Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #16201 - Love One Another - 1 John 1:1

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#16201 - Love One Another - 1 John 1:1 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Take your Bibles, open them to
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1st John chapter one. First John chapter 1.
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We're going to have a couple of studies of introduction before
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we get into the letter itself. I've entitled our Bible study
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Love One Another. The real overarching theme of
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First John is the topic of love. The agape love of God lived out
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in the lives of believers and it is God's heart for us to love
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one another. It's always exciting to start a
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new book of the Bible, chapter one verse one, because it is.
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It means that we finished a book.
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It means we went through and completed a book and now we get
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to launch off on another one, shifting into a different gear,
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seeing a different facet. You know, like a beautiful
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diamond, depending on how the lighting is and whether you put
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it on on a black piece of felt or velvet as you put it down.
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If you look at it in different ways, same diamond, but a
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different facet, a different beauty to it.
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Just as it is when we're studying different parts of the
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Bible, we get to see another facet of the character of God is
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that the Bible is about God, not you.
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Did you know that the Bible is about God?
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It's a revelation of God to us. So often we'll be studying the
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Bible and because it's so personal and because it's so
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powerful and because it's so life changing, we may shift into
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thinking that the Bible is all about us and the Bible is not
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all about you and it's not all about me.
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The Bible is seniorly a revelation of who God is and how
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much He loves us and how much He cares.
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And yes, the Bible helps US live life, but it helps us live life
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by revealing to us our Creator who loved us so much that He
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sent His only begotten Son so that whoever would believe in
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Him would not perish but have everlasting life.
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Jesus died according to the scriptures, and He was, He rose
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again from the dead according to the scriptures for the sole
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purpose of saving your soul and bringing you into relationship
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with Him. When we're studying the Word,
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we're learning about God. We can't ever forget that, but
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we're learning about God through the life of his people, through
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the life of those that have gone before us.
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For those that have lived, died, and now they're in the presence
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of the Lord. They live lives like John, very
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close to Jesus. We're studying now first John,
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second John and 3rd John, which are often referred to as the
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epistles of John, an epistle. Don't be scared by that word.
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It means letter. These are letters that John
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wrote to believers, and we've studied already as a church the
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Gospel of John, and we've studied as a church the Book of
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Revelation. Now once again, we're studying
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first, second, and third John. These are the entirety of the
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books of the Bible that were written by John.
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So you got the letters, the Gospel and the book of of
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Revelation. First John verse one says that
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which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we
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have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our
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hands have handled concerning the word of life.
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The life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and
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declared to you that eternal life that was with the Father
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and was manifested to us. That which we have seen and
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heard. We declare to you that you also
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may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the
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Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
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You can see already very small letter, very easy to read.
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You can read it very quickly, but it's packed with power.
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First, John is a powerful epistle written by a very old
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man. It's good to understand that God
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uses us in every generation. I know those of you that might
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be a little bit older, and I won't dictate the age to you,
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but it's important to acknowledge you, those of you
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that even view yourself as older.
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Even as I look at my life, I can sense that I'm getting older.
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And there is a temptation that the enemy throws at you to
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believe the lie that you're not important anymore.
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Because I do know technology keeps up and it's just moving so
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fast and big changes are happening.
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And music just in the context of church, not just in the world,
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it's even worse, but just in the context of our little church
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here for us personally. But, but knowing this goes out
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to others, you have to watch out for this because there's always
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the always the temptation to believe.
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Well, you know, it's only about the youth and it's only about
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the young people and they don't care about me anymore.
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And then that slips over to women.
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God doesn't care about me anymore.
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That's that's a lie. It's just a lie.
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It's not true. Especially I can only speak for
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our fellowship family. Every single generation is
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important in this church, every single one.
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But you have to accept that. You got to accept that phrase
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when I say every single one. That means the baby's in the
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womb right now to the people that are 99 years old, every
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generation. So the babies aren't more
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important than 99 years old and the 99 years old or 70 or 80 or
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not, and more important than the babies.
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And we all need to walk with the Lord in our own calling and our
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own gifting to be in the pace and the body that God wants us.
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But every age matters. It's estimated that John was he
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lived to be about 100 years old, and he wrote these letters
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later, much later on in his life.
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He outlived all the apostles John did.
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And John was a fisherman called by Jesus with his brother James.
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John was a part of the inner circle of Jesus along with James
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and Peter. But we often refer to him this
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way, Peter, James and John, That's how we remember him.
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But because we're looking at John today, he was a part of the
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ones that were closest to Jesus. He was given special attention
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in the ministry of Jesus. He got more time than others.
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Now you could look at it from the outside and you could look
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at it one of two ways. If you're kind of a cynical,
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negative kind of person, you might look at it.
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I go, well, you know, look at him.
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He gets favoritism. If Peter, James and John, they
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were favorites and and Jesus loved them more than others.
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And you know, that might be the bent of your personality or your
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flesh that you have to deal with.
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Another way of looking at it is that Jesus called the most
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difficult ones to spend the most time with.
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You know, of all the guys that I have, these three need it the
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most, and so I'm just going to draw them in close either way.
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Either way, it doesn't really matter even if both of those are
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wrong and Jesus had different motives.
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Here's the thing. God is sovereign and He can do
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with us what He wants to do with us.
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And He can put us where He wants to put us and He can place us
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where He wants to place us and He can use us how He wants to
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use us. And we'll just learn, not
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principle. And let me make I use the word
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sovereign just means absolute authority.
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He's absolutely authoritative in our lives.
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But let's back up and use an easier word.
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And if you can just remember this, it will make a lot of your
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life easier. Not all your life because it's
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still hard, but it'll make a lot of your life and my life easier.
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If you just remember this. You ready?
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You might want to jot it down. You guys are like to get new
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tattoos. Here you go, you ready.
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God is God and you are not you just remember that it'll help a
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lot. I mean, you think about some of
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the more difficult things that you don't have an answer for.
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You don't like, you don't want, just you're questioning.
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Just like at the end of the day, you just step back and you know,
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Lord, it doesn't have to be really heavy-handed or anything.
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You just like God. I, I just want to acknowledge to
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you right now, I believe you're God and, and I know I'm not and
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I just choose to trust you through this, but it still
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hurts. It's still painful.
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And, and God, I just asked you to give me hope.
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I asked you to strengthen me. But so much of our lives as we
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make ourselves little gods to try to control the situation and
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we fight God and we resist God. And, and you know, we all, we
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all have our reasons. We have all, we all have our
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reasons for our behavior, for our bad behavior, for our sinful
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behavior. We all have our reasons, but
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rarely our reasons. Good reasons.
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There's always a reason. Why did you do that?
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Well, you know, you know, he said something.
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I said something back. OK.
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I mean, I hear your reason, but it's really not a good reason.
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Why were you in the flesh? Well, you know, I'm just, I
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don't know. I'm just, I'm always like that.
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I hear your reason, but it's not a good reason.
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I hear it. And as we walk in the Spirit
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like God, he drew James, Peter, and John close.
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John got a lot of attention with Jesus.
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You know, when John wrote about himself in the Gospel of John,
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he often referred to himself as the one Jesus loved.
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That's how he related to God. That's how he had his time with
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Jesus. You'll just find that phrase
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over and over again. And by the time he wrote the
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letter, I don't believe he was writing it in any place of
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competition. Sometimes that we as pastors can
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look at that and compare John to Peter.
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And you know, John was the one and there was a little rivalry
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between them too. But by the time he wrote that
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in, in the Gospel of John, I'm, I'm pretty confident that he
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wasn't writing it pridefully. He wasn't trying to one up
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anyone. I mean this, those words were
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inspired by the Holy Spirit. So we know that God was moving
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in him as he was writing. I believe he was writing this
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phrase that he was the one that Jesus loved because he was in
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utter amazement of the love of Jesus for him.
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He knew himself, He knew where he came from, He knew what he
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was doing. He knew his own shortfalls.
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He was amazed at the love that Jesus showered upon him, just as
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we too are amazed or we need to be more often.
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Not this mindset, this entitlement mindset that quickly
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overtakes us. We may not use the word what we
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deserve, but we certainly feel that at times and we feel so
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entitled. The culture seems to press that,
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that we're not getting what we want and not getting what we
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deserve. And we're better than that.
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And we're no longer amazed at the grace of God and no longer
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amazed at the work of God, no longer amazed that all that
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we're experiencing. I mean, can we, any of us say
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that we've earned it on our best day, on our best week, on our
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best year? Like, oh, yeah, that that year,
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I bet, I remember back in 1992, that was the year that I earned
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all of God's grace. It's just a silly statement that
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never comes out of our mouths. But this sense of entitlement, I
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would. I'm not naive enough to think
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that it's in the room now where you just approach things and
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instead of adopting the servant's heart, instead of
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continuing just to serve and serve and serve more, something
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happened and you don't see the value of serving Jesus and
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anymore because you've lost sight of who he really is and
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what he's really done in your life.
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You look at it and go, well, you know, I'm the one that Jesus
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loved, but it's not a sense of purity where I can't believe he
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loved me or it's amazing that he loved me.
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But she'll, yeah, of course. But compared to her, of course
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God loved me. Or what have you done for me
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lately? Often I ask for this amazement
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of my own life. I hope you do.
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I know myself. I know my frailties.
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I know my inconsistencies. I know my weaknesses.
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And if I tend to forget, the Holy Spirit is always faithful
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to remind me where I came from. I have to be very careful when
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I'm reminded of where I came from, because where I came from
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is not a pretty place. It was not good.
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It's stirs up a lot of regret. It stirs up this sense to where
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I want to take control. And we often do that, don't we?
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Maybe these words have come out of your lips or in your mind.
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If I knew then what I know now, I would.
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And the reality is you have no idea what you would do if you
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knew then what you know now. It's a way of dealing, or at
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least attempting to deal with the reminder of our past
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failures and the reminder of our past difficulties.
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And the enemy would just love to use our failures against us.
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And he would just love to have us sink in regret and have a
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sink in unforgiveness and condemnation.
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But like John, it's really good to think of ourselves.
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I'm the one that Jesus loves. I'm the one that Jesus loves.
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With all my weaknesses, Jesus loves me.
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This I know, for the Bible tells me so.
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I'm loved by God. John was known as the apostle of
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love. This is the theme throughout
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First John. He's known as the apostle of
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love because of the emphasis of his life.
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Today, if we were to give a title to your life and just say
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you're the apostle of, what would it be?
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Well, I'm the apostle of complaining.
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You do a good job of it. I'm the apostle of gossip.
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Oh, yeah. I'm the apostle of or the
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servant of or the man of. We too have words that are
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associated with us. You know, we too are known by
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our character, by our behavior. It's true, not everyone knows
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our heart. Literally nobody knows the
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heart. Remember what the Bible says,
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that man looks at the outward, but it's God that looks at the
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heart. There is a comforting truth to
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that, that God knows my heart, He knows me.
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But I also need to remember that I also, those that are around
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me, all they can see is the outside.
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That's all they can see. It's all you can see of me.
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That's all I can see of you. So there is a sense where I have
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a responsibility in looking at my behavior and looking at how I
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carry myself, at looking at my outward appearance to you so
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that it reflects on whatever is under my control.
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It reflects the character and nature of God that's in me
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because I know not everyone. I don't know your heart.
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I'll never know your heart until it's revealed because God does
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reveal hearts. But John, when you would look at
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his life, when you would watch him, the manner of his life, his
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example, he was known by his love and it's repeated over and
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over again. John 1323192620, verse 221,
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verse 721, verse 20. In the Gospel, he's known as the
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gospel as the apostle of love. It's never too late to be known
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as the sister of love or the brother of love.
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It's never too late to work on your reputation by going deep
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into your character. Your character can be described
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as your relationship with God and your reputation your
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relationship with others. And while people may
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misunderstand your reputation at times and accusations, you can't
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control that. But you can't control literally
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who you are in Christ. You do have the ability, I do
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have the ability to come to the Lord in repentance and allow Him
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to work out those things in my life because John wasn't always
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this way. Let me show you some real quick
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over to Luke Chapter 9. John wasn't always known as the
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apostle of love. Oh no.
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I want to give you insight. If you didn't know already what
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kind of guy this was. John, He wasn't always this way.
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Notice with me in Luke Chapter 9 in verse 51 and see if you can't
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because you're right now I'm talking about being the apostle
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of love. And some of you are like, OK,
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God's going to be working something in me.
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I don't know if I'd be known as the apostle of love.
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And you're just kind of wrestling with that thought
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right now. You're you're moving in it and
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it's captured your attention. You know, I don't know.
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I don't know how John. Well, look at where John was and
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it may give you a little hope. OK, ready verse 51.
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Now it came to pass when the time had come for Him to be
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received up, that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
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and he sent messengers before his face.
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And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans to
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prepare for him, but they did not receive him.
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This is Jesus, by the way. They did not receive him because
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his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.
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So they basically reject Jesus here.
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They reject him. And when his disciples, James.
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And what does your Bible say, John?
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That's the John we're talking about.
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So years later or years earlier, and his disciples, James and
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John saw this. They said, Lord, do you want us
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to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them as
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Elijah did? Basically, do you want us to
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wipe them out for you? Lord?
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That's our thing. We'd love to see that we want
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far can can you just just give us permission?
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I we wanted to always see what Elijah did, but let us use it to
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wipe out the Samaritans. That's John wipe them out.
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I think of what a relevant attitude, what a relevant text
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to a prevailing attitude in our culture that's so divisive that
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would want to see the other side just wiped out.
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The thought of if they just weren't here, it would be such a
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better world. And both sides of that divide
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feel the same way about each other, just like James and John.
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Can we just wipe them out? We don't like how they're
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treating you, Jesus. They don't even deserve to live
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and notice Jesus answer. He turned around and said go for
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it. I feel the same way toward them
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now. What does he do?
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He rebukes them. It's a foolish way to think.
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He rebukes them and says you don't even know what manner of
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spirit you are. The Son of Man did not come to
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destroy men's lives, but to save them, and they went to another
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village. I just sense in my heart such a
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beautiful banner of the heart of Jesus in our coat that should be
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really waving the flag in our culture today.
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You want to wipe someone out? You want to wipe a people group
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out. You have disagreements with
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people that disagree with you and your thought is just wipe
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them out so much, be so much better.
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And Jesus says you don't, you don't understand right now
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what's going. You don't even know your own
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heart because that is not me. I didn't come to destroy lives.
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I came to save him. The only life that's going to be
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lost, Jesus said, is mine. I'm going to give my life for my
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enemy. That's John.
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That's a lesson that John needed to learn.
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Jesus called him and his brother James, He had a nickname for
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him. He called them the sons of
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Thunder Fiery. You know, they're hot temper,
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the problem with anger, they're so angry.
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Jesus taught, remember, in the Beatitudes or excuse me, on the
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Sermon on the Mount, he taught about the heart of the matter.
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Do not murder. But I say to you, I say to you,
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if you have hatred in your heart towards someone, you've murdered
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them. That's what John's dealing with
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here. This apostle of love.
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He wasn't always that way, but something happened to him
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because he stayed close to Jesus.
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He hung out, you could say, with Jesus, and that time he invested
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in his personal relationship with Jesus changed him.
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You never waste time pursuing Christ.
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You never waste time reading the Bible.
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You never waste time worshipping with the Saints.
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You never waste time being a part of a small gathering.
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You never waste time seeking first the Kingdom of God.
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It is never, ever. Because you know, at times
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you'll be reading the Bible and you go I, I really didn't get
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much out of that. OK, you may not have got much
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out of it then, but you didn't waste your time.
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I assure you. It was not a waste of time to
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read through Leviticus when that was a part of.
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It's not a waste of time when you don't quite understand
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what's happening in Isaiah. It's not a waste of time when
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you're all the way in Revelation and you got those visions and
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you're that. Yeah.
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I don't know. That's not a waste of time.
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Any pursuit of Jesus Christ is rewarded by Jesus, and you and I
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are chained. We may not see it right away, we
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may not even be able to measure it, but you can rest assured
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that you are never wasting your time in your pursuit of Christ
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and your worship of Him. Slowly but surely we are
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becoming more like Christ. Jot it down.
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Second Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18 says, But we all with
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unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord
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are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory,
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just as by the Spirit of the Lord transformed.
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Being able to see these hallmarks in our life where we
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are not who we used to be. You can say for some of us that
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had a problem with our anger, we could say, I don't want to wipe
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people out anymore. That's a pretty profound
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testimony, don't you think? Like that is a pretty strong
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statement when you look at your life and go, I remember, I
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remember I wanted to wipe the Samaritans out.
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What was I thinking? What was I thinking?
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He was transformed as we begin to hang out with the Lord in His
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word and prayer, as we begin to hang out with other believers
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talking about the things of the Lord.
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You got to be careful because not every time you're hanging
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out with other believers are you fellowshipping.
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You know that you could be with other believers and that's a
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good thing, but it's not always spiritual fellowship.
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You have to be careful. You know, it's good.
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I, I think the Bible, the Bible says it this way in First
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Corinthians 15 verse 33, it says it in the negative.
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Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good
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habits. So but the opposite is true,
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isn't it? When you're hanging out with
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good company, then you can create good habits.
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And so even as the proximity and the time that you invest with
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other believers, someone in that group, you know, as you're
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hanging out and talking sports or whatever, you know, we can
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talk about stuff. That's not what I mean, but but
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someone has to be mature enough to go.
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Let's get this conversation back on the Lord.
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Let's talk about the things of the Lord.
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You know, let's go have a cup of coffee.
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OK, let's go have a cup of coffee.
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Well, you're going to talk about sports.
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You're going to talk about the kids, you're going to talk
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about, but make sure you talk about the Lord in that time so
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you can refine one another. And you and I hang out with each
24:17
other. We come to fellowship, we center
24:19
the Bible study. We, we invest our time maybe
24:21
listening, changing the radio and getting some music
24:24
sometimes. But I got to have the words I
24:26
need Bible study and God honors that.
24:29
He honors that. We're changing.
24:31
John was changed. You have to grasp this.
24:34
We start with because it's first John.
24:36
We start with, OK, this is known.
24:37
He's known as the apostle of love, but he wasn't always that
24:41
way. Some of you hope that you see
24:44
big changes in your life. You're hoping for yourself as a
24:46
married couple. You're hoping for yourself as a
24:49
single. You're hoping that you'll get
24:50
over this addiction. You're hoping and I want you to
24:53
know in Christ He is your hope and you can see change.
25:00
You might be a little impatient. You you want to see it faster,
25:03
but you remember God is God and you are not.
25:07
You could say I am not for yourself.
25:10
And we're just going to trust the Lord on His timing.
25:13
God is preparing you and He's preparing me for what He has
25:17
prepared for us in His perfect timing.
25:20
Everything has its time. The Bible says God does
25:24
everything in His time, not my time or yours.
25:31
This message of love from a dramatically changed man, Son of
25:36
Thunder to apostle of love, the fisherman, the fiery 1
25:41
transformed. Keep in mind and these
25:45
preparatory studies for John, it'll help you when you study
25:48
the gospel to help you when you study revelation.
25:51
It'll help you when you see him in the life of Jesus.
25:54
John was not this theologian locked in a in a rooms, in an
26:00
office somewhere, or up in a high tower above the people,
26:04
talking and writing about love. He was living it.
26:10
This is his life. He lived it out.
26:13
He wasn't trafficking. I believe in what AW Tozer once
26:17
said. He wasn't trafficking an unlived
26:20
truth. AW, Tozer, a great, strong
26:24
teacher, authored a lot of Bibles, the real strong gift of
26:28
exhortation. If you need to be stirred, I
26:31
would encourage you to pick up a Tozer book.
26:34
TOZER, you can start with the one we have in the bookstore
26:38
downstairs, The Pursuit of God. Very, very good, amazing book.
26:42
It'll stir you up. And it's the kind of book that
26:45
it's going to say something to you.
26:46
You're not going to like it and you're going to get mad at
26:48
Tozer. And I just want you to know he
26:50
doesn't care. He's in the presence of the
26:53
Lord, so he, it's OK, get mad at him.
26:56
I, I often I'll be reading another brother by the name of
26:59
Charles Spurgeon and I'm reading a book that I, I, I read almost
27:02
every day on, on grief. He wrote a great devotional on
27:05
grief. So I'm reading it and he's
27:06
saying something hard that no one really would be willing to
27:10
say to me or nobody knows what I'm going through but the Holy
27:12
Spirit. And I'm reading it and I get so
27:14
mad at Spurgeon and the Lord reminds me he doesn't care.
27:17
Go ahead, emote and get it out because Spurgeon knows the truth
27:21
now because he's in the presence of the Lord.
27:23
And he wrote that to stir that up in you, Ed, so that you might
27:27
know the Lord. And so I remember that quote
27:30
because stir Tozer in his rebuke to the church, said that so many
27:36
in the church today, so many pastors feeling pulpits today
27:40
are trafficking an unlived truth.
27:42
And what he's trying to say is you've got it in the head, but
27:46
it's never been in you. You're just saying something.
27:48
You're just mimicking something and you haven't let the Lord do
27:51
the work in you. And my heart is for you to let
27:56
the Lord do the work in you so that you can share with your mom
28:01
or your brother or your friend or your mom that I already say
28:06
mom, she might need it twice. Something that you're living out
28:13
the work of God in you, the hope of glory.
28:18
John has lived this out. That's his testimony.
28:22
Yeah. I was the son of Thunder.
28:23
I can't believe that. I don't know what I was
28:25
thinking. I was right there with Jesus.
28:28
Can you hear it? He comes up to the pulpit and
28:30
says he doesn't take some pompous stance.
28:32
Yeah. This is really even hard for me
28:34
to share. I'm so ashamed of it.
28:37
Even though you don't need to be ashamed in Christ because there
28:40
is no condemnation in Christ right now, the Bible says, but
28:45
shame is often a temptation. And he says, yeah, I just don't
28:49
know. I was standing on the right with
28:50
Jesus and they rejected him. It made me so angry.
28:54
But I remember Elijah and I thought, that's pretty cool.
28:57
I wonder if we can see that. So I just asked him, Somebody
29:00
had to do it. And I just asked him, can we
29:02
wipe him out? Lord, it would be so cool.
29:05
We know you could do it. Just give it to us.
29:07
You don't have to do it. We'll do it.
29:09
Just let us do it. And Jesus see, his face changed.
29:15
Never seen him like that before. And he looked at us right in the
29:20
eye and he said, what's your problem?
29:24
I don't think you get it. I don't think you know who I am
29:28
yet. You don't even know what spirit
29:31
that is. That's not me.
29:33
And then he went a little slower and deeper and Jesus said, I
29:37
didn't come to white people out, I came to save them.
29:43
Don't you think that would change you?
29:45
I think it would be the beginning of change.
29:46
I carry that with me the rest of my life.
29:50
How could I forget? Even as I share with you right
29:53
now mental pictures, there's still part of my brain even
29:57
after all the trauma I've experienced.
29:59
It has a photographic memory. And immediately as I was saying
30:02
that it's not in my notes, I just thought I have a visual
30:05
reminder of where I was when I got saved.
30:08
That side of the sanctuary, back Pew, packed room, 3rd or 4th.
30:14
I don't remember exactly which one.
30:16
Altar call God. Having my pastor wait for that
30:20
one guy in the back row to respond and to think of the
30:24
shame and the guilt that I walked into that church with and
30:27
the gospel set me free. When you believe the power of
30:31
God in your life, the gospel will set you free.
30:33
New creation in Christ, old things that passed away.
30:36
Behold, all things have become new, new identity, new future,
30:40
New Hope, new life, generational change.
30:44
That's John. That's who's going to it's who's
30:47
writing this letter. He's lived it out.
30:51
He's a man that's been through the fire.
30:53
He's a man that's had the pain of loneliness.
30:56
He's the man that's been tortured.
30:57
He's the man filled with his life, filled with miserable
31:00
failures. He ordered, he was ordered to be
31:11
put in a cauldron of boiling oil.
31:14
All the rest of the apostles, with the exception of Judas,
31:18
were brutally martyred. Domitian ordered him, as
31:22
tradition says, to be boiled alive in oil, and it didn't kill
31:27
him. And when it failed to kill him,
31:30
he was exiled to a rocky, seemingly God forsaken island
31:34
called Patmos, which is where God gave him the Book of
31:38
Revelation. He was on that place of
31:42
isolation so that God might do a deep work.
31:46
Following his release from Patmos at about 100 years old,
31:50
he returns to Asia Minor, where he went from church to church,
31:53
sometimes on a stretcher, to serve the congregation.
31:58
The historian Eusebius tells us that when John would come into
32:02
meaning places, people would break out in applause for this
32:05
one who knew Jesus, this one who had leaned on his breast.
32:09
Give us the word John, they would say.
32:12
Teach us something from the scrolls.
32:15
What? All John could deliver was a
32:16
single sentence sermon, Eusebius says.
32:20
And the sermon was this. Children love one another.
32:27
That was his message. Some of you wish I had a one
32:30
sentence sermon too. Not quite 100 yet.
32:36
Children love one another from church to church.
32:39
John had a singular message. Children love one another.
32:43
Why don't you say something a little more weighty, a little
32:46
more meaningful? Asked an elder.
32:48
Eusebius says John, look the elder in the eye and said, and I
32:51
quote, the sole commandment of Christ is to love, for he that
32:56
loves has no need of anything else.
33:00
End Quote. That's John's message.
33:04
It's interesting because not only was John fiery and
33:07
personality, but he also is known in the Gospels of wanting
33:11
a place of prominence and position.
33:14
He also wanted, according to Mark chapter 10, verse 35, James
33:18
and John, the sons of Zebedee came to him saying, teacher, we
33:21
want you to do for us whatever we ask.
33:24
And then you go, I can't believe it, why did you do it?
33:26
But I bet you if we recorded your prayers, I bet you they
33:29
sound like that sometimes. God, I want you to do exactly
33:32
what I ask. I'm not telling you, but I am
33:34
asking and I want you to do it. Because there's a fine line,
33:38
isn't there, between faith and presumption.
33:41
There is a fine line between coming like that persistent
33:44
widow and just pressing in, but then coming in like that,
33:47
demanding brother or demanding sister to command and boss God
33:51
around. But that's where they're at.
33:52
And they come to him. And he said to them, what do you
33:55
want me to do? That's Evan's answer.
33:57
OK, come however you want. What do you want me to do?
34:01
You hear the Father, Son, come on, tell me.
34:02
Bring whatever motive. Bring.
34:03
Just come to me. Just come to me.
34:07
And the Bible says they said to him, grant us that we may sit
34:11
one on your right hand and the other on your left in your
34:16
glory. OK, John, you're going to get it
34:21
right there. My right hand.
34:23
Maybe my left, but maybe right. My right.
34:27
You see, there's a thing about John desires and encourage me
34:30
and moves me forward even in his uniqueness, with all of his
34:35
failures and weaknesses, things that need to be worked out
34:39
forever in the process of sanctification.
34:42
He's an encouragement to me that God is continuing to work in my
34:46
life. I know we have that bumper
34:49
sticker and. It's unfortunate because often
34:51
things that are put on bumper stickers are pretty solid when
34:54
it comes to these Christian cliches.
34:56
It's it's a bummer when they become a cliche because they get
34:59
dismissed, but there's that little bumper sticker God is not
35:01
finished with me yet and on. One side, if you're using as an.
35:06
Excuse for sin and bad driving. Take it off.
35:10
But on the other side, if you're using it to.
35:12
Communicate that God is really still working in you and if he
35:15
can work in you, he can work in the driver behind you or the Co
35:18
worker then that's a good thing because he is still working in
35:21
you. He's promised to never leave or
35:23
forsake you. He's promised never to abandon
35:26
you. He's promised that what he's
35:28
begun in you, he's faithful to complete.
35:31
He's promised that that he will perfect that, which concerns me
35:36
all the way until the coming of the Lord.
35:40
I love that about John because John continued to grow so that
35:44
his life became simpler, not more complicated, so that his
35:49
entire life's work was not an. Encyclopedia.
35:53
Or a systematic theology, as good as that might be his entire
35:58
life's work when he's 100 years old.
36:00
And often is the testimony when you interview an older person
36:03
and you say, what's the secret was how did you live?
36:07
And you know, some interesting answers, of course, but how did
36:09
you live to be 105 Castor oil, all right?
36:14
Or how did your marriage make it 75 years?
36:17
Forgiveness. Yeah, just one word I don't
36:21
need. To write you a book, but let.
36:22
Me tell you the sum of my life is this forgiveness is going to
36:25
get you a long way. Castor oil, whatever that is, I.
36:30
Don't even know what that is but sounds nasty.
36:33
I remember it like in cartoons. Cartoons.
36:35
It looked nasty. But hey, it's simple.
36:40
It's not complicated. Hey, John, what's the message?
36:43
Give us the message. You are with Jesus.
36:45
You lean on his breast. Well, what's the message,
36:48
Children? Don't forget who you are.
36:52
Love one another. Let's see.
36:55
That's a three. Point sermon just right there,
36:57
which any good pastor would do, John.
37:00
That was his message. It was simple and singular.
37:05
When did he become? Known for his love as we wind
37:08
down. As God was continuing to change.
37:12
Him. When did it happen?
37:15
Well, let's think about it for a second.
37:17
As we follow the life of Jesus. Thousands of people came to
37:21
Jesus, but only hundreds came to hear Him teach, and only 70
37:29
would commit to follow him. And of the 70, only 12 committed
37:34
to leave everything. And of the 12 that left
37:38
everything, only three prayed with Jesus in the Garden of
37:42
Gethsemane. And of those three, Peter, James
37:46
and John, only one was at the cross.
37:54
Think about it. Thousands of people followed and
37:57
hang out with in and out with Jesus.
38:00
Hundreds, hundreds came to hear and teach.
38:04
There were the 70 committed to following him, the 12 that left
38:08
everything, the the three that prayed in Gethsemane.
38:12
But only one was at the cross. What was his name?
38:19
John. Where did he become?
38:24
Where did it click? Where did it solidify in His
38:28
heart? At the cross.
38:34
That's where everything makes sense.
38:37
At the cross, That's where we begin to understand the Father's
38:41
heart for us, where we begin to see Jesus heart for us, where we
38:47
see the power of the Holy Spirit.
38:50
John may have lacked love at that time.
38:53
He may have still been growing and understanding and trying to
38:56
follow Christ, sometimes in his own strength.
38:59
He may have lacked love at this time.
39:01
But one thing he had that got him to the cross was loyalty.
39:06
He was loyal. Loyalty is such an.
39:11
Underestimated characteristic of life that among us we could
39:16
adopt more to be loyal. To God.
39:20
And loyal to one another to be trustworthy, to be worthy of
39:25
trust, to be the man, the woman that can be counted on to be the
39:30
man and the woman that you just know Your yes is a yes and your
39:34
no is a no. Very simple characteristic to
39:37
practice in your life. John was loyal many times.
39:41
If a pastor and a pulpit like this, as I'm speaking to you
39:44
today, mentions loyalty can be easily misunderstood into this
39:48
sense of blind loyalty and just overlook that that that is not
39:53
at all what the Bible teaches. Neither does God require you to
39:58
have. Blind loyalty toward him, he
40:00
says. Come eyes wide open.
40:02
See my glory, see me in my. In my.
40:05
Magnificence, let my love come into your life.
40:09
It's not blind loyalty, but steadfast commitment, a
40:14
reliability, working things out. Matthew Chapter 18 Not holding
40:19
grudges, not fighting, not biting, not devouring, not
40:24
provoking, not conceited. Does that sound familiar?
40:28
It's been the sense of our study through Galatians of what
40:30
happened when they became very loveless.
40:33
They left love for legalism. It was at the cross.
40:41
Oh yeah, He was the one that Jesus loved, and it was
40:46
solidified in his heart at the cross by 100 AD.
40:54
At the time of this letter, many of the Christians were second
40:56
and third generation. Like my kids are would be
41:01
considered. Second generation their mom and
41:04
I got. Saved and.
41:05
Now their children and my grandchildren be third
41:08
generation that when you're thinking about, I want you to
41:10
think about it that way. It's not the vibrancy of the
41:13
early church. Like we studied in the book of
41:14
Acts. The book of Acts span about 30
41:17
years. So then you've got more kids and
41:19
being raised in the church and on and on.
41:21
So this is 2, two or three generations down.
41:24
They're not so passionate anymore.
41:26
They're not so zealous. They're beginning to fade away,
41:31
so much so that in Revelation chapter 2, the church in Ephesus
41:34
had to be told what you've left your first love.
41:37
That's the type of believers and the mindset.
41:40
That's how Christianity become a habit rather than a joy or a
41:44
privilege. You you could say that this
41:47
generation had become traditional, half hearted, even
41:50
nominal. The phrase that we use today to
41:53
describe that behaviors, you might hear it as cultural
41:56
Christianity. And the idea behind that word
41:59
is, you know, you're a Christian in name, but your life is
42:02
separate. You're not connected to God or
42:04
you're not living for God. You're, you say you're a
42:06
Christian, but a simple examination of your life would
42:09
demonstrate that you're not, which you always have to check
42:12
your heart on that. It's just like even if it's just
42:14
in a small scale, say, well, you know, look at how many people
42:17
are going to church, you know, not super impressed by how many
42:20
people are going to church. What I am impressed about is how
42:23
many people are following and have a walk with the Lord.
42:26
That's impressive. I would like the church filled
42:30
with men and women that have a walk with the Lord.
42:32
Of course we'd want unbelievers, but nominal cultural
42:35
Christianity is going to sink you.
42:38
It's such a waste of time pretending when you have the
42:42
real thing, pretending when God is ready to change you.
42:47
It was J Vernon McGee, a commentator, Bible teacher who's
42:50
still on the radio even though he also went home to be with the
42:52
Lord. He put it this way.
42:53
He described them as assembly line Christians programmed by
42:58
the computer of compromise. Interesting.
43:03
We see so much of that happening.
43:05
Today, so many playing games with God, so many trying to live
43:09
life based on the faith of their parents or grandparents, or even
43:12
worse, having all this all of Jesus and discipleship poured
43:17
into him. But but then the culture rips it
43:19
away from them through deconstruction or the false
43:22
teachings of the world or whatever new thing the enemy
43:25
invents to destroy people's lives.
43:30
That's the group here he's writing.
43:31
To. Advanced in years, John.
43:35
Writes this letter as a fatherly epistle out of loving concern
43:40
for his children, whose steadfastness in the truth is
43:43
being threatened by the lure of worldliness and the guile of
43:48
false teachers. Isn't that a timely word for us?
43:53
I believe it is. How careful we need to be.
43:58
Not to settle for a religious experience with the efforts of
44:04
man the flesh, but instead just go all the way.
44:09
Surrender into that relationship that God wants with you.
44:14
Not 1/2 hearted, not one foot in the world, 1 foot in the church.
44:19
You know, 1 foot to impress this group.
44:21
And it's such a miserable way to live.
44:24
You have too much of the of the church, you have too much of
44:28
Jesus to really enjoy the world because you're all convicted all
44:31
the time. You go partying, go like I
44:33
shouldn't be here, and then you repent, you come back, but you
44:35
also have too much of the world in you where you won't go all in
44:40
for the things of the Lord because.
44:43
You kind of like the world and so.
44:45
You want to keep a few things along the way, but they're like,
44:47
they're like these huge rocks and boulders and they just slow
44:50
you down. That's why the Bible says to lay
44:52
aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares you.
44:58
You don't want so much of the world.
45:00
You want all of the Lord and to be able to follow Him.
45:05
John's writing. To a group of people.
45:07
Who have fallen prey to the tendency to lay back and relax
45:11
in their Christianity, so unlike the vibrancy that we studied and
45:15
witnessed through the life of the apostles in the early church
45:18
throughout the book of Acts. And as you survey this letter,
45:22
as we will in the coming weeks, you'll find that there is no
45:25
mention, no hint of any type of persecution and without
45:30
problems. I know this is hard.
45:31
This will be my final word. Without problems, without pain,
45:35
without persecution. Christians get soft you.
45:40
Can study it yourself in the scriptures.
45:42
The worst time for the people following God is when times were
45:46
good. When everything was comfortable.
45:51
But the best times spiritually seem to blossom in the worst
45:56
times practically. And I know there's a.
46:00
Lot of worse times, right? Now, and I know it's hard, it's
46:02
hard for all of us, very unpredictable, very difficult
46:06
time to live, perilous times. But Church, you and I, we were
46:12
born to be alive right now. God knew the date of our birth
46:18
and while we may have our thoughts about it and may we
46:22
have our concerns about it, remember this my final word.
46:26
I keep saying final word many times, but my final, final,
46:31
final word is this. God is God.
46:35
And I am not so Father. Thank you for this launch into
46:39
this letter and all that you want to accomplish in US.
46:44
I pray my heart of hearts. That my life will become
46:47
simpler, not more complicated, and that I'll learn more of your
46:51
love for me, for this precious church whom I love, but I have
46:59
so much more capacity to love more.
47:03
For the people that are important in.
47:04
My life, my wife, my children, my grandson, my future family,
47:09
all my family. It's not much, but the family
47:12
that I have I love very much. This church family so special
47:17
and precious, this city, my enemies.
47:24
And you know my heart, Lord, I may not like them, but I want to
47:28
love them and serve them. And who knows, you might.
47:31
Change the liking part, I don't know.
47:36
But you are God and I'm not. And we leave here with that
47:39
thought today. Pour out your spirit.
47:42
On this little church. Of ours that belongs to you.
47:45
Stir up love and good works among us so that we might be
47:49
faithful, loyal, reliable men and women.
47:54
That's really our heart of hearts.
47:56
And today, if you need to be forgiven of your sins.
48:01
You want to be born again. Got a question on the?
48:05
Radio today by. Text that says how can I be born
48:07
again? Great question.
48:10
You can be born again by receiving.
48:14
The life of Christ. He gives you new life and you
48:20
just open yourself up to Him and repent of your sins.
48:25
I don't need to convince you of your.
48:26
Failures or your sins, they're evident, so God invites.
48:31
You to follow him. You're here today and.
48:34
You say I need to be. Forgiven, pastor.
48:35
And I say you do so today, if you will confess with your
48:39
mouth, O Lord Jesus, and you believe in your heart that God
48:42
raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
48:45
That's the work of God. He came not to destroy, but to
48:48
save. So you have that sense of
48:52
people, go just wipe them out. And God says no, no, no, bring
48:55
them to me. I have a plan and a purpose for
48:58
their lives. And today, in this moment, if.
49:03
That's what has happening inside.
49:05
Of you, I invite you to respond. I.
49:09
Invite you to respond to the invitation.
49:11
Of Jesus and say OK. I choose to follow you today,
49:14
God. So if that's you, would you just
49:16
stand to your feet? We want to acknowledge that and
49:18
help you along the way. Just here in the room, just
49:21
stand so that I can help. You take the next.
49:24
Step in following Christ. God bless you in the back over
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here, the Holy Spirit. Would just move in your.
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Heart that you would He's already moving.
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He's already begin speaking to you.
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It's it's the time, it's the day, it's the moment, the
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reality of Christ in you, the need for you, the need for you.
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To repent of your sins, perhaps the outflow of the Holy Spirit.
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Is more than just in the room. Maybe it's out on the radio or
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online. I don't.
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Say that lightly. I know that you're attentive.
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I know you've been listening. I know that you hear me sitting
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in that jail cell or on the hospital bed.
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I know, and God knows. And you can respond there, even
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though we don't see you downstairs.
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We don't see you, but God does. Would there be anyone else?
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Today's the day, not tomorrow or next week.
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Today is the day. The work of the of the Holy
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Spirit, drawing it to himself for those.
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Of you that respond. Let me help you let.
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Me help you obey. Let me help you take the step in
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talking to God. You can say something like this.
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You ready? You can repeat after me.
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You could use your own words. The heart of the matter is the
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most important. You can say God, I repent of my
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sin and I choose to follow you. Today I believe Jesus died for
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me and rose again from the dead. Because Jesus, you don't want to
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destroy me. You want to save me and I want
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to be saved. I need it help.
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Me to turn away from my sinful. Past and to follow you from this
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day on and I pray in the authority and the power and the
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name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged.
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By this Bible study delivered live from the sanctuary of
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Calvary Church for prayer, call us at 87730 grace that's
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877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.