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#16218 - God is Greater Than Your Heart - 1 John 3:16-24 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen, Amen. Open your Bibles, the first John
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chapter 3 and we're going to pick up and end the chapter
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today in verse 16. I've entitled this very
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important to you. Even just the title of the
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message is so powerful because it's a solid truth and the title
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of the message is God is greater than your heart.
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God is greater than your heart. And I believe John, John uses
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this phrase. He's using it to describe the
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overwhelming sense of your emotions and the depth of your
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feelings. As the Greek would use the heart
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to describe the inner. The Hebrews would talk about the
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the sum of who you are, your heart.
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Or even today we'll use the phrase, won't we?
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The heart of the matter and what we mean by that is the substance
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of the matter. God is greater than your heart.
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Now, as we pick up in verse 16, John the elderly and the wise,
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the apostle of love is teaching the believers that love is
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supreme. He's teaching the believers then
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and now how important it is to love, how important love is.
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Have you learned that yet? Now, I guess that question, you
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know, we kind of would approach it as yes or no, but really the
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answer is we're learning. We're learning along the way the
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power of the agape love of God, both to be received and to give,
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to walk in love, to walk in the Spirit.
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Love becomes a good habit. It flows through our lives,
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through good habits, through our minds.
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Surrender to the Lord, to our lives, surrender to the Holy
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Spirit. The Holy Spirit will lead you to
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love the Holy Spirit's presence in your life.
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The fruit of the Spirit is love. Some commentators look at the
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fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians, and they say that the
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fruit of the Spirit is singularly love.
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And then all the other characteristics flow from love.
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And I, whether you see them individually or you see them as
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manifestations of love, that's fine one way or the other, that
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the presence of the Holy Spirit will always fill you with love,
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always lead you to love, always surround us with love, always
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flow through us in agape love. We studied, I don't know, many
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years ago in First Corinthians. If you're looking just to have
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a, a, a broader sense of this agape love and a deeper
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definition, pull up the study in First Corinthians chapter 13.
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Go back and listen to the Bible studies on the app or on the
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website through 1st Corinthians 13.
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And that will help either remind you or bring to you a new
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understanding or a fresh understanding of this self
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sacrificial love that's been demonstrated to us by God.
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That is what John is Speaking of here as he experienced it and
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he's teaching us. You can jot it down in Second
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Thessalonians chapter 3 verse five, he Paul writes to the
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church. He says, now may the Lord direct
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your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
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And I wonder how many today listening, this is what you
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need, that the Lord, you need the direction of the Lord in
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this situation or with this person or whatever you're facing
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to be directed both into the love of God and the patience of
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Christ, that that is God's heart for you.
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The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit pours out in our
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hearts the very love of God. Romans chapter 5 verse 5.
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Now hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been
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poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
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John is giving this message to those that will hear, to those
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that will receive, that we might walk and live and extend and
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receive and enjoy agape love among us.
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Agape is an interesting word. It's good to remind.
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It's I, I like the fact that it's interesting because it
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helps us remember it. It helps us like, OK, agape, it
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refers to God. It's singularly a word that
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describes God. If you ever see agape love or
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ever, ever experience agape love, it originated with God.
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It didn't originate with us. The world doesn't know anything
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about this. The world can't experience it.
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All that the world can do is enjoy it but not understand its
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source, agape love. It's a good word to be reminded
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because our English word, our English is so limited when it
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comes to love. That's why there's some
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confusion around love. You know, in a very simple way,
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we can use love in a lot of ways.
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We could say, you know, today I could say I love my wife.
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And then I'm having a conversation and I'm like, you
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know, I really love ice cream. And I'm using the same word, but
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I hope I mean it differently. I mean, I hope I'm described.
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Hope you're described. How about me?
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I know what I described, but I hope you're describing when you
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say you love someone and then you say you love a car.
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You know, I just really love Mustangs.
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You know, I'm a Ford guy. I just love Chevrolets.
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I hope you're not describing a love for a car like you have a
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love for a person, but we don't have another word.
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I mean, we could say we like very much, but really love.
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We understand something, we like something we appreciate, but
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then that love for someone, it seems to not even encompass what
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we're feeling and what we're thinking.
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But that's all the word we have. Otherwise we have to go off on
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all kinds of descriptive words. Of course, we don't mean the
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same thing. And so for the sake of you
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taking notes, let's look at a few Greek words that are used in
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the Bible that are translated love.
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And you can see how the Greek language was able to encapsulate
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different facets of how we relate to one another.
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The first Greek word that's used in the Bible describe love is
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the Greek word phileo PHILEO phileo that me speaks of a
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friendship love. And you could be reminded of the
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definition of this by just thinking of the city of
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brotherly love is Philadelphia, and it comes from that Greek
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word. You amazed and be amazed how
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many English words come from the Greek in Philadelphia, a
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brotherly love. Hebrews 13 one uses this word.
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Let brotherly love continue. The brotherly love is phileo.
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It's not agape. It's it's there's a different
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connection of love. The second word used to describe
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love is not used in the translations that we have today,
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but it was used in the Septuagint and it's used, it was
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used in common in Greek culture is the Greek word Eros.
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Eros. It's where we get our English
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word erotic. And this love speaks of a sexual
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intimate type of love and could be used positively or negatively
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depending on what the context of how it's used within marriage.
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Eros can be very good outside of marriage can be very sinful.
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The third word that's used to describe love in the Bible, the
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third Greek word is storge, STORGE And this speaks of like a
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fondness or a family type of affection.
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We see this word in Romans chapter one, verse 31, where it
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describes those that are in sin use the opposite word that as
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undiscerning, untrustworthy. This is Romans 131 and unloving,
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unforgiving, unmerciful. What it's saying is they're not
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expressing even Storegate. They're not even loving their
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families. They're they don't even have a
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familial fondness type of love. And the final word as we see
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used here in first John is the word agape on this word
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describes a selfless self sacrificial type of love that
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originates from God. John chapter 14 verse 21.
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He who has my commandments, Jesus says and keeps them.
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It is he who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my
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Father, and I will love him and manifest, manifest myself to
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him. One of the most astounding
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truths that we read of in the Bible, one of the most
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astounding truths that the gospel of Jesus reveals to us is
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how a holy and righteous God would love you and me, unholy
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and unrighteous people, That he would bridge that gap, that he
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would reach down in the worst condition, as we learned in
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Ephesians, while we were dead, in our trespasses and sins,
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while we were living in the flesh for the flesh, rebellious
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toward God, It's astounding to think that God would reach down
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and love us. It's the very essence of the
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grace of God. It is the singular most popular
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Bible verse in all of history. For God so loved the world that
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he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in
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him would not perish, but have everlasting life.
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That word agape, that God so agape the world, and he loves
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you. It's not just an abstract term.
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God loves you. Today you may have woken up,
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looked in the mirror and consider yourself and you go.
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You know you're not. You're in a position in your
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life right now where you don't love yourself very much, where
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you don't care. You're living under condemnation
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where you're beating yourself up, you're living under the
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weight or the shadow of shame and you're just looking at
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yourself and just you're not proud of yourself.
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You're on the other end of some failure, some sin, just a, a
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life. Maybe you haven't been
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encouraged your whole life and you just you look at yourself
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and go, I don't even think I would love me.
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God loves you. And as we'll learn in a moment,
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even if you feel that, even if you think that God is greater
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than your heart, you don't want to stay in a position of beating
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yourself up or a place of condemnation.
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Because eventually it may start with a feeling, a real feeling,
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and just kind of assessing your life.
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But eventually, if you don't turn from that type of behavior,
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you're going to be living in sin because you've chosen not to
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believe God. You've chosen not to believe
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God, how he sees you, the truth about your life.
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It's not like, you know, we cleaned up our lives before we
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got saved. It's not like we got everything
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in order and then came to God with an airtight case of how we
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deserve to be saved. No, no, God, the love of God
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came to us without a cause, without a 'cause there was
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nothing truly in us that said, oh, that's the one.
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You know why God chose us? Because He loves us.
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That's it. It, it originated with him, it's
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continues with him and it ends with him.
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That's where John is. That's what we're in packing,
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unpacking and what we've been unpacking in our study through
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first John. So pick up with me where we left
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off. Verse 16.
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By this we know agape. By this we know love.
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OK John, how do we know it? Because he laid down his life
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for us. And we also ought to lay down
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our lives for others and for the brethren.
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Now, interesting. The love of God is proven and
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demonstrated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
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It says very clearly, how do we know?
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How do we know love? We know love because Jesus laid
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down his life for us. That's the definition.
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The definition is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son
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of God, who died on the cross, was buried and rose again the
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third day. That's how we know love.
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We know love because of what Jesus has done for us.
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He set the ultimate example. The ultimate example is not me,
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and it's not you, and it's not your loving grandmother or your
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father or anyone that you look up to that has demonstrated
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great love and care and compassion to you.
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They are not the ultimate example.
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The ultimate example is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, His
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all that He endured for us. The scourging, the beating, the
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whipping, the crown of thorns, the blood, the spitting in the
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face, the tearing of his garments, the mocking, the made
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fun of the the casting of lots and gambling for his clothes to
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be brought down and then put on a cross.
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As a criminal in between two criminals and yet an innocent
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man. He's the ultimate sacrifice.
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But the ultimate sacrifice then follows through through those of
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us that follow Him. Jesus said the same thing.
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John chapter 15 verse 13. John 1513 says greater love has
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no one than this. And you know the rest, don't
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you? Than to lay down one's life for
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His friends. This is the pattern, how easy it
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is in our lives. I've certainly been guilty of
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this on my own walk with the Lord to look to God for what He
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can do for me and how He can answer my prayers and how he can
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act on my behalf and how he can Get Me Out of this jam or how he
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can lead me in this or how he can open this door.
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And, and I find at times that my relationship with God is often
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one sided. It's what I want and what I
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think I need and what I believe and, and, and I, I get very
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singular in my requests. And I, I wonder if you can see
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that in your own life at times where it's easy to look to God
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for what He can do for us, when in reality our hearts should be
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so softened by His love that we look to Him for what He has
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already done. And perhaps you already do that.
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I find that as a habit, it's kind of a habit.
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You hear it in my prayers. I hear it in my prayers as well,
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that often I'll just start out my prayers with some thank you,
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like just some appreciation. It's just where I'm at.
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It's not even a, a habit I learned.
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It's just where I'm at, where I'm just so grateful, so
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thankful. I, I, I look at my life of, and,
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and I look at gratefulness, you know, in the smaller things in
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life. But but really I'm grateful that
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he saved me, that he entered into my life and that he
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sacrificed God the Father, sacrificed his own son, his only
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son on our behalf. And what John is saying here,
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and it's very important that you open yourself to this.
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It's very important that you do your own self reflection on
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this. It's very important that in a
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Bible study, in any Bible study, but this particular point that
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you really spent some time this week meditating on it, being
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serious with it, being honest with God about it because it is
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something that is lacking among the church today.
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And that is any real manifestation of the agape love
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of God within believers will be self sacrificial.
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It will be so you will be last in the expression of love.
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You won't get anything in return.
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You won't be looking for motives of if I do this, then I might
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get this or if I work this deal, if I go over there, what do you
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have for me? And any dealings with each other
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and any dealings with the Lord, You know that you're lacking and
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I'm lacking in agape love. When there's still something in
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it for me. It's all about me and I'll do
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it. It's this big sacrifice for me,
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but really I'm limiting my sacrifice by what I get back or
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what the results will be. Or I might have something in my
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heart and I think it's right before the Lord.
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But then when things don't turn out my way, I find out, oh, it
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wasn't all that self sacrificing after all.
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The Lord's showing me that I'm not walking in agape love.
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I might be have some kindness in me.
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I might have a little, but this is what John says.
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Not only did He lay down His life for us, verse 16, but we
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also ought to do the same thing. We also ought to do the same
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thing. Self sacrifice is the call and
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the requirement of the disciple and I have found this to be
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true. When my life is motivated by the
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agape love of God. It is a very powerful and
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effective movement of my life toward Christ.
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I also have found this to be this attitude of self sacrifice
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and walking in agape love is a friendship saver.
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I mean, how many of you you've been hurt, you've been dealing
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with something with someone else and God finally speaks to them.
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They come very humbly and broken, maybe in tears asking
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for forgiveness, that when you're in the right place and
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they're your heart's just broken.
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It's like, OK, I mean, we may have some things to work out,
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but this is so good. I mean, this is so amazing.
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And and you're just, you're just wanting to clear the air.
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You just want to make it right. It's very hard to resist
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humility. I mean, if you resist someone to
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tumble with you, your heart is hard.
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My heart is hard because the Bible says if we're reflecting
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the agape love of God, that's really what John is telling the
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church. He's telling the church, look,
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live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, enjoy the love of God
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because when you're in the Spirit, you reflect God.
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And what does God do with humility?
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He's attracted to humility. He blesses the humble.
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He raises up the humble, but what does he do to the proud?
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He resists them. He resists the proud.
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He doesn't resist the humble people.
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Men and women in the flesh resist the humble.
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No, you have to do this and you have to do this.
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But in agape love there's self sacrifice on both sides.
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No, I'm sorry. No, I'm sorry.
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No, I'm sorry. No, you don't have to be sorry.
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No, you don't have to be sorry before you know.
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OK. Enough.
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Enough. The Lord is working in our
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lives. When two people are humble but
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one is humble, it unlocks a channel of agape love.
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It's a friendship saver. It's a marriage saver, agape
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love. It's a marriage saver.
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Where, you know, in marriages we argument can start out so little
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and then you let the sun go down on your wrath and then it's big
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and then before you know it, it's like, man, here, it's World
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War three. We're sleeping on the couch and
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whatever. And you're like, like, what are
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we arguing about again? You squeeze the toothpaste in
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the wrong place. That's what it was.
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It just made me so mad. And then and then you're so mad
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now you said this and you said this and then before you know,
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it's like you never, it's like, come on man, just buy 2 pieces,
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two things of toothpaste or whatever.
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Like it's but agape love, agape love.
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Like hey, it's no problem, whatever it might be.
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And of course that's a silly illustration, but it's also true
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for bigger stuff where you're just walking, just thinking of
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others. I can't wait till we get to the
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Philippians because he says that very directly, that the life of
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the disciple, we would just think of others more highly than
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ourselves. It's the essence of service,
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commitment. And isn't it very otherworldly,
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this agape love, even though there is much benevolence in
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this world, a lot of people doing good things, a lot of
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great charities, men and women that are devoted to be
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philanthropic is how you say it, and just really giving of their
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money, giving of their time there.
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There's a lot of that in the world, and I commend you
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listening that are set to help make other people's lives easier
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and to help them in their times of need.
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But only the church listen. This is very important.
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Although there's a lot of good deeds and a lot of good
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charities, only the church serves the world in Jesus name.
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Only the church serves the world in Jesus name for the sake of
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the gospel. That's very powerful difference.
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The power of being able to you know, you, you think of well
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some of these charities, they do billions of dollars and they do
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and I say thank you, thank you for helping others lives be
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better. But you're $1.00 given the name
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of Jesus has more power than a billion given in the name of
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some organization. Just $1.00 because that dollar
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belongs to the Lord and he's going to move it through your
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heart. And what, what happens when you
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give in Jesus name? You know what happens when you
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give and help and serve in Jesus name?
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Others are benefited, but aren't you, doesn't it?
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You're not just trying to appease your conscience as a
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believer when you're walking in there, you're not just trying.
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You know, I've done so bad. So I wanted at the end of the
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year, I just want to make sure you're not doing it.
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I I know you're not doing it so you can get a tax break.
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Even though you might take advantage of those things.
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That's not the mode, the mode, the the heart of the matter is
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your motive, your motive. It is the motive of the heart
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matters so much. And when you're touched by how
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can we not look at the cross now, just a few weeks away from
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Easter? How can we not celebrate the
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risen Christ? How can we not consider Good
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Friday? How can we not think in our own
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holy imagination what Jesus Christ did for us and not then
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turn to be sacrificial with others?
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There's something there's something wrong with you and me
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when we're not motivated to love as we experience the love of
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God. Notice what happens in verse 17.
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Now in verse 17, John says, But whoever has this world's goods
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and sees his brother in need and shuts up his heart from him, how
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does the love of God abide in him?
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My little children, let us not love in Word or in tongue, but
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in deed and in truth. The highest example is the
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laying down of our lives. Jesus showed it and demonstrated
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in a very unique way. And the sacrifice of Jesus is
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very different than world religions, than the philosophies
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and opinions of man. You know, the philosophies.
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There's always some new thinking, new philosophy, new
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way of approaching. And it's just talk, talk, talk,
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talk, talk. Have you heard this?
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And have you heard this? And of course, in this day, have
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you seen this? And this guy's got a new idea
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And check this video out and look at this reel and look what
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he's thinking about. It's just talk, talk, talk,
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talk, talk, talk, talk. Jesus not only talked, but he
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backed it up. He backed it up through action.
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The action he was called to. He was called to the cross,
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singularly called to the cross to die for our sins.
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The eternal God, Jesus, the eternal Son came down for us and
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he worked on the earth as a Carpenter from the age of from
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about the age of 12 to the age of 30.
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Then his ministry began and literally heaven flowed through
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this man, through his fingertips, miracles and
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healings. Demons are screaming and fleeing
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and running away. Winds and waves are obeying him.
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And yet he did this humbly, pointing others to the Father,
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and he died in the flesh and blood for us, His humanity.
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And he rose again. And here's what happens.
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This is how we respond, natural. But let's correct it if this is
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you, because I think in the church today it would be easy to
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go well, I'll die from my faith. I'll die from my faith.
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I'm with you, pastor. I'm ready to die from my faith.
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Whatever it takes, I'll be a martyr.
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And here's the truth. Almost every single person
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listening to me right now is not going to die as a martyr.
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That's not God's call for your life.
23:43
It's easier to claim to do something that probably will
23:45
never happen, isn't it? I'll die to be a martyr.
23:48
Will you die to your flesh for your wife?
23:50
Nah, no, I'm dying as a martyr. You know, it's probably not ever
23:56
going to happen. I mean, I'm not saying it isn't
23:57
going to happen. Looking at the day in which we
23:59
live and the challenges that our brothers and sisters are facing
24:02
around the world, I'm not saying martyrdoms not real.
24:05
I'm not saying that men and women aren't giving their life
24:07
for the Lord right now. I'm speaking to us in the
24:08
Western world right now. There's a very, very good chance
24:12
that we're we're not going to. But it's easy to say I'll die as
24:15
a martyr. I'll lay my life down, but
24:17
you'll probably be never asked to do that.
24:19
So what does John do in the 1st century?
24:21
Same with the believers. Then in the 1st century, he
24:24
says, no, no, here's the demonstration.
24:26
I want you to it's even though you were great aspirations and
24:30
you lay your down for I believe you.
24:31
Even even if you said it's not, I believe you.
24:33
I mean, we can all say things and it's at the point where
24:36
we're tested where it's all going to come out.
24:38
But I believe you. I believe your commitment to the
24:40
Lord is real. And if you were to say that with
24:42
sincerity, I receive it. I wouldn't want to see it, but I
24:45
receive it. I receive it.
24:46
I, I want you to express that faith and I want you to commit
24:49
to that. But that's not what John says,
24:52
John. John doesn't want you to be
24:53
looking to a day of martyrdom the rest of your life.
24:56
This is what he says. If you have this world's goods,
24:59
you want to sacrifice, you want to lay down your life.
25:02
If you have this world's goods and you see your brother in need
25:07
and you shut your heart up from him, how does the love of God
25:11
abide in you? Let's not love in Word or
25:15
tongue. Talk, Talk, talk, talk, talk,
25:16
talk, talk. You've been around the church
25:19
long enough. There's a lot of talk.
25:20
Everybody's talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk.
25:22
Good talk, bad talk, gossip. I'll do this.
25:25
I'll lot of talk. But John says the meat of the
25:28
Gospel, the meat of living out is action.
25:31
James says the same thing. Jesus said the same thing.
25:34
Paul said the same thing. Peter said the same thing.
25:36
You want to know why they all had the same author, the Holy
25:38
Spirit? And he gives an example here.
25:41
Let's go through this together so we can be clear on this.
25:44
First of all, number one, look at the criteria here.
25:48
The criteria is first, do you have this world's goods?
25:52
Now the, again, these could be, we could approach this very
25:56
subjectively as we compare to one another, but God is being
26:00
objective here. Do you have this world's goods?
26:04
So depending on who you choose to just to compare yourself to,
26:07
this is where you'll land. You know, if you look, I, you
26:10
know, people that may have more than enough the, the famous
26:12
people in the world, those have a lot of money.
26:14
So I don't have anything. But if you begin to travel, like
26:18
when you take these short term trips and you step into other
26:20
people's lives and you begin to get outside of Denver, you get
26:23
outside of Colorado, you get a, you know, even in, even in areas
26:26
in our own state, there's great poverty, great, great poverty.
26:29
But you look around the world and compared to the world, we in
26:33
our nation are a blessed people. And there's a lot of different
26:36
numbers I could share, but it's just important.
26:38
Even those that might be living paycheck to paycheck or those
26:42
that might be living on unemployment right now, or I
26:46
don't know what the number is, but are in a very strong
26:49
position where you have the world's goods.
26:52
We have really more of the world's goods than we admit.
26:55
Like we are in our culture. God has been so gracious to our
26:58
culture that now, you know, you need garages and basements and
27:02
even people are renting storage units for what?
27:05
What are in storage units? The world's goods under the lock
27:10
and key, The world's goods. What are in our basements?
27:14
Well, some of us world's goods, you know, like what's in the
27:17
third car garage. We're the third car garage, like
27:20
our car. We're so wealthy.
27:21
Our cars have a house, our dogs have a house.
27:25
I mean, this is what the Bible this is, this is where the Bible
27:27
meets the road, folks. This is life.
27:29
This is our life. You open up the Bible and what
27:32
is it? It's a mirror.
27:33
So #1 John says, do we have the world's goods?
27:36
We have to answer yes, no matter what.
27:38
Our station, some have more, some have less, but we have to
27:40
answer yes #2 I want you to see. Do you see your brother in need?
27:47
Do you see needs? Are you actively looking, seeing
27:51
needs around you? And let me be clear here, you
27:54
might want to mark this. This is key for you.
27:58
The word is need, not want, very important, a genuine legitimate
28:06
need. And this is where in an area
28:09
where this whole section here of how to demonstrate this really
28:13
does require discernment because this is all happening.
28:17
You don't have to like leave church today and try to figure
28:20
this out and test it on people and wonder.
28:22
This is the work of the Holy Spirit and you have the world's
28:26
goods. And how do you have the world's
28:28
goods? Because the Lord's blessed you.
28:29
It's all from the Lord. Secondly, do you see needs?
28:32
So before you even get to need, you have to say, are your eyes
28:35
open to this world? Are your eyes open?
28:38
Is a part of your life living for Christ open to be, to allow
28:43
the Holy Spirit to flow through you, right.
28:46
You cannot fill every need and God in other places is not
28:49
telling you to give others what you don't have.
28:53
I can somehow, you know, take responsibility for the needs and
28:55
then, you know, hurt yourself in order to help others.
28:58
That that's not from the Bible. The Bible says that we're to
29:01
work not only to provide for the needs of our home.
29:03
We'll see in Ephesians in future studies.
29:05
But also to give to those who have need, and needs are
29:09
different than wants. There are times, too, where we
29:13
have to explain to someone that what they think is a need is
29:17
actually just a want. We do that all the time here at
29:20
the church because we do have a benevolence ministry here where
29:24
we provide for the practical needs of those with both within
29:27
the church and also without the church through the food bank and
29:30
other opportunities. And so suppose somebody comes,
29:33
I'll give you an example. We have a couple coming in and
29:35
we just need money. We need money.
29:36
Church, give us money, Write me a check.
29:38
If you don't write me a check, I'm going to put a bad Google
29:40
review up there. And it's like, well, we have a
29:43
process. So we give them the process and,
29:46
and they say they have a need and, and on the application that
29:50
they fill out, we find out all they're in their head or in over
29:53
their head with credit card debt.
29:55
And that the money that they do have, they're spending
29:57
frivolously and they're spinning in a way where they're not using
30:01
it properly and through some other things.
30:03
And we have to sit down with them and say, no, no, your need
30:06
isn't for us to give you money. Your need is for some financial
30:10
counselling. No, we don't want financial
30:12
counselling. Cut us a check.
30:14
It's not going to happen. But that's not your need because
30:18
we can cut you a check and you'll go to the next church and
30:20
you go to the next church and you go to the next church.
30:23
Why don't you let us connect you with a pastor?
30:24
You can sit down and just help you.
30:26
We don't want that. Well, we're not on the other
30:30
side of this, because what their need is through the discernment
30:33
of a godly brother or sister is something far more than we
30:37
think. Notice the next thing he says
30:40
brother, his brother. This is to be practiced within
30:44
the body of Christ first to help brothers and sisters out.
30:50
We're to take care of the family first.
30:51
We've learned this in Galatians, didn't we?
30:53
Galatians chapter 6, verse 10, wasn't too long ago that we were
30:57
there. Therefore, as we have
30:58
opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are
31:04
of the household of faith, the brothers and the sisters to take
31:08
care of one another. Often times we will have those
31:11
that say that you, somebody in the church might encounter a
31:14
need and their counsel to them is called the church.
31:17
And if we get wind of that an opportunity, we go, wait a
31:19
minute, wait a minute, you're the church.
31:21
They already did call the church.
31:23
They're with you. No, no, no pastor, and we're
31:25
going to send them to you. It's like, well, I've got the
31:27
old my own people that I'm seeing and ministering to.
31:30
And so you think that you send them to the church, which may or
31:33
may not be the right call. You'd be led by the Holy Spirit,
31:36
but perhaps you're overlooking opportunities in your life
31:39
because you're the church and they're in your life.
31:43
They are your neighbor, your Co worker.
31:46
And it's not to send them to the body because God has sent the
31:50
body to them. And you may have opportunity.
31:55
You might even be overwhelmed like with needs and you like.
31:57
God is not asking us nor commanding us to do something we
32:01
can't, but what He is commanding us and revealing to us and
32:07
warning us is that phrase shutting up your heart because
32:12
that's easy to do in a world filled with needs and shysters
32:16
and scammers. I mean, aren't you hearing more
32:18
and more of that scammer? I got AI got an e-mail today
32:21
that was a scam e-mail that had a legitimate address from
32:25
another church. They wanted me to.
32:27
It's just a scam. So I reached out to that church.
32:30
I said, hey, I got this e-mail from someone on yours and I
32:33
don't think it's legit. And they go, Oh no, it's not
32:35
legit. It went out.
32:36
Somehow she opened something and sent a fake e-mail to her whole
32:40
address book, and then if I would have done it was sent out
32:43
to my whole address book and it was just not legit.
32:45
So in a world where we're all getting scammed and getting
32:48
ripped off, and it just seems the needs are rising
32:51
legitimately, but also the fake ones are liasing legitimately,
32:55
it's very easy. It's like, I'm not dealing with
32:56
them. Just shut my heart up.
32:58
But the point John is making is that when we shut our heart up
33:02
to those in need, it's a reflection that we aren't
33:05
walking in the agape love of God.
33:08
It's not OK. Do you have to give to everyone
33:10
to ask no discernment. The Holy Spirit will lead you
33:14
right here. John says just be open.
33:16
Let the Spirit of God lead you. Let him use you and especially
33:21
within the body of Christ. This is why you also especially
33:25
have to walk in discernment. And I just telling the pastors
33:28
today in our meeting, reminding them again of discernment
33:31
because This is why people like to come to church, not to pray
33:35
like you were praying PRAY, but to pray PREY on you and take
33:43
advantage of you and to come alongside you and you get
33:47
involved in your life. And it's like, oh, I hear this
33:50
and I see this and want to take advantage of you.
33:52
And maybe you've been burned by somebody like that.
33:54
So like, oh, I'm never going to no, no, don't shut your heart
33:57
up, but pray for more discernment.
34:00
And then we as pastors, when we get wind of this and stuff, we
34:02
talk about it, we pray about it and we deal with it.
34:06
So don't come to this church, anybody listening from outside
34:09
or you're here right now. Don't you dare come to this
34:11
church to take advantage of the church because as pastors, we
34:14
pray for wisdom and discernment to to help you not sin against
34:19
this precious flock. They are not here for you to
34:21
take advantage of. They are here to worship God.
34:25
And if you're here to take advantage of them, Jesus said
34:28
that we have the rod and the staff, and we almost always use
34:33
the staff, but occasionally the rod needs to come out.
34:35
Why? For the safety of the flock.
34:39
The safety of the flock. So don't number I, I jumped to
34:42
#3 without mentioning it. But shutting up your heart is
34:44
third. Shutting up your heart is third.
34:47
Do you turn away? He compares your heart to a
34:50
door. Is it open or closed?
34:52
Is it slammed or is it open? Especially those of you who have
34:55
been burned. I'm sorry, burned here because
34:58
we didn't catch them in time or burn somewhere else.
35:00
I'm sorry. That is not the heart of God and
35:02
it's just going to happen. You know, that's why we have
35:04
different people, security, seen and unseen.
35:07
And just like we want to take care of the flock because we
35:09
don't want you ripped off, we don't want you hurt.
35:12
We want you worshiping. We want you to trust.
35:15
But again, trust doesn't mean you let your discernment go.
35:19
Dust doesn't mean you let your discernment go.
35:22
And being burned, being taken advantage of can harden our
35:26
hearts. The Jesus love always softens
35:29
it. And so that's what he says there
35:32
do you, you walking in. If if your heart is hard and you
35:35
don't see needs, you don't care about your brother or sister,
35:38
then how can you say the love of God dwells in you?
35:40
That's what he says. Pastor Ed didn't say that,
35:43
although I did say it. I'm only quoting the Bible.
35:46
And imagine if we're taking this word of God seriously, like if
35:50
we really do take it seriously in this one verse, like, oh
35:52
Lord, I want the love of God. I want to open my eyes, soften
35:57
my heart with the what you've given me and whatever you have
36:00
for me in the future. Let me see that not only as
36:03
mine, but also let me see that as a possibility to give to help
36:09
those that are in need, in need. He says in verse 19.
36:14
Now he says, and then of course, verse 18, it was the same thing
36:18
James says throughout his whole letter.
36:19
Don't just be a talker. Talk, talk, talk, talk is cheap,
36:23
but also be a doer. Verse 19 and by this we know
36:27
that we are in the truth and shall assure our hearts before
36:30
him and as we're living self sacrificial lives, this is how
36:34
we'll know. And then he says in verse 20.
36:37
So now again, and when it comes to giving, some of you might be
36:41
listening or listening here, listening online, you go.
36:44
But but pastor and you have an example that's troubling you
36:47
right now. I had this person at the parking
36:50
lot or they were and I don't know, pastor, did I do the right
36:53
thing? Did I do the right thing?
36:54
You know when when you have that sense and maybe even you default
36:58
to condemning yourself like you always think you did the wrong
37:01
thing. This is the verse for you
37:03
because you don't always do the wrong thing.
37:05
You're not I I sure you believer your life is not 100% sin.
37:10
I promise you God will not allow that might be 99%.
37:15
You need to repent, but it's not going to be 100%.
37:17
It's not going to because the Holy Spirit's with you.
37:19
He's not going to allow you to go that far and it probably not
37:22
99 either. But notice what he says.
37:24
If you're the one that beat yourself up first, it's always
37:27
your fault. You're always it says this if my
37:30
if verse 20 for if our heart condemns us.
37:33
God is what greater than our heart and he knows all things.
37:38
Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence
37:43
toward God. So by love, we have confidence
37:47
and assurance before him. You've ever asked for
37:51
forgiveness and still struggled with the mistake.
37:53
Of course, you ever make a mistake, say something wrong,
37:56
you even ask for forgiveness, but it like there's still
37:59
tension, still difficulty, and then you feel so bad and you
38:02
beat yourself up because you wish it never happened to begin
38:04
with. Anybody, yes or no?
38:06
I mean, it's a pretty common, that's a pretty common response.
38:09
And our hearts become restless. We sink under the weight of
38:12
guilt and condemnation and really the whole premise of that
38:18
the book that I I just wrote on letting go of your past is
38:21
Romans chapter 8 verse one. Would you turn there?
38:23
The whole premise everything is built on branches off of the
38:27
truth here of Romans chapter 8 verses 1 and 2, but also here in
38:32
first John that God is greater than our heart.
38:35
Notice with me in Romans. I want you to turn there because
38:38
you need to mark this. Some of you.
38:40
This may be your memorization instruction.
38:43
You need to memorize these two verses so the Holy Spirit can
38:46
activate them in your life and you're not overcome by
38:49
condemnation. God is greater than your heart.
38:51
When you and I look to the Lord, he removes notice what it says
38:55
verse 1 chapter 8. There is therefore now.
39:00
When is now church? Right now.
39:02
So I read it a little bit ago. It's not now anymore.
39:04
You know what it is now, now. Oh, it's not now anymore.
39:08
It's now every time you read it. It's the eternal now.
39:11
This is true every moment of every day, every moment of every
39:15
day, every moment of every day. I'm just going to say it again.
39:18
There's therefore now. What time is that now?
39:20
But I, I already said it. So it's in the past, but it's
39:23
true right now. You ready?
39:25
There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.
39:30
Are you in Christ Jesus? God is greater than your heart.
39:33
There's no condemnation. And he adds, do not walk
39:37
according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
39:40
Why would he add that? Because when you walk in the
39:42
flesh, when I walk in the flesh, I believe the lie that my heart
39:47
is greater than God. That's why I believe the lie
39:52
that there's no forgiveness for me.
39:54
I believe the lie that what I've done is too much or 1000 million
39:58
other lies. When I'm walking in the flesh,
40:02
so when I'm walking in the flesh, I'm just believing a lie
40:05
and the lie usually ends up with I'm condemned.
40:08
Oh, I'm so horrible. I didn't do it right.
40:10
I didn't whatever it may be. And notice he says in verse 2,
40:14
for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me
40:19
free from the law of sin and death.
40:25
You see, the devil's condemnation and his lies are
40:29
meant to push you farther and farther away from God.
40:32
You can just jot it down. In Revelation chapter 12, verse
40:35
10, the devil is called the accuser of the brethren who
40:37
accuses night and day. Some of you live with this
40:40
torment. The enemy's just after you, just
40:44
throwing lies in. And because you've done
40:45
something, you've got something you, you know you made a
40:48
mistake. Your mind is sensitive.
40:50
You have a sensitive conscience about you, and the enemy's just
40:52
throwing things at you. And the devil's a master at
40:55
bringing you and me into condemnation.
40:57
He's such a creep. The devil is the whole demonic
41:00
realm where on the one side, remember those cartoons where
41:02
you had the devil, A little cartoon devil on one shoulder,
41:05
little Angel on the other shoulder.
41:07
But you know what real life is? Little devil on one shoulder and
41:10
a little devil on the other shoulder.
41:12
And on the one side, the devil's whispering in your ear.
41:14
Just do it. Just do it.
41:15
It's no big deal. It's fine.
41:17
It's not even sin. It's no big deal.
41:19
Nobody will be hurt. And you're just fighting and
41:21
wrestling in your flesh. It's like, OK, I'll do it.
41:24
And the second you step into the sin and sin, then voice changes
41:28
and go, you loser, you're a Sinner.
41:30
You don't love God. Who do you think you are?
41:32
And you're just caught up in it. Why?
41:34
Because you're listening to the wrong voice and your emotions
41:39
and you feel so bad. And the Bible just says this.
41:42
Be set free church. God is greater than our hearts.
41:47
We can believe the word of God when He says that we are
41:51
forgiven. God's heart is for not you to
41:52
run away from Him, it's for you to run to Him.
41:55
He wants to forgive you. He wants to restore you.
41:58
He wants to see relationships restored.
42:01
He wants to see, you know, black slates turn white again.
42:04
He wants you to start over. He wants you to obey the Word.
42:07
Though a man falls 7 times, he will stay down forever.
42:11
Now that's man's version. No, the Bible says that though a
42:16
man falls 7 times, he'll rise again, get up, get back in the
42:19
race, get back in the game, restore, forgive.
42:24
I love that God is greater. There's another verse that God
42:28
has given us in the scriptures that that says that even when we
42:32
are faithless. And imagine that you're dealing
42:35
with condemnation and then you're faithless, and then
42:38
you're hurting, and then you're doubting and then you're mad,
42:42
and then you're in the flesh and then you have I'm like, that's a
42:45
mixture of absolute, like you're done in the flesh, but in the
42:51
Spirit. God demonstrated his agape love
42:54
for you. You were in a far worse
42:56
condition than you are now, no matter where you might be, and
43:01
Jesus died for you. How much more does he love you
43:04
now by relationship? Isn't that met?
43:08
Don't you find that in friendships and relationships,
43:10
the more and more you get to know one another, the more and
43:13
more you go through things with with each other, the more and
43:16
more you have issues, but then you forgive like time and
43:18
testing. Don't you see most relationships
43:22
grow that way? Some don't make it, I
43:23
understand, but most relationships grow that way.
43:26
And then you got a story and when you get together and if you
43:28
do talk about it, you got man, Look what God has done.
43:30
We've been through a lot. We've been through a lot.
43:33
You know, Marie and I get away and we're looking at something
43:34
like, man, we've been through a lot, but here we are.
43:37
We're still going. She hasn't left me yet.
43:40
It's good, good, good. I changed the locks.
43:43
She can't go anywhere. I changed the locks.
43:45
And it's like, but I mean, we've been through a lot.
43:48
We've been through a lot. We've been through our own stuff
43:50
individually with each other. We've been through stuff
43:51
together. And you know, God has shown
43:54
himself faithful. We've been through stuff before
43:56
Christ. We've been through stuff after
43:58
Christ and where we are we today through time and testing closer
44:01
than we were. And we got stories.
44:05
You got stories. We got stories.
44:07
Stories of how we didn't think we're going to make it, Stories
44:10
of we didn't know we're buried under the weight.
44:12
Stories of how mad she may have been with me or how mad I may
44:15
have been with her. And she's like, oh man, that was
44:17
a dark, difficult day. But the Lord is faithful.
44:20
God's greater than your heart. When you have no faith, he, if
44:23
you are faithless, God remains faithful.
44:25
You can look to him. You can believe the truth
44:27
tonight and he'll deliver you. He'll rescue you, He'll
44:29
strengthen you, He'll help you. And then you wake up tomorrow
44:32
and you fail. And then you call me or you
44:33
e-mail me. Well, pastor, that wasn't true.
44:35
That didn't happen. No, no, no, no, no it.
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You just don't make a decision on a Wednesday night and think
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it's going to last the rest of your life.
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It's day by day, moment by moment, abiding in Christ.
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As long as you abide in Christ, the Lord shows Himself strong.
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You look to Him, He looks to you.
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You draw near to Him. He draws near to you.
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You don't draw near to Him. He pursues you.
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You run, run, run. He's running faster than you,
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but he's not going to force you to trust Him.
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He's not going to force you to yield.
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He wants relationship and he invites you to come to Him
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through the self sacrificial agape love.
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Notice with all of this, as we close in verse 22, he says,
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excuse me, I got to get back on the Romans.
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Let's come back to first John. He says this and 1st John, with
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all of this, we're walking in love, we're abiding in the
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Spirit. We're we're loving one another,
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demonstrating to the best, you know, small or large, whatever
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it may be. He says this is that this
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confidence toward God leads to whatever we ask, we receive from
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Him because we keep His commandments and do those things
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that are pleasing in His sight. Why would we see answered
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prayer? Because our prayers have been
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inspired by God and He answers the prayers that align up with
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His will. And so when you're walking in
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the Spirit, your prayers line up with his will.
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This isn't like a some teachers have taken this well, you know
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what? You can command God and whatever
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you ask. God's not obligated to answer
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our prayers and he won't answer, not according to his will.
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We have to come to him with an open heart, right?
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Like Jesus, the Son of God, he's praying in the gardening.
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What does he say? Nevertheless, not my will, but
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your will be done. But when you're walking in self
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sacrificial love and you're abiding in Christ and you're
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enjoying the fruit of the Spirit, these are your prayers.
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And then you start seeing answer prayer, answer prayer, answer
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prayer, answer prayer. I mean every time you ask God,
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every time you thank God for his faithfulness, answer prayer and
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just ask Lord, I want to see more of that.
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I got said no problem, no problem.
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I'm showing myself strongly. I just want to enjoy fellows
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should be no problem. I just want to know more of your
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word. No problem.
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I just want to help more people. No, no, no problem.
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Well, God, I want a Mercedes problem.
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I'm tired of riding a bike. Hey, man, you want to be tired
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of riding a bike, Wait till the bike is he gets a flat tire.
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You won't ride it anymore. You're going to walk that baby
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and the Lord goes. Are you still tired of the bike?
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No, Lord, no. You know those kind of prayers,
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they're not inspired by the Lord.
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And so if they're not answered the way you want them, don't get
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mad at God, but rather come back to the cross is not where John
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is pointing us. Go back to the cross.
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You, you and I, we veered so far from the cross.
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Let's come back to the cross where we see a Savior loving us
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with like, who knows what his he the Bible says that his visage
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or his his face was so marred you couldn't even recognize him.
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Imagine blood dripping and just some of the depictions of the
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crucifixion so brutal. And Jesus did that for us.
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That's who we're praying to. That's how we're praying to the
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cross, not for our own pleasure, but it does bring pleasure when
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we obey Him and do His things that are pleasing in His sight.
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This is the commandment, verse 23, that we should believe on
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the name of His Son Jesus, and love one another as He gave us
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commandment. Now He who keeps His
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commandments abides in Him and He in Him.
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And by this we know that He abides in us by the Spirit whom
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He has given us. Just a quick comment on this,
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Abiding means to stay put. And one way that you know that
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you're abiding in Christ is when you live an obedient life where
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you do what you know you're supposed to do and you don't
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make excuses. You don't live in compromise.
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You don't make, you know, like totally try to sidestep and
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excuse things, but you're just walking and I'm just walking
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remembering what Jesus has done, recalling his faithfulness and
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being appreciative of what he's where he's brought me and making
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sure my heart isn't shut up to others needs here in the body,
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but also outside of these walls to practice on each other, not
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to take advantage of one another.
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It's not just unbelievers that come to the church to take
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advantage. There are also people that say
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they're Christians. Those hurt the worst the people
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that say they're Christians and then their behaviors so not
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Christian and then they get mad when they you tell them that
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you're like, what are you going to get mad at me for?
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What are you going to get mad at me for telling you the truth?
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You you're in a place that you need to get right with the Lord.
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And so whatever place where we're always growing and we're
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always maturing and we're always in this place.
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Just take the heart to this week just kind of meditate on it.
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Let the spirit of God minister to you.
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Turn over one last verse and then pastor Sean will come up.
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Sean, you got, you can come up even now.
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Psalm 85, Psalm 85, verse one, just a couple verses in the
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Psalm that encouraged me as we close today, it says, Lord, this
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is Psalm 85. You have been favorable to your
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land. You have brought back the
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captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity
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of your people and you have covered all their sin.
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That's where it starts, what God has done for you.
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He's the initiator. Notice verse 86 or Psalm 86
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verse 1. Bow down your ear, O Lord, and
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hear me, for I am poor and needy.
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Preserve my life, for I am holy. You are my God.
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Save your servant who trusts in you.
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Be merciful to me, O Lord, for I cry to You all day long and
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rejoice the soul of your servant for to you, O Lord, I lift up my
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soul and look at verse 5 for you Lord are say with me you are
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good good. Some of you didn't turn to Psalm
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85 and 86. That's why we need Bibles at
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church is you happen to walk into a church that uses the
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Bible isn't that good? It's the authoritative word of
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God, whether it's on your phone or on a piece of paper.
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Use your Bibles because they want you to see this.
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Listen for you, Lord, are good, and you're ready to forgive.
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And You're abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you.
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Amen. Lord, thank you for Your word
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today that it might speak to us and grow us.
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You are ready to forgive. You're abounding in mercy,
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working at your ministry among us, and even now there's some
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that are just kind of condemned by what we heard today.
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But you are greater than our hearts.
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Don't allow the enemy condemn us.
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Don't allow our flesh to condemn us.
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Don't allow our habitual, maybe fleshly respond like human
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response that we're always the problem.
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But rather you're adding knowledge to us.
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You're teaching us. Certainly there have been times
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when we shut up our hearts, but Lord, open it.
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Certainly there've been times we have world's goods, but let open
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them. Lord, open our hands.
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Let us be faithful with what you have given us.
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Let us be faithful in our giving of tithes and offerings to your
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church. Right off the top, it says let
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us be faithful in taking care of our bills and making sure our
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home is taken care of. Lord, let us be faithful if we
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see a needle as a sister or a brother.
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Let us just kind of create a habit like if we're good at
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something, we'll just do it for them, just bless them.
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We'll just maybe something that's free, like sending an
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encouraging note or text and it's just free.
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Lord that we're the body of Christ seeking to love, seeking
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to care, opening our hearts, Lord, that in the days we have,
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we would just be walking in your agape love, agape love.
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Now have your way to this tonight in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
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delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
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prayer. Call us at 87730 grace that's
52:47
877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
52:53
integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
52:57
online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.