Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Titus 3 - Disobeying Governing Authorities and Other Sins

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Titus 3 - Disobeying Governing Authorities and Other Sins · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Howdy and good morning, friends and faithful listeners.
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Speaker 1: We are in Titus chapter three today. And guess what
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Speaker 1: we are finishing up this book. I told you guys
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Speaker 1: it would be fast. We are going to read all
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Speaker 1: of Titus three today and discuss it and mainly talk
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Speaker 1: about submitting to government authorities and what all of this
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Speaker 1: means and did Jesus submit to governing authorities? We will
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Speaker 1: talk about that as well in just one moment. All right,
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Speaker 1: as usual, here is a sponsored ad for you, guys,
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Speaker 1: and then we'll get right into the episode. All right,
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Speaker 1: faith for listeners, Let's go ahead and turn to Titus
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Speaker 1: chapter three. I am excited to announce that I can
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Speaker 1: finally see because my glasses came into the mail today
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Speaker 1: and so now I am able to read what I
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Speaker 1: am actually talking about to you guys. So that is
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Speaker 1: very exciting for me. Though it is going to be
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Speaker 1: a change that I have to wear glasses twenty four
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Speaker 1: to seven now except when I'm sleeping obviously. But yeah,
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Speaker 1: it's a big change for me, big change in my life.
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Speaker 1: It just proves that I am getting older. All right,
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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and read it Titus three, the entire
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Speaker 1: chapter I will be as usual reading from the web
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Speaker 1: this morning, but feel free to grab the version of
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Speaker 1: the Bible that you prefer and also your hot beverage
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Speaker 1: to share with me. I've got peppermint tea this morning.
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Speaker 1: That is what I'm drinking. This is the first cup
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Speaker 1: of tea I've drank in quite a while. But the
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Speaker 1: reason I am drinking tea is because I have been
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Speaker 1: exposed to the stomach flu with all of those kiddos
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Speaker 1: that I was with over the weekend, and our kids
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Speaker 1: and leaders were dropping like flies through the week and
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Speaker 1: the last thing I want is to get the stomach flu.
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Speaker 1: That is like a nightmare experience for me. So I
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Speaker 1: am drinking peppermint tea and chugging a whole lot of
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Speaker 1: vitamin C and other supplements so that I hopefully don't
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Speaker 1: get sick. All right, let's go ahead and read Titus
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Speaker 1: three the entire thing and give reverence to God's word
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Speaker 1: together this morning. Remind them to be in subjection to
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Speaker 1: rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready
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Speaker 1: for every good work, to speak evil of no one,
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Speaker 1: not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility
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Speaker 1: toward all men. For We were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived,
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Speaker 1: serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
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Speaker 1: hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness of God,
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Speaker 1: our Savior, and his love toward mankind appeared, not by
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Speaker 1: works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to
2:42
Speaker 1: His mercy, He saved us through the washing of regeneration
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Speaker 1: and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out
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Speaker 1: on us richly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that being
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Speaker 1: justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according
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Speaker 1: to the hope of eternal life. This saying is faithful,
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Speaker 1: and concerning these things, I desire that you insist confidently,
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Speaker 1: so that those who have believed God may be careful
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Speaker 1: to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable
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Speaker 1: to men. But shun foolish questionings, genealogies, strife, and disputes
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Speaker 1: about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain. Avoid
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Speaker 1: a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing
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Speaker 1: that such a one is perverted and sinful, being self condemned.
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Speaker 1: When I send Artemis to you or Tichikus, be diligent
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Speaker 1: to come to me to Nicopolis, for I have determined
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Speaker 1: to winter there. Send a Zenus, the lawyer, and Apollos
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Speaker 1: on their journey speedily, that nothing may be lacking for them.
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Speaker 1: Let our people also learn to maintain good works, to
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Speaker 1: meet necessary needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All
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Speaker 1: who are with me, greet you, greet those who love
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Speaker 1: us in faith. Grace be with you all amen. Now
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Speaker 1: Paul is wrapping up his letter to Titus. He says,
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Speaker 1: in verse one, remind them to be in subjection to
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Speaker 1: rulers and to authorities. Who is them, well, them would
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Speaker 1: be everybody that Titus has the authority over, basically the
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Speaker 1: Church of Crete. So he says, remind them to be
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Speaker 1: in subjection to rulers and to authorities. This actually correlates
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Speaker 1: to Romans chapter thirteen one through five, which says, let
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Speaker 1: everyone be in subjection to the governing authorities, for there
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Speaker 1: is no authority except that which God has established. The
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Speaker 1: authority that exists have been established by God. Consequently, whoever
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Speaker 1: rebels against the authority is rebelling against God, who is instituted.
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Speaker 1: And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
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Speaker 1: And I'll actually stop reading right there, because that gives
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Speaker 1: enough of the story. Paul was actually telling the Christians
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Speaker 1: to submit to the governing authorities, not just the Church itself,
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Speaker 1: but actually the Roman government and a lot of people.
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Speaker 1: You don't like to hear this about Paul's teaching, because
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Speaker 1: everybody kind of wants to go against the governing authorities,
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Speaker 1: and sometimes there is time and place for that. For example,
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Speaker 1: if you have the ability to change something that is
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Speaker 1: going on in your government, then you absolutely should step
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Speaker 1: up and do that, especially if the governing authorities are
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Speaker 1: going against God and forcing the people to go against God.
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Speaker 1: You know, God comes first. We are always supposed to
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Speaker 1: obey God before we obey anybody else. But if the
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Speaker 1: government is just following the law and you don't like
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Speaker 1: the law, well, Paul says, too bad. You're supposed to
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Speaker 1: follow these governing authorities because God put them in place
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Speaker 1: for a reason. And I mean, think about it. In
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Speaker 1: Paul's day, the Jewish people were on the verge of
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Speaker 1: a revolt. They revolted in sixty six eighty, which caused
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Speaker 1: a whole lot of problems for Israel at that time,
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Speaker 1: as we know. You know, that was when the Roman
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Speaker 1: government went into Israel and pretty much destroyed it in
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Speaker 1: seventy eighty. They killed a whole bunch of people, starved
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Speaker 1: all of Jerusalem, and pretty much destroyed the entire temple.
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Speaker 1: So that was what happened when the Jewish people tried
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Speaker 1: to against the Roman government. Unfortunately, not saying the Roman
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Speaker 1: government was right to do that, they weren't. But a
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Speaker 1: lot of those problems could have been avoided if the
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Speaker 1: people would have actually listened to what Paul was telling
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Speaker 1: them to do, which was to be in subjection to
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Speaker 1: rulers and to authorities and to be obedient. It's what
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Speaker 1: Paul says right after this. So we're supposed to actually
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Speaker 1: obey our governing authorities because God put them in place,
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Speaker 1: which is what Romans, chapter thirteen says. And you might
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Speaker 1: be like, well, Jen, are you saying that we have
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Speaker 1: to roll over on our backs and just let the
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Speaker 1: government walk all over us and do all sorts of
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Speaker 1: cruel things and terrible things and we're just supposed to
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Speaker 1: sit there and take it. Well, No, we can absolutely
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Speaker 1: fight back. You know, God does give us the ability
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Speaker 1: to fight back on certain things. But the things we
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Speaker 1: should never do to fight back is obstructing law enforcement
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Speaker 1: or blocking off roads so that people can't go where
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Speaker 1: they need to go, or you know, bringing weapons like
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Speaker 1: bricks and guns to protests so that you can throw
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Speaker 1: them at somebody or shoot somebody, or driving over somebody
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Speaker 1: you don't like because they have a different political opinion
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Speaker 1: than you, or because they're a police officer, or something
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Speaker 1: along those lines. You are not supposed to act out
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Speaker 1: violently against people, but you are supposed to be in
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Speaker 1: subjection to the rulers and to the authorities, and be
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Speaker 1: obedient and be ready for every good work, is what
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Speaker 1: Paul says. And also not speak evil of anyone, not
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Speaker 1: be contentious, but be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.
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Speaker 1: Paul's not talking about just being nice to the people
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Speaker 1: that you like or the people on your political spectrum.
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Speaker 1: He is talking about being gentle to all people, whether
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Speaker 1: they are a politician or your best friend. You are
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Speaker 1: to be gentle and show humility to all men, because
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Speaker 1: that is how Jesus handled the opposition in his day.
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Speaker 1: The one thing that I absolutely apsolutely despise with a
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Speaker 1: passion that I see people say is they say, oh, well,
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Speaker 1: you know, Jesus was violent as well, because he protested
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Speaker 1: by going into the temple, and you know, destroying all
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Speaker 1: of the money changer's tables and knocking the people over
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Speaker 1: and releasing the pigeons and doing all this other stuff.
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Speaker 1: And whenever I see that, I'm always like, oh, please
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Speaker 1: tell me you haven't read the scripture. Without telling me
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Speaker 1: you have not read the scriptures because Jesus was not
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Speaker 1: protesting a political movement when he went into his father's
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Speaker 1: house and chased out the money changers. He wasn't starting
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Speaker 1: a revolution or a riot, or encouraging people to loote others.
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Speaker 1: Neither did he hurt or steal from anybody. What he
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Speaker 1: did do, though, was get corrupt people out of his
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Speaker 1: father's house. He was actually following the law with what
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Speaker 1: he did, and the money changers were the ones that
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Speaker 1: were going against the law by coming into the temple
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Speaker 1: and making a profit off of poor people. Jesus was
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Speaker 1: the one following the Old Testament laws, and the money
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Speaker 1: changers were going against the laws. So, no, Jesus was
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Speaker 1: not breaking any laws by going into his father's house.
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Speaker 1: He was not starting a revolution, he was not rioting,
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Speaker 1: he was not looting, He was not going into churches
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Speaker 1: to scream at people and their children and tell them
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Speaker 1: that they are evil. He was getting corrupt, law breaking
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Speaker 1: individuals out of the church. Jesus was following the law,
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Speaker 1: not going against the law. And the people that use
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Speaker 1: that example are the ones that are actually breaking the
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Speaker 1: law and saying that, oh, Jesus broke the law, so
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Speaker 1: I can also break the law by going into churches
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Speaker 1: and obstructing law enforcement and running people over with my car,
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Speaker 1: and you know, bringing a gun and pointing it at people.
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Speaker 1: I can do all that because Jesus did that when
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Speaker 1: he was in the temple. No, you are breaking the law.
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Speaker 1: You are doing the opposite of what Titus three tells
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Speaker 1: you to do, and what Roman's thirteen tells you to do,
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Speaker 1: and what Jesus did in the temple. And you are
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Speaker 1: doing what you want to do because you don't like
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Speaker 1: the authority that was put in place over you. Okay,
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Speaker 1: But Paul has a lot more grace, and he says,
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Speaker 1: for we were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various
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Speaker 1: lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and
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Speaker 1: hating one another, which is what all of these people
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Speaker 1: are doing, by the way, when they go against the law.
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Speaker 1: And he says, you know, even though you are going
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Speaker 1: against what God tells you to do and going against
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Speaker 1: God's authority that he put in place, we all once
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Speaker 1: went against the authority of God, and God gives us grace,
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Speaker 1: which is why I encourage all of you, Paul says,
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Speaker 1: to live no longer in these sinful and evil ways,
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Speaker 1: but live in a way that Jesus tells you to live.
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Speaker 1: Live in a way where you don't speak evil to people,
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Speaker 1: where you're not hateful of every single individual that goes
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Speaker 1: against you, where you're not contentious, but you're gentle, showing
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Speaker 1: all humility toward all men. Do this because Jesus loves you,
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Speaker 1: and because all of us were once sinners. We are
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Speaker 1: all enemies of God. That includes me, that includes you,
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Speaker 1: that includes Paul and Titus, that includes every single human
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Speaker 1: being that ever existed. We were all once enemies of
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Speaker 1: Christ until we learned about Jesus and learned about his grace.
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Speaker 1: And that's what Paul says right here. When the kindness
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Speaker 1: of God, our savior, and his love toward mankind appeared
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Speaker 1: not by works of righteousness, which we did by ourselves,
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Speaker 1: but according to his mercy, He saved us through the
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Speaker 1: washing of regeneration and the renewing by the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: So there you go. We are to be renewed by
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. That means a new creation, a new person,
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Speaker 1: not living in these old sinful ways of hatred and
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Speaker 1: disobedience and all these other things that Paul spoke on,
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Speaker 1: but living in a new way, being transformed by the
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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, having God make you into a new creation.
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Speaker 1: And that's what's really interesting. You know, God is not
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Speaker 1: done creating. I think a lot of people believe that
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Speaker 1: God just kind of like rubbed his hands together after
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Speaker 1: he finished creating the earth, and he was just done,
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Speaker 1: and he took thousands of years off and he's just
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Speaker 1: finished creating. But that is not true. Every single time
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Speaker 1: someone comes to Jesus, he makes them into a brand
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Speaker 1: new creation. God is not done creating. He is still
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Speaker 1: creating every single day. So instead of fighting against God's
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Speaker 1: creation in our lives, we need to allow him to
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Speaker 1: create us into somebody new, somebody who truly wants to
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Speaker 1: follow him the way that he asks us to. Because
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Speaker 1: I think a lot of people think that Christians are
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Speaker 1: just stiffs, you know, like they're just sticks in the
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Speaker 1: mud and they don't ever want to have any fun,
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Speaker 1: and I'm not gonna lie. Sometimes that can be true
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Speaker 1: depends on the Christian that you meet. You know, some
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Speaker 1: of them really are sticks in the mud. But living
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Speaker 1: in a way where your life is not filled with
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Speaker 1: jealousy and hatred and envy and sin, you're gonna be
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Speaker 1: a happier, healthier, more confident individual because you won't be
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Speaker 1: envious and jealous of what other people have. You'll be
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Speaker 1: content with the things that you own. You won't be
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Speaker 1: looking for the approval of other people because you'll be
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Speaker 1: confident in who you are, no longer worried about what
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Speaker 1: people think of you. You won't be filled with hatred
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Speaker 1: and anger anymore. And you know that's something that I
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Speaker 1: deal with a lot. I have a lot of anger,
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Speaker 1: and you guys might not realize that I hide it
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Speaker 1: very very well. My husband has lovingly called me a
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Speaker 1: chihuahua in a golden retriever's body, like I present myself
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Speaker 1: as a golden retriever, but inwardly I am a mean
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Speaker 1: little chihuahua. And that's the best description anybody has ever
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Speaker 1: given of me, because that is exactly how I am.
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Speaker 1: On the outside. I'm all cool, and collected and goofy
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Speaker 1: like a golden retriever. But inwardly I just want to
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Speaker 1: bite people's faces off. So just like how Paul says,
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Speaker 1: we've all been filled with this hatred and this envy
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Speaker 1: and this anger, I understand that because I have been
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Speaker 1: filled with these things as well. And man, when you
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Speaker 1: let these things go, how much happier life must be.
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Speaker 1: And I'm not gonna lie. I'm still working on it.
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Speaker 1: I still struggle with anger to this day. I struggle
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Speaker 1: with it. But I know that the times when I
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Speaker 1: let God have that anger and I just let it go, man,
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Speaker 1: those are the happiest times of my life. Those are
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Speaker 1: the happiest times of my life. So not living in
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Speaker 1: these sinful ways that we all used to live in
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Speaker 1: ultimately is going to make us a healthier, happier individual,
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Speaker 1: and it's going to get us closer to God, which
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Speaker 1: is ultimately what we are looking for. We are looking
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Speaker 1: to have that relationship with God. And God is not
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Speaker 1: pleased with sin. He is pleased when we do what
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Speaker 1: He asks us to do. That's what Jesus says, if
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Speaker 1: you love me, you will keep my commandments. So if
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Speaker 1: you love God, if you really want to have a
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Speaker 1: relationship with God, you have to keep his commandments. It
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Speaker 1: says we are justified by His grace that we might
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Speaker 1: be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
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Speaker 1: This saying is faithful, and concerning these things, I desire
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Speaker 1: that you insist confidently, so that those who have believed
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Speaker 1: God may be careful to maintain good works. That shows
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Speaker 1: right there that you know, Christians can still struggle with
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Speaker 1: all of these sins that Paul previously talked about, which
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Speaker 1: is why Paul stresses the point that we need to
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Speaker 1: let the Holy Spirit truly renew us. And how do
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Speaker 1: we do that? Well, it's hard, you know, because we
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Speaker 1: got to go against our fleshly desires. We have to
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Speaker 1: have enough faith to believe that God is truly in
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Speaker 1: control that the things we don't like that are going
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Speaker 1: on in our lives, whether with other people close to us,
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Speaker 1: or with the government, or with anything else. We have
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Speaker 1: to trust that God sees all that He is holy
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Speaker 1: and powerful. He is sitting on his throne, he is
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Speaker 1: looking down at the earth from heaven, and he knows
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Speaker 1: what's going on in our lives, and he sees every
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Speaker 1: single individual human being. He sees you. He knows you
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Speaker 1: by name. The God of the universe, who created billions
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Speaker 1: of people throughout history, knows you individually, and he knows
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Speaker 1: what you're going through. He knows what you're struggling with.
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Speaker 1: He knows the things that hurt you. So you have
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Speaker 1: to believe that God's got it, that God sees your
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Speaker 1: every need, and He's got it. He says in verse eight,
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Speaker 1: these things are good and profitable to men, but shun
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Speaker 1: foolish questionings, genealogies, strife, and disputes about the law, for
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Speaker 1: they are unprofitable and vain. Avoid a factious man after
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Speaker 1: a first and second warning, knowing that such a one
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Speaker 1: is perverted and sinful, being self condemned. So that's another
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Speaker 1: thing we have to do in order to get rid
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Speaker 1: of some of these sins that are just holding us
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Speaker 1: back and making us so miserable. We have to realize
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Speaker 1: that God's ways are good and profitable to us, that
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Speaker 1: sin is not profitable to us. And then in verse nine,
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Speaker 1: we also have to shun foolish questionings, genealogies, strife, and
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Speaker 1: disputes about the law, because these things are unprofitable. So basically,
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Speaker 1: any kind of quarreling, any kind of strife about anything.
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Speaker 1: These things are unprofitable. They just make us angry and
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Speaker 1: miserable and hateful to other people. So we avoid these
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Speaker 1: things because they're not benefiting us at all in our
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Speaker 1: day to day lives. You know a lot of people
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Speaker 1: I know just fully avoid the news because they don't
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Speaker 1: want to hear just the constant complaints, the constant problems
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Speaker 1: that are going on in our society. And honestly, I
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Speaker 1: don't avoid the news myself. I do watch the news
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Speaker 1: almost every single day, but I certainly can see why
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Speaker 1: they avoid the news, And I have also had to
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Speaker 1: do that multiple times through my life and probably should
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Speaker 1: do it again, because it really is unprofitable. Like if
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Speaker 1: you're listening to it just to be angry, that is
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Speaker 1: definitely not profiting you anything. And also in verse ten,
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Speaker 1: we're supposed to avoid people who are factious, so in
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Speaker 1: other words, people who cause factions, divisions, strife, quarreling. We
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Speaker 1: avoid these people after a first and second warning. So
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Speaker 1: first you have to warn them. You don't just abandon
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Speaker 1: them without them knowing why. You got to tell them.
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Speaker 1: You got to say you are causing problems in this family,
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Speaker 1: you are being toxic. Please stop doing that. And if
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Speaker 1: they keep on doing it, then you warn them again,
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Speaker 1: you say stop or I'm not going to talk to
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Speaker 1: you anymore. And if they keep on doing it, you
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Speaker 1: avoid them completely, is what Paul says. And ultimately that's
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Speaker 1: going to be better for you. And I'm sure that
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Speaker 1: you can feel that. You know, if you've ever had
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Speaker 1: a very toxic individual in your life. I hate to
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Speaker 1: keep using the word toxic. I wish there is a
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Speaker 1: better word to describe it. But if you have somebody
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Speaker 1: that just causes a whole lot of problems in your
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Speaker 1: life and you finally are rid of that person, I
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Speaker 1: am sure all of you understand how much of a
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Speaker 1: sigh of relief it is for that person to no
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Speaker 1: longer be in your life. That's why Paul talks about
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Speaker 1: this stuff, because he's helping us live more peaceful lives.
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Speaker 1: And all of these sins that Paul mentioned at the beginning,
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Speaker 1: they don't bring peace, they don't bring love, they don't
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Speaker 1: bring kindness or happiness or joy in our lives. They
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Speaker 1: do the opposite of all these things. So why are
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Speaker 1: we so attached to these sins that cause so much misery?
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Speaker 1: Why are we attached to certain friends and other people
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Speaker 1: that cause so much misery in our lives. Paul is
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Speaker 1: trying to help us to be more peaceful individuals, and
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Speaker 1: that's how we can do it. He says in verse
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Speaker 1: eleven that we know that these factious men are perverted
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Speaker 1: and sinful, being self condemned, and man, if that's the
20:44
Speaker 1: description that Paul gives these divisive people, and it's definitely
20:49
Speaker 1: not good to hang out with somebody like that. You know.
20:52
Speaker 1: It's different if it's a family member, by the way,
20:54
Speaker 1: or a husband or a spouse. In that case, the
20:58
Speaker 1: best thing to do is pray for them and keep
21:00
Speaker 1: them at arm's length as best you can, and just
21:03
Speaker 1: try to maintain your peace and maintain the peace of
21:06
Speaker 1: your family. But if there's somebody in your life, like
21:09
Speaker 1: a friend or somebody in your church that's just doing
21:12
Speaker 1: nothing but causing so many problems, it's best to avoid
21:17
Speaker 1: that person for sure. Verse twelve. When I send Artemis
21:21
Speaker 1: to you or titchikis be diligent to come to me
21:24
Speaker 1: to Nicopolis, for I've determined to winter there. So that
21:28
Speaker 1: shows that Titus was never supposed to be in crete
21:31
Speaker 1: long term. He was just there to teach the people
21:35
Speaker 1: how to live, because don't forget you know, the Cretans
21:38
Speaker 1: were notorious for being the best individuals, so that's the
21:42
Speaker 1: reason Titus was in Crete, was to teach them how
21:46
Speaker 1: to live, to teach them these things, to show them
21:49
Speaker 1: that these sins are pulling them down and not lifting
21:52
Speaker 1: them up. But this was only a temporary position for Titus,
21:56
Speaker 1: which is why Paul asks Titus to come to him
21:59
Speaker 1: actually in Coopolis, because that is where he has decided
22:02
Speaker 1: to winter. He also says in verse thirteen, send Zenus
22:06
Speaker 1: the Lawyer and Apollos on their journey speedily, then nothing
22:10
Speaker 1: may be lacking for them. Now, Zenus the Lawyer is
22:14
Speaker 1: an interesting addition here because it very well could be
22:18
Speaker 1: that Paul believed he would be arrested soon and he
22:22
Speaker 1: wanted a good lawyer at his side, which is why
22:26
Speaker 1: he asks for Zenus the Lawyer specifically to come to
22:29
Speaker 1: him quickly. But he also asks for Apollos, and if
22:33
Speaker 1: this is the same Apollos that is mentioned in the
22:36
Speaker 1: Book of Acts, he was a good friend of the
22:39
Speaker 1: Apostles and had a large part of the building of
22:43
Speaker 1: the Corinthian Church. So Apollos was a friend presumably of Paul,
22:49
Speaker 1: and maybe Paul just wanted to see him, thinking that
22:51
Speaker 1: he'd be arrested soon. He also says in verse fourteen,
22:55
Speaker 1: let our people also learn to maintain good works and
22:58
Speaker 1: meet necessary needs that they may not be unfruitful. So
23:02
Speaker 1: not only are they supposed to avoid these sins that
23:05
Speaker 1: hold them down, but maintain good works to meet necessary needs. So,
23:11
Speaker 1: in other words, be charitable and giving to those in
23:14
Speaker 1: their community who are in need. And I would argue
23:17
Speaker 1: this doesn't just mean poor people who needed food or
23:20
Speaker 1: clothing or shelter or anything like that. This could also
23:23
Speaker 1: mean a small need that the church had. Maybe the
23:27
Speaker 1: church needed somebody to volunteer to make the communion bread
23:33
Speaker 1: that week. Somebody should step up to fill that need. Unfortunately,
23:38
Speaker 1: in the church, a lot of the same people fill
23:41
Speaker 1: a bunch of different roles in the church. It's always
23:44
Speaker 1: the same volunteers that step up to do something. And
23:46
Speaker 1: this is very unfortunate, and it's also very common. Jesus
23:52
Speaker 1: himself said, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.
23:57
Speaker 1: So pray to God, who is over the harvest, that
24:00
Speaker 1: he sends workers to go out and gather. There is
24:04
Speaker 1: never enough volunteers, and even Jesus himself said it, which
24:09
Speaker 1: is why it's always good if you have a heart
24:12
Speaker 1: for volunteer work, especially in your church. It's always good
24:16
Speaker 1: to step up and do something, even if it's something
24:18
Speaker 1: very small, like setting up tables and chairs for an
24:23
Speaker 1: event that's happening at your church, or helping clean the
24:26
Speaker 1: kitchen up after the women have been cooking for that event,
24:30
Speaker 1: or even greeting people with a smile on Sunday mornings,
24:33
Speaker 1: or handing out brochures or making the coffee. All of
24:36
Speaker 1: these little tasks are very important to the overall functioning
24:41
Speaker 1: of the church. Just being kind to people, filling roles
24:45
Speaker 1: that need to be filled. And it might not sound
24:48
Speaker 1: very fun to you. I get that it might not
24:51
Speaker 1: sound fun to have to get up a little earlier
24:53
Speaker 1: on a Sunday morning to go volunteer, and I'm telling
24:57
Speaker 1: you that with complete honesty, it really is fun. You
25:01
Speaker 1: get to know people, you feel accomplished for helping somebody out.
25:06
Speaker 1: It's just a really nice feeling that I really recommend
25:10
Speaker 1: you guys try it, like honestly, I think you'll have
25:13
Speaker 1: more fun than you think you will, especially if you
25:15
Speaker 1: find a church that is really kind as well, you're
25:17
Speaker 1: gonna end up loving it. Then in verse fifteen, it says,
25:20
Speaker 1: all who are with me, greet you, greet those who
25:23
Speaker 1: love us in the faith. Grace be with you all amen.
25:27
Speaker 1: And that is how Paul ends this letter to Titus.
25:31
Speaker 1: It was a very short letter, like I said, but
25:33
Speaker 1: it was filled with so much content. Specifically the theme
25:38
Speaker 1: of Titus, to wrap everything up, was that Titus needed
25:42
Speaker 1: to be bold for the Gospel. He needed to shut
25:45
Speaker 1: people down who were going against the Gospel message and
25:49
Speaker 1: trying to spread false ideology. And this message is important
25:52
Speaker 1: to all church leaders as well. The entire book of Titus,
25:57
Speaker 1: i would argue, is a book that every single preacher
26:02
Speaker 1: should know backwards and forwards. They should know it because
26:06
Speaker 1: this is the basics for how to be a good
26:10
Speaker 1: and godly leader. To stay true to the Gospel and
26:13
Speaker 1: the scriptures in general, to reprimand people who don't do
26:17
Speaker 1: these things. To avoid any kind of division that goes
26:22
Speaker 1: on in the church. To train up older men and
26:25
Speaker 1: older women, to help younger individuals in the church, to
26:29
Speaker 1: train up elders and younger people at times as well,
26:33
Speaker 1: and lastly, to shun any kind of division that comes
26:37
Speaker 1: into the church, and man, can you imagine how strong
26:41
Speaker 1: our churches would be if every single pastor followed the
26:45
Speaker 1: guidance from the Book of Titus. All right, faithful listeners, Well,
26:50
Speaker 1: we are finished with the Book of Titus. But before
26:53
Speaker 1: I wrap everything up, a sponsor is going to play
26:56
Speaker 1: and ad for you, and I'll be back right after that,
27:00
Speaker 1: so I'm not gonna lie. I kind of thought that
27:01
Speaker 1: Titus Chapter three would be split up into two instead
27:05
Speaker 1: of just one, but I think we did good talking
27:09
Speaker 1: about it all today, and on Tuesday we're gonna be
27:12
Speaker 1: in the book, the little itty bitty Book of phi Lemen.
27:15
Speaker 1: And if you guys thought that I flew through Titus,
27:17
Speaker 1: just wait till we get to the Book of Philemen,
27:20
Speaker 1: because it is short. It is very very short. We
27:23
Speaker 1: will be through it very quickly. All right, faith for listeners,
27:26
Speaker 1: I'll see all of you guys on Tuesday for an
27:28
Speaker 1: episode from phi Leman hopefully. Also i'll see you on
27:30
Speaker 1: Monday for an episode from Second Chronicles, as we finish
27:34
Speaker 1: up that book as well and move into season eleven
27:38
Speaker 1: very soon. But also don't forget that if you would
27:41
Speaker 1: like more of the Bible explained I do a separate
27:44
Speaker 1: podcast on Fridays called The Bible Explained on Fridays, where
27:47
Speaker 1: we're going through the Book of the Psalms. Right now,
27:50
Speaker 1: I have done seventy five episodes in the Psalms, and
27:53
Speaker 1: tomorrow I am moving on I believe to Psalm seventy six.
27:57
Speaker 1: So it's a great addition. For those of you who
28:00
Speaker 1: who love the Bible Explained Podcast and would like a
28:02
Speaker 1: little bit more to listen to, you can go to
28:05
Speaker 1: Kofi and become a member to gain access to the
28:08
Speaker 1: Friday podcast episodes. Faith listeners, if I don't see you tomorrow,
28:11
Speaker 1: I will see all of you on Monday. Happy listening,
28:15
Speaker 1: and God bless I just want to take a second
28:23
Speaker 1: to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership
28:25
Speaker 1: with me on the Bible Explained Podcast. In fact, if
28:28
Speaker 1: you go to life audio dot com you'll find dozens
28:30
Speaker 1: of other faith centered podcasts in their network. They've got
28:33
Speaker 1: shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.