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Living Waters of Grace 01.19.26 · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Lewis
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Harold, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland
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County in Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Lewis as he
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continues teaching through God's Word.
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He's. Preparing you.
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He is causing you to be a vessel prepared for the masters.
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Use. I don't know what he's going to
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use. You for I don't.
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Know what he has coming around? We can only see to the corner.
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He's the only one that can see around it.
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We don't know what he has prepared for us, but.
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What we do know? Is that He can prepare us and
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use us for great things, even us.
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Do you believe that? Do you believe that God is
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preparing you for something good?
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In the mundane and humdrum of life, it can be easy to just get
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up, get ready for work, go to work, come home from work, eat
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dinner, veg out and watch Netflix, go to sleep, rinse and
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repeat. God in heaven has a greater
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purpose for your life. He is preparing you to do what
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He's made you to do. And yes, you do have a purpose.
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Today, Pastor Lewis invites you to discover that purpose and
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take a step of obedience. Now here's Pastor Lewis in the
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Book of Second Timothy, Chapter 2, with today's edition of
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Living Waters of Grace. To argue.
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And strive about words to no prophet to the ruin of.
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Hears that has. Nothing to do with teaching the
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word of God. Profane and idle babbling that
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has nothing to do. With the word of God, those.
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Things are ungodly, but when we study.
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The Word of God and we are. Workmen.
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The Bible says we are workmen. With the word of God we study it
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just like Paul said a couple verses back.
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That one of the things we are is a.
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Farmer A hard working. Farmer and in doing that we have
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to make. Sure that we are.
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Hard workers getting into the Word of God, spending time with
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him in prayer. So that we rightly.
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Divide and that word. Rightly divide.
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Actually means cutting straight, cutting the word of God.
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Straight. We know that farmers cut furrows
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straight. A Carpenter will cut a board
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straight. We as pastors or as teachers of
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the Word, are to cut the Word straight, cut it straight, give
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it straight. We don't add to it, we don't
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take away from it, we don't sugarcoat it, we don't
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breakdance around sin. We cut it straight, just the way
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the Lord gives it to us. And this and this sum, when he
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says, Sean, that means to keep away from profane means
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irreverent, unconsecrated and babbling just simply means empty
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chatter, He said stay away from those things.
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Because they don't lead. To godliness it leads to more
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ungodliness. These things only lead to
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arguments bitter arguments bitter.
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Debates. And no one comes out of it
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benefiting. No one benefits out of it but
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when you teach. The Word of God there should be
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a spirit that is. Along with it.
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That will lead. Us to godliness.
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It encourages us, it corrects us.
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If need. Be it convicts us, but it.
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Leads us to godliness and then in verse 17, verse 17 here it
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says and their message will spread like here in my in the
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new King James, it says cancer. But in most other versions it
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actually uses the term gangrene. And I don't know how many of you
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are familiar with gangrene, but it is a very nasty infection
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that one can get and you get it from.
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A lack of or. No blood flow.
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Blood flow that's supposed. To be going to the tissues or
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the limbs or organs and when it doesn't.
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Go. The tissue dies.
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When there's no. Blood flow to the.
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Organs or the limbs? Or the tissue.
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That tissue dies. And that's what Paul is saying
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to to Timothy, that their message.
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Will spread like gangrene. It'll spread quickly.
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But it is an infection that gets into.
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The body of believers. And because there's no life in
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teaching error, there's no life in that.
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There's no life in teaching heresy.
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There's no. Life in arguing.
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There's no life in any of that. And because of that the.
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Remembers the tissue begins. To die the.
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Ministry will begin to. Die the life.
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Is in the blood, isn't it? So he.
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Says Hymenaeus and Philetus. Are of this sort.
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They have, you know, they are the ones who were teaching these
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things and they were actually saying look at verse 18.
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They have strayed from the truth, and they were saying that
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the resurrection has. Already passed, so there's been
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a lot of error. Teaching in.
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Error that has. Come into the churches, even
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back in Second Thessalonians we read about.
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Where the teachers the false teachers?
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Were coming to the Thessalonians and they were basically saying
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that the second coming had already.
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Passed had already come. Jesus already come.
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You missed it, and they stumbled, the people.
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And now here they're saying that the resurrection has already
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come and they're stumbling, the people.
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But that's what. Happens with heresy.
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That's what happens with air teaching in air.
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You stumble the people. And we know how important the
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resurrection is. That is a core.
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You know, it's it's a. Core source of our theology.
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I mean, without the resurrection we have no.
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Hope do we? Without the resurrection, we
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have no hope. So Paul's saying these.
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People, you got to. Stay away from them.
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But then he says, he gives us that assurance here in verse 19.
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He says nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands.
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Having this heal, the Lord knows.
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Those who are his, the Lord knows those who are here.
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The solid foundation stands First Corinthians 311 for no
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other foundation can be laid other can anyone lay than that
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which. Is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
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Who is our firm foundation? He is the solid rock Isaiah. 40
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and 8. Says the grass.
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Withers and the flower. Fades, but the Word of God
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stands. First Peter one in 25, but the
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word of the Lord endures forever.
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And then of course, we all know about Matthew and Seven.
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The Story of. Building a foundation on a rock
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and building it on the difference of building on a rock
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and building it on sand. The foundation that is built on
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a rock will stand. That's a wise man who builds on
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a rock. And when adversity comes, rather
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be rain, wind. Or floods.
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It can. Beat upon the house, but the
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house will stand. If you are built.
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On the solid foundation on the truth.
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Of God's Word. Not heresy, not someone's ideas,
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not someone's thoughts, not someone who wants to argue when
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you are built on the truth. Of God's Word.
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It is a solid. Foundation and you will stand in
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adversity. You won't fall away, you.
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Won't deny him. You will stand in adversity.
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It can keep. You.
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So then we go to verse. 19 Let's go to the bottom of 19, it says.
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The Lord knows. Those who are his.
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And let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from
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iniquity, and those. Who are Christ?
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Will depart from iniquity. They will not walk in the ways
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of the Sinner. They won't walk in the way of a
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Sinner. They will depart.
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From Iniquity back in Numbers chapter 16, back around verse 5,
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Moses is confronting Cora and those who are in rebellion with
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him, and he said tomorrow the Lord are going to show.
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Those who are with him, the Lord are going to show.
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Those who are his. Tomorrow and then in verse 20. 6
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after it was clear. That it was Moses who was the
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one that the people should be following.
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Because of the rod. That Aaron had.
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That actually spouted. A rod that was not connected to
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anything, just spouted. And because of that.
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The Lord said to them. Get away, those of you who are
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with the Lord, get away. From these tents of wickedness
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get away from them, and that's. Exactly what, Paul?
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Is saying here that everyone who names the name of Christ depart
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from iniquity, And then in verse 20 says, But in a great house
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there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also wood
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and clay, some of honor and some of dishonor.
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Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from the latter.
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He will be a. Vessel of honor sanctified and
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useful for the Master prepared. For every good work, this is a.
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Very encouraging verse here because what it's saying here
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basically that in a great. House The church is a great
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house. And there's vessels in a church,
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just like in your own house you have.
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Vessels that you probably brought out.
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On for Thanksgiving. Because they were your.
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Good China, you know, when company comes over, we bring
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this China out, you know? Because that's the good stuff.
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Other stuff to use every day. I know myself.
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We like to eat off of plate more paper plates you.
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Know we don't have. The good stuff out every day.
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We eat off of paper plates. Eat.
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Throw them away, but in every. House there is, vessels there,
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there are. Vessels of gold and.
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Silver, they're good vessels, vessels that.
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Stand. They're valuable.
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And then there's. Vessels of wood.
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And clay, those vessels are not so.
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Valuable what Paul is. Saying here is that just like
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they're vessels of honor, vessels of gold and silver,
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they're vessels of honor because they contain good stuff.
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They contain good stuff and because of that.
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They are vessels of. Honor, but they're.
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Also vessels of. Dishonor.
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They don't contain good stuff, they contain ungodliness, things
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that are contrary. To the word of God.
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They are your disapproved workers of God.
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And he says. As a result of that, but if that
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vessel. Would cleanse himself.
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He can. Become a vessel of.
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Honor and we cleanse by confessing and allowing the Lord
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to cleanse us from the things that are unrighteous in our
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life, and we can become. Vessels of.
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Honor, we don't have to remain vessels of dishonor.
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Don't let the enemy make. You feel guilty about.
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Something you've done and make you feel that God can't reach
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you now. God can't ever use you again.
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That is the biggest lie. To Christians, and unfortunately
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there's Christians who will tell other Christians things like
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that. You've blew it.
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You've blown it. God can't use you anymore.
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You've lost that position. God loves each and every one of
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us. And he desires for us.
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To turn back to Him and we can become vessels of honor again.
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We can repent and we can turn and become cleansed again.
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It's the blood of Jesus. Christ that has cleansed us from
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all sin. Is what the Bible says.
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So then he goes on and he says, and be sanctified.
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That means be set apart and useful for the master.
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Prepare for every good work and. This preparing is important to
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me because there are things that I go through sometimes and I
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wonder, Lord, why am I going through this?
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What is going on? What is going on in my life?
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Why am I going through this? Why?
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It just seems like it just seemed like things will keep
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coming sometimes. You get stretches of that.
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I don't know if anyone else can relate to that, but sometimes
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you just get stretches of things that keeps coming time after
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time and time again. And I'm realizing now that God
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is preparing you. For a good work he's.
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Preparing you he is. Causing you to be a vessel
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prepared for the master. 'S use.
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I don't know what he's going to use.
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You for I. Don't know what he has coming
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around. We can only see to the corner.
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He's the only one that can see around it.
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We don't know what he has prepared for us, but what?
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We do know. Is that He can prepare us and
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use us for great things, even us.
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And then he goes on into verse 22.
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He says flee also youthful lust. You know, flee those things.
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Those things are not of servants of honor or vessels of honor.
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That's for vessels of. Dishonor.
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Flee those things. Flee sexual immorality.
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Flee the love of money. Flee power.
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But also flee talking about profane and idle babblings.
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Flee from that. Flee from teaching and error.
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Flee from striving. Over words, flee.
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From those things, flee from always wanting to be right.
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Flee from that, but then you have to pursue.
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So God. Gives us three things here that
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we need to do. We need to flee, pursue and
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avoid. We know what to flee, but now he
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tells us what we need. To pursue.
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And we need to pursue faith. We need to pursue love.
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We need to pursue. Peace.
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And that. Righteousness is righteous.
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Righteous. Standing right, standing with
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God. Let's pursue that.
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Pursue faith or faithfulness. Pursue love, that agape love.
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That unconditional. Love that love like Jesus Christ
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loves. It's very difficult in our flesh
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to love that way. We usually love those who love
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us. We usually love those who.
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Do good things to. Us or for us, we love those who.
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Act the way we want them to act, and then when they don't, all of
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a sudden we don't love them as much and we know the.
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World. The world.
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'S love is very conditional. They'll walk out of a marriage
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because they'll just say I just don't love you no more.
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I just don't love you no more. Very conditional.
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But the love of God is unconditional, and it never.
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Fails. It never fails.
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Even in his chastisement. Of us, It's his love for us.
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When he convicts us, he's showing his.
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Love for us and. Obviously, when he.
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Blesses us. He's showing his.
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Love for us, but the. Biggest act of his.
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Love for us? Is when he sent his son Jesus
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Christ to come and. Die on a cross.
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For not his sins, our sins. That was the greatest act of
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love ever. But he said.
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We do that with. Those who calling the Lord.
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Out of a pure heart. Need to find other people who
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are seeking the Lord. The way that we.
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Either want to seek the Lord or are seeking the Lord.
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Everyone that sits in the Great house is not necessarily.
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Of a pure. Heart, and if we're honest with
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ourselves, most of us from time to time.
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Will have a heart that's not necessarily pure.
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There are things that come into our our thoughts.
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There are things that come into our mind, There are things that
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we we think about that are not necessarily.
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Pure. But we have a God that is
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totally pure. And we can always go to him and
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ask him even to cleanse us from any impurity that we.
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Do have but then. In 23.
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He says avoid Foolish. And ignorant disputes avoid
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pointless or stupid and. Useless.
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Unlearned disputes avoid those things because they only
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generate strife. That means more battles, more
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fights, more arguments. That's all it does.
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Getting into these debates sometimes, I mean these
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conversations got to make sure that when we get into these
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conversations that first of all our motives are right.
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You know, we have men that we do breakfast with sometimes.
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Our brother Tom runs that and we have.
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Bible. Studies.
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The men have Bible studies and I can't talk about what the women
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have because I'm not invited to that.
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Y'all don't ever, y'all don't invite us to y'all women's
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studies. But I understand that that's a
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blessing that we have those. Studies as well.
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But the point I'm trying to make that in all of these studies,
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whether it's men's studies or whether it's women's studies,
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the point I'm making is that if there's a discussion, there is
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discussion about. The word of God.
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There's not debate, it's not argument, it's discussion about
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the word. Of God, because it's.
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Based on the. Word of God when?
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Someone comes with a perspective.
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It is rooted and grounded from the word.
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Of God I love. Going to our breakfasts on on
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Saturday mornings because I. Always leave there edified.
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I've never left one of those. Breakfasts and felt.
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Angry or bitter? Or upset.
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Or felt like I was in. An argument with anybody.
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I've never left there feeling that way.
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The discussions that we have and we may only get through one or
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two. Verses because of.
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Discussion. But it's not discussion about
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somebody trying to be right or somebody coming up with some new
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theology. It's not.
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That it's a discussion about the Word of God.
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And it's based on the word. Of God.
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So when you. Leave there.
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You leave there edified. You leave there looking.
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To. Be more godly you leave there.
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Encouraged to be more. Godly so he says.
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There, as in verse 24, he says and a servant of the Lord must
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not quarrel, that means a servant of the Lord must not
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fight, must not be battling, must not get into argument, that
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word. Quarrel.
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Actually means it's like hand to hand combat.
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It's a military term and it actually means like hand to hand
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combat. A servant of the Lord shouldn't
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be involved in that. It should not be involved in.
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Even with just words, you should not be involved in something.
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That would symbolize. Hand to hand combat.
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But he said. But be gentle to all, and be.
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Able to. Teach and be patient.
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Be able to teach. And be patient.
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That's a servant. Of the Lord.
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It's that and then in verse 25, it talks about that humility,
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the humility of correcting those who are in opposition.
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And there are sometimes that we come against people who are in
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opposition of the word, but that doesn't mean again, that we
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leave them wounded and bludgeon. I mean, there are times that you
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could get into conversations with some people.
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Who are just bitter. They're hurting anyway, so they
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unleash. All of that wrath.
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On you in a discussion and it's covered.
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It's covered with thinking. We're we're talking.
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About the word of. God, no.
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We're. Really talking about some issues
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that you have because you walk away.
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From that feeling bludgeoned. Beat up.
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Never underestimate the effect. Of our words.
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It can wound and leave deep wounds, but he says in humility.
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We should be. Correcting those who are in
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opposition. And now this is the part I love
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the most. And it's been, it's been weaved
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throughout the entire section. There's four reasons.
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Why we? Should be gentle.
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There's four reasons why we should.
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Be. Humble when we're correcting
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people, even in opposition. There's four reasons why, and
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it's the ultimate reason #1 repentance.
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The whole. Reason for correcting people and
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getting into a. Discussion about the truth of
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God's Word. Is that that person will come to
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repentance, or we will come to repentance if we're wrong #2
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that they may know the truth. All of these are right here.
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That they may know the truth. John 8 and 32 says, And you
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shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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It's bondage being in heresy and under air.
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But the truth will set you free. And then the third reason that
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they may come to their senses or that they recover.
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People that the devil. Are using to get into these
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debates and get into these arguments that they enjoy.
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That's not of God. That's all this.
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That's of Satan. That's of the devil.
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It's a plan to try to get there to cause.
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Confusion in the church, that vision in the church when you
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come with all those different attitudes and, and, and being
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angry, that's just being used of the enemy.
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And it's like being into like being in a drunken stupor.
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And then the 4th and final reason.
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Is to escape the trap of that devil.
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To know that you've you've been used.
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By the devil. To do things that are ungodly
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ungodly. It causes confusion, it causes
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opposition, causes division. It's like a plant to plant
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destructive heresies, and it comes in secretly, and that's
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the reason they want. No, Paul is saying.
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We want to bring that person to repentance, not to just.
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Destroy that. Person not to just belittle a
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person who may be an heir, but that person can come to
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repentance and sometimes that person can come to repentance
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through you. And then at the very end it says
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that he to escape the snare of the devil, having been taken
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captive by him. To do.
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His will we no longer have to do the will of the evil 1 and if
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there. Are teachers that we.
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Even know or teachers that are out there and then we talk
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about, you know, teachers of prosperity, teachers of
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inclusion and all these different types of theology and
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gospels that are out to these different type of gospels that
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people were preaching air heresy.
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Let's pray for him. Let's pray.
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Let's pray that God will. Bring them to repentance, not
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just talk about them and talk about how.
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Evil it is, or how bad it is and how they.
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Should be ashamed of. Themselves or how they get
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themselves. God's going to deal with them.
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Well, we got some things God going to deal.
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With us about too. Let's.
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Pray for these people. That God will.
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Perhaps bring them to repentance and that they turn.
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They weren't always like that. And God can restore.
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So if we are people who strive, if we're people who.
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Get involved in empty chatter. If we quarrel, we can repent.
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If we have some youthful lust that we need to flee, we can do
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that today and repent from our youthful lusts.
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And if we need to turn toward godliness, if we need to turn
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toward righteousness, we need to turn toward faithfulness, love,
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and peace, if we want God to supply more of that in our lives
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and in our hearts, we can pray. For that and of course.
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If you're 1, who's here that have not received Jesus Christ
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as your Lord and. Savior, let this be the last day
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that. You don't have eternity with.
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Jesus Christ. Today you can repent and turn,
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and you can receive salvation from the wrath of God that is
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coming. You have an opportunity to do
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that today. So, Father, we remember today
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everything that he endured. We remember today.
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His love for us to even leave glory.
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To come here, not for his to die.
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For his sins, but to die. For our sins.
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And we're grateful for that. Amen.
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You've been listening to Pastor Louis Harrell here on Living
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Waters of Grace. We're digging into all that Paul
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shared with Timothy in the books of First and Second Timothy.
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Timothy was commissioned to do the following, fight the good
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fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were
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also called, and have confessed the good confession in the
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presence of many witnesses. Timothy would be carrying on
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what Paul had taught him and continuing on in ministry, even
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though Paul knew that more hardships would come for
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Timothy. This is the Christian life.
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It's not glamorous. It's not some celebrity status,
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It's hard fought, it's gritty, it's unpopular, but it's worth
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it. Do you believe that today?
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Are you willing to fight the good fight even at the cost of
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earthly pleasures? Living the life of a follower of
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Jesus will have its heavenly rewards.
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To be a part of a community that's looking forward to that
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heavenly reward, we invite you to join us at Calvary Chapel
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Westmoreland. If you're in the Greensburg, PA
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area, come be with us this Sunday at 10:30 AM at 400 E
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Pittsburgh St. Ste. 6B.
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Check out Calvary Chapel online.com For more information
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on directions and any other details you might want to know.
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You can also download our mobile app from our website
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thatscalvarychapelonline.com. If you have friends or family
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members who want to tune in, encourage them to listen on
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Grace FM 91.7. One last thing, this radio
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ministry relies on your support to keep things going.
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If you're willing to donate financially, send gifts to Grace
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FMPO Box 716, Greensburg, PA 15601.
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Thanks for prayerfully considering this, and thank you
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for listening to Living Waters of Grace.