Latest / Reflections On The Word With Richard Kay / Love Without Hypocracy | Episode #426 | Encore Episode #097

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Love Without Hypocracy | Episode #426 | Encore Episode #097 · Reflections On The Word With Richard Kay

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  Speaker 1: Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by
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  Speaker 1: morning new mercies I see. Great is Thy faithfulness. All
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  Speaker 1: I have needed thy hand hath provided. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: unto me.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to today's edition of Reflection on the Word with
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  Speaker 2: Richard Kay. I'm Chuck Christie, and today we are asking
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  Speaker 2: you to spend a few moments of your time with
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  Speaker 2: us each day as Richard shares from God's Word notes, quotes,
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  Speaker 2: and stories, along with some of his own personal experiences,
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  Speaker 2: to confirm for you God's great love for us, that
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  Speaker 2: his compassion for us never fails, and that he has
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  Speaker 2: a great faithfulness toward us in every regard. Now, if
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  Speaker 2: you miss a portion of today's broadcast or would like
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  Speaker 2: to recommend it to a friend, you can hear this
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  Speaker 2: program anytime online at TalkNetworkRadio.com. Well now, here's Richard with
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  Speaker 2: today's Reflections.
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  Speaker 3: By the grace given to me, I tell everyone among
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  Speaker 3: you not to think of himself more highly than he
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  Speaker 3: should think. Instead, think sensibly as God has distributed a
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  Speaker 3: measure of faith to each one. Now, as we have
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  Speaker 3: many parts in one body, and all the parts do
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  Speaker 3: not have the same function, in the same way, We
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  Speaker 3: who are many are one body in Christ and individually
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  Speaker 3: members of one another according to the grace given to us.
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  Speaker 3: We have different gifts. If prophecy, use it according to
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  Speaker 3: the standard of faith. If service, in service. If teaching,
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  Speaker 3: in teaching. If exhorting, in exhortation. Giving with generosity. leading
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  Speaker 3: with diligence, showing mercy with cheerfulness. Love must be without hypocrisy.
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  Speaker 3: Detest evil. Cling to what is good. Show family affection
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  Speaker 3: to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in
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  Speaker 3: showing honor. Do not lack diligence. Be fervent in spirit.
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  Speaker 3: Serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in affliction.
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  Speaker 3: Be persistent in prayer. Share with the saints in their needs.
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  Speaker 3: Pursue hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do
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  Speaker 3: not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those
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  Speaker 3: who weep. Be in agreement with one another. Do not
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  Speaker 3: be proud. Instead, associate with the humble. Do not be
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  Speaker 3: wise in your own estimations. Do not repay anyone evil
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  Speaker 3: for evil. Try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes.
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  Speaker 3: If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone. Romans, again,
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  Speaker 3: in chapter 12, beginning with verse 3 and closing with
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  Speaker 3: verse 18. As we have just read, there was a
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  Speaker 3: means of being able to see the application of the
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  Speaker 3: individual sacrifice of our own body as the temples of
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  Speaker 3: the Holy Spirit, as the houses of God, if you will.
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  Speaker 3: And so in this aspect, Paul is reminding all of
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  Speaker 3: the followers that we should be looking at ourselves as
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  Speaker 3: a total function within the body of Christ. That we
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  Speaker 3: shouldn't think of ourselves in any way better than the other.
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  Speaker 3: That we should share with one another. We should do
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  Speaker 3: those things that the Lord Jesus has given us to do.
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  Speaker 3: And that we should show love one to another. And
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  Speaker 3: he says, without hypocrisy. And he tells us in these statements,
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  Speaker 3: he tests evil. Cling to what is good. And he
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  Speaker 3: talks about family affection to one another with brotherly love.
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  Speaker 3: We'll talk more about that in a minute. Do not
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  Speaker 3: lack diligence. Be fervent in spirit. Serve the Lord. He
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  Speaker 3: wants us to see that we rejoice in the hope
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  Speaker 3: that we have. Be patient in our afflictions. Be persistent
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  Speaker 3: in prayer. He talks about sharing with the saints in
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  Speaker 3: their needs to pursue hospitality. Welcome one another. But then
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  Speaker 3: he talks about how we are to treat those who
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  Speaker 3: persecute us. Now, I want us to dwell on this
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  Speaker 3: for just a moment, because he says here that we
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  Speaker 3: are to bless those who persecute us, bless them and
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  Speaker 3: do not curse. Think about that for just a moment.
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  Speaker 3: We are to bless those who persecute us and bless them,
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  Speaker 3: but do not curse. In today's age, it is very
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  Speaker 3: easy to take sides against some other view. And then
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  Speaker 3: these people may take a position that it is for
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  Speaker 3: them to place some form of bad phrasing on us.
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  Speaker 3: It could be that it is a belittling phrase, or
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  Speaker 3: it could be even stronger. But regardless, we are not
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  Speaker 3: supposed to return evil for evil. We are supposed to
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  Speaker 3: bless those who persecute us. Bless them and do not
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  Speaker 3: curse them. We're going to talk in a moment about
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  Speaker 3: how the body of Christ is to function in a
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  Speaker 3: fallen world, in a world that is run by men
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  Speaker 3: who obviously don't necessarily have the will of God in
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  Speaker 3: their plan. There are some who are dictators, cruel, mean, ungodly,
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  Speaker 3: and yet we are not supposed to render evil to them.
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  Speaker 3: We are supposed to bless them and not curse them
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  Speaker 3: even in their persecution of us. This is a difficult
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  Speaker 3: place to be on a human level. But through the
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  Speaker 3: Holy Spirit, we can sustain the afflictions, the persecutions, the
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  Speaker 3: things that this world will bring to us, and yet
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  Speaker 3: we can bless them and not curse them. I want
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  Speaker 3: us to think about one aspect of that in today's age.
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  Speaker 3: We live in a time where there is tremendous moves
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  Speaker 3: in government for power. Regardless of how people may feel,
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  Speaker 3: governments are put in position by God. Even though man
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  Speaker 3: may have what he believes to be control, he has
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  Speaker 3: no real control. He has no authority except that authority
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  Speaker 3: which is given him by God himself. It is difficult
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  Speaker 3: for us to see that even tyrants are placed in
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  Speaker 3: the world for the purposes that God has to fulfill.
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  Speaker 3: Sometimes he uses them in a disciplinary means. Other times
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  Speaker 3: he may use them in a means of other forms
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  Speaker 3: of instruction, Sometimes he uses them as an example of
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  Speaker 3: how he can change an individual's life and bring good
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  Speaker 3: to those people who are being led by that leader.
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  Speaker 3: When you pursue love without hypocrisy, you will find that
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  Speaker 3: it is very clear when you are looking at love
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  Speaker 3: with hypocrisy. How do we do that? Well, love with
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  Speaker 3: hypocrisy could be a means of saying, I'm going to
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  Speaker 3: do something for an individual, but I really don't want
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  Speaker 3: to do it. But I'm going to do it anyway
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  Speaker 3: because it's going to show love. That would be love
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  Speaker 3: with hypocrisy. Love without hypocrisy would be the exact opposite.
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  Speaker 3: We would do those things that would meet the needs
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  Speaker 3: of our brethren or our neighbors. And we would do
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  Speaker 3: it not because of obligation, but we would do it
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  Speaker 3: because we want to show them the generosity of God.
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  Speaker 3: We know that our God is a good God. He's
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  Speaker 3: one that gives. He's one that doesn't do anything that
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  Speaker 3: will harm us. his children. He does discipline us, but
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  Speaker 3: he will not harm us. He is a good heavenly father.
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  Speaker 3: And because of that, we want the world to see
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  Speaker 3: this is the difference. The good heavenly father is the
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  Speaker 3: one who is leading and guiding us. And he will
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  Speaker 3: not allow us to turn around and return evil for evil,
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  Speaker 3: even when the persecution arises. We are not to turn
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  Speaker 3: around and do things that would be of evil intent
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  Speaker 3: to those who persecute us. Now, There are people who
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  Speaker 3: will argue that point, and I'm not going to say
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  Speaker 3: that they may not have a particular position. But I
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  Speaker 3: want us to look at what follows in the basis
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  Speaker 3: of this teaching, where in Paul's actual statement, he is saying,
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  Speaker 3: try to do what is honorable in everyone's eyes. If possible,
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  Speaker 3: on your part, live at peace now. And then he
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  Speaker 3: proceeds to say, Friends, do not avenge yourselves. Instead, leave
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  Speaker 3: room for his wrath. That's God's wrath. For it is written,
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  Speaker 3: Vengeance belongs to me. I will repay, says the Lord.
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  Speaker 3: But if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he
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  Speaker 3: is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing,
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  Speaker 3: you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do
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  Speaker 3: not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
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  Speaker 3: And then the next part of this passage in the
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  Speaker 3: 13th chapter goes into how we are supposed to submit
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  Speaker 3: to government authority. And it says everyone must submit to
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  Speaker 3: the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God,
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  Speaker 3: and those that exist are instituted by God. So then
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  Speaker 3: the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command,
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  Speaker 3: and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.
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  Speaker 3: For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but
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  Speaker 3: to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?
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  Speaker 3: Do good. and you will have its approval. For government
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  Speaker 3: is God's servant to you for good. But if you
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  Speaker 3: do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the
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  Speaker 3: sword for no reason. For government is God's servant, an
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  Speaker 3: avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. Therefore,
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  Speaker 3: you must submit, not only because of wrath, but also
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  Speaker 3: because of your conscience. And for this reason, you pay taxes,
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  Speaker 3: since the authorities are God's public servants, continually attending to
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  Speaker 3: these tasks. Pay your obligations to everyone. Taxes to those
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  Speaker 3: you owe taxes, tolls to those you owe tolls, respect
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  Speaker 3: to those you owe respect, and honor to those you
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  Speaker 3: owe honor. Do not owe anyone anything except to love
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  Speaker 3: one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled
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  Speaker 3: the law. We have just read the 13th chapter, not
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  Speaker 3: in its entirety, but we have read from the first
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  Speaker 3: verse through the ninth verse. And what we are looking
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  Speaker 3: at is in respect to governing authorities. Today, We are
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  Speaker 3: faced with many opposing views. Regardless of what our particular
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  Speaker 3: position may be, we are not in agreement as it
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  Speaker 3: is so demonstrated every single day. Our news waves and
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  Speaker 3: our channels on the different forms of media are filled
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  Speaker 3: with this opposition of views. There is a tremendous divisive
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  Speaker 3: element that is taking place in our country, and not
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  Speaker 3: just in our country, but in many parts of the world.
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  Speaker 3: Because of that, we see that Christians are to be different.
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  Speaker 3: Remember what we were talking about in the segment yesterday.
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  Speaker 3: We are to be living sacrifices. that it can be
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  Speaker 3: used of God the way He directs us. So we
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  Speaker 3: are not supposed to be the ones who return evil
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  Speaker 3: for evil. But we are to return evil with good.
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  Speaker 3: We are to overcome evil by doing good.
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  Speaker 2: Richard will be right back in a moment to wrap up.
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  Speaker 2: But if you just joined us, you've been listening to
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  Speaker 2: Reflections on the Word with Richard Kaye. You can hear
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  Speaker 2: this message in its entirety again online as well as
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  Speaker 2: Richard's entire archive at talknetworkradio.com. We would like to acknowledge
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  Speaker 2: our theme song, How Great Is Thy Faithfulness, from the
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  Speaker 2: America's 25 Favorite Hymns album. Unless otherwise expressed, scriptures are
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  Speaker 2: read from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, which is published
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  Speaker 2: by Holman Bible Publishers in Nashville, Tennessee. Additional resources used
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  Speaker 2: for Reflections on the Word with Richard Kaye include Great
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  Speaker 2: Is Thy Faithfulness by Our Daily Bread, and printed by
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  Speaker 2: Discovery House Publishers. Again, here is Richard to wrap up
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  Speaker 2: today's message.
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  Speaker 3: We need to readjust our thinking, and that is to
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  Speaker 3: be able to see that as believers, we have sacrificed
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  Speaker 3: our will, and along with that, our rights. We have
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  Speaker 3: actually turned them over to God. So if we are
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  Speaker 3: not going to oppose God, then we are certainly not
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  Speaker 3: going to oppose those he puts in authority over us.
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  Speaker 3: It is for us to understand that this is the
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  Speaker 3: will of God. We are to understand the will of God.
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  Speaker 3: That's why we have a transformed and renewed mind. Because
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  Speaker 3: it is his will for us to bless those who
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  Speaker 3: persecute and curse us. We are different. And because we are,
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  Speaker 3: others will see the love of Jesus in us manifested
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  Speaker 3: toward them. You see, as we close out this segment,
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  Speaker 3: you will begin to understand the world will know we
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  Speaker 3: are the followers of Jesus by our love. It's not
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  Speaker 3: just love that we see demonstrated strictly within the body,
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  Speaker 3: but it is love that overflows and manifests itself even
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  Speaker 3: to those who do evil to us. That is where
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  Speaker 3: a sacrificed life has meaning. That's where God can do
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  Speaker 3: what he chooses to do with us whenever he chooses
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  Speaker 3: to use us for his glory. And that is today's
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  Speaker 3: Reflection on the Word.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Richard. Join us again tomorrow when we continue
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  Speaker 2: with the next edition of Reflections on the Word with
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  Speaker 2: Richard Kaye. For Richard and the entire team, this is
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  Speaker 2: Chuck Christie saying thanks for listening to this edition of
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  Speaker 2: Reflections on the Word.
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  Speaker 1: Great is thy faithfulness, born unto me. Great is thy faithfulness, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: unto me.