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Walk in Truth · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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You have your copy of God's Word going to make your way to the
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book of second John. Second John.
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We're going to finish what we started when we open the Bible
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to 1st John. I've been walking our way
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through this New Testament letter and I'm going to also
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include Second and Third John over the next couple 3 weeks
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before we move into the series preparing our hearts for
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Christmas and the coming of Christ.
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Second John is one of the shortest books in the New
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Testament. If you blink, you'll miss it,
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but hopefully you found First John enough by now.
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The second. John is not a problem there.
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Second John is being called first John in concise form.
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And if you remember, we called first John the name of our
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series, the vitals of our faith, because what John does in this
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little New Testament letter is talk to us about the basics in
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the bottom line. The essentials are the
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foundational elements, these things that are vitals and vital
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signs of our life in Christ that are vital for us to know.
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And really we just put it in the question of how do you know
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John's writing that we would these things and answering
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questions like how do you know Christianity is true?
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And how do you know that you're a true Christian?
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And how do you know what's dangerous to you as a Christian?
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And how do you know how to live in the last days?
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And how do you know how to live ready for Jesus's return?
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And how do you live towards one another?
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And how do you know what teaching is true and how do you
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know that Jesus is true? And on and on.
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John answers these how do you know questions that are vitals,
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vital essentials of our faith. But what if John, what if John
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in a concise form of first, John called second, John could only
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tell us three things, 3 essentials.
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What would he say? What would he mention?
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Well, I believe this is essentially the way you could
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think about this New Testament letter.
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If he's boiling down everything down to three things he would
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say to you and to me, I think he includes them in this letter.
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I'm going to give you all three over the course of the next few
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weeks. Only one today, actually, and
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then two next Sunday. But before I give you the first
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one of the three, I want to give you a statement in your notes
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that'll help you summarize all three in one statement.
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It's simply this John wants you and me to hear and to know and
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to do. According to this statement or
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this truth out of second John, he wants you to walk and stay in
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love and in truth he wants you as a Christian to walk.
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That is to live and to stay. That's to remain in love and in
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truth. Walk and stay in love and truth.
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That's what we're going to learn from this little New Testament
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letter. But the first thing that we're
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going to hear out of that is this incredible this this call,
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this command. It's clear that as we walk and
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stay in love in truth, what that should look like.
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And I'm going to wait to read the text and then tell you what
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that first one is in your notes that we'll unpack today.
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Listen to the word of God. Here's what it says beginning in
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verse one of second John the elder to the elect lady and her
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children whom I love in truth. And not only I, but also all who
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know the truth because of the truth that abides in US and will
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be with us forever. Grace, mercy and peace will be
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with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father,
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Son in truth and love. Verse 4I rejoiced greatly to
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find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we
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were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady,
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not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one
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we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
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And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.
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This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the
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beginning, so that you should walk in it.
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For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not
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confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.
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Such a one is the deceiver and the Antichrist.
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Watch yourselves so that you may not lose what we have worked
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for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and
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does not abide, that is, does not remain in the teachings of
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Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching
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has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does
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not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or
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give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in
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his wicked works. Though I have much to write to
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you, I would rather not use paper and ink.
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Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that
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our joy may be complete. The children of your elect
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sister greet you. Everything that we just read can
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be summarized in this truth that John wants us to walk and to
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stay as Christians in love and in truth.
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But before we jump into the meet of unpacking these three things
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that are summarized in that one sentence that I just gave you, I
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want to unpack some of these first verses out of first John.
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This introductory stuff that he writes here.
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First John calls himself the elder.
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Now, in case you weren't with us through the series in first John
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or still wondering about who John is.
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This the author of this New Testament letter, first John,
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Third John, the Book of Revelation and the Gospel of
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John as well. John is one of Jesus's original
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12 disciples called an apostle that Jesus called to follow him.
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John was not a preacher, he wasn't a pastor, he wasn't a
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prophet. He was a fisherman.
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His brother was James. They were both the sons of
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Zebedee and Jesus nicknamed him the Sons of Thunder Man.
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Wouldn't you love to have that nickname?
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No, I'd love to know their personalities.
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Right, so John's an ordinary guy called to follow Jesus.
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All right. And they do.
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And Jesus pours his life into these men for three years before
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his death, preparing them to take the good news of the gospel
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of his salvation to the ends of the earth.
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And Jesus walks through his crucifixion, his death, and his
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resurrection and sends back to the Father, and then sends the
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Holy Spirit at Pentecost, as he promised to do.
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The apostles and the other believers are filled with the
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Holy Spirit, and they're set on fire to go out and do what Jesus
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has called them to do, to go and make disciples of all nations.
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Every one of the disciples but John gives their lives.
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For standing and for sharing Jesus Christ, they're martyred
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for their faith. John is the only one that's not,
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and he, for his faithfulness to Jesus, is eventually exiled to
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the island of Patmos under the Emperor Dimitian.
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After the emperor dies, John is released and brought back and
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inhabited the area of Ephesus as an older man until he dies about
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the year 100 AD, where he ministers among these churches
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and writes these letters that we have in his final years.
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The word elder is obviously appropriate because he is an
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elderly man at this point, all right.
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But also that title is appropriate because that word in
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the Bible is. Used.
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Synonymously with the word for pastor.
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So you can use the word elder, you can use the word pastor, you
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can use the word shepherd or overseer.
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These words speak to that pastoral office in leadership in
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a local church. And no doubt John had influence
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not just perhaps in a singular local church there, but
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obviously in multiple churches in that area as he toward his
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life and final years into the believers there around the area
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of Ephesus. So it'd be like saying Pastor
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John to the elect lady and her children, which brings up next,
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who are who is the elect lady and her children?
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Well, there are some Bible scholars that believe that this
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is an actual individual lady and her kids or her physical
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offspring. I actually don't ascribe to that
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viewpoint. I don't I think that can be
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legitimate. I just don't think that's what's
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going on here. I think rather that John is
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using language metaphorically to speak to a local church, a bride
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of Christ, a a local church there in Ephesus whom he loves
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and her children. And he's often referred to
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Christians as my little children.
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In first John, the letter John is an elderly man.
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He's invested in the next generation coming up and
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referring to them as his children or those of his that
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are disciples of his. So again, I could point out lots
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of evidence for why I believe elect lady is a church.
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I'll just give you a little bit. Number one, verse 5 says.
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John says, And now I ask you, dear lady, not as though I were
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writing to you a new command, but when we've had from the
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beginning that we love one another.
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I think that just be slightly awkward if that's an actual
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lady. Maybe that's just me.
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I think he's talking to a church all right.
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And furthermore, lady would be an appropriate title or word to
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use because church in Greek, the word for assembly is feminine.
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Thus lady could be a metaphorical way to refer to a
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church. And again, the church is
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referred to by John in earlier writings as the bride of Christ
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hints lady referring to the bride of Christ.
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And then verse 13 says the children of your elect sister
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greet. You know, unless John is passing
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on family greetings, which I guess he obviously could do, I
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think that's probably not the case.
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And he's referring to another local church sending her
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greetings from her church members to another church, just
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like you have often in Paul's letters where one church or
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other churches send greetings to this particular church.
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So I think it's pretty obvious John is writing.
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To a local. Church here, he says.
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Here this word, the elect lady, and then in verse 13 and your
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elect sister, what in the world does he mean by the word elect?
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Elect is simply a biblical word that means chosen.
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To be saved is to be chosen by God in Jesus Christ.
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Jesus Christ is the elect. 1 The chosen one of God, the one and
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only Savior of the world, and those that are in Christ by fate
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have been chosen in Him. Let me give you another place in
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Scripture. This is clear Ephesians 1, three
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through 4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in
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heavenly places, even as He watched this chose us in Him
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before the foundation of the world.
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To be in Christ, to be saved is to be part of the elect, part of
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those chosen Christ as the chosen 1 and we as those chosen
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in Christ, those that have chosen to trust Jesus Christ as
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Lord and as Savior. You say Kyle?
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That can bring up a lot of other questions and conversations that
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sure can. Let me just try to make it
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simple for the time we have here.
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God knew you would be saved before you knew you would be
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saved. Let me tell you what my pastor
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told me. He said call.
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When you approach heaven from the outside, you can think of it
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like this on the outside it'll say whosoever will may come and
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you get in on the inside and you turn back and look at the same
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sign and it's going to say chosen from the foundation of
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the world. Now they say Kyle explain that.
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Well, I can't fully. They've tried for 2000 years and
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we could argue about it, but we don't have to.
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You don't have to e-mail me. You may stand on different
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places on that. I'm just telling if you're in
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Christ, you're part of the elect.
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And if you hadn't trusted Christ, guess whosoever will may
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trust him today if you'll believe on him for salvation.
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And this is how John speaks. So here we have John next refer
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in these next few verses here. He says, but all who know the
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truth and listen, how many times he mentions the truth because of
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the truth that abides in US and will be with us forever.
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We get this idea pretty quick here that John's bringing up the
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truth because truth is kind of an important thing.
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Do you remember what even Pilate asked Jesus moments before Jesus
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was crucified? The prefect, the Roman prefect,
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looked at Jesus and asked a question.
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You remember what he asked? What is truth?
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I mean, that's the question people have been asking for a
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long time. That's really the essence of the
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question of life. Your answer to that question
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will determine your life and eternity.
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How you answer that question? What is truth?
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It's too bad Pilate didn't hear Jesus say earlier in John 14,
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six, I am the way and I am the and I am the life and no one
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comes to the Father, Jesus says, except through me.
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John also wrote in chapter 1 verse 17 in his Gospel for the
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law that is the Old covenant. What was given through Moses,
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Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
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What does that mean? That means yes, the Old
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Testament was true in every word, but the full manifestation
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of truth through the person of Christ wasn't fully revealed and
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manifested until the incarnation of Christ when He took on human
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flesh and revealed the glory and grace of God to us for us to
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behold face to face. John goes on to say in John 832,
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You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.
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What is truth? Truth is things as they really
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are. Truth is reality as it really
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is. Truth, you see, is not just a
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principle or a precept, but truth is a person, the person
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who spoke all of reality into existence and who upholds it
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right now by the word of His power.
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His name is Jesus. Truth is ultimately a person,
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ladies and gentlemen, who is the way the truth?
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And the life, John says, church, I love you in truth, meaning I
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love you in Jesus. I love you and my love is rooted
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for you in the revelation of God through his Son Jesus Christ.
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Who's the truth. And the other churches love you
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in Jesus, and it's in Jesus whom we are in now and whom we will
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be with forever. What is truth?
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Have you answered that question with the name of Jesus?
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Finally, one more statement before the heart of the letter,
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verse 3. Notice what He says.
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Your grace, mercy, and peace will be with us.
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What 3 greater things could one give then grace, mercy and
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peace? If you're here this morning and
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you're not a Christian or wondering really what is a
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Christian or not sure you're a Christian, let me just talk to
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you about three things that we as Christians have discovered.
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And experience for ourselves through Jesus, these three
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things, grace, mercy, and peace. What is grace?
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Grace is God's unmerited favor toward you.
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What does unmerited mean? It means unearned, undeserved.
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You can't work for it. You can never be worthy of it.
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The greatest acronym I've heard explaining it with the word
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grace is God's riches at Christ expense.
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It's all God's unmerited favor and goodness and blessings and
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riches paid for by Christ that we could never earn or ever
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deserve. That's what God's grace is.
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It's everything God wants to give us as promised to his Son
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that we will never be worthy of. That's what grace is.
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And we've received grace through Jesus Christ who did for us on
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the cross, paying for our sin, living a sinless life, defeating
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death itself that we could never do ourselves.
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And then we've not just experienced grace, we've
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experienced mercy. You know what mercy is?
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Mercy is really two way. It's God not giving you and me
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what we deserve, and it's God giving us what we don't deserve.
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Can I just be real honest with you this morning?
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Can I put it in a way that I hope will make sense that is
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unmistakable? You're ready.
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Kyle Walker deserves hell. You can say Amen to that because
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I hope you believe that Kyle Walker deserves hell.
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I've sinned against a holy God. I've offended one who's never
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ever sinned, who knows no sin and dwells in perfect
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righteousness. I forever deserve for my
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rebellion against Almighty God, to be eternally separated and
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under the just judgment of the wrath of God forever.
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That's what I deserve. But that's not what God has
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given me because of his say with me mercy God has given me.
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Withheld from me what I do deserve.
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And God has given me what I do deserve, what I don't deserve
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rather, which is forgiveness of sin and eternal life in His Son
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Jesus Christ. Not because of anything I have
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done, but because of what Jesus has done on my behalf.
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Living a sinless life for me. Dying on the cross for my sin
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and defeating the enemy of death by walking out of the grave
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alive. And there came a time in my life
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as a nine year old boy when I said, Jesus, will you be my Lord
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and Savior and forgive me of my sin?
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I can't save myself. Will you save me?
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You pray from your heart of hearts and call and confess
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Jesus this word and ask him for to do for you what you can't do
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for yourself. And that's the moment you place
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your faith in Jesus and are saved.
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If you're not saved, you need to call on Jesus to save you today.
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Grace, mercy and peace. Peace.
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I'm not even to the real sermon yet.
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This is all introductory. All right, Peace.
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This is about to Peace is a right relationship with God.
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Peace is a no one is born in a right relationship with God.
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You don't inherit a right relationship with God from your
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mother or your father. It's not going to be in their
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will. They can't give it to you.
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It's on you, by faith with Jesus or not, to decide if you want to
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receive His grace and mercy and be brought into a right
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relationship with Him. Where I've been cleansed by the
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blood of Jesus. And though Kyle Walker deserves
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hell, I know because of Jesus when I breathe my last breath,
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I'm going to experience heaven forever, Grace, mercy and peace.
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If you don't have those three, you need to call on the name of
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Jesus. I pray that you have, and if you
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have, John's going to talk to you as a Christian and he's
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going to tell you to walk and stay in love and in truth.
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All right? And there's going to be 3 things
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they're going to come out of that.
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And I'm just going to talk about the first one in verse 4 today.
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And I'm going to give a little explanation.
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And then the remainder of my sermon is not going to be
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explanation of verse 4. It's going to be application of
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verse 4. All right?
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And I'm going to speed up because I've spent a lot of time
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already. But verse 4 says this.
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I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the
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truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.
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What is the first thing out of the three things?
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John wants you to notice the vital of your faith here.
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It is true faith. True faith walks in the truth.
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True faith walks in the. Truth, John is saying to us all
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right. Now, obviously John has heard
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some news about this church, whether someone has come from
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visiting or whether he sent someone to visit.
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He's heard news. He's heard a report of this
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church. And by the way, he's heard some
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good news. Not all the news he's heard is
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good. We're going to get to that later
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on next Sunday. But John does what most of us do
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by starting in his response, by responding to the good news that
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he's heard. And some of the good news he's
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heard is that some of these church members note, not all,
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but some are what walking in the you say, Kyle, what is walking
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in the truth? It's when, of course, that's
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what God has commanded us to do. Those who claim to have believed
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the truth, walking in the truth is when your faith is not just
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talked, it is walked. When it's not just proclaimed or
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claimed, it is demonstrated. When it's not just worded, but
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when it is actioned, when it is who you are in private or in
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public truth. Faith walks in the truth, y'all.
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This is what John spent an incredible amount of time in
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First John trying to convince us of right.
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Let me just give you a few reminders.
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He says in First John 16, If we say we have fellowship with him
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while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the
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truth. He says in first John 2/3
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through 6. And by this we know that we've
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come to know him if we keep his commandments.
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And whoever says I know him but doesn't keep his commandments as
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a liar. And the truth is not in him, but
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whoever keeps his word in him, truly the love of God is
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perfected. And by this we know that we are
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in him. Whoever says he abides in him
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all to walk in the same way in which he walked.
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True faith again, hear it clearly.
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True faith, John says, walks in the truth.
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Which begs the question then, how do we walk in the truth?
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I as I was processing and praying about how God would have
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me explain this, I felt like the Lord just burdened my heart to
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share with us as a church, something I've already shared
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with a lot of the men in our church.
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Because you realize that we as men gather in the spring and
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fall on Tuesday mornings at 6:00 AM, we typically call it Better
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Man, where we dive into what being a biblical man is all
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about. In 2026, we're changing things
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up a little bit and not focusing on exclusively biblical man
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content, but really content from the.
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Scripture for what every Christian ought to embrace.
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I got asked by a lady, hey, because I titled these 10 things
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I'm about to share with you that we're going to cover one per
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month for men at 6:00 AM once a month, the second Tuesday of
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every month. Registration will go live about
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the second week in December. Men, I want to invite you to
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come. It's once a month, 6:00 AM, and
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we're going to take each one of these 10 at a time.
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I'm about to share these ten. I've shared them at the men's
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breakfast. I'm going to give them to you.
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Now. I had one lady say college,
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they're going to be a top 10 for women like there is for men.
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And I'm about to say yes because I'm giving it to all of us right
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now. The process.
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All right, and ladies, you may not be here Tuesday at 6:00 AM,
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but we're going to post all the teaching videos from this time
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with me and you can follow along if you'd like to actually be
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challenged and encouraged to implement.
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Walking the truth out in your life like I'm about to share you
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can you can stay with us. These 10 things I'm about to
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share with you are not how to get into heaven.
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These 10s I'm 10 things I'm about to share with you are not
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ways to make God love you more, OK?
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These are 10 practical things directly from the Word of God
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that God instructs us as believers as how we put what we
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claim to believe into practice and how we grow in it.
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OK, how we can grow spiritually, how we can put the truth into
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action in our lives. I'm going to share them with you
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men. Some of you have heard this
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already, but I'm going to spend the rest of our time giving you
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these practical things of how to walk in the truth like verse 4
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says God has commanded us to do #1 is this.
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Spend daily time in God's word. Preachers will say this to their
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blue in the face, but the truth is the average Christian does
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not spend daily time in the Word of God.
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And yet this is your number one and my number one, number one,
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number one spiritual need. God commands you to be in His
23:27
work. Second Timothy 316 says for all
23:30
scripture is breathed out by God, that's the word we get Thea
23:34
nustas. Literally the Greek word means
23:36
inspired, God breathed. Every word of that book has been
23:39
breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching.
23:42
For reproof for. Correction and training and
23:45
righteousness that who, the man of God, the woman of God, the
23:47
boy, the girl of God can be adequate and complete and
23:50
equipped for every good work. That is, everything God wants to
23:54
do in and through your life is going to come from you consuming
23:57
the Word of God, being guided by it and equipped by it and
24:00
strengthened by it and changed by it.
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Romans 12/2 says do not be conformed to the pattern of this
24:06
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
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That is through the exposure to the truth of the Word of God,
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that you may discern that which is the perfect will of God, that
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which is perfect, good and acceptable.
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You're not going to know the will of God.
24:20
You're not going to be able to do the will of God unless you
24:23
are in the Word of God. Mark it down.
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It is your number one necessity. They've done study after study.
24:27
What's the number one thing for spiritual growth?
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For spiritual maturity, it is Bible.
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Engagement, it is Bible engagement, you engaging your
24:39
Bible on a daily basis. Let me just say a little
24:42
timeout. I'm about to roll through these
24:44
10 things. Some I'm going to spend time on,
24:46
some I'm not. OK, you're going to feel like
24:49
you're going to drink from a fire hydrant right here.
24:51
Here's what I want to tell you to do.
24:52
Some of you, because I don't have time to give you all the
24:54
practicals out of all these, and we're going to tune in once a
24:56
month. Men, ladies, you can follow
24:58
along in 2026. But if you on your connect card
25:01
when I write down how I can contact you and you write what
25:04
number it is, you might need practical help on #1 #2 #10 or
25:08
all 10, or I don't how many I will respond to you this week.
25:12
Or a pastor will with practical things that can help you with
25:15
ones you may struggle with or need answers that you have
25:18
questions. On all right, because I'm moving
25:20
quick. I want to say that, but let me
25:21
just try to make this point from God's word again.
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Proverbs 3, five and six. Trust in the Lord with all your
25:26
heart. How are you going to trust in
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the Lord with all your heart if you're not in His Word?
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Lean not in your own understanding.
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How are you going to not lean in your own understanding if you're
25:35
not daily in God's Word? Acknowledge Him in all your
25:37
ways. How are you going to acknowledge
25:38
God in all your ways if you're not daily in His Word?
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And then He will make your path straight.
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How's God going to make your path straight if you're not
25:45
daily in God's Word? This is your number #1 need.
25:50
If you're going to walk in the truth, you've got to daily get
25:53
in God's word #2 is this daily fellowship with God in prayer?
25:59
Daily fellowship with God in prayer?
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Jesus says in Matthew 66. But when you pray, go into your
26:04
room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret,
26:08
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
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Second only to getting into the Word of God.
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Every Christian has to learn the habit of daily communing with
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God in conversation that we call prayer.
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Let me put it like this to you. What you are when you are alone
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with God in prayer is alone. What you you are, who and what
26:35
you are, when you are alone with God in prayer is alone.
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Who you are. Your Enneagram number is not who
26:45
you really are. Your disk profile is not who you
26:50
really are. Your DNA is not who you really
26:54
are. Your name, even your last name,
27:01
your family history, your job, your resume, that's not who you
27:04
you know who you really are, who you are when you are alone with
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God. Because guess what?
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You're going to stand before Him alone one day.
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And that will. Who you are in that moment will
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determine your eternal destiny. Who?
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You are when you're alone with God.
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Now, that's scary to some of you, perhaps because maybe you
27:19
don't spend any time alone with God and there's not much there,
27:25
and that's defining. But who you are when you are
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alone with God is the epicenter of your life.
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No one else defines you more than God does when you are alone
27:35
with him in prayer. Based on your time alone with
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God right now in prayer, who are you?
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Can I tell you a story that's inspired me?
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I pray will inspire you. It's about General George
27:49
Washington. It was the year of 1777, which
27:54
is one of the coldest and harshest winters they had ever
27:58
experienced. These were the days of fighting
28:00
the British for freedom, Washington and his men.
28:04
Of about 11,000 in, the Continental Army had experienced
28:07
some defeats in Philadelphia, and as the winter set in, they
28:11
needed a place to camp. They chose a place 18 miles
28:13
northwest of Philadelphia called Valley Forge, and it was really
28:17
a horrendous winter and experience.
28:19
Some of the men were freezing to death.
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They were I'll equipped. They didn't have enough clothes.
28:22
Some were walking barefooted and blood trails in the snow left
28:26
behind. General George Washington and
28:28
his men chose a farm close to Valley Forge owned by a Quaker
28:33
by the name of Isaac Potts. Where George and his cabinet
28:38
really are, leaders could headquarter and he was going to
28:40
stay there indoors. But he stayed with his men in
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the out of doors until all their shelters were finally finished.
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George was a man from a number of witnesses and reports.
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It was a man of prayer and he providentially believed.
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He believed that God was with his men providentially and was
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with their cause. And George would often be seen
28:59
or or or experienced or witnessed, praying, going out
29:03
into the woods, closing the door and getting the closet, getting
29:06
in the closet to get alone with God.
29:08
To pray well, one of. Those days after they had chosen
29:14
Isaac Potts's farm. Isaac, being a Quaker, was
29:19
walking through the woods early one morning and he got to a
29:23
point where he heard a voice. Didn't know who it was, but he
29:26
got closer and closer, and soon he recognized the voice before
29:29
he saw the man. But then he saw the man.
29:31
It was General George Washington in the middle of the woods by
29:35
himself and in his own words. He was knelt on the cold ground
29:41
in prayer, and he said Washington was interceding for
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his men and for his cause and for his beloved country.
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Now, here's the kicker. Potts was a Quaker.
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And was a pacifist, which means he did not believe it right to
29:55
take up arms in any situation. He actually held the belief that
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a soldier could not also be a Christian.
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So he didn't believe George was a Christian man.
30:06
He believed it incompatible to be a Christian and a soldier.
30:09
Therefore he says he was quite amazed at the scene before him.
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He got up after watching and witnessing George pray on his
30:15
knees in his closet if you will. And he got up and went home and
30:19
he said to his wife Hannah or Hannah rather said to him,
30:22
Isaac, these seems agitated, what's the matter?
30:28
He said, Indeed, my dear, and if I appear agitated, tis no more
30:32
than what I am. I have seen this day what I
30:35
shall never forget. Till now I thought that a
30:38
Christian and a soldier were characters incompatible.
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But if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mistaken.
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And still more shall I be disappointed if God does not
30:49
through him perform some great thing for this country.
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And I want you to listen to what he says next.
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Hannah, I heard him pray, I heard him pray out in the woods
31:05
today, and the Lord will surely hear his prayer.
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He will. Hannah, thee may rest assured He
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will. If someone secretly heard you
31:16
pray, who would they determine you to be?
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Because that's who. You are, that's who you are.
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You've got to daily get in God's Word.
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You got a daily get along with God.
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That's who you are, that's who you are #3 daily pray with your
31:39
spouse. I'm not going to have time to
31:41
process with this one fully, but Lord knows the number one thing
31:46
every marriage needs is what? Come on now, prayer.
31:54
I had a guy in the first service that was single, says prayer,
31:56
and I'm not even married and I know it's prayer.
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And let's be honest, most Christian couples don't do what
32:03
together on a daily basis. They don't pray.
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You know why we as men don't pray in front of our spouses?
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Because we're scared. We're too insecure to be heard
32:16
out loud and we don't even do the number one thing with our
32:20
spouse that's needed. They did a study and said that
32:26
if couples will receive premarital counseling, which by
32:28
the way, if you didn't receive premarital counseling, make it
32:31
up afterwards with some post marital counseling.
32:33
We'll connect you. All right, Like I'm being
32:35
serious. Marriages are struggling more
32:38
than most people realize, and most of them wait too late till
32:40
the bomb goes off and there's shrapnel everywhere and there's
32:43
no picking it up. Don't wait too late.
32:46
They did a study and said if they'll do premarital
32:48
counseling, if they're committed in their local church, and if
32:51
they will pray together daily. There's one in 39,000 chance of
32:55
divorce, one in 39,000. Pray with your spouse #4 is read
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God's Word with your kids. Parents, listen to me.
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The Bible commands you to teach your children the Bible.
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Deuteronomy 6. You can read it for yourself.
33:18
God commands you. Did you know that God does not
33:20
command me to teach the Bible to your children?
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It commands you. And if it's going to happen,
33:26
guess what's going to have to happen in your home?
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It's going to have to be. Heard somebody's going to have
33:32
to read it and explain it. You don't have to know
33:35
everything about it or be to answer every question about it,
33:38
but God commands you to teach His word to your children,
33:43
grandparents, to your grandkids #5 be discipled by someone.
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Most Christians have never had another Christian personally
33:55
invest in their spiritual growth.
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We call that being disciple. Jesus chose 12.
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Most Christians have never had somebody else to say, hey, I'd
34:04
like to invest in you spiritually.
34:06
Can I do that? Would you be willing to walk
34:08
with me? I'll train you, I'll teach you.
34:10
I'll tell you what I know. Most Christians have never
34:11
experienced that. My life changed when a 10th
34:14
grade guy didn't walk up to me and say, hey, I'm going to
34:17
disciple you. That probably would have scared
34:18
me. He just basically said, hey, I'm
34:20
going to be your friend. Welcome to the youth group.
34:22
You want to hang out and my life as even I had the foundation of
34:27
parents, but now I had a peer just a couple stages ahead of me
34:30
in high school. Live out for me what living like
34:33
a Christian should look like. In junior high and high school,
34:36
my life began to change as a disciple.
34:38
My age began to sharpen me. You say, well, Kyle, no one's
34:41
ever asked me if they disciple me.
34:43
Listen, you may have to go ask somebody, say hey, don't scare
34:47
them too much. Just say, hey, can I take you to
34:49
lunch? I think you're a step ahead in
34:51
your Christian life. You're a phase ahead.
34:54
You're doing things I want to learn how to do.
34:56
Can I spend some time with you? Let someone pour into you?
35:00
You may have to ask them. Number six, share the gospel
35:03
with a lost person. God has called us to be his
35:05
ambassadors and to be his witnesses, and yet 95% of
35:09
Christians will never share the gospel with a lost person.
35:12
What are we doing? What are we doing right?
35:19
Hey, listen, if you'll start praying, God, just give me
35:22
somebody in my path that you're directing me to have a
35:26
conversation with. Just give me one person on my
35:29
heart that I can begin praying about and seeking an opportunity
35:32
to share the gospel. And God's going to give you
35:34
opportunity after opportunity, but share the gospel with a lost
35:38
person #7 disciple, someone. You can't read Matthew 2818
35:43
through 19 when Jesus says as you go.
35:45
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
35:48
in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them
35:51
to obey all that I've commanded you right?
35:53
This is the command we all have as Christians, which is to pour
35:56
into others to disciple them. Discipling someone else simply
36:00
means either introducing them to Jesus or helping them follow
36:03
Jesus more. Closely, it doesn't mean you
36:06
have everything figured out. It doesn't mean you're perfect.
36:09
It doesn't mean you have all the answers.
36:10
You can just say, hey, as I follow Jesus, you want to walk
36:13
this direction with me. I'm not perfect.
36:16
I'm going to make mistakes. But I want to encourage you,
36:18
disciple someone, ask God to show you who's in your path,
36:21
who's in your circle that you need to be investing in #8 this
36:25
one's a tough one. Tithe, Say Kyle, what is that?
36:29
Tithe is when you take 10% of what God's given you and you
36:32
give it back to Him. Now listen, I'm going to talk to
36:36
you about you say, Kyle, you're a pastor and you're talking
36:37
about money and I don't like that.
36:38
That's OK, I've got to talk to you about money.
36:41
So here's the deal. The Bible says where your money.
36:46
Is there? Your heart's going to be
36:49
awesome. So if you're not honoring God
36:51
with your money, this list really doesn't matter because
36:54
your heart's not in it. A tide.
36:57
By the way, I don't own this jacket.
37:00
I don't own these shoes. I don't own any sucks.
37:03
I can keep going, but I won't. I don't own this is all on loan,
37:07
every number in my bank account, every.
37:10
I don't even have my wallet on me.
37:11
But if I did all that's God's. Anything you have doesn't
37:15
actually belong to you. It belongs to God.
37:17
And what God does is he expects us to steward what he's given us
37:20
in a way that would honor him. And one of the primary
37:23
principles we see in Scripture of that, even before the law, I
37:26
hear this sometimes Christians argue with that was part of the
37:28
law, part of the Levitical code? No, it was pre law, this
37:31
principle of giving back a tent, a tithe to God to honor him and
37:35
entrusting to him what he's given to us.
37:38
You say, well, the New Testament Pastor Khan never says tithe.
37:41
No, it goes a lot deeper. You want me to give you a couple
37:43
examples? You may not.
37:46
The example Jesus gives to emulate.
37:49
Remember when all the rich people are walking into church
37:51
and throwing out of their surplus into the things in the
37:54
temple, and then a poor lady comes along and guess how much
37:56
she gives? 10% Which one does Jesus say
38:03
emulate The early church Acts 2. They're selling land and
38:09
possessions to meet physical needs in the body.
38:11
You think they were like, hey, let's just 10% of the land, 10%
38:14
of the possessions or do you think they were a lot more all
38:18
in is the Bible is the New Testament setting up tithing as
38:22
the floor or the ceiling? It's a starting point.
38:25
It's a principle throughout the Scripture that if we're going to
38:28
honor God with what we've got, the starting point is the tithe.
38:32
I've heard a pastor, we've got a number of pastors in our church,
38:34
retired pastors that have put it in.
38:35
One of us put it like this. They said you want 100% cursed
38:38
or 90% blessed. Charles Stanley would simply say
38:42
you can't out give God, you'll never give to God in a way that
38:46
it doesn't return. Now listen, we've let the
38:48
health, wealth, prosperity gospel people rob us of some of
38:50
the language of speaking about the blessings of giving to God
38:54
and honoring Him with our wealth.
38:55
I tithe before I was a pastor. I tithe as a pastor.
38:58
I'll tithe if there comes a day that I'm not a pastor.
39:01
I don't know who ties and I don't know who gives what.
39:03
That's not my business. That's between you and God.
39:05
But I'm telling you, if you've not learned to honor God with
39:08
what He's entrusted, you are robbing yourself a blessings I
39:11
know God would pour out in your life if you simply chose to
39:14
trust God with what He's trusted you with.
39:18
You got more questions about that?
39:19
I can talk to you about it #9 is do life with a small group of
39:26
Christians say call? What do you mean by that?
39:30
We. Have been duped by the lie as
39:34
21st century Americans that if we just show up in a public
39:38
worship service about once a week, we're going to be
39:39
spiritually healthy. By the way, the average
39:44
Christian only shows up 1.4 * a month across America.
39:51
The Bible paints a different picture.
39:53
It paints a picture of together, not just in a large group
39:56
corporate assembly, but together doing life in close fellowship
40:01
in small groups and specifically in homes.
40:05
You say, Kyle, what's the starting point of getting in a
40:07
small group here? Adult Bible fellowship.
40:10
I call it Sunday School. Or you get into a small room on
40:14
our campus and get to know other people and they know you.
40:16
Then we Start learning the Bible together and start praying
40:18
together, start fellowshipping together, start holding each
40:21
other accountable and caring for one another.
40:23
And that's the starting point. That's not the end point, but
40:25
that's a starting point, right? And yet this is we think that
40:28
showing up in the large group physically or nowadays even
40:33
remotely online is enough to keep us spiritually healthy.
40:36
And it's just not true #10 identify your spiritual gift and
40:41
serve. The Bible says that God has
40:45
gifted every single Christian with an ability by the Holy
40:50
Spirit to serve. Serve through the body, to serve
40:53
outside the body, to serve in the body.
40:56
If you don't know what your spiritual gift is, you need, you
40:59
need to discern it. You need to you need to be led
41:02
to discover what that is. So how has God gifted me to
41:05
serve? If you're not serving, you need
41:06
to find a way to serve. The God has commanded us to
41:09
serve. Christ set the example.
41:10
I didn't come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as
41:13
a ransom. Jesus says, listen, I could name
41:16
10 other things but I don't think there's a top 10 better
41:19
than this 10 to simply say y'all, who is it out there
41:22
that's a Christian that should not implement these things in
41:25
their life to walk in the truth? Who would that be?
41:29
These things come right out of the text of Scripture.
41:32
Men, we're going to dive into them, no holds barred.
41:35
We're not going to pull any punches.
41:36
One a month we're going to take these ladies.
41:38
We're going to post the videos online.
41:40
If your husband's a part of it, great.
41:41
If not, if you're single, you can follow along as we teach.
41:43
But I can tell you, I know from the Bible, these things are
41:46
things that we can implement and chase after the obedience that
41:50
God has called us to from the clear instruction.
41:53
This is not going to make God love you more.
41:54
This is not how you get into heaven.
41:56
This is how you walk out and work out your salvation with
41:58
fear and trembling. John and praise team are about
42:03
to come. Let me talk to you for a second.
42:06
Some of you in the room and you're not ready for the 10
42:09
because you need to start with the grace and mercy and peace
42:11
that Jesus and Jesus alone offers.
42:14
I'm going to stand right here during our time of response when
42:17
we stand and sing. And the point and the purpose is
42:20
if you don't know Jesus, you can step out from where you are.
42:22
You can come say, Pastor Kyle, I need the grace, the mercy and
42:26
the peace that Jesus offers. Would you come?
42:30
You might need to write on that Connect card.
42:32
I need help with #1 #10 #5 or all of them.
42:34
I'd be glad to respond to you. You might come and just say I
42:37
need to get on my knees or I need to come stand at this altar
42:40
and listen. I'm not living those things or
42:42
some of those things out, and I know which ones.
42:43
And I want to say yes to committing to those things or
42:46
these things in my life that I know I've been avoiding, I've
42:49
not been obeying. And it's time that I make a
42:51
commitment before God today that I need to implement and I need
42:55
to walk in the truth I claim to believe.
42:59
Maybe you want to use this altar as a response point today of
43:03
saying yes to the Lord. I'm going to pray and I'm going
43:06
to ask you to respond the way the Lord is leading you.
43:08
Heavenly Father God, I want to ask today that we'd say yes to
43:11
you, that these next moments will be filled with faith,
43:15
anointed by the Holy Spirit, unashamed in our stance and
43:19
response for the name and glory of Jesus in your truth and it
43:23
being lived out in our lives. I pray in Jesus name, Amen.
43:25
Would you stand with me? Let's sing, let's respond.
43:28
You come as God leads you this morning.