Latest / Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st / Walk in Love

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Walk in Love · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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You have your Bible going to make your way to second John
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this morning. First, second and third John.
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Hope you got your Bible marked there.
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If not toward the very end of your Bible.
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If you get to Jude and Revelation gone too far, just
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back a couple pages to second John.
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If you had the opportunity to physically walk with Jesus
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during his earthly life, what is it that you would say?
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If you had witnessed the life, death, burial and resurrection
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and ascension of Jesus? What is it you would say if
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you'd personally been present when Jesus communicated the
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Great Commission to go there for and make disciples of all
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nations and all authority in heaven and earth being His
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commissioned you to go? What would you have said if you
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had witnessed all of your closest friends and ministry
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partners be slain for their testimony and faith to Jesus?
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What is it that you would say if you had been exiled for your
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faith? What is it you think you would
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say if you were in the final years of your life, having lived
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and given all your life for Jesus?
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What is it that you would say? The second John, first, second
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and third John is essentially exactly what John the disciple
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would say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
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Remember, John's now an elderly man.
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He's been in exile. He's returned to the area of
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Ephesus where he is pouring his final years of life into
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ministry in the local church, into people.
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And he's written these 3 letters not long before his death in
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about 100 AD. And, and, and John is speaking
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about the vitals, the essentials, the fundamentals of
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our faith. And again, second John, if you
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need some ketchup, has been called a concise form of first
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John. So he's taking everything he
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said. They're really whittling it down
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to the vital essentials. We're seeing three things that
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John wants to say to us, but we've wrapped them really all
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into one thing, which is this. John says, here's what I'd say
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after all that Walk and stay in love and in truth.
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Walk and stay in love and in truth.
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I don't know if y'all notice, but the world is not too much
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caught up in the pursuit of love and truth.
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The world. You know what the world wants.
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You know what the pursuit of the world is?
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Power, prestige, prominence, popularity, pleasure, profit,
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personal fulfillment. We could keep going.
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But me, myself, and I being better and greater than you and
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others, That's the world's pursuit.
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The Bible, Jesus himself, and through John, the inspirational
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Holy Spirit calls us to walk and stay in love and in truth, to
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not pursue the other things the world says are important, but to
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pursue the things the Scripture and the Savior tells us are
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important. I want to read again John's
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message in second John. We're going to read the whole
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thing. It's not very long.
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Follow along as we read the Word of God together.
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The elder that's John to the elect lady, that's a local
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church just like us and her children.
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That's her church members whom I love in truth.
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There's that combo love in truth and not only I, but also all who
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know the truth because of the truth that abides in US and will
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be with us forever. Grace, mercy and peace will be
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with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father.
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Son in here's the combo again, Truth and love.
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I rejoice greatly to find some of your children walking in the
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truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.
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And now I ask you, dear lady Church, not as though I were
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writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the
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beginning, that we love one another.
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And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.
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This is the commandment, just as you've heard from the beginning,
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so that you should walk in it. For many deceivers have gone out
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into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus
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Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver in
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the Antichrist. Watch yourselves so that you may
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not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
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Everyone who goes on ahead does not abide in the teaching of
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Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching
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has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does
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not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or
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give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in
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his wicked works. Though I have much to write to
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you, I'd rather not use paper and ink.
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Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face so that
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our joy may be complete. The children of your elect
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sister, another local church, greet you.
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John is the apostle John, as we talked about last week, this
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elect lady and her children, our local church and her members.
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And the first thing of the three things that we have are pulling
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out that John is communicating to us in this letter, one that
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we reviewed last week that we'll just cover quickly again, is
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that true? Faith walks in the truth.
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True faith walks in the truth. This is verse 4, right that I've
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rejoiced greatly to find some of your children.
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Not everybody in the church, but there are some praise God, John
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says, are walking in the truth. What does it look like to walk
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in the truth? It means to apply in our lives
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what the Scripture tells us, what Jesus has commanded us,
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what God has given us. And listen, we didn't name every
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one of them last week when we named a top ten that by the way,
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for men calling 10 for men that will do once a month starting
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next year, all year for ten months, taking off June and
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July. Registration will go live next
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week. So we can look at how to address
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and then walk in accountability of what it is.
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What truth should we be applying in our lives?
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But these truths are not just for men.
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They're for every Christian. Let me just give them to you
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quickly. Again, number one, spend daily
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time in God's word. How are we going to do what God
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wants us to do if we're not hearing and learning what God
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says to do? Daily fellowship with God in
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prayer. Daily pray with your spouse,
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read God's word with your kids, be discipled by someone, share
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the gospel with a lost person, disciple someone tithe, honor
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God with your wealth #9 do life with a small group of Christians
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and #10 discover, identify your spiritual gift and serve.
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Those are 10 basics of basic that God's Word instructs us as
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believers to walk in. These are things all of us
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should life situation apply should be putting into practice.
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True faith walks in the truth #2 though where we pick up today is
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that true faith not only walks in the truth, true faith walks
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in love. When I say true faith, what am I
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talking about? I am not Speaking of a mystical
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intuition. A lot of times people when they
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hear faith, they think we must be talking about some mystical
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spiritual feeling or sensation. That's not what I'm talking
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about. When I say true faith, I'm not.
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I'm not talking about either any logical or irrational blind leap
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of belief when I'm talking about true faith.
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I'm talking about the most rational, the most logical,
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obedient response to God's revelation through His Son and
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through His Word and through all of creation that can be seen
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that He has made, that displays His power.
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Faith is the most logical, the most rational response to God's
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self revelation generally in creation and specifically in His
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Son and in His written word. This is what we mean, that true
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faith walks in the truth and also in love.
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Again, I want to emphasize truth and love are never opposed in
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the Christian life. They are always to be paired in
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the Christian life. When you light a fire like you
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might have done or will do this winter, you're going to get two
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things guaranteed that you can't separate.
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You know what they are when you light that fire.
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Light and think truth and love in the same way.
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When you get a Christian, when you get somebody walking in the
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truth, they ought to be walking in love.
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When someone's walking in love because of Christ, they ought to
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be walking in truth. When you put a 24 hour day
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together, you get 2 things that seem like polar opposites, but
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it takes both of them to make a full day.
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What are they? Day and night, light and
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darkness, truth and love are always together in the Christian
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life. Let me just kind of make
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something explicit that you know, but let me remind us of
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our loyalty to the truth must never keep us from loving one
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another. Our loyalty to the truth ought
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never keep us from loving one another and our love for one
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another must never undermine our loyalty to the truth.
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These two things always go hand in hand.
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Our love for one another and loyalty to the truth are never
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opposed but are always to go together.
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Before John reminds them of this command to love one another, he
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tells them again, this is not a new command.
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Hey y'all, this has been a non negotiable from the beginning.
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From the moment Jesus began his ministry and began giving
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instructions. Guess what?
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Jesus was commanding and teaching and even before Jesus
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came, the word of God instructed us to love one another.
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Another reminder, this love in the Greek called agape love is
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not a feeling. It's not an emotion.
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Again, I don't know why it's just stuck in my head.
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I'll just never forget in high school, senior year, English
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homeroom, first period, random conversations are going on that
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high schoolers have that are always usually immature.
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And I remember this one girl who was dating the guy she shouldn't
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date was just like, I just can't help who I love.
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Ted of Grace, I never want you to hear you say that.
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All right, you're not enough to date yet.
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But if you were, this love God speaks of is not this magnetic,
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instinctive animal like draw that you just can't help.
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This agape love is a deliberate choice to act for another's
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good, even at your own expense. It's not when you feel a certain
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way towards someone, It's not when you like someone, It's when
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you choose their good, even if it costs you.
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Why? Because Jesus has already paid
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it. Oh come on now, we got to do a
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different sermon if we can't answer that question.
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Jesus already paid it all, So what could I not give in
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response to His love for me? If He's given all for me, how
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could I not agape in the same? It's not a feeling, it's a
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response. It's a deliberate choice to live
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in a certain way because of the way Christ lived towards you,
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taking on human flesh. By the way, if you're not a
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Christian this morning, what you need to hear and know is that
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Jesus paid it all for you, for God.
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So love the insert your name that he gave Himself, taking on
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him in flesh, lived a sinless life, paid for your sin on the
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cross, shedding his blood to pay the price for your sin that
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separates you from your Maker. That Jesus made a way to offer
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you his righteousness if by faith you'd receive his payment
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on the cross for you, confessing him as Lord, receiving him as
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Savior, calling out in prayer to him, letting Jesus save me and
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let me be yours forever, and you're you mine.
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That's the decision God's calling you to make today.
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If you've never confessed Christ as Lord, you're responding to
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the love of God when you get saved.
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That, by the way, neither you nor I deserve.
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Have you responded to the love of God, to the sacrifice and
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payment of Christ by receiving it by faith?
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Agape love, Let me remind you, as one writer has said, is the
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life blood of the church. Take agape love out of the body,
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out of the veins of the church. And what do you have?
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A dead church? Take agape love out of the veins
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of the body and you lack what is needed to carry the vital
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nutrients to every part of the body.
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So it operates and it functions vitally and in a healthy manner.
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The way God has called the commands, the hands and the feet
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commanded our hands and feet to be used to film.
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Agape love is the lifeblood of the church, and this love we're
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called to as a love both for God and for others.
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And John really brings up both here and the way he describes
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it, he describes love for God like this.
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And this is love that we walk according to his commandments.
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Again, love is not a feeling or an emotion towards God.
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There may be some days you don't really like God.
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Nobody will say that out loud, but I'll say it for you, right?
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But God's not asking you to like Him every day.
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God's asking you to love him by obeying Him, even when you don't
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feel like it every day because you trust Him, you trust him.
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Love for God is an action of obedience.
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Matthew 2819 through 20 Jesus says go, therefore make
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disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the
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Father, Son and Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey.
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What all that I've commanded you, right.
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So loving God, let's just break this down as a reminder quickly.
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Loving God looks like learning God's commands and then obeying
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God's commands. And you can't obey God's
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commands until you learn God's commands, which goes back to
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being in the Word of God on a daily basis.
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Loving God with all your mind, heart, soul and strength.
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Loving God with your mind. Begin by learning what God has
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said. So you can obey God with all
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your strength by applying what God has said and then love for
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God. Y'all is always going to then
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express itself in love towards others.
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The Bible gives amazing descriptions of what love for
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others should look like in our lives.
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I'm currently reading in my quiet time the book of Isaiah
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among some other books, and the book of Isaiah will just flat
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hit you in the face. The prophets have a way of doing
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that and there's passages that are so convicting because he
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describes God. He gives literally God's wording
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for what love for others should look like in our lives.
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There's one particular passage I want to read you.
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I have a little slightly different version at home that
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I'm reading. It's the CSB, not the ESVI.
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Think I threw some people off in the first service and I wasn't
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reading from the main one I read from each week.
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So not going to maybe sound like if you're follow along with the
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ESV, but I'm going to to read Isaiah 58 six through 12.
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I want you to listen to the description of what loving
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others should look like in our lives because I can't put it any
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more practical than this. Isaiah 58 verse 6.
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Isn't this the fast that I choose?
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In other words, isn't this the way I'd rather be worshipped by
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you? To break the chains of
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wickedness. To untie the ropes of the yoke
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that is of wickedness. To set the oppressed that is
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under wickedness free. To tear off every yoke that is
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every yoke of ungodliness. Is it not to share your bread
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with the hungry? To bring the poor and homeless
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into your house? To clothe the naked when you see
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him, and not to ignore. Not to ignore your own flesh and
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blood. Then your light will appear like
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the dawn and your recovery will come quickly.
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Your righteousness will go before you and the Lorde glory
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will be your rear guard. At that time when you call, the
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Lord will answer. When you cry out, He will say,
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here I am. If you get rid of the yoke among
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you, listen to this yoke that was among them.
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This is a modern day yoke. It's an old day yoke.
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This is a yoke we all fight as sinners, the finger pointing and
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the malicious speaking. And if you offer yourself to the
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hungry and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine
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in the darkness and your night will be like noonday.
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The Lord will always lead you, satisfy you in a parched land
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and strengthen your bones. You'll be like a watered garden,
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like a spring whose water never runs dry.
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Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins.
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You'll restore the foundations laid long ago.
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You'll be called the repair of broken walls, the restorer of
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streets where people live. Does your love for others ever
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look and sound like that? I'll just be honest, that was
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super convicting for me to read. How far short God does my life
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look like compared to what the Bible says?
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Just start with that first line to break the chains of
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wickedness. What are the chains of
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wickedness? Generational sin in families
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that continue to keep us living in brokenness.
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Laws in our land that give us license to sin and do that which
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does not honor God. Stuff that leads people to
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addiction that people are profiting off of and it's
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killing people and leading them to destruction.
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I could keep going right? We as people living to then what
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about as simple as putting meals in front of people and clothing
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on their back and shelter over their head.
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God says you want to worship me, you want to love me.
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Do it like this. Does your love for others look
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and sound like this? True faith is going to walk in
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the truth y'all. And then true faith is going to
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walk in love and the 2GO hand in hand.
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But thirdly and finally, what we're going to see from this
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letter and this is really the really the main reason I believe
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John wrote this 2nd letter of John.
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This is the high point of the letter.
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This is the main emphasis is this final truth is that true
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faith doesn't just walk in the truth and doesn't just walk in
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love, but true faith remains in the truth.
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True faith remains in the truth. It doesn't pass, go and collect
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$2.00. It remains in the truth.
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Listen to verse 7 for many deceivers have gone out into the
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world. Those who do not confess the
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coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, Such a one is the
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deceiver and the Antichrist. Let's talk about this for a
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moment. Who is John talking about?
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The deceivers. Who are they?
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They are false teachers. They have gone out.
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They are going out. They will go out just like the
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Christian missionaries we just prayed about.
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Let me say that again. Satan is sending out
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missionaries. Satan is sending out deceivers,
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false teachers, missionaries. They often make call themselves
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Christians sometimes. But the the devil never creates
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anything new. Jesus sent him out.
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Guess all he knows what to do is to do a false imitation to seek
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to steal, kill and destroy. And Satan has been sending out
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false teachers from the moment Jesus has been sending out false
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real teachers of the truth. Some call themselves Christians,
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they might even claim they're leading you to a deeper
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knowledge or greater faith or greater truth.
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But they come from Satan, and John says they are the very
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expression of the Antichrist. Do you get the idea that John in
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his old age doesn't give a RIP about what's politically
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correct? He's like, y'all, I'm about to
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die anyway, let me just tell you what you need to hear.
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Y'all deal with it, right? Why are they false teachers?
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He makes it clear. Look what the Bible says because
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they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.
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Let me just spell that out what that means.
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Now some of you are going to be like these seems to be like
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irrelevant details. Pastor Kyle, they're not hang
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with me. What does John mean?
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He means they do not confess that Jesus being fully God,
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eternally pre existent eternal God, second person of the
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Trinity, took on human flesh while remaining fully God and
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then becoming fully man simultaneously.
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They deny that. They deny the coming of the one
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who is God, Jesus Himself in the flesh.
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Now one of the most common false teachings about Jesus that was
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and is, is that Jesus was just an ordinary man.
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And that Jesus as an ordinary man had the extraordinary
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experience of the Christ coming upon him at his baptism for a
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temporary three-year time and then departing from him
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therefrom before his crucifixion.
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So that the Son of God doesn't actually die.
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That's Jesus, the ordinary man that dies, but the Christ came
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upon him for a three-year period of time, denying that Jesus
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Christ, who is the Christ, actually came in the flesh.
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Mark it down. Mark it down.
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You will not find an exception. Every world religion or cult or
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every false teaching without exception denies Jesus Christ is
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eternally fully God, who's come in the flesh is fully man.
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They will deny it. Mark it down, you say, Kyle, how
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does that work itself out? I'm, I'm about to be specific.
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And again, what I'm about to do is probably kind of like John,
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not politically correct. And what I'm about to do, I
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actually do not enjoy publicly critiquing and calling out
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what's wrong or error in any way.
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But I don't believe I would be a faithful shepherd unless I did.
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And if it was only my kids in the room, I would want them to
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hear this, but I certainly would want everybody else.
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So I want to say it in that light, truth in love.
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But let me give you just one example, the Articles of Faith
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of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise
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known as Mormonism, Chapter one, number one says we believe in
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God the Eternal Father and in his Son Jesus Christ and in the
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Holy Ghost. Now how does that sound?
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Sounds great, you and I can date.
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Not so fast, we're good. Sounds like the doctrine of the
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Trinity to me. But it isn't.
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Because here's what they don't tell you unless you dig deeper.
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Mormonism teaches that Jesus Christ is a created being who
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was not fully God from eternity past who is not Co eternal with
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the Father nor is the Holy Spirit Co eternal with the with
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the Father. Many other unbiblical
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perspectives will also will claim in a different way that
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again like I said earlier that Jesus was just a mere man.
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Mormons actually can't claim when you go deeper that Jesus
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that even God the Father was originally a mere man who
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originally became God and so can you.
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Do you see how flip flop, totally satanic backwards this
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is that the God who has always been God they actually claim was
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originally a man. They don't tell you this on the
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surface though. Again, the denial here is that
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Jesus of Nazareth and the eternal Son of God are not the
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same person. The Bible declares that Jesus of
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Nazareth was God in the flesh, living, dying and rising, doing
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what only fully God, fully man could make possible for the
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salvation of all mankind. Which is why Jesus would look at
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you and say unashamedly truth and love.
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I am the truth and the and no one comes to the Father except
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through me. John Jesus says he doesn't say
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that out of like anything other than love for the world, knowing
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there's no other way and knowing that in the enemy was going to
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send out all sorts of fake, counterfeit other ways that I
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actually are no way at all. Why is this such a big deal?
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Why you say pastor God? That sounds like something
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preachers would argue about in seminary.
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Why do I need to know? Let me tell you why you need to
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know because if you don't have Jesus right, you don't have a
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right relationship with God. And if you don't have a right
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relationship with God, you don't have salvation and you don't
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have heaven. If you don't have Jesus, right,
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you don't have eternal life, right?
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Jesus is God who's come in the flesh.
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So what does John say here? Verse 8?
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This is the high point purpose of the letter.
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Watch yourselves. It's a warning.
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Watch yourselves listen so that you may not, he says, lose what
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we have worked for, but may win a full reward.
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Now, I want to be explicitly clear so we don't have
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misunderstanding about what John is riding right there.
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What does he mean to watch out so that we may not lose what
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we've worked for but may win a full reward?
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Well, John is warning us as believers that it not that he's
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not saying that it's possible to lose 1 salvation and he's not
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saying that we've worked for salvation.
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That's a gift that we receive by faith.
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OK, So what he's describing here are the loss of rewards though,
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that our believer can receive for living out faithfulness and
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obedience to Jesus. That John has worked so hard to
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disciple them into living out, to living out truth and love and
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remaining in the truth, that he wants them to receive a full
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reward for when they see Jesus face to face.
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And again, the implication is if the possibility of a full reward
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is there, guess what? Also is the possibility of a
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less than a what? That doesn't mean loss of
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salvation, but it doesn't mean a loss of a full reward.
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You say, well, Kyle, what kind of rewards does the Bible speak
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of? I'm not necessarily familiar
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with those. Well, let me make sure you are
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familiar with how the Bible describes this for believers.
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But John, again, is writing so that he knows it's possible for
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believers to get caught up and influenced by false teaching.
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Otherwise he wouldn't give you the warning.
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So here's what he says, here's what the Bible says about
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rewards. Let me just kind of give you a
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little overview. The Bible number one mentioned
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several types of crowns that can be received as rewards in
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heaven. That by the way, we're going to
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put right back at the feet of Jesus, crowns of rejoicing,
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crowns of righteousness, the crown of life.
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Jesus himself in Revelation 311 says I am coming soon.
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Hold fast what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
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He's not saying so that someone can come snatch your salvation
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from you, but He is saying so that no one may steal what you
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may be living out faithfully to Him can be taking, just so that
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what may be unfaithfulness would mean loss of the reward.
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In terms of that description of a crown #2 Jesus states that
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He'll reward every man according to his what his works are.
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Every man's works the same, so they're going to be a different
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level of reward based on one's works, based on how one is
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walked out. The good works in advance.
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God's prepared for those who love him.
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Absolutely #3 Furthermore, Jesus instructs us to store up
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treasure in heaven instead of earth.
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Is everybody going to have stored up the exact amount of
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treasure in heaven? No, Sir.
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There's going to be a different level of treasure in heaven
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based on how 1 steward of what God's entrusted to us.
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Paul says in First Corinthians 3/8.
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He who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will
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receive his wages according to his labor.
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Is everybody's labor the same? No.
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Then Peter describes the opposite side of the coin in
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second Peter 1/8 when he says for these qualities are yours
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and increasing. In other words, the godliness
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and the faithfulness and the endurance and the character.
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He says this should be added to 1's fate.
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He says if these qualities are yours and increasing, they keep
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you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of
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the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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In other words, Peter saying here, it's possible to be in a
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knowledge of relationship of salvation with Jesus and yet
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live ineffective and unfruitful for the Kingdom of God.
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Lord, let it not be, but it's possible.
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It's possible. John saying watch out so we
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don't lose what we've worked for, walking in obedience to
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Jesus for his name and the crowns we'll put back at his
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feet. Don't be deceived.
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No, to be clear, let me make this statement.
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We have not worked for our salvation, but once we receive
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it by faith, the Bible calls us to work it out with fear and
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with trembling. That means out of the fear of
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God, not this I'm afraid of God, but out of an overwhelming all
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of the majesty of God and out of love for God, for what He's done
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for me. I can't help but live it out
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back to Him. Not because I've earned it,
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because I've received it by grace and I'm seeking to live
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for His glory. Watch yourselves first nine.
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John then goes on ahead with another level of warning.
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Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching
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of Christ does not have God. What does it mean to go on
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ahead? It means to move beyond the
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teaching of Jesus and His Word. Most of the time it will sound
31:08
like I found superior, deeper, greater knowledge or revelation.
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Let me tell you what it sounds like written on a statement of
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faith that will lead you astray. Back to the Articles of Faith of
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the Latter Day Saints #8 we believe the Bible to be the word
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of God as far as it's translated correctly.
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Here's where they really go wrong.
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We also believe the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God.
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The problem is, the Book of Mormon directly contradicts the
31:38
Word of God and therefore cannot also be the word of God.
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The moment you elevate anything with the authoritative level of
31:46
this, you have gone beyond the teaching of Jesus.
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You've said Jesus plus this, Jesus plus Muhammad, Jesus plus
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Joseph Smith, Jesus plus Charles Russell or Jesus plus Ron
32:00
Hubbard or Jesus plus whomever else you want to put there,
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you've gone beyond. And John, not Kyle, says when
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you go beyond Jesus, you no longer have, you no longer have
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God, you no longer have God, you forfeit Jesus, you lose God.
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So that's not a deeper knowledge, it's darkness and
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deception to go beyond the teaching of Jesus in his word.
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To deny Jesus is to forfeit God. Again, why is this important?
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Because if you don't have Jesus, right, you don't have the
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Father, right? If you don't have Jesus, you
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don't have God. Look what John says.
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Whoever abides, this is where we rest.
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Whoever abides remains, stays in the teaching of who Christ has
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both the Father and the Son. We need to be congregationally
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burdened that we and one another walk and stay in the truth.
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Often times you'll hear the slogan military or in a reading
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campaign or whatever it may be, no one left.
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But in the church we also need to be concerned about no one
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going beyond, no one left behind, no one that would never
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hear, but also no one that hears going beyond and leaving and not
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remaining in the teaching of Christ and being deceived by the
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enemy and his false missionaries that are out there seeking to
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kill, steal and destroy. Go beyond Jesus.
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You don't have God. Young people, mark it down.
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What they say about Jesus will reveal what they believe.
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What they say about Jesus will reveal what they believe.
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Now listen to what he says in verse 10.
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If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not
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receive him into your house or give him any greeting.
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Forever greets him, takes part in his wicked works.
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That's an amazing command in light of the New Testament's
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emphasis on a little word that Christians are called to
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practice. That starts with an H called
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hospitality, and the only instance in the New Testament
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you'll find where it's not to be practiced is when you're
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standing face to face with one who is robbing people of Jesus
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and saying things that are leading them to hell.
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Let me put it like this. John's like, hey, if a snake had
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arms, a poisonous snake had arms and can knock on your door,
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would you invite him in? No.
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So why would someone full of eternal, spiritual, deadly
34:48
venom, would you entertain their fangs around yourself or your
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family? If we are the flock and sheep of
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God, we ought not entertain wolves.
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No, I don't think he's saying that.
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You can, in the love of Jesus, have a polite conversation if
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you're spiritually, prayerfully prepared.
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You try to confront them of their error and have a
35:17
conversation leading them to the truth.
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But John's basically saying, hey, they've heard the truth and
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moved on from it and made a decision and are seeking to lead
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you astray. And you ought not do anything
35:28
that would look like endorsing, supporting, or authenticating
35:31
what they're Hawking because it's leading people to hell.
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There's just a different response to a wolf.
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There's a different response to a snake, and so it's the most
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loving response when someone is not not leading people to the
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truth. Y'all, this whole scenario
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really raises this tension for us.
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OK, Well, Kyle, that brings up the question like, OK, if you
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say love and truth are always to go together, it sure feels
35:59
strained at times for love and truth to stay together.
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And you'd be right. There's times that sure feels
36:08
hard to put those two things together in ways that we think
36:10
of them going together. Let me just make this statement.
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There has, I believe, been no exception to if someone, a
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Christian, has chosen to stand for the truth, no matter how
36:29
loving they've been while doing it, There's not going to be an
36:33
instant somewhere someday where they stand for the truth.
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So loving that someone somewhere is not going to accuse them of
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being unloving. I'm going to say that again.
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If you choose to stand for the truth, no matter how loving you
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may do it, somebody is going to accuse you of being unloving.
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OK, So you just got to be. That's one of the attacks of the
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enemy. You're going to have to face
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that and continue to stand in truth and in love.
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John finishes like this, verse 12 and 13.
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Though I have much to write to you, I'd rather not use paper
37:10
and ink, but instead hope to come to you and talk face to
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face so that our joy may be complete.
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The children of your fellow church elect sister greet you.
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I just want you to notice quickly.
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I'm not going to say much about this, but I do think this is
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worth saying that John connects here fullness or completeness of
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joy with the physical reality of being physically together with
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this church. In other words, he's saying
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y'all my joy, your joy is not going to be complete until we're
37:39
together. There is the reality for us as
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Christians that our joy, guess what is not going to be complete
37:44
till we see who face to face of Jesus and until we're all
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together face to face around the throne.
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And in the meantime, our joy is not going to be complete as it
37:52
can be unless we're committed to physically gathering and being
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together in the fabric of the physical together family of God.
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Christianity is not some private on your own thing to do just in
38:04
your living room or here or there when you want to.
38:06
It is about being ultimately together, the family of God, one
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day forever. And we're practicing in the
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meantime, even every Sunday and other times that we gather, we
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ought to prioritize the togetherness of the body.
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I want to read you a quote I came across in a devotional this
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week by the name of Judith Haugen.
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She writes this and she's just spot on.
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Listen to this. And this is really an indictment
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on the American church. It's a warning to even for us to
38:35
think about how we do church. Nothing, she says, changes
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people more deeply than the presence of love, humility and
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truth in actual relationship. Yet many churches, most American
38:50
churches, have organized themselves around preaching,
38:54
programming and production structures that can keep us
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safely in the pews, untouched. When we avoid the vulnerable
39:04
work of community, that physical togetherness, we become
39:08
institutions that talk about spiritual formation without
39:13
actually experiencing it. Iron sharpens, which means life
39:24
on life, which goes back to one of my 10 do life in a small
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group of Christians. We'll talk about that more in
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the days ahead. Walk and stay in love and truth.
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The world's running after everything else.
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The Bible calls us to run and stay in love and truth.
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John and praise team are about to come out and I want to ask
39:51
you a few questions before we respond.
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Number one is this. Do you have a right relationship
39:59
with Jesus? That's the most important
40:05
question a human being could ever ask you.
40:08
And if you don't, would you be willing to do something about it
40:11
today? You can't earn a right
40:13
relationship. You can receive it by faith if
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you'd be willing to step out from where you are.
40:20
You don't have to do this to be saved.
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You don't have to talk to a preacher to be saved.
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You got to talk to Jesus. You got to talk to Jesus.
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I can help you. You can do it where you are.
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You can do it right here with me.
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You can do it on your own, but you got to have a conversation
40:34
with Jesus. That sounds something like this.
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Jesus, I've sinned. You're the only Savior.
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I want to receive you and your payment for my sin.
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I'm sorry for what I've done. I'm choosing you as my Lord and
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Savior today. My life is yours.
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Save me. Save me.
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Would you say that maybe, maybe you have a right relationship
41:01
with Jesus, but staying and walking in love and truth is
41:05
probably, maybe you feel like you got areas you're just shy of
41:08
that in some way and you just want to come talk to Jesus about
41:14
those? Again, you don't need to talk to
41:15
me necessarily. You need to talk to Jesus.
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But I can help you if you want to, if you just want to get on
41:20
your knees or on your face before God, or just stand here
41:22
to talk to Jesus about where you are in walking and staying in
41:25
love and truth. God is God in his word has the
41:34
best plans for us if we'll walk in it.
41:38
So I'm just going to invite you to do that.
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We're going to sing. I'm going to ask you to stand
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after I pray, and I'm going to ask you to respond to the Lord.
41:44
I'm here to help If you need counsel.
41:45
Remember, we're going to have encouragers.
41:47
It'll be close if you need to have a conversation with
41:48
somebody. But this is just the time to
41:50
talk to Jesus about what he's talking to you about.
41:52
By His Spirit, you respond as the Lord leads you.
41:55
Heavenly Father God, I want to ask right now, in these next few
41:58
moments, the Lord Jesus you would make clear to us the next
42:02
steps for each one of us. Father, we'd have a right
42:04
relationship with you and we'd walk and stay in it until we see
42:07
you face to face. Father, that we would walk into
42:09
a full reward in heaven one day, crowns to lay at your feet,
42:13
having walked in the good works, prepared in advance for us,
42:16
having not wasted our lives and unfruitful and ineffective
42:19
pursuits that the world says are important.
42:21
But it will be ashes when it's all said and done.
42:23
God, give us, give us the motivation and realization of
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what's really worth living and help us do it for your namesake
42:29
in Jesus name, Amen. Would you stand sing with me?