Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / How To Be Free From Deception | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2022)

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How To Be Free From Deception | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2022) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  That's Pastor Daniel said earlier this weekend flew by and
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  that's I think a good indication of a wonderful time and time
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  seems to just slip out of your hands.
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  And I don't want to say too much because I want to take the
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  remainder of our session in the word, but I think it would be
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  unjust for me, not to thank. So many people, I can't name You
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  by name but beyond the surface. There are people have been
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  working tirelessly in the background.
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  We have a shopping crew that had to go get stuff.
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  We have a prayer crew that has been praying, not just over the
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  weekend, but even the days leading up to this event, we
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  have the ushers. We have, we have people who are
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  doing so much beyond what we see the sound team.
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  We had a Sunday School going on through this whole weekend so
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  that people can come with their families.
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  And just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart and
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  we want to just now show appreciation to everybody just
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  say thank you. And so for those who took so
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  much of their time who missed these meetings even to serve so
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  that you can be here. We're so grateful, especially to
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  Bishop and Phoebe. Thank you guys so much.
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  Every year, they oversee this, they prepare this, and they have
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  done with so much excellence. What we get to experience every
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  single year and they do it because they love the Lord.
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  I see that firsthand and so we're so blessed by you
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  especially without further Ado today this morning at the end of
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  this weekend I want to speak to you from the word of God, of how
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  you. And I based on the principles of
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  the word of God can live a life free from deception.
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  In other words, how you? And I can be deceived proof,
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  deceit proof between now and when The truth capital T takes
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  us home. I hope you would be passionate
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  about what this has to offer. Because Jesus, as I now make
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  this a full circle, Jesus told us that we are only heading
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  towards greater deception. That even will have if possible
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  the elect to be to be tricked, will even have the elect to look
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  and question. If this is sincere, if it is of
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  god but we can be assured based on the word of God that you.
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  And I can have a shield a filter because our God loves us, and he
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  cares for us and he Longs for us to be prepared, he Longs for us
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  to be strong, he Longs us to have eyes Beyond these things on
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  our faces. And I want to prove that to you
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  from one verse and it's in the book of second Thessalonians.
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  In verse 3. In 2nd Thessalonians 2:3.
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  The Apostle writes to this group of believers.
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  Let no one deceive you in any way.
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  For that day will not come unless the Rebellion comes first
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  and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of Destruction
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  who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or
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  object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of
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  God proclaiming himself to be God.
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  Do you not remember, you not remember that when I was still
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  with you, told you these things? I want you just to look at that
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  first phrase, in verse 3, let no one deceive you in any way.
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  Now, when Paul wrote this, he is issuing a charge because of a
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  situation that is occurring with Isola Thessalonians.
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  They were alarmed. They were shaken by some
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  supposed Revelation or a misinterpretation of Paul's
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  teachings that the Lord had returned.
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  He had retrieved his bride and apparently they were numbered
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  among the redeem because here they are, they're still there
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  still here, they are left behind and this clearly shook them to
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  the core that news. Came to the Apostle and he seeks
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  to bring clarity about this Doctrine.
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  He wants to remind them of the sequence of events that have to
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  take place, even even before the Lord would return in judgment.
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  But we see here as Paul addresses this, as he seeks to
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  bring Clarity to the specific. Doctrine is a statement that
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  reaches beyond the scope of this particular situation at hand.
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  With this church, do not be deceived or let.
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  No one deceive you. You not just concerning the
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  doctrine of the return of Jesus Christ, but in any way in any
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  way, God Longs for you and I to be able to detect and diverted
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  from any scheme of deception, that comes our way that would
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  seek to lead us into Disobedience that would seek to
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  cause us to believe something that is untrue.
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  And cause damage as a result to be, unfulfillable if I can use
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  that word, and if you look quickly at verse 2, you get
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  another Insight of how deception can be so subtle, the means of
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  deception. Well, let's start from verse 1.
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  Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus.
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  Jesus Christ and are being gathered together to him.
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  We ask you Brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarm.
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  Pause. See when you have a deceive
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  proof life. You're not easily feared anxiety
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  concern. Is diminished.
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  Verse 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarm either by a
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  spirit, or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us to
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  the effect that the day of the Lord Has.
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  Come. What impresses me about that?
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  Verse is not how his Spirit can directly deceive.
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  Even Believers. It's the fact that Paul warned
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  of the possibility of forged letters to be written in the
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  names of the Apostles, to have some kind of authority, and then
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  lead Christians into a Direction.
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  What? That tells me is that Satan even
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  at this time utilized the technology of Paul's day to
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  bring deception and his tricks are no different today.
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  And how much more should we be discerning?
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  With the engineering that is able to engage with all of our
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  senses. I believe, even if you read
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  Revelation, there are clues, that technology will be strongly
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  used by the system of the Antichrist.
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  And so, we have to be very aware that there are different means
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  by which Deception comes, and this should not cause us to be
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  feared or worry, but all the more alert the first step to
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  being deceived free. This isn't a point because I
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  have three points this morning but a Prelude.
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  Just a thought. The first step of being deceived
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  free is to realize of the possibility of being deceived
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  That's it's as simple as that. People in this world don't care
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  about truth. I think we're convinced about
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  that but not only, don't they care about truth.
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  They want you to believe a lie, there's no neutrality.
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  And Paul year is worried as he should be.
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  And this sounds frightening, but we can equip ourselves, we can
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  be strong and that includes not being deceived with personal
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  decisions in your life. I'm not just speaking about
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  Doctrine this morning, Everything from those major
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  decisions, those choices that will alter the rest of your life
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  to not being caught up with the friends, he's from the agendas
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  in the narratives of society. The past two years, in my
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  opinion has proven. How the Antichrist will be able
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  to deceive the world? You saw it firsthand, not just
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  because of one narrative but multiple narratives that came
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  crashing in from all directions and the things that I saw
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  Christians so quickly, adopt so quickly say yes to so quickly.
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  Join and partner with is a testament that deception can
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  easily swallow up. Anybody's judgment.
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  But before we get into the three points, can I show you something
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  inspiring about our Lord? Jesus Christ.
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  The lord Jesus is our Capital example.
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  And if you just study carefully, you would see how much of what
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  he does. In his ministry relates to our
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  day-to-day living, go to Luke chapter 20, in your Bibles with
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  me, Meet me in verse 20 of Luke 20.
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  Jesus is approaching his final days.
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  On Earth, he's reaching the point of why he came ultimately
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  to die on the cross. But before that, there was a
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  series of Investigations and accusations and the spiritual
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  leaders of this time sought to get him in trouble.
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  Before he does any more damage to their idea of who the Messiah
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  should be. So in verse 20 of chapter
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  twenty, look what we see. So they watched him and send
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  spies who protect. I love the way the ESV puts us,
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  who Pretended to be sincere. That they might catch him in
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  something, he said. So, as to deliver him up to the
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  authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
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  So they asked him teacher. We know that you speak and teach
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  rightly and show no partiality. But truly teach the way of God
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  that phrase touches me who pretended to be sincere.
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  There are pretenders in your life.
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  There will be Pretenders that will come into your life.
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  And those types of people are one of the greatest tools that
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  the enemy uses to try to Allure. And cause the people of God to
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  stumble to make decisions that will hurt their testimony to
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  make decisions that will hurt them.
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  And I love to see the details of how these people were when they
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  stood before. Jesus, they thought they were
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  clever, they thought that they have come up with this dilemma
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  that was really a lose-lose scenario because they would ask
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  him a particular question about taxes and in their minds, they
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  thought no matter how Jesus answers this, he's going to get
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  in trouble with at least one group of people.
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  If he says don't pay your taxes, the Jews, the Romans rather will
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  come against him as we just read.
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  If he says go, yeah, you need to pay your taxes and and you
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  should The Jews are going to think that he is siding with the
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  Romans. So this seemed like a perfect
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  plan, but here's the thing, you can't mess with Jesus.
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  And the Holy Spirit highlights something that ministers to me
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  as a follower of the same Christ that I read Up.
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  In this passage look at verse 23 quickly.
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  But he being Jesus perceived, their craftiness.
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  He perceived their craftiness and set to them and I won't get
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  into what he says perceived their craftiness.
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  He saw through the flattery He saw through the smoke screen of
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  sincerity. Oh, we know that you teach the
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  truth. We know that you don't care
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  about the opinions of men and they try to disarm him.
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  They try to let his guard down. And yet, Jesus, through all of
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  that had laser precision and discernment past the words, past
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  the actions and right into the mode of the whole thing.
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  That is the Jesus who is on your side.
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  The one who sees what you cannot see, the one, who perceives,
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  what? You cannot perceive he is for
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  us, and with us, And the best thing that you can do to endure
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  the deception of these days that will only intensify is hold that
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  hand who can see what, you can't see.
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  But this isn't only unique to Jesus.
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  Listen Satan uses craftiness. All the way from the beginning.
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  The very mess that were in today with our human nature, all
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  started with deception, and we have to read our Bible slowly
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  because in Genesis 3:1, we are told about one particular animal
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  pre-fall. So if you have this idea that
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  the reason why Satan used the snake is because it's hideous.
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  Sorry. If you like snakes.
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  You have to understand there is nothing frightful there is there
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  is no sense of evil at this point.
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  So that this this serpent was used strategically, the enemy is
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  not going to use something just like he doesn't come to you with
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  horns and a pitchfork. So he uses the serpent but why
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  the Bible tells us? Because the serpent was
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  craftier. And all the other animals.
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  Satan then, Satan today, loves to use crafty things and crafty
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  people to deceive. And his roster is wide.
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  He listened. He uses gifted musicians.
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  He uses mesmerizing artists, he uses people who can communicate
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  and almost put people under a spell.
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  Just, by the way, they speak Hitler did.
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  That it was demonic though. He uses crafty things and crafty
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  people, he uses people and he he has these individuals who don't
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  come off as adversaries who come off as sincere and genuine and
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  they know the words to use to to show you that they are for truth
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  or they are for justice and they even know how to intertwine
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  God's name and scriptures Satan uses craftiness.
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  He is not obvious, he's not Lead detectable.
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  So being mindful that people who are gifted, people who are
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  smart, people who have abilities, but don't have
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  Christ. Are who Satan recruits to
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  deceive God's people? And Eve failed to do what Jesus
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  was able to do. She could not perceive the
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  craftiness before her, but Jesus could and Jesus through his
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  word, gives us the tools to know how to build the ability to
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  discern. And so, I want to give you those
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  three points and we're going to try to do this quick.
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  Number one, if you want to live a deceived proof life.
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  If you want to be able to amplify your ability to discern,
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  then do what we see here in the same chapter of second
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  Thessalonians. Love the truth, no matter what
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  it costs, you Love the truth, no matter what it cost.
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  You second Thessalonians chapter 2, 9 and 10.
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  The coming of the Lawless one is by the activity of Satan with
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  all power and false signs and wonders. if you're a signs and
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  wonders person, That believes a Ministry, has Authority based on
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  the Miracles. They seem to present an offer
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  and claim you're in trouble. verse 10 and with all Wicked
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  deception for those who are perishing, because why will
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  people Embrace Wicked deception, Why will they be open to it?
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  Well, he tells us because they refused to love the truth and so
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  be saved. You may have an intellectual
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  grasp of the truth, you may be intrigued with the philosophies
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  around truth. You may even be able to explain
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  elements of the truth, but none of that equates to loving the
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  truth. Paul did not say because they
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  did not know the truth and so be saved.
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  He said, because they did not love the truth and so be saved.
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  There's a difference. So the deception that was easily
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  received was not because of the lack of exposure to biblical
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  Revelation, it was due to the lack of willingness to surrender
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  to the claims that the truth makes.
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  How do you know if you are a person who loves the truth
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  again? It's not because you can quote
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  it, not because you enjoy hearing sermons, not because you
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  have podcast that you listen to, that are biblical the way, you
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  know that you love the truth, which is the way to be protected
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  from deception is that you joyfully and willingly submit to
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  whatever claims the truth, make of you.
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  That's what it means. And because of the refusal to do
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  that deception, had a way to enter into these Hearts.
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  It was the stubbornness it was the refusal to ultimately bow,
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  the knee to the revealed will of God.
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  And here's the thing, many people can say, I love the truth
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  and you would be amazed to know how God will test that and very
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  challenging ways. someone clearly said, in light of this
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  scripture, one example of how the love of the truth can be
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  proven in US, Is by just thinking about your own church
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  background. Think about the way you grew up
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  think about what you've learned about God.
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  Many people in here grew up in that kind of a culture.
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  I think about the things that you've adopted in your theology
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  and in your church practice and in your Christianity.
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  That was based on tradition or maybe even a misinterpretation
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  of certain scriptures and what do you do when you come to the
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  point where you personally study the word of God?
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  And you compare scripture with scripture and you dig and you
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  pray and you learn something as you grow in this knowledge.
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  And this is what you realize. This is teaching me something
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  that I thought was true for so long in my life.
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  This is, this is, this is saying something.
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  Contrary to what my parents told me contrary to what my Seminary
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  professor said, contrary to my church denomination, and what
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  they Proclaim for centuries, when God by his Mercy, opens
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  your eyes to a clear, truth in the word of God.
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  And yet, you have come with presuppositions in your heart
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  and not because you had a desire to be in anything that is false.
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  But because you were just raised in a certain way or because you
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  just easily digest. The certain things, what?
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  Do you do after 25 years of believing a certain thing in
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  that moment will determine if you love the truth, more than
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  your tradition more than your reputation more than the fear of
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  people saying, you believe this for so long and now you couldn't
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  see it. Now you do see it.
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  Love for truth is seeing in your willingness to surrender to it
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  even if you believe it to be something else.
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  I believe that is extremely challenging.
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  And that is one way. You can ensure that you
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  yourself. Love the truth.
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  No matter what God's word says, I will do it.
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  Even if it's been so long since I've heard or believe something
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  else, if this is the truth, I will submit to it.
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  Additionally love for the truth is ultimately proven by a love
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  for all the truth. If there was a sure way to
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  invite deception into your life, it is by claiming that God's
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  word is authoritative until something in the word touches.
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  A nerve or challenge is something that you really,
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  really, really, really want to hold on to And here's an example
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  of how even followers of Jesus Christ who claimed who even
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  confessed to love the truth. Cannot love all of the truth and
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  that literally is a foothold for Satan to enter into your
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  thinking and then persuade you to certain actions, there was a
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  time when Jesus was walking with his disciples and he many times,
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  but his initial attempts was telling them I must suffer at
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  the Of the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and I
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  will be killed and I will raised on the third day, and on a
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  particular day, Peter heard this and he felt a little extra
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  confident because he just had the Revelation that Jesus is the
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  Christ. He is the Son of God.
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  And so, Peter does something very bold.
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  He takes Jesus aside, not a good move, Peter Jesus moves.
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  You you don't move him, he takes Jesus aside and he rebukes
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  Jesus. This shall not happen to you.
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  And in Matthew, 16:23, we read, but he turned and said to Peter,
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  get behind me, Satan. We talked about you all talk
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  about highs and lows in your Christian Life.
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  Get behind me. Satan.
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  And now he gives the insight to how Peter came to this point of
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  taking Jesus, and rebuking Jesus.
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  And correcting Jesus, right after Jesus perfection.
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  Explain something that's going to happen.
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  For you are not setting your mind on the things of God.
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  But on the things of, man, That's how it all started.
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  Your mind is not completely saturated with the knowledge of
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  God and the will of God, you see, Peter believed in aspect of
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  Jesus, you know, which aspect he loved them believed and champion
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  A conquering Messiah, a triumphant Messiah.
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  A nation's ruling Messiah and guess what?
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  He was right to believe that because the prophets pointed to
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  that and so all he's doing is really just he just reacting to
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  something that he knew. But what Peter and the disciples
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  could not figure out not because of their lack of exposure per se
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  but of their lack of their ability to understand and be
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  willing to accept it is the suffering Messiah.
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  A messiah that will die. This can't be.
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  And so, he rebukes Jesus from what an imbalanced
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  understanding, and application of the word of God, I like the
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  Triumph. And Jesus, I'm not very
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  comfortable of the idea of him suffering.
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  And when you look at the word of God that way, I like the old or
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  the New Testament, I don't like the Old Testament.
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  You have Christians and talk like this, especially in Middle
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  Eastern Christians. I like the New Testament.
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  I don't like the Old Testament. We're not going to preach on the
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  Old Testament. I like the stuff about love and
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  social justice and the poor. I don't like the ideas of
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  Holiness, repentance and emphasis on the gospel you have
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  just opened a door for Satan to enter into your thinking.
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  When you elevate one truth and diminish another when it is
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  clear there before you Satan himself, can enter into your
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  thinking and he is merciless when he does that.
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  And soul of the truth. The safest place to be in this
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  is to Bow before the entirety of the scriptures, even the parts
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  that you cannot readily acknowledge at first perhaps.
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  But, you know, it's the truth and because of that, know this,
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  you give Satan very little to work with in your mind.
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  So, love the truth, no matter what it costs, you more than
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  just doctrinally. What will it cost you to follow
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  this word? What will happen to your
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  relationships? Well, happened to your job.
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  Well, happened to your future, love the truth.
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  And here's your inheritance, you will know an honor from God that
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  will keep you from being Hoodwinked.
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  Love the truth, no matter what it costs, you not know the
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  truth, not talk about the truth, love it.
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  Number two, there is one of the clearest illustrations of
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  deception at work found in the Old Testament.
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  And in this case, you see how even God's best men are able to
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  get dizzy in their discernment because of the ploys of enemies.
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  And in this particular case, I'm going to bring you there in a
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  moment. What you see is a very real
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  example, again of how even the most faithful of God's men and
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  gods woman, can fall you and I can stumble make mistakes every
• 24:59
  day and this teaching is not to say how you can create a bubble
• 25:02
  around you or you'll never know a mistake.
• 25:04
  What will your never know, trials or difficulties or
• 25:07
  afflictions or Temptations? That's not what I'm trying to
• 25:10
  bring here. But what I am saying is that
• 25:12
  When I can pull up a guard in such a way where we minimize
• 25:16
  unnecessary self-inflicted harm. And decisions in life.
• 25:21
  Very some decisions. If we get them wrong, have
• 25:24
  little consequences like you know, you bought a bad mattress,
• 25:27
  you didn't do the research, you didn't look at the reviews and
• 25:29
  you didn't care. You just did it.
• 25:30
  Now you got to return it, you wasted a whole day, right?
• 25:34
  To decisions that can alter the rest of your existence on this
• 25:39
  planet. And what we see here is that
• 25:42
  there is a point in Israel's history, where the whole book is
• 25:47
  really about Conquest in the land.
• 25:50
  It's about physical Warfare where Israel comes into the land
• 25:52
  of Canaan and they receive and they fight for their inheritance
• 25:56
  in God. But what's interesting is in the
• 25:58
  midst of all of that, you think it's all about swords and Spears
• 26:01
  and strange commands to see miracles happen.
• 26:04
  So walls can come down and Stones can fly from the sky.
• 26:07
  But in the middle of all of that, you see this aspect of
• 26:09
  warfare. That is very much familiar.
• 26:12
  Today we don't use sorts today. We don't use bone arrows.
• 26:15
  We don't use guns are weapons are not against flesh and blood.
• 26:20
  What we do see is in Joshua chapter 9, deception in Warfare
• 26:26
  and this deception, please, listen, it's not just limited to
• 26:29
  Doctrine. This deception deals with all
• 26:33
  aspects of life. Israel was commanded, cleanse
• 26:36
  the land cleanse, the land. These people who inhabit the
• 26:41
  land of Canaan are my enemies. They are perverted.
• 26:43
  They have persisted in their sin for centuries and my judgment is
• 26:47
  going to be through you, invading the land.
• 26:51
  And removing those who are my enemies.
• 26:54
  No mercy. They already had a chance to
• 26:56
  have mercy read Genesis 15. Centuries of chances to be able
• 26:59
  to come to repentance and so their focus was within the
• 27:03
  boundaries of the land of Canaan and as they come.
• 27:08
  A group, a mysterious group, approaches Joshua, and the
• 27:11
  leadership by the name of the gibeonites.
• 27:13
  The gibeonites were inhabitants of the land of Canaan and they
• 27:18
  learned very early on. These guys are coming in to take
• 27:21
  over and they're doing very well.
• 27:23
  We heard what they did in Egypt, we are what happened with those
• 27:26
  kings outside of Israel, just by the Jordan.
• 27:29
  And now they're here. We got to do something, we will
• 27:32
  fail, we will lose. So they have a scheme, they come
• 27:35
  up with a crafty plan and here's the crafty plan.
• 27:38
  They approached Joshua, and they heavily emphasized to appeal,
• 27:43
  pay attention now to the senses. They want to convince this
• 27:50
  nation that we are not among the inhabitants of this land, we're
• 27:55
  from a distant land and and some wonder if they knew somehow of
• 27:59
  God's instructions to the nation of Israel, because God's
• 28:03
  instructions were with the cities outside of the parameters
• 28:06
  of Israel. You had a different negotiation
• 28:09
  with these places but within no talk it's done.
• 28:14
  If that is true, then that is a clear example.
• 28:16
  How Satan knows the word and uses the word against the people
• 28:19
  of God, but they come and so they seem like they're from a
• 28:23
  distant neighbor, how are they going to do this?
• 28:24
  And we're going for the rest of this time.
• 28:26
  We're going to stay in Joshua chapter 9.
• 28:28
  Look at what they do. In verse 14 of Joshua chapter 9,
• 28:33
  Let's go back to verse 12, these are the gibeonites speaking to
• 28:36
  Joshua, I want you to Envision it.
• 28:38
  Here's Joshua lined up with the other elders.
• 28:42
  And here, are these gibeonites, these ambassadors who are
• 28:45
  approaching Joshua and are trying to now, convince them to
• 28:48
  make a covenant so that they can be saved from judgment Joshua
• 28:53
  912. Here is our bread, It was still
• 28:57
  warm when we took it from our houses, as our food for the
• 29:00
  journey on the day, we set out to come to you now behold.
• 29:04
  It is dry and crumbly These wineskins were new when we
• 29:09
  filled them and behold, they have burst and these garments
• 29:12
  and sandals of ours are worn out from the very long journey.
• 29:18
  Unfortunately Joshua would make a grave mistake.
• 29:22
  He would make a judgment simply because of what he saw.
• 29:28
  What he saw, what he felt. What he tasted.
• 29:35
  And there are times in life, when our senses help confirm
• 29:39
  something. Right there are times when our
• 29:42
  senses help us make sense of something, right?
• 29:47
  But what we see here is that their critical moments in life,
• 29:51
  where we need to do something much more than just agree with
• 29:54
  what we perceive in the natural. I believe the lord gave this
• 29:57
  chapter for his people, so that they would not make the mistake
• 30:01
  of making serious confirmations unconditionally based upon what
• 30:07
  you see and feel. See what I'm saying.
• 30:09
  They're not that we are enemy against our senses but to make
• 30:13
  unconditional judgments based on our senses, it's extremely
• 30:19
  dangerous. and if you want to be humbled, By this truth, in a
• 30:26
  simple way. There's something known as the
• 30:30
  McClurg affect, anybody hear about the McClurg effect.
• 30:35
  The McClurg effect is really interesting.
• 30:37
  It's an auditory visual illusion that essentially reveals how
• 30:40
  sometimes What you see can override and reinterpret, what
• 30:48
  you hear? so what happens is based on your
• 30:54
  visual sensory that can actually change the sound that you are
• 31:01
  perceiving, So it's a conflict of the senses and you can
• 31:07
  experiment with this. You want here, say thank you for
• 31:09
  this. You're going to make your trip a
• 31:11
  little bit more fun. You can actually experiment with
• 31:12
  this. I want to experiment with it
• 31:15
  because I'm a skeptical individual.
• 31:19
  So there's a test go on, go on the internet.
• 31:21
  There's a video online. Look it up and here's what it
• 31:25
  is. You have a professor looking at
• 31:26
  the screen, you watch it on your phone to the laptop and you see
• 31:29
  his face. And all he does is repeat the
• 31:32
  sound bad. Bye.
• 31:36
  Bye. Bye.
• 31:37
  And he's staring at the screen, bye-bye and you're hearing.
• 31:40
  Bye. Now, what he does now in the
• 31:43
  second clip is he changes the movement of his lips but he
• 31:48
  doesn't change the sound that he's making.
• 31:51
  So when you transition to the second clip, he's actually
• 31:55
  saying bah, bah, bah. But what you hear is 555,
• 32:05
  Immediately like this is a hoax. I see it.
• 32:08
  He's going. Ah, he's doing that.
• 32:12
  I know how words. Work, ba ba, there's no way that
• 32:16
  this is a different. This is the same sound, so I
• 32:19
  watched it again. I looked at the comments,
• 32:21
  obviously, to make sure I'm and the consensus.
• 32:26
  And sure enough. They were disagreeing with me.
• 32:29
  So I watched and I watched you guys, so you know what this is
• 32:31
  why I'm going to do. I'm going to rewind this thing.
• 32:35
  But this time I'm going to close my eyes.
• 32:38
  Let's see if this is true. Because here's what's crazy.
• 32:41
  Even when the man at the end explains explains, the whole
• 32:44
  phenomena explains, the illusion explains this bizarre effect,
• 32:48
  even after he explains it, you watch it again and you still
• 32:50
  don't see the difference. Where you see the difference?
• 32:53
  Rather, it's your brain still tricks or even after the guy
• 32:57
  tells you the trick some like this there's something wrong
• 33:00
  you. So I went back.
• 33:01
  I close my eyes and to my shock throughout the whole video.
• 33:04
  You know what I heard bad. Still didn't believe it.
• 33:12
  So now there's something weird here.
• 33:14
  So this is what I said, I'm going to watch it.
• 33:17
  I'm going to close my eyes but halfway through the second clip
• 33:20
  when he I'm confident is saying fa.
• 33:26
  I'm going to disprove this whole thing.
• 33:28
  I'm gonna get the most likes for my comment.
• 33:33
  So I close my eyes. Here's this man by bah-bah-bah
• 33:41
  Or rather bye-bye. And I open my eyes and to my
• 33:45
  greater shock immediately 555 lat, I try to look at different
• 33:52
  points in the second clip that yeah.
• 33:55
  Baba baba 555. Bye, bye.
• 33:58
  Bye. My old convinced.
• 34:02
  And I believe God. In his wisdom uses.
• 34:06
  Things like this uses, science to prove a spiritual truth.
• 34:10
  You can lie to yourself, man. You can trick yourself.
• 34:18
  You can actually believe something to be true when it is
• 34:20
  not true at all. And so as I kept contemplating
• 34:24
  on this, I realize a spiritual principle.
• 34:27
  How true is it that we interpret truth not with the conflict of
• 34:31
  our eyes and our ears, but our flesh.
• 34:34
  Divine revelation. How much of this do we
• 34:38
  reinterpret? And actually believe to be
• 34:42
  right. When in reality, it's saying
• 34:46
  something completely different. I was convinced that it was two
• 34:53
  different sounds. The reality was one and you have
• 34:58
  people who are so strongly, convinced that some aspect of
• 35:03
  Truth, some aspect in their life is right, or it's wholly or it's
• 35:07
  God's Will, and it isn't Some of you think you have bad and fan,
• 35:14
  it's really bad. How do we protect ourselves from
• 35:18
  this fearful possibility? How do we Shield ourselves from
• 35:22
  spiraling into our own world? Filled with delusions the?
• 35:28
  Same text and Joshua tells us something incredible.
• 35:31
  Look at verse 14, Joshua 9:14. So the men took some of their
• 35:37
  Provisions but did not ask counsel from the Lord How to
• 35:44
  live a life free from deception? Number to bring all matters.
• 35:49
  Of earnest prayer before God. This was their error.
• 35:55
  This was the core reason why they made their mistake that
• 35:57
  would cost them generationally because they did not in their
• 36:01
  humility and understanding that, even what they see and perceive
• 36:05
  can be wrong to come before the Lord and say, Lord is this
• 36:08
  right? Is this your will?
• 36:11
  Is this true? Is she the one?
• 36:14
  Is this where you want me to go? Is this the right opportunity?
• 36:21
  And I meditate on this and I thought to myself how could have
• 36:23
  got answered like what would he have done to remove the veil
• 36:27
  from the gibeonites? The veneer, what would he have
• 36:29
  done and that the Bible is not clear and telling us what he
• 36:33
  would have done? And that kind of comfort to me
• 36:35
  more than anything else because it wasn't telling us that there
• 36:38
  was a specific way that he was going to answer and they should
• 36:40
  look for that thing. All it says is that they were
• 36:44
  fault for not seeking counsel. Here's my responsibility in
• 36:47
  yours in this life, bring it before.
• 36:49
  God, that's Part and God will do his part.
• 36:52
  A God, who is a god of communication, to make it
• 36:55
  exactly know how you need to know about it, to be confirmed
• 37:00
  before moving forward. It's not a but about putting
• 37:05
  certain things down what you look for, it just simply coming
• 37:08
  before him and laying it down before him.
• 37:11
  And in humility persisting in that posture of dependency, it's
• 37:15
  not about a particular sign. It's not about some kind of a
• 37:19
  wonder that will persuade you, it's simply about doing your
• 37:23
  part Lord. I see this as a good thing, I
• 37:27
  might not understand the depths of it, I don't know the motive
• 37:30
  here, but protect me. Protect me.
• 37:35
  I don't want to do the wrong thing.
• 37:37
  I want to be in your will when you when you talk like that,
• 37:40
  when you speak to the Lord, he has a holy obligation.
• 37:44
  As a father would for his child to hold you tight in, to make
• 37:48
  sure that you will not Veer off into something.
• 37:52
  That will hurt you and dishonor, his name.
• 37:58
  You sit before the Lord like that here in the safest place in
• 38:01
  the world safest place in the world.
• 38:04
  And I know some might think that this is overly simplistic.
• 38:08
  Maybe even dangerously simplistic.
• 38:09
  You know why I get it. The reason why is because you
• 38:12
  have some people who are out there who are obviously making
• 38:15
  terrible decisions, ungodly decision unscriptural,
• 38:18
  decisions. All in the name of, I prayed
• 38:19
  about it and God said it was fine, right?
• 38:22
  I prayed about it and God gave me peace.
• 38:26
  Yeah, so pray about it. That's all you need to do.
• 38:29
  You forgot the first point? Before you can even pray about
• 38:33
  anything. You first need to establish in
• 38:35
  your heart that you are a lover of the truth.
• 38:39
  You're a lover of that which is true.
• 38:41
  You are totally sold out for the will of God.
• 38:48
  In your life and if that is not established pray all you want
• 38:53
  get all the sensation of peace and calm that you can get.
• 38:57
  The Bible says in Proverbs 28:9 if anyone turns his ear away
• 39:01
  from the law even his prayer is an abomination.
• 39:06
  That's scary. This is say that he won't listen
• 39:09
  to your prayer. He says, your prayer is an
• 39:12
  Abomination. If you have no regard for my
• 39:15
  word, my will my sovereignty. My providential leading in your
• 39:20
  life. If you do not ultimately
• 39:22
  surrender to where I take you and what I want to do with you
• 39:25
  pray, all you want, it's futile. And will take you anywhere.
• 39:31
  What needs to happen first is a person who has the conviction of
• 39:35
  the truth being the driving seat of their lives. and if not, Even
• 39:44
  prayer can lead you astray. Because you're not praying to
• 39:47
  the god of Truth. What God looks for first in that
• 39:51
  heart that desires to know his will?
• 39:53
  Is that? Is that desire?
• 39:56
  There is a living. Is it Supreme is a primary if
• 40:00
  not can't hear your prayer, I'm sorry.
• 40:04
  So that's why I've seen so many people in life nose.
• 40:07
  Dive into concrete. And they backed up that trust
• 40:13
  when they flew off the ceiling or the roof because they prayed
• 40:16
  about it. Jesus says something astounding
• 40:20
  and John 7:17 highlight this one.
• 40:24
  He says, if anyone's will is to do, God's will he will know
• 40:29
  whether the teaching is from God?
• 40:31
  Or whether I am speaking on my own authority, look at the first
• 40:34
  part. If anyone's will, is to do God's
• 40:39
  will he will know? So there's a principal there
• 40:46
  that God looks at the motive. God looks at the heart.
• 40:49
  God looks at the sincerity. God looks for the longing.
• 40:52
  God looks for the purity of a person who wants to be where God
• 40:56
  wants him to be, who wants to believe the truth that will
• 40:59
  save. And once the accurate
• 41:01
  Revelation, Jesus said, if that is your will to do gods with,
• 41:05
  you will know That's glorious. Carry that with you, step by
• 41:14
  step. but there is something that Joshua failed to do here
• 41:20
  before even his His decision not to seek God and we may miss it,
• 41:26
  if we read the text very quickly because the interaction that he
• 41:30
  has, where they give you a knight's reveals another
• 41:32
  biblical principle, which I will close with.
• 41:36
  That will help us be deceive proof for the rest of our lives
• 41:40
  will help us minimize the chances of going the wrong way
• 41:44
  go back to Joshua 9 and we're going to end it here.
• 41:49
  Joshua is engaging with the gibeonites.
• 41:53
  He doesn't know that they're gibeonites.
• 41:56
  And we read here in Joshua 9 verse 6 and they the gibeonites
• 42:01
  went to Joshua in the camp at gilgal and said to him.
• 42:06
  And to the men of Israel, we have come from a distant
• 42:08
  country. So now make a covenant with us.
• 42:11
  That's pretty bold. Very general, very
• 42:15
  straightforward. And I applaud Joshua's
• 42:18
  leadership here verse 7, but the men of Israel said to the
• 42:22
  hivites. Perhaps, you are living among
• 42:24
  us, then how can we Make a covenant with you.
• 42:27
  Great question! Great, screening and guess who's
• 42:31
  really nervous at this point? They give you a nice.
• 42:33
  You know how I can tell look how they answer in verse a.
• 42:35
  They said to Joshua. We are your servants.
• 42:38
  So nervous, you can tell it's like we're your servants.
• 42:43
  And he presses. They continue to ask, they
• 42:46
  continue to investigate. And Joshua said to them, who are
• 42:51
  you? And where do you come from?
• 42:53
  Who are you and where you come from?
• 42:55
  Remember that because what you will see after this is in their
• 42:59
  answer, very lengthy and pretty sentimental, pretty heartwarming
• 43:04
  actually, but they didn't answer the questions.
• 43:08
  The questions were, who are you? Where do you come from?
• 43:12
  Here's their answer, at least in verse 9.
• 43:15
  They said to him from a very distant country.
• 43:17
  Your servants have come because of the name of the Lord your God
• 43:21
  for we have heard a report of him and all that he did in
• 43:23
  Egypt. My question is, who are you?
• 43:28
  Where did you come from? We are your servants were from a
• 43:31
  distant country. Joshua red flag.
• 43:35
  Red flag, they're not answering your questions, they're not
• 43:39
  satisfying, the measure that you need to know in order to make
• 43:43
  this decision. And although I can applaud
• 43:47
  Joshua up to this point. It goes downhill from here
• 43:51
  because they continue to speak and listen, they use the name of
• 43:54
  God and they even, they even show some knowledge of his ways.
• 43:57
  This is what you did to Sion. And this is what you did to OG.
• 44:00
  And we heard what happened in Egypt, and to top it all off, as
• 44:04
  the cherry on everything else, they brought these elements that
• 44:08
  seemed to indicate that they did come from a far place and Israel
• 44:13
  missed it. Here's what I am pointing to, as
• 44:18
  we close. While you are cultivating a love
• 44:21
  for the truth. And while you have a Perpetual
• 44:24
  practice of ringing matters before the God who can make
• 44:28
  things known in very creative ways, doesn't have to speak
• 44:31
  audibly. He and his great Providence and
• 44:33
  is a visible hand. Can maneuver things to protect
• 44:36
  you. And I while we do those two
• 44:38
  things, those foundational things, those pillar of
• 44:40
  practices. We each have the responsibility
• 44:44
  to test everything. Joshua failed.
• 44:49
  Not because he asked questions but he didn't ask enough.
• 44:53
  That's where you feel. If you had asked more, if you
• 44:56
  had pressed the, perhaps everything would have been
• 44:59
  exposed, Paul told the Thessalonians not in his second
• 45:03
  letter, but the first in verse 20 of chapter 5 do not despise
• 45:08
  prophecies but test everything. Do not despise prophecies but
• 45:13
  test everything, hold fast. What is good?
• 45:15
  The nasb would read it this way but examine everything
• 45:19
  carefully. Christianity does not call us to
• 45:24
  give our hearts to Jesus and abandon our brains at the altar.
• 45:31
  But for some reason, many have this belief that rational
• 45:34
  thought is the enemy of spirituality.
• 45:38
  And so what you have is intellectualism apparently is a
• 45:41
  temptation is a temptation to avoid since it is an obstacle to
• 45:47
  spirituality because now spirituality even amongst this
• 45:52
  generation of Christians is synonymous with sensation, If it
• 45:58
  feels good, if it makes me cry, if it makes me do this, if it
• 46:02
  caused me to do that, then surely this experience that's
• 46:05
  producing some level of good. At least initially is spiritual.
• 46:14
  And so in order for me to prevent going in a different
• 46:17
  direction with this message, let me just say one thing with that.
• 46:20
  Thought the God, who is spirit that God who perform signs and
• 46:24
  wonders and can still do Miracles today, the god whose
• 46:27
  Supernatural did a surgery in the heart of your soul.
• 46:31
  And now fills you with real tangible observable power that
• 46:35
  same God chose to out of all. The means to communicate and
• 46:40
  reveal himself through a book. A book.
• 46:45
  Meaning, you got to pick it up and read it and study it and
• 46:51
  compare it, and dig into it. In other words, Christians
• 46:55
  should use their brains We're not a brainless religion.
• 47:03
  We are not some syrupy softie if it's all, yes, that's fine.
• 47:08
  Just because somebody said God said, just because a Bibles in
• 47:11
  their hands, just because the music makes me feel in a certain
• 47:14
  way. That's not us.
• 47:17
  And what's important to understand here is that even in
• 47:20
  the context of a spiritual experience, with the
• 47:23
  Thessalonians where somebody is prophesying.
• 47:25
  Now, whether you believe that means preaching, or speaking
• 47:28
  with a spontaneous revelation of the Holy Spirit, concerning a
• 47:31
  matter that couldn't be no naturally, both rules, apply
• 47:35
  test, everything. If it comes with the autograph,
• 47:42
  this is the Lord or this is of God.
• 47:47
  That's the ask questions. Compare pause step back, talk to
• 47:52
  people that, you know, love God's word fear, God's word.
• 47:57
  I've talked to some people listen.
• 47:58
  I've seen this in my short time in Ministry.
• 48:01
  There are some all it takes is, God said And there, what wrapped
• 48:08
  up in a whirlwind and you never see them again, or there are
• 48:10
  haunted by his statement, just because somebody came off
• 48:13
  spiritual and you, how to quote a few verses or knew them for
• 48:17
  about few months and said, the Lord showed me and the Lord told
• 48:21
  me. And then when you approach this
• 48:24
  person and when you try to be past all you try to be a friend
• 48:27
  who loves people because you love God and you're holding
• 48:30
  somebody called me said, what's what's going on?
• 48:32
  Well, I don't want to be skeptical, I don't want to doubt
• 48:34
  God. Hey, the same God that you're
• 48:38
  worried of displeasing for apparent, lack of faith, is the
• 48:41
  god who said test everything So, test it.
• 48:45
  He's telling you, you want to please God in this whole
• 48:47
  experience test. It will just swallow it up.
• 48:53
  Examine it evaluated and depending on the nature of the
• 48:58
  truth, don't be quick to get caught up in it. and my brothers
• 49:03
  and sisters, we can continue for the rest of this morning to do
• 49:07
  greater things that we can apply but these three suffice when you
• 49:11
  love the truth, in your heart, whatever it cost you Whatever
• 49:17
  cost you for your own Pride, whatever cost you in your life.
• 49:21
  And when you know how to come before God for Ernest council,
• 49:25
  with a Bible tightly gripped in your hand. and when you know how
• 49:30
  to exercise the command given to us to use this brain, And to ask
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  specific questions and to examine.
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  And to look, before you give a judgment, you can know a deceive
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  proof life. Let's pray.
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  Lord, we thank you for this weekend together.
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  Thank you that your word has equipped us.
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  For what is ahead? Lord has James told us.
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  We do not presume that tomorrow will come.
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  We do not presume that our plans, next year will be in
• 50:28
  place, but we say if the Lord wills, and Lord between now, and
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  next year though, we long to be reunited.
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  We know that events can quickly change, not just in our own
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  lives. But around the world.
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  Around the world to such a degree that it will alter Our
• 50:47
  Lives. We do not fear the future.
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  We do not fear the future for your church for the Gates of
• 50:56
  Hell will not Prevail and we will not fear our own Futures
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  because you are a God who leads us perfectly.
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  And all you ask is for the humility to trust and obey.
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  Lord, we ask that leaving this place.
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  There would be an excitement. And that there would be a
• 51:17
  clarity. There would be a Clarity, like
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  we've never known. And all aspects of Our Lives.
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  We give you the glory for you or for us and you are with us and
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  we pray that we would be testimonies of Truth in an age
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  that hates the truth. We love you with all within us.
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  Protect us as we go back home to our own Ministries, Throne
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  families, thrown workplaces. May what has been deposited
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  within us translate in our daily living We believe that you are
• 51:52
  able to do it and we would joy Rejoice at the truth As we sing
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  together as final time in Jesus name we pray.
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  Amen.