THE APOSTLES TABLE _ S2_ E1_ THE SPIRIT OF OFFENSE_ PART 1 _ DR. MIKE WOODS SR _ 11 FEB 2021

Welcome to the Apostle's Table, where lions roar and lives are changed. The Apostle's Table is a part of the worldwide outreach ministry of Dr. Michael Lyris Woods Sr. You will encounter supernatural wisdom and revelation that will help you discern God's purpose for your life, develop your potential, and deploy your gifts effectively into the earth. We decree your life will never be the same again. Thanks for joining us and welcome to the Apostle's—

Well, praise the Lord, and grace and peace be multiplied to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those of you who are uninitiated, my name is Apostle Michael Lyris Woods, and yes, welcome to tonight's edition of the Apostle's Table. And tonight we're sharing here on a Thursday night, which is our normal midweek service, so we want to challenge every person to like this, share it, comment below. Listen, there is something that's going to be said tonight that you need to hear and that your family and friends need to hear as well. So please don't scroll, uh, this is a very important word from the Lord. I'm super excited to teach it and I'm going to jump right into the heart of it. You know, can we pray? Praise the name of God. And then we're going to jump right into the word tonight. So let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, we thank you for another opportunity to come before your people. Lord, we don't take this for granted. Lord, we thank you that you have called us to serve. Lord, not that we're better than anyone, but God, you've called us to serve. And so we take it as that we're servants of you. We're servants of your people. And so, Father, we yield ourselves to you tonight. Speak to through us. God, let your word go out with power. Let it go out with the anointing. Let the fullness of joy, be released as we teach the word tonight. And God, even as we teach the word, I ask you to honor your word and release angels at my charge to enforce the covenant of healing and deliverance. For you said it in your word, healing and deliverance is the children's bread. And you also said that you sent your word and it healed them. Father, we thank you tonight that this word will cause us to look at ourselves, to examine our heart, and those things in us that you are not pleased with, that you do not like, God, remove it. Them in the mighty name of Jesus. We give you praise and we give you glory for it now in Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God. Listen, I want you to stay with me this whole message. This is going to be something that we need to hear. And, you know, again, last year the Spirit of the Lord spoke to me and he said, Son, I want you to understand that 2021, regardless of what it looks like in the inset, he says, I'm gonna make it a year of amazing things. And I'm telling you right now, if you align yourself with the right principles, if you position yourself to receive amazing, amazing will superimpose itself upon you. Okay, so listen, those of you watching, again, please comment below, let us know where you're watching from. And tonight I need you to help me, please. I need you to go on a sharing frenzy. Share it in Messenger, share it to your story, comment below somebody's name and tag them. And please speak to everyone. Let us know you're here because this word tonight is gonna be revolutionary. I'm gonna begin a series of teachings that I'm gonna be sharing probably over the next 7 weekdays. So we're gonna start tonight, we'll teach it again on tomorrow night and Saturday night. We'll pick it up again Monday through Friday because it's just that much, and really it's actually just that important. And many of you don't believe that you have this operating in your life, but I just want to give you some practical insight about the spirit of offense. It's a demonic force. See, here's the first problem. A lot of you You go to church, you jump, shout, you speak tongues, you spit, you blow bubbles. And I'm not against any of that. I'm a church person. I grew up in the church. I'm a church boy. I believe I'm a Pentecostal. I speak in tongues. I'm loud. All of that. Okay. But I need you to understand, all of those things are nothing if we never have a real encounter with God. And so this series is going to set us up because I'm going to start teaching Sunday at the church on what it means to be a walking encounter, because that's part of being amazing. You, you have to be someone that when people encounter you, they encounter the supernatural nature of God because they came in contact with you. So today I want to teach this And I want you to— let's get an understanding. So this first message, again, we're talking about the spirit of offense. It's a demon. We— again, you jump, shout, speak in tongues, spit, blow bubbles, go to IHOP, Denny's, wherever you eat after church. And at the end of the day, no power, no anointing, no fruit of a life in God. Talk real good on Facebook. You put up great posts. People follow you. People like you. But when it comes down to the real reality, you know, because you're at home with you. You, you can really get frustrated because you don't see the manifestations of some of the things you even say. But I want to show you how to deal with that. You know, let me give you a very transparent testimony. I have been in full-time ministry for 31 years now, okay? And in my 31 years, I have laid hands on people who are blind and they now see. I've laid hands on people who are deaf and they now hear. I prayed for AIDS patients and cancer patients and even COVID-19 patients who God miraculously healed immediately. Now listen, I've seen the power of God, but there have been seasons where I couldn't see miracles, or I would see miracles working for other people because God will use you. Hear me. And then refuse you. Because if your heart's not right, okay, and if there's something in your heart you need to deal with, God's not going to sacrifice the people that you're ministering to for that. So he'll use you in that moment, and then when you get home, you can feel nothing. I have been there, okay? And it all boiled down to this demonic force that was operating in my heart from childhood. I had offense in my heart that I had took up against my mother, against my father, against family members, against friends who I felt did me wrong, against church members. I've had series of offense that I thought I had dealt with, but I had to dig deep and it was still there. Don't you scroll because some of you, you do not see the real manifestations of God. You're religious. You read the Bible, you worship, you, you pray, but you never tangibly see the fruit of a life with God working in your life. And it's because somewhere in there you have a spirit of offense. So let's deal with this. So tonight's message in this series on the spirit of offense is entitled Don't Take Offense. See, at the end of the day, offense will come, but you don't have to take it. You can reject it. You could choose to move in peace. You can choose— watch this— to turn the other cheek when offended and walk away. And that's really what Jesus told you to do. But let's look at this. So let's get some working definition of offense tonight. What is offense? I'm glad you asked. Offense is from the Greek word skandalon. Okay, skandalon. Skandalon is where we get words like scandal or scandalous. See, already we know there's something wrong with this thing. Okay, the name of the part of a trap— watch this, this is what skandalon means— it's the name of the part of a trap on which the bait hangs that lures the animal into the trap. I'll say— so let me give you an example. A fishing hook. All right. All right. And you put a worm or when you fish, if you use artificial bait, okay, whatever you put on it, the hook would be the skandalon. It's the root that lures watch this, the fish into the trap. It's not necessarily the worm. He wants the worm, but the reality is the worm hides the hook. Behind the surface is something— oh my goodness— that we have to really address, because beneath the surface we get offended deep. And sometimes we will deal with up the residue of the offense, but we won't really deal with the depths of it. But it's a trap. And what Satan does— watch this— he uses offenses as bait to lure God's people. Hear me, he uses offense as bait to lure scandalous— the devil is scandalous and he does not play fair. And, and watch this, he uses something that many times— again, I want you to catch this tonight— is invisible. You don't even know you're operating in it, okay? And he uses it to lure the saints of God into a lifetime of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, and even many times hatred. So you got to understand again that skandalon means it's the the part of the bait that is used to hang the actual bait on. It's the apparatus that bait is hung on, okay, that lures the animal into the— it's the foundation that gives the bait stability. So the enemy uses this to draw us in. So it also— scandalon also means a hindrance. Or a stumbling block. So anytime there's offense or scandalon in your life, it is a hindrance, it is a stumbling block, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, so when we allow the spirit of offense to come in, it becomes a stumbling block, a hindrance to our destiny, our purpose, our dreams. Watch this, our prosperity. And it causes us literally every day to stumble in our walk with God. Do you realize you could not be committing adultery, you could not be fornicating, you could not be lying, drinking, and all of those big sins, but still moving under the influence of the spirit of opulence? And you're stumbling every day. And I'm going to show you how, because watch this, the word of offend is another word, and it literally means to displease. So again, offense is skandalon. But when offense comes, there is someone who is the offender, who is offending, okay, or something that is offending. So watch this. If you are offended It comes from this root, offend. Watch now. That means to displease, to make angry, to affront. Watch this. It expresses rather less than to make angry, and without a modifying word, it is nearly synonymous with displeasure. So watch this. So in other words, the definition is saying it's more displeasure in something than it is making angry. Wait a minute, so you can actually be offended without even being angry? I'm just introducing this. We're going to get into some scripture in a moment, but I want to get a good solid definition. So you can be offended— hear me— without even getting angry. Because it deals more with displeasure. See, people react to displeasure in different ways. You know, a lot of times people can be rude to you, you know, people can be uncivil to you, people can act harshly to you, speak harsh to you, and you can be displeased with that and not necessarily be angry. You don't want to fight somebody. Are you hearing me? Because they were rude. You don't pull out a gun and kill them because they were rude. But here's, here's the catch with this. If you get so displeased that you're constantly thinking about it, you never let it go, okay? It becomes almost like you're a malignant narcissist. A malignant narcissist— watch this— is brooding beneath the surface This person has a superior complex that always wants to prove he or she is right, and they hate to be wrong. And many times when they're wrong or rejected, they implode, then they explode. They start beating themselves on the inside. They start fighting with what they're about to do, and then they do something. See, This thing can be brooding beneath the surface that you've been carrying. You've been thinking about it. Oh, they displeased you. Your children were disobedient. They brought displeasure to you, and you're offended by what they did. Oh my God. And you got to understand, if you don't deal with it and let it go and let it be what it is, it's going to cause a problem later. You'll explode like that narcissist, and you'll just start going off. You'll be mad, you'll cuss, you'll do whatever it takes to make you feel good about your offense. And sometimes it takes years for people to get to this point. But you know what I've learned dealing with people for the last 31 years? Too many things offend us. Some of the stuff you get offended by shouldn't offend you, okay? And most of the time we're offended far too easy and far too often. We get offended too much and we get offended too easily. And you know why? Because again, like that malignant narcissist, we're insecure. And we're going to talk about these things in a moment. And you know what, malignant narcissism— there's a— there's some crazy folk that were malignant narcissists, like Jeffrey Dahmer, okay, Charles Manson. Calm, normal, everyday people until bam, it came to a head, it clicked, and they went on a killing rampage. Offense can grow to this if you do not deal with it. So here tonight, I want you to search your heart, man, for displeasure. Some of you mad at God because your mama died. You're mad at God because somebody in your family got cancer. You're mad at God because you're not where you want to be in life. And at the end of the day, it's never God's fault that you are where you are. Hear me good. You are where you are as a result of your own decisions. Watch this. Your decisions determine your destiny. There's no reason to be offended with God. Or watch this, some of you offended with your parents that, oh, they'd have been better parents. If my parents would have had more money, I could have went to a better college. Well, you're going to live your life in offense and your parents are going on. Are you hearing me? And your parents are moving on with their life and you're stuck because you're mad at them. You need to fix it. And this series is going to help us fix these things. Ladies and gentlemen, listen, please, like, please share, please comment below. If you're listening to this via our podcast, I need you to share this podcast with someone because someone is stuck. They cannot excel. They cannot move forward because they are living in offense. So we will determine through these teachings, all right, to not be offended. I need you to touch yourself and say this with me. Say, I will determine through the word of God not to be offended, and I will seek to keep offense out of my life. Wow, wow. You, you got to deliberately, strategically seek. Zeteio is the word seek in Greek, which means to pursue hard after. So you got to seek and determine with a hard, passionate bulldog-type tenacity that I'm not gonna allow anything that happens to offend me. You know what, that's why, man, for me, because I know me, I have to spend time with God before I entertain other because if I don't, I'm not going to be easy to deal with, and I just might get easily offended if you do something I don't like. Now, people do things, they say crazy things. I see things people do, I hear things people say, it don't even bother me. I just keep living, I just keep moving. Because at the end of the day, if you stop to focus on your offenders, it's bait. It's to lure you in again to resentment, into a scandal. You listen, the way you overcome a scandal and the way you overcome people starting rumors about you, saying things you know are not true— watch this— keep living. Outlive it, because eventually it, it dies. It has no eternal substance because you have the ability to outlive whatever's being said. And even if Some of it is true. You still have the ability to be better and grow and be a better person. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? Okay, so let's move, let's move, let's go to Proverbs. Let's get into some text. I know y'all waiting, and so I'm gonna give you some scripture for those of you that don't feel like you've been taught until you get a lot of scriptures. I'm gonna give you some. Glory to God. Proverbs 4. 4 and verse 23, you'll find these words. All right, Proverbs 4:23. The Bible says, guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. So let's, let's talk about that a minute. Guard your heart, that means to protect your heart. Your heart in Hebrew in this text is leb. It's not the heart, physical heart, that's 6 inches below the collarbone. This actually is leb, which is the seat of your passion, your intellect, your desire. Matter of fact, leb and the word nefesh, soul, are really interchangeable because they mean literally the same thing. It's the center of your moral being. It's where you see, it's where you hear, Watch this. Sight is invisible. Your eyes are not, but sight itself is invisible. You cannot see the process of sight. It's an invisible process because it's located in the heart. All right. Your, your hearing is invisible. You cannot literally see sound. All right. You cannot tangibly see sound in the air. We can hear it, but we cannot see it because it's invisible. It's a product of heart. So he says, guard your heart, guard what you say, guard what your words, guard your ears, guard your eyes. Watch this, don't let anything in your eyesight, don't let everything in your ear gate, don't let anything in your mouth gate. Watch what comes out of your mouth because with all diligence you've got to realize the issues of life flow out of this. So the very life you live is a result, hear me, of your heart and what you let in and what you let out. So you got to be careful not to let offense get in there, because guess what? Here we go again, offense will flow out. And you got to make sure that you're always living at a level that's bigger than those who want to bring offense. Come on, come on, let's go, let's go. Philippians 1 2:9-10. I'm reading out of the New King James Version. The Bible says, and this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more— hear me— in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, and that you may be sincere and without offense. Till the day of Christ. So the apostle says, I'm praying for you, one, that your love abound more and more in knowledge. In other words, that you discover— watch this— just how much God really loves you. Wow! He says more and more. I know you know he loves you because he died on the cross and you gave your life, But let me tell you something. There is an abounding love that you could walk in. Oh my God. Where not only do you understand the love of God from a, a theological standpoint or exegetical standpoint where you study it and you learn it, but you know it experimentally where you experience and feel the love of God and you see the love of God at work in you. So let me pray that for you tonight. As the Apostle Paul prayed for these Philippians, I want to pray for those of you that are watching really quick. I just want to pray it real quick. Father, in Jesus' name, I pray that the love of God will abound more and more in the knowledge of those that are listening to me tonight, either live or by replay. And Father, I ask that they will fall deeply deeply in love with you, God, and they will know what it is like to feel and experience your love experimentally. In Jesus' name, I thank you, Lord. Amen. That, that's phenomenal. So watch this. If anything will keep you from getting offended, it's the fact that you can really clearly and truly rejoice in the fact— not in what somebody told you, but in the fact, through experience, that God loves you. Why would I get offended by someone who's coming at me who doesn't understand— oh my God— the love that my Father has for me? And watch this. If they really understood that, they would never come for you. You know why? Because they would understand God loves them and he will take vengeance for those he loves.

Whoo.

Okay. So he says, I want your love to abound more and more in knowledge. Grow to know me experimentally, not just learning, but knowledge. Oida. Oida in Greek is the word know or knowledge. Here, oida, it means absolute or exact knowledge. 1 1 2. You can't get no more knowledge about that. Come on, church. Hallelujah. 2 2 4. You can't get no more knowledge about that. It's absolute. My name is Michael Lyris Woods Senior. That is absolute knowledge. You cannot get any more knowledge about that. That's who I am. Watch this. You need an absolute knowledge that cannot be altered, that you will never be removed from, of the love of God. Whoo! I got to get out here, man. He said, all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent. So now he says, I want you to have some discernment. Everything that the believer will ever accomplish— watch this— in this life, through his purpose, through God establishing dominion and authority through them, it will happen at the substratum of adequate discernment. The reason many of you listening to me tonight are stuck, and you can't even believe you can earn 7 figures, you can't even believe that God can heal your body body. You can't believe that you can have a happy marriage. You're struggling to believe, glory to the name of God, that greatness is really in you and that the things you're dreaming about will really happen. I'm telling you right now, they're going to happen if you discern adequately those things that are excellent. Watch this. Excellent. The things that God has appointed for you to excel in. That's— it's not excellent just because it's perfect. It looks good, uh, it's done right. But excellent in the Greek here means that which God has appointed for you to excel in. So you got to discern the areas that God has appointed for you to deserve it. Can I tell you something? Wait a minute. When offenders come, you got to discern the facts. God doesn't want me to address this, to excel in it, to fight against it. Come on, he just wants me to focus on and discern the thing that he has planned for me to excel in. Wow, listen, some of you are stuck right where you are because you haven't adequately discerned the thing, the real thing. See, you can come up with something in your mind, and then you can learn how to do it and do it excellently, and it not be what God has appointed for you to excel in. Just because you do it well doesn't mean that he appointed you to excel in it. You better find that place that's authentically heavenly, that's authentically the plan of God. Oh boy. He says, I want you to discern that and approve that and focus on that and do that. Don't waste your time addressing offense because it's a trap to create a scandal between you and God because you so busy chasing the offense, chasing who talking about you, mad at people because they didn't do things the way you thought they ought to do. So you running around offended when you need to be approving what God has approved for you to excel in. But you cannot do that if you don't have adequate discernment. You don't have a clarity about what you should be addressing. Listen, everything is not a fight. Let me say that again. Everything is not a fight that you're supposed to engage in. You're not supposed to be fighting at every opportunity to fight. Come on, y'all, come on. You got to discern what's excellent, what he's called you to excel in. I know they talked about you, they might have talked about your mama, but you gotta not be offended because they don't know no better. Glory to God. Hallelujah. You gotta keep it moving. Every single time. Are you hearing me? Glory to God. So let's go to Psalm 119:165. I'm— we're gonna keep it moving because let me just go back to verse 10 again. He says that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. So I want you to be clear. That's why I'm going back. So first of all, love— you got to abound in the knowledge that God loves you and you got to have experimental love. You got to abound in this, okay? Absolute knowledge of God's love. Two, you got to discern and approve what God has approved for you to excel in. And if you do this, he says you'll be sincere, you'll be humble, sincere, you'll be grateful, you'll operate from a place of gratefulness. And instead of being a taker, you'll choose to be a giver. Listen, let me tell you something. Any person that shows up in a relationship that did not come to give, they came to take. And that's scandalon. Y'all not talking to me here. Because when people come together in friendship, relationship, marriage, everybody should have in their mind, what can I give to enhance the overall whole idea of this relationship. I gotta move. But many people get offended because they connect to people and things that came to take, and it's a scandal because you want— you're the giver and the other person is the taker, or the other people in the group are taking and nobody's giving. Listen, I have a philosophy because I have businesses, so I don't do business with people who don't do business with me because I have several businesses. And if you have a business, I have a branding company, I have a tech company, I have a health and wellness company, I have a financial company. Listen, you have to be able to say, okay, Woods, I'm gonna do some business with you too if you're doing business with me. Listen, you, you came to take. You want me to give you business, but you don't want to give me any business. Oh, that's crazy, man. Listen, you can't cut my hair if I'm giving you business. I had a barber, great, probably one of the greatest barbers I ever had. Boy could cut, but he was cutting my hair for like 3 years and never supported not one of my businesses right here in the city. Visited the church a couple of times and Okay, we appreciate that, but okay, now I got business, things that can help you. At the end of the day, you never even thought it nice to say, let me patronize your business, Dr. Woods, because you have been a faithful customer of mine for 3 years. And you know what, he got offended when I told him Watch this. Sir, I love you. You're a great barber, but I could no longer allow you to cut my hair. Reason being, you have come into this relationship to take. All I'm doing is giving. I have several businesses that will help your business and your life, but you have yet to be supportive. So, so that I didn't get offended. He got offended because I left. He even sent me a crazy text. I didn't care because I was at peace. I was sincere. And I guess what I did, I found me another barber. And guess what? You have to live like this so you can stay at peace. Because if he kept cutting my hair, never patronized my business, I'm going to feel some kind of way. I grew up in Southwest Atlanta, the West End. But people that don't know that, that's the hood. And at the end of the day, ain't too many times you gonna disrespect me. So before we even get there, I'm stepping off. I'm moving in another— oh my God, I'm moving in another dimension with someone else so that me and you don't have issues and I don't get offended because offense hinders my blessing. All right, let's look at Psalm 119:165. I got to get out of here. I hope y'all learning something today. Psalm 119 and 165. The Bible says, great peace have they who love your law. Listen, listen, nothing shall offend them or make them stumble. I'm gonna read that again. Psalm 119 and 165. It's just all right to read the Bible, so I'm gonna read it one more time. All right, he says great peace have they who love your law. Wow, Michael. Wow, God, are you serious right now? So if I fall in love with the word of God, with the law of God, the Bible says here nothing shall offend me. So wait a minute, the times in my life that I did get offended, it meant I really was not in love with the word of God. Oh, I wasn't in love with the law of God. Wait a minute, I ain't gonna leave you out. The time you got offended, you really didn't love the word more than you love your emotional reaction to offense. Because the Bible said when you love the word, nothing offends you. You turn the other cheek, keep it moving, because you don't want to stumble. Because the prerequisite to stumbling is offense. So don't take offense so you don't stumble, so you stay focused, so that the word is working in your life and you have the ability to live your best life. Let me give you 6 types of offense and we're gonna get out of here. Listen, number 1, here's the first type: taking offense, which means when offense shows up, the bait is there. You see it, you feel the emotion. You know what, there's some time people say stuff, do stuff, man, I ain't forgot how to fight. Sometimes I want to find scripture to beat them down. And I'll be like, you know, the Bible do say whatever you find your hands to do, do it with all your might. And I'll be wanting to just knock them out. Well, then the Holy Ghost said, no, you can't do that. That you got— that's going to be fruit of offense. And some of these folk are worthy to be knocked out, but you keep it moving. Come on, man, you can't take offense and receive it. You can't fall into the bait. The scandal, trying to lure you in so you react improperly. Watch this. Number 2, giving offense. You got to make sure as a child of God that you never find yourself— hear me— in a position where you're the one giving out the offense. Come on, you have to always— Bible said follow peace. Follow peace. Follow peace with all men. Holiness without no man can see the Lord. See, many of you hadn't seen the Lord because you thought the root of your holiness was just them big sins that you stopped doing. But you offended because you can't follow peace. You can't live in peace. And that's why you can't really see a tangible manifestation of God's power, God's glory. God's increase and authority in your life because you're offended and you don't know how to follow peace. Every time somebody do something, you want to fight. Come on now, hear this. Number 3, here's a third type of offense: you are offended by truth. Some of you offended right now because I'm telling you the truth about you. Listen, but mature people Don't get offended by truth. Oh my God. Matter of fact, offense in itself is an act of spiritual immaturity. Watch this. And chronological immaturity. So you're acting like a child when you get offended. I'm gonna get my ball and I'm going home. You wonder why you stuck. I have people— let me tell you something silly, just silly— and they don't even realize that they're walking in offense. I have, I have a person that I— listen, this particular person was my close, dear friend. We did ministry together. We talked about things on a level of apostolic engagement. We were able to do some mighty things when we worked together in ministry. But do you realize, listen, when I decided on who God told me to marry, this person cut me all the way off. Walking in offense, that's so immature. I don't care how apostolic you say you are. I don't care how anointed and how many tongues you speak in. You're walking in spiritual immaturity when you allow your emotions to cause you to be offended by something— watch this— God told me to do or someone else to do, and you disengage from purpose. Oh my God, because you can't tell me that that relationship wasn't purpose. And some of you listen to me, you know what I'm talking about. You got people that when you made a decision that they didn't particularly like, Instead of them staying in purpose, they cut off from you. My God, because what you did, which was doing the right thing, offended them. Oh boy, people don't like the truth though. I mean, how can you get offended by something God ordained? Come on, man. And you said that our relationship was covenant, that it was ministry, and that God brought us together to advance the kingdom. And you knew this, we both knew this, but you wonder why your life does not evolve at the rate it should and you keep going in circles. It's because you got offense in your heart and you refuse to grow up, and you're offended by truth. People sit in church and get offended by the preached word. That's a dangerous thing, y'all. Come on, man. There are people— number 4, let me move— who are offended by God. They feel like God dealt them a bad hand. They look around and see everybody else getting blessed and wonder why God ain't blessing them like that. So they get angry at God when things are not going right. I dare you, you need to touch your heart right now and say, Father, if there's any offense in my heart, remove it. Matter of fact, let me pray for you. Father, in Jesus' name, if there's any offense in our hearts toward you, God, dismiss it. We renounce it. We cast it out now, this demon of offense, in the mighty name of Jesus. Yes, Lord. And we decree, God, that we are free. And he who the Son sets free is free. It did. Listen, you can't afford to be in a scandal where you're offended by God. You offended at God because he ain't— you think he's not doing something you want him to do, or he's not moving fast enough. People get so offended with God, they leave the church, they stop believing. You know, the whole Inclusion movement. Oh boy, they're not gonna like me. Bishop Carlton Pearson and those guys— and I love this man, this man. The reason I study Greek and Hebrew now is because of this man. He was one of the greatest teachers ever of the Bible, of the Holy Scripture, and I love him, but he's wrong. And everybody in that movement, they— those movements were born not out of revelation and intellectual capacity. They— inclusionism was born out of offense, being offended at God because they want something to be a certain way and it's just not. You cannot make God love the sin of homosexuality and lesbianism. And listen, he doesn't love a whoremonger neither. He doesn't love the sin of a whoremonger He hates sin, period. He's a forgiving, loving God, yes, and he'll love us and love on us and love us through every part of our life if we repent and get it right. But people got offended at God because they prayed about something that didn't move, something that was a thorn in their flesh that they didn't know how to be delivered from. It's because they didn't have the power. Glory to God, it was a demon and they didn't want to recognize it. It was a real devil. That casting out devils was not just something that Jesus wrote in the Bible, it's real. I've cast out many devils in my life and ministry. I've seen people purge all over the floor. I've seen people levitate. I've seen people roll. I've seen people change their countenance and talk in different voices. And I've watched God deliver them by his power. So I know the demonic realm is real. People can be possessed by devils. And a lot of times, especially a preacher or a leader or somebody that's been in Christendom a long time, they fight that reality. Can I really have a demon? Yes, you can. And then you get offended with God because you don't take the route to get get delivered, you take the easy way. So I'm gonna just call myself an inclusionist so I can keep doing what I do. Come on, man, that's the devil, and he's a liar. And you missed it. You missed it, sir. You missed it, ma'am. That whole movement is offense at God. And, and to say that you're helping somebody understand God better and that the Christians now are wrong and the Bible is not right. Come on, man, that's crazy. I have too many living, alive experiences with the word. It's not mental, it's— I'm not that smart, it's not intellectual, it's a spiritual encounter that I've been able to have. Listen, some of you need to stop being offended at God because you lost a child, because your mom died, because you had a bad set that happened to you in life. Listen, all things work together for good, and you got to learn to embrace the life that God gave you and not be offended so he can make life better. It'll never get better as long as you're offended. Oh boy. Number 5, 6 types of offense. This— here's another one: offending the Holy Spirit. So you could be offended at God, but then you can grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes offense. If you're supposed to be saved, then only blessing should be coming out of your mouth, and you cuss like a sailor every chance you get. I ain't never in my life— I've been saved a long time. I've been in ministry full-time 31 years. I've been in ministry since I was a teenager. Listen, I never seen the saints who called themselves saved cuss like they cuss now, lie like they lie now. Come on, man, you supposed to be born again. How you born again and you got a wife wife and a boyfriend. Yeah, I said that. You got men on the down low who got a wife but got a dude they sleeping with. Come on, man, that— you're offending the Holy Spirit. And they want to go to church and speak in tongues. Let me tell you something, there are whole church movements that are offensive to the Holy Ghost. You know, I'm just inclined to believe in this Caesar I'm supposed to call sin by its name, and I'm supposed to declare a spade a spade. And in this hour, listen to me, there are so many reformations that are born out of the flesh. Right here in Atlanta, you got a whole church called the Vision Church. The pastor calls himself a bishop. Clearly the scripture says the bishop should be the husband of one wife, not the husband of one husband. Come on, church, come on. He's got a husband and calls this man his first gentleman. They jumping, they're shouting, they're speaking in tongues in this place. And at the end of the day, that's offensive to the Holy Ghost. It's blasphemy. It's a familiar spirit. It is not the pure Spirit of God. Oh my God, you cannot Oshkete ba breke. See, I ain't worried about nobody doing it to me. That's why I keep some folk around me on speed now that ain't nowhere near the church. So you could try something if you want, cause glory to the name of God, but I'm not scared. I'm gonna tell the truth. And at the end of the day, we're offending the Holy Spirit when you sit up in the church and you're a whoremonger. You're going through all the women in the church. That's offensive. And let me tell you something, you're looking at somebody— I've been there. I've offended the Holy Ghost. I was a hoe. I was a terrible hoe. But God delivered me. I'm telling you right now, I was bad, man. And my— in my last marriage, I was terrible. And I hate to this day that I I made the mistakes that I made, but I made them so I can tell you God can deliver you. I recognized it was a demon. I had a spirit of fornication that I needed to be delivered from. A person that commits adultery— hear me— it's because they got married and never got delivered from fornication. And if you're listening to me today and you're an adulterer, you're looking at somebody who was one. Oh boy, but you can be delivered. I can't wait to drop my book this year, The Chronicles of a Cheater, where I talk about all of that stuff. And I'm going to help somebody in those pages, man. I was just reading through some of it. It's going to help some people who are struggling right there because I'm very transparent as to what God has done for me. And I'm telling you, if he did it for me, a sinner, a broken man like I was, he can do it for you. I was a hoe, but God delivered me from being a hoe. You ain't got to keep being one, woman or man. You don't have to be a lesbian. You don't have to be homosexual. You can be free. Hallelujah. I got to go. My time's gone. Number 6, and I'm closing. Offending yourself, setting traps for yourself, offending yourself, putting yourself in offensive positions, offending yourself. Self-offense, in my opinion, of all these 6— taking offense, giving offense, offended by the truth, offended at God, offending the Holy Spirit— offending yourself to me is the worst kind offense. Are y'all listening to me? Offending yourself is the worst kind of offense. Oh my God, I need you to grab this because offending yourself is a powerful thing because it often emerges out of deception, you get irritated by everything. So self-offense is a self-image problem. You're offended by your weight, you're offended by your skin tone, you're offended by your smile, you're offended— oh my God— by your purpose, you're offended by your very existence. And most of the time People who operate in this level of self-offendence is never happy. They're always irritated. They— you can never talk to them. They're always on edge because it's not you, it's the fact that they are self-offended. And listen, guys, I've been there. You have to stop taking yourself so seriously and understand that you you are who you are, and God made you special. God made you awesome. God made you— glory be to God— that his will can be perfected and performed in your life. Listen again, when you're easily irritated by who you are and you want to change, you want to be somebody else, you're offended by the house you grew up in, you're offended by who your brothers and sisters are. Listen, that's a self-image ego problem that you gotta deal with, and you gotta accept who God made you. Watch it. It's offense when a woman who's purely a woman— because I don't care how many Levi's you put on, how many throwback jerseys, how low you cut your hair— a lesbian, while I'm I'm sorry, a lesbian does not have testosterone, testicles, does not have male parts. Hear me? Woo! Woo! So you could dress up like a man, but it don't make you one. And you do it because somewhere you got offended with your womanhood. Same thing on the man's side. You could put on heels, put on stockings, put on a wig. Put on a dress, put on fake breasts, fake backside, but it still doesn't make you a woman because you don't have a womb. You can't produce children. You're offended by what God made you. And I'm not saying it's your fault. Some of you are walking in this offense because of what somebody did to you when you were young. But I want to tell you, God loves you, man. Woman. Yeah, woman. I see some of these lesbian chicks dating the most beautiful women on earth. Both of them offended. One's offended by her femininity, so she tries to be masculine. The other one is offended because of something a man has done to her, so she tries to find this comfort in someone like her. It's a dangerous place, and it really keeps you stuck. But there's so much life. I'm done, man. I pray— I gotta stop, guys, my time is gone. I pray, my God, we'll continue this like I said on Friday at 12 noon. Make sure you join in. Listen, we're gonna continue this series until some people get free from offense. Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you for this word. May it land on the good ground of every heart. And I declare that the truth will set us free. I pray God that no one was offended by this teaching. And if I have brought offense in the way I may have said it, God forgive me. But God, I just have declared this truth with passion and love. God knows I love everybody regardless of what their choices are. But I want people to be clear that they cannot live live in offense in any way. So Father, help us all to be more like you. In Jesus' name, amen. And thanks be to God. I love you guys with the love of the Lord, and guess what? Ain't nothing you could ever do about it. Listen, y'all be blessed today. The ways to give is on the screen. I need you to support. Text the word RADA to that shortcode on the screen and give to Rhoda Church today. If this ministry is blessing you, I need you to sow a seed. We're asking every person that possibly can in this season to plant a seed of $51 into ministry. The Lord put that in my spirit. This— I need you to trust God by faith. There is a connection that is an accelerated harvest that's going to come into your life and your finances because you you sow that seed. So tonight I need at least 50 of you that's watching live or by replay to plant a $51 seed into ministry and watch God open the windows of heaven quickly for you in Jesus' name. I love you tonight. Y'all be blessed. Heaven smile upon you is my prayer. And remember, share the word with a friend. Your decisions set you up for dominion.