Call to Unity
Pastor David T. Elms 5/27/2025
Loading…
0:00
58:06
Summary
Pastor David T. Elms issues a powerful call to spiritual unity, challenging the church to rise above the polarized tribalism of the modern world. Drawing from the life of Abram, he emphasizes that the church must value brotherhood over personal rights and cultural factions to remain an effective witness.
Key points
- •Unity is not a natural state or a byproduct of social events; it is a supernatural work of the Holy Ghost that requires a deliberate rejection of the world's tribalism.
- •The 'pride of place' and cultural factions (geopolitics) are distractions used by the enemy to isolate and divide people into competing camps.
- •Using the example of Abram and Lot, we see that strife often follows blessing, and it requires the spiritual maturity of the 'strong' to sacrifice personal rights to preserve brotherhood.
- •The church should not be a collection of clones but a masterpiece of different types of people-rich, poor, and various cultures-all unified by the blood of Christ.
- •Believers must practice the 'doctrine of dusted feet,' which means discerning when others are not hungry for the Word and moving on with kindness rather than harboring anxiety or strife.
Scripture
Unity
Brotherhood
Spiritual Maturity
Cultural Division
Love
Life application
Refuse to participate in the 'accuser of the brethren' spirit this week by choosing to pray for and cover the faults of others with love rather than highlighting them. When you encounter someone with a different opinion or lifestyle, consciously choose to see the person through the lens of the cross rather than their outward labels.
Reflection questions
- Are there 'herdmen' or minor issues in your life causing strife between you and your spiritual family?
- How can you practically show love to someone you normally find difficult to relate to due to cultural or social differences?
- In what areas are you clinging to 'pride of place' or personal superiority instead of the humility of Christ?
- Are you more focused on 'cleaning the house' of others' sins than you are on your own spiritual growth and unity?
Have a question about this sermon?
Ask our AI and get an answer with citations.
Full transcript
0:00far by
0:00far. And uh it's it's great to be home.
0:00Tonight I want to bring uh some teaching
0:02to you, a call to unity. And I invite
0:06your attention to Genesis the 13th
0:08chapter. And I thank brother Sean Hixon
0:10for such a dynamic word from the Lord.
0:14Do your
0:16homework last Tuesday night. He always
0:19brings such a fresh fresh word from the
0:22Lord. And then of course, brother and
0:24sister Bonia blessed this house on
0:27Sunday. And we were trying to watch it
0:29from where we were. And there's a
0:32six-hour time difference. So if I fall
0:34asleep while I'm preaching tonight,
0:36don't mind me. I'm on Africa time. But
0:40so right now in Africa it's what 2:00 in
0:42the morning. Yeah, it's it's it's 2
0:44o'clock in the morning and where I've
0:47been. So I thought I I thought I could
0:49get it justice. I I think it's easier
0:51coming back, but that's all right. It's
0:54a joy to be back home. It was one of the
0:56faster trips to fly so far. It was
0:59a what was it? N 20 hour fly 20 hours of
1:03flying because we had to go because of
1:06my airline. We had to go through London
1:08and uh so 20 hours going and 20 hours
1:11coming back. It's always fun to sit in
1:13an airplane that amount of time. You
1:15know, you get out like that and you will
1:17wish you had support socks on and
1:19everything else because of the water
1:22retention. But we're delighted to be
1:24back in the house of the Lord uh for you
1:27all tonight. And I do have a word from
1:29the Lord that I feel clear on especially
1:33in light of where I have been and I want
1:36to touch on it here in America. Call to
1:40unity and forget America. I'm not called
1:42to pastor America. I'm called to reach
1:44South Florida. So this message is for
1:47blessing our city. Okay? We can't fix
1:50America. America's broken.
1:54Washington's broken.
1:56Every other capital's broken.
1:59They're going to be broken until the
2:01King of glory comes in. That doesn't
2:04mean you don't thank God for where
2:05you're at. Bless the city where you're
2:07at. Pray for those who have leadership
2:09over you where you're at. All of that is
2:12Bible. But the difference is to make a
2:15difference where your feet are standing.
2:18So I like preaching about unity when we
2:21have it.
2:24I like preaching about unity when
2:26there's not racial division in the news.
2:29You know, it's coming. You know, they're
2:32going to try to pit people groups. Well,
2:33it's there right now. If you're uh Hamas
2:36or Israeli, you know, there's these two
2:38they're pitting two sides against each
2:40other. And both sides have made
2:43mistakes. Both sides have wrongs. It's
2:46just there's they're not
2:48equally as as wrong. Both sides are
2:52killing people. So you better not plant
2:56your flag saying one is perfect because
2:59there is none good but God.
3:02It's the reason stand for what you stand
3:04for. Believe in what you believe in. Be
3:06an a person with an opinion. But at the
3:09end of the day, celebrate the
3:12cross. That's where all of us need
3:14mercy. I need mercy underneath the
3:18cross. Amen. All
3:20right. Are you ready for the word of the
3:22Lord? And Abram went up out of Egypt, he
3:25and his wife and all that he had and Lot
3:27with him into the south. And Abram was
3:32very rich. Everybody say, "God's
3:35people." God's people. Very rich. Very
3:38rich. That's I sensed I had some help in
3:41the house right there. The father of the
3:44faithful.
3:45Say it. Father of the faithful.
3:48Very rich. very rich. I like it when the
3:52Bible says that. I want the Bible to say
3:53that about
3:55me. It's not there
3:57yet. Uh, and Abram was very rich in
4:00cattle and silver and in gold. By the
4:03way, I'm getting a little distracted,
4:04but we need to prepare to get rich.
4:07That's the reason when we had deep a few
4:09weeks ago, we talked about when you have
4:12to pay tithes on $18 million a year,
4:17are you big enough to do it?
4:20Remember remember me asking that? And
4:23then I also ask, when you have to pay
4:25tithes on 18 million a year, will you
4:28come to a midweek service?
4:32Now, it's easy to be here and say that,
4:34but are you getting ready to be rich?
4:43Verse three. And he went on his journeys
4:45from the south even to Bethl and to the
4:47place where his tent had been at the
4:50beginning between Bethl and Hi, which
4:52that's
4:54Ai unto the place of the altar which he
4:57had made there at the first. This was
5:01the first building of an altar that
5:03Abram had done early on. This is back to
5:06that place where he built his first al
5:09altar. And then there Abram called on
5:12the name of the Lord. And Lot also which
5:15went with Abram had flocks and herds and
5:20tents. And the land was not able to bear
5:25them that they may dwell together. For
5:29their substance was great so that they
5:32could not dwell together. And there was
5:35a strife between the herdman of
5:38Abram<unk>'s cattle and the herdman of
5:39Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the
5:43parizzite dwelt there in the land. And
5:48Abram said unto
5:50Lot, "Let there be no strife, I pray
5:53thee, between me and thee, and between
5:57my herdman and thy herdmen, for we be
6:02brethren." By the help of the Lord, I
6:05want to talk to you guys a little bit
6:06about unity tonight. Everybody say,
6:09"Lord, bless my ears to hear." Lord
6:11bless my ears to hear in Jesus name. You
6:14may be seated.
6:18Hallelujah.
6:27Hallelujah. Let there be no strife. I
6:30pray thee.
6:32Let there be no strife, I pray
6:35thee. That's a good prayer, isn't it? If
6:39you've ever been in a church where there
6:40was strife, you wish you could have this
6:43as the answer. A few of you have been in
6:46a church like that. To God's glory, I
6:50have never been in a church where there
6:53has been strife.
6:55I've never at the cathedral. We've never
6:58had what I could
6:59categorize as a split.
7:02We've had attacks against us from
7:05leadership that we had hired. Uh I'll
7:08always remember when a man I had hired
7:11had called in the board to come in and
7:13he was going to make a complaint against
7:14me to the board and when it was all
7:17over, Brother Marty, who was a board
7:19member, said, "Well, I don't know who
7:21you think we are, but that's the man of
7:23God for this house."
7:26And all of a sudden, this individual
7:28realized, oh, maybe I can't manipulate
7:31this process like I could. And uh, you
7:34know, but that was probably the greatest
7:36attempt to try to bring what I would
7:39call as strife in this house. I'll
7:43always remember a message brother Herold
7:44gave to me to preach and I've preached
7:46it and it was entitled supposing him to
7:50be the gardener. And he took that verse
7:52out of context where Jesus came to meet
7:57Mary in the garden of Gethsemane or not
7:59Gethsemane in the garden where they had
8:01laid him, the burial place. And the
8:04Bible says she did not recognize him.
8:07She supposed him to be the gardener. And
8:10in that hour there were many times that
8:12the gardeners were people who had been
8:14marred in battle and they did not have
8:17the plastic surgeries that we have now
8:19to a or to fix scars and great blows.
8:23And so many times people who had
8:26abnormalities of their figure or their
8:28features would take jobs like becoming a
8:32gardener because it was a job they
8:34didn't have to work with the public. And
8:36so they could go and even though they
8:38were disfigured and marred in their
8:41features, the plants didn't care. And so
8:45the supposition was that Mary supposeded
8:48him to be the gardener because he had
8:50been so marred. The Bible tells that you
8:52could still see where the beard had been
8:55plucked from his face and he had been
8:57scarred. In fact, when he comes back,
8:59the Bible tells us the way we will know
9:01him. Thank you, sir. We will know him
9:04because of the scars. Isn't that
9:06interesting? He can heal us brand new.
9:09He can make uh non's skin like a baby.
9:14But when he appears, we shall know him
9:16by the stars in his hands.
9:19And so, of course, she supposed him to
9:21be the gardener. But it's one of the
9:23greatest principles that I have ever
9:24used in my pastor. And that is sometimes
9:27the Lord comes through a church and
9:29people who you thought you loved turn
9:33away. People you thought were in the
9:35core walk away. People you thought had
9:38an attachment that could be unshakable
9:41un and unmovable are now gone for
9:44various reasons. Sometimes it's a grand
9:47kind super departure and you can't wait
9:49till they come back. Others leave in
9:51such a manner you hope they don't ever
9:53walk back through the doors because it's
9:55just, you know, it's like they're just
9:57doing all kinds of various things to go
9:59to make everybody feel like they're
10:00better now. And so you have all these
10:04feelings and some of y'all have dealt
10:06with that much more than I have in my
10:08life. But every church has these
10:10processes and we don't dwell on the
10:11negative. We bless people in the name of
10:14the Lord and just move on. Uh it's like
10:16brother Harold would always tell me. He
10:18said, "David, they don't hold your
10:20future. Let them go. They're gods. Open
10:23your hand and let him go." Remember when
10:24he preached that? Open your hand and let
10:26him go. He preached that one service on
10:28a Sunday night here when he came to
10:30preach on a weekend. Uh he talked about
10:32open your hand and let it go. And boy,
10:35that's hard. It's easier said than done
10:38because you get attached to those things
10:40that you were holding so closely. But uh
10:43that process uh it's it's precious when
10:46you have peace in a church and in a
10:51community and on a workplace. Have you
10:54ever been in a workplace where there's
10:55strife between the bosses? You know what
10:57I'm talking about. It's no fun when
11:00there's strife. And here in the
11:01scripture, we're finding a text where
11:03the the Bible is telling us a a
11:06principle that Abram, the father of the
11:07faithful, has come through. and uh
11:10they're dealing with a problem of
11:12strife. Now, we are called to live in an
11:15age that is drowning with its own
11:19complexity, a cacophony of voices that
11:21are amplified by relentless hum of
11:25distractions.
11:26It is a fractured world. A world of
11:30financial stratas, cultural distinctions
11:34which are continually used to separate
11:37to siphon off people into tribes and
11:41into groups. And then it tries to turn
11:44them one against the other. Instead of
11:47us being one as a people, there is this
11:51press to move people apart. And it is
11:54that obnoxious what I call pride of
11:57place where the people from the south
12:00are are are better than the people from
12:03the north or the people from the north
12:06are smarter than the people from the
12:08south or the people from the east have
12:10more style than the people from the west
12:13or the people from the west which is
12:16where I'm
12:17from is a land of fruits and nuts.
12:21I get to talk about California because
12:23I'm California. Uh, but it doesn't
12:26matter where you're from, you know, the
12:28closer you get to that place,
12:30neighborhoods have their own signs and
12:32their own colors and and it's always the
12:36the north of the city against the south
12:38of the city or uh uh various quadrants
12:41are broken up. It's in the prison
12:42system, it's in the states, it's in the
12:45country, it's in the world. These
12:49are distractions and tribal groups that
12:54are really built on uh pride of place
12:57that strugg struts around with the
13:00arrogance of a rooster. You know, our
13:01church has now got a chicken coupe for
13:03the school. I can't believe we've done
13:05this, but man, the prosperity of the
13:08school has taken off since we've got
13:10chickens over there. But the one thing I
13:13contended with staff was and the staff
13:16at the school, they're just I don't
13:17know. I I don't know what to say. Susan,
13:20you got to pray for the CEO of the
13:22school. That's all I got to say. You got
13:23to pray for the CEO because that staff
13:26over there loves them some chickens.
13:29I mean, on off days, I was driving down
13:32our new road and I was going over there.
13:34Yesterday was supposed to be Memorial
13:36Day. There were teachers and their
13:37children messing around in the chicken
13:40coop.
13:42But we've got a couple roosters that we
13:44had vowed no roosters were allowed
13:47because at least in the chicken
13:51world, the female chickens don't talk
13:53very much.
13:56In the chicken world, the rooster is the
13:58one that makes all the noise.
14:01So, I'm wanting to stay down on the
14:03noise because of this grand metropolis
14:05that we're a part of. I want to keep the
14:07neighbors happy. And uh yet all of a
14:10sudden these two roosters show up out of
14:13nowhere. You can't drive by without one
14:16of the two roosters just strutting
14:18around like he's
14:24the that pride that my way, my truth, my
14:29superiority is what drives
14:32separation and prejudice among the
14:35world. And the time to talk about it is
14:37not after George Floyd is killed. It's
14:40not after the time when everybody's got
14:43such a heightened awareness of the
14:45Ferguson shooting. It's not that's not
14:47the time to get in there and act like
14:49you have the answer
14:51because neither side has the answer. If
14:54you saw the car plunging through the
14:56group of people in London or in England
14:59yesterday, I think it was London. Yes, I
15:01believe it was London. I mean, I can't
15:03see that without viscerally having an
15:06action in my heart and then seeing all
15:09the people trying to beat in the door
15:10and get to the person and the man. And
15:12it's like, why did the police hurry in
15:16then? Lord, I I I backed the police.
15:18They've got a hard job. I'm I'm telling
15:20you, it's lose lose when you're a police
15:22officer. You show up too soon, you show
15:24up too slow. You show up you any Never
15:27mind. You see what I'm saying? In this
15:30world, everybody's standing where their
15:32own two feet are. And what they believe
15:35is that it's my way, my truth, and my
15:38superiority. And we are besieged by
15:40clickbait chaos where every screen
15:43flashes new
15:45outrages. They don't care about telling
15:47you the story of the old woman that was
15:50helped by the person across the way that
15:54didn't look like them. They won't tell
15:55you that story. But they'll flash in
15:58front of you the story where the one
15:59evil person takes advantage of the one
16:02that doesn't look like them. Doesn't
16:04matter the colors. It's the same
16:06problem. It's not a color problem. It's
16:08a sin problem. It's an evil problem.
16:12Evil doesn't come as a color. Evil comes
16:16as one who harms another.
16:21Sin is just me stumbling. Evil is when I
16:25hurt someone else. I take advantage of
16:28someone else. I walk on them to get
16:30somewhere I want to be. That's evil. And
16:33the Bible says, "Pray that you are uh
16:37delivered from evil."
16:40And so we are inundated where every
16:43notification seems to push division on
16:45our phones. And the veneer of community
16:48which is placed over us all with shallow
16:51likes and fickle follows mocks the deep
16:55human hunger to stand in unity one with
17:00another. We are the church of the living
17:04God. We are not passive observers. But
17:07the Bible said you were not called out
17:09of the world but that in the world he
17:13would make you more than conquerors. And
17:16I know for many many years religiosity
17:19had defined true spirituality as the
17:22ostracizing oneself from their
17:25community. And it was never the will of
17:27God that the church be isolated and put
17:31behind high ivory towers and walls of of
17:35distinction so that they never walk
17:37among the world. He himself came in the
17:42midst of contradiction and chaos and he
17:45walked among it and he didn't get a
17:47picket sign and walk around picketing
17:49political positions.
17:51He walked around looking for hurting and
17:54hungry people. And he said the the well,
17:57those who think they got it going on,
17:59they don't need a physician. I have come
18:03to those who are willing to
18:05admit, I need a physician.
18:09So many times we can waste our efforts
18:13pursuing people who don't think they
18:15need a physician. You think you know
18:18that they need a position. But if they
18:20don't think they need a position, then
18:22why are you wasting your time chasing
18:25those who are not hungry or are not
18:28thirsty? Let God be God and let God get
18:32people to a place called hungry. But
18:34you've got to feel comfortable being
18:36like Jesus. And what did Jesus tell his
18:38disciples? when you go into the city by
18:41twos to evangelize and to tell the
18:43people about me. He said if they do not
18:46receive you,
18:49dust your feet
18:52and move on. He didn't say worry about
18:55them, pray for them, stress about it,
18:58get anxiety because they rejected you.
19:00He said none of those things. He said,
19:02"Once you
19:04discern, once you
19:06discern that they're not very interested
19:09in what you're talking about, just say,
19:12"Well, God bless you," and move on.
19:15Just walk on. That is a doctrine of the
19:19word of God. And some people need to
19:21inhabit that doctrine of dusting your
19:23feet. If people have come against where
19:26you're at, you just need to dust your
19:27feet. Every time you see them, just
19:29smile at them. Be kind to them. You've
19:31dusted your feet of
19:35them. Oh, that's not the kindness of the
19:38Lord, is it? Go read your Bible.
19:41Just dust your feet. Why? He came for
19:44the hungry.
19:46Blessed are they that do hunger and
19:49thirst after righteousness. The Bible
19:53said,
19:54"Everybody heard him." The common people
19:59heard him gladly. There's a difference
20:02between hearing him and hearing him
20:05gladly. And if you're talking to someone
20:07that's not wanting to hear him gladly,
20:09they're just being kind to hear him.
20:11Bless them and move on in Jesus name.
20:14You don't have a bad attitude. Just go
20:16to the next person who's hungry. But in
20:20our world that we're called to live in
20:22and walk with, the church thrives in
20:26this chaos. The church was born in
20:29chaos. It was forged in the crucible of
20:32several dynamics, if I could use a
20:36academic word, geopolitical realities
20:38that were going on. In other words,
20:40politics that have to do with a place. A
20:44place that's next to an ocean or a place
20:46that's in the mountains. It's the
20:48geography which is the geo part and
20:51politics is the way people think about
20:54the place they live.
20:56Geopolitics and uh on all of this they
20:59came the church was born in the midst of
21:02Roman oppression Jewish
21:05factionalism and we many times miss how
21:08factionalized the Jewish people were
21:11when Jesus came. There was zealots.
21:14There was Sadducees. There was
21:16Pharisees. There was Helenists, which
21:19were the Grecian people, the one those
21:21that wanted to be like Athens and wanted
21:23to be like Rome. The Herodians were
21:26those who wanted to be like Rome. The
21:27Helenists were those who wanted to be
21:29like Athens. And so there were all these
21:32factions, both spiritual factions and
21:34carnal factions, and then those that
21:36just wanted to make
21:38money. It's just like this. And that was
21:40the world Jesus came to.
21:44And so in that world, the church came
21:47and the church was born to not just
21:49survive in that atmosphere, but to
21:52thrive. Now, how does the enemy stop
21:56that from happening? I just came from a
21:58nation, spent one week in a nation where
22:01it is at an all-time high of
22:06sensitivity,
22:07fear anger
22:11uh things
22:13creeping all around and it is being felt
22:17in the
22:18church. Being felt in the church. We
22:21have felt these things in this church.
22:24When George Floyd happened, we felt it
22:25in this church. There's some people who
22:27left during that time and have not
22:29returned. That when when the Ferguson
22:32happened, we felt it in the church. It's
22:34going to happen
22:36again. And we're going to feel it again
22:38in the
22:39church because it is the culture that
22:43we're called to live in. How do you work
22:46in a moment like that? You've got to
22:47have a holy antidote. You've got to have
22:50principles upon which you build your
22:52life that you decide here is how I'm
22:55going to think. When chaos is all around
22:57me, when I don't even know who I can
22:59trust when I don't know how people
23:01think.
23:03I don't have to know how they think. All
23:05I've got to know is how does he think
23:08because they're not going to judge me.
23:10They do judge me, but they don't get the
23:12final say about me. But I'm going to
23:14stand before him who knows every secret
23:16thought in my mind. And if I disregarded
23:19and disrespected and and dis uh uh was
23:22disloyal to the purposes and the
23:25placements of God in my life, I got to
23:27answer to him.
23:30And so as we build up a resistance, a
23:34holy resistance, not a mental, I don't
23:36want a mental approach. I want a holy
23:40resistance against this kind of thing
23:43that occurs. The church is not here to
23:46create clones, but a church is built as
23:50a
23:50masterpiece of different types of
23:54people. Rich is a
23:56type. Poor is a type. It's not a
24:00reality. It's a type. I've known some
24:04people who didn't have hardly any money
24:05in their bank, but if you spent 20
24:07minutes with them, you knew they were
24:09rich.
24:11And I have been with some people who
24:12were immensely wealthy and you spend
24:14half a day with them or even less than
24:16that. You don't even need that long, 30
24:18minutes with them and you know they're
24:21poor because it is a a a condition. Now
24:26I like the rich condition that Abraham
24:28had because the Bible said he was very
24:31very rich. So it's not that we can't get
24:34rich. We are expected to get rich. But
24:38above the reality of my bank account,
24:40I've got to have a reality of my
24:43spirit. That is, let the weak
24:46say, I'm glad I've got four helpers in
24:48this house tonight. I drew I flew all
24:51this way for all of
24:53that. No, I would have done it without
24:56you. But I love
24:59you. We are. And so we're in this world.
25:03And the Jewish groups had factionalism.
25:06The Gentiles had
25:08skepticism. But the church is not a
25:10creator of clones. It has rich and poor
25:14in it. It using culture, Jew and
25:19Gentile. That's a
25:21culture. Slave and free realities of
25:25work order. In the fractures of time,
25:29the church comes out of a world like
25:32that and becomes transformed. How? By
25:37the
25:42renewing. Be ye not conformed. I wish I
25:45could have had every one of you with me
25:46in South Africa
25:49because then you would maybe feel the
25:51ferveny of my heart right
25:53now. Be not conformed to this world, but
25:58be ye transformed.
26:01How?
26:05Not the rewiring of your brain. There's
26:09a difference between your brain and your
26:10mind. I'm not going to go down that
26:11trail. But by the renewing of your mind
26:15that you may prove something, what is
26:18that good and
26:21acceptable? Acceptable where? Acceptable
26:24up there.
26:26If I'm acceptable with God, it matters
26:29not what men say.
26:32Good. and acceptable and perfect will of
26:36God.
26:38And so the church comes and our duty is
26:42to bind the broken, to open the eyes
26:44that have been blinded by a couldn't
26:47care less culture, to see visions of
26:50compassion, to liver those that are
26:52shackled by hate, to proclaim the
26:55acceptable year of the Lord. Let us be
26:57clear, unity is not a natural state.
27:01I know we say, "Well, it's unity. If we
27:03have enough softball games, we'll be
27:04united. If we have more eating events,
27:06we'll be united. I'm sorry. Potlucks do
27:09not bring unity."
27:11Well, I wish we had more of them. I
27:13understand. But we're not in the
27:14restaurant business.
27:17Unity is a work of the Holy Ghost.
27:21And so, unity is not a natural state in
27:25this age of ex of complexity. Our
27:27society is a maze of competing
27:30narrative, each crying for supremacy.
27:33The wealthy hoard their privilege, the
27:35marginalized cry for justice, and the
27:38middle folks scramble to find meaning.
27:42All
27:43while the church is built to thrive. I
27:48mentioned pride of place, which is that
27:50insidious human tendency to elevate
27:53one's own corner of the world. It is not
27:56a new phenomenon. It's revealed in our
27:59text and it's shown here as the herdsmen
28:01of Abram and Lot who quarreled while the
28:05Canaanites were watching them. That text
28:08tells us that while there was battles
28:11among the herdsmen, the world, the
28:15parizzites and the Canaanites were
28:17watching this group that were very
28:21wealthy and very blessed. And everybody
28:23wanted to have some of what they had,
28:26but they were also watching how are they
28:28going to solve this problem. And the
28:31world promises that we're living in
28:34promises connections, but it really
28:37delivers isolation.
28:39It offers the semblance of community but
28:42it it's offers it by you providing your
28:46profile or let us read your texts or let
28:50us see the pixels that you have and then
28:52it collapses it to searching some
28:55authentic relationships supposedly for
28:58you until algorithms which are tailored
29:00to affirm your
29:02biases to keep you clicking and
29:05scrolling and dividing works against
29:08unity.
29:09And in this environment, unity is not
29:11merely difficult. It has to be gained by
29:17revelation requires a deliberate
29:20rejection of the spirit of this age.
29:23It's the reason prayer is so important.
29:26Sometimes it takes you minutes and maybe
29:28even hours to get a mental reset to get
29:33away. If you program all that that chaos
29:36from a world that's trying to divide
29:38people into tribes and realize of that
29:41city where the lamb is the light,
29:44everybody will be a a new tribe. It's
29:47not tribes defined by this world. It's
29:49tribes be defined by the blood of the
29:53lamb.
29:55He was the only one worthy to open the
29:58book. He was the only one worthy to take
30:01my sin away. He didn't just take sins of
30:04one people group. He took all mankind's
30:08sins away.
30:14I came to Jesus
30:17weary worn and
30:19sad. But he took my sins away.
30:23He took my sins
30:25away. I like
30:27that. That song right there is to be
30:30sung by the church. Not by just the few
30:33on the left side, not by just those that
30:36sit in the back. Everybody in the
30:39church, he took our sins away. And we
30:43all had sins. And such were some of you.
30:47But now you are washed.
30:50Now you are sanctified.
30:54Hallelujah. One day we're going to be
30:56glorified.
30:58And so it takes a deliberate rejection
31:01of our age, a refusal to be seduced by
31:04the shallow satisfactions of a tribal
31:07digital age. The church can only stand
31:12in unity. And in our text, Abram and Lot
31:15were two men bound not just by blood,
31:18but also by faith. And now they're being
31:21tested by blessing. And the blessing
31:24brought strife not between the two men
31:27but between their
31:29herdmen. Scripture says Abram requested
31:33of Lot. Lot let there be no strife I
31:37pray thee between me and
31:41you. For we are
31:46brethren. It's not just about blood
31:48ties. It's about the church of the
31:50living God in South Africa where I flew
31:54last Sunday
31:55night and uh we had the winds conference
31:59South
32:00Africa pre- gathering
32:03Thursday, Friday night church,
32:07Saturday all day church and then
32:11Saturday night church. I preached
32:12Saturday night and then Sunday morning
32:15church and we got out of church. We were
32:19we were leaving it at at at uh what 120
32:24I think we left church. Uh and it was
32:28just it was it was awesome. But in South
32:31Africa there are major challenges. And
32:35when this conference was planned, little
32:37did we know that the president of the
32:39United States would be having a a
32:40showdown with the president or the prime
32:42minister, whatever it is in South
32:44Africa. I don't know what they call
32:46their leader. Um but uh it happened the
32:49week while we're in South Africa. How
32:52how how's that work out? And so already
32:56there's angst around the world when you
32:57walk go around as Americans, but uh I
33:02can tell you as a white male American,
33:04there's a little something against me
33:07and I feel it when I go places. I know
33:10it. I'd rather my wife walk through
33:12there a lot nicer to my wife than they
33:14are to me. And uh I can't tell you I've
33:18I've almost gotten fist fights in Paris
33:19because I just felt like they were, you
33:23know, I needed to pray a little
33:26bit. So it it's just one of those
33:29things. But so
33:31what so what it makes you want to not
33:34travel? It makes you just want to stay
33:36where you're at and home. But you you
33:39you got to know I'm not called for
33:41comfort.
33:42And when we agreed to go back to South
33:46Africa where we were just a couple years
33:47ago, it was a purposeful journey to
33:51demonstrate some stuff for the
33:54church. There the churches had some
33:57problems. Okay? We knew there had been
34:01problems. We just didn't know how much
34:02the problems were. And so we went and
34:06and walked into the pull pit and danced
34:09with the people and shouted and prayed
34:11and it was amazing. It was so good. The
34:15Holy Ghost moved so wonderfully. They
34:17have people group problems there. There
34:19are four distinct groups in South
34:23Africa. There are the
34:26whites and there are the
34:29coloreds and there are the blacks and
34:33there are the
34:34Indians. These four
34:36groups are four different tribes if I
34:40could call it like that. Not African
34:42tribes. These are tribal or breakout
34:44groups of people. And as an American,
34:47I'm not educated in that kind of
34:50thinking because we have our own
34:52breakouts here in America. And I don't
34:55even want to go down that road because
34:57South Florida is in a whole different
34:59land altogether than the whole rest of
35:01America. Okay? When I moved here, I I I
35:05I realized there are some things that
35:07you just don't judge them by the color
35:09of their skin because there are many
35:12different kinds of people, which is true
35:15of let me speak for my color. And I hate
35:18this color talk, okay? I hate it. The
35:20color that matters is red. That's
35:22crimson blood. That's the color that
35:24matters. All right? That's what I mean.
35:26The color of Jesus's blood is what
35:28matters. But these groups in the church
35:32world have had strife because in the
35:35secular world it's raw right now. Very
35:40raw,
35:42unsafe moments of very danger. And we
35:45were in particular places and I'm sure
35:48we were in safe places and we had people
35:50with us that knew the lay of the land.
35:52But it was a unique experience for me to
35:56go and feel that. But when I walked in
35:58the church house, of course, the enemy
36:00said, "Yeah, here's what they think of
36:02you." yada yada da da da da. And the
36:06devil's a liar. But that same devil that
36:09is in South Africa that's talking to me
36:12about them and talking to them about me,
36:16that same devil has a parking spot right
36:18outside the front of the Cathedral of
36:19Pentecost door.
36:21And he walks in here and he tells you
36:24the same thing. They're thinking this
36:27about you and the other they're thinking
36:30this about you. And whether it's true or
36:33not, I will not argue. It is true that
36:37people groups say those sorts of things.
36:41But this is where the church is elevated
36:44by the mighty hand of God.
36:47We understand that when that evil tide
36:51tries to press in our
36:53midst, we first of all start by judging
36:58ourself. Judge no one else. And when you
37:01think that you have that mind in your
37:04that thought of fearfulness and
37:06separation in your mind, you stop it and
37:09say, "Let there be no
37:12strife." For
37:15we are
37:18brethren, we've been born of the
37:22water, born of the
37:26spirit,
37:27adopted into a different family.
37:32It's the duty of the strong. The Bible
37:34said to lift the
37:36weak. So if you are strong, you need to
37:41be aspiring to lift everyone else. And I
37:45hope that you never choose to say, "I'm
37:48the weak one now. Lift
37:51me." You know, there's always going to
37:53be somebody around like that. I'm the
37:55weak one. You You lift me up. No, that's
37:58not the one who's
37:59praying because let him that is weak
38:02say.
38:05We're not playing with words. I'm I'm
38:06playing the word. Not playing with
38:09words. I'm playing the word. Let the
38:11weak say I am strong. Ye that are strong
38:14strengthen. That means everybody ought
38:16to walk through the doors of this house.
38:18When a guest walks through these doors,
38:20and they may even be wearing a shirt you
38:22think to be offensive, why don't you
38:25just not see it?
38:30Why don't you walk up to the shirt that
38:32tells you to shut
38:34up and just smile at him and say, "Good
38:38morning. I'm so glad to see you in the
38:40house of the Lord."
38:43Are you prepared for someone to walk in
38:46this church with a shirt that says the
38:48oppos absolute opposite of what you know
38:51this church stands for?
38:53Are you able in your mind to see through
38:56that to the person and say, "I'm the
39:00strong one here. I'm going to help the
39:03weak one." Not with the back of my hand.
39:05That would be
39:07harmful. But you're going to do it with
39:09love and you're going to do it with
39:11compassion. And you're going to say, "I
39:12don't care what I think that they're
39:14thinking. I'm going to be judged by what
39:17I'm thinking. And I've got to say, let
39:20the weak say I am strong.
39:23It is the duty of the strong to lift the
39:25weak, to prefer the lesser, to keep the
39:27bond unbroken. Abram chose the Lord's
39:31promise over a patch of what looked like
39:34prosperity. And so Abram said, "You
39:36choose, Lot. It doesn't matter. I'll go
39:39wherever the opposite that you want."
39:41And I've got there. This is a whole
39:43separate sermon. But Lot chose what he
39:46calculated to be the prosperous, more
39:50profitable move.
39:52And by choosing the prosperity of the
39:55flesh over the promise of the divine, he
39:58lost his wife and some of his family.
40:03And Abram who chose it doesn't matter
40:06where I go, God is for me.
40:11That's the reason the church will always
40:13prosper because if they put us in jail
40:16next week, we're doing fine. If they put
40:19us at the top of the tower next week,
40:22we're doing fine. It doesn't matter if
40:24I'm high or low, in or out, I'm going to
40:27do fine. Because if God is for me, who
40:31tell me, tell somebody, tell me who can
40:37be against me.
40:39[Applause]
40:44And it cost it cost this church for me
40:47to go to South Africa. When I say this
40:49church, I'm saying we took it
40:51from the missions and tithing and it was
40:55it was not a cheap trip. All right. It's
40:59not one that I wanted to just go on. Me
41:01and Melanie, we could have backed out. I
41:03can't tell you all the ways we were
41:05trying
41:06to except we felt like it was of God.
41:11And it was
41:13God because we went and we
41:16preached and
41:18uh in the middle of howling
41:21isolation, people that are being cut off
41:23from one another, hall hearts being
41:25walled up like
41:26fortresses, the power of
41:29Calvary makes people all on even ground
41:35at the foot of the cross.
41:38There's no big U's and little M's at the
41:40cross. There's no big me's and little
41:43U's at the cross. We all look up at the
41:46cross and say, "I will cherish the old
41:51rugged
41:53cross where my trophies at last I lay
41:57down. I will cling to the old rugged
42:03cross and exchange it
42:06someday for a crown at the
42:10cross. Jesus said, "A new commandment I
42:13give you, that ye love one
42:16another as I have loved you." He loved
42:21us when we weren't
42:23lovable. He loved us when we weren't
42:25loving him back.
42:27Why don't we love others like that?
42:30Doesn't mean you have to go break bread
42:32with them. It doesn't mean you have to
42:34go keep wrestling with those that have
42:36rejected you. Just dust your feet. But
42:38it when you dust your feet, it doesn't
42:40mean they were doomed. Remember when the
42:42sons of thunder wanted to call down
42:44lightning from heaven on those who were
42:46not accepting Jesus and he said, "No
42:50way, boys. Just because they don't come
42:53today does not mean they're not coming.
42:57The doctrine of the dusted feet means
42:59maybe not now but someday.
43:04So you never give up hope. You just move
43:07on.
43:08A new commandment I give unto you that
43:10you love one another as I have loved
43:12you. By this shall all men know that you
43:14are my disciples if ye have one love one
43:18to another. The world doesn't
43:19measure our holiness by our clothes.
43:24It doesn't measure our holiness by our
43:28doctrines. It measures our
43:31holiness by the capacity to
43:35love. Love is our
43:38brand. Love is our battlecry.
43:42John drives it home. He says, "If a man
43:44say, I love God and hateth his brother,
43:46he is a liar."
43:49Your love for God is only as real as
43:51your love for your brother. Your
43:54vertical bond with God is tethered to
43:57your horizontal bond with your brethren.
44:01And this unity chokes growth. And unity
44:05unleashes growth. And the church must
44:08continually grow. A united church is an
44:13ignited church. And I'm about to show a
44:16video because that week I I mean you
44:19could feel it kind of tight on that
44:21first night. And of course there's
44:23always a kindness but if you're reading
44:26deeper than just initial kindness you
44:29can feel things. And at the end of that
44:32first servant service you know they
44:33always treat the speakers with an
44:37elevated appreciation. And I was always
44:40raised to not bask in that. Uh, I don't
44:43need an entourage. And one of my own
44:45personal deals is whenever I go to these
44:48crusades, I always lead the group and I
44:51always go walk the whole crusade center.
44:55And I'm walking back and I'm shaking
44:57hands and looking people in the eye. And
44:59if I sense anybody has an obstinence,
45:02I'll purposefully walk up to that one
45:04and give them a great big smile. How
45:06honored I am that you're here. What a
45:09joy that you've received us. And you
45:11know, I'm just going to do what I think
45:13Jesus would require of me. And that
45:16isn't just be passive and look around
45:17like somebody that's in a walled garden.
45:20Uhuh. I'm going to walk out among them
45:22and just get out there and and I wasn't
45:24to preach until Saturday night. And of
45:27course, you could feel a little bit of
45:28it. And I did what I do. I walked up and
45:31said, "Hello." And you know, if there's
45:33a demon there, I want to walk and stare
45:34in his eyes, too. Let him know I'm here.
45:39Go ahead and pull your stuff now. I'm
45:41not bothered by you. I'm used to devils
45:43being around. None of y'all are devils,
45:46but I'm used to devils knowing the
45:49address where we have
45:51church. And I always know he's
45:53continually accusing the brethren. See,
45:56here's how you know you're on the
45:57devil's side. When you're accusing other
45:59people in the
46:00church, you join his game because he's
46:04the accuser of the brethren.
46:06But the Bible says, "Love coverth a
46:09multitude of sin." In other words, you
46:11might have something on somebody, but
46:13because you're their brother, you say,
46:16"God, have mercy."
46:19The world's watching. They're watching
46:22with skeptical eyes and mocking tongues,
46:24and they're waiting to see, is there
46:26somebody still standing in unity? And
46:29this is why our church is so
46:32spectacular. And I I maybe that's a too
46:35big of a word, but when you look at the
46:37people groups in our church, not just
46:40Sundays, but right now, when you look at
46:43how we love one another, how we don't go
46:46around accusing one another, how we hold
46:49close to one another, and those who
46:51might have prejudices that you haven't
46:53prayed out of, you you know, you better
46:55keep it hidden.
46:57I celebrate that. I thank God there
47:00ain't nobody in this church that showed
47:02me their prejudice that I celebrate
47:04that. If you got it, don't show me. You
47:08might find out that I'm not as nice as
47:10you thought I
47:12was cuz I can't stand it. It's It's
47:18pre-judging. That's all it is. Prejudice
47:20is pre-judging. Like you know
47:22something when you when you What was
47:25that? What was that? You you you think
47:28you're something when you ain't.
47:31Get off your high horse. It was a
47:33tongues and interpretation. That's
47:35right. Brother Hail told us when he was
47:36evangelizing in a church, they were
47:38having some strife or something and
47:39there people Have you ever heard tongues
47:41wars when people have have war with
47:43talking in tongues? Oh Lord, it's not
47:45going to happen here. We want more
47:47tongues interpretation, y'all. Okay. But
47:50and brother Hail was there. Was he
47:52there, babe, when this happened? He was
47:54in the place. One guy spoke up gave a
47:57tongues an interpretation interpreted.
47:59The other guy gave tongues. He said,
48:01"You need to come down off your high
48:04horse, sayaith the Lord. You think
48:06you're something and you ain't."
48:14Oh Lord, Sister Elms,
48:17come. Uh, we're not in this thing to get
48:20rich, but we're supposed to get rich.
48:23Did you hear me? You're supposed to get
48:25rich. You're supposed to be able to get
48:27rich and still be sacrificial.
48:30You're How do you think the Lord's going
48:32to give success to his church? Same way
48:34he did back in the Bible days. He
48:36blessed it. He blessed David. And David
48:38blessed Solomon. And Solomon built the
48:41most awesome house in all the world that
48:42he lost his soul, though. So building a
48:45church isn't the answer. But it doesn't
48:46mean God doesn't want to do it. The
48:48Bible needed his people to give to build
48:50a tabernacle. The Bible says they that
48:52were wisehearted. That means not all of
48:55them gave. Just those that had wise
48:58hearts
48:59gave. And
49:01so somebody's got to stand in this
49:05hour. The one who calculated come up on
49:10top
49:12lost. and their brethren. The one who
49:15got closer to the spirit of the world,
49:18closer to looking like the world and
49:20living like the world, he lost some of
49:22his family. That's the reason I will
49:23never give up holiness standards ever.
49:25Now you
49:27might you might give them up what you
49:30I'm I can't do nothing about it. I can
49:32keep you off my
49:33platform, but you keep coming. I'm not
49:37I'm not here to scan
49:38them. Who Who do Who do you think's
49:41getting by with it?
49:43If God's the judge, nobody's getting by
49:44with, "Well, Brother Elms needs to clean
49:46the house." No, no, I don't need to
49:47clean the house. God will clean the
49:49house when he's ready.
49:52Because I've been in some churches that
49:53really think they're all that clean.
49:54Now, they have no of the next generation
49:56living for
49:58God. I mean, it's just it doesn't always
50:01work out that way. I've seen some that
50:02have been very clean and they have great
50:04transfer of generation. So, don't try to
50:06prejudge this thing, but I can tell you
50:08getting closer to the world doesn't make
50:10your family safe.
50:12You can't learn to be a snake
50:15handler. You think all the snake
50:17handlers live up in the supposed
50:18Pentecostals in the Smokies. No. People
50:22who want to play with the world and
50:24think they can still be righteous.
50:26You're another kind of snake
50:29handler. That's right. You carry that
50:32snake around say, "Wow, I got him
50:34tamed." No, you don't. He'll take your
50:37kids.
50:39You don't win by giving in to the
50:42world.
50:44So, Lot wasn't perfect, but Abram wasn't
50:48perfect either,
50:50y'all. Let's not let's not make Abram
50:53sound like he was perfect. Lot saw Abram
50:56make mistakes himself.
50:59And so all of these processes that are
51:02out
51:04there, there's nobody sitting around
51:07perfect, but you protect the unity the
51:11brotherhood endured not because they
51:13were flawless, but because they valued
51:16each other above their
51:20faults. So the church is not a product
51:24of uniformity, but of contradiction. I
51:26just got late this afternoon this video.
51:29I want brother uh Keon to show this
51:32happened on Sunday night. We had church
51:35uh pre pre-church Thursday night, church
51:38Friday night, church all day Saturday,
51:42church Saturday night, church Sunday
51:44long. And so Sunday night they went to
51:46downtown Cape Town into a park area and
51:50there was a man playing his guitar. He
51:52was not a part of the church, but they
51:54asked if it was all right. They were
51:57church folks. They just wanted to say
51:58something for the cause of unity in
52:01South
52:01Africa. Let's play this video, please.
52:05[Music]
52:14There's
52:16no defeat us as we walk side by side.
52:23As long as there is love, we won't
52:27stand.
52:31As long as there is love, we will stand.
52:38[Music]
52:43Praise God.
52:45Amen.
52:47We didn't plan this. We just coming out
52:50of wind conference in Argon. We had
52:54guys, we had a team that was coming from
52:56America. They were preaching the W
52:58conference. It was the first time in
53:00Cape Town. Uh there's a lot that was
53:03said there talking about unity, talking
53:06about loving one another. Uh but before
53:10I start this prayer, we know what is
53:13happening between South Africa and
53:16America or we know what is happening
53:18between
53:20and Donald Trump the president of the
53:22United States. I don't think there's
53:24anyone that is enjoying that loves what
53:27occurred there because we are not in
53:30that time of we want to live in separate
53:32life in separate places but we believe
53:35that God created us all and all we Jesus
53:40Christ died for us all. I love what I
53:43see in this place. There's different
53:46cultures, different race. Hallelujah.
53:48But there is one thing that unite us is
53:51the one that he created us. Hallelujah.
53:58I'm I'm just going to shoot a short
53:59prayer. Hallelujah.
54:01We're going to ask God when we don't
54:03know what to do. When you don't have the
54:07answers, we have to run to our creator.
54:11We have to trust in him. I don't know
54:14what you are facing. I don't know what
54:15makes you to prepare. Glory to God. But
54:18one thing I know, he still answers
54:21prayer.
54:22He still answers prayer.
54:25The Bible says, "Ask anything
54:30and it shall come to pass." There is a
54:33name that is given among men whereby man
54:36shall be saved. It is the name of Jesus.
54:41The power is in the name of Jesus.
54:44Forgiveness is in the name of Jesus.
54:47Provision is in the name of Jesus. It is
54:50in the name of Jesus. We receive peace
54:54in the name of Jesus. We receive joy in
54:57the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Let's
55:00close our eyes. Let's bow our heads.
55:03Let's all Let us all pray. Let us join
55:06together. Let's make a unit prayer. We
55:08don't know what is coming. We don't know
55:11what the devil has planned, but we know
55:13one thing. A God that knows everything.
55:17Right now, heavenly father, we come
55:19before your throne. We come before your
55:21presence in this place. Oh God, that is
55:24not unique. Oh God, for such a prayer
55:27like this, oh God, but heavenly father,
55:30you have opened this door, oh God.
55:44We pray in the name of the
55:52serious God. The devil has no rules. The
55:56devil has no place for mighty God. We
55:59pray for unity. We pray for love. We
56:02pray for kindness to one another. We
56:05pray for care to one another. Lord,
56:07heavenly father, teach us, oh Lord, how
56:10to
56:12[Music]
56:15know the name of Jesus
56:29Christ. Glory. We come to you in the
56:33name of Jesus Christ. We pray almighty
56:36God that you bless each and everyone of
56:38God. We pray almighty God that you bless
56:42the people of God. We might go to
56:45blessordless.
57:14in the name of Jesus.
57:23It goes on and he tells everybody to
57:26thank the gentleman on the guitar that
57:28let them use their sound system. He
57:31said, "I hope you'll all throw money in
57:33his
57:34case because the man wasn't with them."
57:40[Music]
57:42Lord, send revival to this
57:46generation. The
57:48peace that passes
57:51understanding, send it to this
57:54generation. Send
57:56healing to this
57:58day. And let
58:00revival be among
58:03us. Shall we stand? You're my brother.