Description
The Caleb Generation
Part 5
Steve Kelly
Are you over 40, nearing 40 or on your way to 40, then you are part of the Caleb Generation. Caleb, on the brink of the promise land, at 85 years old said, “I was 45 years old when God sent me to survey the land…and here I am 85 years old and I’m still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now, give me my mountain.”
In the Caleb Generation series, you will be inspired to keep going on for God with a youthful,
Caleb-like spirit. This teaching candidly and insightfully explores what it means to be part of the
Caleb Generation in the 21st Century. Most importantly, it expresses, that those in the Caleb Generation must realize their day is not over. They must keep on playing and keep on fighting because they give faith and courage to the next generation through their wisdom and encouragement.
Transcript
All right. So we are talking about the Caleb Generation. By the way, it is so good to have Frank and Cory back from Africa. From Punjabi. No, not Punjabi, from Kenya. Where did I get Punjabi from? Is that India? Hey, you try living on two hours of sleep the night before last and preaching six sermons and see how you feel. So from Kenya but whereabouts in Kenya? Well there you go. Where is that? Kijabi? How close is Kijabi to Punjabi? Here a jabi, there a jabi, old McDonald had a jabi jabi. It is like Jabba the hut. And so, but all jokes aside, can we welcome them back? They have been doing missions there for nine months. They were there in Kenya when all that unrest broke out. And Frank, being a surgeon was helping people. And it is just fantastic having them back. And of course they will be going back now to Richmond. We have a Wave Church there in Richmond and they will be there for four years finishing out their practice and everything else. So it is so cool to see you guys and we know that you are looking about twenty months pregnant there, Cory. So thank you Lord for looking after her and we just pray for deliverance now.
All right. Come on get into your message. So we talked about the Caleb Generation this morning and we looked at two of the seven nations and we are going to finish these out tonight. The first nation was the Amorites which means sayer which means we have got to deal with that spirit that looks down on people. Amen? God wants us to have this promise land but the first enemy to getting into the promise land that we have to defeat is that elitist idea that we are better than anybody else and we talk down to people. Amen? I should not watch Christian T.V. because it so ticks me off but I was watching Christian T.V. this morning. He was going on talking down, condescending, not lifting people up. I tell you church I want to encourage us to be people the Bible says that God is the lifter of our heads. It is our job to be encouraging people, to put courage into people and not to take it out of them. Can you say amen? Second that we looked at was the Hivites, which means tent dwellers, the transient, here today gone today kind of people that you cannot really build anything long or sustaining with. People who are tent dwellers, it’s like they are MASH Christians. They are so like you know they can pull up their tent and go somewhere else and be here today gone tomorrow and you know. And while MASH is good in an army setting in that sense. We cannot afford to be people who are transient, Nomadic Christians, wherever the wind blows, wherever the spirit leads me. I have no church I go to; I belong to the church. That is a load of bull. Someone say amen. It is just a person who just fears accountability. It is a person who fears intimacy. It is a person who is shallow and has no roots but I believe the church is built upon planting yourself in the house of God.
Now here is the third one because we are going to keep moving. The third one, everybody say, you ready for it, number three, the Hittites. Everybody say Hittites. And so the Hittites are different than the Hivites because the Hittites means terror. And what it means literally is they were war like, there was a war like element of this confederation of tribes. And it literally means fear or terror. And they were greatly feared, these people, because they were war like and they instilled terror or fear in the people. And let me tell you something, fear will always hinder the purposes of God. Who can say amen to that? The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1:7, look what the Bible says and I think we are quoting from the King James. “But God has not given us a spirit of fear.” Look at that, fear can be a spirit. I mean do not get me wrong, there is natural fear that makes a lot of sense. I mean, you know, I would fear running into a burning building; that is called self-preservation. There are natural fears about, you know, if you see a snake you want to avoid it. Is that right? Especially in Australia, the top ten deadliest snakes in the world are all in Australia. That is why Steve Irwin, I am surprised I could not believe it was a sting ray that got the poor guy. And he handles these snakes and he has no fear. You know, we all come to admire the guy. He is amazing, isn’t he? But self preservation fear is not wrong, is it? But a spirit of fear is. The Bible says “God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love and a sound mind.” So the answer to a spirit of fear is love. The Bible says that perfect love casts out all fear. When you know that God loves you, when you know you have nothing to fear. When you know God is with you, God is in you, God is before you, God is beside you, and God is around you, you have nothing to fear. Can you say amen? Paul put it this way, for I am persuaded that neither height nor death, nor angel nor demon, nor principality nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nothing can separate me from the love of God that is found in Christ Jesus. The answer to a spirit of fear is to have a revelation on the fact that God loves you. And if God loves you he can protect you, he can sustain you, he can look after you, he can guide you and perfect love casts out fear. Amen? The Bible says, love and power. Well thank God he has given us power. He has given us power over our fears. Do you know fear is? Write this down. Fear, f e a r, is false evidence appearing real. F e a r, false evidence appearing real. And as a young man I grew up with fear in my life. I grew up with a lot of insecurity and uncertainty. And in terms of my life I was bound up with fear and the fear of, you know, I really loved to play baseball. That was my sport. I was born in Queens, New York and I played for Slim’s Texaco Baseball. That was my shirt, Slim’s Texaco Baseball. And I was the short stop. And I caught one of the most amazing balls, it is probably, it should be on ESPN. It was so awesome. There was a drive right out and I jumped and just got it in my glove. And to this day I still remember it was one of the highlights of my life and that was the day that I thought I love baseball. I love everything about it. I love the smell of a leather glove. I love the idea of competing on a team. My brother was pitcher; my other brother was a catcher so I got the job of being the batter. It is a pretty good combination when you think about it. We were all getting better at our skills. But I remember trying out to play for, if you like, the equivalent the State of Virginia, the state team. And I remember the fear that would get a hold of me, what if I miss? And fear will hinder you. Fear will limit your performance. Fear will cause you to second guess and I want to tell you, God has not given you fear in the name of Jesus. The Bible says we are to fear God but in the sense of holy reverence for him. But we are not to fear people. We are not to fear circumstances. We are not to fear our enemy. Why so many Christians are afraid of the devil bothers me. And so many people go, oh what is the devil doing? I think the devil is nervous about people who have a revelation of who God is because he knows he cannot hurt those. Amen? I am not scared of the enemy. I am not sitting in fear of him. I understand perfect love. Cast it out. Oh pastor pray for me, the devil is attacking me. Hey, the devil only has as much power of you as what you give him. Amen? The Bible says Jesus defeated the enemy. He took our sin; he took our sickness. I am afraid I will get cancer. As long as you are afraid you will, you probably will. Fear has the ability to produce just as faith does. It is faith in reverse. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Fear is the substance of things dreaded, the evidence of things not seen. Come on, someone say amen. So I want to encourage you here, if we are going to go into our promise land, all that God has for us, we have got to deal with this idea of fear. Listen to Proverbs 29:25. It says, “The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts the Lord will be kept safe.” The fear of man brings a snare to your life. Do you know sometimes we could have done things but we are afraid of what other people will think? Maybe launching that new business and you know people say it is a funny thing. Right now I guess there is a lot of talking about the economy, a lot of talk about you know recession, a lot of talk about the rising price of gas. And you know I am talking to pastors who say I would never start to build a new auditorium in this environment because I would fear that we could not afford to pay for it. But I have nothing to fear because God is with us and God is sustaining us and I am not rationing down what we are doing. I am stepping up and pressing on. It is in these times that true faith is revealed. Amen? The fear of man, it just gets you know, it is the fear of man is why we forget people’s names. Do you know when you meet somebody and they just told you their name. Do you know why you forget them? I am the fear of man. You say, how can that be? Because you are so concerned with how they are seeing you that you forget their name because you are afraid of how you are coming across. You are more conscious of how you are coming across in their eyes than you are actually remembering that person’s name. That to you is like, phew, that is the least of my concerns. And it is the fear of man that actually causes you to forget people’s names because it is a lot of your self-esteem that is actually up on display right now. And a lot of your self-worth that is up on display. And God deliver us from a fear of man. Who can say amen? You know the fear of man will stop you from taking risks? The fear of man is really when you think about it is pride. Isn’t it? And you miss out on the great opportunities in life. I remember when my friends were saying you should try out for the state team, the New South Wales team. You know I kept thinking what if I miss? And we were trying out, we had to run bases, we had to run from home plate to first and they timed us on how quick we ran. And had to catch a flying ball out there on the outfield and had to do a lot of batting practice. And there were about forty or fifty people competing on the state team and they did the cruelest thing when I think about it. They had everybody lined up on line and then the coach on the other side says now when I call your name, you will have made the state team. And I remember thinking oh man and they called out name after name. My good friend who went on to play for the National Australian team, his name is Garry Whales. He and I used to practice together and hang out together. And I remember they called all these names and they said Garry Whales and he was standing next to me and he kind of looked at me almost like oh, I am sorry. And there were only just a few more names to be read and he kind of gave me that look of real pity and real compassion but he kind of walked over having made the state team. And I am standing there going oh I hope I made it. I did everything I possibly could. And then it was down to the last two names and they said Steve Kelly. I looked back with the same feeling of some of my other friends but walked over there. And I want to tell you something, there is nothing more awesome than realizing that you have been handpicked and you have been chosen. And as good as that made me feel and as a great as a moment that was in my life, God said Steve that is nothing, I called your name. I love you. You are on my team. What have we got to be afraid of? Come on let us do something great for God! And not only that but the fear of success can really restrict people as well. You start getting successful and then this feeling of well can I keep this up? And here is what happens, if you start thinking can I keep it up let me answer it for you. No, you cannot but he in you can. He who begun a good work in you will finish it. He is alpha and he is omega. He is the beginning and the end. He is the author and he is the finisher of your faith. If you think that you started this and you created it, you have already missed it my friend. Let me deliver you from the fear of success. You cannot keep it up but God in you can. If you keep a God dependency, be set free of the fear of success. Can you say amen?
All right. Now look at the Jebusites. Everybody say Jebusites. Now the Jebusites are very interesting. These people lived in or around Jerusalem. Now where was Jerusalem? Jerusalem was the holy city of God. It became that, did it not? And they lived in or near or around the site of Jerusalem. The name of the original inhabitants was Jebus which was mentioned frequently among the seven nations doomed to destruction. They were defeated by Joshua and their king was slain but they were not entirely driven out. And Jebus still was in the time of David who made it the capital of his kingdom instead of Hebron. You with me here? That became Jerusalem. You with me here? The site that was the temple afterward belonged to Araunah the Jebusite and from whom it was purchased by David who refused to accept it as a gift. He wanted to pay for it. So these Jebusites are an interesting people because they lived in or around Jerusalem. In other words, they were close around what God was doing but they were not there. Oh there are some Christians in the church, they come to church and they are close but they are not there. You with me here? They like to have the excitement of the life and if you like, the stimulation, but they do not fully get in. They have got one foot in the world and they have got one foot in the church. They are close, they are in and around it, they are near the edge of breakthrough but they are not living in breakthrough. It reminds me a little bit of when Jesus was crucified, the Bible says there was Jesus’ mother and there was Jesus’ you know family around the foot of the cross and even John whom Jesus loved was there but it says about the other disciples, they stood a far off. And if you are going to go in your promise land, if you are going to take all that God has for you, do not be partially in; you have got to be totally in. You do not just live around the breakthrough, you do not just live near the presence of God but you have got to be somebody who says God, 110 percent I am sold out, I am going for it, no holds bar, no compromise, no hesitation, I am giving you my best. It talks about people in the Old Testament where Saul had this great army and he went out and fought against the Philistines. And the Bible says that Jonathan started the whole mess and it says that they had three thousand men but two thousand four hundred of them started hiding. In other words they were close to the battle, they were dressed up looking like soldiers but they were not really soldiers. They were hiding in trees; they were hiding in caves. Some even joined the enemy. And then the Bible says that the other group followed Saul trembling. They were all dressed up but no fight in them. They were close but they were not engaged. God deliver us from Christians who live that kind of spirit that actually says yeah I want to be around the promise land. I want all the trappings and all the blessings but I am not fully in. This is dangerous to taking promise lands. Because you think that because you are near it, you are in it. Here is what you have got to do. You cannot afford to be satisfied for less. Who can say amen? You cannot afford to do any trades. You cannot afford to be satisfied for less. Here is a man lying by a pool for thirtyeight years and Jesus said, do you actually want to get better? He said well I have got all these reasons why I cannot. Someone always gets in before me. And he is learning to live and adapt to his environment of his disability. And when Jesus, the healer, comes before him what he could have said and what he should have said is Lord I know you are able to heal me. But he has all these excuses why he is not well. That is too many Christians. They are near the edge of breakthrough. That pool when it stirred first in gets healed. They are near it, oh I love being near it. Oh it is nice. I love being near it but God says come on, jump in. God says come on sell yourself out. One person said Lord I will follow you. He is near breakthrough. He says but first let me go burry my father. Now his father wasn’t dead, his father was going to die and Jesus said let the dead bury the dead. What was he saying? Do not be near breakthrough, get in. Come on somebody say amen. You know, these are people who were far enough living on the edge of breakthrough but never get there. It is a bit like David’s brothers. I mean there they are in Saul’s army yet again. And David goes out to feed them lunch and he finds out there is somebody mocking the army of Israel. And again they are dressed up as soldiers but no one is fighting. Nobody is fighting. No one is getting near it. This is what the church is full of. Let me tell you. It is full of people who love to get stimulated but will not give life. Oh come on preacher preach to me. Move me. Excite me. Thrill me. Get me inspired. Give me principles to success. I want to know how to be successful. Come on, let the worship be good. Let the music be good. Let there be a good vibe but do not ask me to get in. God is a part of our life but he is not everything. I want to show you a scripture here of what the Bible says. In Genesis 38:9, if we have it let us put it up on the screen. “Then Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went into his brother’s wife” now what we are talking about here is they are having sex in case you were wondering “he went into his brother’s wife and then he spilled it on the ground.” That is his sperm, he withdrew. He wanted stimulation but he was not prepared to give life. Now this is a story about how his brother died and it was his responsibility to marry her and look after her. This is not some adulterous story here. You with me here? And it was his responsibility to take care of his brother’s wife. And she had no child and he had the ability to bring life into that woman and all he wanted was the stimulation. But he withdrew and spilled his seed on the ground. Oh church is full of those people. Thrill me, move me, touch me, lay hands on me, bless me, anoint me, satisfy me but we have got to get in. We cannot be on the edge living near Jerusalem. We have got to get into what God is doing. Turn to the person next to you and say we are in!
All right. Number, whatever it is. The Canaanites, everybody say the Canaanites. Look at what the Bible says about the Canaanites. It means to be zealous or hot or red. It can also mean, interesting enough, to be subdued. Now the Canaanites simply means it had been supposed that the name Canaanites is a symbol of a merchant in these certain passages of the Old Testament, a merchant. But what it literally means is to be zealous or hot or red. What an amazing contrast from zealous, hot or red, it can also mean subdued. And involved in the Canaanites, this land, this enemy that they had to conquer, what was involved in their worship was literally human sacrifice. More especially the sacrifice of the first born son of which we find traces in Babylonia where the prophets of Baal and continued to practice it with an undiminished frequency to be learned from the excavations, the Israelite conquest brought about its suppression and dealt with it. Isn’t that amazing? And let me tell you, the Canaanites which means to be zealous, red hot or subdued, oh this is a picture of Christians who are living like this. They are on a roller coaster of emotions. They are zealous, red hot, we are going for God doing it all and then the next thing you know, subdued. Subdued. One or the other and what these people are, if you like, are hot tempered, if you like, they are out of control of their emotions. Zealous, red hot, to the point of anger. You ever see anybody get red hot in anger? They lose control of their emotions. Anyone who does any training in martial arts, the first thing you have got to learn to do is to control your emotions so you do not lose control of your strength. Anybody who knows anything about anger management and emotional sustenance and well being will teach you the first thing you have to do is get your emotions under control. I mean Sharon and I, we do not fight that often because she is always wrong and I am always right. Isn’t that right, darling? Nothing can be further from the truth; that is what she just said. But you know, there are times she and I will have well let us not call it a fight, let us call it intense fellowship. And I am not advocating marital disharmony here but there are times in life where you have to learn how to resolve things in your marriage. Do not look at me so holy right now. The Bible says do not let the sun go down why you are still angry. Do you know why? You will wake up with a hard heart. You will wake up, if you are zealous and you are red hot, you will wake up with a heart. You will be desensitized to your partner. You have got to learn how to resolve conflict. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Now, if you want to hang on to a grudge, go to Norway where the sun does not go down for four months but that is about the extent that you can hang on to it for anywhere on the glob right now. You with me here? Sharon and I, you know there are times when we are laying in bed and it is tense and all of a sudden, you know, my leg will somehow touch her leg and she will go do not touch me. I say I did not touch you; you touched me. No you touched me first. No you touched me first. And we have got to learn how to resolve conflict and the Bible says do not go to bed angry. And I tell you there are times when we are so exhausted that we have to just look at each other and say you know what, we love each other and we agree we are going to work this out but staying up until three in the morning is only going to make this worse. So we just agree before we go to bed tonight that we do love each other and we are committed to work this out at a sane and a reasonable hour. Somebody who joined our church and who I know really well, somebody in our church a great great man of God. And his wife finally came to church and she just carried a whole lot of issues from church life and she was hurt, and wrongly hurt I might add. And she finally came to church and of course when she finally came to church all that negativity of church life comes to the surface. It just reminds her of all the hurt and pain. Are you with me here? Which is a moment to work through in your emotions. So I remember late one night, it is about eleven or twelve o’clock in the night. We actually had some friends over. We were having some time with them. And I get a phone call and it is her saying you have got to come over to our house right now because we are having an argument and you have to come, pastor. And I said no I will see you at nine o’clock in the morning in my office. But they said you have to come now; you are the pastor. I said you have been having this problem for years; it can wait until nine o’clock tomorrow. Go to bed and get a good night sleep. I am not leaving my house at midnight. Now if you are about to kill him and he is about to kill you that is a different story but you have been carrying these arguments and these problems for years. Go to bed. See me in the morning. There is nothing better than a good night’s sleep. And by the way, what was also happening there was a moment of seeking to control me. You are not that good. My mother was a control freak and you are not that good. I recognize control a mile away. You are not that good. Anybody know what I am talking about? No, do not put your hand up. And my mother, bless her heart I love her, and she has gone to be with the Lord but in her earlier days of working out these emotional issues. Oh my goodness, being an alcoholic you learn how to control circumstances and situations. Anyway let’s not go there. All right. Here is the thing we have got to do: When a response is not consistent with the challenge given, it is a sure fire indicator that there is a lot more going on then what you said or did to that person being challenged. I just want to read it again. When a response is not consistent with the challenge given, it is a sure fire indicator that there is a lot more going on than what you said or did to that person being challenged. It is a sign that somebody has to deal with the enemy of the Canaanites. And God will keep bringing Canaanites into your life until you learn the lesson of dealing with the red hot temper. Come on, somebody say amen. See in this person there is no emotional stability. And the other thing that happens is they get red hot and the other thing they swing from is that into subdued where they come luke warm, passive, indifferent and neutral. Amen? You know there is a guy called Frank Houston. And I love this man. He is gone now to be with the Lord. But at the age of fifty-five he was the National Superintendant of the Assemblies of God, a major spirit filled church in New Zealand. The largest movement in New Zealand. The National Superintendant, at the age of fifty-five, had an absolutely kick butt church in lower half New Zealand. And God spoke to him at the age of fifty-five and said go to Australia where you know nobody. Sydney is a preacher’s graveyard. And I want to start a church in Sydney. And thank God Frank Houston was not subdued or seduced by the success of what he had in New Zealand. Thank God he was not indifferent to the call of God and obeying. At the age of fifty-five when most people are thinking about what is toward retirement and just trying to get the gold out of the golden years, this man left everything, his position, his prominence, his large church and started a church in Sydney, Australia called Sydney Christian Life Center. It means nothing to a lot of you but he was the man that started what is now known as Hillsong Church and it was actually Brian Houston’s dad. And let me tell you, I think about how different Australia is today because one man was not prepared to be subdued and stay in his comfort zone but got out of his comfort zone and was prepared all over again. And let me say this, Hillsong Church would not be here today if it were not for Frank Houston. Let me say this, Wave Church as we know it would not be here today if it was not for Frank Houston. Thank God for people who are going to deal with the Canaanites and get the subdued mentality, oh whatever. Come on, let’s answer the call of God. Let’s do something great for God. Let’s break out of subdued, passive, indifference; there is a world to gain. Oh I get myself excited just thinking about it.
Everybody say Perizzites. Not parasites, Perizzites. The Perizzites, literally mean, listen to this, dwellers in the open country. They were grazers and farmers and they were the peasants of the time. Of the seven nations, these were the peasants; these were the ones that were poor. They were dwellers in the open country. The Perizzites. It signifies a villager and so corresponds with the Egyptians. The Bible talks about that these Perizzites in Deuteronomy were unwalled towns and country villages. And the literal translation means a villager; it means somebody who is a people without walls. Villages or dwellers in the open country, they were Canaanites, they were a nation inhabiting fertile regions but they were grazers. They were farmers. They were peasants of the time. They had to be driven out by the time that Abraham got there. Now here is the thing, dwellers in the open country, no wonder they were poor. Because they were dwellers in the open country. You drive into Virginia Beach and what do you see on the interstate? Welcome to Virginia Beach. There are no walls. There is no enemy trying to attack Virginia Beach but in this day in which we read, if you did not have walls around your city, you are dead meat. And these people were vulnerable to every attack of every people of every nation because they had no walls. And let me put it to you this way, Proverbs 25:28, look what the Bible says, “He that has no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.” So it talks about a person who does not learn how to control their spirit, which is going back to the red hot or subdued, having control over your own life but it says but if you do not have that, you are just like a city that is broken down and without walls. You are vulnerable to every attack and every onslaught of the enemy. To have no rule over your spirit is to be as foolish as a city without walls. These people here, the Bible talks about these Perizzites that they weregrazers. They were dwellers in the open. These people left themselves vulnerable. No wisdom, no discretion. Open, wide open and left themselves vulnerable to every wolf in sheep’s clothing trusting everybody. People come in the church and go oh isn’t church wonderful? And we all get this picture where we become Christians oh I love you with the love of the Lord and you love me with the love of the Lord and everybody just loves everybody. You hang around long enough and you stay that open then you will get disillusioned with the truth very quickly because a church is filled with people who are people with works in progress. And the sooner you realize that, the better off you will be. And we get disillusioned when people do not behave the way we think they should because we are just so open and trusting. And I am not saying we should not trust people but I am saying we better get some wisdom about us. Can somebody say amen? Put it this way, a wise man knows when to withhold wisdom. Does he not? Here is what I say, do not give your opinion if it is not asked for. The Bible says if you rebuke a fool you invite insults. Come on, someone say amen. You rebuke a fool and you invite insults. I just want to encourage us, let us be open to God but let us not be so open minded our brains will fall out. And let us be open to meeting the needs of our city but let us not be so open that we lose wisdom and discretion. I mean I have had people come to me, oh man, oh pastor, if you get involved with this business plan that we are involved in, you will never need for another dollar in your church ever again. I promise you that if you get your church behind this business plan you will never I said well listen, I was just talking to Jehovah Jirah yesterday and he sounds nothing like you. You with me? Oh and people who make over statements, do not trust them. I promise if you do this you will never want again. The moment someone says something like that run a mile. If the moment is too good to be true, it is too good to be true. If someone swears you to secrecy, I am telling you this and we are going to get involved in this business plan but only you and me no one else can know about it, run a mile. When someone draws you into a secluded conversation where no one else is included, it means they do not want anyone to know about it because anyone with brains will see through it and poke holes it. When somebody makes over statements and gross generalizations and promises beyond their ability to deliver, do not touch it. Christians, they are too vulnerable. They get this idea trusting God means you trust everybody but get some wisdom. Can you say amen?
Last one, I have got to finish, the Girgashites. Everybody say Girgashites. Now I do not want to gross you out but the Girgashites means to have a scab. How many are excited about that word picture there? Literally the meaning of the word Girgashites is to have a scab. It relates to a scratch or a scrape. Is that not interesting? To have a scab. And so here is the thought, if you scratch a scab, forgive me, but this is an enemy we have got to deal with, you reopen a wound and you delay healing and you can even damage your healing by keep scratching the scab. You reopen a wound that is finally beginning to heal. I want to close with this scripture Luke 17. This is Jesus speaking. Oh, church if you could get this one verse it would help you. If you can land, if nothing else you have heard me say tonight, listen to this, Jesus speaking and look what he says. Then he said to his disciples, it is impossible but their defenses will come. It is impossible but their defenses will come but woe to him for whom they come. Do you know what Jesus is saying here? Watch. Offenses are inevitable. Just write it down. Offenses are inevitable. They will come. Jesus says offenses will come. But woe to him who keeps scratching the scab. When you get offended you get cut and then that sore, if you keep picking it, can fester and when it finally begins to heal.