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Living Waters of Grace 01.22.2026 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
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Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
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County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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But know this, Timothy, know that in the last.
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Days. Perilous times will come.
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So he's warning Timothy that all these things that I prepared you
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to do, you need to have these things.
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You need to be walking in these things so that when these
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perilous times come, you won't. Fall by the wayside.
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You won't be deceived. You won't be taken by the
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trickery of other men. You won't give.
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Up or give out, but you'll be. Able to stand.
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No fighter steps into the ring without first preparing for the
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fight. No soldier steps foot on enemy
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soil without first training for battle.
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Even with preparation and training, some endeavors are
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perilous. It's risky to engage in these
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things at all, to attempt to do so without being equipped.
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It's just plain foolishness. In today's message, Pastor Lewis
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shares with you that although the days you live in are
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perilous, there are things you can do to prepare yourself for
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the fight. These are things you can do to
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equip yourself for battle. Now here's Pastor Lewis in the
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Book of Second Timothy, Chapter 3, with today's edition of
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Living Waters of Grace. Just to go back and give a a
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quick recap we're. Talking about the perilous
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times, we're talking about times of affliction.
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We're talking about stressful times, dangerous times,
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hazardous times, fierce times. As the writer says.
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These are times. That are fierce.
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And we know that join the whole chapter 2 or most.
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Of chapter 2 that Paul. As he's speaking to his young
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son in the faith, Timothy. He is.
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Adequately preparing him. For these last days.
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I remember when I was young and when I would.
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Hear the older people pray. You know, they would always end
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the prayer and please help us in these last and evil days.
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And I never really understood what that meant.
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Last days I understood. But evil days, Why are they
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evil? And as we begin to study the
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word. Of the God, we see why this
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called the. Last and.
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Evil days, as Paul calls it. There are.
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Perilous times. Which is evil or wicked days?
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And what we remember from last week, we know that Paul took
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time to prepare Timothy to function or to do ministry in
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these last days, and he taught them things Like he said,
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Timothy, you need to endure. Hardship as a good soldier.
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And he also told him, he said you need to compete or be
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disciplined to compete as an athlete.
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You need to have the the the discipline of an athlete so that
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you can do exercise, not just. For the body, but exercise the
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spirit and. Then he also talked with him
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about being a hard working farmer.
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That he should. Be a hard working farmer that he
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should work diligently in ministry and then last but not
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least, he said Timothy, you also need to be diligent in your.
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Study of the word so that you rightly divide the word of
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truth. And as he goes into these last
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times and he begins to. Talk about these false.
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Prophets and the. Character of the false.
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Prophets and the the the. Unbelievers of that particular.
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Time and how depraved that they will become.
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The things that we're seeing right now, these things are
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going to increase and get increasingly.
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Bad as we get. Closer to the return.
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Of our Lord. And he even tells Timothy some
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things that he can do in order to prepare for that time and
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over in chapter 2, verse 22. He says flee also youthful
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lusts. And pursue righteousness, faith,
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love, and peace with those who call on the Lord.
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Out of a pure heart. He goes on and he says don't get
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into. Disputes with people.
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Timothy over words and and and and arguing about things that
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have no eternal value. It's not important.
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Those things are distractions. And he said that the man of God
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does not strive, the man of God does not get into arguments.
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The man of God does not quarrel, but he's gentle and he with
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humility, correct those who are in opposition.
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But then he comes to. Chapter 3 he.
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Says, but know this. But know this, Timothy, know
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that in the. Last days, Perilous times.
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Will come. So he's warning Timothy that all
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these things that I prepared you to do, you need to have these
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things. You need to be walking in these
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things so that when these perilous times come, you won't.
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Fall by the wayside. You won't be deceived.
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You won't be taken by the trickery of other men.
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You won't give. Up or give out, but you'll be
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able. To stand in the.
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Perilous times. This is also a warning to us.
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You know, the more I read this, the more it actually speaks to
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me, and it speaks to. All of us about.
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Being prepared as things continue to get worse and we.
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See it we. See the news we.
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Hear the reports. We see the things that are going
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on in government. We see the things that are going
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in our own neighborhoods. Things are becoming
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increasingly. Worse, as we are in the last
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days, the last days is. Anytime between the time that.
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Jesus walked this earth. And he ascended.
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To be with the Father. Until he returns.
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That is the last. Days so we need to be.
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Prepared. And as we go.
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Through these. These different characteristics,
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it's actually about 19 of them and we went through a number of
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them last week and today I am endeavoring.
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To be able to. Get to verse 9, but we're going
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to start with the word unthankful.
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We left off that. Disobedient to parents and I
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think. We exhausted it.
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But I want to get to the word unthankful.
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He. Says at that time, not only
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would there be and I'm going to start back at the beginning, he
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said for men will be. Lovers of themselves.
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And that. Is what kicks off this whole all
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the other characteristics. It is the.
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Overarching sin that brings to birth or brings to life all of
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these other sins in between, he said that men will be lovers of
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themselves, they'll be lovers of money, they'll be.
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Boasters they'll be. Proud.
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They'll be blasphemers. They'll be disobedient to
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parents and they will be unthankful, unholy, unloving,
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unforgiving slanderers without self-control.
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Brutal. Despisers of good traitors.
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Headstrong, haughty lovers of. Pleasure.
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Rather than lovers of God and I'm going.
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To stop right there. And I just want to go.
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Back to talk a little bit. About these things.
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As we go through. So he says I'm thankful.
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And that just simply means that they are going to be ungrateful.
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Men will be ungrateful, and that is due to their arrogance and
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their selfishness. When we are selfish and
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arrogant, we're not grateful. We're not thankful.
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We think we're entitled to these things.
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That people do for us, we think. We're entitled.
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For what God does for us. And even Jesus himself was
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thankful. He thanked, he went up, and he
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thanked God when he went into prayer before he.
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Ate he thanked God. He told him when he was at the
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tell me, he said, Lord, I thank you.
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I thank you. So Jesus was.
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Always in a thankful state of mind to the Father.
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And we should be that way. In fact, it's not that we're
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entitled to anything, but God gives us things out of his own
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heart, but those in that particular time as we get.
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To the last days. They're going to become more and
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more unthankful and and ungrateful, and that is against
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God's Word in Ephesians 5 and 20, he says giving thanks.
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Always for all things to God the Father.
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In the name. Of our Lord Jesus Christ, he
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said for all. Things for everything.
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That we receive. Everything that we go through,
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give them thanks. And then at First Thessalonians
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5 and 18, he says in everything, give thanks.
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That means in every situation, in every circumstance, not only
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in our mountaintop. Experiences, but.
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Give them thanks in our Valley experiences.
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Give them thanks when we're doing well, but give them thanks
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when we're also struggling. Give them thanks when things are
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going great in our lives, but also give them thanks.
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For all of the trials that we go through, because he's always.
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Promised to be. With us.
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And when he's. With us.
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We know we're not alone, he says.
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Give them thanks. And it's interesting because in
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First Thessalonians Chapter 5 and 18 now people.
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Always ask Well, will is the will of God.
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There's several. Places in the Bible.
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Where he will say, this is the will of God, this is.
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One of them, this is one of them and everything give thanks for.
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This is the will. Of God in.
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Christ Jesus, for who? For you, for all of us.
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To give thanks, he says we're going to be unholy and that
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unholy really, you know, the Bible tells us all these things
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really go against scripture that.
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These that the that. We're going to start to see in
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the last. Days, which is why we should
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also. Do an inventory.
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Of ourselves to see if. Any of us fall into any of these
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things? I mean, this is something that
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we have to look inward at and say, OK, am I unthankful?
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Do I behave unholy? But with these particular men,
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they are going to be unholy. The Bible tells us that we're to
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be holy as he is holy and. That we're to be set apart from
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the world and to be consecrated unto Him, but instead.
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At that particular time, these people.
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Are going to be profane. They're going to not.
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Desire to do the. Things according to God's truth.
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They'll be. Vessels of dishonor.
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And instead of being set apart from the world, they're going to
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be immersed in worldliness, immersed in worldliness, finding
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pleasure in the fallen world system.
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And most of it is going to be through compromise, through
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compromise. Lot easier to compromise and
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don't have to be by yourself and to compromise and be with
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everybody. Else to look like everybody else
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to. Sound like.
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Everybody else that. Doesn't bring persecution, that
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doesn't bring resistance, but it's when you stand alone and
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often times you will. You will be in times, be in
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situations where you will need to stand for righteousness, and
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you will. Be by yourself and you.
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Have to be willing to be able to stand as opposed to
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compromising, he said. Unloving or without natural
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affection. This breaks my heart because
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when you talk about natural, without natural affection, he
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said, you're going to be without natural affection.
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It's a natural affection. For us to love our kids.
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To love our parents. To love our wives or our our.
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Our husbands, that's a natural affection.
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It's something that should be built into us, that's born in us
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to love. Our.
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Children. But we have an example, a
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biblical example. Of this.
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Lack of natural affection. We have it.
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In the Book of Solomon in the book of first Kings, Solomon,
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when he. Had to judge.
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Between the the two women who had sons, they both had sons and
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and one of them rolled over in the sons in the middle of the
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night and the one son died and the other one was alive.
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The woman whose son died, she went over and she grabbed the
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son that was still living out of the bed with the woman who was
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still sleeping, put the live baby in her bed.
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Took the dead baby. Put it in the other woman's bed.
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They came before Solomon, they said.
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You got to judge between the two.
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The woman said no, that's my. Child.
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The living child. Is mine.
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The dead child is. Hers, the other woman said.
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No, the living child is mine. The dead child is her.
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Solomon said. I got the solution.
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Bring the baby and bring me a sword.
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Solomon put the baby on the table.
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Took a swore he said I'll divide this child, I'll give.
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One 1/2 and give the other one the other half and the woman
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whose child it was not the woman who was not the mother, because
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she didn't have a natural affection for that.
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Child, she said. Yeah.
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That's right, go ahead and divide the child and give.
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Both of us half. And the woman who was the
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mother, the true mother, the child, she said no.
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Give her the baby, but please don't hurt the child.
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That's natural affection. For a for a child.
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That's natural affection A. Mother has that protective.
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Nature in her if you really want to see the.
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Worst. Of a woman mess.
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With her kids. Threaten her kids and you will
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see that woman do things that you never.
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Thought she could do. You be in trouble and this is
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exactly that's natural affection for the children.
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But we're seeing now in days where there's no natural
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affection. And in my research,
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unfortunately, I looked at some things that.
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Were just really, really. Dark in this society, one of the
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things that I learned that the sex trafficking, the whole
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industry of sex trafficking is really being motored not by
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careless men or thoughtful men. But by parents who are.
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Selling their children into sex trafficking for their own
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selfish reasons. For their own selfish reasons.
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Lack of natural affection. Abortion to kill.
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A child that's. Growing inside.
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Of you. That's a natural.
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That's that's. Without natural affection.
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Physical abuse. Sexual abuse.
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Are all signs of a lack of natural affection.
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Then he goes on, he says unforgiving and or
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unreconcilable. People who will.
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Just not agree to to forgive. Regardless of how long these
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things have happened, it's been unreconcilable.
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As we get. Closer to the time of Christ.
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That will get worse. And they'll become truce
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Breakers, which is another. Word that they use it's.
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Truce Breakers in the King James version, and that's just not
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even be able to. Keep oaths or keep?
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Covenants. And that's why.
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We have such a. Rise in divorce because we
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become. Truce Breakers.
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We'll become covenant Breakers, slanderers of false.
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Accusers, people will start. To knock down and lie against
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other people and tear down the the the reputation of other
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people through gossip, through slander, and through lies and.
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Hateful speech, that. Is not of God, That is not of
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God. To sit down and to destroy or to
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murder someone with the tongue is not of God.
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It is not of God. And if we see these things in
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ourselves? We should cry out to the Lord.
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And ask him to help. Us to give us.
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Grace to change these things and he.
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Will he will, he says, without self-control.
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That's just. Living a life of inhibition.
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Live, just doing whatever feels good and that's.
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Where we get the. Gambling from we get.
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Abuse, sex abuse we get drug abuse, alcohol abuse all.
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Leads from a lack of self-control, but not only that.
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But the lack of. Self-control is also seen in the
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church We. See that that that there?
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Are people that are increasingly, not only in
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church, but even outside of church, people that are
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increasingly having a lack of self-control over their
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emotions, over their emotions. So they blow up that things, the
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smallest things, they blow up, they get angry and they hold
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these things forever. No control over their emotions.
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Incontinent is another. Word that is used for that
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Brutal. And untamed.
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This is like the this is like the result of a society where
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people are so. Selfish that when they don't
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get. Their way they can behave.
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Violently, they can behave. Like, like savages, despisers of
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good. And these are people who are.
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Actually, they actually hate. Good or godly things.
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In fact, not only do they despise good things, but they
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even hate the people. Who try to live godly.
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Jesus told us in John 15 that the world.
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Hates you because. You are not.
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Of the world you're. Living godly so the world does
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not love people who are living. Godly, the world hates people
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who? Are living in Golly.
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But they love. Their own and then it says.
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Traitors. People who are.
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Or trading. They betray.
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Each other, they betray the secrets of each other, betray
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each other's trust a lot of. That's going to start happening
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and as we go into. These last days, people.
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Are going to be giving up to governors and giving up to
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councils. Headstrong or or heady, which
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means living. Reckless without.
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Any kind of. Thought or forethought?
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They just do things without thinking things.
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Through which also. Comes from lack of control.
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A lot of these things are very much interconnected.
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It's like a person who just makes a decision and acts on
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that decision without thinking things through.
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People who are haughty. Or high minded and these are.
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People who are just so proud that they take their.
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Position. They use their position as a.
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Way to put other? People down and to put
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themselves up, there's a way of making themselves more important
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and that's going to increase. They're high minded and Romans
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12 and three says you know not to think of yourself more highly
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than you want, but yet these people were going to be blinded
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by self worth, blinded by their high thoughts of themselves and
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then of. Course lovers of.
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Pleasure rather than lovers. Of God.
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And that's one need to spend a little bit of time on because
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when you look at where this thing.
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Started. We're talked about.
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Men will be lovers of themselves.
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That was the very. First one and then the one the
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last one. Is lovers of pleasure rather
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than lovers of God. I just want to make it clear
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though, now these are people who are not making a choice between
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loving pleasure and loving God. That is not the.
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Choice because there is. Pleasure in.
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God, God has pleasure. In fact, in Psalm 1611 it tells
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us that in His presence there is fullness of.
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Joy. And at his right hand are
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pleasures evermore. So the difference is the
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difference is worldly. Pleasure versus godly pleasures.
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And their choice. Is that they'd rather have
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worldly pleasure because that feeds the flesh, so the choice.
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That they're making is to have. Worldly pleasures over godly
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pleasures. And it's A and they're.
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Deceived because worldly pleasures.
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Are fleeting, worldly pleasures are temporal and anything
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that's. Temporal is temporary.
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So that means that their. Pleasures are just.
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Fleeting, Moses said. Look, I don't even want to be.
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Called the the daughter. The son of the daughter of
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Pharaoh anymore. I don't even want to be called
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that anymore. But I rather suffer.
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Affliction with the. People of God.
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Been to enjoy the pleasures of sin for season.
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Moses understood that that was not going to last.
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That was a temporary. Situation People who were
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living, and it was me at one time who was living for the
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pleasures. Of this.
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World, we think it's going to go on and on and on like it's never
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going to end. I'm going to have fun all my
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life. I ain't ever going to give this
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up. I'm having too much fun.
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Yes, it ends. It ends and it usually doesn't
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end well. It doesn't end well.
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But these? These things are temporal, but
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in. God, there are pleasures.
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Evermore, Evermore. And that's the choice.
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But then he goes down here and he says now.
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All. These things.
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That was just listed, the lovers of themselves lovers.
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Of money boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to
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parents, people who are unthankful, people who are
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unholy, unloving, unforgiving. The Slanderers.
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Those who are without. Self.
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Control those who are, brutal those who are.
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Despisers of self and. Traitors, those who are.
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Headstrong, haughty, and. Lovers of pleasure.
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Rather than. Lovers of God, all those people.
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Have a form of godliness. It's a form of godliness.
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So these people on the. Outside, they look religious.
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They make even talk. Like they're religious.
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They have a form of godliness, and it's form of godliness
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actually means that it's a they have a shape of godliness or
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semblance of godliness. They have an appearance of
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godliness, but there's no fruit, there's no substance, there's
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nothing. There's no life on the inside.
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It's just a shell of an. Appearance of godliness.
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It's an imitator. Of godly people without the
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power. So it's like profession.
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Without practice. Without no relationship
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whatsoever. And this is what Paul is saying.
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Paul is saying these people are going to look righteous.
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They're going to. Look holy, they're going to look
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religious, but. They won't have the Redeemer.
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They will not have that. Relationship with the Lord.
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None. These are people.
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Who Jesus is. Talking about over in Matthew 7
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when he says that they're going to be many that are going to
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come to me and say. Lord, Lord, but everybody who
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comes. To me saying Lord, Lord will not
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enter the Kingdom of heaven. Oh, but they're going.
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To put up the argument, Lord, didn't you know?
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You know, didn't we? Prophecy in your name did not
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cast out demons in your name did not do many wonders in your
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name. And he's going to say depart
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from me. I never knew you depart from me.
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You who work lawlessness? Yes, you had an outward shell.
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You had a. Appearance of godliness, but
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there was never relationship. I never knew you.
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There was never relationship and that's exactly what we're going
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to see in the last. Days, these teachers, these
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false teachers. That are going to have this
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appearance of godliness. They're going to sound godly.
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But their lives have. No.
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Fruit. They're going to be.
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Just like Jesus. Talked about over in Matthew
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chapter 20. 3 when he talked about the woes.
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Over in Matthew 23 and there's two woes in.
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Particular that just. He gives me the chills.
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That he talks about. And he basically saying chapter
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25 verse 23. What are you?
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Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you, cleanse the.
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Outside of the cup. And dish but inside.
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They are full of. Extortion and self indulgence.
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And that's. Exactly what these false
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teachers will be they'll be full of self.
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Indulgence. Everything that you're teaching,
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everything that they're doing is for selfish gain.
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The Bible says they're. Feeding their own bellies and
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then in verse 27 in the same. Chapter he says woe to you.
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Scribes and Pharisees. Hypocrites.
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For you are like whitewashed. Tombs which indeed appear.
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Beautifully beautiful outwardly. And I remember Clark telling us
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that he was in Israel and he stood up on the hill and he.
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Saw these whitewashed. Tombs and how they glittered in
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the sunlight and how. Beautiful they looked.
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In the sunlight, he said. That's exactly.
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What these false teachers? Are going to be.
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Like like these whitewashed. Tombs which indeed appear
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beautiful outwardly, but inside? Are full of dead.
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Man's bones and all uncleanness. All uncleanness.
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Here on Living Waters of Grace, we're in the books of First and
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Second Timothy. Pastor Lewis Harrell is walking
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us through these letters written from Paul to Timothy.
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Toward the end of these letters, Paul is anticipating that his
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time here on earth is coming to a close.
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He's giving some final words of advice to his mentee.
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Paul writes in Second Timothy 4, verse seven.
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I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.
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I have kept the faith wherever you are in your journey of faith
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with God, our hope is that you have the willingness to fight
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for what's true, not compromising, but holding fast
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to the Word of God. Paul was reminding Timothy of
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this, and it's a good reminder for you and for me today too.
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For helpful input throughout this series, why not listen to
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all of these teachings from First and Second Timothy on our
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website? Go to calvarychapelonline.com to
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access teachings, download our app, and more.
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If you'd like to visit us this weekend, we'd be delighted.
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Living Waters of Grace is a ministry of Calvary Chapel
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Westmoreland in Greensburg, PA Come to our service held at
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10:30 AM on Sundays. We're located at 400 E
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Pittsburgh St., Ste. 6B. For any other information on our
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weekly service, visit calvarychapelonline.com.
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You can also join our e-mail list, give online, or submit a
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prayer request right from the site.
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If you can't make it in person, be sure to tune into Calvary
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Chapel Westmoreland's YouTube channel.
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Subscribe so you never miss new teachings.
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We thank you for tuning in today and ask that you come back for
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more solid and biblical teaching from Pastor Lewis right here on
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Living Waters of Grace.