Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Living Right in a Wrong World Msg 116 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Living Right in a Wrong World Msg 116 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: One of my mentors, even before I came to seminary,
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  Speaker 1: used to teach us as we were a group of
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  Speaker 1: Marines doing Bible study together. He said, when you run
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  Speaker 1: across that word, just think of pause and let that
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  Speaker 1: sink in. Isn't that a good way to do it?
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  Speaker 1: When you come to Selah, just pause and let it
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  Speaker 1: sink in. It was John Newton who gave the word amazing.
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  Speaker 1: adjacent to the word grace, wasn't it? In that grand hymn,
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  Speaker 1: we all know by heart, we're called two things. A
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  Speaker 1: wretch and lost. Isn't that great? That's why grace is amazing.
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  Speaker 1: Who would care about a wretch? Who would try to
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  Speaker 1: help someone lost? Especially since we were all running in
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  Speaker 1: the wrong direction. Our God. Grace is what God does
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  Speaker 1: for us that we can never deserve, earn, or repay.
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  Speaker 1: It's undeserved favor. If you grasp nothing else in this
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  Speaker 1: new year, may you grasp new dimensions of his grace.
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  Speaker 1: And as you do, you will attach the word amazing
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  Speaker 1: to it. Again and again. Now for the second message
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  Speaker 1: of the day. We want to read from selections of
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  Speaker 1: 1 John. I provided you with an outline as well
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  Speaker 1: as a chart. No need to look at it yet.
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  Speaker 1: We will momentarily. But you might place it at Mark
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  Speaker 1: chapter 3. And then locate 1 John. 1 John. Chapter 1.
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  Speaker 1: Understand it's not the gospel by John. It's toward the
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  Speaker 1: end of the Bible, one of the three letters John wrote,
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  Speaker 1: along with the gospel and the revelation. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: begin our study in 1 John today, which talks about
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  Speaker 1: right living in a wrong world. To make this passage
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  Speaker 1: more meaningful and in respect for the scriptures, we want
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  Speaker 1: to stand together for the reading of God's word. Chapter 1,
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  Speaker 1: verse 1, what was from the beginning, what we have heard,
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  Speaker 1: what we have seen with our eyes, what we have
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  Speaker 1: looked at and touched with our hands concerning the word
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  Speaker 1: of life, and the life was manifested And we have
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  Speaker 1: seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life,
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  Speaker 1: which was with the Father and was manifested to us.
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  Speaker 1: What we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you also,
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  Speaker 1: so that you too may have fellowship with us. And indeed,
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  Speaker 1: our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. These things we write so that our joy
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  Speaker 1: may be made complete. Chapter 2. My little children, I
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  Speaker 1: am writing these things to you so that you may
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  Speaker 1: not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate
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  Speaker 1: with the Father. Jesus Christ the Righteous. He himself is
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  Speaker 1: the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only,
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  Speaker 1: but also for those of the whole world. Verse 18,
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  Speaker 1: same chapter. Children, it is the last hour. Just as
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  Speaker 1: you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists
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  Speaker 1: have appeared. From this we know that it is the
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  Speaker 1: last hour. 26. These things I have written to you
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  Speaker 1: concerning those who are trying to deceive you. And finally
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  Speaker 1: chapter 5 verse 10. The one who believes in the
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  Speaker 1: Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one
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  Speaker 1: who does not believe, God has made him a liar.
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  Speaker 1: The one who does not believe God has made him
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  Speaker 1: a liar because he has not believed in the testimony
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  Speaker 1: that God has given concerning his Son. And the testimony
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  Speaker 1: is this, that God has given us eternal life and
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  Speaker 1: this life is in his Son. He who has the Son...
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  Speaker 1: has the life. He who does not have the Son
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  Speaker 1: of God does not have the life. These things I
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  Speaker 1: have written to you who believe in the name of
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  Speaker 1: the Son of God so that you may know that
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  Speaker 1: you have eternal life. Our hope is that the truth
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  Speaker 1: of this five-chapter letter will come to life and become
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  Speaker 1: a part of our lives in the days ahead. Please
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  Speaker 1: be seated. by with me as we pray briefly. Father,
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  Speaker 1: help us live right in a wrong world, a world
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  Speaker 1: that's lost its way, a world that listens to the
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  Speaker 1: wrong voices, a world where the majority is rarely, if ever, right,
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  Speaker 1: a world that's impressed with all the wrong things and
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  Speaker 1: ignores the Most, if not all, the righteous things. Help
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  Speaker 1: us to live right in a world like this, but
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  Speaker 1: help us to do so graciously and winsomely rather than
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  Speaker 1: in an obnoxious manner. Teach us how to be a
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  Speaker 1: witness like Christ was, as comfortable standing alongside a prostitute
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  Speaker 1: as he was standing alongside a devoted disciple. Deliver us,
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  Speaker 1: our Father, from first impressions, judgmental attitudes, prejudices formed by
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  Speaker 1: previous years of wrong teaching and wrong opinions. Show us
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  Speaker 1: that living right in this wrong world can be done
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  Speaker 1: through the power of Christ. Show us the joy of
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  Speaker 1: giving generously, Father, in a world that's tight-fisted and selfish.
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  Speaker 1: And deliver us from serving ourselves. We've done that long
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  Speaker 1: enough to detest it. So open our eyes to needs
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  Speaker 1: that are outside ourselves. And give us great joy. As
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  Speaker 1: we're reminded in the long haul. This is your world.
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  Speaker 1: You're in charge. This is our father's world. In the
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  Speaker 1: name of the one. who first lived right. Jesus, we pray.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone sit.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: A person's writings are a literary self-portrait. And, of course,
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  Speaker 1: the more that person writes, the better you get to
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  Speaker 1: know the author. If he or she is careful with
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  Speaker 1: the words and has a style that becomes rather unique,
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  Speaker 1: you don't even know. You don't have to know who
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  Speaker 1: wrote the book. You know before you go very far
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  Speaker 1: into it. That's that kind of writing. Sir Francis Bacon,
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  Speaker 1: centuries ago, put it like this. Reading maketh a broad man,
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  Speaker 1: speaking a ready man, writing an exact man. The meticulous
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  Speaker 1: precision in the use of just the right words selected
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  Speaker 1: and shaped to convey just the right meaning gives the
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  Speaker 1: reader just the right understanding. Such writing doesn't necessitate the
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  Speaker 1: author to attach his or her name. It is all
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  Speaker 1: revealed in the style and the terminology, the expression of
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  Speaker 1: the writer. The Bible is full of such exact writing.
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  Speaker 1: You become so acquainted with Paul that no one has
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  Speaker 1: to tell you that's from Paul's writings. You become aware
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  Speaker 1: of Moses' approach to this and you know you're reading
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  Speaker 1: Moses' words. And what is true of Paul and Moses
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  Speaker 1: is certainly true of John the Apostle. At the time
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  Speaker 1: he wrote this little letter known to us today as
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  Speaker 1: First John, he had far more years behind him than
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  Speaker 1: in front of him. As best we were able to
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  Speaker 1: to tell, he was somewhere between 88 and 93 years
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  Speaker 1: of age. Let's call him a 90-year-old man. Remarkable, isn't it,
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  Speaker 1: that that man at that age was so in touch
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  Speaker 1: with his time and at the same time, not lacking
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  Speaker 1: at all in wisdom. Because of his age, he saw
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  Speaker 1: more clearly than ever. And that's what troubled him enough
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  Speaker 1: to write the letter. Because by the time he writes
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  Speaker 1: it and has reached this age, the church is now
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  Speaker 1: in the hands of second-generation Christians and third-generation Christians, all
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  Speaker 1: of them, of course, younger than John. He who has
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  Speaker 1: outlived all the other apostles is very much aware of
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  Speaker 1: the erosion that has set in. The church begins a
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  Speaker 1: long drift about this time. And the complacency and indifference
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  Speaker 1: of this church, by that I mean the church as
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  Speaker 1: a whole, as well as the local churches, all of
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  Speaker 1: that perfect feeding ground for the cults. They love untaught churches.
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  Speaker 1: Cults feed on Christians who don't know their Bibles. And
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  Speaker 1: because of that, they are fallen prey to some of
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  Speaker 1: the teachings of that day known to us now as Gnosticism.
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  Speaker 1: We'll get into that later. What a life this man
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  Speaker 1: has lived. Just to set the record straight, John never
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  Speaker 1: did look like the one you see in the stained
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  Speaker 1: glass windows. None of the apostles looked like that. And
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  Speaker 1: the one who painted him in the last supper didn't
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  Speaker 1: do him any good service by painting him as he did,
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  Speaker 1: looking so youthful and almost effeminate. As a matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: as we will hear today, John was truly a man's man.
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  Speaker 1: He's the son of Zebedee who owns a fishing business
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  Speaker 1: in the Sea of Galilee, and he's worked the sea
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  Speaker 1: all of his life until along comes a stranger who
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  Speaker 1: tells him to follow him. John, who served alongside his
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  Speaker 1: older brother James as sons of Zebedee, and Peter as well,
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  Speaker 1: has been in a rather lucrative business. They have servants,
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  Speaker 1: they have a staff, if you will, and they have
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  Speaker 1: a good business. One of the archaeological discoveries was a
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  Speaker 1: house in Jerusalem that sold fish. May very well be
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  Speaker 1: that the James or the John and James' brother, sons
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  Speaker 1: of Zebedee business, had a branch office, if you will,
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  Speaker 1: for the selling of fish in Jerusalem, though they lived
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  Speaker 1: in the country of Galilee. Turn first, before we get
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  Speaker 1: to 1 John, to Mark chapter 3. And I want
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  Speaker 1: you to see this initial occasion when they leave their
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  Speaker 1: nets to follow him. And I want you to observe
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  Speaker 1: a nickname that Jesus at this time gives to John.
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  Speaker 1: 313 of Mark. He went up on the mountain and
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  Speaker 1: summoned those whom he himself wanted. The he is Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: He summoned those he wanted and they came to him.
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  Speaker 1: Watch closely. He appointed twelve So that they would be
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  Speaker 1: with him and that he could send them out to preach.
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  Speaker 1: Pause right there. Selah. Notice the two reasons and notice
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  Speaker 1: the order in which they are revealed. Jesus called the
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  Speaker 1: 12 in military terms. They would be called raw recruits.
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  Speaker 1: They have no idea what's in front of them. They
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  Speaker 1: have no idea of this man's background. They have no
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  Speaker 1: idea of how they will be used. All they know
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  Speaker 1: is this electric magnet of an individual spoke as no
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  Speaker 1: other one had ever spoken and they left their nets
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  Speaker 1: to follow him. First to be with him and second
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  Speaker 1: in the verse that he might send him out to preach.
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  Speaker 1: How different from today. People are hardly a week old
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  Speaker 1: in Christ and we put them on the streets to
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  Speaker 1: make Christ known. They hardly know their way around. They're
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  Speaker 1: raw recruits. They need time, time alone, time in solitude,
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  Speaker 1: time in pain, time to grow. And then they become
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  Speaker 1: sterling and reliable and accurate witnesses for Christ. So he
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  Speaker 1: sends them out to preach and to have authority to
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  Speaker 1: cast out demons. Notice that he appointed the twelve, Simon,
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  Speaker 1: to whom he gave the name Peter. The word means rock.
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  Speaker 1: And he also called James, the son of Zebedee, and John.
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  Speaker 1: The brother of James. Chances are good, since James' name
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  Speaker 1: always appears before John, James is the older. As you do,
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  Speaker 1: and I do, and our families, we usually name our
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  Speaker 1: children in the order of their birth. James came, and
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  Speaker 1: with him others, and then the younger John. So James
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  Speaker 1: and John, please observe, to them he gave the name Boanerges.
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  Speaker 1: It's a Hebrew word that means sons of tumult, sons
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  Speaker 1: of thunder. Raised a kid like that? Don't answer out loud.
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  Speaker 1: You know right away what he has in mind. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: knows these men. They are admittedly fishermen. They've made their
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  Speaker 1: living on the sea. They've lifted the nets. They've cast
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  Speaker 1: the nets. They've counted the fish. They've sold the fish.
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  Speaker 1: They've cleaned the fish. They've planned for the future. They
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  Speaker 1: know fishing. Their hands reveal it. Not their hearts. Their
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  Speaker 1: hearts reveal little of spiritual things. Their hearts have been
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  Speaker 1: caught up in the things of the fishing trade. They've
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  Speaker 1: not made a change. And in their hearts, well, let's
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  Speaker 1: say they were men with violent tempers. Certainly James and
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  Speaker 1: John or they would never be given these names or
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  Speaker 1: this nickname. So John, let's trace it, was chosen and
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  Speaker 1: trained by Jesus who became John's hero. He is like
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  Speaker 1: the other 11 sent out to preach and to teach
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  Speaker 1: and to cast out demons. He is evaluated by the
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  Speaker 1: Lord and regularly is sitting at his feet as the
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  Speaker 1: rough edges of intolerance and impatience and this explosive temper
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  Speaker 1: and pride and overreaching ambition and prejudice all begin to
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  Speaker 1: be whittled away. But not at first. It takes time.
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  Speaker 1: When he comes to the Last Supper, he is disillusioned
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  Speaker 1: to hear his hero say, I'm going to go away,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to die, but I will come again and
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  Speaker 1: I will take you to myself. John hears nothing beyond that,
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  Speaker 1: except I'm going to lose him. He's not going to
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  Speaker 1: be with us anymore. But then Jesus brings comfort as
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  Speaker 1: he says to him, a new commandment I give to
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  Speaker 1: you that you love one another. As I have loved you,
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  Speaker 1: that you also love one another. By this all will
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  Speaker 1: know that you are my disciples, if you have love
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  Speaker 1: for one another. That stuck. That hit John's brain like
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  Speaker 1: shrapnel hitting the mind. And suddenly John realizes the lack
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  Speaker 1: of love in his own life and begins to cultivate
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  Speaker 1: a whole new direction. He ultimately becomes one of the
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  Speaker 1: leaders in the early church, Peter and John. Peter named first,
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  Speaker 1: not only probably because he's older, but because he's the
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  Speaker 1: leader between the two, more so than John. But remember, Peter, James,
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  Speaker 1: and John are the closest of the three to the
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  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus. Remember, it is John to whom Jesus speaks
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  Speaker 1: while hanging on the cross. Son, behold your mother. And mother,
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  Speaker 1: behold your son. John, no doubt, is standing near, if
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  Speaker 1: not next to Mary at the crucifixion. And can you
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  Speaker 1: imagine being the mother watching your son crucified? That's a
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  Speaker 1: Selah moment as well, isn't it? So Mary, heartbroken, grieving,
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  Speaker 1: has John's arm around her until she dies. Tradition tells
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  Speaker 1: us John remained in Jerusalem throughout the time. He then
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  Speaker 1: made his way to Rome. At this time, Nero has
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  Speaker 1: died and Domitian has come as the ruler and his
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  Speaker 1: persecution is twisted. Domitian is threatened by the presence of
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  Speaker 1: John because of his leadership and respect in the church
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  Speaker 1: and because those who follow him follow another Caesar, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: whom they teach has been raised from the dead and
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  Speaker 1: still lives today. Threatened by the presence of John, Domitian
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  Speaker 1: banishes him to Patmos, but not before he tries to
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  Speaker 1: kill him. Another tradition has told us that Domitian had
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  Speaker 1: him thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil. to kill him.
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  Speaker 1: But he didn't die. He survived. That frightened Domitian even
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  Speaker 1: further because those emperors were so given to superstition that
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  Speaker 1: he decided the best thing to do is to get
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  Speaker 1: rid of him, get him out of the land, get
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  Speaker 1: him away from his homeland, the land we know today
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  Speaker 1: as Turkey. where he had been a pastor in the
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  Speaker 1: city of Ephesus. So he goes to Patmos, and if
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  Speaker 1: you ever travel the Greek isles, be sure that your
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  Speaker 1: itinerary includes the little isolated island of Patmos. It sits
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  Speaker 1: at the southern base of the Aegean Sea, just before
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  Speaker 1: you enter into the Mediterranean. It's a rock island. It's isolated.
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  Speaker 1: It's rugged, certainly in the first century. There was a
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  Speaker 1: cave on the island that some say to this day,
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  Speaker 1: they say it was there John made his home. Not
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  Speaker 1: unlike the one who played the role of Castaway in
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  Speaker 1: the movie, found a home in a cave. But John
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  Speaker 1: was not silent. In fact, while there, because of the
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  Speaker 1: solitude and because of the isolation, his life deepens. His
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  Speaker 1: life has passed in review more than once. And while there,
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  Speaker 1: he takes up his stylus and begins to write. He
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  Speaker 1: writes the gospel that bears his name, which I've often
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  Speaker 1: thought could be called what Jesus means to me. And
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  Speaker 1: then he also writes the Revelation, this magnificent prophetic book
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  Speaker 1: that we've studied in years past. While there, quite likely,
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  Speaker 1: he wrote one, if not all, three of the letters.
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  Speaker 1: And in writing the letters, he is addressing the church
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  Speaker 1: at large. It was Campbell Morgan who said, probably this
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  Speaker 1: is the last apostolic message to the whole church. So
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  Speaker 1: we pay attention when we come to a letter like
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  Speaker 1: the letter of 1 John. People saw John as a
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  Speaker 1: man who had learned to discipline his terrible emotions and
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  Speaker 1: to channel his restless drive. As one biographer puts it,
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  Speaker 1: he began as an explosive Roman candle, but he ended
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  Speaker 1: his life like a steadily burning torch. I love the
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  Speaker 1: way William Barker, in his book, Twelve Who Were Chosen,
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  Speaker 1: writes of John. The disciple did not have halos, neither
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  Speaker 1: did they strike pious poses or wear 20 yards of
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  Speaker 1: silk to work, nor did the disciples have the sweet expressions, smiles,
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  Speaker 1: and upturned eyes that artists have given them. Take any
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus' disciples out of the stained glass windows and
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  Speaker 1: see how human they really were. They were amazingly similar
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  Speaker 1: in temperament and makeup to so many of us. Artists
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  Speaker 1: misrepresent John. They depict him as a delicate, beardless dreamer.
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  Speaker 1: Far from it. There was something powerful, startling, and electric
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  Speaker 1: about John. He was a child of storm, like his
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  Speaker 1: native Sea of Galilee on which he made his living
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  Speaker 1: by fishing. He was given to hot, terrible outbursts, tornadoes
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  Speaker 1: of anger, and whirlwinds of enthusiasm, so much so that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus nicknamed him a son of thunder. That's the one
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  Speaker 1: who wrote the letter. That's the one who wrote the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: But between that temperament and the one when he reaches
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  Speaker 1: the age of 90 and afterwards, there's a change that's
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  Speaker 1: taken place. By the way, isn't that encouraging to all
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  Speaker 1: of us? I mean, you're sitting there thinking, oh Lord,
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  Speaker 1: me next. Do that in my life. I love the
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  Speaker 1: line from A.B. Bruce. In his great masterwork, the training
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  Speaker 1: of the twelve, Jesus called those twelve not for who
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  Speaker 1: they were, but for who they were to become. That's
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  Speaker 1: how he's called you, and God knows that's how he's
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  Speaker 1: called me. The former John we will never meet, except
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  Speaker 1: in the pages of biographies. But the godly, devoted John
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  Speaker 1: the pastor says, is the one who has given us
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  Speaker 1: this first letter. Now, let me simplify this by giving
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  Speaker 1: you three purposes for which the letter was written. May
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  Speaker 1: I do that first? It was first to ignite Christians
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  Speaker 1: with new zeal. The Christians, as I said earlier, had
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  Speaker 1: become indifferent and complacent, and as a result, John was
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  Speaker 1: troubled that the church was in the hands of those
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  Speaker 1: who would be easy prey for the cults. So he
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  Speaker 1: ignites their zeal in writing the letter. Second, he writes
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  Speaker 1: to expose false teaching. Heresy. It's a good time for
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  Speaker 1: me to pause and ask you, do you know heresy
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  Speaker 1: when you run into it? Do you know truth from
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  Speaker 1: error when it comes to the gospel? If I ask
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  Speaker 1: you to write on a 3x5 card The gospel, could
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  Speaker 1: you do that in two sentences, perhaps three, preferably one?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: If you cannot, the cult is looking for you. You
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: are ready, pray for their appealing message, which will be
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: filled with partial scriptures and others taken out of context.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: So begin, if not before, begin today to become a
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: serious student of truth. It will help you detect error.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: More on that later. The third purpose is to reassure
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: believers that they have eternal life. They have eternal life.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: By the way, when you get to be John's age,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: you begin to see things in contrast. And you'll see
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: a lot of the contrast in the letter of John.
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: Light and darkness. Truth contrasted to error. Life contrasted to death. Love, hate. Righteousness, lawlessness.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: Children of God, children of the devil. Knowing the truth.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: Loving others. Demonstrating the truth. As opposed to just talking
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: about it. christ and antichrist that's the way it is
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: isn't it with older people you noticed it don't answer
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: out loud when you get a little older you start
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: seeing beyond the blur of your times things become clearer
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: to you before our one of our granddaughters went off
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: to college recently i had a little time with her
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: and i was talking to her about life and uh
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: She was telling me about her situation, and I listened
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: with great interest and love. And then I said some
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: things to her, and she smiled, and she said, You know, Bubba,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: the thing I like about being with you is there
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: aren't a lot of gray areas, are there? And I said,
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: You know, sweetheart, there used to be a lot of them.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying there aren't gray areas. Of course,
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: there always will be. But there are less the older
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: I get. The clearer I see truth, the more boldly
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: I detect error. I can even read it between the lines,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: and I'm no longer impressed with size and impressive things
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: and the external stuff of life. I'm sick of a
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: lot of that. That's why ministering through television has never
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: appealed to me. It's an entertainment industry, and there are
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: a lot of fine entertainers that can do it, but
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: I'm not in the entertaining business. I'm in the teaching work,
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: the exposition of the scriptures, which I deliver exactly as
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: I see them from the page with little concern about
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: what you think of it. Years ago, I used to
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: be very concerned, too concerned about whether you liked me
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: or not. I can't tell you how little I care
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: whether you like me. It doesn't, it isn't important and
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. What matters is that You have a
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: relationship with the living God that will span time and eternity.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: And you know where you stand, and you know it
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: if you're not standing there. That is what interests me.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: And that's what we're going to learn from this letter
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: of 1 John. So listen well. Gerontologists tell us that
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: we have several stages or ages in life. There's a
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: chronological age, which is marked by, of course, dates. That's
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: a function of our years. There's a physiological age, which
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: has to do with the measure of our physical well-being.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: You may say, I'm 50, but I don't feel 50.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: I feel 30. That's because physiologically, you're in good shape.
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: You feel better. I know 30-year-olds that feel like they're 50. Physiologically,
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: they are in contrast. Then there's also a psychological age.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: That's the age you feel. You feel better. My wife
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: has told me in years recent, we're no longer going
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: to have her birthday parties. Because she stopped at 50.
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: And that's it. So I've been, I married her then
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: when she was 8. Or something like that. Why? She
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: feels like that age. She doesn't feel the age. Nor
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: do I. There's a spiritual age. That's an age of maturity.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: That's an age determined by how well you handle testing
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: and trials. How you handle those who mistreat you. How
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: you respond to hardships. How you relate to those in need.
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: Those are all levels of spiritual maturity. How much you
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: help those who are truly in need. What compassion you have.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: for them, et cetera. So John is of the age
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: where all of that impacts him. Now, let me show
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: you some clues. Turn the outline over and look at
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: the chart, okay? This chart was put together by a
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: very finite human being whose name appears at the bottom.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: This chart is not inspired. This chart is not scripture.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: So you may find that 1 John falls into five
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: or six or seven sections. As I read it, I
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: find four. sections, I find that the main theme is
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: to have fellowship with God and therefore fellowship with one another.
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: In fact, I see that when I come to 1
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: John chapter 1. What we have seen and heard, we
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: proclaim to you that you may have fellowship with us. Indeed,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. When you have a vital relationship with the
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ and The result is a joyful life,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: a clean life, a discerning life, and a confident life.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: I didn't make those up. I find those in clues
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: that I've detected from the letter of 1 John. What
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: are the clues? Sounds like a session in CSI, doesn't it?
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Which I have never watched, but I hear it's a
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: great program. Anyway, back to 1 John. 1 John chapter
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: 1 verse 4 is the first hint that I want
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: you to see. These things we write so that. Now,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: don't go any further. Just look at that. I've got
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: that marked in red. These things we write, followed by
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: a purpose clause. For this reason, for this purpose. Now,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: look at chapter 2, verse 1. My little children, I
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: am writing these things to you so that. Don't go
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: any further. Stop right there. That's a clue. Sounds like
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: chapter 1, verse 4. Links with chapter 2, verse 1, right?
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Because it is. He's telling us the reason he wrote
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: the letter. Look at chapter 2, verse 26. You'll come
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: across a similar statement. These things I have written to
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: you concerning. Stop right there. Stop. You've already started reading further.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: These things I have written to you concerning. So that
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: sounds like 2, 1. Sounds like 1, 4. 226 is
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: another reason that he wrote the book. I go to
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: chapter 5, verse 13. These things I have written to
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: you who believe. Stop right there. In each of the
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: four places, he's saying, this is why I'm writing. Those
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: who write books are told by the publishers, be sure
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: that you state the purpose for the book. Because your
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: book will be of interest to certain individuals. And if
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: you state the purpose clearly, they will want to get
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: the book. This book is written to, or this book
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: is written for the purpose of, or it's written because
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: of this situation. You explained it. That's what John's doing.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: Now back to chapter 1, verse 4. I get so
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: excited about this, I can hardly stand it. Anyway, verse
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: 4 of chapter 1. These things I've written to you
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: so that our joy may be made complete. That's number one.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: See why I say a joyful life? When you have
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: a relationship with Christ that is meaningful and deep, the
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: result is a joy that's overflowing. When you do not,
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: you do not. So John's letter is about having an
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: overflowing abundance of joy, even at the end of the
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: first century, even after times an attempt of someone to
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: kill him. And even after being exiled on Patmos, he
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: comes back and hits the ground running, saying, I want
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: all of you to know there's a joy that many
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: of you are missing. And I know it because I
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: have this kind of relationship. And I'm going to write
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: to you and tell you how it can happen, that
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: your joy may be full. I love it that this
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: old man is still having a great time in life.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Isn't it amazing how age stacks up and And rather
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: than getting joyful, we get crotchety. I mean, how many 90-year-olds,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: don't answer out loud, how many 90-year-olds do you love
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: being with? I mean, you think, oh, Lord, may this
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: meal pass quickly so I can get him back to
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: the home. Why? Because 90-year-olds aren't usually fun to be around.
• 35:01
  Speaker 3: Why?
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: Because they choose not to be. Their joy isn't full.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: Why isn't it? They don't know the truth of 1 John,
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: plain and simple. This letter will tell us how to
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: have a joy that's overflowing, regardless of our age. Psychological, physiologically,
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: or whatever, chronologically. Look at chapter 2, verse 1. My
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: little children, I'm writing these things to you so that
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: you may not sin. Whoa, does that sound interesting? Anybody
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: else interested in not sinning? I think all of us
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: would see that. Of course. Of course. Some would say
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: that means that you won't habitually sin. That's not what
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: this is about. This is so you'll have less battle
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: with sin. So this is a good time for me
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: to fill in the blanks. So turn your chart back
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: over and let's go here. Under theme and structure, let's
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: take it one, two, three, and four. When we have
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: the kind of intimate relationship, fellowship with God, our joy
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: is complete. So write that somewhere on your outline, okay?
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Our joy is complete. And joy comes from walking in
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: the light, not in the darkness. You walk in the darkness,
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: it's not joyful. Talk to people who are living their
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: lives in the darkness, you won't find joy. You'll find suspicion.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: You'll find guilt. You'll find misery. You'll find thoughts of suicide.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: You will not find joy. Joy comes from walking in
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: the light. Number two, right here with this second chapter,
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: I am writing so that you will not sin. When
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: we have this kind of relationship with God, our battle
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: with sin is diminished. I didn't say it's ended. I
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: said it's diminished. Because he goes on to say, and
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: when you do sin, we have an advocate with the Father.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Speaking of that, back to the chart. Look on the chart,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: the very bottom. In the first section, Jesus is presented
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: as the Son of God. In the second section, he's
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: presented as our advocate. You know what an advocate is?
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Most of you do. Some of you may not. When
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: you have someone representing you in the courtroom, he's called
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: a lawyer or she's called an attorney. That's an advocate.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: That's a person who pleads your case. It's a person
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: who represents you before one in authority. Spiritually speaking, our
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: God is an authority. Jesus Christ is our advocate. He
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: is our defense attorney. And he's called that in verse
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: 1 of chapter 2. We have an advocate with the Father,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ the righteous. So I want you to see
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: how his name appears in that way here in this verse.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: Now you get to the third section of this. You
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: come to the part where we deal with truth and error.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Remember what I read? 226. These things I have written
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: You know what's the problem with that in their lives?
• 38:00
  Speaker 1: They didn't even know it. They're being deceived. If someone
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: is deceiving you, you don't know it. I've said over
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: the years that when a thief shows up, he doesn't
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: wear a chartreuse suit, come at noon, ringing a bell, saying,
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: I'm going to steal from your house. That's not the
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: way it works. When does he come? At night, when
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: you least suspect him. Through a door you leave open
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: because you didn't set the alarm. And he takes something
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: that is easily taken and very valuable and is on
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: his way. He's deceiving you. He's not letting you know
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: that he's there. Error is just like that. These things
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: I've written concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: And John talks about that. How do I know if
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: it's truth or if it's error? Great question. Look at
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: chapter 4, verse 1. Do not believe every spirit, but
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: I am amazed at the people individuals will follow. You say, well,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: just look at how big that church is. It has
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with truth. It has nothing to do
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: with truth. Size of church, amount of budget, the expensive suits,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: the jets they fly, has nothing to do with the truth.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: The truth is the truth based on God's truth, the Bible.
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: If it isn't from the scriptures, it's questionable. And these
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: people were being taken in by those who were talking
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: about how great it is to sort of see life
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: through a sophisticated set of glasses. And you don't have
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: to worry much about morality. It doesn't matter. The main
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: thing is knowledge. You have this super knowledge of the divine.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: All that stuff. The truth is they're being deceived. Truth
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: is a rather practical thing. It helps you behave yourself.
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: It makes you loyal to your partner throughout life as
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: a married person. It makes you faithful as a parent
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: to your kids. It prompts you to do what you
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: should do with your money. Truth helps you detect the
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: person who comes to your door with a set of
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: CDs to play and to let you know that there's
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: a greater religion than the one you've been exposed. You
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: listen to it. If you even bother, you quickly detect
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: Christ is not Lord. And the Bible is not the
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: inspired final word of God. There are people like that.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: John's saying, I'm writing to you so you'll know. This
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: is a good time for me to have you write
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: up a list. I'm into lists these days. Have you
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: noticed the last several Sundays, I've got this list, that list,
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: this list. So let me give you another list. On
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: the top left-hand side of your chart, put one through six, okay?
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: Come on, you guys. I see some guys going, okay, honey,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: you write. I can't write anymore. I'm kind of losing
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: it here. Write your own stuff. One, two, three, four, five, six.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: Here we go. The benefits of truth. I'm going to
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: give you six quick benefits. Number one, it gives stability
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: to your faith. If you don't have truth, you're left
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: with emotions and you're always going to be up and down.
• 41:34
  Speaker 1: Truth stabilizes your walk of faith. Number two, truth strengthens
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: you when you're tested. It strengthens you through times of testing.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: Show me a person who walks in the truth, who
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: has really made a serious study of the scriptures, who
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: is really applying the scriptures, and I'll show you a
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: person who can handle a tough x-ray from the doctor.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: I'll show you a person who doesn't fall apart when
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: he hears the C word. I'll show you an individual
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: who counts on what God can do greater than what
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: human medicine can do. Truth. Strengthens you when you're tested.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Number three, it enables you to handle the Bible accurately.
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: It enables you to handle the Bible accurately. Here's the
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: fourth one. Truth equips you to detect and confront error.
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: It equips you to detect and confront error. That's not
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: the preacher's job. That's your job. I can never touch
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: your children like you can. Your children need to know
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: how to detect error. That's got to come from mom
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: and dad. I can help what I do, but you're
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: the parent. You're the friend of the neighbor. I'm not
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: that neighbor. Number five, it allows you to live with confidence.
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: It's amazing what it does to an insecure life. Truth
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: helps you stand up tall. And number six, truth releases
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: us from fears and superstition. I shouldn't be, but I
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: am forever surprised at those who are so superstitious about stuff.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: Full moon. Man. Black cat. Ladder. How dumb can you
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: live your life? Honestly. Ooh, don't step on a crack.
• 43:48
  Speaker 3: Ooh.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: Get a life. You get a hold of the scriptures,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: it is amazing what it does to cracks on the sidewalk.
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: You want to step on every one of them. You
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: want to own a black cat and on and on.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: I don't, but you do because you like cats. I'm
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: not going to go there. I'm not going to. Number four,
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: 1 John 5, 13. When we have this kind of
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: relationship with God, we have the assurance of eternal life.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: We know when we die where we're going. We know that.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: Not because we feel like it, but look at what
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: he says. Verse 13, chapter 5. These things I've written
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: to you who believe in the name of the Son
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: of God, so that you may, K-N-O-W, that you have
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: eternal life. Average person today, you ask, are you going
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: to go to heaven or you're not? Oh, I'm not
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: sure there is heaven. But if there is heaven, probably not.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Life I've lived. You don't know if you're going to
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: go to heaven? No. Then you don't know what you've
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: done with Jesus. What's he got to do with heaven?
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: You don't connect the dots. When you get Jesus Christ
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: in the proper place, you know you have eternal life.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: You don't fear death. You're not worried about it. If
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: it comes, it comes. Anyway, four applications and I'm through.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: And everybody said, amen. I heard that. I heard that.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: Number one, in an angry, dark world, the joyful Christian
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: is a bright light. In an angry, dark, add the
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: word dark. In an angry, dark world, the joyful Christian
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: is a bright light. Believe me, they find out you're
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: a believer and they see your great sense of humor.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: They cannot stay away. You are a curiosity to them
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: because a Christian, you're supposed to be morbid, serious. Don't laugh.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: You know, like stained glass windows. What a shame. When
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: you get through reading 1 John, you'll be laughing. Number two,
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: in a lawless society, the clean Christian is a contagious witness.
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: Contagious witness. They never could figure out in the military
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: why I wouldn't go to the slop shoot and get
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: drunk with them. They never could figure out why I
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: wouldn't go down to the village and have sex with
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: the Nason. There in Okinawa where there were 5,000 prostitutes
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: and all of them physically beautiful. How come you don't
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: go down with us to the village? How come you
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: don't want to do that? Well, frankly, I'm married. What's
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: that got to do with going down to the village?
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: For me, everything. And they look at me like, well,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: you think you're some kind of hotshot. I don't. Is
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: that appealing to you? Yeah, I'm tempted by that, sure.
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: But my friend on the island used to say, if
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: you walk really fast, in fact, if you run through
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: the village, you You won't be tempted. You can't lust
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: and run at the same time. It works. And they
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: never could figure me out. So they called me friar, deacon, preacher.
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: Until they got a disease and came to me saying, hey,
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: I just bent over the medic and I got gonorrhea.
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: And I'm scared. Hmm, I'm sorry. Sit down. Let's talk
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: about it. Why would they come to me? I'm not
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: a medical doctor. I can't cure gonorrhea. Because they're curious.
• 47:58
  Speaker 1: They'll never short circuit or shortcut a clean life. Not pious,
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: not standoffish. Oh, I'd go to the slop shoot. I
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: just wouldn't drink what they'd drink. These guys are drinking
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: beer out of the pitcher. I mean, along with the chaplain.
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: How's that? And I'd help them all get back to bed.
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  Speaker 1: They remembered that. That's another story. Number three, in a
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: deceptive culture, the discerning Christian is a convicting presence. In
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: a deceptive culture, when you think clearly in black and white,
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: right and wrong, yes and no, sinful and righteous. Oh,
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: my goodness. Just your presence is convicting. Where did I
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: put that? Erwin Lutzer in his book, Ten Lies About God,
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: tells this story. Whenever I'm sitting next to someone on
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: a plane, the conversation almost always turns from the weather
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: to religion to Christ. A few years ago, my wife
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: and I were sitting together when I noticed the woman
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: across the aisle was wearing a cross necklace, a cross necklace,
• 49:18
  Speaker 1: hoping to stimulate it. I said, hey, thanks for wearing
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: that cross. We do have a wonderful Savior, don't we?
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: She rolled her eyes and responded, well, I don't think
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: of the cross like you do. I mean, just look
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: at this one. I look closer. She showed me that
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: beneath the cross was the Jewish Star of David. And
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: beneath that was a trinket that symbolized the Hindu god Om.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: I'm in social work, she told me. I've discovered that
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: people find God in different ways. Christianity is but one
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: path to the divine. She went on to say that
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: she preferred spirituality to religion. That's a big line these days.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: The search for experience to specific beliefs. She believed in
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: a pantheistic God, a force that need not be feared.
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: Conversations such as these reinforce my belief that spirituality is
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: flourishing and with it a growing confidence that there are
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: many ways to reach God. Another work titled The Trivialization
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: of God by Donald McCullough gives these examples of how
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: we create our own concept of God. The God of
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: my health and wealth. The God of my emotional need.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: The God of my gender. The God of my near-death experience.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: It's error. It'll never get them to heaven. Get this straight.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: Never forget this. How can I know? That's the last one.
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: In a confused age, the confident Christian is a strong magnet.
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: Whom have we, Lord, but thee, so thirst to satisfy?
• 51:07
  Speaker 1: Exhaust the spring, the water's free, all other streams are dry.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: All other streams are dry. All other gods are false.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: All other religions, if you want to call it, that
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: will lead you in the wrong path. Jesus said, I
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: to the Father but what? Through me. And he individualized
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: it and left us with the result. You decide. Bow
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: your head with me, please. If this is your moment
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: to decide, I urge you to make that decision now.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: If you wait, you'll put it off. Other things will encroach.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: And before long, you'll have 10 reasons why you didn't
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: get back to this issue. He that has the Son
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: has the life. He who does not have the Son
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: of God does not have the life. I invite you
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: to take the Son of God by faith. Simple prayer.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: A lot of these things I don't understand, Lord, but
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: I do understand this, that I need Jesus Christ for
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: eternal life. I take Him now. We're so grateful, Father,
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: that we can walk in the light. We can know
• 52:40
  Speaker 1: the love of God, your love. We can understand and
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: model the truth. And we can conduct our lives knowing
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: where we're going. How grateful we are. I love your word, Lord,
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: and I love you. I love you with my whole heart.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: I want these people to love you like this. I
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: want all of us, Lord, to walk in the.
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: Light as Jesus is in the light and to have
• 53:12
  Speaker 2: a fellowship that's magnificent, not religious, not legal, but freeing
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: and full of grace.
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: Anticipate this wonderful letter with great delight. Thank you for
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: recording it. May I handle it well and may we
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: learn it thoroughly. In Jesus' name, everybody said, Amen.
• 53:40
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, Living Right in a Wrong World, and
• 53:44
  Speaker 3: the sound recording were copyrighted in 2009 by Charles R.
• 53:47
  Speaker 2: Swindoll, Inc.
• 53:49
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 53:54
  Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.