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Living Waters of Grace 09.10.25 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is living. Waters of Grace, the teaching
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ministry of Lewis Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary
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Chapel of Westmoreland County in Greensburg, PA.
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Now here's Pastor Lewis as he continues teaching through God's
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Word. Is this in line with what the
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apostles of Jesus Christ taught? That was their test and it
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should be our test. When we open the Scriptures, we
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should know what the apostles are teaching.
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So when someone comes in our company and they want to teach
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something or try to get you to consider something that is
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contrary to what the Word of God says, we should know what the
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apostles talk. What do the apostles teach?
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How does it line up with that? That should be our test as well.
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Have you ever read a passage from the Bible with a friend or
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a family member and noticed that you both interpreted it
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differently? In today's message, Pastor Lewis
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encourages you to study the Bible diligently, but also to
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learn about the apostles who wrote the passages under the
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guidance of the Holy Spirit. While spending time with God in
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the Bible is essential, it is equally important to know
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doctrine, to understand the intended message and the
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audience for whom it was written.
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Now here's Pastor Lewis in the book of Jude chapter 1 as he
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begins his message Building up yourselves and Others.
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So we're looking at verse 16 and I'm just going to read through
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and then we're going to go back and we will comment and it just
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says this. These are grumblers,
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complainers, walking according to their own lusts, and they
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mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain
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advantage. And we'll stop there.
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So one of the things that was really laid heavy upon my heart
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as I was preparing for this is I just sensed that there is a need
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for unity in the church. Unity, not unity in Word, but
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unity indeed, that we truly, truly love each other in these
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times. Because this is the time when
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the enemy is roaring the most. This is the time that he's
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attacking the most. This is the time that the enemy
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is the most active. Because I believe he knows his
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time is short. And one of the ways, the only
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real hope of this world is Jesus Christ and his church.
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And if he's going to destroy any hope of righteousness, it would
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have to be him trying to destroy the church.
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So I believe he's attacking the unity of the church.
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And I believe that he's doing that in a number of ways, but
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he's attacking the small areas. Remember we talked last week
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about how the, the boats would go over these hidden reefs and
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it, and, and, and it would get destroyed not by what they see
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on top of the water, but what they can't see under the water.
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It would be destroyed by these hidden reefs, these hidden rocks
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that tear up a boat from beneath, underneath.
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And there are things that can happen in the church that can
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cause a church to become divided from within the church.
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And Jude talks about that here in this verse when he mentions
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these are grumblers, complainers walking according to their own
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lusts. Now he's talking about the false
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teachers is what he's talking about.
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But this also applies to false Christians, you know, those
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tears that grow up with us and sit with us and we think that
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they believe what we believe because they profess that they
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believe it, but in truth do not. And these false teachers that
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he's talking about here, he says that they, they, they, you know,
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they're grumblers and they're complainers.
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And that is one of the first ways that the enemy would try to
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come in and cause a divide is to get people grumbling and
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complaining. If the Lord can get us grumbling
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and complaining instead of praying and praising that he can
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tear this place apart. But because we understand that
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it's it's these things that can cause these small holes to to
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take place in the undercurrent or the under body of our church,
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we want to be aware of it. And Judas said, I want the
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church to be aware of the grumbling and complainers.
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Even way back when the children of Israel first came out of
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Egypt, one of the first things that Moses had to deal with was
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the murmuring and complaining of the people.
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The Bible says back in Numbers 11 one that they were just out
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of they were just out of Egypt three days when they started
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complaining. The Lord showed his hand many
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times against Pharaoh caused them to be able to be let go
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after the after all of the the the miracles that he did there
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and he calls them to be let go. They came through the Red Sea
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that divided. They watched this Red Sea
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divide. They came through it on dry
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land. Three days later they're
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complaining and grumbling and murmuring.
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And that can also happen with the church.
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We can start complaining, we can start murmuring.
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All after all the things that God has done for us, rather
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individually or corporately. We can get to a point where the
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devil can put a light on something we don't like or
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something that goes against our flesh, because it is the flesh
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that does the murmuring and complaining.
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That's not of the Spirit that is the flesh calls us not to like
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something and we just start complaining.
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And unfortunately, when the people start complaining, just
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like these grumblers, they don't just complain amongst
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themselves. They go and complain to other
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people. It's not like they find these
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things that they don't like and they go to the source or go to
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the leader or go to the person that they have this issue with.
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But what they end up doing is complaining to other people and
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to try to get them complaining and murmuring and grumbling and
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it's all out of flesh. So we know back in #16 that Cora
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complained that he grumbled and he and he and he murmured
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against Moses. Moses, who are you that you
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should be the one to to make the call?
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God doesn't only talk to you. He talked to other people too.
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Who are you that you should be the ministry leader?
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You know, God talks to other people too.
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He can give me direction to run that ministry too.
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Why are you the pastor? God can speak to any of us.
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This is what the enemy would do. And he did that back in the book
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of Numbers and he and, and it caused the people to, to, to
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grumble and to and to complain. And Moses dropped to his knees
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and said, look, tomorrow we're going to settle this.
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The Lord is going to tell who is going to who he called for this
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position. And unfortunately, many of them
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lost their lives because they continue to murmur and complain
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and to rebel against the authority that the Lord put in
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place. Jude is telling us here, Mump,
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these grumblers and, and, and complainers, these false
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teachers, they complain against the, the, the pastors who were
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teaching the truth. They complain against the, the
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teachers who were teaching the apostles doctrine.
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And they're trying to get people to question it.
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They're trying to get people to doubt it.
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And he's already told him that because of that, God bless you.
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And he already told him that because of that they are going
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to be judged. Philippians tells us that we're
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not to do anything but complaining and grumbling or
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murmuring anything. Peter tells us that your
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hospitality, when we offer hospitality, we're to do it
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without grumbling. We do it without grumbling.
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So then he says, these grummers and complainers, they're walking
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according to their own lust. That is what motivates the
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complaining and the murmuring is because they're looking at,
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they're being driven by their lust.
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They want things to be done and whether they want to do it, not
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according to the word of God, but according to the way that
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they want to do what fits them, what will benefit them.
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And if the decision that's made doesn't benefit, then then they
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grumble when they complain about it because it's out of their
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flesh that these false teachers are complaining out of their
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flesh. So they're, they're, they're
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living according to the desires of their own flesh.
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And the thing about a complainer and a grumbler, they're never
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satisfied. So even if they did complain and
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grumble, and if you did address that, there would be something
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else that they would complain and grumble about because
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they're never satisfied, never satisfied.
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And, and, and it's because it's out of their own.
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It's out of selfishness, wrong motives and, and, and, and wrong
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way of dealing with things. It's evil they're just doing
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with their evil instincts or their flesh prompts them to do.
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And then the Bible says over here in the the bottom of verse
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16, it says in they mouth, great swelling words, flattering to
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gain advantage. Now these great swelling words,
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these are just like, you know, the, the, these men who will
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stand up and and and speak these long these vocabularies.
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You know, they have this great vocabulary and they can stand up
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and, and just dazzle the people, you know, with their vocabulary
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and their long, their big words. And you know, these words that
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sound so impressive and sound, you know, so convincing, but yet
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there's no substance. There's no substance.
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You still leave and and we're hungry, we're thirsty for what,
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what did I learn? What was I taught?
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What did I get from that? Because it's just like great
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swelling words but nothing of substance.
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And he said they flatter the people.
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And we know that the flattering of of the people, it is
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something that is also, excuse me, selfish.
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And it's of the flesh flattering speech.
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Again, that's due to manipulation for the purpose of
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manipulation to manipulate people to do what they want them
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to do. They pay compliments and, you
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know, in order to try to get advantage.
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And it's not even compliments that they're planning that are
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that they're not even being truthful about it.
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They're just speaking in order to try to gain advantage.
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But it's deceitful. It's deceitful speech.
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Now, don't get me wrong. Genuine encouragement is a value
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in the church. We need to have genuine
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encouragement and that's one of the reasons why I really love
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what I see in this body of believers often because I'm
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always hearing people encourage other people, regardless of what
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it is that they're doing. It's not just, you know, Clark
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and myself or people that are that are teaching the word, but
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but they also encourage the AV. They courage, praise and
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worship. They courage, you know,
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encourage the the announcements or encourage the people who are
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who are teaching youth or teaching the kids.
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You know, there's always people encouraging one another and
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helping one another and speaking life to one another and not
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tearing them down. This is what we are to be about,
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that unified church. And this is what the enemy
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doesn't like, which is why he tries to get people to grumble
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instead of build people up, complain instead of praise and
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encouraging people. And this is what he's saying
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about these, these these false teachers.
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He said they use flattery to try to gain advantage.
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Look, it's good to exhort one another in ministry, to build
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one another up, to affirm one another.
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Good to affirm one another in ministry, to let people know
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that, listen, the Lord is working through you.
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I can see the Lord working through you.
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And sometimes in ministry and in our own Christian walks, it just
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helps for somebody to just affirm what God is doing in our
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lives. It just helps, but it's with
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sincerity that that the affirmation and or that that
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encouragement, it has to be with sincerity and not just out of
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flattery, speaking in a deceitful manner, but insincere
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praise, like the flattery, insincere praise is only used to
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the to deceive and to the snare ensnare.
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Rather, you know, people who are unaware, people who are just
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unsuspecting, and it's not of the Lord.
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Proverbs 29 and five says a man who flatters his neighbor
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spreads a net for his feet. You know, he's literally trying
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to trap someone with a purpose or by means of flattery.
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Proverbs 27 and six says faithful are the wounds of a
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friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
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But sometimes flattery can feel like kisses, but it's actually
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knives going in the back. It's deceitful.
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It's deceitful. There's a couple things on me
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because Paul talks about flattery as well and and he
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talks about how when he came to teach and he came to preach the
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gospel, he didn't use flattering words.
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He was just used the words of the Lord Romans 16, starting at
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verse 17, he says, Now I urge you, brethren, note those who
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cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which
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you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not
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serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.
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And by smooth words here we go. And by smooth words and
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flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple, by smooth
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words and flattering speech, swelling up, you know, words
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that swell people up, swell themselves up, bragging about
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themselves, but flattering you, they deceive the people.
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And then over in Second Thessalonians chapter 2, he also
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speaks about it as well when he was ministering to the that
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young church over in Thessalonica.
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And he ministered to them. And he said this to them over in
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First Thessalonica, chapter 2, verses four and five, he says
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this. But as we have been approved by
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God to be entrusted with the gospel, Even so we speak not as
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pleasing men, but God who test our hearts.
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For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you
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know, nor a cloak for covetousness.
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God is our witness. We didn't use flattering words
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when we came to preach the gospel.
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When we go to minister to somebody, we don't use
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flattering words. We use the truth of the gospel.
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We use the word of God. We have to, we don't want to.
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We don't want to entice people by flattering people.
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That has a deceitful purpose. The word of God draws the word
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of God is withdraws. So then also he goes on in verse
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17 and now he starts to move from talking about these these
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false teachers so much and he now wants to talk to the body of
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believers. So he says, But you, they
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grumble, they complain, they murmur, they walk according to
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their own lusts, they mouth great smelling words, and they
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flatter with their tongues. But you, he said, beloved, he
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speaks to them like children. Beloved, you who I love, he
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says, remember the words which were spoken before by the
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apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Remember the words. Remember we talked about that,
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being reminded how the Bible was always the gospel was always
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talking about being reminded of the things that God talks about,
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the things that God says, being reminded of the word of God,
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being reminded. We come here every Sunday to be
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reminded you guys read the word all the time, but you come here
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because you're being reminded of things that like we said, you
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maybe have not read in a long time.
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God reminds you of these things. So he tells them.
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He says, you know, be remember the words which were spoken by
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the apostles. So remember what?
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Remember the word of God and remember who spoke it.
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Remember who spoke it, the apostles, the apostles who were
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the eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ ministry.
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Remember who spoke these words? Who gave you this warning ahead
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of time? It was the apostles of Jesus
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Christ. It was Jesus who taught the
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apostles, who now teaches you and then now sends you out to
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teach. Same thing where it happens in
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the church, right? We are learning from the
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apostles as we go through His word.
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We're learning through the apostles, the apostles doctrine
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and he teaches us the Holy Spirit comes into our spirit and
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teaches us these things and reveals the truth of, of what's
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going on and what God is teaching us, warning us about in
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his word. And then we build each other up
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by sharing it and reminding one another of the word of God.
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What a blessing that is. What a blessing that is.
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He uses us all. So he says, remember the words
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which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus
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Christ, how they told you. Now He's going to tell them what
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they need to remember and what they said to him.
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How they told you that there would be mockers in the last
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time who would walk according to their own ungodly lust.
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He told them that this was going to happen just like he's telling
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us it's going to happen. So we got to be aware of people
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that we sit down with when we talk about the Word of God.
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We got to make sure that we're seeing out of eye, that it's not
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somebody that's preaching one thing and we're believing
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something different. We got to make sure that we're
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seeing eye to eye, that it correlates with the teaching of
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the apostles. When I was studying this, I've
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learned that when, you know, back in the times that they were
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having these people who would come to their cities and they
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want to, you know, sit before the OR stand before the people
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and teach the word in order for them to find out or to make sure
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that that word is true and that it is the word of God.
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The one question that they have, their test that they have is, is
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this what the apostles taught? Is this in line with what the
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apostles of Jesus Christ taught? That was their test and it
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should be our test. When we open the Scriptures, we
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should know what the apostles are teaching.
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So when someone comes in our company and they want to teach
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something or try to get you to consider something that is
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contrary to what the Word of God says, we should know what the
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apostles talk. What do the apostles teach?
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How does it line up with that? That should be our test as well.
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Glory to God. So then he goes on and he says
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here how they told you that there would be mockers who were
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coming according to their own ungodly lust.
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He told us that there's going to be mockers.
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These people are going to come and they're going to mock what
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you believe. They're going to make you doubt
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what you believe. They want to make you turn from
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what you believe, turn away from God and turn toward them, their
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Antichrist. And as we said, Antichrist,
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meaning they want you to follow them instead of Jesus Christ.
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But you were told that you were told that in many places that
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there would be mockers who would come and that would talk about
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things that were other than Jesus Christ.
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You know, I just want to go back here real quick.
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The second Peter 2, second Peter 2.
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And this is what Peter spoke. And it's just kind of gives you
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that, that correlation between what the apostles teach.
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They, you know, they're they're all teaching from the same
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thing. They're teaching the word of
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God. And this is what Peter says back
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in second Peter chapter 2 verse 1, he says, but there were also
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false prophets among the people, even as there will be false
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teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive
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heresies and even denying the Lord who brought them, denying
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Jesus Christ, denying him. This is what they're teaching.
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And then just go over 1 chapter over to chapter 3, same book,
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second Peter over in chapter 3 verse 3 says this, knowing this
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first, that scoffers will come in the last days.
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Scoffers, mockers, same thing people who will come and they're
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going to make you doubt the word of God.
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They want to try to convince you to turn away from your faith
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that Jude is now telling you to contend for.
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He said they're going to come in the last days walking how
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according to their own lusts. I'll even read the next verse.
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It says insane. Where is the promise of his
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coming for since the fathers fell asleep.
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All these things continue as they were from the beginning of
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creation, something to make them doubt.
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So we got to be strong in what we believe.
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And first of all, know what we believe, Be strong in it, strong
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in what we believe. And then I want to go down here
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to verse 19. I'm, you know, because verse 19
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is very important in reference to everything we just talked
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about because it gives you the sum, total balance of who these
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men are. And he says this.
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These are sensual persons. These are spiritual people.
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They're sensual people. That means they're soulish, that
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means they're worldly, that means they're carnal, no spirit,
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no spirit. They're not teaching by the
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spirit, they're teaching according to their flesh.
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So these are sensual persons who cause the visions.
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And that's one of the things that will cause the visions
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whenever someone begins to speak or teach or do anything out of
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their flesh, it will cause divisions.
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It will go against what the Word of God teaches, and it will
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cause divisions among the people.
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And then the last four words says this, not having the
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Spirit. And that's what tells us these
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people aren't saved. This has been Living Waters of
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Grace, a ministry of Calvary Chapel Westmoreland in
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Greensburg, PA Pastor Lewis Harrell has been teaching
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through the book of Jude. This is a book of warning as the
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audience that Jude was writing to was coming under attack from
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false teachers. Even in the early days of the
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church, there were teachers who claimed to have a unique
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revelation from God that superseded Scripture.
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Pastor Lewis wants you to be sure to be on your guard against
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those teachers today, as they will try to distract you from
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following the way of Jesus. By focusing on what God's Word
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says, you can call out false teachers for what they are and
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stay on the good path. Do you want to hear more
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teaching from Living Waters of Grace?
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You can do so by visiting our website at
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calvarychapelonline.com. There you will find an archive
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of past teachings from Pastor Lewis and Pastor Clark, find a
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link to our mobile app, or even give to support the ministry of
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Living Waters of Grace. Your gifts can help support the
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work of Grace FM, spreading the gospel to people in our
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community who are in need of the presence of God in their lives.
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If you're in Westmoreland County, we'd love to invite you
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to one of our Sunday services. We meet at 10:30 AM at 207
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Hudson St. in Greensburg. It'd be a privilege to get to
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meet you in person and learn how we can be praying for you and
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helping you grow in your walk with Jesus.
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