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How Do You Know What's True? · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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You have your copy of God's word.
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Go and make your way to 1st John chapter 4 verses one through 6.
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First John 4 verses one through 6.
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As we continue our series from first John that we've titled The
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Vitals of Our faith. The vitals are the bottom line,
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the basics, the foundation, the vital signs, if you will.
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These things got to be present for faith to be alive and
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active. These are the things that John
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wants us to be aware of and to test and see if indeed or
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present in our lives. John is writing for our
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assurance ultimately. In fact, I've titled today's
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message from these 6 verses in first John 4.
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How do you know what's true? How do you know what's true?
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Has anyone in the room? I'm curious.
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Taken a lie detection test before I see some hands.
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Raise them high. Yeah.
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Don't. Don't be ashamed.
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I've never done this. I'd be fascinated to do one.
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I've never taken 1. I think I'd be nervous to take
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one. I don't know If y'all are
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nervous. Why do we have lie detector
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test? Because people do what?
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Because people lie right? My goodness, we live in a world
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laced, ladies and gentlemen, with lies, and it's been that
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way ever since the enemy Satan himself stepped into the garden
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and uttered his lies to Adam and Eve.
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And Adam and Eve believed them and traded the truth of God for
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a lie. And those lies ushered in the
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curse of sin and all the corruption thereof, even death
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itself. Our world is cursed with lies
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because of Satan's first lie that mankind believed, and we're
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still battling those lies today. A lot of fact.
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In fact, This is why most people tend to just be naturally
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skeptical. I'm not.
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I, I tend to be more on the side, to be honest with you.
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I tend to be more on the like. If you say it, I'm on the like,
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just plain believe it. I, I was gullible as a kid, to
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be honest. My wife, she offsets me.
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She's like The Sixth Sense. Look at you cross eyed.
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She's going to know if you're lying.
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I'll be like, what? And you'll be like, no, you
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didn't see that or no, my wife will pick up on it.
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We're all one way or the other. But it's true because we live in
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a world laced with lies. They're like mom and daddy said,
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if it sounds too good to be true, it probably because our
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world's laced with lies. So the question is, how are we
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going to not be a victim of the lies of the world that we live
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in? How are we going to know what's
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true? How are we going to discern what
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is the truth of God versus what's lies of the enemy?
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This is what John answers in first John 4 verses one through
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6. All right, so hear the Word of
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God and then we're going to break down what he says Here It
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is, beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the
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spirits to see whether they are from God.
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For many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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And by this, you know the Spirit of God, Every spirit that
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confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
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and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
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This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard was
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coming and now is in the world already.
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Little children, you are from God and have overcome them.
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For he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
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Hallelujah. They are from the world.
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Therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to
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them. We are from God.
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Whoever knows God listens to us. Whoever is not from God does not
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listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of
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truth and the Spirit of error. John says this in this text.
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Here it is. If you don't walk away with
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anything else, walk away with this.
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Test what you hear before trusting it's true.
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You got to test what you hear before trusting it's true.
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The Bible tells you. Say one more time the Bible
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tells you and it tells me to test what you hear before you
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trust that it's true. Now remember, John is writing
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over and over to answer this question.
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How do you know? And the ultimate how do you know
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question that he's writing to lead us to is to how do you know
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that you've truly been saved? How do you really, truly know
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you have assurance of your salvation?
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But along the way, he's got these mild markers of how do you
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know, like how do you know Christianity is true?
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And and he's answered that and he's answered, how do you know
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that you're a true Christian? And he's answered that.
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And then he's answered once you're a true Christian, how do
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you know what's dangerous to you as a Christian?
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And then he's gone further and said, how do you know how to
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live in the last days? How do you live ready for the
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return of Christ? And he's answered that and he's
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even answered beyond that. How do we live towards one
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another? Remember the one word for the
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Christian life pop quiz review starts with an L love.
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Come on, right. John's been answering all these
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how do you know questions? Now John is is asking and
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answering the question, how do you know the truth of God?
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What is teaching from God versus teaching that is not?
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John says there's a test and we're going to see this test in
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this text. In fact, the three things we're
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going to walk through, John is going to give us the command to
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test, and then #2 he's going to give us the way to test and then
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#3 the results of the test. You ready?
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So here's #1 the command to test.
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Test every teaching to know if it's true.
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This is verse one. Test every teaching to know if
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it's true. John says, brothers and sisters,
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let me go and translate what he says.
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Don't believe everything you hear.
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You heard that before. That's biblical right there.
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Don't believe everything you hear.
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Now, the way John says it is a little different.
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Notice what he says. He says don't believe every
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what? Don't believe every spirit.
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Now that sounds weird. We don't really talk like that.
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What in the world does that mean don't believe every spirit?
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But by spirit, John means the spiritual source behind anybody
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you're hearing. There's a spiritual source that
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is activating, that is motivating, that is driving,
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that is inspiring that person to say and teach what they're
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claiming, teaching or saying. Test the spirits, test what's
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behind the face, the person you're hearing to see if it is
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of God or not. Do you see this?
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But this is so clear in First John over and over again.
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There's parts of life that are complicated.
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This part of life is not there. Only two spiritual forces in the
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whole world. Mark it down the the the the
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Presence, the power of Almighty Creator God and the spirit of
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Satan and the Antichrist. There's only two.
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There's only two. There's only two teams, there's
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only two spirits. There's only two forces, if you
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will. God and the enemy.
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John knows when you encounter teaching, it's going to come
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through a person either live or on TV or social media or the
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radio or in a book you read or a podcast you hear.
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And yet John's told us there are.
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He's already said there are no unidentified human beings on the
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planet. You either belong.
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If there's only two spiritual forces in the world, God and
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Satan. Every human being belongs to
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either the family of one or the family of the other, whether
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they realize it or not. Because you see, even if you're
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a lost person and don't know you're lost, you're under the
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bondage and the authority of who Satan, the enemy.
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You might even not even know it. And you're in his bonds and you
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are not free and you've not been saved.
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You're not a child of God. You belong to God or belong to
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the enemy. And John has warned us that the
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spirit of Satan and the Antichrist is present and active
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in this world, seeking to deceive and devour and destroy
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everyone they can. How?
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John makes it clear by sending out false teachers.
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That is people who claim to speak the truth of God but are
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actually spewing Satan's lies. Now we don't use the word
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prophet a lot anymore. We don't say false prophet here,
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false prophet there, but we know it's true.
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All you got to do is get online and watch a little bit or listen
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for a little bit and you're going to discover false prophet
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spewing all kinds of lies that are unbiblical all across the
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Internet, around this country and around the world.
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Many have gone out, many are there, many are going to come in
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the future. John says This is why you can't
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believe everything that you hear.
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That's why John says test the spirits.
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What's motivating, what's inspiring, what's activating
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that person you're hearing to see if what they're saying is
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from God or not. The word for test, it's a little
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New Testament word that is originally behind the idea of
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discerning the purity of metal to know what it's actual content
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is. The idea here is to test like
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you would meddle, but test the meddle of the teaching that
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you're hearing to see if this is truly of God or of not.
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Now typically we take this whole idea of testing for granted.
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We don't realize how much we live our lives according to
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testing, but we do. In fact, let me just try to
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prove it to you. When you go to a restaurant
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today for lunch and you sit down to enjoy a meal, you are
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trusting that someone has tested this establishment for its
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cleanliness and the quality of its food.
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It's about to put on the table in front of you that you're
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going to put in your mouth. In fact, if you want to see
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they're grade, just ask for it. It'll be posted on the wall,
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right? Somebody tested before you
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trusted that it could be true and good for you.
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All right, then next time you take a sip of water out of your
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refrigerator, out of your faucet.
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No, you probably don't put it through a water test after every
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swig of water you take. But somebody tested it.
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Somebody tested to see is this water actually safe to drink or
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not. Now, you may like the test or
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not like the test they used, but somebody's tested, all right,
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right. If you get on an airplane to fly
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from point A to point B, you're sitting in a seat trusting
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somebody has tested this machine that is in quality operational
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safety standards protocol to get you from point A to point B.
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Somebody's tested. We live our lives according to
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doing testing. There's a test for everything.
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But what John is trying to say into you to me today is and when
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it comes to discerning the spiritual things of God and the
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teaching of God, the truth, no one else is responsible for
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testing. It's true for you other than is
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your pastor responsible for testing what's true?
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In a way, yes. Right.
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And the Bible says I'm going to be held as a teacher of the Word
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of God, even to a stricter higher standard.
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But you know what the Bible says?
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You know what you're supposed to do after you hear something from
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me to test it and see if it's true.
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You're supposed to look for yourself.
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You're not supposed to just take my word for it.
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You're supposed to look down and see, is that what the word of
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God says or not? No one can take your place in
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responsibility for testing what you believe is either true of
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God or of not. God says you are commanded to
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test what you hear before trusting that it is true.
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All right, that's the command. Now we're going to get to #2 the
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way to test, and here it is. Ask, what does it say about
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Jesus? It's a simple question.
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It's a simple test. Ask what does it say about
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Jesus? This is verses 2 and three.
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Watch how clear and simple John is here.
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By this, you know the Spirit of God.
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By this it means just one thing that is here.
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It is every spirit. Think person.
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Of course there's a spirit animating behind every person of
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God or not. Every spirit that confesses that
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Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every
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spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.
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The one criterion that comprises this test is a confession,
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meaning a convictional position, a doctrinal stance, a fact that
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is confessed and affirmed, and that fact is absolutely critical
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because this confession is not a part of the gospel we believe.
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This confession is the gospel that we believe and that is the
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truth that Jesus who is fully God pre existed as creator of
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the world who spoke all things into existence actually fully
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God remaining fully God became fully man and entered our world
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to live in our place, to live a sinless life and die on the
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cross and defeat death for us. That Jesus being fully God
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became fully man. Our faith rest on that
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confession y'all. There's no gospel, there's no
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confession, there's no forgiveness of sin, there's no
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hope of eternal life unless that is true.
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No hope, no promise of the Old Testament is ultimately true if
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Jesus the Son of God has not come in the flesh.
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And no promise of the New Testament has any hope to be
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true unless Jesus has come is fully God, fully man in the
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flesh. You know, this doctrine is a
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fancy doctrinal word. We call it the incarnation.
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Carney means meat, flesh, all right to come in the flesh.
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To Incarnate is God taking on human flesh.
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This doctrine ties all of our Bible together and it's the
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hinge on which our faith turns. Did Jesus truly did God become
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man? Now you might be thinking, Kyle,
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that claim sounds great as a test to see if what is true is
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true or not. But you might be thinking, you
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know, in reality, it doesn't really seem that simple.
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Like when I hear ideas out there or I hear claims or I encounter
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other quote religions or perspectives or world views,
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like they just don't necessarily come out and say, well, here's
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what we believe about Jesus. Often do they?
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Let me remind you that often that is true.
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But if you just press in just a little bit and keep asking, what
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do they believe about Jesus? What did they say about the
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incarnation? Do they affirm it or do they
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deny it? Do they major on it?
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Do they minor on it? Do they highlight it or do they
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cast a shadow and do they distance themselves from it?
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What do they say about God becoming a man, living a sinless
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life, dying in your place and defeating death, rising again?
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What do they say about Jesus? That's how you can know, John
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says. Now I'm just going to press in a
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little further and give you some examples because I believe as
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your pastor, I'm responsible to do stuff like this.
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I want to be clear, I know stuff about like what I'm about to say
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is probably going to get me some emails.
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I had people in the first service walk out.
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I don't like to have to do stuff like this, but I'm responsible
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before God to tell you the truth.
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So here we go. You ready?
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Here's some examples of how other perspectives deny this.
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Let's start with Islam. No Muslim considers Jesus to be
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divine or the son of God. In fact, if you were to go to
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Jerusalem, to the Temple Mount, to the Dome of the Rock, where
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there's a mosque built on part of the ancient site, there is an
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inscription on the side of the Dome of the Rock that says God
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has no son. That is satanic and of the evil
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1 millions and millions are deceived.
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What does it say about the incarnation?
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What does it say about Jesus? Let's get further.
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This one. I'm just going to keep going.
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Jehovah's Witnesses, Jesus, they believe, is a little G God, but
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not the big G God. Jesus was, according to their
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teaching, God's first creation. What did they just deny by
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saying Jesus was created and not the Creator?
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They just denied the truth of John 11.
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In the beginning was the and the Word was with God, and the Word
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was God. All things came into being.
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Through who? Through Jesus, his son, the
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founder. Charles Russell of Jehovah's
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Witnesses says Jesus was Michael the Archangel before divesting
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himself of his angelic nature and appearing in the world as a
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man. What does it say about the
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incarnation? What does it say about Jesus?
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Does it affirm his full divinity prior to time?
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And does it say in time he really took on full human flesh?
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What does it say about Jesus? It's either of God or it's of
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Satan. There's only two spiritual
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forces. What about Mormons?
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I don't believe Jesus is eternally pre existent as God
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with the Father, thereby denying the Trinity, but that he was
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again watch this the first born created spirit child of the
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Father, the brother of Lucifer. Jesus achieved through his works
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little G godhead godhood. Rather he achieved this godness,
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but not big G God little G God. And by the way they teach so can
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you. In the afterlife you can become
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your own little G God. What was the last Satan told in
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the garden? What did he tempt them with?
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You can be your own. What?
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What does it say about Jesus? Is he the one and only one true
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who took on human flesh and lived in our space?
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Why not? So the we could become God, but
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so the we could become sons and daughters of God, redeemed,
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joined with Christ, sharing in his glory, but exalting him and
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him alone as God. What does it do to the glory of
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Jesus? What does it say about his
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divinity? What does it say about?
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All you got to do is keep asking the same question and you're
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going to get to your answer. We could go on, but the point is
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this every world religion or cult without exception denies
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Jesus Christ is eternally fully God who has come in the flesh is
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fully man. You can mark it down every time
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we've seen the command to test, we've seen the way to test and
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finally the results of the test. We need to realize and these
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results. What's different about those who
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have the truth. This is verses 4 through 6.
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You all the the point of this test that we're called to
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constantly conduct when we encounter teaching is so that we
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can clearly distinguish truth from error.
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But of course, the test does get personal because teaching comes
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through teachers. It comes through people, right?
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And the results of the test not only reveal what ideas are true
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or false, but also what people belong to the truth or not.
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So at at this point, we're reminded there are only two
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types of people in this world, Those who belong to God, those
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who belong to Satan. John has already warned us that
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those who belong to Satan will naturally hate those who belong
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to God. But then listen to this truth.
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This is incredible, little children.
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You are from God and have, what's that next word have
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overcome. You are from God and I've
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overcome them. For he who is in you is greater
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than he who is in the world. Aren't you glad that's true?
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Aren't you glad that the one who resides in you, the Holy Spirit
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of God, is not kind of bigger, kind of stronger, kind of
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better. He is greater, infinitely
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greater and infinitely more powerful than the one that the
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enemy who is in the world seeking to kill, steal and
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destroy. And Jesus says you are from God,
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you've overcome them. For he was in you is greater
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than he was in that. That's a might drop from God if
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I've ever heard one. Stake your life on that claim.
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God says yes. This test is going to
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distinguish those of you who belong to me versus those who
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don't. But for those of you who belong
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to me, you've overcome them. That word overcome is past
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tense. Already overcome, Christian.
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Here's the deal. Let's make this very practical.
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You're not living your life trying to win a victory.
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You're not living for victory. You're not trying to work for a
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victory. We're able to live our lives as
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Christians based on the past victory of Jesus Christ.
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We get to live life in the victory lap lane of Jesus.
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You've already overcome. You don't have to worry about
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waking up that day and wondering if by God's help you're going to
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win in God's will for God's Kingdom that day, right?
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Jesus is already won. We conquer by the blood of the
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lamb and the word of our testimony every single day.
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Now I realize you might woke up this morning, woke up this
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morning like I don't feel like I'm winning.
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I don't feel the victory. Pastor Calm.
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In fact, I feel like I'm in a boxing ring with the world and
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the world's Mike Tyson. He's punching me in the mouth
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and biting me in the ear at the same time.
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And life feels like that sometimes, but Jesus has already
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won. Jesus says take heart in this
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world you will have you're going to get bit in the ear, you're
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going to have trouble. But what Jesus says what same
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word. I've overcome the world.
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I've already overcome the world. By the way, this truth hits a
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whole lot different for our brothers and sisters around the
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world giving their blood for Jesus Christ, and I mean with
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their lives. One out of nine Christians are
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persecuted for their faith. 7000 Christians in Nigeria alone have
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died for faith in Jesus this year.
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But the Bible says we've already overcome.
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We may give our lives, some may experience that, but doesn't
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matter what we face, they can't take away our victory in Christ.
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The reason why we've won is because he who is in US is
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greater than he who is in the world.
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So part of the difference y'all we need to realize between he
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who is in US and who we are versus those who are not in
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Christ and of the world is that the one in US is greater, is
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stronger. This is also the reason why the
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Bible tells us and James to rebuke the devil and he will.
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What that means Jesus is greater than Satan.
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You need to live your life that way.
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You need to stake your claim that way.
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Speaking and claiming and praying and depending on the
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name of Jesus, the enemy has to flee.
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The second part of the difference about US versus the
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world, verses 5 and 6, those who belong to the world, John says,
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sound like the world, and they listen to the world.
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Why do the people of the world listen to the world?
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Because they're saying the things they want to hear.
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But John says this, However, those who belong to God sound
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like the truth and listen to the truth.
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John Gospel, chapter 8, verse 47.
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Whoever is of God hears the words of God.
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In other words, God's word receives a positive response
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from God's people. The difference, the distinction
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that regarding who we listen to, John tells us is another
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dimension of discerning who we belong to, whether we belong to
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God or not. He says by this we know the
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spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
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Those who belong to God are stronger than Satan and they
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hear and respond to the word of God.
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How do we know what's true? How do we know it's true?
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You test, how ask. What do they say about Jesus?
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You're responsible for that test.
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You know the way to test and the results discern for us to whom
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we belong, to God or the enemy. What I want to do next, to share
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some things with you. Sometimes I rarely come across
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something that I just, man, put word for word in front of you
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that's not original to me, but I'm about to do that.
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There's an author that I read frequently by the name of Chris
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Harper. He's the CEO of Better Man.
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We do better man studies on Tuesday mornings with men in
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this room discerning how to become a more biblical, godly
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man. Chris wrote something that is so
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pertinent to what we're studying.
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I want to share his words with you.
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And if you're a young person in the room, I really want you to
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give everything you got to listen to what I'm about to
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share with you. This is going to be very
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practical. I want you to absorb every word.
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All right, you ready? Here we go.
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Every day, from the moment we open our eyes, we are being
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discipled. Not just by sermons and
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podcasts, but by something deeper, more invisible.
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We're being discipled by narratives, by stories.
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We live in a world that doesn't just sell products, it's trying
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to sell you an identity. It doesn't just give content, it
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tries to give us meaning. The world wants to tell us who
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we are, what the good life is, what we should fear, and what we
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should chase. These narratives are not neutral
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ideas, they are competing gospels and unless you
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consciously resist them, you will unconsciously believe them.
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Romans 12/2 plainly tells us do not be conformed to this world,
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but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
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Paul is saying don't be shaped by the world story, be
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transformed by God's story. And this modern world has many
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stories. Some are obvious, some are far
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more subtle, all of which did you hear that?
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All of these rival the Christian gospel.
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The false narratives promise life but deliver bondage.
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The question is not if you're being shaped, you're being
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shaped right now. The question is, what story is
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shaping you? I'm about to share with you, if
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I could in the next few minutes, some of the false gospels that
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the world wants to sell you. Young people, I really want you
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to hear these because you can take any idea you come across
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and filter it through these and the gospel of Jesus Christ and
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know if it's true of God or a false gospel.
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So the first one is this. Watch this romanticism.
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You be like Kyle. I've never heard that word.
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Do I have a clue what that means?
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But you know exactly what this is.
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It's the lie, the false gospel that you are your feelings, you
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are what you desire. If you like it and if you want
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it, that's the true you. The idol is your emotions and
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your feelings and your desires, desires.
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The lie is that your salvation, the good life, really you being
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you and experiencing all that life has to offer is when you
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express yourself the way and according to your own desires.
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The promise is if you feel it deeply, you're truly alive.
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Intensity of equals authenticity when the truth is the heart is
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deceitful above all things. If you follow your heart and
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it's like you'll end up at the wrong destination because you'll
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have believed a false gospel that you're your feelings,
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you're your desires. Let's go to the next one,
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consumerism. You are what you have.
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The idol here is money in possessions that salvation.
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The promise is salvation through more the promise, the false
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promises. Stuff equals status.
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Accumulate to prove your value. More things mean more life.
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The truth is life does not consist in the abundance of
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possessions. He says it like this.
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Be rich in Christ, not Costco. You're not going to leave this
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world with anything in your pantry or your garage or on your
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property or on your person line number three, false gospel is
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rationalism. Only what I can reason is true.
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This false gospel claims the idol here is our human intellect
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thinking we know and we can understand and discern all truth
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just with our limited human understanding.
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The lie is that salvation comes through the mind.
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The promise is trust yourself. Your intelligence is the final
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authority. If it doesn't make sense it
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can't be true. The truth is lean not on your
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own understanding. Truth is not man discovered, but
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truth is God revealed. What is the ultimate source of
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truth? It is Scripture who is the
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ultimate source of truth. It is God who is the greatest
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revealer of truth, the Holy Spirit who's the way, the truth
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and the life King Jesus. Mark it down.
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Rationalism is a false gospel. Here's another false gospel,
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pragmatism. If it works, this gospel says it
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must be right. This is the old lie that the
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ends justify the That's unbiblical.
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That's false gospel. The promise or the lie is
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salvation through efficiency and outcomes, promises
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functionality, justifies morality.
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That effectiveness equals truthful.
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If it works, it must be true. The truth is there is a way that
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seems right to a man that in the way leads to or ends in what?
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Death. That's a false gospel.
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The next false gospel is individualism or hedonism.
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This is the false gospel that you are the center of life, that
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you're the center of your universe, that everything
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revolves around you. So if that's the case, then you
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ought to be yourself and go discover yourself, because until
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you find the center, the sun of your universe, you're going to
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be lost. Promises.
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Be your own God. When did that life start?
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Y'all? Satan is not very creative.
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Do what makes you happy. Freedom is found in what you
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want. This gospel says the truth is
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the Bible says deny yourself and take up your cross and follow
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me. Jesus doesn't go say to anybody
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go find yourself. He says follow me and not just
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that he says Paul says I've been crucified with Christ.
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Jesus says like this, take up your cross daily and follow me.
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Go die to yourself. Go say no to you.
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You come say yes to me. That's the true gospel.
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I've been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I,
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but Christ liveth in me and the life I live.
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Paul says I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave
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himself for me. The Christian life, real life,
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is Jesus living his life through you.
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This is a false gospel. The next one is relativism.
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This false gospel says there is no ultimate truth.
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This idol is choice. The lie is salvation through
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tolerance, the promises. No one can tell you you're
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wrong. Truth is subjective.
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Follow your own truth. Every path leads somewhere good.
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The Bible says Jesus says I am the truth and the and no one
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following any other path gets to the Father except through
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through me. Jesus says that's a false
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gospel. The next one is perfectionism.
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You must perform to be accepted. This idol is human achievement.
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It's salvation through flawlessness and perfection.
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The promise is if you succeed, you'll be loved.
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You're only as good as your last performance.
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The truth is, while we were yet failures, sinners Christ what
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died for us, and all our flop and all our mess up and all our
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sin, God did what only God could do for us.
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While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
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You are not loved because you are perfect.
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You are being perfected because you are loved.
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You see the difference? You're not loved by God because
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you're perfect, but you're being perfected by God because he
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loves you all. This last one is the one of the
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most pervasive in our culture. It slips in so slyly it's called
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Western religion. You might hear it called this
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Moralistic Therapeutic deism. I know none of those words might
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make sense to you, but here I hope these do.
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Idol is or the lie is this false gospel says God wants you to be
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nice, safe, successful, comfortable and happy.
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The idol is your comfort and your ease and your pleasure.
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The lie is salvation that comes through security and positivity
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and politeness. The promise is God exists to
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meet your needs and provide for your comfort.
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The Christian life should be easy.
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The Bible begs to differ and says through many tribulations
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we must enter the Kingdom of in this world you will have but
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I've overcome the all these stories.
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I want to draw this in. Don't miss it young people, stay
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with me. You ready?
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All these stories have three things in common, and any false
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gospel you hear will have this in common.
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They center on the self, not the Savior.
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They preach ease, they don't preach sacrifice, and they
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promise life, but they deliver death.
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Each of these narratives preaches a false gospel.
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And here's the false gospel they preach.
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It's a false creation that you are your desires.
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When God says you were made in his image, not in your false
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desires, but in God's desires and design He has for you, it's
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a false fall. Fall for sin.
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The false fall and the false gospel is that your only problem
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is a lack of freedom. If you're just freed up to do
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what you want, you'll be good, you'll be great, you'll be
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grand. The Bible says the fall is not
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just a lack of our freedom. The false gospel, it says this.
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It's a false savior. More stuff, more success, more
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progress, and then a false redemption.
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Be just, be happy, be nice, be you.
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All those false gospels preach those things, but the Christian
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story, the one true story, declares you are not your own,
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for you are bought at a price. The good life is not comfort,
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but it is conformity to Christ. And CS Lewis made this
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statement. He said the most dangerous ideas
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in a society are not the ones being argued, but the ones being
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assumed. All those false gospels on the
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screen, they're not being argued in your culture you live in.
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And the places I go and the places and people, they are
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being assumed. These things are true.
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They're embedded in the water we're drinking.
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God's story says you are made in God's image.
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Your problem is sin, your hope is the cross, your purpose is
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worship. Your future is resurrection.
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So we don't need more feelings, we need faith and we don't.
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We don't need more stuff, we need more scripture.
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We don't need to express ourselves, we need to die to
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ourselves. We need Jesus.
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He is the true and better story and is the one and only one who
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offers a true gospel that gives life not just now, but for
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forever. What gospel are you believing?
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Can I ask you to bow your head and close your eyes?
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If you're here this morning, if you've never stepped into the
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story, the true story of the gospel of Jesus Christ and by
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faith realized your problem is sin, your only hope is the cross
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of Christ. Your future is resurrection
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either to eternal life or eternal death.
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I'm inviting you to step out by faith into God's story, into the
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truth of Jesus, for you to accept him as your Lord and
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Savior. It's why I'll wait right here.
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It's why we'll have encouragers close if you need to make the
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decision by faith to trust Christ, to stake your life on
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the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ alone.
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I want to invite you to step out if any of these false gospels
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have penetrated your life and your mind and your thinking and
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your living. And if you need to say, God, I
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need to get on my knees. I need to stand before you.
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I need to come to these steps like an altar and just say, God,
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purify my life and my mind and my heart.
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God, I've allowed false gospels to corrupt the way I'm living,
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the way I'm thinking, what I'm wanting, what I'm doing.
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You need God just to do a little detox of any false gospel in
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you. I'm going to invite you to
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respond to Jesus in whatever way he's calling that he's the only
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way, the truth and the life. If your life's not staked on his
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gospel, I pray you're not going to leave today until it is.
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Would you maybe just say, God search me and know my heart, see
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if there'd be any offensive way in me, Lead me in the way of
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your gospel. Give me eyes to discern, ears to
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hear anything that's not of you. God, remind me to test what's
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true before believing it. Help me talk to my kids so they
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can test what's true before believing it.
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Help us as a family. Help us and we in our
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conversation with our neighbors and our teammates to help them
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to understand what's true. The truth will set you free.
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Heavenly Father, I pray that the truth would set us free this
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morning, that by faith we'd move toward your truth by your spirit
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and away from anything that's false.
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In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Would you stand with me?
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We're going to sing, you respond.
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You come as the Lord leads.