically stir up, with antagonists and everything else, is stir up infighting, stir up civil war. And eventually when it's desolate, you take it over, yeah? Puppet governments arrest. Now, is that something you could say, is that something we're seeing on a more subtle scale in the US maybe? Where we're seeing this real basically divide and conquer going on with what is sort of the liberal and the mainstream media pushing this sort of liberal and what seemed to be a lot of them seemed to be like hired protesters a lot of the time with any sort of liberal agenda and then you kind of got the conservative types on the other side and there does seem to be that going on, doesn't there? But I don't know how that's going to end. But he also then said, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. So notice that. We've moved from nations to cities and houses here, yeah? So, how do you, well, firstly, a house divided against itself shall not stand, yeah? And that's something maybe many of us here need to remember, that when you start getting infighting in a house, ultimately you're going to, at least for a time or maybe in the long run, destroy that house, yeah? So how do you avoid being divided against yourself as a house, as a home? Well, by respecting God-ordained authority. That's how it works, isn't it? And you could argue that that would also maybe be the answer in a lot of these nations as well if people just respect that authority and that self-governing authority of a nation as well and nations weren't invading or trying to cause civil wars in nations. But in the same way, you could argue it with civil wars and people trying to rebel and things like that. Is that the will of God? Are we not just to submit to the authority? I wouldn't say that that's of God to do that, but I would also say in the home, it's not of God for people to rebel against the God-given lines of authority in a home. And if you didn't have rebelling in the home, then you wouldn't have houses divided against each other, would they? It would be pretty simple. Because what's the alternative? Destruction. So if you're divided against yourself, if a home is divided against itself, well, it's not going to stand. That house shall not stand. Romans 13.1, you don't have to learn this, says, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God. So God's put a chain of command there for a reason, hasn't he? Because it never works when it's not. As much as we hear modern newfangled terms, which are still really to a degree still quite new, like democracy and all these sorts of things, really it's a sham, isn't it? It's a sham because there is ultimately people in charge. They're just a lot of the time in the shadows somewhere, aren't they? But in the home, it never works, does it? It never works in business. I've experienced this and even up to, I was talking to a guy yesterday, I think myself and brother Gary at work, talking to a guy who went into a partnership with someone and got completely stitched up, which usually happens. And they end up seeing different, and we were talking about in hindsight, you know, they should have been signing things and making agreements as to who owned what and what would have happened in the future and when it was agreed that he could go off to his other job in the afternoon, that should have been put on paper and everything else because it's like, oh, two friends, what could go wrong? And it always goes wrong, doesn't it? Because it has to be a final authority in every sphere of life, doesn't there? And I would say none more important than in the house. In the household which the devil's trying to destroy, there has to be a chain of command. And he's put it there for a reason because otherwise, if there's not a final authority, if there's not someone who has that final say, there's a problem. And that chain of command in a house goes from the husband to the wife to the kids, okay? And look, let's start with the kids. If kids are not respecting that authority of their mums, for starters, that house will not stand in the future, will it? They have to listen to that authority, but then they also have to respect the authority obviously of their father as well. But the wife has to respect that of her husband because if she doesn't, that house will not stand. So you might be thinking, and again, I'm not picky on any of the ladies here, but in general, you'll see in society, sadly, a lot of women thinking that somehow they're going to be better off if they don't submit to the authority of their husband. But what does the Bible say? That house cannot stand if it's divided. If you don't submit to God's authority in life, that house will not stand. And that authority in your life is your husband and wives. That authority, children, is your mums and then your dads, right? But in the same way, husbands, fathers, dads, men, who's the authority in your life? Who's above you? God. So you have to respect the authority in your life. So it's no good going, oh, well, as long as she submits to me, our house is going to be fine. But if you're not submitting to God and you're just going out and doing things that aren't as God would want you to live and run your house and everything else, again, your house won't stand, will it? And that goes back to the principle of building your house on a rock. Jesus Christ. But it all comes back to really not letting your house be divided. How does that work really in the long run, or how does that work in the short run as well, is by just respecting God's God-given authority in life. Because what's our goal really? We want a happy house, don't we? A happy home. And so often, people are conned into thinking the men, maybe, if they don't do what God says, they'll be happy if they do X, Y and Z. And that could even be by, oh, just let my wife make these decisions. That's not what God wants you to do. Your house will be divided, ultimately, because it can't work like that. It has to be a final authority. And then the same with wives. So many wives, that's how they feel, well, you know, I don't want to submit to this, I don't want to submit. You're going to have a divided house. What, do you want your house to fall? What's wrong with you? How hard is it to submit to your husband? That's what the Bible says. Wives, submit them to your own husbands. Yeah, it's pretty easy, isn't it? Should be, but unfortunately not. But that's the same with the church as well. And that's why division-causing is such a weapon of the devil, isn't it? It's such a weapon of the devil, because a house divided against itself cannot stand. And that's why, again, just what we were just talking about earlier, that was clearly so obviously of the devil. It's to divide, divide the church. And we've seen a bit of that have been people that have kind of disappeared off into the sunset with those division-causes. That's what the devil wants, ultimately, because in his mind that house cannot stand. That's why they have to be kicked out. That's why you cannot have those people in your church because they're doing the work of the devil. And, you know, let's be honest, they're the children of the devil, but they cannot be, because what's the result if you just go, oh, well, anything goes? No, we don't kick anyone out. No, you know, God is love. God is love, yeah? Who are we? We're not judgmental, you know? You know, judge not, judge not, yeah? Forget the rest of the verse, just judge not, yeah? What's the result? House divided? Can't stand. Anyway, let's continue, and he says, And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. Now, this is an interesting verse, yeah? What's he talking about here? Well, turn over to Acts chapter 19, because it makes me think of Acts chapter 19 here, because it seems by this verse, he said, And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. Now, he's talking to the Pharisees here, isn't he? So, it seems that these Pharisees' children attempt to cast out devils. Now, you could, some might argue, some could say, well, maybe some of the disciples going out and casting out devils, that's one of the things, one of the powers they were given by Jesus Christ. Some might say, well, some of these, you know, there's obviously some relationship between John at least, the apostle John, with people in, you know, at least a high priest or something, maybe he's referring to them. I don't know. I just think of this incident in Acts chapter 19 and from verse 11, where it says, And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. So, we're in Acts 19 and verse 11. So, Paul, he's full of the Holy Ghost, right? So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out to them. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, so vagabond are like kind of wandering Jews, yeah, without kind of a permanent, a bow tie. Exorcists, they're called here, yeah, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adore you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. So, just to make it clear, because they're known as exorcists, doesn't mean that they perform legitimate exorcism, does it? Okay, they might be called exorcists, but do we see any example of unsaved people performing legitimate exorcism in the Bible? I can't think of any. If you do, let me know after the service because I couldn't think of any. Okay, so, they're trying to cast these devils out with the name of Jesus, yeah? And there were seven, now look at this bit, sons of Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priest, which did so. So, some of these, at least in this case, I know they're in Ephesus here, but in this case, these are sons of some sort of chief of the priest, whether it's the chief over there, I don't know, but they're sons of this chief of the priest. And this evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know, and Paul, I know, but who are ye? And I should have put on a more evil voice there, but you're just going to have to imagine that, right? Okay, and the man in whom, or maybe I should have put on a bit of a faggy voice because you're going to see in a minute. And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them. There's seven of these guys, by the way, so that they fled out of that house, don't miss this bit, naked and wounded, okay? So, he's overcome, seven of these sons of these Jews, you know, they're not saved, obviously, they're not the Holy Ghost, they're claiming to be exorcists. They flee out of the house naked and wounded, okay? It might just be me, but I see something pretty wicked going on there myself. Because, look, all these, like, I'm not saying all these people that are possessed, but they do some weird stuff, there's some wicked people out there, and let's be honest, all these reprobates, I believe are indwelt by a devil anyway, okay? So, now I'm not saying, maybe it was a reprobate, maybe it wasn't, yeah, I don't know, but what I do know is that these guys not only got beaten up somehow, he leaked on them, he overcame them, he prevailed against them, and somehow they're now fleeing naked, okay? And that kind of says a lot about kind of devils and the wickedness and where all that filth comes from, really, doesn't it? Yeah, because it's not the sort of thing that some normal human being just kind of comes up with in their mind, that stuff comes from devils, comes from wicked reprobate devils, because that's ultimately what they are, isn't it? And then the people that they indwell. And I see something pretty disgusting there, but maybe I'm wrong there. Now, it says, and this was known to all the Jews and Greeks, also dwelling in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified, okay? So, they obviously see that these guys, they can do anything, but Paul's managing to do this in the name of Jesus Christ. So, the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified, okay? Now, you could say, and I might be going off here, but you could say that the sons of Sceva have judged those Pharisees ultimately, haven't they? Because they tried and failed, as was, I believe, probably always a case with unsaved exorcists in inverted commas. They didn't really succeed, and by, you know, he said, by whom do your children cast them out, you know? Well, they even tried. These people, who are at least children of some sort of chief priests, have tried to cast out devils and ended up failing, right? And they've kind of shown how ridiculous that is, because how did Jesus Christ cast them out? Well, it was through the Holy Spirit, right? That's how you cast them out. These people didn't have that, yeah? Anyway, if you go back to Matthew, Matthew chapter 12, then verse 28 says, but if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you, or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, then he will spoil his house? Just to add on there, no, I'm not saying that he was necessarily prophesying about that event, but what I am saying is there were clearly sons of these Jews or whatever, at least in this case, and again, I might be off here, but there were at least these going out, trying to perform exorcists. We see this event happen in Acts, and they're failing, aren't they? Okay? Anyway, so he said, but if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you, or else how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house? So the only one strong enough is God, isn't it? It's the Holy Spirit casting out the devil, because greater, don't forget this, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Okay? And we need to remember that, because it could be pretty scary without knowing that, couldn't it? Without knowing that you have the Holy Spirit in you, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. Okay? And you don't have to fear devils, you don't have to fear any of that, because you have the Holy Spirit inside you. That's God, God the Holy Spirit. He's like, oh, well, he's got this kind of, got this spirit-y thing, but those devils are pretty tough. No, that's God indwelling you. Yeah? He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. So he's basically just said here, he said, first he said, look, if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Yeah? So he's saying, look, and that's what's happened, isn't it? Okay? So the kingdom of God's come unto them, and he's saying, look, how else could you do that without binding that strong man, basically that devil, how do you do that through the Holy Ghost? There's no other way, is there? How else are you going to cast out a devil? You're not going to do it by, Satan's not going to do it himself. So all these, like, you know, if ever you've seen this sort of stuff online, it's not something I'm really into, but, you know, these so-called exorcisms and everything, half of them are frauds, other ones are just these weird, bizarre things, maybe where they're even trying to, like, look like they're doing it, but ultimately they're not really, and you might see all this weird stuff, you know, while they're lying on the floor and everything else, but it doesn't mean that a devil's really being cast out there, okay? If there's a load of weird, wacky stuff going on, that doesn't mean that's really happened. The way I see it is that it needs a Holy Spirit, okay? And the only person that's going to do that is someone with the Holy Spirit in them. How do we cast out devils? Preaching the gospel. The only way I know of getting the Holy Spirit in someone is by getting them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then they will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and again, he's greater than any devil. There's no, like, special way. There's no other way because we're not apostles, okay? We don't have that power. We're not, you know, still trying to prove the word of God through these signs and wonders and miracles. No, but we do have the power to get people saved. And again, when we do the next part, you know, there's a couple of things I've been musing about with that as well. We'll look at that next week. But he then said, He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Now, that's a great verse for the ecumenical heretics, isn't it, okay? But it's a verse that some would like to ignore and focus on another verse if you turn to Mark 9 because some would like to suggest that maybe there's a contradiction or they would try to use then Mark 9 to push the ecumenicalism. And if you're wondering what I mean by ecumenicalism, I'm basically, and there's different versions of it, you've got the so-called Christian ecumenicalism, like we talked about on Sunday with these Baptist Union just wicked heretics, that somehow we should all just kind of join forces with the Catholics, with the Anglicans, with the Pentecostals, with all these works of salvation. Well, in fact, they do all join together. They might as well join together because they're all just works of salvation. They're all the same religion, really, just in various ways. They're Cain's religion, aren't they? But yeah, that's the sort of, and then you've got the even further, just way out there where they're like, you know, the Muslims, the Jews, the Catholics, it's all a different path to God type, yeah? Okay, and all these people are just, again, just wicked, you know, false prophets and the rest of it. But they would possibly, some that claim to be Christians and claim to even believe the Bible would maybe like this passage in Mark 9, which says from verse 37, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name receiveth me, and whosoever shall receive me receiveth not me, but him that sent me. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name. Notice he was casting out devils, not trying to cast out devils, yeah? Casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us. Talking about the disciples here, and we forbade him because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not, for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, not try and do a miracle, do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. Now, in Mark 9, it's a guy that's clearly received Jesus, isn't it? He's casting out devils in Jesus' name. He's not like these Jews, these sons of Sceva, who are just trying and failing. No, he's actually doing it. He's casting out devils in his name. He's doing a miracle in Jesus' name. He's clearly with Jesus. He's just not following the disciples. And the application there, isn't it, is that we're not going to forbid other saved men and women of God doing the things of God because they don't attend our church, are we? We're not going to go, Oh, well, no, you're not allowed to soul win because you're not a sure foundation Baptist church or because you're not our type of church. Look, if they're out there doing the things of God they're soul winning, great. Amen. Praise God. Get people saved. We want more people saved, don't we? And that's amazing. Obviously, we're going to preach against false doctrine out there and we're going to do that from this Bible. The Bible tells us to do that, but we're not going to forbid people going out and doing the things of God and getting people saved just because they don't dot the I's and cross the T's how we like them. And that's the application there. But if you go back to Matthew 12.30, when he said, He that is not with me is against me, that's someone who's not with Jesus, right? And he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. I believe, for me, the application is that this someone who isn't with Jesus, he's against him. It doesn't matter if they claim the name. This is someone for me who's not saved. OK, that's how I see it. Now, some could, you know, I think I've heard this preach before this sort of verse where they talk about you could also apply it to just people that aren't going out and soul winning. You go, if you're not, if you're not gathering with the Lord, you're scattering abroad in that, because ultimately, you're basically, you're not doing the things of God and that's not a good thing, is it? And you're really, you're kind of doing the opposite in a way because you're a saved person of God, you're around all these people and you're not actually going out and doing anything. You're not trying to preach the gospel, you're not doing anything. What are you doing? But I believe ultimately here it's talking about the unsaved, and it's talking about people if they're not with the Lord, because in the context here, and he's talking to the Pharisees and everything else, is these are people that, they're reprobates, right? OK? They scatter abroad. I don't care if they claim to be Christians, yeah? And we're going to see about out of the abundance of the heart and the mouth speaker, it's not just about saying something that's clear, you know, clear as day as saying that he's possessed with the devil. All of it, all that stuff which just shows what someone is, that it doesn't matter. If they're like wicked God haters, then look, they're scattering abroad. Oh, but we still want to come to your church. It doesn't matter, like, go away. You're scattering abroad. You're the enemies of the gospel, you're enemies of the cross. Oh, well, we believe most of what you say, it's just like some of the finer points. It's just like whether or not you can lose your salvation. Like, go away. You're scattering abroad. You're damning people to hell with your false doctrine. We don't want you anywhere near. Ultimately, we should hate these people. Yet how many Christians would tell us that we're like, oh, you know, because they just don't do things, because they don't believe exactly how you believe? Yeah, they believe in work salvation. And it doesn't matter what version of work salvation they believe in, it's damning people to hell. And it doesn't matter what version of church division they're bringing into our church, they're basically trying to destroy a church of God and damn ultimately people to hell. Yeah, people who could have gone out and got saved. It doesn't matter what version it is, what sort of tactic or angle. Oh, well, they're not that bad. No, they're not gathering with us. They're scattering abroad. And in the many different versions that you could apply to this. And I don't think Jesus is saying, oh, well, it's all right, though. Just put our arm around them. No, he's saying, look, these people are against him. They're scattering abroad. They're causing people to go to hell. It's wicked, isn't it? So, yeah, it doesn't matter if they claim the name. If they're not with him, they're not with him, are they? And ultimately, until they are, they're scattering abroad. Yeah. So that for me, I wanted to stop there. I know we're kind of in the middle of him talking about, you know, about that blaspheming the Holy Spirit, but I thought that was a good point to stop there. I would like to hit it in two. And we're going to kind of continue to talk about that next week and then go on to those kind of that second half of the chapter more as well. And, yeah, on that, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you. Thank you for your word and thank you for, you know, some great, great verses and great truths there that we hopefully we can all learn from and be able to apply to our lives as well and just just to understand, you know, what, you know, what it is that you want from us and you want us out preaching the gospel, you want us out, you know, doing the things of God and and and, you know, and you want us to see these these God haters for what they really are and not to try and think that we're somehow more forgiving than you are, that we somehow have, you know, more kindness than you. But then on the flip side, we also want to have mercy on those that we should have mercy on, that we shouldn't be just trying to find fault in in every little thing that we see amongst our brethren. We should, you know, love each other. We should want the best for each other. But that's talking about the brethren, not talking about those who want to either come in and destroy it from the outside, Lord, and that want to go and preach false gospels and the rest of it. And Lord, we thank you. We thank you that you just make these things clear in your word. We thank you that you give us the ability to be able to study this and to be able to just just, you know, to understand, you know, your word through the Holy Spirit. We thank you for that and help us to have a good rest of the week now, Lord, help us to just, you know, finish the week well with you still at the center of it, help us to to not have a divided house, help us to all just want to want to just, you know, submit to authorities. You'd want us to in the areas of life that you want us to do that and help us to all get back here on Sunday as well for another day in your house. In Jesus' name we pray all of this. Amen.