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Good or Evil · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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And your Bible and I hope you do go and make your way to 3rd John
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first, second, third John. Today we complete our series in
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the New Testament letters of John before next week turning
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our attention to the story of Christmas and by the way, what a
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great Sunday next Sunday would be.
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If you've been thinking about inviting someone and they say
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that 18,000,000 Americans would have attended church on any
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given Sunday had they only received a invitation, and the
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opportunity awaits and we're going to be diving in right into
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the Christmas story. It's a great time of the year to
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just open up the Bible in your home as a couple, as a family
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with kids or grandkids and just spend some time in the evenings,
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even if you can't do it every day of the week.
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But to just open up and read about what the season is all
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about, reminding your family and allowing that the word of God to
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be heard in your home and celebrating that together.
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Let me encourage you to do that. Third John is one of the
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shortest and most overlooked books in the Bible.
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Anybody heard a sermon on 3rd John?
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Now, you're a preacher, man. That didn't count.
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So, yeah, maybe a few. All right, we're about to change
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that. Amen.
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At least I pray it's a sermon. Hopefully we'll see.
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So one of the most overlooked books in the Testament, The the
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reason why Third John is written is because of a specific
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problem. And that problem is a person.
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Anybody ever had a person caused them problems in life?
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Some of you just lied. You didn't raise your hand in
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church. Come on now.
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We've all experienced problems. And guess what?
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Our problems tend to be caused by people because we create
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problems as people. We experience problems as people
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and we can, we can certainly project those those problems on
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other people. That that the lessons of third
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John, y'all are not doctrinal. They're very personal and very
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practical. We're about to read the letter
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in a second. We're going to read all of it.
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It's a short letter. We're going to hear what the
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word of God has to say and process through it.
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And the lesson is going to be this.
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Each one of us has incredible potential for a great good or
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great harm. And the examples that we're
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going to see are going to, they're going to push us toward
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imitating good and not evil so that we can use the potential
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God's given us for good and not for harm.
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Listen to the Word of God out of third John the Elder, to the
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beloved Gaius, whom I love. In truth, beloved, I pray that
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all may go well with you, and that you may be in good health,
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as it goes well with your soul. For I rejoiced greatly when the
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brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are
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walking in the truth. I have no greater joy, John
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says, than to hear that my children are walking in the
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truth. Beloved, it is a fateful thing
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you do and all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as
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they are, who testified to your love before the church, You will
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do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of
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God, for they've gone out for the sake of the name, accepting
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nothing from Gentiles. Therefore, we ought to support
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people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
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I have written something to the church, but Diotrophies, who
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likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority.
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So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked
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nonsense against us. And not content with that, he
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refuses to welcome the brothers and also stops those who want
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to, who want to, and puts them out of the church.
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Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good.
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Whoever does good is from God. Whoever does evil has not seen
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God. Demetrius has received a good
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testimony from everyone and from the truth itself.
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We also add our testimony, and you know that our testimony is
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true. I had much to write to you, but
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I would rather not write with pen and ink.
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I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
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Peace be to you. The friends greet you Greet the
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friends each by name. Imitate good, not evil, John
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writes. Imitate good and not evil.
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Again, the lessons here of Third John are not doctrinal, but very
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personal and very practical. John refers to himself here as
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the elder, again writing to a man that we don't know much
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about by the name of Gaius. Here he says about him to the
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beloved guys whom I love. In truth, this is John's way of
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writing about a friend who has a friend in Jesus.
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You can have a lot of friends, but there's no friends like
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friends who are your friends in Jesus, followers of Christ, part
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of the family of God. You ever met somebody you don't
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even know they're a Christian that bear like I think this
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person's a Jesus follower. I can just tell by the way, when
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you run into somebody like that, you literally share the same
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Holy Spirit inhabiting you both. No wonder there's a connection
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before you even know this specific reality.
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Our brothers and sisters in Christ, we may have nothing else
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in common with them outside of Jesus and we got everything we
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need in common with them because we're going to share heaven
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together with them. And these are people, right,
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that have acknowledged their sin, that their sin separates
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them from God, that only Jesus, the way the truth and the life
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who's died and paid for sin, can offer salvation from that sin.
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There's come a point in time in their life and they've called on
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Jesus to save them. They've received salvation,
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they've been born again, they've been made alive, and now they're
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joined in Jesus. They know the truth.
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John says Gaius is such a man. I love this guy.
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He's a friend of mine in Christ that he's writing to.
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Gaius was as common a name as Michael or Bill was an ancient
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Asia Minor. We don't know really anything
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definitively about Gaius's life except what we learned in this
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letter. But what we do know is wonderful
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because it shows us that Gaius was a man who's worthy of
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imitation. The whole goal here is imitate
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good, not evil. So we're going to name each of
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these three characters we come across.
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I felt like I was nicknaming all week long.
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The first one is Good Gaius. Good Gaius, you could call him.
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What's so good about Gaius? Well, John tells us three things
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about this man that are worthy of our imitation as Christ's
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followers. Here's the first one.
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Gaius is growing spiritually. He's growing spiritual.
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How do we know that? Because John here says he's
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praying for his physical health, that it may go well with him
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physically as it is going well with him spiritually.
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He's essentially saying, hey, may it go as well with you
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physically, Gaius, as it's going well with you spiritually.
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Obviously Gaius is facing some physical challenges to his
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health to some degree or another.
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And yet John is saying, I'm praying for those Gaius that
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you, which is a wonderful prayer request when we have physical
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needs or physical illness or fighting for our health.
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A wonderful example here of praying for physical health.
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But he's also reminding Gaius that even more importantly, that
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he's praying that his physical health follows the health of his
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spiritual health. Here's the deal.
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As wonderful a thing as physical health is, this is a good place
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to remind ourselves that compared to our spiritual
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health, our physical health cannot compare in value to the
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value of our spiritual health. It would be interesting to apply
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this test. What if on the outside
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physically, you were projecting a picture through your physical
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health of your spiritual health? What would you look like if your
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spiritual health was obvious on the outside through your
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physical health? What would you look like?
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Strong, healthy, fit and active or out of shape?
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Fighting disease? Unhealthy.
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If your physical shape showed your spiritual shape, what would
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you look like? I'm not sure there's ever been a
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time. Maybe there has been.
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I just don't know about it. When physical health, the
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pursuit of physical health has ever been more in vogue?
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Would you all agree with me? I kind of sat down and write out
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some things that came to mind about our culture and its
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pursuit of physical health. We are cold plunging sauna,
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sitting, cross fitting cortisol, eliminating greens, drinking
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vitamin, supplementing gluten, avoiding an organic eating,
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trying to get healthy, all that's wonderful.
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I love that. I love some of that stuff, by
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the way. But none of that is near as
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important as our spiritual health.
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And here's the deal. If you're elevating your
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physical health above your spiritual health, you got things
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backwards. Can I be even more specific?
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If there's a day you exercise or take vitamins or supplements or
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seek to eat healthy and you don't get in the word of God,
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you're doing life backwards. You're more concerned about that
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which will not last versus that which will.
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My believing says physical training is of some value.
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It's of some value, but it doesn't compare with the value
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of godliness and the training that lasts forever.
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Which one are you prioritizing more?
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Gaius was a man who might have had some physical health issues,
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but he's a man who's spiritually strong.
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Let me just talk to you about if you're going to be spiritually
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strong, here's going to have to be some things that are
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realities in your life. You can just mark it down.
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You ready? Let me just be very practical
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here. Number one, if you're going to
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have a healthy soul and be healthy spiritually, your soul
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must be saved. It needs to be rescued from the
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sin you have committed, that it's going to separate your soul
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from its Maker forever. Unless there comes a time when
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you realize Jesus died for your sin as the way, the truth, and
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the life. He offers the only way of rescue
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from your sin. And there comes a point in time
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in your life and you trust Him as Savior.
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You call on Him as Lord. You're born again, you're made
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alive. You're snatched from the Kingdom
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of darkness and transferred to the Kingdom of light of God's
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one and only Son. How's that happened in your
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life? If not, there's nothing else you
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can do for your soul until you get saved.
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Do you need to be saved and trust Jesus #2?
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If you're going to have a healthy soul, you need to daily
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feed on the Word of God. If your soul doesn't eat, it's
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going to starve. It can't be healthy without
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daily eating on the Word of God. Your soul's not going to be
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healthy unless you're in daily fellowship with God in prayer.
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The one and only one that can that leads you to grow and, and,
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and give you the strength for every day and the one you need
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the presence of God and being in communication with him.
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And, and fourthly, let me say this, A healthy soul is one
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that's going to be in close contact with other brothers and
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sisters in Christ in a local church.
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You can't live on an island spiritually as a Christian and
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be spiritually healthy. Just like physically, you can
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choose to live homeless if you want to and survive.
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It's just not healthy. The same is true spiritually.
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You can choose to live homeless if you want to.
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It's just not spiritually healthy.
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So the first good we see in Gaius is that is what's worthy
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of imitation. He's a man who's growing spirit.
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Let me ask you, are you growing spiritually?
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Do you, do you need the reminder that there's actually no sitting
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still in the Christian life? You're either growing
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spiritually or you are reverting in your spiritual health.
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It's one of the other. Second, Gaius is walking
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faithfully. Notice the word of God says you
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are walking. John says in the truth.
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What does that mean? It means he's putting his faith
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into practice. His talk is also his walk.
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Let me just be very practical on what it means to be walking
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faithfully #1 it means to be seeking to eliminate sin in your
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life. Now, some of us get to the point
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where we think we're really not struggling against sin, and
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that's false. In fact, if you're not actively
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fighting sin in your life, you're not doing the Christian
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life right. I just finished doing a fall
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semester long mentorship by Zoom with a pastor, retired pastor by
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the name of Bill Ella. If you've heard him preach here,
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perhaps he's done our ministry staff retreat Monday afternoons
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about every other week. Pastors from around the country
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just trying to pour into us as younger leaders.
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One of the things Bill told me that I tried, it was actually
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super convicting. I want to challenge you to think
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about because it opened up my eyes, he said.
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Kyle, one of the things I'll do and I just feel like my soul is
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struggling and I need to be fighting sin.
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I don't even know where to start The fight is I'll make myself a
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sin list like sin that I'm struggling with that I knows in
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my life and I'm just going to write and specify them down.
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So I, I did one recently and it was not encouraging because it
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was quite comprehensive. I wrote things down like pride
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and selfishness and anger and unkindness, and I could name you
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examples where I've done all those things in the flesh and
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not the spirit. But you know, it's hard to fight
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an enemy you're not naming, that you're not identifying, you're
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not fighting sin you don't know about.
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So it might be that you might just need to be reminded by
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making a little sinless God, what is it that I need to be
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actively fighting in my life right now?
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Putting to death what is to put it to death?
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It means to say no to it by the power of God, to walk away from
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it and walk by the power of God, saying yes to the righteousness
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of God that comes by putting into practice what the Word of
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God says. So walking faithfully means
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dying to sin, and it means embracing the righteousness of
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the way of the word of God, which again, you're not going to
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know unless you're in daily. So Gaius is growing spiritually.
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He's walking faithfully. There's a third thing he's doing
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we ought to imitate. He's living missionally.
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Look at verse 5 again, beloved. It is a faithful thing you do
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and all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are.
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What in the world does that mean?
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Gaius and the church there that he's in that John's writing to
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has received this group of men that are obviously traveling
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missionaries, preachers or evangelists and teachers
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somehow. They probably were actually
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trained by the apostle John, known by John, but they're not
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known by Gaius. They were strangers when they
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showed up. But Gaius has gone out of his
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way to minister to these men, to provide for them, to perhaps
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welcome them, to show them hospitality, to lead in the
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prayer for them and the financial support of them, maybe
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even their lodging and all their care so they could do the
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ministry that they've been sent to do.
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So this is how he's living missionally.
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It says about these men, by the way, that they've gone out.
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They've left home, house, family, way of living, and
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everything that's comfortable to go out in response to the call
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of God on their lives. Notice again that they'd gone
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out for the sake of the name. Why have they left house and
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home, family and fields and ways of living and what's
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comfortable? Why?
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So they can spread the name of Jesus on mission because they've
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been called by Him to do so. And then further, they're
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accepting nothing and from the Gentiles, that means they didn't
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look for support to anyone or on the unbelievers to support
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because they were the people they were trying to reach.
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We don't know their names, but they too, like Gaius, I want you
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to note, are worthy of imitation.
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What does that mean? I actually believe with all my
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heart, God's calling people in our church to go and leave house
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and to leave home and to leave family and to leave friends and
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what's comfortable and the way of living.
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Perhaps you think you're going to do or are doing because he's
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calling you to go short term or long term for the sake of his
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name and spreading the gospel somewhere on the planet that
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you're not there yet. I believe that in fact, God is
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always calling, calling out from his bride.
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Those are willing to say here I am what?
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Send me. If that's you, you know who you
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are. Are you listening?
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Are you willing to imitate these and respond to God's call on
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your life, no matter what your age is or what your
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qualifications are or are not? Are you willing to heed the call
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of God? If that's you, I pray God would
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call dozens and dozens out of our church to go to be those,
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whether they go short term, long term, to go near or far for the
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sake of the name and the Kingdom of God.
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Notice what Gaius hears from John.
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He says, therefore we ought to support people like these, like
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these men that have gone forth, that we may be fellow workers
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for the truth. They've just said yes to God by
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going. Now, John de Gaia says we ought
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to say yes to God by giving. By doing so, he says, we become
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partners together in God's mission for the Great
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Commission. You see, by serving and
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supporting these missionaries, Gaius has become a partner with
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them. He wasn't the one going, but he
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linked his life to the mission by serving them and giving
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towards them and making sure they had everything they need
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for the journey. Here's the deal.
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Every Christian is called to the Great Commission.
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Every Christian, every Christian is called to make disciples.
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Let me say it like this, Every Christian is called to ministry.
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That might not be ministry, might not be what pays your
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bills, but it doesn't mean you're not called to it, and it
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doesn't mean whatever your calling is any is any less
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worthy. I know so many of you that do so
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many different things and what you do put you on the front
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lines of contact with lost people.
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You are in the ministry. You might serve them through
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law. You might serve them through
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teaching. You might serve them through
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engineering or manufacturing or a chemical plant or a grocery
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store, but you're on the front lines delivering things,
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counseling. You're on the front lines of
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ministry, contacting lost people every day.
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You are, you are. And if you're there, you realize
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God has already sent me here. And I'm always listening to God
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if he's sending me elsewhere, but I know he's sent me here.
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So I want to live on mission here, telling and showing and
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displaying the love of Christ for the lost world to see.
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Living on mission. And God's going to call all of
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us to go somewhere, even if it's across the street.
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But we also ought to be like Gaius giving, which is by the
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way, why this envelopes in your worship God, remember last week
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we kicked off a week long prayer for our international
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missionaries, those that God has called out to go permanently
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somewhere around the world. We as a church have a goal of
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$100,000 to give, to support, to provide dollars that go directly
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to them. The Bible says we ought to
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support people like what? Like these that have given up
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everything to go, literally sold their stuff, moved away,
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planning their lives. If you followed the week long
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prayer guide of where our missionaries are embedded around
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the world, y'all by the way, we have the largest missionary
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force in the world as the collective of 50,000 Southern
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Baptist churches and we ought to give extravagantly, generously
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to serve our missionaries extravagantly.
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I pray God would lead you to decide what he'd have you do
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sacrificially this year. This doesn't go to me, doesn't
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go to us. It goes to them, it goes to
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them. What would God have you do?
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We ought to link our lives to the Great Commission by living
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mission. We can't all go, but we can all
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give. Let me ask you, are you growing
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spiritually? Are you walking faithfully?
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Are you living missionally? Imitate good, not not evil,
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right #2 there's good Gaius. But unfortunately, next is
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destructive diotrophes. I got real creative here.
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Y'all like that? Destructive diotrophes
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Unfortunately, the history of the church all the way back to
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the 1st century contains more examples than we would like to
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admit, both on the leadership side and church member side of
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destructive men and women. Just like diotrophies.
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Diotrophies is a perfect example of what any single one of us are
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capable of, even as Christians, if we do not.
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Actively seek to kill, sin in our lives and live daily and
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surrender to the Holy Spirit. Satan's most effective weapons
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against the Bride of Christ are not outsiders.
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They are insiders. People just like diotrophies.
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We don't know if he was the pastor, we don't know if he was
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an elder or a Deacon or just a church member.
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You can have a bad apple in any of those seats.
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And unfortunately the church, even all the way back to the 1st
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century, contains examples of them.
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The atrophy is to be specific as a We name things what not to
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imitate #1 diatrophy is acting selfishly.
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He's acting selfishly. Look what John says.
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Diotrophies likes to put himself first.
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Did you know that nobody has to pay you to be selfish?
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It comes standard in the human life.
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Every single one of us likes to be first in some form or some
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fashion. We may not all struggle with it
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in the exact same way, but all of us love ourselves in ways
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that cause us to naturally, selfishly to seek to be first.
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Diotrophies. Let's be specific.
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He obviously loves his way diotrophies, loves to be in
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charge, he loves control, he loves authority, he loves
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position. He is full of himself,
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diotrophies and loves himself. Some diotrophies.
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I heard a preacher say some people are so proud they can
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strut sitting down. I've seen some preachers that
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can strut sitting down. But anyway, the root of
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selfishness is pride. Let me give you some reminders
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on pride, which is thinking more highly of ourselves than we all.
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That's what pride is. The worm of pride is ever
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threatening to eat into the fruit of the Holy Spirit in your
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life. If there's any fruit of the Holy
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Spirit, the worm of pride wants to get in it.
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Pride has been called the hound of hell that can only be
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defeated by the hound of Heaven, which is the Holy Spirit.
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Seek to make humility the spouse of your soul to whom you've
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wedded yourself forever. I love this next one.
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Even the donkey that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on knew the
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applause wasn't for him. If you ever get too big for your
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britches, don't be surprised if God gives you a smaller pair to
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wear. John Stott pretty, pretty
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accurately I think, says this. He says personal vanity still
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lies at the root of most dissensions in every local
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church today. In other words, he says you got
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a problem in your church, Trace it back and the problem is
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probably personal vanity. Somebody thinks of themselves
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more highly, they ought. Somebody wants to be 1st instead
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of adopting the mind of Christ that saw others before himself.
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The question is right. This is the negative diotrophes
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is acting selfishly. Are you acting selfishly in any
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area of your life, bringing destruction with it?
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In your home, in your marriage, in your parenting, in your
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family, in your neighborhood, in your office, in your work, on
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your team, in your class, in your church?
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Are you acting selfishly in any way #2 diotrophies is rebelling
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against godly authority. Did you know that authority
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exists because God exists and because God is good, His godly
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authority is good. And because we as mankind are
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made in the image of God, God has designed us to operate with
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authority that He's entrusted to us, and then under authority
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under which He's put us. And yet the original move of the
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devil was to rebel against what godly authority?
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That's the original move. It's the move of any sinful
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move. It's always the rejection of
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godly authority. Deotrophies is rejecting the
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godly authority of the apostle John.
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And by the way, every single pastor and every single leader,
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many of you are leaders, by the way, a leader, someone who
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influences other people, all of you are leaders in some way.
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Some of you might have official capacities of leadership, but if
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you're in leadership in any way, guess what?
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You're going to face everybody going to like you and your
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leadership. No, ma'am, right.
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You're going to face opposition. And guess what?
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It doesn't matter how godly you are.
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And by the way, none of us are perfect.
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So we all going to have some rightful criticism of our
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leadership. But even how matter God if
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you're the apostle John this this brings comfort to me that
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in the Bible John had somebody reacting and rebelling against
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his authority. If if John had it, guess who
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everybody else following seeking to do godly leadership is going
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to exemplify going to experience right.
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And yet Can you imagine being the guy who rebelling against
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the guy who walked with Jesus? But who does diotrophes think he
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is? I mean, you know what I'm
25:52
saying. I can't imagine.
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And yet people do this, right? And yet when authority is abused
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or misused or done sinfully, mark it down.
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We ought to stand against it, mark it down.
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But that's not the case here. What we have a case here of, of
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selfishness, then wanting to be first in rejecting godly
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authority. Pride will make you do and say
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crazy things, just like diotrophies is doing.
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He's rejecting godly authority #3 diotrophies is talking
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destructively. How do people rebel against
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godly authority? How do they start?
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What do they use? They start with their tongue.
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They'll talk destructively. They'll attack suddenly.
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They will question maliciously, they will criticize constantly.
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Most of the time it's completely made-up nonsense.
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Like John says here, diotrophies is doing it's things they've
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assumed. It's things that they have
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misinterpreted. It's things that they have fit,
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mis misread or twisted to fit their narrative.
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I came across some words of another preacher.
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He says this. I think this is true.
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There is entirely too much idle, foolish talk, too much
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unprofitable talk, too much backbiting in the church today.
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If we could get church members to talk on their knees to God as
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much as they talk or text on their phone or across the fence
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to their neighbors about their brothers and sisters in the
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church, we would have revival. That would run the devil out of
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our country. I think that's true.
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Notice John says how he's going to handle it, and if I come,
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I'll bring up what he's doing. That's not what you really
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expected to read in the New Testament, right?
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John says he's doing this publicly.
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Guess what I'm going to do if I come Church, get ready, I'm
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going to bring it up publicly. John says that's interesting.
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But you see, when sin emerges in the life of a local church, in
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reproof and rebuke are what's called for, It isn't Christian
27:59
to refrain. It's cowardice, failure to act.
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When action is called for, it's not an expression of Christian
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love, it's a expression of cowardice #4 Diotrophies is
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refusing hospitality instead of welcoming those that have gone
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out for the sake of the name, spreading the name of Jesus in
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the gospel. Diotrophies doesn't like anybody
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else getting any attention and he's refusing hospitality.
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Notice what he's doing next. Number 5, He is hindering
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ministry. Hindering ministry.
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He's not content to just personally refuse hospitality
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himself. He's actually going out of his
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way to stop anybody else from doing it.
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He's hindering the ministry of the church.
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Number six diotrophes is truly abusing the bride of Christ.
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Because of pride, because he wants to be first, because he's
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jealous of John, because he likes attention and he likes
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himself. Some diotrophes he is abusing
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the bride of Christ. Pride will make you do and say
29:07
crazy things. Specifically is abusing the body
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by attacking anyone who opposes him and seeks to put them out of
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the church. And by the way, there is a
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process in Matthew 18 when somebody who's in sin like
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diotrophies and refuses to repent, no matter how many times
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they've been lovingly pursued to repent and refuses to repent for
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them to actually be separated or put out or away from the body of
29:35
Christ so that sin doesn't continually infect the body of
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Christ. But that's not what we have
29:39
going on here. Diotrophes is using this in a
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twisted, evil, malicious way to actually abuse the body for his
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own good and selfishness. But let's be clear about
29:50
something. Let's rewind to the 1st century
29:54
and say, hey, what if we could talk to Diotrophes?
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How would it go? Can I tell you how it'd probably
30:03
go? We would approach the atrophies
30:06
in love, bring up these six things, and he'd likely deny
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them all. Likely he'd have a reason to
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justify his actions. He'd have some good sounding
30:23
reasons. Potentially his pride and
30:25
jealousy would not be one of them.
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He wouldn't actually name. The real problem being his
30:29
selfishness. He'd have some very smooth
30:32
sounding, maybe godly sounding excuses.
30:35
He'd have a good story. And yet that's how deceptive sin
30:38
is, right? It never comes out and says,
30:41
hey, I'm jealous of John. I'm going to talk destructively,
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I'm going to hinder ministry, I'm going to try to make myself
30:46
look good, and I'm going to abuse the bride of Christ if I
30:48
have to. You ever heard anybody do it
30:51
like that? Nope.
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That's how deceptive sin is. But you can be sure when someone
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likes position, being in charge, their way, the limelight, and
31:07
doesn't have the mind and humility of Christ, you can mark
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it for what it is. You can mark it for what it is.
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It's a desire to be first and this is what brings destruction.
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Verse 11, Beloved, John says this is the essence of the
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letter. Do not imitate evil, but imitate
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good. Whoever does good is from God.
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Whoever does evil is not seen. God imitate good, not evil.
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If for no other reason then this statement right here that
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explains John's comment after that, that who you imitate
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illuminates your origin. Who you imitate consistently and
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habitually illuminates who you're who you know, whether you
31:50
know God or not, whether you're from God or don't know God, as
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John says, as if you potentially never seen God.
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Who you imitate illuminates your origin.
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You've got good Gaius. We've got destructive
32:01
diotrophies. We've got one more guy.
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We're going to call him dependable, Dependable
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Demetrius. Dependable Demetrius, this guy
32:11
is establishing a faithful testimony A3 fold one with
32:15
church members, with the truth itself, the word of God, and
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with church leaders like John and others.
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And John says, unlike diotrophies, Demetrius is a man
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you can trust. He's a man of the truth.
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Let me tell you some things that obviously Demetrius is doing in
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his life. Listen to these Demetrius has
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obviously placed himself under godly authority.
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Demetrius is obviously serving Christ and the Church humbly.
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Demetrius is obviously not looking for position,
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prominence, or recognition. Demetrius is obviously living
33:01
for the glory of who? Demetrius or Christ?
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Christ, and not worried if anybody gets his name or not.
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Imitate good and not evil. Good Gaius, destructive
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diotrophies, dependable Demetrius.
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Young people, I think I've said this before in a sermon, but
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I'll say it again. Speaking of who you imitate,
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it's been well said. You ought to lodge this in your
33:32
brain. Show me your friends and I'll
33:35
show you your future. The character of people you
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choose to surround yourself in, especially your closest circle.
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You're probably not going to arise above the character of the
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closest companions in your life. I'm going to say that again.
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You're probably not going to rise above the character of the
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closest companions in your life. Show me your friends and I'll
34:06
show you your future. Imitate good, not evil.
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Let me close with some final comments out of verse 13 and 15.
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He says here, greet the friends each by name.
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John tells Gaius those in the church to greet them from him by
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name and I think he says that because John knew their knew
34:30
their names. Remember, the church is met in
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houses back then. We're not talking about a large
34:35
number of people. Most likely John the Apostle
34:38
knew these people. But could you imagine being
34:41
greeted by name by the apostle John in the middle of a sermon
34:45
shared? I had to make one feel pretty
34:47
special, right? That he would know know your
34:51
name. This is not from a Christian
34:52
perspective, but this is true especially when put into a
34:56
Christian context. Dale Carnegie was right when he
34:59
said that if we want to win friends and influence people,
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which by the way, we're wanting to do something much higher than
35:04
that, which is when people too Jesus and make disciples, but
35:08
that does involve making friends and seeking to influence people
35:11
with the gospel. He says if we want to win
35:13
friends and influence people, we should remember that a person's
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name is the sweetest and most important sound in any language
35:21
to him or her. When you remember someone's
35:24
name, you pay him or her a subtle compliment.
35:29
What do we say though, right? I'm not good with and it was
35:32
loud. We say, well, I'm not good with
35:35
names. That's kind of a little cultural
35:38
expression, which honestly, we really just use as an excuse, do
35:41
we not? I'm not sure what you said,
35:48
Brad, but when you get old, that may be a better excuse.
35:54
It's amazing what happens, though, when we're called by our
35:58
name, is it not? And sometimes the deal is, yes,
36:04
where's age? And yes, there's other things,
36:07
but often times we don't know a name because we've never tried.
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We've really just never cared enough to really, really try.
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What if you had the challenge to say what?
36:20
On any given Sunday, I want to walk away from worship with one
36:23
new name I didn't know before. On my Rd. where I sit, somebody
36:28
I pass in the hallway, somebody in our adult Bible Fellowship.
36:31
Why? It's just a way of not putting
36:35
yourself 1st and putting somebody else 1st and you've
36:38
prioritized loving them enough to give them the compliment of
36:41
knowing their their name. It's just a way of living that
36:47
gets you outside of you first and somebody else first.
36:54
Just these simple ways to show the love of Christ.
36:56
Let me challenge you with these questions before John and praise
36:59
team come up. Listen to this.
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Imitate good and not evil and our invitation.
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In just a moment, I want you to think about how God might have
37:05
you respond to one of these. Do you need to start growing
37:11
spiritually? Do you need to start walking
37:17
faithfully? Do you need to go home and make
37:18
a sin list and then commit to getting God's word to find out
37:23
what direction God would have me go in walking in truth?
37:28
Do you need to make a shift to live missionally, either going
37:33
because God is calling you to go or giving because God you know
37:36
has called you to give in some way, some form or some fashion
37:39
linking your life to the Great Commission?
37:42
Do you need to grow spiritually, walk faithfully, live missionly?
37:45
Are are you living destructively in any way that you need to
37:48
stop, that you need to stop by God's help you can.
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If you ask, let me ask, is your testimony for Jesus growing like
38:00
it is in Demetrius life? People in your church see you
38:03
growing as Jesus? Is the word of God being more
38:07
faithfully implemented in your life?
38:11
Would the leaders in your local church see the progress you're
38:15
making as you seek to follow Jesus?
38:18
Is anything holding you back from growing in your testimony
38:22
to your Savior? I'm going to stand right here
38:26
because you might need to step out and say, Kyle, my soul needs
38:29
to be saved and I can't save you, only Jesus can.
38:33
But I can talk to you about it. You can just come and kneel.
38:35
You can come talk to me. You could get on your knees
38:37
about wanting to grow spiritually or living missionly
38:40
or having something in your life that's destructive, that needs
38:42
to stop. You need to lay at the altar
38:43
today and not take home. But you need to respond in
38:46
whatever way that is. I want you to respond unashamed
38:49
and faithfully to Jesus. I'm going to pray.
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We're going to stand. I'm going to invite you to come
38:54
and you respond as the Lord lead you.
38:55
Heavenly Father, that I pray for us as a family, a church family,
39:00
that today you would make us people that put you first, that
39:05
aren't people seeking to live selfishly but unselfishly, that
39:08
are not destructive but constructive.
39:10
Father, that are edifying and building up for the Kingdom of
39:12
God. That I pray that the mind of
39:14
Christ would be ours, Lord, that we would live that at home and
39:17
in our offices and workplaces and here in the life of our
39:20
church and our families and beyond.
39:22
You got to pray. If anyone is here and needs to
39:23
trust you by fate, today would be the day and that you would
39:26
work in our lives to imitate good and not evil, all for your
39:30
glory. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
39:32
Would you stand with me? Let's worship, let's sing, and
39:34
you come as God leads you this morning.