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Understanding the Spirit Led Life: Walking in Love pt V · Near East Christian Fellowship Sermons

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Hi there, welcome to NECF.
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We're excited to share today's message with you.
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Don't go anywhere, stay with us to the end for some valuable resources to enrich your
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faith.
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Here's today's sermon.
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First Corinthians 13, Though I speak with the tongues of men and
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of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
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And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
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and though I have all faith, so I could remove mountains, but I have not love, I am nothing.
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And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,
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but have not love, it profits me nothing.
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Love suffers long and kind.
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Love does not envy.
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Love does not pirate itself.
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Is not puffed up.
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Does not behave rudely.
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Does not seek its own.
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Is not provoked.
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Is no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.
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Bears all things, believes all things, hope all things, endures all things.
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Love never fails, but whether there are prophecies, they will fail.
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Whether there are tongues, they will cease.
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Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.
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So we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect has come, then
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that which is in the past will be done away.
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When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I taught as a child,
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but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
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For now we see in a mirror, dimly, or face to face, now I know in part, but then I shall
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know as I also am known.
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And now about faith, hope, love and these three, but the greatest of these is what?
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Is love.
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And then we have been communicating, you know, the idea of the spirit-led life and we said
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that is not necessary expressed in the spectacular.
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For you to be a spiritual man, we said the basic thing is not for us to see you acting
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in spectacular and amazing fashion.
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We don't have to see you raising the debt.
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We don't have to see you, you know, doing so many, so many things for us before we can
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conclude that you are a spiritual man.
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Or we said that the spiritual life or a life that is led by the spirit is first and foremost,
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primarily fundamentally defined by what is defined by love.
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And we cannot know how spiritual you are until you find yourself in a community of people
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and you interact with people and there's an exchange of ideas, some ideas contrary to
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yours, your views contrary to other people's views, until you exist in a community of people
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and you relate with people and then there is offenses, which is expected in a relationship
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with men.
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Then we see how we respond to these situations.
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Then we can engage whether actually we are spiritual or we are living according to our
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nature as men that are of the spirit.
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You know, sometimes we think that excluding ourselves and not associating with people,
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you know, will help us.
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Some people have, many years ago, they've excluded themselves from relationships with
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people, you know, they are monks, they keep themselves in caves, what do you call it,
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monasteries and the only thing they do is what?
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They pray so that they will be away from the sinful world.
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They will not relate with sinful people.
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That in itself does not actually, actually define your level of growth or maturity.
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As we can see from this text, it says, especially from verse one, it says, though I speak with
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tongues of men and of angels but have not loved, I have become sounding brass or a clanging
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cymbal.
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You can speak in tongues, which is of course we encourage you to speak in tongues, speak
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in the tongues of angels if it's possible, at the same time you can walk in the flesh.
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Hallelujah.
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Prophecy or prophesying and having so much knowledge, you know, one of the big challenges
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we have in our generation, as I always emphasize, is that we are full of knowledge.
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We know a lot in this generation.
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This is the most blessed generation in history that we have access to information at our
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disposal.
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We know a lot of scripture.
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In fact, we know interpretations, we know the Greek and the Hebrew, we know a lot, more
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than even our parents had never had the opportunity to know the things we know.
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But when we compare our lives and their lives, we can see the difference.
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Their generation seems to be better.
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With the increase of knowledge, we see deterioration in the world, in the standard of our living.
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So having understanding, having knowledge, you know, having all the information needed
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is not enough.
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It is by doing the world that we find profit in it.
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It is by acting upon the things that we know that we see the profit in.
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James 1 verse 25, James 1 verse 25 talks about, you know, doing the world.
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Give me James 1 verse 25.
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It says, But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is
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not a forgetful hearer, but a doer, this forgetful hearer is not just that you, it was in your
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mind and then you what? you forget it.
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No.
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It's a forgetfulness that is deliberate.
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You plan to forget about it.
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You know the truth, but you decided that you're not going to act upon it.
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You ignore the truth that you've seen, that you've known.
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So this person not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed
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in what he does.
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So the blessings come from what? from doing, not only knowing.
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Hallelujah.
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So based on the information you've gathered from January, February to December, I believe
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you should be walking the moon by now.
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So one of our biggest challenge is not taking notes because in this church, you know, we've
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tried to take notes, right?
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It's actually translating what is in the book.
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First of all, some people don't even care about the information that is coming.
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So when you're able to even gather the information, what do you do with the information that you
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gather?
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You have a duty to put into practice.
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So having knowledge is not enough, but Stu talks about it.
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He says, and though I have the gift of prophecy, you can prophesy, it's a gift.
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You never earned it.
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It's a gift.
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And understand all mysteries.
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You can dissect mysteries from scriptures, you know, you know that the mystery has been
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revealed.
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You can teach the mysteries.
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You can explain the mysteries and all knowledge.
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And though I have all faith, so I could remove mountains, you can do spectacular miracles,
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you can walk in the miracles.
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And when you look through your life, you can barely see a man that is loving.
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You know, the Bible says that you are nothing.
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Hallelujah.
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The Bible says we are nothing.
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You can do a lot of charitable activities.
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Some people do a lot of good works to feel good.
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Verse three says, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, you know, they call
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it giving back to the society.
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And though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing, which
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means that what is a possibility for you to do a lot of things, but you are not acting
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in love.
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It is not only speaking in tongues.
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It is not only giving prophetic words or any of the spectacular, but first and foremost
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an expression of love to others, especially those of the household of faith.
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This is what a spiritual life is all about.
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Hallelujah.
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We want to see you just moving away from, you know, just speaking to acting, just from
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a position where you have knowledge, to seeing the knowledge, you know, walking through you.
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And I want us to remember that here Paul was writing to a spiritual people who have demonstrated
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a high level of spiritual gifts, right?
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I believe, as we always say, that in the Bible, the Corinthian church have been classified
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as, you know, they've seen the work of God, right?
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They've seen the manifestation of the spirit of God.
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Let's just have a bit of an analysis of this church.
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Let's go to chapter one.
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Let's analyze this church a bit.
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Corinthians chapter one, let me read from verse one.
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He says, Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and sustenance
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our brother to the church of God, which is at Corinth.
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So he was writing to believers to the church for those who are sanctified.
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So they are sanctified people set apart for Christ called to be saints with all who in
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every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord both theirs and ours.
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Grace to you and peace from God, our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Now look at the next verses from verse four to verse nine.
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Look at how, you know, he talks about this.
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I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God, which was given to you by Christ
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Jesus.
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So this man have tested the grace of God.
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Verse five, that you were enriched in everything by him in all utterances and all knowledge,
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which means that this church has worked in this dimension, right?
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They've expressed utterances.
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They've they've worked in knowledge.
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Seven, even as a testimony of Christ was confirmed to you so that you come short.
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Look at this, he comes short in no gift.
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They come short in no gift.
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If it is a manifestation, they come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation
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of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end that you may be blameless in
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the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our
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Lord.
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So we can see here that this church, these are believers, these are men that have tested,
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these are men that actually the supernatural is not an issue for them.
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Hallelujah.
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But then this same church is embroiled in a lot of controversy.
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This same church that Paul is commending of their spirituality, of their ability to work
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in this supernatural, you know, gifts are embroiled in what I call controversy.
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First and foremost, we see that there was, even though they are spiritual, right, they
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were not working in the spirit.
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Even though they were spiritual people that are born of the spirit, they have the spirit
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of God in them, but they are not working in spirit.
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There was division in them.
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Drum to chapter verse 10 of that same chapter one.
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You see where Paul began to examine their issue.
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He says, now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you
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all speak the same thing, which means that they were speaking different things, which
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means that there was a division among them.
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That you, what, speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you.
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So this letter that he is writing to them is actually a response to the things that
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is happening within that congregation.
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There shall be no division among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the
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same mind in judgment, because division, right, division is not a fruit of the spirit.
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How we know that?
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Separatism is not a fruit of the spirit.
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He asked them in verse 10, now I plead with you, verse 11, I think.
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Yes.
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For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, that those of Clare's house,
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that there are contentions among you, those in Goaillel's cell, those in Pastor Victor's
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house, that big cell, that church in Heianican, right, that there is division among you, there
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is contentions among you.
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Now I said is that each of you says, I am for Pastor Victor.
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Some of you says I am for Paul.
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Oh I am for what?
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I am for Pastor Tidi.
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Oh I am for Christ.
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Verse 13, is Christ divided, was Paul crucified for you?
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Some people say I am from Rwanda, they are Nigerians, they are West Africans, we are
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East Africans in this church, we are the East African part of this church.
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Is Christ divided, was Paul crucified for you, or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
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Move to chapter 3, you will see more about that division.
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Paul continues, chapter 3 from verse 1.
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He says, an high brethren could not speak to you as to what?
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As to spirituals.
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Now he is not saying that they are not spiritual people.
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Are we together?
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Because he has commanded them earlier on, he has mentioned to them how he has seen them
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demonstrated that they lack in no spiritual gift, right?
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So he is not saying that they are spiritual people, he is saying that they are acting
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in a way that is unnatural to them.
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They are behaving as though they are, he called them carnal, in some translation he used the
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word carnal, right?
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An high brethren could not speak to you as to people that are spiritual, but as to carnal,
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as to what?
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As to babes in Christ.
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So that is an attitude of someone that is still childish, that is childish.
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I fed you with milk and not with solid food for until now you were not able to receive
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it and even you are still not able, even now rather, you are still not able, verse 3, for
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you are still what?
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Carnal.
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For where there are envy, now look at the carnal life, where are still, for you are
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still what?
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Carnal.
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For where there are envy, is envy the fruit of the spirit?
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If you are walking by the spirit, will we see envy in you?
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Strive, divisions among you?
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You know there are some people that they are just specializing in causing division.
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Wherever you enter a group, for example, they put in a group in a class to do an assignment,
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the moment you enter that group, you have some people, you begin to find a way that
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you can, you can either rebel against the leader, form another carcass inside the carcass,
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your family, you have your own favorites in the family, you've created a WhatsApp group
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inside the WhatsApp, inside the family WhatsApp group.
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That's a carnal lifestyle.
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For where there are envy, strive and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving
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like ordinary men?
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Means, are you not carnal and behaving like unsaved people?
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Are we together?
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For one one says I am for Paul and another I am for Apollos, are you not carnal?
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Who then is Paul?
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And then he went on to begin to teach about the unity and all those.
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This same church was embroiled in another facet of controversy, sexual immorality, chapter
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5, verse 1 to 5.
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As a spiritual church, these are saints.
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It is actually reported there because as I said, it's a response to a report.
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Yes, yes, the people have gossiped this total.
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It is actually reported by who?
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He didn't put the name of the person that reported.
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It is actually reported, which is a good report to be reported about them.
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It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and such sexual immorality
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that is not even named among the Gentiles, even unbelievers, even people that are not
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born again, they don't even do the things that you do.
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What do they do?
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That a man sleep with his father's wife and you are puffed up and not rather mourn that
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he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.
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For indeed as absent in body but present in spirit has already judged, we listen without
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judge, has already judged as though I were what?
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I were present with you.
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Him who has done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered
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together along with my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a warrant
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to opposition for the destruction of the flesh that his spirit may be saved in the day of
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our Lord Jesus Christ.
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I want to dwell on verse 5, what?
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If you are sensitive, you know what I did there.
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So there's a lot of controversy, the same sort of the spirit that is spiritual and I've
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tested and worked in tongues.
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If I read further you see that they are competing on who will give prophetic word, who will
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give interpretation but this scandal is happening in the midst of these people and Paul is telling
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us see this is a cannot, this is not walking in the spirit, this is not the life of the
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spirit, this is not the life that God has called you to live, you are walking not in
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your nature because let's look at the life in the spirit before we come back to this
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chart again, Galatians chapter 5 verse 16, we see that the element of the behavior of
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these men are as though they were walking in the flesh.
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I said then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the
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flesh lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these are contrary.
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So a spirit walking in the spirit is contrary to walking what?
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The flesh.
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So that you do not do the things that you wish quickly but if you are led by the spirit
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you are not under the law.
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Now the works of the flesh are evident we will know that these are the works of the
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flesh adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions,
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lusts, art boss of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness,
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revelries and the likes etc. of which I tell you beforehand just as I also told you in
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the time past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God
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and this seems to be the same lifestyle we see in the Corinthian church even though they
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are sent but the fruit of the spirit is what?
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It's love right and we say that this love in this love there is joy in it amen?
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In this love there is peace in it, in this love there is long suffering in it, in this
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love there is kindness in it, in this love there is goodness in it, in this love there
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is faithfulness in it, gentleness, self-control against all juries nor law and those who are
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Christ have crucified the flesh with his passions and desires.
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If we live in the spirit then let us walk in the spirit, let us not become conceited,
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provoking one another, aiming one another but then we see this church walking contrary
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to their nature as spiritual men.
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They are living, they are offending themselves, division, you know, controversies every day,
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problems as a result of you know their inability to allow the spirit of God to find expression
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through their life, demonstrating it in love.
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These folks were initiating lawsuit against themselves.
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Chapter 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verse 1 to 11 you see where they are suing each other,
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cheating each other, they will do business, a brother in Christ will do business and then
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he will dupe his brother.
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I don't understand how is that this chapter 6 would dare, dare any of you having a matter
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against another, go to the law before the unrighteous and not before the saints?
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Do you not know that the saints will judge the world and if the world will be judged
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by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?
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Do you not know that we shall judge angels how much more things that pertains to this
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life?
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If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those
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who are least esteemed by the church to judge?
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I say this to your shame, it is so that there is not a wise man among you, all of you are
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foolish, not even one of you who will be able to judge between this is his brother, that
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means you have matters.
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Some of you have issues with your husbands in the same church, before we know you call
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police.
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I mean there is a problem with you, if the church does not call police, you should not
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call police.
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In fact there are some cases that they have brought to me, I say see let's call police
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straight.
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It is not in our jurisdiction to handle, right?
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But when it comes to brother to brother, if you have a spirit of love in you, then it
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is not to drag ourselves all over social media.
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Some of us, the police we send people to is social is a public opinion, even before you
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speak to your brother you have already posted it on your status, you have broadcast it to
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your people and then your status becomes a notice board, where people even know that
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they have offended you.
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That is not working in love.
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I say this to your shame, it is so that there is not a wise man among you, not even one
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who will be able to judge between his brethren, he is asking, but brother goes to law against
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brother and that before what, unbelievers.
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Now therefore it is already an utter failure for you, that you go to law against one another.
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Why do you not rather accept wrong?
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That is why can't you just forfeit, just be cheated.
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Rather than going to the unbelievers, those who don't even have the love of God in their
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heart, you know there are some unbelievers that are even surprised at how believers behave
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within themselves.
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If this is the kind of Jesus you preach then we don't want to be a partaker of it.
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Some unbelievers are more righteous than you, at least they can lift a lot of things to
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slight, right?
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Why do you not rather let yourselves be cheated?
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No, you yourself do wrong and cheat.
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It is not that you yourself are cheating yourselves, you are cheating yourselves, you do transactions,
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the person who sends a transaction of five thousand, the person who sends four or nine,
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when the price is fifty point five, he says because it is you, I am giving you a broader
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price so you sell it at fifty one.
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You know there is something in Nigeria, whenever you go to a shop, I don't know about other
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countries, and the person says it is because of you, it is because I know you, just know
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that it is because he knows you actually that you can pay.
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But let it be just, right?
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Let it be just.
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You cheat one another and you do these things to your who?
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To your brethren, to the brothers in Christ.
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Hallelujah.
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You do this to your brothers in Christ and this is a life not led by the Spirit.
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Even though these men are spiritual men, but they have the potency to do what?
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To walk in the flesh, to allow, to walk in a nature that is not theirs.
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So for you as an individual, how do you judge yourself?
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How do you analyze your conduct in the body of Christ?
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Do you rather allow yourself to be cheated by a brother than to just cause heaven to
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fall on earth because of a little issue?
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Do you quickly bring issues to church?
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Or you form a committee of friends to dissect matters, to discuss issues, to judge, to get
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for sympathy?
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Where do you measure yourself?
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Now the centrality of the book of 1 Corinthians is to bring these people to a point where
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they walk in love.
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Hallelujah.
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As Paul was addressing every single issue, the issue is that they are not walking in
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love.
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The issue is that they are not allowing the Spirit of God to lead them.
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Because when the Spirit of God leads the life of a man, we see love expressed in him.
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We see him responding to the Spirit of God.
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We see love expressed in all facets.
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We see him able to understand with others.
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We see him showing empathy to others.
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We see him showing deep concern for the welfare of others.
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So in chapter 13, we see him anchoring his conversation on the real matter.
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It says, though I speak with tongues, which they do, of men and of angels, what I have
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not loved, I have become a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
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That means you are just making noise.
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That means that you are just making an empty sound.
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There's no use for you, Professor, because you see, the essence or the environment by
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which prophecies and the world of knowledge and all those things will thrive to be in
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an atmosphere of love, where the goal is not to outshine your neighbor, right, but is to
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minister to the needs of your brother.
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The essence of what you're saying, give your brother, prophesy to your brother, pray for
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your brother, bless your brother, is for you to express love to your brother and to your
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sister.
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It's not to show that you are spiritually mature, that you know I can speak in terms
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of what I can prophesy, no.
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It's to the end that we walk in love.
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So we say that we are to imitate the way God has loved us.
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Our own love, right, must be the kind of love with which God has loved us.
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Ephesians 5 verse 1, we've looked at it previously, be imitators of God as their children and
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do what?
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And walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and
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a sacrifice for a sweet smelling what?
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Aroma.
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So we see Paul explaining this kind of love.
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Verse 4 says love, give me this verse 4 in the Amplified.
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There's love that suffers long, no, 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4.
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Love that suffers long, Amplified, yes.
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Love endures long and what?
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And is patient and kind.
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God has been enduring us, amen.
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He has endured us and God is love.
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And that same love lives in us, so we have the ability to tolerate others.
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We have the ability to be patient towards one another.
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Love is never envious.
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Love never is envious, no boys are with jealousy.
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You know I heard someone say something that, oh this person is not jealous, that he loves
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me but he's not jealous.
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How can you be saying a believer should be jealous?
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As a what kind of love are you expecting to come from in that he's in a relationship with
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you and you want the person to be jealous about you?
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And is a dangerous kind of love you're looking for, not the love of God.
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Are you together?
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If the person is jealous and should act in jealousy towards another person because of
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you, one day he will demonstrate that spirit on you because that's not from God.
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So true love is never envious, no boys are with jealousy.
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It is not what?
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Postful or vain, glorious.
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It's all about you want to take the glory for everything they have done.
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You did a project, before we know it you are the one that have, even if you did all, you
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do not display yourself heartily as five.
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It is not conceited.
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What does it mean to be conceited?
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To be arrogant and inflated with pride from your words.
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The way we hear you speak to your brothers, this sounds condescending because you've hit
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some level of knowledge.
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You know some Greek and Hebrews and then you become condescending.
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You start looking down on people.
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You feel that you are already down.
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Nobody is your friend.
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Are you not so unaware that everybody is avoiding you?
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Because the moment they come close to you, you make them feel less of themselves.
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So what do they do when they see you, they greet you and they move.
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Even on Sunday, nobody wants to shake your hand because they don't know the word, even
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when you are given word of knowledge.
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There are some people who say look for a neighbor, they avoid you.
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Nobody wants to even hold your hands and pray with you.
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You miss the blessing of men.
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Are we together?
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Because men are an asset in your life that God has put around you.
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You miss the blessings of men.
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You miss the blessings of men that have been arranged to be a blessing to you, that are
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supposed to uplift you, that are supposed to correct you, that are supposed to furnish
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you.
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You miss the blessings of friendship, people at your own level.
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Because everybody will be avoiding being with you.
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And I can assure you that you cannot live alone.
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This Christian life is meant to be lived in the community.
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Are we together?
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We are meant to live in the community.
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You have root to lead us.
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Yes, it is not root, unmanly.
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Even if you are older than a person, it does not act unbecomingly.
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Love, what kind of love?
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God's love in us does not insist on his own rights.
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I don't want to begin to say something because you think it's your mother and I'm discussing
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your poop it.
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A brother and a sister did business in this church.
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They wanted to tear their clothes because of commission.
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Some of you, when you start coming, will not see.
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We've taught you enough to start knocking your head physically.
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I mean, what inspired that kind of violent lifestyle?
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You always want to do what?
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To be the one to gain.
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You don't know.
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Let me tell you something.
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You don't know if your brother gains.
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It's better.
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It's to your own advantage.
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You don't know.
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The moment you see your sister is blessed, envy enters.
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When you begin to feel uncomfortable at the blessings of others, it means that you have
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a fundamental problem that needs to be checked because you cannot enjoy the blessings of
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others if you are envious of them.
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Even if you are in a problem, they want to help you, you say no.
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Come on, I'm okay.
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I'm okay.
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You're not really okay.
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You need help.
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And allow people to help.
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You see pride, envy.
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There are conjunct twins.
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If you separate one, the other will die.
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And it's not love.
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It's not walking in love.
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Love does not seek its own way.
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For it is not self-seeking.
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It is not touchy or any little thing you provoke.
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People are even scared of even telling you that this thing you did is not right because
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they don't know how you respond.
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Everybody is very, oh, when it comes to, ah, bro, Matthew, not you.
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Ah, his case is different.
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And you can, even your leaders are not comfortable speaking to you because of the response that
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can come from you.
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It is not self-seeking.
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It is not touchy or fretful or resentful.
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It takes no account of evil done to it.
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It pays no attention to what is so far to wrong.
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I've explained this before.
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You have an archive full of everybody's sin that have committed sin against you in this
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church.
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If you are 50 years old and you are keeping wrong of everybody in your life that has offended
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you, you have a very big library.
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It does not rejoice at what injustice serves him right.
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It deserves it.
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And unrighteousness but rejoices when the right and truth prevails.
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Verse seven, love bears up under anything.
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If I were the one that wrote this thing, you would say, oh, I'm saying it because I've
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not experienced what you've experienced.
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Well, it's the Bible.
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It's above my experience, actually.
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The Word of God is above our individual experiences.
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Love bears up under anything and everything that comes.
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Is ever ready to do what?
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To believe the best of every person.
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You at the moment, see, there are some people that don't believe that anything good can
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come out of people.
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Anything you just hear about people, no, it's not possible.
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You may not affect it now.
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You don't believe that people can be good.
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You don't believe that people can get better.
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You don't believe that people can grow.
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You don't believe that people can actually be great in what they do.
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It hopes are faithless, which means that it doesn't fade away under all circumstances.
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It endures everything without what?
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Without weakening.
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I mean, it perseveres.
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Love never fails.
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It never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end.
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As for prophecies, you can prophesy.
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And what will happen?
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They will fail.
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Whether there are tongues, a prophecy, the gift of what?
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Go back.
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A prophecy, that's a gift of interpreting the divine will and the purpose.
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It will be fulfilled and does it and pass away.
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As for tongues, they will be destroyed and ceased.
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As for knowledge, the knowledge you have, it will pass away.
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It will lose its value and be superseded by truth.
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For our knowledge is fragmentary, incomplete and imperfect.
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And our prophecy, our teaching is fragmentary, incomplete and imperfect.
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So the essence is that we will walk in love, that whatever we do, we allow the spirit of
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God to instigate every action and every motive behind the things we do.
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Walking in love, imitating the kind of love that God has demonstrated towards us.
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And in our relationship and our living with one another, we allow the spirit of God to
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guide our conduct, to guide our relationships.
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Colossians chapter 3 verse 12, it says,
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Clothe yourself therefore as God's unchoosing ones, his unpicked representatives, who are
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purified and holy and well-beloved by God himself by putting on the behavior marked
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by what tender heartedness, piety and mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourself.
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This one is not talking about low self-esteem.
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Are we together?
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It's not feeling, oh, I'm not worthy.
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That's not what it means.
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It means that you put the interests of others ahead of your own interests.
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Are we together?
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A lowly opinion of yourselves, dental way, patience, which is tireless and long-suffering
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and has the power to endure whatever comes with good temper.
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Be gentle and forbearing with one another.
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And if one has a difference, a grievance or a complaint against another, readily pardoning
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each other, even as the Lord has freely forgiven you.
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And we noted that there must be no condition or requirements to our forgiveness.
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God in Christ does not ask that condition of walking in love.
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I wanted to go into the script, some texts, some biblical verses that seems to speak otherwise.
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Right?
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You will begin to dissect them.
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For example, now some Bible scriptures seems contrary to what we've read as the gospel
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of being unconditioned.
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For example, now Matthew 6 verse 14-15, I think we dealt with this in the cell, we'll
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do this again hopefully next time.
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But let's look at Matthew 6 verse 14-15.
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Matthew 6 verse 14-15 says, So if you forgive their trespasses, their reckless and willful
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sins, leaving them, letting them go and giving up resentment, your heavenly Father will also
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forgive, which means that our forgiveness is what makes God forgive us.
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But if you do not forgive others, their trespasses, their reckless and willful sins, leaving them,
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letting them go and giving up resentment, neither will your Father forgive your trespass.
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So it invalidates everything we've been saying.
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So if a scripture says one thing and another seems to be saying contrary in another part
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of the scriptures, then there's need for us to study to understand what text is saying.
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Another one, Mark 11 verse 25.
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Mark 11 verse 25.
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And whenever you start praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let
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it drop in order that your Father who is in heaven may also, so it seems as though God
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is learning how to forgive from us men.
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He may also forgive your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop, which means
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that if you don't forgive, God will not forgive.
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And if God does not forgive, God is living in what?
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God is living in malice.
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God is sinning.
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That's what it means.
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Unforgiveness is sinning, right?
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So if you don't forgive, which you are a man, you don't forgive.
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And God with whole forgiveness, it means that God is in the wrong.
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It means that God is not leading with the example.
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So is this what the scripture is saying, Matthew chapter 18 verse 34-35, we'll also see another
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one here.
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This is a parable actually, Matthew 18-35.
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It says, And in wrath his master turned him over, that's the unforgiving servant, to
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torture us, the jailers, till he should pay all that he owed.
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So also my heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive
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your brother from your heart his offenses.
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And then how we've interpreted this is that when we don't forgive people, God will not
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forgive us.
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Is that what this text is saying?
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Luke 6.7, Luke 6.7, Judge not, neither pronouncing judgment nor subjecting to censure, and you
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will not be judged.
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Do not condemn and pronounce guilty, and you will not be condemned and pronounced guilty.
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Acquit and forgive and release, give up resentment, let it drop, and you will be acquitted and
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forgiven and released.
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And we will keep seeing scriptures that speak, we are going to come back and we'll explain
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this text.
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Now I've not explained this text, alright?
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We're going to have a proper understanding, and where are we going to arrive?
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We're going to arrive at a point where God's love towards us was his own condition, and
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God is faithful.
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The Bible says that even when we remain unfaithful, he remains faithful because he cannot deny
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his own nature as God.
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Hallelujah.
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So we're going to establish our understanding in scriptures as this.
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We are talking about forgiveness, we're talking about love, we're talking about forgiving
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people, forgiving people who have offended us, who have a proper understanding of what
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God has done for us.
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So when you come across scriptures like this, how do we interpret this text?
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And I trust that God will give us understanding as we come to this word in the name of Jesus.
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Close your eyes and pray and thank God for this year.
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52 Sundays, or is it 53?
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Plus Wednesdays, plus Fridays, sometimes you have Tuesdays.
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Just appreciate God for how his word has been coming to you throughout the year, and as
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we look towards the new year, that you will be a doer of God's word, that you will be
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an efficient doer of God's word, that there be a desire in you to do the word and not
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only here alone.
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Thank you for listening to today's sermon.
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Your journey matters to us.
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Let's keep walking together.
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Visit our website for more resources and follow us on social media to stay updated.
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Feel free to check the show notes for additional insights.
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If today's message was a blessing, share it with a friend.
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Until next time, be blessed.