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Exposing Satans Strategies · Wetumpka Church of Christ Online

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And to everyone so good to be with you this morning and those
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across the way. Looking so forward to the day,
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hopefully, sooner rather than later.
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We can all be back together again in the building and those
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worshiping from home. We also want to express our
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welcome to you. We're just so thankful for
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everyone who's a part of this worship service this morning.
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We pray that everything we've done so far, has been to God's
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glory and just want to share something quickly that has
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absolutely nothing to do with the lesson this morning, but
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maybe it'll, it'll bring a little Comfort to you in the way
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that it did. For me.
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I found some a comforting thought from a very unlikely
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Source, two Saturdays ago when I was out working in the yard and
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I was listening to a replay of Casey Kasem's, weekly Top 40
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from 1985. Okay, if you're around my age,
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you spent quite a few nights back in the day, listening to
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Casey Kasem Countdown, the top 40 hits, and I got some comfort
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from a long-distance dedication, which is very ironic because
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when I was a kid Jeremy listening to Casey Kay's.
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The wedding top, 40, I tuned out the long-distance dedication.
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They were mushy. They were sappy.
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I was eight nine, ten, eleven. I did not want to hear about
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some guy writing about some girl, when I was seven year old,
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seven years old and bitter at the bus stop and hadn't seen her
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since and he's living in Sioux Falls, Idaho, and he No idea
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where she is, but I'm just writing this letter and
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dedicating this song. I would always just tune that
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out first. I would think to myself.
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Well, this guy saved himself really should be thanking, you
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know, being very thankful, that that didn't work out.
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He saved himself from a case of the cooties, you know, and not
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just cooties coach, but the cooties, you know, any time you
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put V in front of a disease, if you notice, it's always worse.
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I can remember hear my grandmother say about somebody
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having the The misery. And I thought that sounds
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horrible. That sounds even worse than
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being in misery having the misery.
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And so, you know, I was thinking myself, this guy just saved
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himself from a case of the cooties.
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So he should be thankful. It didn't work out.
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So, anyway, I would always tune out the long-distance dedication
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as well. You know, I'm a little older
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and, and I saw a tuned in this time to this 1985 airing of this
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long-distance dedication, and it was a father who was looking at
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his young child. And he decided I am so afraid of
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the world that this child is growing up in.
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And the thing that was on the Forefront of his mind was the
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nuclear programs that America at particularly American Russia was
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involved in and in his letter to Casey Kasem.
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He described it this way. It's like America and Russia are
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both standing waist-deep in gasoline and competing to who
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can be holding the most lit match.
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So that that's how he viewed the world and the safety of the
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world around him back in 1985. So he made the decision this
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father that he was going to join up with a group of hundreds of
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other Americans and they were going to walk.
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Okay, not drive, walk from California to Washington, d.c.
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To descend upon DC together after having walked close to
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3,000 miles. And Petitioning the government
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to denuclearize. So, this father who's writing
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this long-distance dedication. He's scared to death about the
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nuclear programs, that Russian the USA.
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And Heath. He says to himself.
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I don't think my little child is going to have a world to grow up
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in, and he is so concerned that he goes to the extent of walking
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with a group of other people 3,000 miles.
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Okay, if you're walking 20 miles a day that still going to take
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you about six months. So he's dedicating about six
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months of his life to walking across the country to petition
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DC. Let's stop building these
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nuclear weapons and now here we are 35 years later.
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You can remember, I told you to aired in 1985 from doing the
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math, right? That's right in it. 35.
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I just question my man's just in and I had done the math ahead of
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time. 35 years later. And the world still standing.
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I bet you, we and Russia both have way more nuclear warheads
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now than we had. Then the world still standing.
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This father was so concerned, so worried that his child wouldn't
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have a world to grow up in. And here we are.
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I bet you that child is now older than he was when he wrote
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the letter to Casey Kasem, and I'm sure that this child who's
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now in his or her mid to late 30s has children on up in age.
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His or herself? And so we can be so worried we
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can almost at times be overcome with anxiety and worry about
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what's the future going to be? Like, what's the world going to
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be like for my children for my grandchildren and and we can
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think we are on the brink of it all coming crashing and burning.
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The Lord is in control. And this father did not have to
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spend six months of his life walking from California to view
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ass in order, to get somebody to not drop a bomb.
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God is the one holding the match and he'll throw it in the gas
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whenever he gets good and ready. And it's just our job to be
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faithful and to be trustful in him and to realize that even
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though it looks like everything's coming apart and
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falling apart maybe at times to us as far as our culture and
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society and World God's in control and everything is going
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to work out. All right, totally unrelated to
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what we're going to talk about for the next few moments
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together this morning. And in fact, we're we're going
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to go this morning. We're going to wind up.
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I told the teens this because we've been talking about the
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devil and the team class this quarter and I told them I said,
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don't get nervous when you see the first slide and think that's
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going to be a total rehashing of stuff.
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We've been talking about in class for the past couple of
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months. Because it's not in fact, we're
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going to go somewhere this morning that I didn't even think
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this would be Journey, we would take in this lesson when I
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started working on this lesson a week ago, as as much study
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progressed. And as I started thinking about
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this topic, particularly when I landed on one particular,
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passage, I took a Divergent path from where even this this slide
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is so desire for division, and we're going to briefly, talk
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about that. But we're going to get to behind
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what caused what what we're going to get behind Division and
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look at one of the The primary things that fuels division, we
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need to be aware of what the devil is up to.
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And that's one of the things that the teams have been talking
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a good bit about the last couple of months.
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We need to know our enemy. First Peter 5:8 says, be sober
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be vigilant because your adversary.
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The devil as a roaring lion is walking about seeking whom he
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may devour. So the devil is depicted
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described, not just to pick it. He literally is.
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He is our adversary. He is our Opponent, he is our
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Foe and here's what one of the most successful Warriors in
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recorded history. Had to say in an excerpt from
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his book, The Art of War if you know the enemy and know
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yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles, if
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you know yourself, but not the enemy for every Victory gained
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you will also suffer defeat. If, you know, neither the enemy
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nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
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And so what this great successful Warrior is saying, if
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you want to be successful on the battlefield, you need to know
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yourself and you need to know the enemy.
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We're told in scripture. The devil is our enemy.
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He is our adversary. He is our opponent, and we're
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not just talking about winning a national championship.
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We're talking about life and death were talking about
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eternity. And so we were talking about a
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competition, a contest. If you will far more serious
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than anything that we can look at from an Earthly secular
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standpoint. This is the devil is our enemy.
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He is our adversary and we are A spiritual battle with him as
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brother. Danny read for us.
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Ephesians chapter 6, verses, 10 through 13.
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This is a conflict that we are in.
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Whether we want to believe we're in it or not.
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Whether we want to be consciously aware of it or not.
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This is a battle that we are in spiritual warfare is being
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conducted. And if we're not aware of that
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battle, if we're not aware of who our opponent is then zoo is
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exactly, right. We're going to Blues.
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In this spiritual conflict. Every time, we have to be
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acutely aware of our enemy. Acutely aware of his intention.
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Acutely aware of his Vigor and fighting this fight and if we
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don't have that same level of vigor, if we don't have that
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same level of awareness, if we don't have that same level of
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knowledge, if we don't have that same level of effort, if we
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don't bring to the table, what the devil is bringing to the
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table against us, then we will not be victorious in this
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battle. We need to know our enemy.
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Here's just a couple of things that we need to know about him.
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The devil loves everything, God, hates and hates everything.
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God loves and that word hate is where we're going to wind up
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going. With the bulk of our time this
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morning, God loves us over and over.
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And again in scripture where shown this, it is revealed to us
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that God loves us if the devil hates everything God loves then.
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What do we understand about the devil's relationship with us?
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He hates us. God hates a lying tongue.
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Therefore, the devil loves lies and deceit.
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It was the very first tactic that he used to get the very
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first human beings to sin. Was it not?
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He came to them with a lie. He came to them under the
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pretense of having their best interest at heart.
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The whole thing was utilizing deception and utilizing lies.
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God hates a lying tongue. So the devil's going to love
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lies and deceit. God, hates sowing Discord among
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Brethren. Therefore, the devil loves
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strife. And this is where I thought we
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were going to spend some time because we live in such a
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divided culture in such a divided Society.
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We see division all around us acutely.
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See it right now politically, but there are so many different
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ways that we choose to divide ourselves that we choose to have
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this US versus them mentality. We have it in so many different
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ways. Division is a horrible thing.
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God wants us to be one. You remember Paul and writing to
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the Corinthian Church and first going to use one is he says to
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be one in heart and mind geez. As in the last prayer that he
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prayed in the garden before he was betrayed and died on the
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cross for our sins. He prayed for Unity among his
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followers, John 17 verses 20 and 21 that they all may be one as
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you father are in me. And I in you that they also may
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be one in us that the world may believe that you have sent us.
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So Jesus knew that one of the ways in which the gospel was
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going to be effective. The message of the Gospel is
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going to be affected would be the unity of the followers.
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To two of the disciples and we know that division among
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Believers division. Among Christians has been a
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great hindrance to the spreading of the Gospel.
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It is turned many against a relationship with Christ because
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they see all this Discord, all this division, this Strife, this
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disputing. And they say, I want nothing to
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do with that. I got plenty of that out on the
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world. If you're not providing me with
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an alternative and in being one of you and following this guy
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that you serve, if I'm not seeing anything different from
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the world, why change what I'm doing?
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Doing now. Sow Discord is one of the seven
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things listed in the other passages that were the Danny
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read for us this morning, Proverbs 6 verses 16 through 18.
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These six things, the Lord hates a seven are an Abomination to
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him. And the number 7 on the list,
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given sowing Discord among Brethren and other words causing
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division. Now, here's when I started kind
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of taking a different path with this lesson.
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It's when I started thinking a little bit about Out that word
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the Hebrew word that is translated as Discord and
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Proverbs Chapter 6 and verse 18. It appears only one other place.
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In the Old Testament and it appears for chapters later in
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Proverbs chapter 10 before we get there.
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That's, let's just remind ourselves of this to sow Discord
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or the word is also translated as Strife depending on the
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translation that you're reading from is to say this is a
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definition. I can't remember what place I
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got this particular definition for sowing Discord, but I think
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it encapsulates. What is meant by this phrase is
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to say and do things which cause a group as a whole to Trust one
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another and to begin to argue and then to fight, we've already
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talked about the unity and Oneness that God wants us to
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have. And so that's why he hates those
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that sow Discord, those that cause division, those that
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disrupt peace and Harmony God hates that activity.
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He hates that sin because it creates the opposite of what he
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wants. And that is Oneness.
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The only other time this word that is translated in Proverbs
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6. 18 is Discord, is found in Proverbs 1012 hatred stirs up
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strife and get it in Translation that I was reading from
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translated as Discord that Hebrew word and 6:18 translated
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as Strife in proverbs 10, and verse 12.
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So, hatred, stirs up Strife, were Discord to keep it within
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the confines of what we're talking about this morning, but
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love covers all sins. So then my mind started going
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somewhere else with this. Listen to get behind the
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division. Okay, it's not enough to just
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say, Okay, division is bad. Division is sinful.
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God wants us to be one. We need to get behind it.
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Keith a lot of times. I know in your comments.
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I love. That's how your mind works is.
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I don't want to just talk about the disease.
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I want to talk about the symptom.
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What is it? That's causing the problem that
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led to the disease. What is the cause not just, what
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is the issue? And so here's what you get
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behind Division. And once you have this Strife,
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once you have these dividing lines, once you have this US
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versus them, people have have segmented themselves.
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And now they're looking at another group of people as their
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enemy. Well, here's what God through
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the Proverbs writer says, is fueling that state, fueling that
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Discord. Think that Strife fueling that
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division, it is hatred. And now let's talk about hatred.
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And let's try to understand it. The way that God wants us to
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understand this word because we know maybe, we've not
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consciously roll, this thought around in our mind, because
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normally, when we think of the word hate, when we think of the
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concept of hatred, we think of it as being a very bad thing.
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And a lot of the times it is, but hatred, this feeling this
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emotion is not inherently evil. That sounds weird to say,
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doesn't it? But we know that as a fact
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because God has the capacity to hate, does he not if that one of
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the passages that brother, Danny ready for his Proverbs Chapter
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6? And we've been talking about
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briefly, this morning verses 16 through 18.
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These six things, the Lord hates.
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Yes, seven or an Abomination to him, brother, Alan, Webster,
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house-to-house heart-to-heart polishing Pulpit.
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Few years ago, wrote a book, Seven Things.
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A loving God hates wrote an entire book.
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On this idea that God is capable.
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Bowl of hating. This is an emotion that God has.
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He utilizes the emotion perfectly.
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The difference is we utilize the emotion, oftentimes improperly,
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we abuse it but we need to understand that hate is not an
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emotion that is inherently sinful.
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We'll talk about that more here in just a moment.
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The word hate is utilized in Scripture, A lot of different
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ways. We're not going to take a lot of
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time to get Into how the word is used in scripture, but just a
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couple of things to draw your attention to this morning in
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Scripture, that word can simply mean to love less and Luke
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chapter, 14, and verse 26. Jesus says, if anyone desires to
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come after me and does not hate mother and father, son and
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daughter spouse, he is not worthy of me is gr.
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And even his own life. Jesus goes on to say in that
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particular Passage. Is Jesus telling us to hate our
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parents is Jesus telling us to hate our spouse.
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Is Jesus telling us to hate our children, is Jesus telling us to
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hate our own life. That would mean, Paul didn't
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know what he was talking about in Ephesians chapter 5 and he's
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talking about, you know, the husbands love your wives and
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love your wife as you love your own body and no man hates his
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own body but loves and cherishes it.
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So Paul would sounds like he has no idea what he's talking about.
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If Jesus meant you need to hate your own life in the way that we
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typically use the word. What Jesus is saying is, you
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need to love these people less than you love me.
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And you see that thought come full circle in Matthew 10:37.
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Where Jesus on this particular occasion, says that anyone who
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loves mother and father, son and daughter spouse more than he
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loves, me is not worthy of me. So when Jesus uses that word,
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Hayden Luke 14:26 he is not Talking about the way that we
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tend to use the word. And we're going to talk about
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that more here in just a minute. It means just a lesser degree of
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love. In fact, you see this bear out
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in Genesis chapter 29 verse 31, it can mean the absence of love.
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When the Lord saw that Leah, was unloved, it depending on the
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translation that you are reading that passage from.
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It could use the word, hated, many translations.
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Use the word hated, when God saw that Leah was hated.
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That means, That Jacob had open hostility toward her.
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There's no indication in Scripture that he did that he
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was mean to her cruel to her spiteful to her.
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He just had an absence of love for her to remember.
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He was tricked by his father and all into marrying her to begin
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with. He did not have any love in his
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heart for her. It's not that he felt openly
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hostile to her or treated. Her horribly is simply in this
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particular context, the absence of Love hatred can involve open
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hostility and Jesus, Genesis chapter 3.
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And verse 15. God is talking about the
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ramifications. Familiar passage to us all of
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CNN. Bring the world and remember he
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has a conversation with the devil and with Adam and with
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Eve, talking about the consequences that are going to
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be inflicted upon each because of the sin.
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That was committed and gr. God directs this thought and
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verse 15 specifically to the devil.
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I will put enmity that word does not specifically mean hatred.
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It is a synonym. It is related to but is not the
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exact same word, but it is a synonym to the Word that is
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often translated as hatred and scripture.
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I will put and notice what God is saying.
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I will put, God does not save air will be God says, I will put
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enmity and that word literally means open hostility between
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your seed. Those that would follow the
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course of the devil and his ways, and between my see, those
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who would choose to be my adopted children.
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My followers Genesis chapter 37 verse 4.
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Now, this gets more into the way that we typically view this word
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and the way that when we feel this emotion, Shin how this
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emotion is manifested in a very sinful and wicked way.
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In Genesis chapter 37, verse 4, when his brother is speaking of
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Joseph's brothers. Saw that their father loved him,
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Joseph more than all his brothers.
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They hated him. And notice is this just a
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feeling they harbored in their heart that they never acted
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upon. No, it affected.
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Everything about the relationship with Joseph.
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They hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.
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They could not even have a conversation with him because of
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the hatred. They had invested.
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That's what makes hatred such a dangerous emotion.
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It is a god-given emotion. It is an emotion that God has
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Oftentimes, it is referred to in scripture of God, having hatred.
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but again, utilizing that emotion perfectly, we Often use
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it sinfully. And this is an example of when
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it is utilized sinfully where the brothers of Joseph and this
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is typically, what hatred does when we make the decision to
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direct that emotion on to another human being.
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And that's where the difference comes.
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We're going to get get into that here in just a moment.
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It is never an emotion or a feeling that stays internal.
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It's never an emotion or feeling that stays stagnant when
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directed towards another human being eventually, if we allow
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our mind and our heart to Harbor, hatred to Harbor
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animosity. So Harbor a feeling of hostility
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towards another human being that emotion will call for Action.
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Just the feeling will never be enough for our mind and our
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body. If we allow it to be directed on
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another human being eventually, is that not exactly?
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What Joseph's brothers, the progression of events within It.
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Maybe started with they could not have a cordial conversation
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with him. It might have started with.
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They see him coming. They just turned the other way.
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So it may have just just started with we're just not going to
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talk to him. Pretty harmless.
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Then it probably developed into and openly hostile situation
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where now I'm not just going to turn around and go the other
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way. I seem come.
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I have something to say. Well, there comes that Dreamer.
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There comes daddy's favorite and then eventually what did it lead
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to a desire to kill? If not for the intervention of
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the firstborn son would have been killed sold into slavery.
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You see the things happen because of the hatred.
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Manifested in the heart. So I know this sounds weird, but
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we can understand this from scripture hate is not inherently
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evil. Again, Proverbs 6, 16 through
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18. God hates a proud.
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Look a lying tongue Discord sewing among Brethren those
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seven things that are lifted that listed, their God hates
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divorce as mentioned in Malachi, chapter 2 and verse 16 in the
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letter that was written to the church at Ephesus in Revelation,
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Chapter 2. Jesus, commended the Church of
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Ephesus saying, I hate that. Deeds of the Nicolaitans and I
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in Jesus commended the church at Ephesus for hating those deeds
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also. So Jesus said that he practiced
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hatred towards whatever the Deeds of the Nicolaitans were.
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We won't take the time to try to speculate as to what is being
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referred to there. But Jesus says, I hate those
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deeds. And he commended the church at
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Ephesus for also hating those D's.
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So, a hatred for sin. Jesus is manifesting, and he is
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commending Christians for me. Anna fasting as well.
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We are commanded to hate what is evil.
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Romans 12:19 opinion, the translation that you're reading
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from abhor. What is evil cling to what is
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good? That Greek word, translated?
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Abhor means to hate. To have hatred for what is evil.
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So hatred is emotion and feeling that God manifests, and God gave
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it to us. The key is keeping it properly
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confined and properly channeled. God gave us lots of things.
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That are not inherently evil, but can be utilized for evil
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when not properly channeled, when not properly contained.
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Sexual desire is a god-given emotion feeling.
25:54
And the marriage bed is undefiled.
25:58
And yet, when we allow that feeling, when we allow that
26:04
emotion to go beyond the boundaries for which it is
26:07
attended, it goes from being wholly to, to being Wicked.
26:12
God. Gave within us a desire.
26:16
I shouldn't say a desire, but a capability for extreme devotion.
26:21
In the class that we've been doing together with the teens,
26:26
one of the things in the book that we've been using to
26:28
supplement, what scripture has to say.
26:30
C.s. Lewis talks about one of the
26:31
tools of the devil is to take human beings tendency for
26:34
extreme devotion and take that occur, that tendency away from
26:39
extreme Devotion to God and attach it to anything else.
26:46
I noticed the things that we can be extremely intensely devoted
26:52
to there is not a single thing that you could name from pick up
27:00
sticks to chess and any game in between where there is not
27:06
somebody somewhere, who has dedicated their life, to
27:09
mastering that particular game. I think there's somewhere in
27:13
Alabama, this this considered the Scrabble capital of the
27:16
world. They where is it?
27:18
Jeremy. Do you know, I think it's AA pin
27:20
to lose you. I can't remember.
27:22
And they have people. Coming in from all across the
27:24
country to compete for cash prizes.
27:27
These are professional Scrabble players.
27:31
They know the Scrabble dictionary, like the back of
27:34
their hand, you try to put a word on Scrabble board.
27:36
That is not a Scrabble game. Authorized word and they'll call
27:39
you on it in 2 seconds. They know how to work their way
27:43
up to triple word score faster than anybody else on the planet.
27:48
There are people who have an extreme Devotion to the game of
27:51
Scrabble. Just fill in the blank.
27:58
Fill in the blank with a human activity and there's somebody
28:00
somewhere who's extremely devoted to that, particular
28:03
activity. We as human beings have this
28:06
tendency for extreme levels of Devotion, to things that we
28:10
develop an interest in a love for the devil knows this.
28:15
He's seen it. He's observed.
28:17
It. The reason why we have it is
28:19
because God wants us to exercise that tendency in our extreme
28:23
Devotion to him. Did he not say love the Lord
28:26
your God with all your heart. Soul mind strength.
28:28
Is that sound like extreme Devotion to you is anything less
28:32
than extreme devotion required in order to pull that off.
28:39
Come to God with anything less than extreme devotion and
28:41
explain to me how you're going to love him with all your heart
28:44
mind, soul, and strength, anything less than extreme
28:47
devotion is not going to accomplish that feat.
28:51
So God could put within us, this ability, this tendency for
28:55
extreme devotion, the devil sees that but he wants to divert it
28:59
to anywhere other than an extreme Devotion to God.
29:02
And that's another thing that fuels division is when we have
29:05
this extreme Devotion to something to the point, where if
29:08
you don't like this, as how can, how can you not?
29:11
Like, have you heard somebody say about something?
29:14
And you say, well, I don't really like care for that.
29:17
How can you not care for that? Are you?
29:21
Me. Are you a human being?
29:25
Do we live on the same planet? And you don't like this?
29:30
This is my life. So, there are things that are
29:35
given to us by God, inherently good, or inherently benign, when
29:42
used properly, very good, but what the devil wants to do is
29:46
take these things that God has given on a given to us.
29:51
This capacity for love, take it away from God and put it into
29:56
something less worthy of that kind of devotion.
30:02
So God has given us this capacity for hatred.
30:07
It's an emotion given to us by him.
30:11
And it's very effective when utilized properly and channeled
30:15
properly. It accomplishes.
30:17
Its intended means when focused in the right place and utilized
30:23
in the right way. Here's something.
30:30
That we know. But we've got to remind
30:32
ourselves of this morning in scripture, when hate is being
30:35
utilized properly. It is directed toward things not
30:38
people. Hatred is always.
30:43
God never condones hatred, towards inanimate object.
30:46
In fact, I was trying to Rack my brain.
30:48
I didn't spend a whole lot of time trying to think about this.
30:50
I can't think of a single time in scripture where God condoned
30:54
or approved of a human being even hating an animal.
30:59
Much less a human. Nowhere in scripture.
31:04
Is there a condoning of this manifestation, this feeling of
31:09
hatred towards something that is alive.
31:13
Something. That is an imminent.
31:16
Especially of course for human beings.
31:19
If God was going to provide any allowance for us to a hate
31:23
another human being, would he not have provided that allowance
31:27
for someone who has been horrible to us?
31:30
Who has spitefully used us? Who has heard us with their
31:37
words, hurt us with their deeds. Hurt us with their hands.
31:41
And yet, what does Jesus say about our enemies?
31:47
He does not even allow us to hate our enemies.
31:50
Those that those that curse or spitefully use as Matthew 5:43
31:54
through 48. Jesus, even forbids, the things
31:57
that often precede hate and that is a feeling of animosity, a
32:03
feeling of anger. Jesus goes behind in Matthew
32:10
chapter 5 verses 21 and 22 those things that contribute to can
32:16
lead to a feeling of hatred to another human being.
32:18
He doesn't want us engaging in those to call someone fool.
32:26
In other words to talk down to someone, you just call them
32:29
degrading names. To have a feeling of dislike in
32:35
your heart. God goes behind the emotion of
32:38
hatred to those things that can lead to or fuel.
32:41
Hey, Jase is only what you involving in those when it comes
32:43
to another human being, even someone who's done that to, you.
32:47
Even someone who hates you, even someone who said derogatory
32:50
things to you, even someone who's defrauded you taking
32:54
advantage of you abuse. You, I don't want you returning
32:58
hate with hate. So if God had would have
33:03
provided any allowance for us to be able to hate another person,
33:08
surely it would have been under the context of someone who has
33:11
been horrible to us. But Jesus makes it abundantly
33:16
clear. I'm not even giving you
33:17
permission to utilize this god-given emotion of hatred.
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Even when it's dealing with someone.
33:24
Who hates you. God equates hatred with murder
33:31
when directed toward a brother. First John, 3 and verse 15.
33:33
Whoever hates. His brother is a murderer.
33:37
Not as like, he's not speaking metaphorically in the way that
33:42
God views this emotion when directed towards another human
33:46
being, he's saying, when you hate your brother, you are, he
33:52
is a murderer, you know, that no murderer has eternal life,
33:56
abiding in him. It's implied.
33:58
The context because the story of Cain and Abel comes up in the
34:01
context of loving, your brother of, not hating your brother.
34:05
So it's implied in the context. That hatred is part of what
34:07
fueled Kane's decision to kill his brother.
34:11
They're in first John chapter 3 verses 10 through 15.
34:15
And again, it may have started. You remember, as you read
34:18
through that, that chapter when Genesis chapter 4.
34:26
I put Genesis chapter 3. I'm sorry the Genesis chapter 4
34:29
when? Cain's sacrifice is rejected.
34:34
And you remember it? The first thing we read about
34:36
Cain is his countenance fell. And so, maybe we don't read the
34:41
entire progression of events that lead from Cain's sacrifice
34:45
being rejected to the decision that he makes to murder his
34:48
brother, but it may have been a similar series of progressive
34:52
events or depending how you look at digressive events.
34:55
As we see with Joseph and his brothers.
34:57
It may have started with Kane. Just avoiding able not wanting
35:00
to be around him seeing him coming, and turning the other
35:04
way. Might have started that way.
35:07
Scripture does not indicate to us that the series of events
35:10
that transpire between the rejection of the sacrifice in
35:12
the murder, but it could have been a pretty relatively
35:16
speaking harmless series of events where Kane did not
35:20
immediately think that day. So you're telling me my
35:23
brother's sacrifice was accepted him on wasn't about to kill that
35:26
guy. it may have just been that, he immediately starts allowing a
35:35
feeling of Dislike might have been just casual disliked.
35:43
Then it begins to fuel it and now he's not just avoiding Cain,
35:46
but maybe he's looking for an opportunity to say something a
35:49
little condescending little cutting.
35:54
You think that? well, in fact, let me just let's
36:00
go back and Doesn't it say that? Wow, they were talking in the
36:05
field? Verse 8, chapter 4 and Cain
36:16
talked with Abel his brother and it came to pass when they're
36:18
field that Cain rose up against Abel.
36:20
His brother and killed him. There's a conversation
36:25
conversation that escalated. Fueled by this animosity, this
36:31
hostility that Kane had been feeling in his heart.
36:34
I was reading some things from a psychological psychological
36:37
perspective, some psychologists who have studied the brain and
36:43
what part of the brain is being activated.
36:45
When When we are experiencing, this feeling an emotion of
36:50
hatred. And so I forgot where I was
36:57
going with that. Our time is getting away from
36:59
his quickly anyway, so let's Let's finish our thought
37:03
together this morning, the Thin Line Between Love and Hate.
37:08
Look at the in second. Samuel chapter 13 and verse 15.
37:11
Amnon hated. Her tame are exceedingly, so
37:15
that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the
37:17
love with, which he had loved her.
37:20
A love that earlier in this chapter had made him physically
37:23
sick. We don't have time to get in
37:26
and, and provide the setting, and the context for this, the
37:29
the chapter begins with amnon. They're of Absalom Who falls in
37:35
love with his half. Sister.
37:36
Tamar, who is I believe the full sister of Absalom and it says
37:41
that amnon loved Tamar and if you've read that before you've
37:45
probably thought to yourself. Well, that was lust not love.
37:47
Here's something. Interesting.
37:48
The exact same Hebrew word that is used to describe.
37:52
Amnon, 's love for Tamar. In this chapter is the same
37:57
word. Used at the end of Genesis
37:59
chapter 24, I believe around in verse 67.
38:02
Even to describe Isaac's love for Rebecca.
38:06
Same exact Hebrew word used in both contexts.
38:09
So you've got amnon who is described in scripture as loving
38:13
Tamar. You remember that the tragic
38:17
event that transpired, Midway through that chapter, and here's
38:22
what we read about amnon, and his feelings for her, that the
38:27
love that he had for her so much so that he became physically
38:31
ill. Because of this feeling of love
38:33
that he had for her was exceeded.
38:35
Now, almost immediately after this horrible event takes place
38:40
by his hatred for her psychologists have studied brain
38:45
activity. Women that feelings of love and
38:46
hatred stimulate from the same area of the brain hate and love.
38:51
Thus both seem to be involved in the neural processing of what is
38:54
sometimes referred to as the arousal effect of emotion.
38:57
It seems that emotion with a high arousal effect can quickly
38:59
turn from positive. Love to - hate.
39:03
This is a powerful emotion. That's why God never wants us to
39:06
channel this emotion towards a human being because notice the
39:10
thin line that exists between love and hate.
39:14
The feeling's emanate from the same part of the brain.
39:16
We have a phrase that is used in legal circles at times called
39:20
Crimes of Passion. Do you know what crying, you
39:22
know, what is a crime of passion?
39:25
Generally? It's referring to a crime.
39:28
That was committed by someone who, at some point loved the
39:31
person that they at the time of the crime, apparently hated so
39:35
much so that they inflicted harm even to the point of death at
39:38
times on this person, the thin line between Love and hate.
39:45
So why were we given checks? I know our times up were
39:49
speeding to the Finish Line. Why are we giving them this
39:52
capacity of hatred? And here's what I hope will be
39:54
the primary takeaway for us this morning.
40:00
Because it has such a capacity for us, to be capable of doing
40:05
horrible, things to one. Another.
40:06
Why did God give us the emotion to begin with?
40:09
And I cannot speak for God, just a thought for you to consider
40:13
this morning. There are things that we are
40:16
instructed by God, not to love, love, not the world first.
40:19
John 2, verse 50, new things are in the world.
40:21
If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in
40:23
him. Staying away from the things of
40:26
the world, meaning sin not Staying away from the sins of
40:30
the world requires more than simple.
40:33
Indifference. It requires an emotion, much
40:37
stronger than that. Let's illustrate it this way,
40:43
you're flipping the radio dial and there's going to be songs
40:50
that you like and songs that you dislike that come across the
40:54
airwaves. If there's a song that you
40:57
really dislike. How long does it take you to
40:59
turn the channel? I made that you here where your
41:04
OneNote in? Oh my goodness.
41:07
Christmas shoes. No, I can't.
41:08
I can't do it. And you can't turn it fast
41:14
enough. If you're just in different,
41:21
give it a shot. Let's see.
41:23
You're not going to be so quick to remove that song from your
41:27
ears. If you just feel indifferent.
41:30
We have foods that we love, we have foods that we hate.
41:33
How is he for it, for us? Is it to turn down a food that
41:37
we hate? Do we have to sit there and
41:39
think about it? That grapefruit juice.
41:44
I'll go ahead and give it a shot today.
41:46
Maybe I feel different about it. If it's something that you hate
41:50
you got no problem. No.
41:51
Thank you. If it's something that's in
41:54
different, it might even be some of the you never tried before,
41:56
but if you're indifferent to it eventually, if it's presented to
41:59
you enough times and you're hungry enough or thirst and I'll
42:01
give that a shot, indifference isn't enough.
42:05
In order to not to love the world, in order to abhor what is
42:10
evil and cling to what is good. We cannot have within us only a
42:14
capacity to love and if there's not love, there's just
42:17
indifference because that's not going to get it done.
42:22
God gave us the ability to hate. So that we would hate what needs
42:29
to be hated. In such a way where we want
42:33
nothing to do with it. I don't want anything to do with
42:37
lying Lord because you hate lying.
42:39
And I hate lying to, I want nothing to do with shedding
42:42
innocent blood Lord, because you hate the shedding of innocent
42:45
blood and I hate it too. I want nothing to do with
42:48
defrauding, my neighbor. Lord, because you hate that, and
42:50
I hate it too. Indifference is not going to
42:52
give us the fuel that we need to not do those things.
42:55
The devil is trying to get us to do, that's why we have to have
42:58
the emotion. The problem is is the devil
43:01
wants us to take that god-given emotion where it's supposed to
43:03
be channeled towards sin is supposed to be All towards bad
43:06
behavior is supposed to be channeled.
43:08
Towards those things that separate us from God, that
43:10
create a barrier between us and God.
43:12
That's where that emotion is supposed to be directed.
43:15
The devil wants us to take it from there and exceed, it Beyond
43:20
its boundaries and that's what we've got.
43:23
So much Strife is so much division.
43:25
That's why we've got so many problems.
43:26
That's why we've got violence in the streets in our country.
43:29
It is because these actions are being fueled by a hatred in a
43:34
person's heart for another. Person, not another thing.
43:39
So we've got perfect strangers fighting in the streets at
43:42
times. They don't even know this person
43:44
never met this person before they're engaged in a physical
43:47
altercation with them. Why?
43:49
Because they have hatred in their heart and they've allowed
43:51
that hatred to not be channeled within a thing.
43:58
But now you're seeing that feeling being manifested,
44:02
exhibited towards a person. Satan wants us to direct these
44:08
things and emotions to areas in which they are not intended.
44:11
That's what the devil is always up to is to get us to go outside
44:16
of the boundaries that God has put in order to protect us in
44:21
order to properly. Utilize the god-given things
44:24
that we have been given some of the desires that we have that
44:27
are God, given the devil wants us to abuse those, some of the
44:30
feelings and emotions that are God, given our beautiful and
44:34
effective and needed when properly, they are Amazingly
44:39
destructive and harmful when directed outside of their
44:44
intended boundaries. We've got to know our enemy.
44:48
And one of the ways, the devil is trying to work on us.
44:52
Just pick the topic. He's not wanting us.
44:57
To keep our hatred. This god-given emotion confined
45:02
to a hatred of those things that God hates sin wickedness, sin in
45:07
our lives sin in the lives of those around us, but he wants us
45:11
to channel it on other human beings.
45:16
Because what does it do? Proverbs 10 and verse 12, hatred
45:19
fuels strife. Strife causes division. and if
45:27
the house is divided, they cannot stand.
45:32
If you're not a child of God, this morning, we implore you to
45:34
become one by faith. Repent of your sins, confessing
45:36
Jesus Christ, as Lord being baptized into Christ for the
45:41
Forgiveness, of your sins, become a child of God.
45:44
So that you might be able to stand Ephesians 6, verse 12, 10
45:48
through 13, stand against The Wiles of the devil.
45:52
Maybe you are a child of God, but you've left your first love,
45:56
need to come back home, or if we can just encourage you pray with
45:59
and for you in any way, please come as together.