Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20240107 - Living With Loyalty - 1 Kings 8:61

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#20240107 - Living With Loyalty - 1 Kings 8:61 · 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 To learn
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more about the many resources available through Abounding
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Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Now here's Pastor Ed to take us
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into our study. Amen.
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Take your Bibles, open them to John, Chapter 6.
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And if you want to get ahead, first Kings Chapter 8.
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And I've entitled our Bible study today.
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Living With Loyalty. Living with Loyalty.
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Heading into a new year, it's very encouraging to think about
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what God might want to do in our lives.
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What new changes are up ahead? What new strength are we going
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to experience? What hope is God going to
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deposit into our lives? What big steps of faith does God
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have in store for us, that we might meet him in a fresh, new
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way. And I know that a new year
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really is just the changing of a calendar, the changing of our
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measurement of time. But like we read in the Psalms
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today, like man, we need to know how to number our days and to
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live them out day by day. Like actually taking Psalm 90,
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verse 12 and making it your prayer and you just come to the
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Lord. God teach me how to number
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today. And really what he's saying is
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God, God teach me how to make today matter just today.
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I don't have yesterday, tomorrow's not here.
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And what do you have for me today?
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Now heading into a new year, I'm encouraged by the commitment of
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the men and women in the Bible, especially Peter.
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I'm very encouraged thinking of Peter in his devotion and
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worship of Jesus because deep down in his heart he was a loyal
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man, a loyal man. He loved his friend and savior
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Jesus and was willing to do anything and go anywhere and pay
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any price to follow him. But I ask you to open to John
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chapter 6, because we come to this time in the Life and Times
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of and ministry of Jesus, where Jesus was sharing some hard
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things and as a result many people left.
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And I draw your attention when you get there in chapter 6 to
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verse 66, which is kind of a bummer, verse 666, but here it
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is because it's a bad, it's a real difficult verse.
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It's like sad. In John 666 it says from that
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time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more
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and the words were just too hard and so many people walked away,
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didn't want to follow him anymore too much.
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Then notice it says in verse 67 Jesus turns to the ones that are
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following him, the 12, the ones that are closest to him, and ask
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this question. He says, do you also want to go
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away? And Peter immediately answers
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Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal
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life. Also, we have come to believe
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and know that you are the Christ, the Son of the living
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God. I mean, they're loyal, they're
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committed. And Peter seems to be most
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affected by that question. And goes, hey, where are we
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going to go? We're we're in this with you.
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We're not going anywhere. And I wonder today, if we were
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to ask the same question in the room, what the answer would be.
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I know what it would be if I did it right now.
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I know what it'd be if I asked for a raising of hands.
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And I said, you know, how many of you are committed to follow
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the Lord? I am.
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How many of you think 2024 is going to be great?
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I am. How many of you think you're
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going to fall away? No way.
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No way. We're not going to leave the
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Lord. But I want you to consider this
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just really on a micro level here.
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I want you to pause for a second and consider the reality.
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Because I know we can get, we can get the room moving and we
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can all express our commitment. But I want you to consider this.
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Do you want to go away now? We may not walk away from Jesus.
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I give you that. We may not walk away from Jesus,
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but we may want to walk away from other things.
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I mean, there, there, there's someone listening to me right
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now that's ready to walk away from their marriage and they're
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already making plans for it. No, don't do it.
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Don't do it. Some of you, you want to walk
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away from ministry. Maybe you've been serving the
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Lord and you're like, I don't know, this year it's been so
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hard. I don't want to serve the Lord
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anymore. Or maybe walk away from a church
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or this church. You go, you know what?
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This is my problem. 2024 is going to be so new because the
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problem is the church. The problem is the church.
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The only problem is, is that you're the problem.
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And so if you head off to another church, you're going to
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take your problems with you that you don't want to walk away from
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a place that God has placed you in.
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I mean, certainly there are times to move on, for sure, but
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not just because it's hard. It's God checking your heart.
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Maybe you want to walk away from people.
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Maybe 2024 is the year you're like, yeah, I don't think I want
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to deal with anybody this year, But that's not possible.
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That's just not possible. And certainly all of us would
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want love to walk away from our problems.
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Hey, look, I know you. You want to go away sometimes.
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The answer could be yes to that question.
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Sadly, many people walk away and take a break and never come
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back. Sometimes it's physically, but
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most of the time it's emotionally, spiritually.
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I think what they call that is you just shut down and go
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through the motions. And that's not God's heart for
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you. There's opportunities in your
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life to really check your loyalty.
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Who are you loyal to? Where is your loyalty?
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Charles Spurgeon would say this. He said, Dear brothers and
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sisters, if the Lord calls you to things that you cannot do, he
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will give you the strength to do them.
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And if he should push you still further until your difficulties
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increase and your burdens become heavy, as your days, so shall
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your strength be, you shall March with the indomitable
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spirit of those who have tried and trusted the naked arm of the
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eternal God. End Quote 2024 will undoubtedly,
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will undoubtedly bring to us things that are beyond our
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ability, but God will give us the strength to do them.
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He's called us to them. He wants our lives to bear
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fruit. That's a big part of your life.
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To bear fruit. To see people save through your
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life. To see lives changed, to see
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families rescued. Maybe your own family needs
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rescuing. Maybe this is the year where you
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finally turn the corner and you say, Lord God, I this is my life
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the way it is. It is not what I expected to be.
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This is not what I thought it would be.
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And here I am. I surrender my life to you.
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It could be the very fruit that comes through your life this
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year. It's God's will for believers to
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bear fruit and for unbelievers to come to Him in repentance.
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Today we're reminded, heading into a new year, that serving
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Jesus for a long time requires A wholehearted commitment.
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Not half hearted, not 1/2 hearted commitment.
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In other words, we are to submit and to serve Jesus with our
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whole and undivided heart. Or I want to introduce to you
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another word when it comes to serving Jesus with a loyal
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heart, wholehearted, committed and loyal.
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I asked you to open the First Kings chapter 8 and verse 61.
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If you're there, notice with me the admonition, the instruction
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from God here in First Kings 8, verse 61.
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It says, let your heart therefore be loyal to the Lord
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our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandment as
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it is this day. Let your heart therefore be
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loyal. You got a brand new year ahead
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of you. You don't know what's in front
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of you. You know that 2023 and
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everything else is behind you. I mean, I even want you to
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consider this. I mean, I think in the life of
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our church, right? We're we're 24 years old now as
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a church. So we've had 24 New Years, 24
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New Year's services, 24 messages.
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I'm sure if I went back to look, 24 * a come on church, let's do
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it. Let's go church.
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And And yet all of them are behind us.
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We only have today, now, and this is the same thing that God
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has called me to do once again is to stir our church up in love
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and good works and let's go forward.
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Let's really consider what God would have, and it starts not
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with the church, but with us and our devotion and our loyalty.
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If you're taking notes, if you look up the word loyalty in an
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English Dictionary, the definition of loyal here is a
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great definition. It means, and I quote, giving or
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showing firm and constant support or allegiance to a
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person or an institution. That is how we almost always
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think of loyalty. Loyalty is a beautiful
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characteristic of a man or a woman with great integrity.
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Loyalty, someone you can rely upon, someone that keeps their
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word, someone that has a firm and constant support and
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allegiance in a relationship or even to an institution.
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That's how we think of loyalty most of the time.
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It made me think about the home that I grew up in, my dad.
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My dad was a very quiet man, but a very strong man and one of the
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characteristics that I noticed, he didn't teach it to me.
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He didn't sit me down and say son, this is what it is.
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I watched him and one of the characteristics of his life was
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my dad was a loyal man. Anybody that had ever met him,
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anyone that ever relied upon him, anyone that ever needed
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something for him, This guy, he was loyal.
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He was a union man, so that it came from a man.
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He was loyal to the union. He was loyal to the different
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companies that he worked for. He was loyal to his wife.
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He was loyal to his children. His man was a loyal.
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So that's become a high value in my own life.
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It's become a high value, just in that basic level that I want
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to be a loyal man. I want to be faithful, I want to
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be reliable. I want you to know that that
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when I say something, I mean it and I'm I'm serious about it and
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I'm loyal. You don't need to worry about me
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because when I'm in, I'm in. Now think about that, that the
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church just filled with that characteristic loyalty would be
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wonderful and amazing. But do you know that the Bible
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word has even a deeper meaning than that?
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Because, you see, when it comes to things in the church, As for
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the believer, everything doesn't start with us.
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It always starts with the Lord. It always starts with him.
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It's always a vertical relationship because apart from
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him we can't be very loyal and apart from him we can't be very
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reliable. Apart from him, we're 5050 at
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best, most likely less than 5050 at worst.
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But the word loyal here in First Kings chapter 8 has even a
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deeper meaning. The Hebrew word is Salim, Salim,
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and it so much deeper. It has the idea if you're taking
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notes of complete, safe, whole, undivided and again fully
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committed. So when you put these together,
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I mean it's an amazing thing to have.
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And 14 times it's used in the Old Testament, 11 times in the
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positive, three times in the negative.
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And this word is used to describe stones that an altar
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was to be made of. So whole, complete stones.
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It was used to describe fair and accurate weights in the
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marketplace. This word in the Hebrew in the
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Bible is used to describe wages that were paid in full, that
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expectation of your wages, they were given to you completely.
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And here it's also used to describe whole hearted devotion
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to God. I want to be clear here, the
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loyalty that we're Speaking of today, we're God is not asking
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you to be loyal to a man. He's not asking you to be loyal
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to a church. He's not asking you to be loyal
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to an institution. He's not asking you to be loyal
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to anyone for anything. He's asking you and commanding
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you to be loyal to him. That's where it starts.
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The loyalty that you're looking for with others can only come if
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your heart is devoted to him. And that's the key.
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I mean, if this is something, if this is something you don't deal
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with this year, then you're going to have another year like
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last year or the year before. The year before, where the Lord
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is just using circumstances to draw you to himself.
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Loyalty is so important to God because of one word.
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I mean, there's a lot of different words, but let me give
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to you one today, and that is division.
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Division is very bad among believers in the body of Christ.
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But you know, division is much bigger than that.
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The division is alive and well today.
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I think of how many families today are divided for a lot of
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different reasons. How many marriages are divided?
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How many friendships are divided?
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There are churches that are divided.
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There are churches against churches.
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There are people divided. Even in this church right now
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there are a division between people where people are just
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doing their own thing and and then coming against others and
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not willing to do what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 18.
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Go to the person, you and him alone and work it out.
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The Lord wants you to work it out.
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He wants you to be in unity. But one of the reasons why you
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won't work it out. Listen, this is a word from the
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Lord for someone. One of the reasons you won't
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work it out is your loyalty to God is lacking.
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You love yourself more than you love God, and that will cause
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pain. There's a lot of division among
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us. I mean, I think of what's coming
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up. You know, we've got another
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political cycle coming and you know what's going to happen?
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It is going to make people freak out because they're going to
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adopt. They're going to love politics
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more than they love God. And when you love politics more
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than you love God, you are a very divisive person, very
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divisive. Maybe it's not politics.
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Maybe it's economic, the economy, and what's going to
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happen with the economy. And maybe it's the racial
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tension and division that's going on, whatever it might be.
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Let me just say this, and maybe I didn't touch on the division
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that you're in right now, but we'll just include it right now.
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You can say it in your mind. And we go, Yep, that's divided
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too. Yes.
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And let me just say this. The enemy of our souls loves
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division. Because sometimes the devil
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believes the Bible more than followers of Christ.
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He believes the words of Jesus sometimes more than we do.
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Well, you remember what Jesus said because you know you're
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like, come on pastor, you're exaggerating.
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I'm not. I am not exaggerating.
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This is from where we sit and what we deal with on a regular
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basis. I'm not exaggerating.
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Let me tell you what Jesus said. Jesus said this in Mark chapter
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3, verse 25. If a house is divided against
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itself, that house cannot stand and other places will not stand.
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You're just division will lead to destruction.
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And let me say as we bring this personally as we head into this
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new year, by far the greatest division among us right now is
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not all of the other things that I mentioned.
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By far the greatest division that exists is a divided heart,
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a divided heart. Division weakens our
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effectiveness. Division weakens our resolve.
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Division weakens our strength. Division destroys and takes
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people out. That's why the Bible says in
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Proverbs Chapter 4 and verse 23, keep your heart with all
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diligence for out of it spring the issues of life.
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You got to protect that heart. When the Bible speaks of heart,
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it's not merely Speaking of the pumping muscle that's in your
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chest cavity. It's speaking about the essence
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of who you are. You know how we talk about the
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heart of the matter getting down to the root of who you are?
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You protect that, You protect that.
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Because out of it spring all the issues of life, friends.
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The division that exists in your heart is the greatest danger to
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the church's progress and health today.
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A divided heart, James, Remember, he describes somebody
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that has a double mind, he says. In James chapter one, verse
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eight, he says he's a double minded man, unstable in all his
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ways. A double minded man is unstable,
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unreliable. You can't be trusted, disloyal.
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I want you to mark that word. The opposite of a loyal heart
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toward God is a disloyal. And that's a heavy word.
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That is a heavy word to consider in your relationship with God
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because there's a lot of things that we just make excuses for.
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Well, you know, I haven't been really reading my Bible, but,
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you know, I'll get back to it. And I haven't really been
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praying. I haven't really been in church.
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And you know what? They just roll off our lips like
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it's no big deal. But try this.
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Try this. You know, the last year I've
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been, you know, I haven't been reading my Bible.
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I've been praying all that. If that describes you, try
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saying this. It's really hard.
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Says, yeah, I've just been very disloyal to God.
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You're like, whoa, That gets your attention because loyalty
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diminishes division, Loyalty diminishes division and brings
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unity. So that when you and I are loyal
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to God, we're in oneness with God.
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And then when you and I are loyal with one another, we have
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one mind. Just like the early Church, we
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were leaning, learning in the book of Acts.
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They came together how in one accord they were in unity, their
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hearts were fastened together. The greatest danger in the
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Church progress today is a divided heart.
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The church is to be led and served by and filled with men
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and women who are stable and strong, abiding in Christ with a
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confident, committed, undivided heart.
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In Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13 it says, For it is God
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who works in you both to will and to do with his for his good
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pleasure. God is working in US, and he's
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wanting to use us together. The woman, the man with a
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divided heart, is a walking civil war, fighting a battle and
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wasting energy that you don't need to be in.
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This civil war is where trust and distrust of God wage a
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continual battle against each other, destroying our
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effectiveness. We see this in the life of
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Solomon. King Solomon was David's king,
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David's son, and he grew up in a very privileged position, pretty
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much had everything handed to him.
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He didn't have to fight the wars that his dad fought.
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He didn't have to go through the battles.
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God had him prepared and prepped by the family that he was was
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born into. Unfortunately, unfortunately, he
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doesn't end his life very well, Solomon.
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I mean, this is one of the ironies and paradoxes of the
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Bible. There are many, by the way, but
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here's a guy early on in his life, he he's, he's given an
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option by God of what? To choose.
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You know, anything you want, you want.
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What do you want? Solomon and Solomon's I need
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wisdom. That's what I need.
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I need wisdom to run these, to to run this country and lead and
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love these people. And God gave him wisdom and
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riches and direction and direction.
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We can't miss that because it was at the end of Solomon's life
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that his heart was not loyal to God.
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And for a very good reason. Let me read it to you.
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You can jot it down in First Kings Chapter 11, verse four.
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It says for was so when Solomon was old that his wives you're
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like, wait a minute, is that the plural?
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Did you read that right, pastor? Yes, that his wives turned his
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heart after other gods, and his heart was not loyal to the Lord.
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His God, as was the heart of his father, David Solomon.
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What happened? Well, we know what happened.
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Bible students, those that read the Bible, you know what
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happened. Solomon married many women, many
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wives and concubines. And so some will look at that
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and go, wait a minute. You know, that was the cultural
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thing for kings to do. That was the cultural thing for
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kings to do, to to marry the daughters of other kings of
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their countries. So they could have an allegiance
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and have a treaty together. And then there would be peace.
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And after all, the more peace there is, the more prosperity
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is. So that was cultural.
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And if you were to say that, you would be right.
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It was very cultural, very unusual, I mean very usual, for
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kings to marry their daughters often to marry each other and
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have families together so that they could be entreaty and
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agreement together so that a broad swath of peace would be
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among many countries. You're right, it was cultural,
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except God said don't do it. Doesn't that sound like our
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world today? I think of how many are
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listening to me right now calling themselves believers,
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following after. And there's a lot of things that
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is cultural, a lot of things that are be done.
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But God said don't. And when you choose to do
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something that God says, don't you have a divided heart, a
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disobedient heart. The Bible says, how do you want
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to live? 2024 I hope you want to live
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with a loyal heart. You know, the wives that Solomon
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married, God said don't. They're going to turn your heart
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away. And you know how it is Sometimes
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you're like, oh, I don't believe that that'll never happen to me.
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I'll never walk away. I'll never, I'll never be a
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prodigal. I'll never become an atheist or
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whatever. You'll never what?
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But it's amazing over the years of longevity here, where I've
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seen people that were right here with us and they're not walking
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with the Lord anymore. And certainly along the way, I'm
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sure they would say, oh, that'll never happen to me.
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No. You take heed, lest you fall
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Humble yourself before the Lord. You don't know what's going to
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happen, especially if you have a divided heart.
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I know there's pressure going on.
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I know there's cultural pressure.
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There's pressure in our lives to make decisions that are contrary
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to the word of God. But you do so at your own peril.
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And that's what your life is made-up of.
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You know your life is made-up of a series of choices.
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And even though you look back and go, man, I made a lot of bad
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choices. It's not too late to make some
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good ones. The Bible calls that repentance
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a true turn away from your past. If you keep repeating the bad
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mistakes of your past, you're going to continue to see an
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increase exponentially of the consequences of repetitive bad
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decisions. That's what Solomon is here.
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Turn over to second our first Chronicles, now Chapter 12.
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I want to show you another episode in the life of David
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where this word is used. It's so powerful.
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First Chronicles, Chapter 12. When you get there, I'll draw
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your attention to verse 38. First Chronicles 12, verse 38.
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We have a time in the life of David where he's ready to go out
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to battle. A real battle, a real war,
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physical real war. And God draws around him men who
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possess a loyal heart to fight with them, to partner with him.
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It's so good. Notice verse 38.
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All these men of war who could keep ranks came to Hebron with a
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loyal heart to make David king over all Israel and all the rest
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of Israel were of one mind to make David king.
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So if you guys like to write in your Bibles, which if you don't
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yet you should and you have a paper Bible.
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I want you to circle the phrase, circle the phrase loyal heart,
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Put a circle around it and then also circle the phrase one mind
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and then draw just a little line between the two because they go
24:06
together. Now we looked earlier in James
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chapter one about it being a double minded man, well how can
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can you and I avoid being double minded?
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We avoid being double minded by not being double hearted.
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They go together. Who you are in the inner person
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effects how you think and you know.
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The good thing is, is that when you change your mind, your heart
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will follow so, so many times like oh, my heart is just so
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lost in this and so laws that no, no, just change your mind.
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Choose to follow the Lord and God will deal with your heart.
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I love this. David was surrounded by men who
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were ready to go lay everything on the line to fight with him
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because they were loyal, they were committed to him.
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They were all in. That's a phrase that we like to
24:55
use. They were all in.
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They. They weren't straddling the
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fence, if you will. They weren't dabbling in the
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world. They weren't pretending.
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They weren't in a church service like that.
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And you're just totally pretending right now.
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God is not well pleased with that, and you know it.
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We may not know it. We don't go around interviewing
25:12
you. We don't go around asking
25:13
questions. You know what we do here.
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We beg you to get right with the Lord.
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That's what we do. We beg you.
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We're warning you. It's not going to end well.
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It's not going to end well. It's not going well right now.
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And so we aren't interested in, like, digging up all the dirt in
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your life. We're just interested in you
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getting right with the Lord. That's what's important, that's
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so vital. Your loyal heart right now, your
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divided heart's wrecking you, and many times it wrecks the
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people that love you, the people that are close to you, the
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people that you love. One of the problems we see today
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in the church is a divided heart, because with David he has
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these men surrounding him. But today we have a greater than
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David, Jesus Christ who re proclaimed King of Kings and
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Lord of Lords of our lives and we come to him with loyal
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hearts. At least that's how it started.
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Do you know in Second Chronicles, chapter 16 and verse
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9, the word comes to King ASA and says for the eyes of the
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Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to throw himself
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strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him?
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That was a word to ASA and it's such a great verse.
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It's so encouraging. Almost always when we quoted in
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a Bible study, we stop right there.
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The only problem is there's a little bit left to the verse
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because Asa's in a part of his life where he used to be loyal,
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but he's not anymore. And so God comes to him and
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says, you know what ASA? I'm looking I'm looking for
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people that are loyal. What happened to you?
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Because the rest of the verse says in this you've done
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foolishly as he tells the King. Therefore from now on you shall
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have wars. Pastor John Corson comments on
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this and I quote he says the eyes of the Lord are looking for
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men and women whose heart is perfect.
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That doesn't mean flawless, it means their hearts beat in
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harmony with gods not relying upon themselves but saying Lord,
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I'm depending on you. And at one time, ASA had such a
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heart, a double heart. Such a big problem, trying to
27:22
serve God with a double heart. It doesn't work.
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You know where part of your heart wants to serve the Lord,
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but the other part wants to serve your flesh and your own
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desires. A woman, a woman or a man with a
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divided heart does not make a strong or reliable ally.
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Someone that you can trust in the battle, someone that you can
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lean on. God is looking for singleness of
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heart towards him, One in whom he can trust an ally.
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Yes, many people have a heart to serve the Lord, but they also at
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the same time, not only do they have a battle with their flesh,
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but they also have a heart to serve this world, this culture,
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the environment that we live in. You've given a place for God in
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your heart, but you also have given a place for the world in
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your heart. The the way this world.
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You know when you think of the world, don't think of a globe,
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you know think of it in terms of the culture.
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The culture has a language. The culture has a direction.
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The culture has an Antichrist like an anti God position.
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The culture just kind of goes as you flow, as they flow.
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It's the end justifies the means and I can do whatever I want as
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long as it doesn't hurt you even though it's really hurting the
28:31
person doing it. And they have you know you have
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your truth, I have my truth when they we all know there's only
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one truth. That's the world.
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But if you think you live in the world and it doesn't affect you,
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you're self deceived. You pick this stuff up.
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Sometimes you have to sit through.
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I remember these days when I was in the corporate world, we had
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to sit through all these training seminars and take a
28:50
test on it and then we had to go through all the world.
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They were trying to train us to run the business the way the
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world does. That's what they wanted from us.
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It was a battle. And that's one thing in the
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corporate world where you learn how to adjust and adapt.
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It's a whole other thing with your own life.
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Are you being trained by the word of God?
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The answer is yes. But are you following it?
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It's a place of weakness. To be double hearted, to be
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disloyal. It's not OK.
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These are symptoms of a deep sickness, a spiritual sickness,
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this lack of a loyal heart. Jesus spoke of this, so much of
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what Jesus taught us. Easy to understand, not
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complicated at all. He was masterful.
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Teacher took very complex truths and made them very easy and
29:45
relatable. And this one I'm about to read.
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You'll understand it on its face without any explanation.
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Although I will. I'm a pastor.
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I will give a little explanation.
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But you don't need it. You don't need it.
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Let me read to you what Jesus taught us.
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No one can serve 2 masters. Is that understandable?
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Nobody can do it. And somebody's in the room
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writing. Oh, I think I can.
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Jesus said you can't trust him. And he explains, he says either
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if you try to, either you'll hate the one and love the other,
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or else you'll be loyal to the one and despise the other.
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You cannot serve God and mammon. Now mammon might be hard to
30:26
understand, but you can look it up in a dictionary.
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Jesus is talking about money and it's true.
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You can't serve God and money. You can't have one as the
30:35
priority or try to keep them both.
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You have to have one as the priority.
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If you try to serve two, you will have one.
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And if you try to serve God and money, money will be your
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priority. That's all you'll be into.
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That's all you'll care about. That's all you're talk about.
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That's all you'll worry about. You'll wake up.
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Oh, what happened in the markets today?
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Oh, who's going to take my money?
30:54
And I'm not going to make. Look, look, you can't do it.
30:57
You're going to serve money. You're going to be all freaked
30:58
out all the time. Jesus says that you can't serve
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2 masters. Later on he'll tell.
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He'll give you the answer. The anecdote at the end of the
31:06
chapter. Matthew 633.
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Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all
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these things will be added unto you.
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You have a lot of money right now.
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You seek the Lord, He'll tell you what to do with it.
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You don't need to worry about it.
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You didn't. There was a time when you didn't
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have it. There's a time that you have it.
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There'll probably be a time when you don't have it.
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It all belongs to God. He's sovereign in it all, so you
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can trust him. But let's just step back for a
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second because we're not talking about money today, we're talking
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about your heart. So let's apply this to your own
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life. No one can serve 2 masters.
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You can't serve yourself and God at the same time.
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It's impossible. You're going to love one and
31:45
hate the other. You're going to give more
31:47
devotion to one than you will the other.
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You can't do it. It it's ineffectual.
31:53
Even though Jesus declares this to be an absolute impossibility,
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to me it's amazing how many people are still trying to serve
32:01
2 masters even into this new year, trying to serve God and
32:06
and you could fill in the blank. It could be money, it could be
32:10
self, it could be celebrity, it could be who knows what it might
32:13
be, just whatever it might be just chasing after it and then
32:18
kind of dabbling in things. Christianity, it's it's not OK.
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Listen, we should jot this down, maybe even take it into the new
32:25
year. It's not OK to be partially
32:28
committed to everything and totally committed to nothing.
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I'm going to repeat that. Let it sit in the room.
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It's not OK to be partially committed to everything and
32:39
totally committed to nothing. God is calling you to something
32:43
much higher because, you know, true strength doesn't lie in
32:46
numbers. We might look at David here in
32:48
battle or we might look and say, well, the more people that are
32:51
doing it, the more strength there is.
32:53
True strength does not lie in numbers.
32:56
It doesn't reside in your abilities, or your education, or
33:00
your wisdom, or your experience, or your persuasive words, or how
33:04
many years you've been on the planet, or how much money is in
33:06
your bank account, or what your title is at work, or what your
33:09
none of that. That's not where true strength
33:11
lies. True strength lies in the heart
33:15
of a person, a heart committed to the Lord.
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A heart undivided, untainted, and unwavering toward Him.
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Your strength in mind lies in our commitment.
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These men gathered together to David were very skillful.
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They were men of war. They were mighty.
33:34
They were ready. But more importantly, the Bible
33:37
says they were loyal. They were committed.
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Jesus did the same thing. He took eleven men.
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He took eleven men with one heart to make him king.
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And with these eleven men he turned the world upside down.
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Just 11 men. He turned the world upside down.
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Those 11 men that serve with Jesus have had a greater effect
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upon the history of mankind than any other group of men ever in
34:03
history, before and to come. Why?
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Because they were loyal and they were committed.
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We have in the example of loyalty in the Bible is not
34:16
perfection. It's not without stumbling and
34:18
falling and making mistakes. It's a condition of the heart, a
34:22
part of your character and the integrity you carry as a person.
34:27
And even if you didn't have an example like that in your home
34:29
like I did, we have an example of like that in our Savior,
34:33
Jesus Christ, who's loyal to you.
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He went all the way to the cross.
34:38
He died and was buried, Rose again.
34:40
He kept all of his word. Not one promise has been left
34:44
undone by God towards you. He's faithful to you, loyal.
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The Bible says that even if you leave him, he won't leave you.
34:54
The Bible says if, even if you and I are weak in our faith, he
34:57
He is, He is. Even if we are faithless, he
35:00
remains faithful. And those are the attributes God
35:04
is developing in US. It's not numbers, friends.
35:08
It's not the size of anything that you have.
35:10
It's heart. It's loyalty.
35:12
It's commitment. It's not the size of the church
35:15
you attend. It's not the size of your
35:18
budgeted home. It's not the size of anything
35:21
that you are leaning on to somehow say, Look world, look
35:23
how important I am. It's your loyalty to the Lord.
35:30
You say, look Lord, look world. Look how loyal I am to my God,
35:34
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The secret today is you set out
35:38
to serve the Lord. The secret to your success in
35:41
any endeavor, follower of Christ, is the singleness of
35:45
heart to make Jesus your king. Turn over to Mark chapter 12
35:49
with me. Would you mark chapter 12?
35:52
Because we have the Old Testament word loyal, and loyal
35:54
is used quite frequently in the New Testament.
35:56
But there's another word that describes this clearly, and I
35:59
think Jesus hits on it in Mark chapter 12.
36:02
Because remember, we're talking about loyalty toward God, not
36:05
each other. The loyalty toward each other
36:07
comes after loyalty to God. So again, I'm not calling you to
36:11
loyalty to me or loyalty to this church or loyalty to some
36:15
movement or loyalty to something in the past.
36:18
I'm calling you to a higher calling that's a loyalty to God.
36:22
This is what Jesus calls he says in mat in Mark chapter 12.
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Notice with me he he is in giving that instruction of where
36:30
it starts and what the priority is.
36:33
He says in Mark chapter 12 in verse 28 it says then one of the
36:41
scribes came and having heard them reasoning together,
36:44
perceived that he had answered them well, asked him which is
36:48
the first commandment? What's the thing I should what's
36:51
#1 Jesus? That's a great question.
36:55
Notice what he answers. The first of all the
36:58
commandments is hear O Israel, the Lord our God.
37:02
The Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God
37:06
with. What does your Bible say?
37:08
All your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and
37:13
with all your strength. So this loyalty spoken of in the
37:18
Old Testament here is summarized in one word All our series this
37:24
month will be have it all and we kind of go into 2024.
37:28
I want to hunt all. I want it all.
37:30
I want it all. That's not the series.
37:33
The series is not for you and I to have it all, but for God to
37:37
have it all in our lives, to have all of you, all of you.
37:44
I mean seriously. So for some, you got to look
37:45
back and go, man, this, this is the pastor you're hitting on the
37:49
summary of my life. I won a different year.
37:51
A different year is going to require different loyalties.
37:54
A different year is going to require different choices.
37:57
A different year, a different forward moment.
38:00
You're going to, it's going to require you to do the hard
38:01
thing. It's going to cost you for
38:03
somebody who's going to cost you deeply, but it's worth the cost.
38:07
You're not going to obtain what you're looking for without the
38:10
hard decisions. Loyalty all.
38:14
And even before loyalty comes, love precedes it.
38:18
You got to love God, love him with all you God, give it to him
38:24
all. Then he says you can love your
38:25
neighbor as yourself. Then you can incur be encouraged
38:29
by that connection, that oneness with the Lord, with these kind
38:33
of men and women. Jesus turns cities upside down,
38:35
and certainly ours needs it. And States and countries.
38:39
He sends missionaries out. He uses money and resources to
38:43
do all sorts of things, build churches, help the poor.
38:47
On and on and on it goes. Why?
38:49
Because of loyalty to him. And that God would examine our
38:53
hearts today and we would reaffirm our commitment to Him
38:57
that we're not going anywhere. Jesus, remember, Peter was
38:59
asked, you're going to leave me too.
39:01
No, man, I'm not going anywhere. You're everything to me.
39:05
I don't even know why you'd ask that like I.
39:08
And yet he would ask that because we need to have those
39:10
times of examination. And why not now, heading into
39:13
2024, that we examine our hearts and we double down on the things
39:18
that God has been blessing. Right.
39:20
Double down on the things that God is blessing.
39:22
Double down on the great year you had in 23 or 22 or the
39:25
rededication you had back in 1998.
39:28
Yes, yes, yes, double down. But let's grow in our commitment
39:33
and be careful that this world doesn't blind or weigh you down
39:37
from this commitment. It's interesting.
39:39
One more verse Luke chapter 21, and then we'll head out today.
39:43
Luke chapter 21. It's it's very important that
39:47
you take heed to the teachings of Jesus.
39:49
Here again, very simple teachings, easy to understand.
39:53
In Luke chapter 21 and verse 34, Jesus is giving a warning toward
39:58
the end, toward the coming of the Lord.
40:00
He gives a warning and he says Luke 2124 or 34.
40:05
He says take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down
40:09
with carousing and drunkenness. So let's pause there for a
40:13
second. Because these are, these are go
40:15
to these are gimmies crousing. You can if you you know the
40:18
language that that I grew up with is crousing just means
40:21
partying. This is the party life.
40:23
You know you're at the clubs, you're at the you're at the
40:26
clubs, you're you're at the home parties.
40:29
You know you're inviting people over to your house to get drunk.
40:31
You know, the partying, partying, it's just you're out
40:33
living for the world, living in the world, doing the doing the
40:36
stuff of the world. And he ties it with drunkenness.
40:38
And drunkenness is obvious. You drink too much.
40:41
You're under the influence of alcohol.
40:43
You say dumb things. You do dumb things.
40:45
You just kind of live like with this legal anesthetic your whole
40:49
life trying to deal with some deep hurt or some deep pain, I'm
40:51
sure. But it's wrecking all your
40:54
relationships, drunkenness and partying, you know, For most of
40:57
us, we're like, yeah, I don't know, I don't have any problem
40:59
with that. I'm not going to be way down
41:00
with that. I mean, for me, it's been 31
41:02
years since I've been partying. It's been 31 years since I've
41:05
been drunk. So those, no problem.
41:06
I don't have no desire for them. Don't want them in my life
41:09
anymore, for sure. Third thing he mentions there.
41:14
Third thing he says, be careful. Your heart is not weighed down
41:18
with drunkenness, carousing and the cares of this life.
41:22
And like, whoa, the cares of this life are on the same plane
41:27
as drunkenness and partying. Yes, paying the bills, raising
41:33
the kids. What's the future going to be?
41:37
What about my car payments? What about where I'm going to
41:41
live? The care is real concerns.
41:45
Just everyday we're real concerns.
41:48
The types of things that if you're not careful, they'll
41:50
weigh you down with worrying doubt, you know, trying to just
41:56
take things into control and you're not looking to the Lord
41:59
anymore and it starts to divide your heart, he says.
42:03
Be careful. Don't be weighed down by them
42:07
stepping out, because the battle gets heavy and challenging and
42:12
there are casualties along the way.
42:15
Not everybody makes it, which is sad but true.
42:20
But you know, our loyalty was never to a battle and our
42:24
loyalty was never to serving, and our loyalty was never to the
42:29
secondary things that get all our attention.
42:32
Our loyalty is to God, and he promises to take care of us.
42:39
He promises to fight for us as a believer in Christ.
42:42
The Bible says no weapons formed against you shall prosper.
42:47
The Bible says that we can stand fast in the grace of God.
42:52
The Bible says that unity among the people brings joy and
42:56
generosity through wholehearted devotion.
42:59
And that's the launching into a new year.
43:02
It's going to require in the world that we live, a new
43:05
approach. It's going to require a
43:09
reaffirmation perhaps like Paul would say to the OR like Jesus
43:14
would say to the church in Ephesus.
43:16
Remember from where you have fallen, repent and repeat the
43:21
1st works. God has a great year in store
43:24
for you. I believe it.
43:26
Great doesn't mean without pain. Great doesn't mean without
43:28
challenge. Great doesn't mean without
43:30
battles and warfare, all of that.
43:32
But we'll get through it with loyal hearts.
43:35
We'll get through it as we're committed to the Lord.
43:38
We'll get through it as we affirm our faith toward him and
43:41
we pay whatever costs are required.
43:43
And we follow him day by day, moment by moment, by faith, with
43:48
a whole heart, not a divided heart.
43:51
So, Father, I pray for your spirit to take these truths,
43:54
make them come alive in our hearts and our lives, You know,
43:57
Make them. We want to live them out, God.
44:01
That's it. We want to live them out.
44:03
And we ask for your help and an outpouring of your Holy Spirit
44:06
today that would enable us to meet the challenges that we
44:10
don't even know yet. I mean, we got some right now,
44:12
but we don't even know yet what's up ahead.
44:15
And we ask God that you would strengthen and help us as we
44:18
enter into a new year. We really want it.
44:20
We want a new home. We want a new marriage.
44:22
We want new relationships with our kids, our grandkids.
44:25
Not not that we want new people. That's not it.
44:28
We want newness of life to be breathed into our homes, into
44:32
our families, into our singleness that we might rise
44:35
above and be used in even greater ways, doing business
44:40
till you come in Jesus name. Amen.
44:44
We pray that you've been. Encouraged by this Bible study
44:47
delivered live from the Sanctuary of Calvary Church for
44:50
prayer, call us at 87730 Grace. That's 877-304-7223.
45:00
To listen to this message in its entirety or to join us for our
45:03
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45:08
or download our free Calvary Church app.
45:11
Be blessed as you Worship Jesus this week.