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Not Everything That Sounds Good is From God · Heart Check Podcast

0:13
What's up everybody? Welcome to Heartache podcast.
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I'm your host Pastor Los. This episode's going to be a
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little different before every episode.
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I'm always praying, talking with Jesus before I hit record,
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before I get ready to get rolling into whatever topic we
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have or whatever we're discussing, whatever God has
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been preparing in my heart for the week and even the night
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before and even before we hop into this.
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Something that's just been heavy on my heart and I feel like I
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kept praying. I texted my wife even before I
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was getting ready to record and go off the topic that I think
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was supposed to be our next topic for Christianity
0:49
one-on-one series. And I just continue to feel
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heavy. Even every Thursday night, the
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young adult ministry that I lead and my wife helps lead alongside
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me. She has the girls usually
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upstairs and they're going, we're going through Genesis
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right now and she has, you know, girls up in our living room
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upstairs. I got a a basement full of guys
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and we're going through Genesis chapter 43 last night.
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And this topic came up even last night as we were diving into the
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word. And it's just something that
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continues to be all over my news feed, all over social media.
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You continue to see it over and over again.
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You're probably like, OK, what are you talking about?
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Something that's just been heavy is so many false teachers, false
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prophets, false theology that continues to be thrown around
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and it's been heavy on my heart. I don't know about you, but it's
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super sad to see consistently these men and women who are
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falling, who are falling from the faith, who have been leading
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people astray, teaching things that are not biblical, this
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theology that continues to take people from the truth, a lot of
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these different theologies. And that's been something that's
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just been heavy on my heart in a conversation that even
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overflowed last night from our Bible study of there's just so
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many things being taught right now that are not biblical truth,
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that are not based on Scripture, that are not from God.
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And as I'm sitting there with these 18 to 29 year old young
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men discussing this, them sharing their thoughts and
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things that they've heard or they've experienced, or I
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constantly get messages or reels or things sent to my personal
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page from people that I'm shepherding over or pastoring or
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people who just know me that I'm friends with that are always
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sending these videos. And it's like, what do you think
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about this? Pastor Willis, have you seen
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this? Is this true?
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There's constant just a flooding of information to everybody
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right now that you can scroll on any sort of social media
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website, Tiktok, Instagram, wherever you're at.
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And you can run into a ton of people preaching, teaching,
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somewhat sounding good, They're great orators or they're people
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who can really talk well. And the question is, that's
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great, but is it from God? Is it from his word?
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Is it his truth? Or is it their own truth?
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Or is it so similar to truth? But the enemy right now it what
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I'm seeing is what we go back to In Genesis 3, the enemy doesn't
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try to get Eve to question God's existence.
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He tries to get her to question his word.
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And in Genesis 3, what is what does the serpent say?
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He says, did God really say that?
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Did God really say you couldn't eat from the true, from the tree
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of knowledge of good and evil? Are you sure that he said you
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could eat fruit from that tree? He's trying to get Eve to
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question God's word. And I see the enemy working
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overtime in this day and age. We have a day and age where you
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see all the stats that this Gen. Z and Gen.
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Alpha that's coming up. They're the most willing to
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learn about God or to seek spiritual questions out or they
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want it. They're they're very much so
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open to the church and to the to the Bible, to Jesus.
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You're seeing that happen in this day and age, but we're also
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starting to see what I am seeing happen is now you're having all
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this false theology. You're having all this stuff
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being preached and taught that isn't from God, that's not from
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his word. And even as I sit there and say
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that last night with the young adults, it's like I as a pastor
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want to constantly be in God's Word, learning His truth,
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praying and seeking discernment from the Holy Spirit so I can
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test every spirit. Because I also want to make
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sure, as James 31 says, that the teachers of the Word will be
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judged harsher. I want to make sure that I am
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preaching God's truth. And as I said to my young adults
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downstairs last night, don't just take everything I say as
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gospel. Even go be in your word.
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Listen to God, understand who He is, seek out his wisdom and
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knowledge. Because I promise you, the Holy
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Spirit, who is the Spirit of God, the power of God, who lives
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in you, He will lead you into all truth as Scripture tells us
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he will. So open up the word of God, read
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it, study it, feast on it, be be obsessed and focused on it
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daily. I think right now the problem
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that I'm seeing is we have so much biblical illiteracy in the
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world that people aren't really studying the word for
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themselves, that they're spending time with Jesus, that
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they're coming to understand the firm foundation that they stand
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upon. So as Paul says, they're not
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just they're not just blown by every wind of doctrine,
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everything that's brought talk to them, everything they see on
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TikTok or that they hear a pastor talk about that sounds
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good, but isn't really biblical or kind of sounds close to what
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truth is. But really underneath it's from
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Satan. It's not who God is or what he
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teaches. And so I was just feeling heavy
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on this. I literally, even before I'd
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come down, come down to get into my podcast room, I'm scrolling
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on Facebook and see another thing about a pastor who is
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teaching things or I'm getting personal messages.
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Even as I've stepped into this endeavor, I've stepped into this
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podcast world that again, it's hard at times, 'cause now you're
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opening yourself up to conversations which I knew
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that's what this would look like.
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And I trusted God in that. Again, I'm here to just give Him
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glory. It's not about me.
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But even the conversations that have stirred up from some of my
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videos that I'm teaching this truth that I've learned through
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studying the Word for years, going to Bible college, learning
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from people way more wiser than me and bending the Word for way
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longer and walked to Jesus for way longer, have studied the
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original languages, the manuscripts who are teaching me
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His truth. I'm sitting here having these
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conversations with people through the Internet and I'm
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just feeling burdened by man. These people are arguing stuff
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that is biblical foundations that they so strongly believe
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that they are right. And again, I'm sitting there
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going that is so far off. That is not the truth of God.
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And that burdens me. I feel heavy about that.
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I feel heavy that there's people in this world who think they
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know Jesus, but they really don't.
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And as we discussed these this couple episodes ago, Jesus is
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the only way, the only truth, the only life.
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John 14, six. No one can come to the Father
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except through him. If we don't know who Jesus is,
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we don't have eternal life. If you don't understand and
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believe and the King of King, Lord of Lords that God sent him
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to live a perfect life and die a death that you and I deserve.
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And three days later he rose from the grave.
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If you don't know who he is, you are lost.
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And these are hard truths to understand, but it's something
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that's just been weighing heavy. And so I'm kind of going off the
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cuff off this episode. I'm not really no notes.
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I'm just kind of letting the spirit lead because I feel like
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this is something I want to challenge and encourage you
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guys. My heart check community, God
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has put heavy on my heart since I came to faith in Jesus, the
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importance of knowing his word. And there's been seasons even in
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my walk and my walk with Jesus where I have not been
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intentional to be in his word. And I see and feel how I am a
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little bit more drifting. I'm a little bit more shaky.
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My foundation isn't firm that maybe somebody comes to me or
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early on in my faith I had people coming to me which was
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the most wild thing. I don't know if y'all have
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experienced this, but I put my faith in Jesus and it felt like
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I had constant people coming like, well, yeah, you believed
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in Jesus, but did you do this? Oh, you believe in Jesus, but do
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you believe this? And I'm, I remember sitting
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there feeling like, Lord, I'm just excited about you.
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I'm so on fire for the Lord to go tell everybody about Jesus,
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to live out this new creation that I am now, that I've found
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in my faith in Jesus, that I've found this new life, that I'm
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not who I used to be. And I was just excited to spread
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the gospel to be on fire for the Lord and the Holy Spirit started
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to feel quenched because everybody seemed to be coming me
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with this theology, this theology, these thoughts this
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thoughts. Oh, have you been fully
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sanctified though cross. What do you mean have I been
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fully sanctified? What are you talking about?
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Like I've learned that it's a sanctification process, right.
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Philippians 16 who he who began a good work and you will bring
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it to completion because I'm a Sinner, I'm broken.
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I have faith in Jesus that now I've been redeemed and saved,
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but I'm not going to be perfect and live a life that's perfect
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to never have a thought that goes against God again.
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I read Paul, who was an apostle of Christ, say that I'm a chief
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of sinners, that as Paul also says, I do the things I don't
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want to do and I don't do the things that I do want to do.
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This is from an apostle of Christ.
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Seeing Peter even post Jesus's ascension again has to be
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reminded, Peter, I don't have favorites there.
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I don't see people a certain way just because of their
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nationality or their race. I love all people who put their
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faith in me there and my children, no matter what color
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they are, what race they come from, a national.
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I'm reading these things in Scripture, seeing even these
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sins and brokenness of the apostles, the closest to Jesus,
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who he chose to as he chose Peter to be the rock where he
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built his church. He built his church upon Peter
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Cephas. And I'm reading these things in
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Scripture and I have this person saying to me, yeah, but bro,
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have you been fully sanctified? And I'm like, what does that
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even mean? There's just so much guys that
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people are going to come at you with that the enemy is working
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through to try to get you off of God's path, his truth.
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And so I really want to speak to you guys today and I want to
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challenge you. You got to be in your word.
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You have to read the Bible. You have to ask before you open
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up the word as we talked about on the episode how to read the
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Bible. Lord Jesus, lead me.
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Holy Spirit, give me wisdom and insight.
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Help me learn your truth before I even open it.
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Holy Spirit, fill me. God of the universe, the God who
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gives you the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth.
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He will do that. But you also have to be in the
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word and you also have to be with people who've been
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following Jesus a lot longer than you have, that have studied
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this, that have, that have been immersed in the scriptures that
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you can see not just that they're knowledgeable, but that
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there's fruit of the Spirit in their lives.
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Thankfully for those men and women who have been in my life
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and I thank you guys, you know who you are.
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I've been able to walk with people who don't just talk the
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talk, but they walk the walk. So it's not just people who are
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just knowledgeable. Again, you're scrolling on
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TikTok. You don't know these people.
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Some of you guys. I love you, man.
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I'm so thankful you're here as we, I use the word digital
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discipleship, which is what we have now in this day and age of
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social media and YouTube and being able to record and this
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goes everywhere. That's pretty cool.
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That can help just be someone who can can teach you what I've
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learned and and connect with you through this world of Internet.
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But you got to have people who are intimately involved in your
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life that you know that are people you rub shoulders with.
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As we say when we learn the word, the original word for a
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follower of Jesus, like when a rabbi chose his followers, when
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we talk about discipleship, what that meant in the original
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context of when a rabbi, which Jesus, The crazy part about
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Jesus is Jesus chose his students and that wasn't what
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rabbis did back in the Jewish culture.
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The students chose they would go up to a rabbi and ask the rabbi
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if they could follow him 'cause they wanted to learn from them
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and and to be so near to them. We learn this original language
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of what it meant to be a disciple of a rabbi.
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You'd be so near to them that you'd get their their dirt on
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you. That's what it meant to be a
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student, a disciple of a rabbi, to be following a mentor, a
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spiritual mentor in your life that you're so near to them that
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you get their dirt on you 'cause you're walking so close with
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them. That's what it looks like in
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your life. You need some spiritual mentors
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in your life. You need some people who've been
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walking with Jesus a lot longer than you have.
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And I don't want to see young people.
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I work with young people and I'm thankful for this amazing
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ministry that I'm able to lead over, and I have some amazing
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young adults, men and women, who really want to walk closely with
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people who have been walking with Jesus longer than they have
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to learn from them to soak it up.
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Sometimes I think we get caught up even in this day and age that
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like, I've got it all figured out that I don't really
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necessarily need to learn from anybody else.
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I can kind of do this on my own #1 super important for you to be
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in your Word and be with Jesus on your own, of course, as we
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just discussed. But what that also looks like is
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you serving you, walking you, following other people who've
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also been in the Word, and teaching and leading for a very
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long time. As Paul says, follow me as I
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follow Christ. People could look to Paul not as
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Jesus 'cause he's not Jesus, but Paul saying I've been, I've been
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following Jesus for this long. I've been teaching people his
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word, his truth. I've learned from other people.
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Sometimes we forget the time frames.
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Paul didn't even go on his missionary journeys until years
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later. He spent years with the
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Christians who were eyewitnesses of Jesus.
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He learned from the other apostles, Peter and John.
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He sat and soaked up God's truth before he even went to go be a
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missionary for the gospel. And so this importance of I
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think sometimes we are just listening to anybody or we're
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almost not just listening to anybody and everybody, but we're
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not even getting near enough to people to be able to do life
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with people. So we can actually have that
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brother and sister relationships, brothers with
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little brothers with Big Brothers, little sisters with
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Big Sisters, that they can actually do life with you and
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speak truth into your life. When they see things that are
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off, they can correct and love that they can rebuke, that they
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can lead you more into who God created you to be and who you're
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called to be. That people get to actually know
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you and get to teach you. This is super important guys.
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And, and don't let the don't let Satan in the world try to dilute
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that cause the reality is we have all these false teachers
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and false prophets. We have people who have
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legitimate church hurt that have been a part of a church that is
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a false church. And they've had leaders that
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don't walk it out and not walk it out in perfection, but walk
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it out in honesty and vulnerability and in in God's
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truth and love. They've experienced this hurt
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that now all of a sudden it's yeah, I just, it's just me and
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Jesus. Yeah.
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I don't need the church. Yeah, I don't need brothers and
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sisters to do life with. I don't need I don't need my the
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body of Christ, which is unbiblical.
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Yes, you do. That is what that is what the
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Kingdom on earth is that we now have access to heaven even
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through our relationships of brothers and sisters in Christ.
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We have the Holy Spirit in them that we get to do life together,
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learn from each other, have each other to lean on, to confess to,
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to pray for the list goes on and on.
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But too many times I think we're seeing what's happening is Satan
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is utilizing this day and age of Internet.
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He's utilizing that people are learning so much.
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They're learning so much that they don't know really anything.
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That they learn so much that they don't really know what is
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the truth, that they've heard so many different truths that they
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don't even know what the truth is.
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And so we gotta be in God's Word.
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Psalm 119105 says your word is a lamp to guide my feet and the
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light for my path. God's Word, His Bible, Holy
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Spirit, inspired from Him, God breathed.
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It guides our feet, it's a light for our path.
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It shows us what is true. It reveals even what is wrong in
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our lives. We have to be in the Word of
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God. We have to seek out His truth.
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We have to be so intentional about this guy's.
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We cannot take this lightly. We have to open up the Word.
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Matthew 44 says this, but Jesus told him no.
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The scriptures say people do not live by bread alone, but by
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every word that comes from the mouth of God.
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People don't live by just the substance of the food they get
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spiritually. You are alive and live by the
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word, by the Bible, what's provided from the mouth of God,
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from what's already been revealed in His Word.
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We have this even theologies, you know, this false theology
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where people are trying to even speak on like new revelations.
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We have this theology sometimes where it's all new revelations
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that all of a sudden now in 1960, this person got a new
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revelation about God's word. And now this is the truth of
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God's word, something that was never believed in the early
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church with the people who actually walked with Jesus and
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learned first hand God's truth. We have people claiming that God
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is revealing still new and scripture level truths.
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Ladies and gentlemen, God has given us a sufficient word of
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God. What we need in His word, what
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we've been given, what we have been allowed to have from what
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has been deemed His Holy Spirit inspired word we have now access
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to. And so when people start
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speaking on things that are new revelations, that thus says the
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Lord, No, no, no, no, no prophets of the Old Testament
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that were the mouthpieces of God.
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One person chosen by God to speak His truth is no more.
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That was OT. Do I believe that we can get
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discernment as far as John talks about, the Holy Spirit gives us
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the ability to test the spirits of what's from God's truth 100%,
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but nobody is speaking directly for God.
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That's Old Testament prophets. Prophets have now speak the
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truth that's already been revealed by God in His word,
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Genesis through revelation. We already have God's revealed
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revelations. We already have His truth.
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The time we live and now is that each of the believers who put
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their faith in Jesus receive the Holy Spirit and now the Holy
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Spirit leads us in the truth that's been revealed in God's
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word. So if people are coming up
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saying I got this new revelation from God, that is false.
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That is a false theology. If people even as I was having a
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conversation with someone, if someone is saying God isn't that
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Jesus isn't fully God and fully human, they are false.
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Prophets they are not speaking truth.
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We learn in first John. First John says this in first
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John 4 chapter 4 verses one through 3 which I just got at.
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He says this dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but
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test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many
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false prophets have gone out into the world.
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We're talking only 40 to 60 years removed from Jesus.
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John the Apostle John's writing this in first John, his letter,
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he's saying already there's false prophets who have gone out
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into the world that Jesus has ascended, that he's left us with
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his truth. We've walked with him.
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Already there's false prophets going out into the world who are
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speaking things that go against God's truth.
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He says in verse 2, this is how you can recognize the Spirit of
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God. Every spirit that acknowledges
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that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.
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So the conversation I was having with someone who was trying to
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argue that Jesus was just man, not God, is a false prophet.
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It's false theology 'cause right here first John is saying every
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spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the
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flesh is from God, that we believe God Incarnate God came
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in flesh, born in a Manger, that Jesus is God in flesh.
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That is biblical truth. But if you're saying that God
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was, or that if you're saying that Jesus was only man, not
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fully God, that's a false theology because in verse three
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he says, but every spirit that does not listen here ladies and
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gentlemen, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is
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not from God. This is the spirit of the
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Antichrist which you have heard is coming and even now is
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already in the world. And this is a lowercase A so not
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capital, A Antichrist that will come that we hear about in
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Revelation. The Antichrist that come, that
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will be when Jesus is going to be returning for us.
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Not the capital AV11 entity Antichrist, but lowercase.
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A Antichrist in this verse is speaking about anybody who goes
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against Christ's truth. There's Antichrist, there's
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Antichrist in your church, There's Antichrist that you
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maybe are even connected to. There's Antichrist that maybe
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you're listening to through YouTube, through social media,
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that they are speaking false doctrine, false theology, things
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that are not from God, that aren't biblical truth.
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There is Antichrist in this world, people who go against
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God's word, his truth and, and John's hitting it right here.
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If people acknowledge that God, that Jesus Christ came in flesh,
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they're from God. That's God's truth.
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But if every but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus
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is not from God. They're false prophets that they
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don't know the word of God, that Jesus is God, God in flesh, that
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he was fully God, fully human. If you guys haven't listened to
23:31
my Who is Jesus episode, we have to understand who Jesus is
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because as I just brought up earlier, if we don't know Jesus,
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then we don't know the way, we don't know the truth, and we
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have not received eternal life because no one can come to God
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the Father, the Creator, except through Jesus who he is knowing
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and believing who Jesus is. We have to be extremely vigilant
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in knowing God's word and knowing his truth.
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Matthew 715 even tells us Jesus says beware of false prophets
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who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are
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ravenous wolves. That there are false prophets
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who present themselves as being sent from God, that they know
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God, that they follow Jesus, but they are inwardly wolves.
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That they're praying on God's children, his flock, that
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shepherds need to reflect Jesus, obey his word.
24:35
Again, hear me clearly, guys. As a, as someone who's been
24:38
called to be a shepherd, I am far from perfect.
24:41
I am a Sinner, as Paul says, I'm a chief of sinners.
24:45
I fall, I don't, I don't obey God perfectly every single day
24:50
of my life. But am I striving to put my put
24:52
my flesh to death every day? Of course.
24:55
Am I striving to know His Word, to walk it out, not just talk it
24:59
out 100%, but you should test those spirits.
25:04
You should make sure who these shepherds are, who's teaching
25:07
you that it's from God, that it's from His Word.
25:09
The problem is the flock isn't knowing God's Word.
25:14
So we have these false shepherds, We have these false
25:18
prophets and teachers that are leading people astray because
25:21
people aren't in their word, that they aren't reading the
25:24
Word of God, coming to know His truth, to seek out His truth, to
25:30
walk with people who have known His truth for a while.
25:33
That are that you are seeing the evidence of their salvation
25:38
through the fruit of the Spirit and the way that they live, the
25:40
way that they act, the way that they treat people that they love
25:45
like Christ. I know this topic is such a big
25:49
one. Even while I'm preaching this
25:51
and teaching this. It's heavy because some people
25:54
might be hearing this and being like, well, man, Pastor Rose,
25:57
who then is really who's really preaching God truth?
25:59
Who's really who's really standing firm on the foundation
26:03
that is his word. Like how do we know what even is
26:06
truth? Hear me clearly.
26:08
God has revealed his truth to his children.
26:12
As he says, my sheep know my voice.
26:16
They listen to my voice. You will see who knows God's
26:21
Word and His truth by the way they teach it.
26:24
Not just teach it, but by the way they live it.
26:27
This is something we have to seek out, that we have to be
26:31
intentional about, that we see people who are obeying God with
26:36
all their hearts, that they're loving God with all their heart,
26:38
mind, soul, and strength. When you see people who have put
26:41
their lives to death that they have denied themselves and
26:45
picked up their cross and follow Jesus.
26:49
And again, God knows our hearts. God knows who is following, who
26:55
knew him, who's not just one foot in, one foot out that's
26:58
given their lives to him. But really my point is not just
27:03
so much so to not so much so to make sure we know of everything.
27:08
My point here is I want you guys to truly follow Jesus with all
27:12
your heart, to give Him all of your life, to be in His Word, to
27:17
seek His truth, 'cause I don't wanna see you fall to false
27:24
theology, to be lost because you don't know who God is, because
27:28
you're not in His Word. That you're not seeking Him,
27:31
that you're not obeying Him, that you're not learning from
27:34
Him. But you're just showing up maybe
27:37
on a Sunday morning for that hour service and you're taking
27:39
everything that Pastor says is just what you get for the week
27:43
in his word. That that's what you got that 30
27:46
minute sermon, but that you make this a Monday through Sunday
27:49
faith a walking it out every day, being in his word, making
27:53
sure you know his truth. That it's not what your grandma
27:56
taught you or your brother taught you or your professor
27:58
taught you or what someone else taught you on the Internet.
28:01
That you have spent time in his word and you understand where
28:06
you stand on what is not going to blow you away from God.
28:11
That you're not going to hear somebody come to you and kind of
28:13
speak very well and say, oh, this, that and the 3rd and you
28:15
go, oh, maybe, maybe what I believe isn't really the truth.
28:20
No, that's not going to happen because you are standing firm on
28:22
the foundation of His Word, that you know it, that you're
28:24
studying it, you're learning it, that you're coming to a fullness
28:28
experience of your salvation. As first Peter 1-2 says that you
28:32
should cry out for your spiritual nourishment, that you
28:36
should be in your word, soaking it up so you know what His truth
28:41
is. Romans 12/2 let God transform
28:44
you into a new person by changing the way you think.
28:47
Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is
28:50
good and pleasing and perfect. We have to let God transform us
28:55
through the way that we think, the way that we think about
28:58
things, see things, that we have to see through Christ's eyes
29:02
that we need to know and have him reveal his truth to us that
29:06
we pray for that that daily we're saying, God, fill me with
29:09
your truth. Lead me into all truth.
29:11
As Jesus says, the Holy Spirit will lead you and convict you
29:15
into his truth. Are you praying that?
29:18
Are you willing to let your heart hear from God, to be
29:22
convicted, to be reminded of who He is?
29:25
Because Second Timothy 3/16/17 says all scripture is inspired
29:29
by God and is useful to teach us what is true and make us realize
29:33
what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong
29:36
and teaches us to do what is right.
29:38
God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good
29:42
work. We need to know God's Word
29:44
because all of God's word is inspired by God and is useful to
29:47
teach us what is true and make us realize what is wrong in our
29:50
lives and makes us realize and see what is not from God.
29:53
It helps us test the spirits of those who are teaching things
29:56
that are not from God, that are not biblical, that are not
29:58
truthful, that are not from Him. But we have to be in the Word of
30:04
God to know that. Don't be LED away from Jesus
30:12
because it's something that kind of sounds good, that someone
30:16
presented something that maybe sounded really good.
30:19
They presented it really good 'cause man, they're very good
30:21
communicators. What is the thing they're
30:24
communicating from God? I love First Corinthians chapter
30:30
2. It's one of my favorites, 'cause
30:32
Paul even says this to the Corinthians in verse 1.
30:35
He says, when I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters,
30:37
I didn't use lofty words. I didn't try to use all these
30:41
super intelligent, he says and impressive wisdom to tell you
30:45
God's secret plan for I decided that while I while for I decided
30:53
verse 2, that I was with you, that while I was with you, I
30:57
would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was
31:01
crucified. I came to you in weakness, timid
31:05
and trembling. Apostle Paul came to them in
31:08
weakness, timid and trembling. And verse 4.
31:11
And my message and my preaching were very plain vanilla.
31:18
Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied
31:24
only on the power of the Holy Spirit.
31:28
I did this, verse 5. I did this so you would trust
31:32
not in human wisdom, but in the power of God loving the word
31:40
just emphasizes emphasizes God's truth right here.
31:44
What we are talking about Paul's saying listen as he goes on to
31:49
talk about Paul speaks in tongues.
31:51
Paul's healed people. Paul's done all these miraculous
31:53
things. And he's saying Paul could have
31:56
came into Corinth and been like healed or spoken a word from God
32:02
through his tongues in an interpreter.
32:03
He could have done these incredible things, these
32:06
miraculous things. But you know what that would
32:09
have done? It would have pointed people to
32:12
Paul, as Paul touches on in First Corinthians.
32:15
You guys are arguing about why follow Paul?
32:18
I follow Paul's. I follow this pastor.
32:20
I follow this pastor. Oh man, online, oh, I love this
32:23
pastor. This is my pastor.
32:24
I follow him. We're so concerned about
32:27
defending who we follow as a pastor.
32:30
We're not even defending who we follow as the one we should be
32:32
defending that we follow, which is Jesus Christ.
32:36
And Paul's saying you guys are arguing about who you follow
32:38
which which man is the most important?
32:41
And that's not what it's about. It's about Jesus.
32:46
So Paul's saying, I could have came to you guys and did all
32:48
these incredible things and, and got flattered, flattered,
32:51
compliments and been like, oh, thank you guys.
32:53
Oh, Paul, you're so wise. Oh, Paul, you're so gifted.
32:56
Oh, Paul, you're so powerful. Look at the things you did.
32:59
Paul goes, no, I came to you timid and trembling.
33:04
I wanted you guys to look at me and be like, man, is this the
33:08
Apostle Paul that we've heard about has done all these
33:11
incredible things that's spreading the good news across
33:14
all of Asia? Like is, is this him?
33:17
He's like, looks like he can barely talk or speak.
33:21
Paul's like, no, I came to you and spoke it plainly like that
33:26
because it's all about Jesus. I want you to just hear the
33:31
simple, plain truth, simple yet powerful plain truth that saves
33:37
your soul. That Jesus lived a perfect life.
33:40
He died a death that you and I deserve because we're sinners
33:42
and we're separated by God. And three days later he rose
33:45
from the grave. And if you put your faith in
33:47
Jesus, you will have eternal life.
33:51
Plainly, point blank, period. Paul just said, I'm going to
33:56
come to you and I'm going to let the Holy Spirit do what the Holy
33:59
Spirit does. Sometimes even as pastors and
34:02
preachers, we get so concerned and consumed by man.
34:04
I got to have the perfect sermon, man.
34:06
I got to have all these perfect bullet points that I've gotten
34:09
caught up in. Man, is this going to really
34:11
hit? Oh, man, are they going to be
34:13
telling me afterwards like Carlos, bro, that point you had
34:16
fire dog that Yeah, Carl, it's not about you, Dog.
34:21
As the as the Holy Spirit reminds, Carl, it ain't about
34:23
you. It ain't about how good your
34:25
sermon was and how much better it was than this pastors or this
34:28
preachers or that I get to speak in front of this many people.
34:31
No, dog, this is about Jesus. This calling I have on my life.
34:37
It's about Jesus. It's not about me, it's not
34:40
about how much praise I get, it's not about even while I do
34:42
this and then reminded to deny myself.
34:45
It's not about how many subscribers I have.
34:47
It's not about how many people follow my heart.
34:49
Check page bro. This is about me obeying Jesus
34:52
and spreading His good news because He is the most important
34:57
person and thing in my life. That it's about Him, that this
35:01
is a call that is denying myself and picking up my cross to
35:05
follow Him. I'm gonna be honest with you
35:07
guys. Let me be real, real raw on this
35:09
Heart Check podcast with my Heart Check community.
35:13
If Carlos could have it his way, I wouldn't be a pastor.
35:17
Do you know why 'cause then I wouldn't have to be held to the
35:20
James 31 standard. I could be someone that just
35:23
pops in on Sunday morning that gives the 30 minute of church
35:26
and says, oh, I'm a Christian, I go to church.
35:28
Why what? I go every Sunday morning.
35:31
I kind of sometimes go to men's events.
35:33
I kind of sometimes do Bible studies.
35:35
But I do believe in Jesus. But yeah, I mean, I can kind of
35:39
just coast, be on cruise control, go through the motions.
35:45
God said no, Carlos, I'm calling you to be a shepherd.
35:49
I'm calling you to die to yourself, to deny yourself, to
35:53
pick up your cross and follow me, to put to death those things
35:57
that are old. Carlos wants to enjoy that.
36:00
I have to daily sit there with Jesus and say, God, why did I
36:04
just think that thing? Why did I want to do this thing
36:06
that I know is not from you? God put it to death.
36:08
I have to have these daily moments with Jesus because he,
36:13
as we talked about, I word it this way.
36:14
Jesus said I didn't call come to abolish the law.
36:16
I came to fulfill it. Jesus didn't abolish the law.
36:19
He actually raised the standard. He said if you, it's not that
36:23
you even just have to sleep with another woman to commit
36:25
adultery. Jesus says even if you look at a
36:28
woman lustfully, you've committed adultery in your
36:30
heart. He raises the standard and God
36:33
is saying James through James 31.
36:35
If you are a teacher, if you are a teacher of my word, you will
36:39
be judged harsher that you need to die to yourself because it's
36:43
not about you. As Paul says, I relied on the
36:45
power of the Holy Spirit. I came and spoke Christ
36:49
crucified. As Paul says in first
36:51
Corinthians 118, the power of the cross is foolishness to
36:55
those who are perishing. When people heard people
36:58
preaching about a God who through his Son God in flesh
37:02
died, they're like, so the God who you say created all this and
37:07
is all powerful and almighty and omniscient, omnipotent, You're
37:11
saying that he died on a cross? The worst way to die in that
37:14
time period. He just died on a cross.
37:16
Bro what? To them it was foolishness, but
37:21
to us it is everything that Jesus came, that he lived a
37:27
life, that we couldn't live and die to death, that we deserve
37:29
and re rose from the grave. It is the power that saves us.
37:34
It is, it is finished, as Jesus said, that now you don't have to
37:39
do anything except put faith in the one who accomplished it for
37:42
you, which is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the anointed one, the
37:46
one who was promised. It's the saving power.
37:49
It's it's everything, as Paul says, without the resurrection,
37:53
everything we're teaching and preaching is useless.
37:56
If Jesus didn't raise from the grave, what are we doing?
37:59
But we know that it's truth that we know.
38:02
Brothers and sisters are spiritual ancestors who went
38:04
before us, died for this truth, that they went to their grave,
38:08
that they were burned alive, that they were hung, that they
38:11
were murdered, martyred for their faith in this truth.
38:16
That Jesus did die, but Jesus also rose from the grave.
38:21
That Jesus is fully God and Jesus was fully man.
38:24
That Jesus is God in flesh. That he's who he promised long
38:29
ago. That there is no other way to
38:31
God our Father except through faith in Jesus his Son.
38:37
So I just want to encourage you guys today.
38:40
Follow Jesus, pursue him, put your faith in him, trust him, be
38:49
in his word, learn God's truth. My prayer for you guys is don't
38:55
just get so caught up in what sounds good or even arguing over
39:00
temporary things or arguing over well, who do you follow?
39:04
Why believe in this believe in Jesus, follow Jesus.
39:07
Walk with people who also are denying themselves and picking
39:11
up their cross and following Jesus.
39:12
Surround yourself with brothers and sisters who won't just say
39:15
yes to whatever you want them to say yes to, but that they love
39:18
you and they correct you and they pray for you and they hold
39:21
you accountable. Do life with people who are
39:23
passionate about Jesus and you see it through not just their
39:27
words, but by the way that they live that a heart that's been
39:32
changed, a heart that's centered on Christ.
39:36
You will see what comes out of their life reflect that.
39:40
I love you guys so much. Thank you for being here with
39:42
me. I hope this didn't feel like me
39:46
stepping on a soapbox 'cause that's not my heart in this and
39:49
truly even my heart for this. I hope you guys hear.
39:51
When I see these things, when I watch these things, when I have
39:54
these conversations, all I respond with is prayer.
39:57
I pray for all my brothers and sisters around the world.
40:00
I pray for the people who are in the pulpits.
40:03
I pray for the pastors who are leading churches.
40:06
I pray for them. To be guarded by the power of
40:08
the Holy Spirit that they are in their word, that they're on
40:11
their knees, that they're seeking Jesus, that they're not
40:14
taking this call lightly because this is a call from God.
40:18
And it's incredible. I'm so thankful for this call
40:21
from God. But it is a mantle that you pick
40:24
up. It is a burden.
40:25
It is something that you have to die to yourself, deny yourself,
40:29
that you can't just get consumed by your wants and your desires,
40:32
or even just try to get elevated by how you want to be elevated.
40:37
That's not about you, it's about Jesus.
40:40
It's about pursuing holiness and righteousness and living a life
40:43
that's set apart for the King of kings.
40:46
That I just want to love him and I want to love people well.
40:51
That I want to live out the greatest commandment in my life.
40:55
And I pray that for others. I pray that for you, and I'm
40:58
praying for you guys listening today.
41:01
Get in your word. Get in your prayer closet.
41:04
Stop brushing it off. Stop saying I'll get to it.
41:08
Stop saying, yeah, I don't know. I can't really find a local
41:11
church to be connected to. I went to this one and no one
41:14
really said hi to me. Enough and hear me clear, you
41:17
guys. Oh, I gotta check myself.
41:18
Check my heart. Lord, forgive me.
41:20
I don't want to negate your feelings 'cause that's not what
41:23
I'm trying to do. I just know how important it is
41:28
to have your time with Jesus and to also have a local body of
41:32
believers. That I love God with all their
41:34
heart, mind, soul and strength and love others to be connected
41:37
to. That you're not meant to live
41:39
this life alone. That the enemy first.
41:42
Peter 58 prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone
41:46
to devour. A lion hunts his prey and finds
41:48
prey that's isolated away from the pack.
41:52
So you need to be with your brothers and sisters in Christ
41:54
and you need to have a community that you're connected to, to do
41:56
life with. You cannot do this life alone.
41:59
God has gifted us the Kingdom of God on earth, and we get to do
42:04
life together. And so I love you guys.
42:07
I'm praying for my brothers and sisters everywhere.
42:10
I'm praying that they are guarded by God's truth, that
42:13
they're in their prayer closets, that they're in their word.
42:16
And I pray for His truth to prevail, as it always will.
42:19
I pray for His truth to prevail. But guess what, man?
42:21
Why even Why? I just said that.
42:23
What? What do you say, man?
42:24
The gates of hell will not prevail.
42:27
They won't. Jesus is victorious.
42:30
Jesus has already won. We now get to live in his
42:34
victory. And I pray that for you, I pray
42:37
that you live in his victory, that his truth in your life is
42:41
what overflows, that you ask him to transform you the way you
42:44
think, the way you talk, the way you act, that you be more like
42:48
Jesus, that you are so near to him and aware of him and his
42:52
truth that you can test the spirits of those.
42:55
When you hear something, you're like, what's the Leonardo, the
42:58
Leonardo DiCaprio, Giffords. Yeah, no, that's not from God.
43:04
When someone says something, you're like, that's not from
43:06
God. No, no, no.
43:07
That that's false theology. That's not in the word.
43:11
God's word doesn't say that. Get to know his word that way.
43:14
Have it written on your heart. Store it up in your soul.
43:18
Memorize it, study it. Spend time in his word, as I
43:22
just told one of my young adults the other day, because
43:24
sometimes, you know, I have a reminder too.
43:27
And I'm grateful, man. I'm so grateful for the time God
43:29
has given me to be in his word and to be saturated in it.
43:32
I think some, some people will be around me and be like, man
43:35
cross, you know, so much Scripture, man cross you, you
43:37
can memorize. And just it was only probably
43:41
about 10:00-ish years ago. If you would have sat with
43:44
Carlos then I'd have been like, where's that at in the Bible
43:49
question. Who said that?
43:53
That's where I was. I didn't know the word well.
43:56
I didn't know what God's truth was well, but I knew that I
43:59
loved Jesus and I believed in Him.
44:01
I believed that He lived the perfect life, that he died to
44:03
death I deserve. And I believed with all my heart
44:07
that God raised him from the dead, and I confessed him as my
44:10
Lord. And I knew that.
44:12
I knew that, and I started there.
44:14
But you know what it took? It took me being disciplined, me
44:18
being intentional, me taking it serious that I wanted to know
44:22
His word and His truth and a mentor in my life.
44:25
You know who you are. I love you.
44:26
Big bro looked at me when I was in Bible college and said, hey,
44:29
Carlos, this is my challenge to you.
44:32
You are going to learn a lot of things and you're going to be
44:34
challenged in a lot of ways through this time in Bible
44:37
college. I want you to leave this place
44:41
knowing what you believe, what you stand on, what biblical
44:46
truths are revealed to you through the power of the Holy
44:48
Spirit that you will not be wavered on because you have
44:53
spent time in His Word and you know His truth.
44:56
And this is where you stand, not as He said, not the Bible truths
45:03
that you've been told by your parents, by your grandparents,
45:06
by your pastor, by your friends, but what you believe.
45:11
And that's my challenge to you today.
45:14
Get in His Word, know His truth. Stand firm on Him as your
45:19
foundation and start to live it out.
45:22
I love y'all. I appreciate each of you guys
45:26
and let me pray so we can get up out of here.
45:30
Let's bow our heads, close your eyes.
45:32
Lord Jesus. I love you, Father.
45:36
I'm so thankful for you, God, in a world that is broken, in a
45:43
world that has sinned, in a world that wants to take us from
45:47
you. And I pray hedge around all my
45:49
brothers and sisters right now. I pray for the Holy Spirit to
45:51
fill them, God. I pray for them to be filled by
45:53
your word. I pray for a new wave of
45:56
excitement about your word that everywhere, brothers and sisters
46:02
are running after you that daily they're opening up the
46:04
scriptures, that they're being saturated in it, that they're
46:07
diving into it, that they're walking with each other, that
46:10
they're asking the hard questions, that they're praying
46:12
to you that they're doing life with you.
46:13
Jesus praying without ceasing. God, I pray for a world to see
46:18
your light so bright in your children that we can test those
46:24
spirits, that we can rebuke and cast out the false prophets and
46:28
false teachers and false theology and stand firm upon
46:31
your truth. God, let your truth fill us.
46:33
Let your truth lead us. Let your truth overflow out of
46:38
us. I love you.
46:39
God, I thank you so much for who you are and I pray all this in
46:42
Jesus name, Amen. I love you all.
46:45
God bless.