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The Model Life: Adaptability, Part 2 · CCC West Covina

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Take your Bible, if you would please, and turn to 1st
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Thessalonians chapter 5. And we're going to continue our
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study on the model life. And as you're turning there, I
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want to remind you of the apostle Paul and the great
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concern of his life. In Second Corinthians Chapter
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11, Paul lists a litany of issues that he himself went
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through personally. He talks about he went through
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imprisonments. He was beaten times without
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number. He was in danger of death, he
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says five times he received from the Jews 39 lashes, 3 times he
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was beaten with rods, once he was stoned, three times he was
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shipwrecked. Night and day he had spent in
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the deep. He had frequent journeys with
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dangers, dangers from robbers and countrymen, the wilderness,
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the sea, and even false brethren.
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He says. I have been in labor and
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hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst,
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often without food, in cold and exposure.
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I mean, Paul begins to list all these different aspects that
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happened to him externally, but what happened in him internally
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was more of a burden, for he says these words in verse 28 of
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2nd Corinthians 11. Apart from such external things,
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there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the
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churches. Who is weak without my being
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weak? Who is LED into sin without my
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intense concern? He says what bothers me most is
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not what happens to me externally, but what is
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happening in me internally because of the burden I carry
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for the churches. And so Paul had had two main
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emphasis in his ministry. And you can read the 13 epistles
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that he himself wrote, and you'll see this theme over and
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over again. And the theme deals primarily
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with making sure the church hears and heeds the instruction
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of God. That was his number one concern.
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Do they hear God's word? And do they obey God's word?
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That's why he he told Timothy over in first Timothy chapter 4
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and verse number six. Point these things out to the
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brethren. Verse 11 prescribe and teach
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these things verse 13 until I come, give attention to the
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public reading of Scripture to exhortation to teaching.
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Verse 16, pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching.
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And then second Timothy, he talks about retaining the
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standard, guarding the standard, preach the word in season and
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out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering
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and patience. Why?
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Because he says earlier in Second Timothy chapter 3 that
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God's word is profitable. So the man of God will be
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thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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So, Timothy, make sure as a pastor you teach the Word, you
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preach the Word, you exhort the people to follow the Word of the
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living God. And so that's what his ministry
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was about, making sure that the churches would hear and heed the
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instruction of God. But on the heels of that was his
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second emphasis, and that was that the church would hurriedly
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handle the transgressions of man, that the church would hurry
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and handle the transgressions of man.
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In other words, once you hear what God's Word says and you
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understand the holy standard, then you need to make sure that
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you deal with those who don't meet the holy standard.
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That was His complete and total emphasis for every single
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church. Let me show you by way of
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example, member First Corinthians chapter 5.
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There was a man who was living in sin, and Paul says these
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words in verse number three of First Corinthians 5.
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For I on my part, though absent in body, but President Spirit,
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have already judged him and has so committed this as though I
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were present in the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are
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assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our
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Lord Jesus, I had decided to deliver such a one to Satan for
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the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in
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the day of the Lord Jesus. He says you're boasting is not
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good. Do you not know that a little
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leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
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Clean out the old leaven, say you may be a new lump, just as
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you are in fact unleavened for Christ.
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Our Passover also has been sacrificed.
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He was concerned about the Corinthian church, that there
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was a man in the church who was who was sleeping with with his
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mother. And these things are unheard of
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even among the the pagans. And yet you're, you're boasting
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about this is not good you, you've got to deal with this guy
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because 1 little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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I've given you the word of God. I've instructed you in the ways
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of God. You have heard what I've said.
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Now you need to handle those who transgress the law of God.
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And then over again in in Second Corinthians, as he concludes it
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in chapter 12, he says this in verse 20, he says, For I am
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afraid that perhaps when I come, I may find you to be not what I
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wish and may be found by you to be not what you wish, that
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perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, angry tempers,
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disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disturbances.
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I'm afraid that when I come again, my God may humiliate me
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before you. And I'm a mourn over many of
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those who have sinned in the past and not repented of the
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impurity, immorality and sensuality which they have
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practiced for chapter 13, verse #1 This is the third time I am
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coming to you. Every fact is to be confirmed by
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the testimony of two or three witnesses.
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I have previously said when present the second time and
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though now absent, I say in advance to those who have sinned
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in the past and to all the rest as well, that if I come again I
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will not spare anyone. Paul was concerned that you just
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can't let people in the church live and sin without dealing
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with those people. He says you've heard and you
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have obeyed the instruction of God.
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Now you need to handle those who transgress the instruction of
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the Word of God. That was Paul's emphasis all
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throughout his ministry because his concern was the purity and
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the holiness of the church. And he knew that in order for
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the church to grow, it can only grow if it was like the Christ.
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And so that was his burden. And so even when you come to the
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book of Thessalonians, and even when we examine this book and
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realize that this is a model church, this is Paul's
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quintessential church, this is the greatest of all the
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churches, he still has to deal with people who are living in
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sin because the model church wasn't a perfect church.
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The model church wasn't filled with people that were sinless.
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No, it was filled with people that were sinners because that's
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what the church is. It's a gathering together of, of
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sinful people who have been saved by the, the miraculous
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work of the living God. And, and so much so that the
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love you have for the brethren, the deep love and concern you
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have for the brethren is that you will want them to walk with
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the Lord and serve the Lord. The church is is not about the
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programs that has and the opportunities that affords you.
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It's about the opportunity you have to deal with people in the
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church. Coming to church and sitting
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there and, and looking at the back of the head of somebody in
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front of you and singing a few songs and hearing the sermon and
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giving a 20 spot in the offering basket is not what church is all
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about. Church is about dealing with one
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another in the way that God wants you to deal with one
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another. So what does Paul do?
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Paul says, look, I'm going to show you how you do this.
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I'm going to explain to you that you need to make sure that you
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deal with the people in your church, that you're able to
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adapt in each situation with each person in a way that brings
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glory and honor of God. Because this is the model life.
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Last week we talked about how you adapt to those who are in
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leadership, how you appreciate those because of their person,
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how you affirm those because of their position so that you may
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preserve the peace within the church.
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But then when you come to verses 14 and 15 of chapter 5, he moves
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from the leadership to the membership so they can learn to
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be sweet fellowship within the assembly.
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It's very simple. Look and listen to what he says.
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Verse 14. We urge you, brethren, stop
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right there. We urge you.
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We beg you. We intensely plead with you.
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This is important. He's talking to the brethren
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earlier in verse 12, he said, but we request of you, brethren.
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Now he says that we urge you brethren, we, we are, we, we, we
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want to, we want to move you to maturity.
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We, we, we want to propel you. We, we want you to see the
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intensity of this. We want you to see the magnitude
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of this. We want you to see how important
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this is. We, we urge you brethren, to do
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5 things. Just five.
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Admonish the unruly, encourage the faint hearted, help the
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weak, be patient with everyone. And then he says, see that no
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one. We praise another with evil for
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evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another
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and for all people. That's it, that's it.
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He is concerned about the membership and how they function
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with one another. So he says this.
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I want you to admonish the unruly.
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I want you to warn those who are disobedient or those who are
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delinquent in their responsibility.
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The word unruly is a military term, so it deals with soldiers
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who have gone AWOL or soldiers who are who are not living up to
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their required position as a, a soldier.
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And they decided to, to rebel against the authority.
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They decided to turn away from their responsibility.
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They, they, they just become lazy in their responsibility.
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It's like Paul said in in Second Timothy 2 verse #4 that no good
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soldier involves himself in the affairs or entangles himself in
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the affairs of this world so that he may please his
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commanding officer. He doesn't get involved in the
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the affairs of this this world because he's so in tune to
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pleasing his commanding officer. So Paul says, I want you to warn
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those who are unruly, those who are disobedient, and those who
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are derelict in their responsibility.
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Now imagine this. What if we as a church really
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engaged in this? This is what Paul's I'm urging
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you to do this. This is what you got to do.
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I'm not there, but you are. So you got to make sure He's not
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telling the leadership to do this, although the leadership is
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required to do it. He's telling the membership to
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do this. He's telling, talking to the
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brethren, I want you to do this. There's a certain warning that
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takes place. There are consequences for
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disobedience. There are consequences for being
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derelict and responsibility. And so admonish them, go after
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them. Look what Paul says in in Second
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Thessalonians. He says this in chapter 3, verse
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6. Now we command you brethren, in
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the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from
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every brother who leads an unruly life, and not according
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to the tradition which you receive from us.
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So now he is writing his 2nd letter.
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He said, look, have you admonished the unruly?
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If you've admonished the unruly, now I want you to stay away from
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them. Why?
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Because they're not living in line with what the Bible says.
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Warn them. Listen to what it says.
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He goes on for for years. For you yourselves know how you
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ought to follow our example because we did not act in an
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undisciplined manner among you. In other words, the unruly could
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be translated undisciplined, he says.
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Nor did we eat anyone's bread without pay for it, but the but
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with labor and hardship. We kept working night and day so
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that we would not be a burden to any of you, not because we did
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not have the right to do this, but in order to offer ourselves
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as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.
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For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order.
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If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat
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either. For we hear that some among you
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are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but
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acting like busy bodies. Now such persons we command and
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exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat
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their own bread. But As for you, brethren, do not
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grow weary in doing good. So Paul is following up his
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first letter with the second letter saying, look, have you
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admonished the unruly If they are undisciplined, if they are
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derelict in their responsibilities, unwilling to
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follow what God's Word says, can't associate with them.
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Why? Because they're going to lead
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you astray as well. Seems a little harsh, doesn't it
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seems a little out there. Wait a minute.
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We're, we're the brethren, we're to love one another.
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We care for what we are. But but the greatest care you
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have is when someone's in sin or someone is not fulfilling their
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responsibility, you go to them and say, I, I want to admonish
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you. I mean, this is what you got to
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do. I I love you not to come to you.
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Listen, if it's your wife and she's living in sin, do you just
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let her live in sin? Yeah, go ahead, honey, It's OK.
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Don't worry about it. No big deal.
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It's going to crush our marriage.
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But who cares? No, no, no.
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You go out there and say, honey, you can't do that.
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Or if you're the wife, you say your husband live in the city.
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You say, honey, honey, we can't do this.
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You, you got to turn from your sin.
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This is not going to work. Or if it's your kids right, you
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go to your kids, say you're going the wrong direction.
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You can't do this. This is wrong.
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Let me, let me, let me move you in the right direction that
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that's what you do with your kids.
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Well, the church is a family. That's how we operate.
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That's how we function. We function in a way that that
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we are concerned enough. We love you enough to go to you.
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Listen, if you don't love them enough, just let them live in
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sin. Just let them live in sin.
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But when you love somebody, you are concerned about the purity
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of their lives, you're concerned about their spiritual walk with
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the Lord. You're concerned that they're
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not derelict in their responsibility, but they
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actually fulfill the responsibility.
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I have in my pocket a church covenant cart that when you
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became a member, you agreed to. I'm not sure you all remember
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this, but it's very important. It's all biblically based, he
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says. I, I covenant to preserve the
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unity of my church. I, I promise to preserve the
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unity of my church. How am I going to do that?
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Personal examination, mutual submission, scriptural
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confrontation, and beneficial conversation.
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I'm going to preserve the unity of my church because I love the
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church. And then I'm going to pursue the
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strategy of my church by making it my passion to pursue Christ,
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my priority to portray Christ, my my purpose to proclaim Christ
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and my my practice to praise Christ.
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Are you doing that? Is somebody around you derelict
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in the responsibility in doing that, or disobedient to obey the
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word God? Because all this is scriptural
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mandate based on the epistles #3II.
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I make a promise to protect the testimony of my church.
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How you can do that? Attending faithfully, praying
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fervently, giving financially, and living fruitfully.
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I'm going to protect the testimony of my church because
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this is where I want to be. And then I want to participate
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in the ministry of my church. I'm going to do that by
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exercising my spiritual gift, by edifying the Saints, by
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evangelizing sinners, and by exalting my Savior.
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You made a promise to do that when you became a member of our
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church. You said, this is my promise.
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I will do this. Well, when you make a promise to
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do that, then when other people in church are not doing that,
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what do you do? If they're not attending
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faithfully, what do you do? If they're not giving
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financially, what do you do? If they're not living
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fruitfully, what do you do? Is there a mutual submission?
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Is there a scriptural confrontation?
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Is there a beneficial conversation when I speak to
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people and talk to people? If not, what do you do?
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You see, this is where the rubber meets.
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This is church. That's what the church is all
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about. It's not about attendance on a
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Sunday morning, singing a few songs, give it a little bit of
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money and hear the sermon. That's just showing up at
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church. But church people are committed
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to the church because Christ died for the church and the
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church is his bride. And we're deeply committed to
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the bread of Christ. So Paul says if there's somebody
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unruly, they don't live according to the instruction
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that we've already given to you. They're delinquent, they're
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disobedient. You need to warn them, go to
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them, warn them. And he's urging them to do this
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because he knows that the greatest way for the church to
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to be the church is when the church goes after the church,
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when the church is is is living the principles of the Scriptures
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and says, man, I want to help you.
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You're living an unruly life. You're not.
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You're not using your giftedness in the church.
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We need you. We need you to exercise your
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giftedness in the church because we benefit from your service.
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We need you to continue to give to the ministry of the church
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because we can't function without you.
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We need to exercise your spiritual gift.
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We need you to help with the salvation of the lost.
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We need you to help with the building of the body of Christ.
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We need you. So you go after them.
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You admonish them, you pray for them and you urge them.
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That's the church. Paul knows that.
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So he says admonish the unruly. And this is this.
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He says, I, I, I want you to encourage the faint hearted.
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The word faint hearted means small sold those who have a
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small soul that they need encouragement.
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And remember, this church had had received the Lord amidst
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much persecution. And maybe they had gone through
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persecution within the the city of Thessalonica or maybe even
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even among their own families. And, and they had become really,
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really small in their soul. Their, their, their, their faith
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had grown weak and they were discouraged.
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They were downcast that they were living in fear.
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You know, there are people in the church that are that way,
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right? They live in fear.
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And he says encourage them, speak, speak a word of
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encouragement to them. Take the word of God and, and
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and build them up, strengthen them that they they they might
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have courage and still them because they are courage less.
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They don't have the stability. They don't have the strength to
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continue on. So you need to come alongside of
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them and encourage them because they are very small soul.
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And so as a believer you use the scripture to come alongside of
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them and encourage them. Let me give you an example.
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On the eve of the crucifixion, the disciples were small soul.
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They were living in fear, not knowing what's going to happen
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to the Lord the next day. Even though he told them he was
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going to be crucified, they did not understand the implications
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of that. So what does Jesus do?
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He encourages the faint hearted. He encourages the small soul.
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What's he say? He says, let not your hearts be
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troubled. If you believe in God, believe
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also in me, for in my Father's house are are many dwelling
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places. If we're not so I would have
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told you and I'm going to go and prepare a place for you.
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And when I go, I will come again and I will receive you and to
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myself that where I am, there you may be also.
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That's how you encourage the small soul, those living in fear
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that their future is bright. It's not bleak, it's bright and,
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and, and listen, I read that. I think to myself, you know, you
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know why God hasn't called you home yet Because he hasn't
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finished your dwelling place. In my focus house are many
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dwelling places. I go and prepare a place for
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you, right? So is that evidently preparing
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your dwelling place? Evidently your place is not
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prepared yet because you're still sitting here.
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Because when your place is prepared, guess what, You're
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gone. You're gone.
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House is ready, Swami, places are ready.
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They're coming back. Let's go, go get them.
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Take them right back home. Take them to glory.
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And that was that was their future.
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And you know what all those apostles lived in light of the
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future they lived in light of the coming presence of Christ
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and their future glory in the presence of the living God.
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They lived lives strong sold not small soul in the church.
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Yeah, you admonish the unruly, those who are delinquent and
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derelict in their responsibilities, those who are
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disobedient to the word of God. Yes, you need to do that.
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But there are people that live in fear, who are small soul, who
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need to be encouraged, someone to come along the side and speak
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a word of encouragement to them. And they says not only do you
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admonish the unruly, not only do you encourage the faint hearted,
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I want you to help the weak, help the weak.
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These are the people who are weak morally and spiritually.
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These are the kind of people that that just have a hard time
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not falling back into sin. They're weak.
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Remember in James chapter 5 when it says if any among you are
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sick, the real translation should be if any among you are
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weak because that's the same word used here in First
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Thessalonians chapter 5. It's not that you were sick
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physically, but that it's you're weak spiritually, you're weak
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mentally, you're weak emotionally.
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If any of you are weak, let them call upon the elders.
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If you're spiritually weak, call upon the spiritually strong to
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pray with you and to pray over you.
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Why? Because they're gonna instill
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strength in you, help the weak. There are many people in the
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church that are so fragile and they just, they just, they're
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trying to run away from sin. They're trying to get away from
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sin, but there's something about it that just pulls them back in
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again and they fall into invitation.
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Those kind of people, they, they need, they need help.
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Galatians chapter 6 Remember Galatians 6, Paul says you who
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are spiritual are to restore those who have fallen.
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You got to help them up. Then you got to hold them up.
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There are some people in the church that once you help them
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up, you just got to keep holding them up because they can't stand
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by themselves, and so you hold them up.
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Romans 15, verse #1 We then, who are strong ought to bear with
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the weaknesses of others. That's a church man.
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That's how church functions. Admonish the unruly, encourage
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the faint hearted, help the weak.
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And this is this. This is so good.
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He says be patient with everyone.
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Why did he say that? Because you know what?
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It takes a lot of patience, a lot of long-suffering.
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When you're holding up the weak who keep falling back into sin,
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when you're trying to instill courage and those who are
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fragile and filled with fear and you're trying to admonish the
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unruly, guess what? It takes a long time for most
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people to turn. So you got you got to be patient
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with them. Be patient with with all of
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them. Paul says be be long-suffering,
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be be long fused with them. Remember God's love.
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First Corinthians 13 four, the love of God, the love it says
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the definite article. The love is patient.
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The love is kind. It has a definite article
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because it it describes a particular kind of love.
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It's God's love. First Corinthians 13 four the
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love of God is patient. The love of God is kind.
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God's love is long fused. God is not patient with
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circumstances. He controls circumstances.
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He's in charge of circumstances. He makes circumstances happen.
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He's not patient with circumstances.
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He's patient and long-suffering with people.
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So the love of God is patient. The love of God is is kind and
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possibly wants to be patient. He says over in in Colossians 3
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verse #12 put on a heart of patience.
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Ephesians 4/2 show forbearance, long-suffering to one another in
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love. Second to me 4/2 All leaders and
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teachers are to minister with great patience.
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Great patience and the Lord exemplified this.
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Remember in Mark 9, when, when Peter, James and John and Jesus
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were up on the, on the mount of Transfiguration and the other
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disciples are down below. And, and so Peter, James and
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John and Jesus come, come down the mountain and, and the
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encounter a man whose son was demon possessed.
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And he says to the Lord, Lord, I, I, I, I, I took my son to
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your men that they might cast a demon out of my son because he,
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he's thrown to the ground. He, he foams at the mouth.
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He, he, he goes into convulsion. So I I gave him to your men, but
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they were unable to help my son. So what does Jesus say?
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Jesus says this. How long shall I be with you?
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How long shall I put up with you?
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Bring your son to me. She brings a son and son goes to
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the convulsions and Christ casts out the demon and disciples
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marvel. They go into a house and and,
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and they, they say that Jesus, Jesus, come over here.
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We got to ask you a question. How come we couldn't do that?
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You've already empowered us to do it.
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We've already done it in the past, but on this occasion we
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couldn't do it. How come?
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And Jesus says these things only come out by prayer.
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He told him. He says, look, you didn't do
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this depending upon me. You did this depended upon you.
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And once you depend upon you, you can't do anything without
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me. You can do nothing.
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And so now you're trying to do this on your own power.
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You can't do that. You need me and you try to
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operate in this ministry in the flesh, and you failed.
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But if you'd have depended upon me, these things come out by
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prayer. And they're like earlier Siphons
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were on a boat. Jesus said let's go to the other
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side. They get in the boat, storm
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happens. They fear for their lives.
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Jesus, don't you care that we're perishing?
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Wake up. He gets up.
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Hush, be still. Everything becomes like glass.
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What'd you say? Oh, you cowards calls them
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cowards not to believe. How do you of all men have no
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faith? Not that.
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How come you guys have a little faith?
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He says. How is it that you of all men
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have no faith? Because faith is believing what
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God has said. What did God say?
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Let us get in the boat and go to the other side.
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But they didn't believe that because they when they got in
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the middle, they thought, oh, we're not going to make it to
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the other side. That's not what Jesus said.
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He didn't say, look, you're not going to make hopefully you make
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it to the other side. He says we're going to the other
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side. They didn't believe that.
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They thought they weren't going to make it.
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They didn't believe that. So he calls them cowards.
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Oh, you men who should have faith to believe and all that.
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I've said same thing on the road to Emmaus.
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At the end, Luke 24 disciples were confused.
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I couldn't believe that Jesus died and rose again.
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Where is he? What happened?
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How did he die? O ye men of little faith not to
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believe and all that the scriptures had already said.
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God was long-suffering with his men patiently, because the
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church, unfortunately, like the disciples, take a long time to
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get it. So you got to be patient.
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You got to be long-suffering. You got to hold up the week.
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You got to help them up, hold them up.
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You got to encourage the faint hearted, you got to admonish the
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unruly. And they don't just turn around.
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I'm happy. Some do, but for the most part
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they don't. You got to keep going back and
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going back. That's the church.
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That's what the church does. Both.
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I'm going to give you the instruction now.
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Handle man's transgression. When they disobey the
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instruction, that's the church. It's not functions.
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It's what separates the church from everything else because we
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are so desperately concerned about the people in their walk
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with the Lord. This is this.
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I know, I know, my time is gone. By the time I'm done, it's going
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to be way gone. Verse 15 See that no one repays
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another with evil for evil, but all we seek after that which is
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good for one another and for all people.
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There were people in the church that would repay evil for evil.
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Believe it or not, that happens. It doesn't happen to people in
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the first service, only the people in the second service.
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But it does happen in the church.
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We, we, we pay caustic comments with caustic comments.
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We repay slander with slander, gossip with gossip, backbiting
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with backbiting, fists with fists, blows with blows.
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Paul says, you know what? Don't do that.
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No, don't do that. Instead, those who have done
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evil, I want you to repay them with goodness and kindness.
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God's love is patient. God's love is kind, right?
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All the while God in his long-suffering, His patience
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with us, what's he do? He just bestows acts of kindness
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upon us. When you sin, you don't die,
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although the Bible says the wages of sin is death.
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Why don't you die? Because God is patient,
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long-suffering and kind. He lets you live right?
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And so all the while you are living your life, the patience
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of God, the long-suffering of God is bearing with you.
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And what does he do? He lets the sunshine upon the
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just and the unjust, let's the rainfall upon the just and the
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unjust. God, God is just good to all
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men. Read the Old Testament.
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God is good to all men, not just some men, because he's a kind
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and loving God and he's a patient God.
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So Paul says, look, I want you to know this.
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I want you now to not re repay evil for evil, but I want you to
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repay everybody who does evil to you with goodness and kindness.
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Well, we don't want to do that. That's just, it's not right.
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I, I, they got to, they got to know that I was hurt.
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They, they got to know that he pained me.
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They, they got to know that this was very, very uncomfortable for
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me. They they got to know this.
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And if I don't tell them who will?
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Probably nobody but you repay kindness for, for evil.
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Peter says it this way. This is so good.
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Peter says, 3 verse #8 To sum up all of you be harmonious,
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sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, and humble in spirit.
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He says to these Christians who are, who are scattered abroad, I
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want you to be harmonious, I want you to be brotherly, I want
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you to be kind, I want you to be one in spirit.
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And so he says this, not returning evil for evil or
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insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead.
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For you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a
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blessing. Do you know why you return good
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for evil? Because you have been called by
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God to inherit a blessing and the only way you inherit that
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blessing is by blessing those who curse you.
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So inherit the blessing. He said but, but, but but wait
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and but Peter answers that because he knows there's going
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to be a but there but but but what about this person or but
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what about that person? But, but and Peter answers that
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by quoting Psalm 34. He says, for the one who desires
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life to love and see, good day, good days must keep his tongue
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from evil and his lips from speaking to see.
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He must turn away from evil, do good, he must seek peace and
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pursue it. Why?
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Here it is ready, for the eyes of the Lord are toward the
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righteous, and his ears attend to their prayer.
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But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
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God hears your prayer. God attends to you and your
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need. But know this, His face is
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against those who do you evil. He will deal with them.
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Let him do that. What do you do?
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You repay evil with goodness and kindness.
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Because you've been called to inherited blessing, he says in
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First Thessalonians Chapter 5. These words, he says, seek
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after, pursue after that, which is good.
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In other words, it's a hunting term.
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I'm not a hunter, but I know that when you go hunting you,
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you go to search for that which you want to shoot and kill and
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then, Lord willing, eat right. That's what you do.
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I don't know, I'm not a hunter. But you pursue you, you hunt,
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you track him down. Well, that's what you got to do
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when it comes comes to to your acting, acting good.
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You got to pursue. You got to hunt down goodness.
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Why? Because for some people it's
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hard to be good to, right, you know, those people, it's hard to
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be kind to them. It's hard to be good to them.
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It's it's hard to, to, to bestow a blessing upon them.
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They, they are so out there. But, but you got to pursue it.
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You got to hunt it down. You got to find a way to get it.
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And once you get it, do it. That's what you do.
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Paul said, man, this is the church.
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That's what you do and run the membership.
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That's how you make it happen. Admonish the unruly.
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Make sure that you, you truly encourage the faint hearted,
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those were small souls, and help the weak.
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But make sure that as you go through this, you were very
41:20
patient with everybody because it's going to take a long time
41:22
for most of them to ever get the strength and to turn from where
41:26
they're at. And all the while you're trying
41:30
to help them and they're upset with you and mad at you, you
41:33
just keep returning kindness and goodness and blessing upon
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blessing because you've been called to inherit a blessing.
41:42
That's the church. So Paul says simply, I, I, I
41:53
want you to to obey the principles and precepts of
42:00
Scripture. Then what?
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You rely on the person and power of the Holy Spirit some way to
42:07
do this. There is no other way.
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That's what Paul would say over in Second Thessalonians.
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These words, chapter 3, verse 14.
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If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take
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special note of that person and do not associate with them, that
42:25
he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an
42:28
enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
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Don't treat him as the enemy, acknowledge him as a brother,
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but they need to obey the instruction of the word.
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You'd do that. You know, it's so interesting
42:49
because because you know, Paul lists these things and honestly,
42:57
unruly didn't tell you how it just says do it help the weak,
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then tell you how it just says do it.
43:05
Encourage the faint hearted, then give you instead of instead
43:09
of lists of things to do to encourage them.
43:14
He says you're paid good for evil just gives commands.
43:20
Why? Because you see, the model
43:23
church doesn't have to have an explanation.
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They just need to know what the expectation is because they're
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going to obey the principles of precepts of the word of God.
43:36
And as we go into next week, you'll see how he just keeps
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giving. Rejoice, always pray without
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ceasing and everything. Give thanks doesn't tell you how
43:48
to give thanks, doesn't tell you how to rejoice, doesn't tell you
43:53
why it is you are to pray without ceasing or even how you
43:56
do that doesn't have to. It's the model church.
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He just gives them the exhortation and they're like,
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OK, we can do that. And that's the way we should be.
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OK, Lord, we, we can do that because you, you gave us the
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word. We'll do that.
44:17
We might not do it perfectly, but we do it because we want to
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honor the Lord. So here is the model life.
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The model life abstains from sexual immorality, aspires to a
44:36
life of charity, anticipates the return of deity, is alert to the
44:42
world's destiny and my responsibility adapts within
44:50
God's wonderful family. And lastly, which is next week,
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They adore their God continually.
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They'll rejoice always. They'll pray without ceasing.
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They will give thanks and everything, for this is the will
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of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
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That's the model of life. That's the life Paul wanted them
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to live. That's the life we as a church
45:23
need to live. Let's pray together.
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Father, we thank you for this day.
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It's a great day because we realize Lord, this is what we do
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as a church, to be the church, to act like the church, to live
45:41
like the church. Our prayer Father, is that we
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would be obedient and fulfilling our responsibility.
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Lord, we love you and because you died for us and rose again,
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we now live for you and we celebrate that in Jesus name,
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Amen.