 I wanna talk with you about something that the Holy Spirit loves to see, what that few believers do, and I'm talking about true believers. Now, many believers are doing this very thing without even realizing it, and they're walking in a way that pleases the Holy Spirit. Conversely, many believers are not doing this very thing and not for lack of trying. It's for lack of awareness, and sometimes that's self-awareness. I'm talking about walking in unity. I'm talking about walking in love. Now, we can be quick to dismiss these sort of things and say, oh, well, I walk in love, I walk in unity. But again, many believers are disobeying the voice of the Holy Spirit, or they're contradicting God's word without even realizing it. We have blind spots, we all do. And many of us fail to see the ways that we are causing division. Many of us fail to see the ways that we are carrying bitterness and unforgiveness. And so, as we go through the scriptures, I want you to allow your heart to be vulnerable. I want you to say, search me, oh God. And I want your prayer to be that anything in you that contradicts the word of God, that that would be transformed. I want you to approach this subject from the place of surrender. So, write that in the comment section. Search me, oh God. And when you write that, that's your public declaration of surrender. Now, let's begin by looking at Genesis chapter one, verse 26, where the Bible says, then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us. They will rain over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground. When God created land-dwelling animals, he spoke to the earth. When God created vegetation and plant life, he spoke to the earth. When God created the fish of the sea, he spoke to the sea. He spoke to the source. When God created you and I, he spoke to himself, let us make man in our image. Now, notice the phrasing there. Let us make human beings in our image. This, of course, is a reference to the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all dwelling together, Trinity, tri-unity. The very nature of God is one of unity. Three persons, one God. Mark chapter 12, verse 29 says, Jesus replied, the most important commandment is this, listen, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is the one and only Lord. There again, we see oneness. John 1-1 says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. That's a reference, of course, to Jesus. In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God. So these three distinct persons are also one God. Remember this, our unity can only come in proportion to our maturity. Our unity can only come in proportion to our spiritual maturity. So if we want to be like him, we too must walk in this oneness. If we want to bear the nature of our Heavenly Father, then we must learn to set aside division, to walk in love and patience and gentleness, kindness toward one another, understanding, giving the benefit of the doubt. Now of course, there are times for division, and I'll address this a little bit in this lesson. There are times that we must divide. Yes, of course. If someone is preaching a false gospel, call that out and mark that person and avoid them. If someone is living an unrepentant sin, well-claiming to still be a Christian, that of course needs to be addressed. If someone is affecting your spiritual walk, if someone is negatively affecting your relationship with God, there are bad influence on you. Of course, there are times we must disconnect for the sake of our own spiritual, mental, and emotional health. And no, we mustn't endure abuse. But barring those exceptions, we must learn to walk in unity. And this is something that greatly pleases the Holy Spirit. And as I mentioned just a few moments ago, many believers are walking in a way that grieves the Holy Spirit and they don't even realize it. Why is it we don't realize it? Well, because we don't always understand our own motives. Many times people do things out of jealousy, but they call it righteous indignation. Many times people do things out of ego, but they call it a love for truth. Many times people will divide over things that don't even really matter when it comes to the big picture of the gospel message in salvation in Christ. And we're gonna look at these things as we go through the scripture. And as I said, it's gonna be important that you would allow the Holy Spirit to convict you, that you would allow him to search your heart. And my prayer constantly, especially as I read the word, because when I read the word, I see many ways that I'm not like Jesus. And as I read the scripture, I say, God, there are so many ways I'm not like you. Let whatever it is in me that contradicts your nature bow to who you are. I want to be conformed to the image of Christ. I want to be transformed. I want to bend toward God's will. I want to be changed in a way that causes me and my life to align with the will and the word of God. And so as we allow the Holy Spirit to search our hearts, as we honestly assess our motives, our thought patterns, the flesh, we have to have one goal in mind. And that is biblical unity, not unbiblical unity. Unbiblical unity, ungodly unity is to compromise truth. It is to set aside the word of God. It is to compromise the gospel. That's not what we want. Let's take a look at what we do want. First Corinthians chapter one verses 10 through 17 says, I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some members of closed household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying I am a follower of Paul. Others are saying I follow Apollos or I follow Peter or I follow Christ. Has Christ been divided into factions? Was I Paul crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? Of course not. I thank God that I did not baptize any of you. Verse 15, for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. Oh yes, I also baptized some as the scripture says, but look at verse 17, for Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the good news. And not with clever speech for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. So here of course, Paul the apostle is addressing the issues of people dividing into factions. Going on, looking at Romans chapter eight, verses 15 through 17, we see that the scripture says, so you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you receive God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children. So all of us who've received the Holy Spirit are now God's adopted children. Now we call him Abba Father. For his spirit, I love the language used here, joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. If you're a regular viewer, you know that this particular portion of scripture is very often referenced because this is talking about the work of the Holy Spirit. Verse 17, and since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God's glory, but if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Now, regarding these two portions of scripture that I just read to you, many people listening to this will say amen. In fact, many will preach from this very text, calling for unity while themselves causing division. Many will cry unity with their words, but with their actions cause division. Now this happens in all churches, all across the world. This happens in all households. On some occasion, divisions come. And if we're not careful, we can be so confident in what we think is our own spiritual strength. We can become so confident in our own competence and our own awareness and our own discernment that we fail to see the areas where we ourselves are causing division. Now I'm not talking about disagreements because you will hear varying degrees of ideas on various different doctrines. Some on some doctrines will teach one thing, some on other doctrines will teach another thing. Disagreements though, do not have to become divisions. Body of Christ can on some issues agree to disagree. Not on every issue. We're gonna get to that in a moment, but on some issues we can agree to disagree. Moving on now to 1st John chapter five verses one and two, the Bible says everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children too. We know we love God's children if we love God and obey his commands. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. Let me say that again. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. One more time, straight from scripture, get this in your spirit. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. Well, that's the basic standard of whether or not someone has been truly born again. It's that true authentic faith in Jesus as the Christ. Yet we complicate this, don't we? In all of our preferences, in all of our personality quirks, in all of the ways that we see the world, our perspectives, we cause a complicated way of finding unity. John chapter 17 verses 13 through 24, this is very deep right here. Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. This is Jesus praying. I have given them your word and the world hates them because they do not belong to the world just as I do not belong to the world. Verse 15, I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth. Teach them your word, which is truth. So make them holy by your word. Verse 18, just as you sent me into the world, this is so powerful. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world and I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. Now verse 20, watch this. I am praying not only for these disciples. So Jesus wasn't just praying for the apostles. I am praying not only for these disciples. Watch this now, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. So who is Jesus praying for? He's praying for you. He's praying for me. Why? Because we believe the gospel, that was the message the apostles preached. I am praying not only for these disciples but for all who will ever believe in me through their message. Verse 21, I pray that they will all be one just as you and I are one. As you are in me, Father, I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me so they may be one as we are one. So there again, we see the basis for our unity found in the unity that is God. So the Holy Spirit in me loves the Holy Spirit in you. The Holy Spirit in you loves the Holy Spirit in me. Okay, ministry methods, surface level. Doctrinal disagreements in some instances are surface level, style and culture and personality that's all surface level. Deep calling unto deep. The Holy Spirit in me loves the Holy Spirit in you. That is true depth. And in the spirit you and I are one. If we are all one with the Father, then we are all one with one another, unity. I am in them and you are in me. This is Jesus' prayer. Look what he's praying for you. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. Well, why does the enemy attack with division so much? Why? It's because our unity is a sign to the world that God did send us. Well, is this not one of the complaints of the skeptic? If God is real and truly you have the truth, why are there so many disagreements from you? Why do you always attack each other? If you all truly belong to this Jesus you described to us, why is there so much quarreling? Why is there so much angst and tension? Why is there so much backbiting and gossip and slander? That's why the enemy attacks. He attacks this area because it's this unity that acts as a sign to the world that we were sent by God. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you love me even before the world began. Well, God's plan for the church is multiplication. So of course the enemy's plan for the church is division. We are to multiply through disciple making, not member making, disciple making. And as we multiply by disciple making, the enemy seeks to stifle that kingdom expansion by bringing division, the opposite of multiplication. Now what causes division? I'm gonna go over some things that are very important. I wanna show you now some, maybe some of the blind spots that you might have because hearing this you say, yeah, I agree. We should be united and we all agree. So don't hear what I'm not saying. And of course we have to balance this. We all agree that there are certain instances when we should divide. There are certain lines you just don't cross. And I'm gonna go over that in a moment. But first let's take a look at some of the causes of division. And as we go over the causes of division, I want you to check your heart. Proverbs 17.9 says, love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Number one is offense. There's this thing that I covered in my new book, Holy Spirit, The Bondage Breaker. Maybe years from now when you watch this replay, it won't be new. But at the time that we're doing this live stream, it is new. I talk about these thought patterns. Now we have what are called narratives, stories we tell ourselves, angles from which we see situations. And those narratives that we tell ourselves act like glasses through which we see the world. So there are some sunglasses that have like an orange shade to them. You ever put one of those pairs of sunglasses on that have that orange shade? Everywhere you look, there's just this tinge of orange everywhere. Well, that's what it's like when you put on negativity. That's what it's like when you put on offense. That's what it's like when you see the world through bitterness. Everything that person does is judged in a certain way. Everything that person says is judged in a certain way. And then you begin to think you can guess their motives. I know what they meant when they said that. I know why they acted that way. I know what they were doing even if nobody else knows what they were doing. And this is what you call a perceived offense. In other words, you're offended by something you thought they did, which didn't actually take place. And if you're not careful, you can create for yourself a narrative of patterns by which you believe others are behaving. And it's like a pair of glasses that you put on, everything you see. But the Bible says love prospers when a fault is forgiven even when someone does really wrong you. You gotta be careful that you don't take that series of wrongs that they do against you and form for yourself a story that you tell yourself. A narrative, a perspective now, a lens through which you see everything they do. And if we're not careful, we collect people's faults. They did this, they did this, they did this, they did this, they didn't do this, they didn't do this, they didn't do this. And we take all those faults and we hang on to them. And then we set them up in a way where we say, okay, now I can see a pattern. You wanna find a pattern, you'll find it. Because people will hurt you, people will offend you, people will say things and do things. And this is constant, okay? Because we're all imperfect. And if you really wanna get close to someone, you're gonna have to deal with a fence. And this, by the way, doesn't just go for people you know personally. This also goes for pastors and leaders who you watch. People you may watch on the internet. I've seen it done before where if a pastor says something that's incorrect and they correct it and they say, I'm sorry. I said this, I misspoke. It was foolish of me to word it. And you have to realize many ministers use certain phrases and they push the envelope of communication because they wanna get attention. And there's nothing wrong with wanting to get attention as long as the motive is proper. Like if you wanna get attention so that you can raise the message of the gospel, that's very different than wanting attention. So people could say, oh look how popular that person is. So often you'll hear preachers say things and there's a little bit of shock value to it. You know, they wanna cut through the noise of all that's going on and sometimes they push that a little too far. And they'll phrase things in a way that maybe sounds a little off or they'll use terminology that makes us go, wait a minute. That terminology doesn't sound so good or that phrase or that word doesn't sound right. And of course I'm not saying that's good. I'm saying that's very foolish in many instances. Not in every instance, but in many instances that's rather foolish. You ever notice how once they make that one mistake and then they go back and try to correct it, it doesn't matter, now you have the lens to which you see them and the eyebrow goes up and everything now you're watching, well let me see what else they say that doesn't line up. And now we're hypersensitive. Every little thing being nitpicked and we don't even realize we're doing it. Now I'm not saying set aside discernment. I'm saying judge with righteous judgment, not through the perspective of someone's mistake. And this happens to preachers all the time. Not just online, but even at your local church, you may do it to your pastor. Maybe your pastor says something that didn't quite sound right now. They didn't mean it that way or maybe they did say something off and they came back and corrected it or maybe they still haven't corrected it yet but they're still learning in that area. But you hang on to that and now you put on that pair of glasses and you're watching through those lenses. Now I'm gonna watch. And we don't realize we think it was a red flag when really we are now wearing the goggles or the lenses that cause us to see everything through a hyper critical lens. And this doesn't just apply to online preachers. This doesn't just apply to local preachers. This also applies to how we deal with one another. Everything they do done through a certain lens. So love prospers when a fault is forgiven but dwelling on it. Now this is where many people make the mistake. They just hold it in their mind and they get angry at it again and again and again and they replay it in their heads again and again. But what did they really mean? Or why did they say that? Or that really offended me or they shouldn't have disrespected me that way or they shouldn't have come against me that way. Are they over and over? And we build narratives. And these narratives become the new way now in which we see we have to get. It's like a stronghold. We gotta get to the root of that and go let's get rid of that narrative. Let's get rid of that perspective. Let's get rid of that way of seeing that person, that ministry, that church and begin to do it properly because if you start to just collect people's mistakes and you can collect mistakes from anyone you're gonna come to the place where you will be bitter. You're gonna come to the place where you're gonna carry unforgiveness in your heart and you won't even know it. You'll think you're righteous for doing it when in fact there's bitterness that's been seeded. And again we will balance this because I'm not saying just toss aside discernment by no means would I ever tell you that. You have to have especially these days a heightened discernment. But let's go line upon line here. First Corinthians 13, four through seven love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable. And it keeps no record of being wronged. That right there is so key because we do that to people, don't we? We do that to our pastors. We do that to our leaders. We do that to preachers we watch online. We do that to our friends, our family members, our spouses, our children. We keep these little records and we collect it. And here's the thing, you know someone long enough and you become close enough with someone, you will have enough to separate any friendship, any marriage and you'll have excuses for it. Because if you collect people's faults it will accumulate over the years until there's resentment and contempt. And this is why I say that offense is a major cause for division. You know what's interesting? And I'm not teaching this message to defend myself but I just thought this was a great analogy for the point that I'm trying to illustrate here and it's actually kind of funny. We've had people message us online and they'll say, David Hernandez is a fraud. He messaged me privately and he was pressuring me to give money. And you know they're talking about of course the spam accounts. There are scam artists who will create duplicate accounts. They use my name, they use my picture and then they comment on my videos or they comment on Instagram or wherever it may be and they get the people to message them privately and then they tell them things like you gotta give to this orphanage and if you don't you'll be cursed or if you don't you'll be like Jonah. Now those who follow us know that I would never do anything like that. But then there are those who have no idea and they publicly now go and say, well this is what he did and I can post the screenshots and I tell them post the screenshots. Let's see what the handle is on that Instagram account or let's see what the number is that you're texting because that's definitely not me. And rather than admitting, oh I got that wrong. Rather than saying, oh you know what, yeah you're right, my mistake, they'll say things like well maybe you created it so you can go and private message people or well I don't know something still doesn't sit right or well I don't know, I still feel like something's off with you and I'm thinking that's your emotions from the impression you got from a scam artist and now instead of just letting that go everything's seen through a lens and that ego wants to say well I'm right to be mad that there's gotta be something that justified this anger instead of just going the route of humility and saying you know what I completely got that wrong I'll let it go. And I could tell you in my own life there's been times where I've tried to hold on to things against people only to realize oh my goodness, I'm wrong. I formed a narrative in my mind, I formed a perspective in my head that just wasn't true. I need to let this go. That's why the scripture is clear that we keep no record of being wrong. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance. Romans 12, 18 says, do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. What a command there. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. So as much as depends on you, look there are some people who are just gonna dislike you. There are some people who just want nothing to do with you just because of issues within themselves. You can't win everyone over but as much as in your ability you have to do what you can. There are people who will be committed to misunderstanding you. And then when you try to explain yourself they'll take your explanation and find 10 things to twist about the explanation itself. And so this is done of course from a place of immaturity and ego and maybe this has happened to you in your local church. Maybe this has happened to you with a family member. Maybe this has happened with you in another fellow minister of the gospel. Whatever your situation may be, people are people and you're going to find that you can't win everyone over. There are people who are just gonna dislike you. There are people who are offended with me, angry with me. And as far as I knew we were on great terms and there was something in their heart that turned and there have been instances where I've asked what exactly is the issue? And they can't pinpoint an issue. They just know that something was seated in their heart and they can't let go of it. And we all have issues like this. This is, I'm just being real guys, this is humanity. We're people and we have to be honest about the way that the human heart is. And often we carry this offense and that causes division. Colossians 3, 12 to 15 says, since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy. Tenderhearted, that's key because we can harden our hearts toward one another. Instead of being tenderhearted, seeing it from their perspective. Having compassion for their hurts for the way things are affecting them. That's tenderheartedness, kindness, humility. Not wanting to be right, not wanting to prove a point, humility, acknowledging that we ourselves can make mistakes too. Gentleness and patience, that's a big one. Patience, that's endurance right there. That's kindheartedness and humility and gentleness over the long stretch. You want deep and meaningful connections with fellow believers. You're gonna have to learn some patience because if you're not careful, you'll find a reason to disconnect from anyone and everyone. There's nobody that you know that if you got close enough, you wouldn't find something that was cause for offense. Make allowance, verse 13, make allowance for each other's faults. That means beforehand, the posture and attitude of the heart before the offense even occurs. Make allowance for each other's faults and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts as members of one body. You are called to live in peace and always be thankful. The enemy will attack your relationship with your pastor. The enemy will attack your relationship with your spouse. The enemy will attack your relationship with your friends and your family and your children and fellow ministers of the gospel. The enemy will plant seeds of division. It's one of his strategies because where there is division, there is destruction. Please hear what I just said. Where there is division, there is destruction. And these seeds go deep, especially when we give into those narratives I was talking about. And I'm speaking from a place of experience. I can build a narrative really quickly in my mind. I can put together patterns, I can put together scenarios, and I can build a case very quickly. You know how my mind works. When I do these teachings, you get some sense of the ability to see patterns and details and make connections. Well, imagine that mind working against me in relationships and connections and ministry where insecurity now is building those narratives and you gotta be careful of that. And the enemy wants us to just carry these in our hearts. No confrontation. People think confrontation is always a bad thing. Confrontation is not always a bad thing. You can have a conversation with someone and stay superficial, but you don't really know someone until you've had a confrontation. I was just speaking to someone about this today. I was helping them work through some things. And that confrontation is a sign that you're getting closer. And this doesn't mean that the closer you are the more often you argue. That's not what I'm saying at all. What I am saying is that you don't really know someone until you've had a confrontation with them. Because then you see the humanity. Then you see what's in the heart. And we as the people of God have to realize that it's not all singing and dancing and clapping our hands and sharing psalms with one another. There will be often times where it just gets real. And sometimes gets a little heavy. A little burdensome, where now you're leaning in and there's confrontation. Now that's offense. That's one of the causes of division. And we gotta be careful of that offense in our hearts. Number two is disagreements. Disagreements on doctrines and methods. Second Timothy chapter two, verse 14 says, remind everyone about these things and command them in God's presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless. Listen to what the Bible says. Such arguments are useless. And they can ruin those who hear them. Second Timothy two, 23 through 26. Again, I say, don't get involved in foolish ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone. So true men and women of God are not quarrelsome. Be able to teach and be patient with difficult people. Verse 25, gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people's hearts and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil's trap for they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. Now remember Paul the apostle, when he talked about his speech being rude, he didn't mean that he was mean to people. When he used that word rude, he was basically saying my speech is unrefined. And that's all he meant by that particular word. And often when Paul the apostle would call people out by name, he would call them out by name when they left the faith, when they seared their conscience intentionally, or when they preached a blatantly false gospel. Those were the instances that Paul called out names. They were very extreme cases of rebellion. Now Titus chapter three, verse nine says, do not get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels. And fights about obedience to Jewish laws. I should just post that one and pin it on the top of my comment section. Cause I don't know how many times you look at any one of my videos, you will find debates in the comment section. I'm not saying debates are entirely unhealthy. As long as debates are respectful and kind and you're not attacking the person, you're just comparing ideas, contrasting and questioning one another in a healthy way. That's fine. But the Bible makes it clear that we mustn't get involved in foolish discussions about spiritual pedigrees or in quarrels and fights about obedience to Jewish laws. These things are useless and a waste of time. You know why people debate sometimes? People debate not because they're trying to find an answer. Often people want to debate simply because they want to show off how much knowledge they imagine they have. They want people to look and say, oh, look at how sharp, look at how intelligent, look at how well they know the word. And that right there is flesh. Now, as I said, there's a time to divide. I'll give you an example on some issues that we divide over. So if you're talking about the fundamentals of the faith, those are issues where you say division has to happen because a little leaven spoils the whole loaf. You don't want even just a little bit. You put even a little bit of poison in someone's soup. They're not gonna want that soup, okay? So fundamentals, the Bible is God's word. Jesus is God. Jesus lived a sinless life. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Jesus rose from the dead in bodily form. The existence of an eternal and literal heaven and hell, the trinity, sin and repentance, these are fundamentals of the faith. Now, these are the areas where you'll start to see some divisions that are actually very helpful because if somebody stands up and says, Jesus didn't rise from the dead in bodily form or Jesus' sacrifice on the cross didn't really pay for our sins. So now they're preaching a different gospel. Now they're preaching a different Jesus. And that is when you call out things. That is when you rebuke publicly and disconnect when someone's preaching an entirely different gospel. And looking at this even further, look at 1 John chapter four, verse one. Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the Spirit they have comes from God, for there are many false prophets in the world. Clearly the Bible talks about the existence of false prophets and false teachers. Jew chapter one, verse three. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was delivered unto the saints. Okay, so what is that talking about there? We'll look at that in just a moment a little bit closer. Now, what is the standard for calling out false teachers? This is a little bit of a tangent, but I wanna make sure I'm addressing this because I know this will be a question that arises when we talk about unity. On one hand, we can't let every doctrinal difference become a divide. On the other hand, we have to call out doctrine that's a different gospel or heresy. I've heard it put this way. All heresy is error, but not all error is heresy. Now, this doesn't mean that we should take error lightly, but there are different degrees of error when it comes to doctrines. Like if someone teaches the false doctrine of cessationism, they believe that the spiritual gifts have ceased. Now, obviously that's a false doctrine, but I'm not going to say that that person is necessarily a false teacher or false prophet or that they don't truly know the Lord or that they're not going to heaven. We just simply disagree on things like the gift of healing, the gift of tongues and so forth. So I actually, in fact, have friends who are cessationists and we're actually very close and we get along just well. So this is not an issue to divide over. Now, I can give you several other examples. The gift of tongues is one of them. The gift of healing is another. The tribulation, when does the tribulation take place? Is that before, after the rapture of the church? In fact, in terms of eschatology, when are all these different things going to occur in terms of where they fall on a certain timeline? Okay, we can go over this. There can be disagreements. I understand that. When you start crossing over now to where you're violating the fundamentals and you're preaching a different gospel, that's when we have some issues and that's when we have to call them out. And I'll show this to you in scripture. First John chapter four, verses one through three. Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the spirit. You must test them to see if they have the spirit that comes from God. Watch this now. We just read this for there are many false prophets in the world. Okay, so how do we know? That's the question, right? Thankfully, verse two gives us the answer. This is how we know if they have the spirit of God. Well, thank God, it's plainly laid out here. Verse two, this is how we know if they have the spirit of God. If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus came in a real body, that person has the spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the antichrist which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. Now, of course, this particular text is addressing that specific problem. But in principle, we see that there was a violation of the fundamentals of the faith. Jude one, three through four. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was delivered unto the saints. Now, here's one that's commonly used. Fighting for the faith, contending for the faith. Now, just because you're fighting for the faith doesn't mean you can just go in a mean spirited way running around YouTube as a YouTube theologian, keyboard warrior and calling people out who you disagree with on every doctrine. No, the Bible here gives us the context for what it means to be a fighter for the faith. It's not just anyone who disagrees with you on any doctrine. That would cause just nothing but chaos. Verse four, for there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here we see that the scriptures very clear about the context of what it means to contend for the faith. Basically, if someone comes into the church saying, hey, the grace of God permits you to sin and do whatever you want, so have at it. That right there is what's being condemned in this particular portion of scripture. And by the way, the people who claim to fight for the faith so often are constantly stressing the idea of context. So I think it's important that we stress the context of this particular verse, namely the fact that there are those who abuse the grace of God and teach others to do the same. So if you're gonna contend for the faith, there's the context for contending for the faith. Call out those who are saying that the grace of God allows us to live however we want. Now, second, John chapter one, verse seven, I say this because many deceivers have gone out into the world. Here's what they do. They deny that Jesus Christ came in a real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. First, John 222, and who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ, anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist and false gospels are measured in the same way. It's the fundamentals of the faith, the fundamentals of salvation, the fundamentals of the gospel. We're gonna disagree on music and style and presentation and methodology and we're not going to agree on every single doctrine but where we do agree is on Christ. And if someone preaches another Christ, not preaches another Christ because they have a difference of opinion on another doctrine, but actually preaches a different Jesus, that's when you call it out. For example, I'm not a proponent of what many would call the prosperity gospel. I do not believe that God wants to give every believer health, wealth and happiness in every season of life. That's just not biblical. We don't serve God for the purpose of gaining the world. That's just not biblical. Now, do I believe in biblical prosperity? Yes. Do I believe God blesses his children financially? Yes. Do I believe that if you're a true believer that that will always be the case? No, of course he'll provide for your needs, but that doesn't mean that every believer is gonna be a millionaire, every believer is gonna drive a Benz, every believer is gonna live in a multi-million dollar home. That's not biblical. Now, just because I disagree with those who preach the prosperity gospel as it's been coined doesn't necessarily mean that we disagree on Jesus. So, their differences of opinion on the topic of finance doesn't affect where we agree on the subject of salvation through Christ. Now, if they preach that in order to be saved or in order to prove that you're truly saved, you have to have riches and health, okay, that's a different story. But that would be a disagreement on the subject of money. Just because we disagree on the subject of money doesn't mean that they're preaching a different gospel. And in fact, money's really not that important to me. Think about that. The people who say, oh, you preach the prosperity gospel will know they're conflating what they preach on money for what they preach about the gospel. And we have to be careful of doing that to one another. So for example, as another example, there are people who believe in miracles, such as myself. Now, do I believe that it's all about miracles? No, I believe it's all about Jesus. But do I also emphasize miracles? Yes, miracles, that's a subject I cover quite often. But I also recognize the sovereignty of God. Now, if you're not careful and you don't believe in healing and miracles, you'll label that one who believes in healing and miracles as preaching, you know, a healing gospel or a miracle gospel. And we can do this all day to one another. We can find one area where we disagree, take that area of disagreement and then say, well, this is your version of a false gospel. No, we have to look at what we do agree on. And if we agree on Christ, we agree. Now, I know that was a little bit technical, but I think it's helpful to say that so that we're not doing that to each other constantly. That's just one of the subtle ways that we can cause division when it's not necessary. First Corinthians chapter 12, verse three. So I want you to know that no one speaking by the spirit of God will curse Jesus. And no one could say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. It comes back to Jesus. So not all doctrinal disagreements are a reason to call someone out. And by the way, I think this is a good point in the message to do another tangent. And I'm gonna go off on another tangent just for a second, but it really is no other topic where I can put this particular idea. I want you to be very careful of manipulation. Manipulation is just rampant right now. Let me read a portion of scripture to you. And I wanna show you how this portion of scripture is often used by manipulative people to create a narrative that helps what they're doing while hurting someone else. Watch this, Matthew 18, 15 through 17. If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church, then if he or she won't accept the church's decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. So this is obviously talking about a sequence of events in correcting someone. It's the process of bringing correction. Now, in some ways this does apply to doctrine. If someone's teaching something that's off, you are to go to them privately before you go out and do something publicly. That's biblical. And even if the context is taken into consideration, we see the spiritual principle of wisdom and honor being used here, which is to go to someone privately, have a discussion with them. Now you can't do that for everybody, we understand it. And I think generally this applies, but that's not even my main point that I'm bringing to you with this particular portion of scripture. What happens sometimes, and again, this is a tangent of a tangent. What happens sometimes is people will use this particular portion of scripture to push their agenda. And what I mean by that is they will take this particular portion of scripture and they'll say, okay, I'm gonna apply this to someone who disagrees with me doctrinally. And so they go to the individual and they'll say, hey, I have a disagreement with you on this doctrine. And then they go to that person privately and here's where it gets manipulative. They try to frame that doctrinal disagreement as if the other person is sinning. This gets used a lot. Now I'm pulling the curtain back here on something that probably most believers aren't even aware of, they're not even aware that this goes on. I'll give you an example. Let's say I was being manipulative and I wanted someone to believe in the gift of speaking in tongues. Now I'm a big proponent to the gift of speaking in tongues. I believe it's for today. I believe in the heavenly prayer language. I believe every believer should be praying in tongues, at least the expression that is the personal prayer language. But let's say I wanted to get somebody to start teaching that and I wanted to use my platform to pressure them. What I would do is I would go have a private conversation with them and say, hey, you're wrong. I think you should teach on speaking in tongues. They say, no, I don't wanna teach that. So then I go and I misapply this portion of scripture and I go public and I just started attacking them. I went privately to them. I tried to get them to change. I brought my friends. I tried to get them to change and they refused to acknowledge that the gift of speaking in tongues is for today. And therefore I'm gonna publicly now attack them and I bring all this pressure against them. That's manipulation because I'm trying to frame their doctrinal disagreement as if it's sin. And this is so subtle and it's so wicked and it's so manipulative and that's witchcraft. And people bully others into conformity. They bully others into alignment by trying to use tactics like this. And that looks more like the worldly political tactics than it does look like the church. And you have to be, I want you to be mindful of this. I want you to watch for this. And yes, there are times when somebody is sinning, you go to them privately. Yes, you rebuke them openly. But a doctrinal disagreement is not a sin. A doctrinal disagreement is not a sin if it's not a violation of the fundamentals of the faith. So if I go to someone privately that does not give me the license to blast them publicly just because they're not conforming to the doctrine I want them to conform to. Now, this happens worldwide. The reason I'm addressing this is because I've seen this happen in local churches. I've seen this happen in smaller local churches where people who don't have a voice are just bullied like this. You know, well, we hear our pre-tribulation and this is what we want you to believe. Well, I don't know, I just disagree on that. And then they go and they pressure them publicly. They don't believe it, so we're gonna blast them. Now we're gonna kick them out of the church. I'm thinking that's not at all what the scripture's talking about. We cannot frame our doctrinal disagreements as if they are sin. Oh, I went to them and watch for this, guys. Watch for this in your local church. Watch for this on social media. Watch for this among your friends groups. Just watch for this where this light, going to someone privately and having a private conversation is not a license to put them on blast publicly just because you had a private conversation does not mean that you therefore have the right to do this. Now if you address them privately about sin and your pastor privately addresses you about sin, okay, then they can go ahead and address it publicly. But this idea that I have the right to bully people publicly just because I debated them privately, that's manipulation. Now I know, again, I'm getting very technical with these points, but I think it's important you're aware of this because there are a lot of abuses. So Matthew 18, 15 through 17, there are two extremes that people use this in. One extreme is that they use it to bully people who disagree with them doctrinally by framing their doctrinal differences as if they are sin when they're not or stop teaching what I don't agree with or stop saying things that contradict what I believe or stop saying things that I don't want my followers or listeners to know about. That right there is manipulation that's controlled that's more in lines with the cult than it is a church. And then on the other hand, we have to stop pretending that this doesn't apply to doctrines in some way, at least in the principle of honor. If there is a legitimate problem with someone's teaching that is borderline heresy or really is damaging the church, well then you should at least do them the honor of addressing it privately first, but just because it is addressed privately doesn't mean it's always an excuse to blast them publicly. So balance here, guys, balance. Very simply put up, I'll make this simple. A, this is talking about actual sin. And B, there's a principle of honor in first addressing it privately and then taking it publicly to the church, but that's not to be abused. Again, a private conversation is not a license to bully someone publicly, especially when it's just on doctrinal disagreement. Okay, so you may say, David, this is very technical. Well, I had to get technical and very detailed with that because there's a lot of tangling with these verses. Once you get into untangling manipulation, sometimes it's like surgery, having to go in and undo all these mindsets. Finally, number three, so these are things that cause division, offense, disagreements, doctrinal disagreements, and finally divisive people. Romans 16, 17 says, and now I make one more appeal. My dear brothers and sisters, watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people's faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught, stay away from them. Titus 310, if people are causing divisions among you, give a first and second warning, after that have nothing more to do with them. This is also why 2 Timothy 2, 24 says that a minister must not be a quarrelsome person because if we're argumentative as preachers, that bleeds over into what we minister to the people. Now, I'm covering this particular topic of unity because it's something I think the church at large needs to hear, and I've seen this abuse in local churches. I've seen this abuse in groups of churches and if you're asking me to name, well, what are you talking about? What denomination? We're not gonna get into all of that because it doesn't matter. I'm giving you a truth that will help you to navigate this. Let me just be real here. There are systems of religion that are quite abusive and there are certain doctrines and denominations that kind of leaned where this, like I am constantly ministering to people who come out of legalism and again, this is just something to watch for because it's damaging a lot of people. People are being hurt and we as the body of Christ have to, we have to come to the place of unity. We're not slandering, we're not gossiping, we're not attacking, we're not quarreling, we're not abusing and intimidating and manipulating. It all has to stop. Now, will it stop? Probably not, but as much as it has to do with you, fight for that unity. It's more important to win a brother than it is to win an argument. It's more important to win a sister than it is to win an argument. Now, on this subject of divisive people, watch for rudeness being excused as boldness. Oh, I'm just saying, I'm just telling it like it is. Sometimes people are just telling it like it is so don't go using that as a blanket statement. Other times, people hide behind what they call spiritual boldness to excuse their lack of character and their mean-spirited attacks on fellow believers. Fleshly anger and ego is not righteous indignation. Sometimes people are just in the flesh, puffed up, ego, agitated, angry, and you watch for divisive people and you can see these, and this is primarily a message to be applied to your local church because I hear some stories that will just break your heart. My hope is that pastors will show this in their local churches, that Bible study leaders will show this in their groups because that's where these things take place. Look, online, that's one thing, but you know where this primarily takes place? You know what I'm primarily addressing? It's the in-person communities that suffer these attacks the most. 99% of what I'm telling you right now applies to those in-person communities. Online, that's not even necessarily the majority of the problem. These things take place in local communities and we gotta watch for this. We gotta safeguard those. We have to because that's where you find your connection. That's where you find fellowship. That's where you find meaningful relationships that will help you to grow in Christ. People who are angry and puffed up and often, here's how you can know, people who claim, well, you know, I don't ever really attack people. You know, I don't really talk about people behind the back or you know, I don't really ever, I'm not really ever involved in divisive quarrels and they have to say that because they always are. And this is what you must watch for. These are mean-spirited people, egocentric people, prideful people, puffed up, constantly talking themselves up, constantly claiming to have authority. Look, if your words actually have weight to them, you don't have to insist that they do. Let me say that again. If your words actually have weight to them, you don't have to constantly claim that they do. They'll just have weight. That's what it means to have weight behind your words. You're not having to say it. Now, marks of division here, when they bring these corrections so-called, you'll notice it's not coming from a place of love. It's coming from selfish ambition, maybe jealousy, maybe just wanting to be praised by the people. Do you see me as bold when I cause this division? Not coming from true authority. Look, your pastor can't answer to every criticism. Your favorite online preacher can't answer to every criticism. Look, if, for example, I saw today the stats, I think we get something like 50,000 comments a week on YouTube alone. That's 50,000 comments. Imagine if I took every comment into careful consideration and tried to please everybody. No way, it's impossible to please everybody. So you just, we work on pleasing God. So not everyone who brings correction actually has the authority to do so. Usually someone who brings correction in your life is gonna be someone who's connected with you, has actual apostolic authority over you, is maybe a pastor, a leader, a parent, a spiritual father or mother of some sort. And they'll be doing this with actual authority, not this puffed up, I'm here to please everybody's conversations and doctrines. That's not at all what we're called to do. So these are unsanctioned forms of correction that actually just bring division. It's not coming from a place of love. It's not coming from a place of true authority. It seeks to cancel, not to correct. So correction that actually brings peace is all about reconciliation. But when someone brings correction, often what they are actually trying to do is bring cancellation and it's done out of jealousy. You know how you can tell? I'm gonna give you another hint. Again, guys, I'm pulling back the curtains. The church world is a funny world. You know their goal is to cancel and not correct when they leave no room for repentance. Watch this. When they correct the issue and then the person responds to the correction by maybe modifying behavior, they say, oh, they're just doing that because they wanna look like they took the correction. Or if the person isn't convinced that what they said was true and they continue in their way, they say, oh, see, they're persisting and now you've given them no way out. So if you just bring the correction and your heart is actually restoration, you're not gonna be obsessed with controlling the narrative thereafter. You're gonna leave it in God's hands. And so these are things you watch for. Another mark of someone who's bringing unsanctioned correction is they wanna argue because they find it entertaining or it serves their ego or it helps their cause. Careful of the, these are divisive people have nothing to do with them. So again, things that really cause division in its heartbreaking offense, that's within yourself, disagreements, that's between you and another and divisive people, that's exterior but you gotta watch for it. And again, most of this takes place in your local church and here's my plea to you. Well, it's easy to point the finger and say, oh, that's probably this person or that person or that's my auntie or that's my in-law or that's the assistant pastor. Don't do that. Ask yourself, does this describe anything that I'm doing? Do I bring so-called correction just because I like to argue? Do I have the right to bring correction to that person's life? Am I doing it out of love? Do I have the actual authority? Do I actually wanna bring correction or am I just trying to get them canceled? Do I actually wanna bring correction or do I just like to argue? Do I actually wanna bring correction or does it just serve my ego? Or do I wanna play the victim? Oh, I'm being persecuted. So let me stir up some division. You know, my friend, you and I must, again, and I know this is very direct but we have to examine our hearts. We have to. And if we don't examine our hearts, well, then we're not being honest before God. Someone in the comment section, not realizing how bad it is. Yes, this is division and that's why division is so tricky. And look, I went into a lot of the tangled webs if you will of division. You see how complicated some of this gets? That's how deception works. And so when I'm bringing these simple truths to show you that's manipulation, that's division, that's ego, that's pride, you go, oh, I get it now. Like for example, you know what? We'll just pray. I think I made the point. There is something in our hearts that has to be checked. I talked to you about Trinity unity. I talked to you about the fact that we're all united in Christ. I gave you the causes of division and I asked you to check your heart for any of those things. And again, the reason I'm bringing this message because the Holy Spirit's just pressing this on me. Can I just be real with you? The Holy Spirit is so grieved by division in the body. The Holy Spirit is so grieved with jealousy being passed for righteous indignation with mean spirits and rudeness trying to be passed off as boldness. He's so grieved with bitterness trying to be passed off as godly division. We hang on to what we think is right. We cling to our narratives. We see from our perspectives. You know, even just using preachers as examples, there's no one preacher you can point to. You name any public preacher who has an effect today and you'll be able to point things out in them that can be twisted, flaws, issues, everyone. There's no preacher you know that's public that's not being called false. And here's the thing. God wants to bring unity despite our doctrinal disagreements. Again, I'm not talking about fundamentals so don't hear what I'm not saying. But that thing in us that wants to demonize others because of these methods that are different, because of these doctrines that are different, that's called ego. It's called ego. We have to be rid of it. It's grieving the Holy Spirit. I say this to you as a brother in Christ. I come to you as your servant in Christ. I'm here to serve you, the body. I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit spoke to me very clearly. He is grieved over the division in his church. He is grieved by the hypocrisy, the blindness to where we can see flaws or even just perceive flaws, misunderstandings. And we don't apply to them the same grace that we wish others would apply to us. Be careful church. Holy Spirit's calling for unity. Let's work with him on that. Father, I pray you would help your people to walk in that spirit of love and patience. Lord, that we would have the discernment to reject that which is false teaching, while also having the grace to embrace the differences between fellow believers. Help us Lord to recognize divisive nature within ourselves that we might walk in love in patience and purity. We give you the honor in Jesus' name we pray. I want you to say it because you believe it, say amen. Well, if you enjoyed this message, you think others need to hear it, be sure to leave a like and don't forget to subscribe to my channel so that you can receive more teachings on the Holy Spirit prayer and spiritual warfare and also see our live streamed events from around the world where people are saved, healed, delivered and empowered. And now I wanna take just a minute. I know it's tempting to click off this video. You receive the teaching, you receive the prayer and maybe you wanna get on with your day and start looking at other content. I understand that but give me just another minute or two here. I wanna ask you for your support to help this ministry continue to expand the kingdom of God. Look, we are seeing unprecedented favor. I mean, it is uncommon favor that has been placed on this ministry. And I say that just celebrating the goodness of God all glory belongs to Jesus for what he's doing in his ministry. And I'm so grateful to the Lord for the souls that we see saved, the people we see delivered and healed, the believers that we see empowered. It's just astonishing to see what God is doing with his work. And now I wanna invite you to be a part of what God is doing. Help us continue to spread the gospel. All of these messages, they cost money to produce. All of the events that we do, they cost money to host and we give them away for free and we do it all biblically based. We use the biblical model of faith. We use the biblical model of free will offerings. That's you. I don't want you to dismiss your gift. I don't want you to assume that everyone else is gonna take care of it. I want you to do your part right now by giving a single donation or becoming a monthly supporter. 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