Latest / CCC West Covina / The Model Life: Adoration, Part 9

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The Model Life: Adoration, Part 9 · CCC West Covina

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I have had the the wonderful privilege of of being a pastor
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now for over over 40 years. 31 of those years I've been here at
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Christ Community Church and looking at the church around the
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world, I believe there there are three major issues that the
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church faces every week, three issues that need to be dealt
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with in the church. The first issue is the
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unconverted among us. Churches across our country are
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filled with unconverted people. We know that because the Bible's
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very replete with all kinds of testimony as to how the evil 1
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sows the tares among the wheat. Satan is a master at disguising
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that which is false in a way that makes it look like it's
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true. And so Satan is a master at
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deception. He disguises himself as an Angel
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of light and he does all he can to disrupt the harmony and unity
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of the Church. And Jesus tells us that one of
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the ways he does that is that he sows the the tares, the the
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unconverted among the converted. And Jesus says that they look so
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much like that which is true that you can't distinguish them
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until the end of the age, and then all will be revealed.
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There will always be Judases among the disciples, there will
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always be demises among the church.
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People who are deceptive, people are who are good at
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masquerading, people are good at pretending.
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And so the Bible warns us about that.
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That's why the series on on Wednesday night is just so
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incredibly crucial to the church.
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What really is a true Christian and am I truly genuine?
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Am I truly born again? Throughout the the 80s and 90's,
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the secret sensitive movements swept the church and
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entertainment replaced enlightenment, the theatrical
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replaced the theological, and that movement did all it could
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to bring in the unbeliever to the church.
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The church is not designed for unbelievers, it's only designed
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for believers. But the movement would bring all
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kinds of unbelievers into the church.
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The church became more and more like the world.
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The music became like that of the world, the preaching became
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like that of the world. More stories than the true story
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of of the Christ, more personal illustrations about the pastor
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instead of the true illustrations about, about the
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Lord. And so all these unconverted
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people felt very comfortable coming to church.
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The unconverted should never be comfortable in church.
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They should be so out of place that they either repent and turn
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from their sin, or they just leave.
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But the church is not for the unconverted.
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The church consists of those who have been called out by God to
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worship Him and to honor Him and to glorify His precious name.
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And yet that is a major issue facing the church, the
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unconverted among us. That the second issue that that
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faces the church that I think is also a a major problem.
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And that is the undisciplined around us, the unconverted among
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us and the undisciplined around us.
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That the church has become very flabby, spiritually flabby.
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Have you ever noticed that I, I had a grandmother growing up,
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like most of you have grandmothers and she was very,
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very heavy and she had so much excess weight on her arms that
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as children, grandchildren, we will go up and just flap the
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flab on the end of her arms. And she would laugh and we would
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laugh and just have a grand old time.
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She was a master at cooking all kinds of food.
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And the more she cooked, the bigger she she became and and
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the more flabby she was. And so we would just play with
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the fat on her arms. She would laugh, we would laugh,
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and that would be funny. But it's not funny when it's in
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the church. It's not funny when we become
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spiritually flabby. We need to be spiritually strong
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in the church. But because we're so
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undisciplined and the Bible says we are to discipline ourselves
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unto godliness, First Timothy chapter 4 verses 7:00 and 8:00,
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that that bodily exercise profiteth little.
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But godliness profits for all things, because it profits for
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not only this life, but the life to come.
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Paul tells Timothy and Second Timothy chapter 1 and verse #7
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God has given us the spirit of discipline and yet we are so
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undisciplined. We are out of control.
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We're not in control of our faculties, our minds, our
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thoughts, our words. The the discipline of Scripture,
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the discipline of supplication, the discipline of silence and
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solitude, the discipline of surrender and self denial, the
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discipline of a steadfast heart and submission are are alien to
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most people. And we find ourselves hardly at
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all exercising our spiritual faculties that we might somehow
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be in tune with with the God we say we serve.
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Paul and 2nd Thessalonians 3 verse #11 said these words he
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said. For we hear that some among you
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are leading an undisciplined life today.
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I wonder what Paul would say about the church, because the
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church has become more and more undisciplined.
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And that's not a good thing. That's a bad thing.
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And that needs to be dealt with in each of our own personal
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lives. So you, you have the unconverted
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among us. You, you have the undisciplined
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around us. And here is the the third major
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issue facing the church, and that is you have the
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undiscerning amidst us, the undiscerning people that are
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unable to discern between that which is true and that which is
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false, people that are unable to discern God's way from every
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other way. That is a a major issue in the
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church. Discernment is a word that
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describes that which is black and that which is white.
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Discerning people don't live in the in the nebulous area of the
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Gray, but so much in the church today, we live in that realm of
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grayness. We don't want to come up on this
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side or that side. We want to tolerate all kinds of
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things in the church in our own lives.
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We don't want to be too hard to the right.
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We don't want to be too soft to the left.
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So we kind of settled in between and we begin to compromise.
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Compromise our purity, compromise our doctrine,
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compromise our lives simply because we live in the realm of
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the undiscerning, Discerning people are those who truly make
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a clear distinction in their minds between what is right and
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what is wrong. And that's where Paul comes in,
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in verses 19 and 20, or, excuse me, verses 20 and 21 of our text
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in First Thessalonians chapter 5.
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When he says these words, examine everything carefully.
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Hold fast to that which is good and abstain from every form of
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evil. Did that 2 verses describe what
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is not happening in the church today?
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We need to be discerning people. And so Paul is concerned about
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this. In fact, he was so concerned
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about it. Listen to what he says to the
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church at Corinth in Second Corinthians Chapter 11.
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In fact, if you got your Bible, you can turn there with me if
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you would. Second Corinthians Chapter 11.
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This is Paul's attitude toward the church, not just the church
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at Corinth, but every church, which should also be the
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attitude of every pastor of his church.
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He says in verse #2 I am jealous for you with the godly jealousy,
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for I betrothed you to one husband, so that the Christ I
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might present you as a pure virgin.
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But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his
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craftiness, your minds will be LED astray from the simplicity
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and purity of devotion to Christ.
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Ever since the fall of man, Satan has been actively involved
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in deception, and Paul was concerned about those in Corinth
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that they would be deceived as Eve was deceived.
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And every false teacher, every false preacher, always masters
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Satan's deception. For Satan would portray the
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truth as error and then offer error as truth.
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And that's what false teachers do.
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Satan would say back in Genesis chapter 3 these words, You shall
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not surely die just because God said that if you eat of this one
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tree, you will die. Surely, surely he was mistaken.
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Surely God LED you astray. Surely God really didn't mean
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what he said, that you would die if you ate of the tree of the
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knowledge of good and evil. And so he would take the truth
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and make you believe it was error, and then he would take
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error and make you believe it was true.
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And he would say these words. For your eyes will surely be
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open, and you will be like God, the master deceiver.
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He takes that which is true and paints it as error, then takes
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that which is error and convinces you that it's true.
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Who doesn't want to be like God? I mean, come on, if that's the
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case, why not eat? And so they did and plunged the
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human race, the world and the universe into sin.
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That's how Satan operates. He's a master at deception.
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His counsel seems to be perfect, but it was so detrimental to
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them. So Paul says, I'm afraid that as
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a serpent deceived Eve, so you too would fall into that same
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category. Now he's writing to the church.
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He's not writing to somebody from the Kiwanis Club, somebody
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from the YMCA, somebody from your your school.
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He's writing to the church. Now listen to what he says next.
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This is very, very important, for if one comes and preaches
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another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a
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different spirit which you have not received, or a different
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gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this
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beautifully. What an indictment of the
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church. Someone comes and they present
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to you another gospel. They present to you another
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spirit and another Jesus. You know what you do, you
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embrace it, you accept it as beautiful.
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You say, well, this is this is pretty good.
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This is OK. And you fall into this
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deception, you, you begin to tolerate evil.
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You tolerate another gospel, you tolerate another Jesus.
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And it's OK that that is an undiscerning church.
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That's the problem. And that is the problem in the
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church across America and around the world.
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It's filled with people who are undiscerning and they hear
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something being preached. They say, well, that's, that's
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OK. I, I understand that.
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I, I can agree with that. And they begin to accept it for
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what it is. And all the while they are being
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deceived by the evil. 1 So Paul says, For I consider myself not
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in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles, but even
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if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge.
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In fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all
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things, he says, Listen, I might not be the most eloquent guy
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around. I might not be the best
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communicator around. I might not speak like other
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people speak, but I do know this.
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I have the knowledge that gave you a firm foundation of what it
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is you are to believe. And yet you have set that aside
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and you've accepted error for truth.
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And that is a problem. And that's the problem facing
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every church in America today. The risk of wandering from the
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truth is huge. The risk of becoming confused.
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Confused is on the rise in the church simply because we don't
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examine everything carefully. Everything.
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And the word that Paul uses in First Thessalonians 5 is the
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word doki matzo. It's a word that means to
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analyze. It's the word that means to
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scrutinize. It's the word that means to test
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and to prove. It's a word of examination.
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Prove everything. Analyze every word, scrutinize
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every element, everything. Bring every thought.
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Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 10. Every thought into captivity to
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Christ, to the obedience to Christ, every thought that you
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have, bring it under subjection to the obedience of Christ.
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Here he says examine everything, analyze, scrutinize, test,
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prove, put under the microscope every word, every situation,
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everything and do it carefully. Now remember we're looking at
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the model life and the model life is 1 of adoration.
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The model life adores their God. So they are joyful, prayerful
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and thankful. And what they don't do is they
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don't quench the Spirit and they do not despise, disregard or dis
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esteem any prophetic utterance, anything that comes from the
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revelation of God. And on the other hand, they
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examine everything that comes from the revelation of God.
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They examine it carefully, they scrutinize it, they make sure
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that what is being preached, what is being said, what is
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being lived is in accordance with truth, because truth is
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that which matters. So in other words, Paul says
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this, I want you to live a model life.
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And in order to live a model life, you must be judging
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everything. Now I know in today's.
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Vernacular. That's a bad word.
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Judge who? Who are we to judge?
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Anything or anyone in fact, someone will say, and you've got
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on your mind right now the Bible says we are not to judge, lest
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you 2 be judged. I love it when people say that
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because that tells you that they are undiscerning and not
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discerning. That tells you that they are in
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error and not in truth. How do we know that?
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We'll turn back to Matthew 7 because that's where the the
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verse is, right? Jesus talks about it and the
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Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7 verse #1 Do not judge so that
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you will not be judged. See, I'm not going to judge
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somebody. I'm not going to judge what was
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said. I'm not going to judge what they
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do lest I2 be judged. That's not what Jesus is saying.
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Jesus isn't throwing out all biblical judgment.
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I'll show you that in a moment. That's the way He says, for the
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way you judge, you will be judged and by your standard of
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measure, it will be measured to you.
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Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye
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but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
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Or how can you say to your brother, let me take the speck
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out of your eye and behold, the log is in your own eye?
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You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and
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then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your
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brother's eye. So in the very last verse, Jesus
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affirms judgment in the same way.
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He says do not judge, but yet he says you need to judge.
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And you're going to do that first of all by taking the log
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out of your own eye so that you can discern the speck in someone
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else's eye. So in the same context, he tells
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you not to judge. He tells you to judge, to
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examine, to scrutinize, to analyze.
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Remember, he's talking about the religious establishment, the
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Pharisees, who are judging people by a standard that they
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themselves did not and would not keep.
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That's hypocritical judgement. That's hypocritical scrutiny.
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That's what he he condemns, but he does affirm judgement based
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on what is said, if first of all, you are willing to take
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that which is in your own eye out so you can see clearly, to
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actually help the other person who has a speck in his eye.
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Very, very important note this. We cannot judge people's
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attitudes and motives. We cannot examine people's
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attitudes and motives. God does that.
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Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse #5 or First Corinthians 4
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verse #5 that He will expose one day every man's motives.
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God sees the heart. He judges the heart.
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He does all of that. But listen to what Jesus says in
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John 724. Judge with righteous judgement.
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You are to judge with righteous judgment.
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There is a standard, a statement by which everyone is called to
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live by. And that standard is God's
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standard. It's a righteous standard.
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And so you, you examine everything according to the
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righteous standard of God, Not your standard, but God's
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standard, the word of God that is truthful, the word of God
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that is unalterable, the word of God that always stands supreme
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and sufficient. Judge with righteous judgement.
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1st Corinthians 1015 Paul says like every preacher should say,
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judge what I say, judge what I say, put what I say under the
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microscope. Like the Bereans in Acts 1711,
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they wanted to test and prove everything, to see whether or
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not what was said was true or not.
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They'd examined everything, and that's the way it should be.
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Those who truly live a life of integrity are always open to be
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examined. Those who do not live a life of
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integrity do not want to be examined.
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They don't want to be held into account.
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But those who live a life of an honesty and integrity and
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purity, they want to be held under the microscope because
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there's a standard by which they are to live their lives and they
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want to be held to that standard.
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So Paul says, judge what I say. The Bible also says that you are
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to judge acts of sin. Did you know that Paul says this
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over in First Corinthians 5 verse #12 He says for what have
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I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are
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within the church, but those who are outside?
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God judges. So remove the wicked man from
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among yourselves. He was talking about a man who
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had committed sex sins with his mother.
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He says we don't judge those on the outside, but we do judge
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those on the inside, those who commit acts of sin, those who
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live disobediently to the Word of God.
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Those people need to be scrutinized.
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They need to be held to the biblical standard of purity and
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holiness because we are a holy body, we are a holy church.
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We serve a holy God. And if we are to represent a
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holy God to a unholy world, we can't do it living unholy lives.
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We must live holy lives. And so if there's someone among
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you who's living in sin, that needs to be confronted, that
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needs to be dealt with. That's what Matthew 18 is all
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about. Matthew 18, the first
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instruction given to the church is all about judging sin.
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In the church. Your brother sins.
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You go to your brother, he repents you on him.
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If he doesn't repent, you take two or three witnesses with you.
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Why? To win your brother.
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You wouldn't have went into a place of repentance.
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If that doesn't work, you tell it to the church.
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So why? The church can go after him,
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plead and beg with him to repent.
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If they don't repent, you treat him as what?
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A tax gatherer and a Gentile. You treat him as if he's an
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unbeliever because he hasn't repented.
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See that's that's examining everything carefully.
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So important. But the church today doesn't
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want to do that. We don't want to be involved in
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those kinds of things. The Bible says you're to judge
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yourself. We're going to partake at the
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Lord's table here in a minute. First Corinthians 11 says let a
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man examine himself before he eats and drinks of the of the
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Lord's table so that he doesn't eat and drink in an unworthy
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manner. But because we are an
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undiscerning people, we tend not to look at our lives and examine
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them under the microscope of the authority of God's holy Word.
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So we refrain from any kind of examination in context of First
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Thessalonians 5. We're not to despise or look
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down upon prophetic utterances, but we are to examine everything
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that's said. Everything is spoken under the
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guise of God's holy Word and you hold fast to that which is good.
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You, You grip that which is good.
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You, you, you cling to that which is good.
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But you, you abstain from every form of evil.
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Same word used in First Thessalonians 4 where you are to
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abstain from sexual immorality. You don't abstain every once in
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a while, you abstain completely. Same is true here.
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You don't abstain every once in a while from that which is
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wrong, you abstain completely from it.
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You shun evil, not just evil behavior, but evil beliefs,
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because belief always determines behavior, right?
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What I believe to be true is how I live my life.
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And so when you are examining evil behavior, you're really
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examining people's evil beliefs because it goes contrary to the
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authority of God's holy Word. So Paul comes along and says,
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look, you want to live a model life.
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You want to live the life that that that exemplifies Christ.
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Then you need to make sure you examine everything carefully.
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Every word that's spoken, every conversation that you have,
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every thought that goes across your mind, everything.
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Then say examine some things every once in awhile or it's
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good that when you come to church you live a life of
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examination. He says examine everything
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carefully and if it's evil, abstain.
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If it's wrong, abstain. If it's good, hold on to it,
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cling to it, never let it go, embrace it because if it's good,
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it comes from a God who is good. There was so much to say about
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this. I, I don't have the time to do
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it, but, but just let me give you 7 words, OK, 7 words.
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I like to say 7 words in 7 minutes, but that's a little far
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reaching. But 7 words that will help you
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in the arena of discernment. Number one is caution.
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Caution. We, we have thrown caution to
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the wind at church. We just accept everything.
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I mean, after all, it's church. Why wouldn't we believe what the
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preacher says? Why would we think that
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someone's unconverted? Why would we think that someone
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among us is undisciplined? We just accept the fact that
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we're all going to church. We all love Jesus and
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everything's good. But there's, there's, there's
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caution that must always take place.
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We assume because our children are good that whatever they,
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they, they watch on television or watch on their phone is good.
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We, we assume that, that our children's social media is above
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board. We, we just assume instead of
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examining our child's social media, instead of examining what
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our children are doing, we just assume that's going to be OK.
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We're very undiscerning. Most parents are asleep at the
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wheel. Most parents are not in tune
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with what's happening with their children.
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And as they get older, we just assume that they're going to be
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walking with Jesus. They're going to love Jesus.
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Things are going to be good. I mean, after all, they're going
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to church. Yeah, but what church are they
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going to see? Do you examine that?
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Do you scrutinize that? Do you analyze that?
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If you examine everything, you got to scrutinize the church
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your kids go to. But you see, as parents, we just
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tend, well, at least they're in church.
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See that that's just that's just so wrong.
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At least they're in church. What church?
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Where are they going? What are they hearing?
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Are they growing? What's happening?
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You see what we just so caution to the wind and therefore we're
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we're not a tune with with what's happening not only in our
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families, but in our churches as well.
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We just live lives so indiscriminately.
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We let so many things just fly under the radar and we just let
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things go. Told you before, as as parents,
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we are not helicopters, we are fighter jets.
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And if you're not a fighter jet as a parent, you're just a
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helicopter hovering around doing absolutely no good to anybody.
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You need to fight for your children's purity, fight for
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your children's marriages, fight for your children's personal
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lifestyle and help them understand the truth.
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That's that's God's truth and they live need to live by in
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order to be discerning. The first word is caution.
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You need to live a cautious lifestyle.
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You need to be aware of what's happening around you, what's
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happening in your family, what's happening with your children,
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because if you're not, then you're going to live an
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undiscerning life. You won't be able to decipher
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between that which is good and that which is which is wrong,
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that which is truth, and that which is error.
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And you need to know these things.
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First word is caution. The second word is compulsion.
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There's this compelling drive for discernment.
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Listen to what Solomon says. He says if you cry for
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discernment, lift your voice for understanding.
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If you seek her as silver and search for her As for a hidden
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treasure, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and
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discover the knowledge of the of God.
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For the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and
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understanding that there is this compelling drive to learn
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discernment. Lord, I want to be a discerning
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person. I want to know truth from error,
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right from wrong, good from best.
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I want to know those things. I don't want to be asleep at the
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wheel. So you cry out to God for
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discernment, and from God comes wisdom and knowledge.
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From the Word of God comes everything you need to make wise
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choices. But there's got to be this
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compelling Dr. this compulsion to learn it, because if not,
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then you won't. It comes back to the
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undisciplined life, doesn't it? It's a discipline.
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Requires work. Requires Dr. Requires intensity.
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Requires tenacity, requires passion.
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There's this compulsion that drives me to learn discernment
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so that I can help my family. I can lead my family.
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I can tell my children this is wrong.
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You got to be able to tell your children, no, you cannot date
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the unbeliever. You cannot do that because the
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Bible says you cannot be unequally yoked together and you
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got to be careful that your emotions fall into this thing.
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Once you start dating the unbeliever and you become or you
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fall in love with that unbeliever and you marry that
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unbeliever, it goes against God's command.
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You cannot do that. So you cut it off before it ever
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begins. That's a discerning parent.
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That's a, that's a fighter jet parent.
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A helicopter parent says, well, you know, if that, you know,
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whatever makes you feel good, if it feels good, that's OK.
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You know, we want you to be happy.
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No, no, no, no. You want them to be holy.
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We're so concerned about their happiness.
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Oh, but they're getting up in here at the 333435.
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We don't want them to be single forever, so it's OK.
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Better be single forever then marry the wrong one because then
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you'd be miserable forever. That's always a heartache.
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So there's this caution, there's this compulsion that takes place
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that drives me to the Scriptures to learn discernment #3 and that
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is that is, oh, by the way, this was Solomon's cry.
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Remember, God said, ask me what you wish and I will give it to
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you. You imagine God coming to you
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and saying, ask me whatever you want, I'll give it to you.
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What would you say? Solomon says I need discernment
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so I can I can, I need wisdom so I can discern between that which
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is right and wrong among the people of God.
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And God was so pleased that Solomon asked that that he gave
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him so much more other things, that Solomon became the wisest
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man whoever lived, and God used him mightily.
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James says if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask.
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That's a compulsive desire like Solomon had.
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But. But here's the caveat to this.
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Once there's a caution, once there's a compulsion, there must
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#3 be a capitulation. That is, that you must submit
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and obey everything that God says.
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Because we come to a place where we cry for discernment and God
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gives wisdom and knowledge and we begin to read and study and
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understand the word of God. And then it comes across
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something that we just don't necessarily like or agree with,
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and we think that somehow God is wrong.
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So there must be a capitulation, a complete undying submission to
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everything that God says. Why?
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Because the wisest man, whoever lived, didn't do that.
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Listen to what the Bible says in First Kings 11.
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First Kings 3, Solomon cries for discernment.
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God gives it to him. But the First Kings 11 it says
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this. Now King Solomon loved many
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foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabite,
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Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite, women from the nations
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concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel.
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You should not associate with them, nor shall they associate
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with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their
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gods. Solomon held fast to these in
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love. He had 700 wives, princesses and
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300 concubines. And his wives turned his heart
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away, for when Stalin was old, his wives turned his heart away
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after other gods, and his heart was not wholly devoted to the
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Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
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Solomon did what was evil inside the Lord, and did not follow the
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Lord fully as David his father had done.
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Then Solomon built a high place for chemist, the detestable idol
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of Moab on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, which by the
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way is Mount of Olives, and for Moab the detestable idol of the
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sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his
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four wives, who bird, incense and sacrifice to their idols.
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Now the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart had
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turned, turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had
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appeared to him twice, and it commanded him concerning his
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this thing. They should not go after other
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gods. But he did not observe what the
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Lord had commanded. So the Lord said to Solomon,
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Because you have done this and you have not kept my covenant
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and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely
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tear the Kingdom from you and give it to your servants.
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What a devastation. You see, he valued something
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more than God. He wasn't willing to submit and
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capitulate to the commandments of God because because he, his
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heart was turned, he found something more appealing to him,
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foreign wives. And the more he married, the
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more, the more he felt good about it.
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And yet it was a it was an abomination to God and, and he
42:30
had turned his back on God and didn't fully follow God.
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He was wrong. That's because he wanted to be
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cautious. And so he had this compulsion to
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be discerning but would not capitulate to the commandments
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of God. Happens all the time.
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You know why it happens in your family.
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You know why you can't be discerning with your children is
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because you value their relationship more than you value
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the truth of God. You want to preserve a
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relationship that you think you have, but you do not.
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You think you have a relationship with them, but you
43:13
can't have a relationship outside of truth.
43:16
You can't. And So what do you do?
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You want to preserve something you think you have but you
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don't, in hopes that one day it'll be great.
43:27
But it won't, because it'll ever be based on truth.
43:30
You cannot have a relationship based on anything other than the
43:36
truth of the living God. You'll have a semblance of of
43:40
togetherness. You'll have some fun things that
43:45
happen, but the trueness of a deep intimate relationship does
43:52
not happen outside of truth. But because we value
43:55
relationship over the truth, we will always compromise truth for
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the sake of relationship. That's always wrong.
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That's what Solomon did. God says you've lost it all.
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You've lost the Kingdom. God kept it peaceful until the
44:13
end, but once he died, the Kingdom divided has never been
44:17
the same sense. Why?
44:19
Because he would not submit and capitulate to the truth of the
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wisdom and knowledge of God when it was spoken His word.
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I know my time is gone, but I got to finish because I because
44:36
I want to finish. How's that?
44:40
Nick's word is connection. Connect yourself to someone
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who's discerning. Latch yourself on to somebody
44:52
who has a discerning spirit and learn from them.
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That's what Paul said. Insectivity 3.
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We said follow my pattern, Timothy.
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Follow my lifestyle, Timothy. Follow my doctrine, Timothy,
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connect with me. Follow the pattern of the
45:08
Saints. Follow someone who truly has a
45:11
deserting spirit, that knows what is right and what is wrong.
45:15
Hook yourself onto them and just watch, look and listen.
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Good advice that Paul gave you Timothy, because it's sound
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advice. So so many times we find
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ourselves connected to people that are that are unruly,
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undisciplined. You ever noticed that?
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Remember what Paul says in in Second Thessalonians, he says
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this. Listen to this.
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He says verse 6 chapter 3 Second Thessalonians.
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Now we command you brethren, in the name of the Lord Jesus
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Christ that you keep away from every brother who leads an
45:53
unruly life and not according to the tradition which you have
45:58
received from us. If there is any brother who does
46:00
not follow the commands of Scripture, do not associate with
46:03
them. But you know what we do?
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We associate with them. We we cry for wisdom, we cry for
46:10
discernment. And yet the Bible's very good.
46:11
Do not associate with the unruly, the undisciplined
46:14
person, because they'll turn you away from the Lord.
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They don't follow the the Scriptures, the authority of
46:21
God's word. You can't associate with them
46:25
even if they're in the church. They says this for you
46:31
yourselves know how you want to follow our example because we
46:34
did not act in an undisciplined manner among you.
46:38
Connect yourselves to us, follow us.
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We were not disciplined. But yet you want to attach
46:43
yourself to the unruly. You want to attach yourself to
46:46
the undisciplined, You want to attach yourself to the
46:48
unconverted, You want to attach yourself to the undiscerning.
46:51
Why? Why do you do that?
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Paul says. Because we value a relationship
46:59
over the value of the truth. That's why he goes on and says
47:05
this verse 14. If anyone does not obey our
47:09
instruction in this letter, take special note of that person.
47:15
Examine everything carefully, carefully and do not associate
47:21
with him so that he will be put to shame.
47:28
You want you want to know why the unrepentant don't repent in
47:30
the church is because we want to be friendly, unrepentant, and
47:36
act as if nothing's really wrong.
47:38
It's OK And they're not put to shame and they don't repent.
47:44
We hinder their repentance by befriending them in their sinful
47:49
state without confronting them in their sinful state.
47:55
And Paul says this as he goes on.
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Yeah. Do not regard him as an enemy
47:59
because he's not. He's your brother.
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But you would admonish him as a brother, rebuke him as a
48:05
brother, confront him as a brother.
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That's what you do. Because you see, when you do
48:10
that, he either or she either repents or they want nothing to
48:15
do with you. See, if they repent because you
48:19
admonish them, praise the Lord and you've won your brother.
48:24
That's the right thing, so that there's this connection that you
48:28
have with those who truly are discerning.
48:32
And then there's this, there's mixed word word #5 is, is, is
48:38
concentration. Concentrate all your efforts on
48:43
on the truth of God's word. Concentrate all your energies
48:46
and knowing what God says, His word, study to show yourself
48:50
approved under God, a workwind that needeth not to be ashamed,
48:54
rightly dividing the word of truth, a great intense
48:59
concentration on the truth, and then the next word falls right
49:02
after that and that is continuation.
49:05
That is, you need to continue growing your walk with the Lord.
49:08
Why? Because you never stop growing.
49:11
There's this continuing aspect where I grow day after day after
49:15
day. We continue to grow in the grace
49:17
and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.
49:22
And so therefore we exercise discipline and discernment.
49:25
And lastly, last word is contention.
49:31
Always contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all
49:35
delivered to the Saints. We're in a war, my friends.
49:40
It's a war for the truth. It's a war that we stand on
49:44
truth, live for live truth, honor truth.
49:47
So we're to protect the gospel. We're to guard the gospel.
49:50
We are to persevere in the gospel.
49:52
We're to preach the gospel. We are to contend earnestly for
49:55
the faith that was once for all delivered to the Saints.
49:58
Fight for truth because truth is what matters.
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Let me pray with you, Lord, thank you for today and the
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opportunity to be together and pray that you'd use your word in
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our lives that we might be not undiscerning but completely
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discerning of that is all happening around us.
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To know what is right versus what is wrong, what is true
50:26
versus that which is false. We pray this in Jesus name,
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Amen.