WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.900 The human condition, the sinful nature, 2 00:00:02.900 --> 00:00:05.560 the selfishness that we all battle with 3 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:07.560 is similar with everyone, 4 00:00:07.560 --> 00:00:09.760 even though we're creating the image of God. 5 00:00:09.760 --> 00:00:13.100 And since Adam, we struggle with these sins in our life. 6 00:00:13.100 --> 00:00:16.580 And I'm gonna tell you that the biggest issue 7 00:00:16.580 --> 00:00:20.000 in the church today is not pornography, 8 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.060 it's not immorality, it's isolation. 9 00:00:23.060 --> 00:00:33.340 I believe the absolute number one tactic of Satan 10 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:38.020 in the life of men and women is isolation. 11 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:42.820 If you can isolate someone, you can destroy their heart, 12 00:00:42.820 --> 00:00:44.380 you can destroy their mind. 13 00:00:44.380 --> 00:00:47.500 If they have no other objective truth 14 00:00:47.500 --> 00:00:51.020 or even subjective relationships around them, 15 00:00:51.020 --> 00:00:56.020 demons are gonna flock in there and destroy one's life. 16 00:00:56.260 --> 00:00:57.700 And that might be true of you right now, 17 00:00:57.700 --> 00:00:59.620 that you're living in isolation. 18 00:00:59.620 --> 00:01:03.420 You feel like nobody can relate to your problems, 19 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:07.100 nobody understands you, nobody cares about you. 20 00:01:07.100 --> 00:01:08.700 And I'm gonna tell you something 21 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:09.940 that you may not like to hear, 22 00:01:09.940 --> 00:01:12.580 but that that is not only not true, 23 00:01:12.580 --> 00:01:17.580 but there are dozens of people in your orbit right now, 24 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:19.020 wherever you live, 25 00:01:19.020 --> 00:01:21.260 that can completely relate to what you're going through. 26 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:23.460 You're not that unique. 27 00:01:23.460 --> 00:01:27.940 We all have and are all beset by similar sins 28 00:01:27.940 --> 00:01:30.020 and similar temptations. 29 00:01:30.020 --> 00:01:35.020 That's the reason things like pornography and fame 30 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:40.200 and the use of finances and materialism in our lives 31 00:01:41.660 --> 00:01:45.020 has one commercial after another when you're on the internet 32 00:01:45.020 --> 00:01:49.860 is because the social media executives know, 33 00:01:49.860 --> 00:01:53.420 oh, everybody's struggling with this, let's go after that. 34 00:01:53.420 --> 00:01:56.180 Everybody wants this, so we're gonna go after that. 35 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:58.420 And that's how they target you. 36 00:01:58.420 --> 00:02:02.060 And so we're all unique, but not really. 37 00:02:02.060 --> 00:02:05.460 In other words, the human condition, the sinful nature, 38 00:02:05.460 --> 00:02:08.139 the selfishness that we all battle with 39 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:10.100 is similar with everyone, 40 00:02:10.100 --> 00:02:12.340 even though we're creating the image of God. 41 00:02:12.340 --> 00:02:15.660 And since Adam, we struggle with these sins in our life. 42 00:02:15.660 --> 00:02:19.140 And I'm gonna tell you that the biggest issue 43 00:02:19.140 --> 00:02:22.580 in the church today is not pornography, 44 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:26.120 it's not immorality, it's isolation. 45 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:28.580 It's not having community. 46 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:31.340 It's not having people in your life 47 00:02:31.340 --> 00:02:33.520 that you truly believe love you. 48 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:35.420 So when I'm talking about bloodstained allies, 49 00:02:35.420 --> 00:02:37.960 I'm hitting this straight on 50 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:42.320 that God has not made you for isolation. 51 00:02:42.320 --> 00:02:45.720 God has made you to be in community. 52 00:02:45.720 --> 00:02:48.360 I mean, there's a reason why Jesus said, 53 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:50.480 I will build my church 54 00:02:50.480 --> 00:02:53.200 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 55 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:56.960 You see, a church is a community and assembly, 56 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:00.280 a worshiping community, a discipling community, 57 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:04.280 a teaching community, a missional community 58 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:07.760 that's an outpost of the kingdom of God here on earth 59 00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:10.080 where we come together with others, 60 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.080 mutual vision and mission for their lives, 61 00:03:13.080 --> 00:03:15.160 eating meals together, hanging out together, 62 00:03:15.160 --> 00:03:17.320 taking communion together, praying together, 63 00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:19.800 and ministering to the world together. 64 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:22.000 And that's why we call it communion 65 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.120 when we take the Lord's Supper, communion. 66 00:03:24.120 --> 00:03:27.280 It's the idea of coming together in relationship. 67 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:29.720 We don't take, I mean, you can, 68 00:03:29.720 --> 00:03:33.040 but Jesus did not design communion to be done alone. 69 00:03:33.040 --> 00:03:35.120 We're supposed to do it with others. 70 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:37.480 And that's what the word community means. 71 00:03:38.160 --> 00:03:39.680 And so when we look at the book of Acts, 72 00:03:39.680 --> 00:03:41.920 when the church was first birthed, 73 00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:44.920 it says they were all together house to house 74 00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:46.600 because they were in community. 75 00:03:46.600 --> 00:03:48.000 So we're made for community. 76 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:50.640 So when I speak of bloodstained allies, 77 00:03:50.640 --> 00:03:55.640 I'm speaking directly to the issue of isolation 78 00:03:55.880 --> 00:03:58.880 and how when we get isolated and independent 79 00:03:58.880 --> 00:04:01.200 from the church, from other people, 80 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:03.960 from some close allies in our life, 81 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.280 man, it's a setup for big, big problems in our life. 82 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:10.400 I mean, I've done so much counseling 83 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:12.880 and so much both one-on-one 84 00:04:12.880 --> 00:04:15.240 as well as some family counseling. 85 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:17.839 And in every case, the issue of a divorce 86 00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:19.680 or an issue of an affair or adultery 87 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.480 is usually related to that man 88 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:24.800 or that woman being isolated, 89 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:27.760 sealing themselves off from other relationships, 90 00:04:27.760 --> 00:04:30.400 and then not feeling any sense 91 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:32.440 of accountability in their life. 92 00:04:32.440 --> 00:04:35.800 And so bloodstained allies are people in our life 93 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:38.440 that love us enough to tell us the truth, 94 00:04:38.440 --> 00:04:41.880 that love us enough to hang out with us, 95 00:04:41.880 --> 00:04:43.480 to have a relationship with us. 96 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:45.640 One of the best stories in the Bible 97 00:04:45.640 --> 00:04:47.600 that illustrates this is David. 98 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:51.760 So David is in a battle with Goliath. 99 00:04:51.760 --> 00:04:56.760 He wins, and suddenly he's the rock star of Israel. 100 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.120 He is escorted into, 101 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:07.440 The court of King Saul, he becomes the psalmist and the worship leader for Saul. 102 00:05:07.440 --> 00:05:16.760 As he goes into battle with the Philistines for Saul, he's so successful and so effective as a warrior 103 00:05:16.760 --> 00:05:20.480 that he becomes one of the most popular men in all of Israel. 104 00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:27.160 Samuel, who's writing 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, makes note of the women in the crowds 105 00:05:27.160 --> 00:05:33.320 when David would come through saying, Saul has killed his thousands, but David is ten thousands. 106 00:05:33.320 --> 00:05:38.440 So this jealousy begins to erupt in the heart of Saul. 107 00:05:38.440 --> 00:05:41.280 I believe he's demonized at this point. 108 00:05:41.280 --> 00:05:44.040 At one point, he throws a spear at David. 109 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:48.880 And so this animosity, this jealousy toward David arises. 110 00:05:48.880 --> 00:05:52.520 And as the story goes, David has to leave. 111 00:05:52.520 --> 00:05:54.840 David has to flee Saul's court. 112 00:05:54.840 --> 00:06:01.080 And we pick up the story, a very interesting part of the story, in 1 Samuel 22. 113 00:06:01.080 --> 00:06:10.920 And it seems like just an obscure couple verses, but here we see what really saves David's life and what saves David's heart. 114 00:06:10.920 --> 00:06:17.000 Let's pick it up at 1 Samuel 22. Look at 1 Samuel 22, verse 1. 115 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:26.200 David therefore departed from there, meaning he departed from Saul, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. 116 00:06:26.200 --> 00:06:31.200 So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. 117 00:06:31.200 --> 00:06:39.040 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was discontented gathered to him. 118 00:06:39.040 --> 00:06:46.160 So he became captain over them, and there were about 400 men with him. 119 00:06:46.160 --> 00:06:49.520 So what a ragtag army. 120 00:06:49.520 --> 00:07:01.560 A bunch of malcontents, discontents, indebted people who, weeks before, would have had absolutely nothing in common with David. 121 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:04.960 David is the king's son-in-law. 122 00:07:04.960 --> 00:07:08.320 David has victory every time he fights. 123 00:07:08.320 --> 00:07:14.800 He's just had one glorious military campaign after another. 124 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:18.320 He has it made, but then suddenly he loses everything. 125 00:07:18.320 --> 00:07:20.480 He even loses a relationship with his wife. 126 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:22.440 He's run out of town. 127 00:07:22.440 --> 00:07:35.080 Here's what's interesting to me about David at this point, is the men that have fought with him, beside him, in the campaigns against the Philistines, knew who he was. 128 00:07:35.080 --> 00:07:44.280 I mean, they saw the type of leader he was, the type of heart that he had, and they rallied behind him. 129 00:07:44.280 --> 00:07:51.000 But as soon as Saul betrays David, turns on David, everybody goes with Saul. 130 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:59.560 And someone has said that you really know who your friends are when finances are involved. 131 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:04.720 In Proverbs 28, 21, we read, men will transgress for a piece of bread. 132 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.280 I mean, that's what happened to David. 133 00:08:07.280 --> 00:08:12.520 All the men that had fought with him, alongside him, except for Jonathan, they betray him. 134 00:08:12.520 --> 00:08:25.360 And so David now has this group of thieves, indebted, indentured servants who have nothing to lose and actually have nothing. 135 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.040 But why? 136 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.640 Why did they rally to David? 137 00:08:29.640 --> 00:08:30.960 And I think this is really important. 138 00:08:30.960 --> 00:08:33.120 They rallied David because they can relate to him. 139 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:37.679 They couldn't relate to him before, but now they can identify with David. 140 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:44.920 The allies of Abdullam, the cave of Abulam, are men who are in a desperate state. 141 00:08:44.920 --> 00:08:46.200 And that's David. 142 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:47.280 So they see him. 143 00:08:47.280 --> 00:08:48.200 They see what he's going through. 144 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:51.080 And then, you know, I know what that's like. 145 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:52.920 That's where I'm at. 146 00:08:52.920 --> 00:08:59.920 And that's a key part of bloodstained allies, is that being bloodstained means that you've been bloodied by life. 147 00:08:59.920 --> 00:09:02.920 You've been bloodied by shame and broken. 148 00:09:02.920 --> 00:09:08.520 And others who are truly honest about their lives, who've had that happen, they can relate. 149 00:09:08.520 --> 00:09:09.840 And that's the beginning. 150 00:09:09.840 --> 00:09:19.360 That's a true beginning of a pure bloodstained ally is someone who, when you share what you've been through, they can relate. 151 00:09:19.360 --> 00:09:21.160 They go, yeah, I know what that's like. 152 00:09:21.160 --> 00:09:24.720 Now, they may not have literally had the exact same situation. 153 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:28.000 I don't even think that's even the norm. 154 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.960 But rather, they know what you're feeling. 155 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:36.800 They know what's going on in your life because, man, they've blown it, too. 156 00:09:36.800 --> 00:09:40.840 Or they've been ashamed by things that they've done also, or they've been betrayed. 157 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:44.800 And some of you that are listening to me right now have been betrayed. 158 00:09:44.800 --> 00:09:49.960 People you thought were close friends turn their back on you in a time of need. 159 00:09:49.960 --> 00:09:59.280 Some of you that thought someone had your six and they had your back have gone through things, and suddenly everybody's turned their back on you. 160 00:09:59.280 --> 00:10:00.000 Well, all of us. 161 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.780 have had that experience. 162 00:10:01.780 --> 00:10:04.540 And the longer you live, the more of those experiences 163 00:10:04.540 --> 00:10:08.240 you will have, where you thought you could trust someone, 164 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:09.920 and then you find out you really can't. 165 00:10:09.920 --> 00:10:12.520 And so Bloodstained Allies begins there. 166 00:10:12.520 --> 00:10:15.960 And at the Cave of Adulim, David discovered 167 00:10:15.960 --> 00:10:19.640 that there were these men who could identify with his life. 168 00:10:19.640 --> 00:10:21.280 And let me just tell you, men and women, 169 00:10:21.280 --> 00:10:26.720 there are people out there that can identify with your life. 170 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:28.800 And they know what you're going through. 171 00:10:28.800 --> 00:10:31.960 And so the challenge that I'm going to bring 172 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:36.000 is how to find such men and women for your life. 173 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:37.400 So let me give you a definition. 174 00:10:37.400 --> 00:10:39.720 I want to give you a definition for allies. 175 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.840 So allies, I'm going to say Bloodstained Allies, 176 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:48.760 can be defined as men and women with a common purpose who 177 00:10:48.760 --> 00:10:55.320 are formed and brought together because of common pain. 178 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:56.760 So there's Bloodstained. 179 00:10:56.760 --> 00:10:59.520 And what I mean by Bloodstained is that they've 180 00:10:59.520 --> 00:11:01.300 gone through pain also. 181 00:11:01.300 --> 00:11:06.120 When I say allies, same purpose, same desire 182 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:09.960 to bring glory to God and that their lives would 183 00:11:09.960 --> 00:11:12.040 be for the kingdom of God. 184 00:11:12.040 --> 00:11:14.800 So I'm not just talking about someone who's, you know, 185 00:11:14.800 --> 00:11:17.200 your deskmate in an office somewhere, 186 00:11:17.200 --> 00:11:21.000 who you have some common things that you like, 187 00:11:21.000 --> 00:11:23.180 or maybe common hobbies that you have. 188 00:11:23.180 --> 00:11:24.640 I'm actually talking about someone 189 00:11:24.640 --> 00:11:26.200 who's got a purpose for their life. 190 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:29.640 They got a mission for their life, but they've been broken. 191 00:11:29.640 --> 00:11:33.360 They're in pain at different points in their life too. 192 00:11:33.360 --> 00:11:36.320 And so when you share about the divorce, 193 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.320 or you share about some addiction, 194 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:43.000 they may not have had that particular exact situation 195 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:44.080 happen in their life. 196 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:48.400 But something like it has occurred in their life, 197 00:11:48.400 --> 00:11:50.600 and they then have a heart for you. 198 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:52.680 They understand you, and they love you. 199 00:11:52.680 --> 00:11:53.800 That's a Bloodstained Ally. 200 00:11:53.800 --> 00:11:55.480 And that's what happens with David here. 201 00:11:56.200 --> 00:11:59.560 He didn't know these men at all before this. 202 00:11:59.560 --> 00:12:02.800 There's no way that there would have been any relationship 203 00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:04.760 with David at this point. 204 00:12:04.760 --> 00:12:08.680 But now they're going to become a mighty force. 205 00:12:08.680 --> 00:12:13.760 The exciting thing about the 400 in the Cave of Adullam, 206 00:12:13.760 --> 00:12:18.760 it's these very men in 1 Samuel 22, 207 00:12:18.760 --> 00:12:24.480 who later become identified not as the Cave of Adullam men, 208 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:26.520 not as David's 400. 209 00:12:26.520 --> 00:12:29.800 They become known as David's mighty men. 210 00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:33.800 By fighting together, loving each other, 211 00:12:33.800 --> 00:12:37.320 praying together, probably worshiping together, 212 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.640 each one of those men that was just a malcontent 213 00:12:40.640 --> 00:12:45.640 becomes actually a masculine, mighty man of God. 214 00:12:45.800 --> 00:12:48.040 So that's where Bloodstained Allies go. 215 00:12:48.040 --> 00:12:50.760 It's not just about navel-gazing 216 00:12:50.760 --> 00:12:53.480 and sitting in the bed of your shame. 217 00:12:53.480 --> 00:12:56.400 It's rather identifying with our shame 218 00:12:56.400 --> 00:13:00.000 and then getting up and going out and becoming the man 219 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.480 or the woman that God's created you to be. 220 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:05.720 So in my next episode, I want to talk a little bit more 221 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.800 about even some case studies that show 222 00:13:08.800 --> 00:13:11.800 the importance of Bloodstained Allies in our life.