Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #16210 - Believers Grow Up - 1 John 2:12-14

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#16210 - Believers Grow Up - 1 John 2:12-14 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen, Amen. Open your Bibles.
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First John chapter 2. We're going to pick up where we
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left off last time. First John chapter 2 and I've
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entitled our Bible study Believers grow up, Believers
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grow up. Now with the different emphasis
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on the words, the title can sound differently.
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So I read it the way I intended. I shared it the way I intended
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believers grow up. But you could also read this
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with some attitude of believers, just grow up.
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And that's really not God's heart.
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Like you will grow up in the things of the Lord, as you
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follow the Lord, as you're an Acts 242 Christian continuing
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steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and in fellowship, in
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the breaking of bread and in prayer.
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I want you to know you will grow up and you are growing up.
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Even if if it's not as fast as you want, or it's not as quick
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as you want, or you see so many of your weaknesses, you will
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grow up. There's a wonderful hymn that
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came to mind in a Sunday School song that's been around the
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church since the year 1865. It's sung year after year,
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reminding the believer of the spiritual battle that they're in
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as you grow up. And as I'm reading the the
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lyrics of one of the stanzas, it'll be familiar to many of
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you. It goes like this.
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Onward, Christian soldiers marching as to war with the
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cross of Jesus going on before Christ.
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The royal Master leads against the foe forward into battle.
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See his banners go. And it won't take long for you
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to agree that the battle that is spiritual among us is for real.
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Have you felt it yet? Have you seen it in your life?
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I mean, every day there is a battle for our progress, even if
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it's the internal battle. In Galatians chapter 5, verse
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17, the flesh lust against the spirit, the spirit against the
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flesh. The two are contrary to one
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another so that you don't do the things that you wish.
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This is especially true when the enemy attacks your mind, feeding
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you doubt upon doubt on whether you are saved or not.
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This is something we looked in depth in our last study.
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Maturity and growth takes time and it doesn't come out come
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without a spiritual battle to the degree really that you stand
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fast in the Lord. As we're learning in Ephesians 6
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and fight the good fight will be directly related to the type of
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spiritual growth that you and I enjoy.
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I need to grow as a Christian. I, I need to learn to follow
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Jesus in my life and in my actions and in my obedience.
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In our prayer group today, we were praying about men and the
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topic of being a better dad and being a better brother and being
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a better husband, being a better single, every aspect of men and
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women for that matter. Although the focus today was for
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our men, every aspect of our lives God wants us to grow up in
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and as far as we think we are today, there are still more.
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There's still spiritual growth for every single believer
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listening to me, whether you are 100 years old or one year old in
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the Lord, turn over. Would you to second Peter hold
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your place in first John will get there eventually, but turn
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over to second Peter. That's going to be to the left.
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Chapter 1 and we see this said a different way.
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Believers grow up believers have a responsibility in their own
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spiritual growth. Notice what Paul says or excuse
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me, what Peter says in second Peter chapter one pick up in
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verse 5 Peter says but also for this very reason.
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Look at the phrase giving all diligence means you really pay
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attention. With great effort add to your
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faith virtue to virtue knowledge, verse 6, to
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knowledge, self-control to self-control, perseverance to
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perseverance, godliness to godliness, brotherly kindness,
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to brotherly kindness love verse 8.
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For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be
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barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
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Christ. But he who lacks these things is
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short sighted, even the blindness, and has forgotten
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that he was purged from his old sense.
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Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your
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calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you
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will never stumble. There's a sense of growing up
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that God wants us to do in our relationship with Him.
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Jot this one down. Hebrews chapter 5, verse 12.
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So by this time you ought to be teachers.
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You need someone to teach you again the 1st principles of the
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oracles of God. And you have come to need milk
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and not solid food. Everyone who partakes only of
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milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
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Now a babe could be better translated a baby, a baby
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spiritually. Think of yourself like think of
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what your first response is if the Bible says there is a
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possibility that you're a baby in Christ.
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I mean, it could be rather you could take that offensively if
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you're not careful, but all it is is describing your current
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condition. If this is your life, by now you
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should know this, but you don't. So now I'm going to instruct you
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because Paul says you're like a baby and I need to stop, slow
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down, feed you like a baby because solid food belongs to
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those who are full age. That is those who by reason of
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use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
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Paul, I believe the author of Hebrews, Jesus, Peter, the theme
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throughout the scriptures is God wants us to grow up and the
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description of being young in the faith.
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That's not a bad description. Even if you've been walking with
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the Lord for a while. If there is a sense where you
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and I need to grow up, the best response is for us to grow up.
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And now in first, John, come back to where we left off in
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verse 12. We see 3 levels in this next
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section of spiritual growth. And if you're taking notes, I'll
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give them to you up, up, up front.
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Right away. Number one, you see the baby
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Christian crawl is what I call it.
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You're going to see that first stage of your walk with the
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Lord. And then secondly, he's going to
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describe a normal walk. And then thirdly, he's going to
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describe a growing mature walk, so a baby crawling and normal
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walking, and then a growing maturity in your walk.
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So we're going to cut the verses.
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We're going to put them together here in verse 12 through verse
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14. Notice in verse 12, I write to
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you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for
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His name's sake. And then go to chapter verse 13.
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In the last part, I write to you little children because you have
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known the Father. I write to you little children
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because you have known the father.
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When John wrote this, he had been walking with the Lord for
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77 zero plus years, and yet he still kept a tender heart.
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He uses the word to describe a child, young and aged Technia,
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referring to his audience as young children.
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He's caring for them and he's calling them, hey, look, little
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children, children like young ones or babies.
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He's talking to a group of people in verse 12 that are
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young in age. And then the word he uses in
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verse 13 is a little different. This is a word that describes
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young inexperience. So it definitely describes the
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new believer. He's writing to the new believer
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now. New believers don't necessarily
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mean that you were born again yesterday or within the year.
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I have found that if you don't seek to grow in the things of
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God, you can stay stunted in your spiritual growth for a long
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time. You can find yourself a newer
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believer for much longer than you need to.
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That's what Paul was addressing with the Hebrews.
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Like you guys by now, by now you guys should be growing up and
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eating a little bit deeper than drinking milk.
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But because you still need, I'll take it down a notch, help you
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so we can all get to the next level together.
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So don't be offended when someone may refer to you as a
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baby Christian. It's not a negative statement.
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Now I'm not saying that someone might not use it negatively, but
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in general, it's not a negative statement.
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It is describing the place you are in your walk with the Lord.
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A baby Christian is someone that's new, someone that's
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learning and growing. Maybe you don't know the Bible.
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Maybe you don't even know the books of the Bible yet.
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And for for for many, many months, I would use the table of
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contents in my Bible. I didn't know what the books of
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the Bible were. I didn't know what they I didn't
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know. I didn't even know Job was
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called Job. I thought it was Job.
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I literally did. Like there was so much I didn't
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know. And to refer to me in those
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seasons as a baby Christian, I was, I was crawling along.
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Crawling, though, makes progress.
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I mean, that's a good thing. Make some progress in your walk
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with the Lord, Dive in, do a little bit more, add to your
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faith. These are all good things.
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As a baby Christian, you are young and have a lot to learn.
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Don't be offended by it, accept it.
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This happens in other areas of life too, not just as a a
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believer, but like if you're starting something new, you're
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starting to serve. You're starting to serve.
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You've never done this before. You might be invited to lead.
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You're starting to lead, you've never done this before.
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Like it's okay to give yourself some patience as those around
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you will give you some patience to grow up.
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But the worst thing to do is to roll into something going.
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I already know everything. I already know it all.
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All right, well, let me just stand back for a little bit and
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watch you fall because it's going to be very difficult for a
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know it all to learn anything. God always has.
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You know, when you're stepping into ministry, you're stepping
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into serving. Remember, there's always two
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parts to it #1 God is using you to help others in the ministry.
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He's helping you grow them and lead them and teach them and
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love them and serve them. Yes, yes, yes.
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But also on the other, on the other side of that, God is using
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the ministry to grow you up and to teach you and to put before
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you things that will stir up in you a dependence upon the Lord.
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But as you are perhaps older in age, it becomes harder to
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accept. When you make mistakes, it
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becomes harder to accept. There's a lot of blaming and
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deflecting and, and all you're trying to express like is this
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sense of, you know, I'm old. I should know these things by
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now, but I don't want anybody to know that I don't know these
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things. And you get wrapped up with
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pride and the best place to serve in any capacity.
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This is at work. I mean, think of you guys have
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30 years in work and you got these young guys that just
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started. And it would be very easy for
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you to take a position of pride with those that are just
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starting in the job that you started in 30 years.
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Forget that you once started in that job.
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Like hopefully you're more mature and 30 years later, but
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not to have patience with those that are younger that need your
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wisdom and instead just being mad at them all the time and
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upset with them. I mean, think of in the the
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example of a baby in itself. I mean, babies are they, they
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need a lot of help in those early years.
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I just, they need everything. They are 100% dependent.
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For you to be upset at a baby for being 100% dependent upon
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you is just wrong. There's just no reason for that.
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I can't believe you're screaming.
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Tell me what you want. Like, what are they going to do?
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They don't know language. They can't tell you they know
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how to scream. So they're doing it.
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That's what they're doing. And I can't believe it.
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You went Doo Doo in your diapers again.
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I'm one month old. You know, it's like, what else
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are they going to do in the body of Christ?
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It's very similar. I'm writing you little children
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and I want to remind you in that stage, the thing to really focus
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on in the early stages of your walk with the Lord is to develop
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a habit of remembering your sins are forgiven.
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You don't forget ever, but especially in the early days
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that you are in relationship with God through the blood of
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Jesus Christ. Your sins are forgiven.
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That is so common. You just keep it keeps coming
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up. It keeps coming up because you
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keep sinning and you and I, we need to remember that our sins
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are forgiven. Why?
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For his name's sake. You have been saved for the
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purposes of God. Very good thing to remember as a
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newer believer. And then in verse 13 he says I'm
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writing to little children because you have known the
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Father. 2 very important truths to know as a new believer, you
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know God and your sins are forgiven.
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Just bank on that. Just spend time on that.
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You're opening up the Bible and you're reading is I don't
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understand what does this mean in Genesis chapter 6 about the
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Nephilim and open up chapter 6 and go man, I can't believe it.
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God has helped me understand His Bible and He loves me and I know
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him. And then you can just set the
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Nephilim aside for a while and then some of your guy.
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What is that in Genesis chapter 6?
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You can read it for yourself. There's a startling passage
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there. It's not the first one.
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It won't be the last one, but don't let it distract you from
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the fact that you know God and your sins are forgiven.
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You're no God and your sins are forgiven.
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That's what's going to help you propel forward, make the
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progress. Oh yes, Lord, grace and mercy,
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grace and mercy. To know you personally, you need
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to keep at the forefront of your life and appreciation that your
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sins are being forgiven. All of them.
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You need to know that you are forgiven, grounded in grace.
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Not because of your works, not because of your good deeds, not
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because you've improved yourself, not because you're
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better than you were before you were saved.
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None of the behaviors. God loves you in Christ, and
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He's working in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure
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the Bible declares over all of our lives.
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation.
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Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become
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new. You are washed and cleansed by
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the blood of the Lamb. That is, they're going to carry
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you all the way into eternity. It's never going to stop.
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It's going to continue no matter where you are.
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He's washed away your guilt. He's washed away your shame.
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You are justified and He's declared you righteous before
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the Father for His namesake. He has a plan for your life, a
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purpose. What do we learn in Ephesians
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before the even foundation of the world?
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He chose you. God is working in your life,
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little children, don't forget that.
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That's the early stages. Not only are your sins forgiven,
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but you know Him and it's amazing to grasp at the Creator
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of the universe. Notice the next stage.
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You go from the baby Christian crawl to a normal walk.
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He says in verse 13. In the beginning, I write to
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you. In the second part there I write
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to you young men. And I had these all underlined
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so I could keep track of them because of the order.
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But we'll go back and read them at the end all the way through.
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But notice the next phrase that that we want to draw attention
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to in in the B part, the second part of verse 13.
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I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the
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wicked one. I have written to you down in
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verse 14 at the end, young men, because you are strong, and the
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word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked. 1
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So we go from little children to young men, little children to
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young men. Now notice what he says twice
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now he says you've overcome the wicked one, verse 13 and then
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verse 14 you've overcome the wicked one.
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I think John is trying to tell the believer something.
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He's saying in this next stage, when you're growing up into
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maturity, you're going to face a lot of the wicked one.
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There's going to be a lot of the wicked 1 Going after you, going
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after your marriage, going after your thoughts, going after your
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purity, going after your loyalty, you name it.
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Whatever you treasure, what's ever important to you, whatever
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you've offered the Lord on the altar, he is going to go after
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that. And as we've learned before,
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distract, distract, distract, distract, destroy.
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She doesn't go right after it yet.
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What does the Bible say? The Bible says you have
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overcome. You have overcome.
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One of the angles with spiritual warfare, I think we make the
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mistake of is we focus too much on the warfare and not enough on
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the victory. There's a lot of fighting you
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for sure. There's a lot about even today.
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Some of you, if we share testimony every midweek study
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how hard it was for you to get here, how hard it was just the
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weirdest stuff. Late night, you know, flat tire,
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late work, whatever. It's just so much to get you now
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You just waiting on, I don't want to go to church.
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Like you never think that today you did and you fought through
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it. No, I don't want to go.
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It's too cold. We mean it's too cold.
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It was colder on Sunday. You weren't here either.
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Like you know, the enemy's fighting you like, what do you
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mean? You got all these reasons, but
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you made a commitment like I'm going to press into the things
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of God, I'm going to pray for for someone this week, and all
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of a sudden the enemy throws all of this.
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But here's the thing. Victory is yours by faith in
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Jesus Christ over anything and everything you're facing right
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now. It's yours.
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It's already yours. Yeah, but it's so hard.
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I didn't say it wasn't hard. I said victory is yours.
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Yeah, but it's been with me for since I was a child.
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I didn't say it hasn't been with you.
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I'm just telling you the victory is yours.
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And the pathway according to Ephesians 6, uses the word
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wrestle. In Luke 13, he uses the word
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strive. In John 18, the word fight is
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used. I mean, these are words that are
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like hand to hand combat. Like it's going to be hard, it's
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going to be difficult. But here's the thing, God
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doesn't place baby Christians on the front lines.
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He gives grace and time to grow. He holds you back almost to give
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you some time to grow up, does things for you, helps lead you,
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and maybe turns you away to the left or to the right.
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But the Christian that's seeking the things of God is no playmate
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and no POW and no friend of the forces of darkness.
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And even though God guards the baby Christian, eventually,
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little by little, he'll allow trials to come into your life to
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strengthen your faith and to deepen your relationship with
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Him. I saw this as we were raising
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our kids. I I knew that they would live a
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different life than my wife and I lived in the homes we grew up
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in. They would have purposely have
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be guarded by us from a lot of the sin that we weren't guarded
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from that we just lived in man and just went for it.
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However, they're going to grow up in a world that's going to be
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worse than the world we grew up in.
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And I remember making a conscious decision.
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I don't remember if it was from the text or some Bible study I
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heard. I don't really remember.
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I do remember though, like I, I, I got this thought, I believe it
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was from the Lord that I need to help my kids transition into the
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world. Like I need to tell them at age
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appropriate levels of the things they're going to face in the
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world. So that when they're 18 or 19,
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they just don't get it all in one shot and don't know what to
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do with it. Which included a lot of our own
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personal testimony. I've shared this before but I've
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been very open with our kids. At age appropriate levels of
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what their mom and dad were into, mostly their dad, but like
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the the types of things that they know where we've come from,
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what God has done in our lives, the miracles.
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They didn't experience it, they weren't there.
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They just get the benefits of it.
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But I don't want them just to enjoy the benefits.
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I want them to know what God has done from first hand account.
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I don't want to read it in a book.
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I don't want them to think about her and I want their I don't
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want to even want their minds to be like curious about it at
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every stage. I wanted to show them, you know,
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this is what happened and this is what we did.
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And this is, you know, especially my oldest son being
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the son of a teenage pregnancy, like, I want him to know how,
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how it all went down and what what happened and all the things
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that happened. So he knows just how special he
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is in the eyes of the Lord, just how important it was.
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You see, that's how God does with us.
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He gives us what we can handle in him.
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Now we can go off and well, I'm good and I'm strong enough.
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And you know, like perhaps you have a, you are a partier,
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right? And now you've been walking with
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the Lord for a while. Well, you know, I can go back
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into the bars and I'll be OK. And so you go back into the bar
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and find out you're not OK like God has been telling you, don't
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go back. Don't go back.
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Your Bible studies don't go back, don't go back.
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But you get it in your mind. I think I'm strong enough, I'm
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just going to go share the gospel with my old buddies there
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and I'll just have one beer. And before you know it, you're
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back in jail from a DUI. The Lord told you not to go
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there. He's protecting you.
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He's guarding you. Until you're old enough to
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understand in the Lord, you won't go back yourself.
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You can find yourself in places because you have the ability to
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make those choices, but God will lead you along the way.
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Some places you may have permission to go back to, but
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perhaps some places you'll never go back to ever again.
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The Lord said no. You see, as a church in the
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fight the young men overcame, because in the church we fight.
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We are not fighting for victory. This is not our battle to fight.
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It's not dependent upon us. The battle has already been
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fought and won, decided some 2000 years ago.
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Jesus Christ said from the cross, it is finished.
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We're learning Colossians, that the enemy has been defeated.
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Now here's a tool. You want to live an overcoming
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life. What does that look like?
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Here's a tool and a little hint of what it looks like.
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Notice back in verse 14 I've written to you young men.
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It's at the end there because you are strong.
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And what, what marked this? The Word of God abides in you.
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That is the place of victory. The Bible will never lead you
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astray. Pastors will make mistakes.
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I might say something wrong, you might hear something, but the
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Bible will never lead you astray.
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As you abide in the Word, you are safe and you are secure.
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And as the men are going to find out shortly, there's so much
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wisdom on how to live your life in the Bible.
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There's so much to learn about the character and nature of God,
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of who he is and how he wants what's best for you.
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And he tells you straight out. The overcoming life, John says,
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is tethered to the word of God. You're strong because the Word
23:49
is in you. I I like the language here
23:52
because we often emphasize, I know I do and I will.
23:56
I won't stop, but I often emphasize being in the Word.
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I do. I emphasize I get in the Word.
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Read your Bible every day, pray every day, be in the Word.
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But notice John says the strength that you have is that
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the Word of God is in you. Now of course, that could be a
24:14
real easy application of memorizing the Bible.
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Psalm 119, David says that I've hidden your word in my heart,
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that I might not sin against you.
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But I also think it has something to do, especially in
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our modern day Western culture where this is more than just
24:29
being students of the Bible. This is more than just knowing
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Greek words as valuable as they are.
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It's more important than knowing Hebrew word as valuable as they
24:37
are. What what John is saying is that
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your greatest strength is when God's word is in you because
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when it's in you, it will come out of you.
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Like to me, that's it. Like he's not going to be on at
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the end of service today. We're going to give you a Greek
24:51
test and you got to pass the Greek test and that makes you a
24:54
good Christian. Like you can forget every single
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Greek word I've ever mentioned. But if you love your neighbor,
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you're in, I mean, what else do you have?
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You serve your neighbor, you love them in Jesus name you, you
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point them to the Lord, you serve them in like that.
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That's it. That's where the meats at.
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That's where power is. The overcoming is the word of
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God abides in you. God's Word is God's voice.
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You know how sometimes you'll hear, it's like, I just don't
25:22
feel like I'm hearing from the Lord.
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I'm hearing from the Lord and I'm like, well, here's the
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answer. Open your Bible and read it and
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you will hear from the Lord every single time.
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Right now I write to you, little children, because your sins are
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forgiven. You have heard from the Lord
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because that's what the text says.
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Your sins have been forgiven. Like I wonder today, just and
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even on the radio listening live right now or on a podcast some
25:46
other time, how that word, that phrase, that truth from God,
25:49
that reminder of your sins being forgiven is helping to loosen
25:53
the shame of a past sin. It's just the truth of God's
25:56
word. That's all it is.
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Your sins are forgiven. Yeah, but you know, I'm not a
26:00
baby Christian. But you were.
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And maybe that's even how the sin occurred.
26:04
You were a baby Christian. Maybe it has nothing to do with
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you. Someone sinned against you and
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you're carrying the weight and pain of that.
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OK, well, the Bible says your sins are forgiven.
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Now it changes. Now it becomes, do you believe
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it? Because if you believe it, it's
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yours. If you don't believe it, it's
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elusive and you keep battling, then it's you're in warfare.
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I don't know. I don't know if God loves me.
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I don't even know if my sins are forgiven.
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Here's the Bible. Your sins are forgiven.
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You, you don't need to worry about that.
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You don't need to. That's an attack of the enemy
26:35
you've overcome. Why?
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Because the Word of God abides in you, they don't need to worry
26:39
about that one. Your sins are forgiven.
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They came. The devil comes to Jesus and
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tries to tempt him. Tempt him?
26:46
And what does Jesus say? It is written.
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He clung to the written word and pointed us to the written word.
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The danger, of course, is that we forget that the Bible is a
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means to an end. The Bible is a means to an end.
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It's a powerful tool that God uses to bring us closer to
27:06
Jesus, closer to his likeness, closest, closer to his
27:09
character. How easy it can be, especially
27:12
in a Bible. Believing Bible teaching verse
27:15
by verse in the Word all the time, answering with the Word
27:18
all the time, with all the Word getting into us that we think
27:21
we're just gaining knowledge so we can win at Bible trivia or we
27:25
can post that answer on social media.
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Because I know the Scriptures. I know the Scriptures.
27:29
What's more important than knowing the Scriptures is
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knowing the God of the Scriptures.
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It's him talking to you. You don't want to just know what
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He said. You want to know Him.
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And that's what He said earlier, didn't He?
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You know the Father and the Word of the Father abides in you.
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We're really not just learning things for Bible trivia.
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We're not just trying to wreck people on social media.
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God has put us in this on this earth to love God with all our
27:58
heart, soul and mind and to love our neighbors ourselves.
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That's where the word of God has taken you you.
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We don't fight for victory. We what we fight from victory.
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Every time we read the Scriptures, we see the victory
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that we're walking in and living in, in Christ Jesus, which leads
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us to the last point today in this section, we go from the
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baby Christian crawl to the normal general work of the Lord.
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And then finally we have this element of growing maturity.
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We see that there in verse 13, in the first part, I write to
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you fathers, because you have known him who is from the
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beginning. And then again in verse 14, I've
28:38
written to you fathers, because you have known him who is from
28:42
the beginning. So not much changes when you're
28:46
making progress and the things of the Lord.
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What's important is a new believer is important when
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you're older, that you know the Father, that you know the
28:53
Father, you know Jesus. He is always referring to the
28:57
Father, always pointing us to the Father and the normal
29:02
Christian or the the normal progress for a believer is to
29:05
grow up in the Lord little by little, but into maturity.
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Little children, young men and women, fathers.
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The important idea today from this section that John's writing
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to a church and a group of believers that are being ripped
29:21
off by false teaching in the in John's day, the popular false
29:26
teaching for this group or the Gnostics.
29:28
But in our day, we get hit all all over the place.
29:31
We're getting hit with all kinds of interesting ideas and
29:35
thoughts and sometimes we get hit by them.
29:37
Sometimes we go down the rabbit hole of YouTube.
29:39
But you're just if you don't singularly seek the Lord, you're
29:43
going to pay the price for it. The enemy's going to get you and
29:46
trip you as a father, as a mature overseeing like a father
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implies you're raising other children, a father.
29:54
The idea of fatherhood is that you're raising baby Christians.
29:57
So you're a part of the process of other young believers to grow
30:00
up. That's the will of the father
30:02
for our church is that we're all helping one another grow up in
30:06
the process of discipleship. But the idea is progress.
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In Second Corinthians, in chapter 18, it says, But we with
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we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the
30:19
glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image
30:24
from glory to glory. And the same thing that's
30:28
commended in the Father's is commended in the little
30:31
children. You have known him.
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Despite all the obstacles, the mature believer clings to his or
30:40
her personal relationship with the Father through his Son Jesus
30:45
Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
30:48
This will get you through the worst of circumstances to know
30:52
the Father. This will get you through the
30:55
worst crisis. This will get you through when
30:58
the bottom falls out, when you don't know what's next.
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This will get you through the sleepless nights, through the
31:07
challenges, through all the feelings, through the traumas
31:10
and pains. This will get you through to
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talk some to someone or pray with someone that you know that
31:17
God loves you, that what you've experienced is not God's heart
31:23
for your life. He did not want to see.
31:26
He didn't create the world to be wrecked by sin.
31:31
Adam and Eve had. We're not even told exactly how
31:34
much time they enjoyed in the Garden.
31:35
But what Adam and Eve enjoyed is what the world will be restored
31:39
to one day. The Kingdom with King Jesus
31:44
ruling and reigning. But in between there's a battle
31:48
and there's a warfare. There's the consequence of other
31:50
people's sin. There's a consequence of our
31:52
sin. We live in a world that hates
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God, John says, filled with Antichrist, not just capital a
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as as we who love prophecy will often focus on, but there's
32:02
something greater than the those that love prophecy capital, a
32:06
Antichrist, He says right now many antichrists are in the
32:09
world. It doesn't take long to see that
32:11
Antichrist those that are against Christ, Antichrist those
32:15
that are replacing Jesus, that has been from the very beginning
32:20
of sin. And the truth is, the more you
32:23
exercise your faith, the more you'll see growth in the things
32:26
of the spirit. The more the word of God abides
32:29
in you, the more victory you'll you'll enjoy.
32:33
And all along the way, a battles raging.
32:35
There's always something new, but you're growing up.
32:39
You're not fighting the battle like you were when you were a
32:41
baby. You're growing up, you're
32:44
learning, you're making mistakes, learning from your
32:47
mistakes. You're like, oh, that's a new
32:49
one. That's but, but what?
32:51
You're not trying to figure out every aspect of spiritual
32:54
warfare. And you know what you're doing?
32:55
You're enjoying the Father, and while the Father's around, he's
32:59
your protector and he's taking care of things you don't even
33:02
know he's taken care of. He's handling things you didn't
33:05
even know he was handling, protecting you from things you
33:07
don't even know he's protecting you.
33:09
Why? Because you're in the Father.
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You're abiding in Christ, the vine in the vine dresser, taking
33:14
care of us, bearing fruit, being that tree, like we're learning
33:18
as all these studies come together.
33:20
We're like a tree that's planted by the rivers of water.
33:23
We're not all over the place. We're not being transplanted
33:26
here and transplanted here. And no, whatever comes our way,
33:28
whatever storm comes our way, whatever difficulty comes our
33:31
way, like we are there because we didn't and set up a plan, but
33:36
because we know the Father loves us and we trust him and we're
33:41
all lost and don't know what to do.
33:43
And we've been taught, and I have the privilege of teaching
33:46
you that you know, when you coming up against something you
33:49
just don't understand and it's so overwhelming, the temptation
33:53
is to try to figure it out and try to get it fixed and try to
33:56
eliminate it so you have a peace restored to you.
33:59
But we've always been taught when there's something you don't
34:01
understand, you, you fall back on the things that you do
34:05
understand and the things that we do understand, we understand
34:09
that God loves us, that he loves us so much He sent his only
34:13
begotten Son to die for US. One of the truths we fall back
34:17
on is that we're saved, that our sins are forgiven, that He's
34:21
gotten through us. He's gotten us through at least
34:23
one trial. I mean, I look back, there's
34:25
probably so many things He's gotten me through that I don't
34:28
even remember them all, but there's a few big ones that he's
34:31
gotten me through and that He's getting me through.
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I remember that I may not know what's happening right now.
34:37
It may be confusing and it may be I don't know.
34:40
But I do know that I'm not going to throw away everything I know
34:43
about God just because I'm having a hard time today.
34:46
I'm going to cling to Him. I'm going to be in His Word.
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I'm going to stay in His Word till He gets me out of it.
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I'm going to stay in His Word till He gives me clarity.
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I'm going to stay in His Word and in prayer.
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And again, you know, I'm sharing this in my own life as if I do
34:59
it perfectly. I don't do it perfectly, but it
35:02
is my heart. And I think God knows your heart
35:05
knows my hearts. And he's like, OK, give yourself
35:07
to him today. You got something that's
35:09
overwhelming and clouding your vision and you don't quite see,
35:12
OK? Don't throw away everything
35:15
you've already experienced. Don't just toss it away.
35:18
Like, man, this is so hard. I can't believe a God of love
35:21
would do such a no, no. Just set that aside for a
35:23
second. You're most likely speaking out
35:25
of pain and hurt. Just set that aside.
35:28
We'll get to that question when you're healed up and see things
35:31
clearly again. And we'll talk about that God of
35:33
love, and we'll talk about the God who restores has a heart of
35:38
reconciliation, the God that forgives, the God that cares,
35:41
the God that helps, the God that serves.
35:44
Imagine God, our our God would see dirty feet and gird himself
35:52
with a towel and stoop down to wash your dirty feet.
35:58
Don't forget that he's given the greatest.
36:01
You're struggling with being a servant right now.
36:02
I can't believe it. Nobody appreciate me.
36:04
Nobody cares. You remember Jesus washing dirty
36:08
feet, King of kings and Lord of Lords.
36:13
He could have told him, you do it.
36:14
You do it. You do it, you do it.
36:15
Yeah, that's not what he did. He gave an example why he cares
36:21
for you. When the word of God abides in
36:22
you, all these things flood your heart.
36:25
It's like, I know it's hard right now.
36:26
Just going to say right here, and I'm going to remember, I'm
36:29
going to recall. We don't want to be like the
36:31
children of Israel in the wilderness, do we?
36:34
Where we forgot His good work, Psalm 106.
36:37
Because you start forgetting God's good works, you're going
36:40
to end up getting your requests. But God sends leanness into your
36:44
soul. Nobody wants that, Amen.
36:47
Nobody wants that. We want the fullness of all that
36:50
God has for us in these last days so we can grow up and help
36:55
others grow up too. Amen.
36:58
Lord, Thank you for your word. It's a powerful and beautiful.
37:01
And as we just think about your goodness, it doesn't erase the
37:06
pain, no. We've got these wounds and
37:08
scars, yes, and doesn't erase the things we're currently going
37:12
through. I mean that.
37:15
But it does remind us of hope and it does remind us of, like
37:21
we said with the rocks, you know, thus far the Lord has
37:23
helped us. Yes, thus far he, he's brought
37:27
it. You brought us to every stage.
37:29
So as we read here today in this text, and we're encouraged by
37:35
the progression, God, of this, this spiritual growth, this
37:40
simple direction of spiritual growth.
37:43
And we, we learn, God, of your great love for us, we're able to
37:48
appreciate. I write to you, little children,
37:50
because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake.
37:54
I write to you, fathers, because you've known Him who's from the
37:57
beginning. I write to you, young men,
37:59
because you have overcome the wicked one.
38:02
I write to you, little children, because you have known the
38:04
Father. I've written to you, fathers,
38:07
because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
38:11
I've written to you young men, because you are strong and the
38:14
word of God abides in you. You have overcome the wicked
38:18
one. I just pray that over our church
38:20
right now. I've since that word is so
38:22
important that just you are strong church.
38:26
You are strong in the Lord. You are strong in the power of
38:31
His might. You are strong in the measure of
38:33
faith He has given you. You are strong in the never
38:37
ending supply of grace and mercy poured out in your lives.
38:41
You are strong because your sins have been forgiven you.
38:44
You are strong because God fights on your behalf and He
38:48
gives clarity and confusion and He clears things up and He goes
38:52
before you and He is behind you and He knows all things and
38:56
still loves you. You are strong Church.
38:59
I just think some need to hear that they feel so weak, but they
39:05
are so strong. Lord, I pray for those feelings.
39:08
So weak that you would bring their feelings up to the truth
39:12
that they are strong. Not like a prideful thing, but
39:15
just start to dissipate that sense of feeling so weak and
39:20
those that are physically weak, you know, hospital recovery,
39:24
sick battling, you know, chronic disease and different like in
39:28
the physical strength. I just think about phrase that
39:30
truth in your word that the joy of the Lord is my strength that
39:35
you will restore joy God, the joy of our salvation.
39:40
So bless your church tonight. Pour out your spirit upon us
39:43
Lord, that we might grow and, and just one little 1 little
39:47
thing tonight or two or three. It would take us from glory to
39:50
glory. In Jesus name, Amen, we pray.
39:55
That you've been encouraged by this Bible study delivered live
39:57
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40:11
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40:14
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40:23
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