Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / Men of the New Testament: "John the Apostle" by Cody Basham - Part 7

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Men of the New Testament: "John the Apostle" by Cody Basham - Part 7 · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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All right. Good evening, everyone. Hope y'all are doing well this week
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and hope we'll finish the week strong after this as well and you'll find
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this an uplifting lesson. Tonight I'm going to ask for a
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little bit of grace, a little bit of forgiveness here. I've been preparing the last
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few nights, hadn't had a chance to run through it fully yet. But hopefully
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this will be a good lesson. This will be the first time I ever taught
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a class like this. Like I said, if you don't mind, give me a little
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grace. And if you feel like you want to comment, holler at me,
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throw a shoe at me, whatever you got to do to get my attention.
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But anyway, let's get started. Tonight I'm going to
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cover John the Apostle. I'm going to start out with just the basic question,
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who's John? If we look in Matthew chapter
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4, verses 21 And one thing you're going to notice, I'm going to be flipping
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to 90% of these verses here.
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If we look there, you will see that it calls
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him out as the son of Zebedee. So we're looking at Matthew 4:21-22.
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You'll see, going on from there, he saw 2 other brothers,
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James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat
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with Zebedee their father. Mending their nets. He called them, and immediately
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they left the boat and their father and followed him. Him, of course, being Jesus
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in this context. I just want you to take notice of
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just how quick that John and them took off to follow Jesus,
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and it was immediately without hesitation.
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You know, every time we get a chance to go out into the world,
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we have that opportunity to speak up and talk about God and
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the teachings of his word. And sometimes,
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personally, I've even caught myself hesitating before. But as I get
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older, it gets easier to talk about it, you know, and try to shed that
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light. That's the goal of what we're supposed to do.
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But of course, you also see mentioned where John the Apostle himself mentioned
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in chapter 10 of the book of Matthew, verses 2, and then we'll look
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at 5 and 6 as well.
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So starting in 10, verse 2, now the names of the 12
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apostles are these: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James
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the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. And then jumping down to verse
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5 here, these 12
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Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying, do not go into the way of the
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Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to
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the lost sheep of the house of Israel. One of the things you'll
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notice tonight is I'm going to be looking at several of what the teachings
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of Jesus, what John records, and kind of the importance
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of it. You know, talking about going
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to the lost sheep, we all know that Jesus wants to save
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every soul we can, and the lost sheep being those that are apart from Christ.
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So now we'll go ahead and go on to the next.
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He's also mentioned as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
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If we'll look in the book of John 13:23,
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we'll see mention of it there.
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13:23. Now there was
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leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples
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whom Jesus loved. And then if you flip on forward to toward
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the end of John to chapter 21, verse 24,
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you will see again,
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this is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things. And we
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know that this— that his testimony is true.
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And I'm going to go ahead and continue on. And there are also many other
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things that Jesus did which, If they were written one by one, I suppose that
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even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
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So John made note of just the many miraculous, wonderful things
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that Jesus done, but he highlighted a few, a select few in
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his books that he wrote.
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Excuse me one second. Okay.
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Now looking at the
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second bullet point there, standing at the cross. John 19:26-27,
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we see that John was entrusted with the care of Jesus' mother at
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the cross.
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When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by,
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being John, He said to his mother,
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Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from
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that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
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This kind of falls into what you'll see in the last major bullet point on
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this slide where you can kind of tell how John is kind of the inner
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circle with Jesus among a couple other
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apostles. And the amount of
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trust that Jesus had in John. To take care of his mother.
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And then we see again just the amount of care that John has for
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Jesus whenever he talks about running with Peter to the empty tomb after
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his death. We'll go to John 20:1-9.
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Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the
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tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone
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had been taken away from the tomb.
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Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom
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Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out
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of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore
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went out and the other disciples and were going to the tomb.
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So they both ran together and the other disciple outran Peter
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and came to the tomb first. And he stooping down looking
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and saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go
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in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went
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into the tomb, and he saw the linen clothes lying there, and the handkerchief that
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had been around his head and not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together
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in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first
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went in also, and he saw and believed.
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For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that he must rise again from
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So, again, just to reemphasize that John cared so deeply
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about Jesus, he ran to the tomb and he ended up past Peter on the
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way to get there because he cared for his friend.
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And then we also see where he had met Jesus by the Sea of Tiberias
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in John 21:1-2.
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After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
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And in the way he showed himself. Simon Peter, Thomas called
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the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in
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Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and 2 others of his disciples were together.
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So there it made mention of the sons of Zebedee, of course, John being one
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of them and James' brother. And then looking at the
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part of the inner circle of the apostles around Jesus,
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John was able to witness the raising of Jairus' daughter
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in Mark 5:37-43.
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So I'm going to turn there real quick.
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This is just one of the many wonders that he had done and he had
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witnessed and recorded in this book.
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Or excuse me, he didn't record it, but rather witnessed
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it. So in verse— in chapter 5,
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verse 37, and he permitted no one to follow him except Peter,
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James, and John, the brother of James. Then he came to the house of the
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ruler of the synagogue and saw a tumult and those who wept and
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wailed loudly. When he came in, he said to them, why make this commotion
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and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And they ridiculed
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him. But when he had put them all outside, he took the father and
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the mother, the child and those who were with him, and entered where the child
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was lying. Then he took the child by the hand and said to her,
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Talitha koumai, which is translated, little girl, I say
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to you, arise. Immediately the girl arose
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and walked, for she was 12 years of age. And they were overcome with great
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amazement. But he, being Jesus, commanded them strictly
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that no one should know it and said that something should be given her to
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eat. So again, we see
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that Peter and James and John, the 3 of them, were with Jesus whenever this
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miracle occurred where he woke up the little girl.
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And then he was also fortunate enough to witness or be a
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part of Jesus' transfiguration. If you look in Matthew 17:1-9,
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Now after 6 days, Jesus took
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Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves.
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And he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun,
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and his clothes became as white as the light. And behold,
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Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him.
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Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us
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to be here. If you wish,
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let us make here 3 tabernacles, one for you, one for
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Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking,
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behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud,
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saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
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Hear him. And when the disciples heard it,
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they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid.
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But Jesus came and touched them and said, Arise, and do
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not be afraid. When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but
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Jesus only. Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying,
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Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the
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dead. So just,
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it's just astounding to think if
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I was John in that situation, I wouldn't know what to do. I mean,
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it was, I'm sure it had to be a sight to see,
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but just being able to be around
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him and see that happen with Peter and James, his brother,
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you see John is able just to see anything
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that is wonderful.
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If we'll look at Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane as well,
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we'll notice Him there in Matthew 26:36-39.
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Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said
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to the disciples, sit here while I go and pray over there. And He took
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with Him Peter and the 2 sons of Zebedee, And he began to be sorrowful
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and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, my soul is exceedingly sorrowful,
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even to death. Stay here and watch with me.
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He went a little farther and fell on his face and prayed, saying,
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O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.
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Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.
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So even at the time that was critical just before the cross, we see again
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John was there right close to Jesus for and supporting him.
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Yes, sir.
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Right. Yeah, I wouldn't have thought of that either, honestly. Thank you for
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your comment. I appreciate it.
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Any others while we're here on this slide?
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Okay. Okay. So now we'll talk about
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what books did John write. Of course, if you're familiar with the Bible,
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you know that he wrote, obviously, the Gospel of John, which details the life,
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ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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He emphasized the divinity, or excuse me, his divine identity as the Son
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Son of God. And then you'll see in the letters 1, 2, and 3 John.
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1 John, a general epistle focusing on love, fellowship with
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God, and walking in the light. 2 John,
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a short letter warning against false teachers and emphasizing truth
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in love. And then 3 John is a short letter commending Gaius for
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his hospitality toward traveling Christian
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teachers. And then of course he wrote the book of Revelation.
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It's an apocalyptic text. Containing visions of the end
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of times, the final victory of Christ, and the renewal of creation.
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So I'm going to pull a couple passages out of the Gospel of John to
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kind of hit on where he was detailing the life and ministry and death and
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the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We're going to hit on the divinity of
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Jesus first. So if you don't care, just follow along with me here in
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John chapter 1. We're looking at verses 29
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through 34. The next day John saw Jesus
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coming toward him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away
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the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said,
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After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.
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I did not know him, but that he should be revealed to Israel. Therefore I
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came baptizing with water. And John bore witness,
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Saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and he remained upon
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him, him being Jesus, of course. I did not know him, but he who
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sent me to baptize with water said to me, upon whom you see
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the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with
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the Holy Spirit. And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of
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God. So there
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again, John was able to witness something extraordinary.
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Now, if we'll go on, we also see
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something else. Of course, we know probably one of the most famous, I'll argue
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that one of the most famous verses of the Bible would be John 3:16,
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17, and 18. Of course, for God so loved the world that he gave his
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only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
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but that the world through him might be saved.
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Notice that it is the world through Him. We'll hit on more of that here
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in just a couple of slides or a couple bullet points here.
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He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe
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is condemned already because that he has not believed in the name of the only
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begotten Son of God.
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So then I'm going to also look at chapter 5, verses 6 and 8.
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When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that
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condition a long time, they're speaking about a man that had an infirmity.
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He said to him, do you want to be made well? The sick man answered
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him, sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water
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is stirred up, but while I'm coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said to
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him, rise, take up your bed and walk. And yet again, we see in verse
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9 that second word there, and immediately. The man was made well,
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took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
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Yet again, it shows the power and divinity of Jesus to command
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the man's body to get up and walk. And he had been— had
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the infirmity. If you'll look at chapter 5, verse 5, he'd had
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the infirmity for 38 years. So it was well known that this gentleman couldn't
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walk, but yet afterward, He was able to through the divinity of Jesus.
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So we recognize Jesus as the Lamb of God, and God gave His only Son,
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and then He healed a lifetime infirmity of the man.
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And then you also see how He's the Good Shepherd. So looking at chapter 10
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and verses 1 through 18, we're going to just primarily look at 10:10,
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11, and 27 for the sake of time here.
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So chapter 10, verse 10, the thief
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does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come
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that they may have life and that they have it more abundantly.
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I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
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And if you'll look at 27, my sheep hear my voice and I
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know them and they follow me. So in this
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passage of Jesus being the good shepherd, It talks about
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how, you know, a shepherd, the owner essentially
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cares more for the sheep than say what the Bible's word
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was using as a hireling, right? If they hire somebody underneath them to watch his
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herd. Jesus wants to keep every one of us
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in his fold if at all possible. And we know that we have to be
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a part of Jesus and be baptized and believer to be in
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heaven with him one day.
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So Jesus is shown as the loving protector, just as the shepherd is to his
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sheep, and will give his own life. We'll also
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see how he is the way, the truth, and the life in John 14:1-6.
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Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
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In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
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told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and
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prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself,
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that where I am, there you may also be also.
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And where I go, you know, and the way you know.
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Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going,
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and how can we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way,
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the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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And just as it plainly states in verse 6, we know that no
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one goes through the Father except through Jesus. We got to understand
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that relationship between them. Now we also
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know that Jesus is the true vine. John 15:1-8,
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I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me
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that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit
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he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because
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of the word of which I have spoken to you. Abide in me and I
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abide in you— excuse me, I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
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of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in
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me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and
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I in him bears much fruit, for without
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me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is
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cast out as a branch and is withered.
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And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
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If you abide in me, continuing on verse 7, if you abide in me and
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my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall
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be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.
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Fruit, so you will be my disciples.
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So there, what I wanted to point out is more or less, you know,
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there's going to be a separation at some point between those
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that follow Christ and do his will, follow his commandments,
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try to spread the word and gain more
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followers for him than the ones that are just of the world.
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We know we got to be within the world, but we're not of the world.
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We got to be set out differently. We've got to do works
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to help further expand the kingdom of God.
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So Jesus is speaking, bearing the good fruit and separating the bad. Many signs and
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wonders by Jesus were done. In John 20:30-31,
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we see, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
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which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe
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that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that believing you may have
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life in his name. And we've already hit on chapter
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21, verse 25.
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So, again, just summarizing the Gospel of John that John
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wrote, it detailed the life and ministry and death and resurrection of Jesus
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Christ and emphasized his divine identity as the Son of God. And we see
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that through numerous examples throughout the book and just a few
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pointed out here.
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Now looking at the shorter epistles quickly, 1,
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2, and 3 John. 1 John is a general epistle focusing
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on love, fellowship with God, and walking in the light.
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We are going to look at this first bullet point, knowing Him by keeping His
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commandments. So we will turn to 1 John 2:15-17.
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Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the
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world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in
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the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride
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of life, is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world
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is passing away and the lust of it, but he who does the will of
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God abides forever. So again,
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verse 17 kind of drives that point home to where We're
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wanting to— we need to do the will of God.
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And we'll see again kind of another reiteration, we do not
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want to love the world, or excuse me, we're children of God.
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In 1 John 2:24-28,
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therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning.
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If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide
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in the Son and in the Father. And then we'll skip
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on down to verse 28, and now, little children, abide in Him, that when He
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appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
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So again, verse 28 talks
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about having confidence and not being ashamed of Him. Like I mentioned earlier,
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I know personally, just speaking truthfully, you know, I've hesitated
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in certain situations that I could have brought God up and didn't. You know,
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that's on me. But again, as we get older and
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you study more in the Bible, you stay in it, and you gain a little
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confidence through time to kind of spread the Word of God and speak up in
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Yes, sir. Before you leave, first, are you reading 1
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John yet? Yes, sir. Well, yeah. I was just going to say, he also
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is the only writer that talks about the Antichrist
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5 times in his— 4 times in his first letter.
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He talks about the Antichrist, the Gnostics, who Jesus
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was. And I thought that was interesting. That's right, he does. I actually didn't
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cover that. You're right. I kind of wish I had now, but I did notice
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it. Yes, sir. Thank you for the comment.
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Any other comments? Nope. Okay.
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Real quick, just finish up here on 5, chapter 5, verses 1 through
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4. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
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and everyone who loves him who begot also loves him who is begotten of him.
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By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God
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and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his
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commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. For whatever
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is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome
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the world, our faith. Looking at 2
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John now, that's a short letter warning against the false teachers
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where we're going to emphasize more about truth and love.
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And we're going to reiterate the fact, you know, to continue walking in the faith.
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We all know it's a journey. It's more of a marathon than a sprint.
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There's highs and lows. You know, some days are better, some days are worse.
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But the point is just keep pushing forward. So we'll
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look at 2 John verses 4 through 6 quickly.
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I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth,
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as we received commandment from the Father. And now I plead with you,
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lady, not as though I write a new commandment to you, but that which we
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have had from the beginning, that we love one another.
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This is love, that we walk according to His commandments.
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This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning,
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you should walk in it. And again,
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he's just kind of reemphasizing just keep walking according
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to the commandments that we've heard from the very beginning. We should always
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keep in mind what we know about the Lord.
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And then we'll also want to avoid the deceivers. We're in 2 John 9-11.
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Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not
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have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has born the Father
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and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine,
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do not receive him into your house, nor greet him.
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For he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
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So it's kind of just keep in mind that we got to separate ourselves
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as children of God away from those that do not follow. Follow the teachings of
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this book and Jesus' teachings.
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When we look at 3 John, we see a short letter commending Gaius
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for his hospitality toward traveling Christian teachers.
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One of the things you can kind of notice is, you know, Gaius' character.
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You know, if you look at 3 John
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1 through 5, we will go ahead and turn to that real quick.
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The elder, to the beloved Gaius whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that
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you may prosper in all things and be in health just as your soul prospers.
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For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified to the truth that is in
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you, just as you walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to
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hear that my children walk in the truth.
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Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for
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strangers. One of the things I want to point out particularly in these 5
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verses is how being in the perspective
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of John, you know, where he's older in age and he's been teaching for years
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and years, it's an encouragement to him to see how Gaius' reputation preceded
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him in a positive manner. You know, your reputation
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is one thing, it can be easily tainted,
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and to be able to maintain it is even harder.
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That speaks volumes to me. I mean, it's encouraging to be able
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to see where, you know, run the
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marathon. You know, you will have your up and down days, but just keep pressing
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forward and try to spread the word to the younger generation,
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and hopefully you can see that through your own eyes one day.
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Again, just finishing out the slide here, others have spoken the actions of Gaius,
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you can see in 3 and 4, and then John is encouraged again how
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he's continuing on. But he also, at the end in
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verse 11, there's a warning to the children of God to do
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not imitate what is evil. Beloved, do not imitate
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what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God,
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but he who does evil has not seen God.
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Again, just keeping in mind that we need to separate ourselves from the
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evil things that, you know, contradict the Word.
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The final book John had written was the book
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of Revelation. It's an apocalyptic text containing visions of the end of time,
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the final victory of Christ, and the renewal of creation.
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The book was written while John was exiled on the island of Patmos.
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You know, we see an introduction in chapter 1, verses 1 through 3,
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John as being the witness of the Word of God.
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So I'm going to turn there real quick. The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
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which God gave Him to show His servants things which
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must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel
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to His servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and
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to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
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Blessed is he who reads and those who hears the words of this prophecy
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and keep those things which are written in it, for the time
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is near. One of the main points I'm just
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going to hit on briefly tonight were the 7 churches
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of Asia. And you can— we'll start, of course, with the loveless church.
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It was commended for its hard work and patience but criticized for losing their faith,
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their first love for God, and they were urged to remember and return.
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We'll focus in here on chapter 2, verses 4 and 5.
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Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore
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from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I
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will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless
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you repent. So in those 2 verses you see,
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yes, we kind of called out that, you know,
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we have an issue where they've left their first love,
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you know, obeying the commandments and will of God.
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But we also see that it was a call
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of repentance to turn from that. Where we had
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walked away from it. Jesus wants to have a chance to bring
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us back into the fold again because he's the Good Shepherd, as it was mentioned
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earlier. That's one point you can take from that section.
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And then from the persecuted church, we're looking at
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Revelation 2:8-11.
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You know, they were praised for spiritual richness despite facing severe poverty,
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slander, and coming persecution.
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He's encouraged to remain faithful unto death.
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So, in chapter 2, verse 10, do not
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fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed,
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the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you
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may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days.
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Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the
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crown of life.
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Again, that final step, you know, be faithful unto death.
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You know, we're in it for the long haul. You always,
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no matter what point in life you start at, you got to run that marathon
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all the way to the end. You can't get to, you know, the more experienced
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years and have to say, no, I'm not going to do anything.
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We got to keep pressing forward, keep spreading the word, seeking every opportunity we can
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to serve God. You know, sometimes Sometimes
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it's uncomfortable to kind of expand your horizons, but if it's
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for the betterment of the church, I encourage us all to always
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take that leap of faith. You know, we all learn day by day
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how to be better and able to communicate with people
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better. So I hope we'll try to be uncomfortable for
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the sake of the Lord and try to encourage and engage
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other people in communications about God. If we look at
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the compromising church in Revelation 2:12-17,
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we'll take a look at chapter 2, verse 16 here in a minute. Talking about
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living in a city called the place where Satan's throne is, they held fast to
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Christ's name but tolerated false teachers, and they were called to repent.
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You know, one thing we've got to be aware of is false teachers.
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So we'll look at chapter 2, verse 16, Repent,
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or else I will come to you quickly, and will fight against them with
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the sword of my mouth. Again, we see Jesus calling for
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repentance, you know, he doesn't want to lose one soul.
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Further on in chapter 2, we'll see the corrupt church, Revelation 2:18-29.
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In this you'll see that they were noted for growing love, service, and faith,
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but blamed for tolerating the false prophet. Prophetess leading people into
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immorality. We're told to hold fast until He comes.
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And we'll look at chapter 2, verses 21 through 22.
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And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality,
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and she did not repent. Indeed, I will cast her into a sickbed,
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and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation,
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unless they repent of their deeds. You know, one thing that's
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really a blessing is, you know, being able to be black and white in the
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expectations of us, right, in terms of being a Christian. You know,
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we know what we should and shouldn't do.
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And, you know, Jesus calls us out in this certain situation,
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you know, that he will cast her into a sickbed.
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You know, you can kind of infer, you know, if you know you're doing
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the wrong thing, that if you don't repent of those sins, you could
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be cast into hell, you know, in everlasting fire.
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But we do have that opportunity to repent as long as we are alive
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and come back to Him. So with that, we will look
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at the dead church, reputed to be alive but spiritually
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dead. They commanded to wake up and strengthen what remains and repent.
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So we will look at 3:1-3 on that.
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And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, these things
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says he who has the 7 spirits of God and the
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7 stars. I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive,
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but you are dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain
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that are ready to die, for I have not found
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your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and
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heard, hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will
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not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know
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what hour I will come upon you. So, in chapter 3,
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you see that warning again. No one in this room knows their time and
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when they're going to die. You know, we try to put our best foot forward
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every day, and again, just to further spread the kingdom and
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try to keep running that marathon.
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So now we'll look at the lukewarm church quickly.
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The financially wealthy church and self-sufficient yet spiritually
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lukewarm, noted as wretched and blind, and then we're
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invited to open the door to fellowship with Christ again. When you look at
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chapter 3, verses 15 through 17, then we'll look at 19.
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I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you
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were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor
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hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you say, I am rich,
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have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and do not
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know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
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Skipping to 19, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore,
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be zealous and repent.
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You know, kind of going back to that thing, you know, we are in the
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world but we're not of the world. All these material things, they're just passing.
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What really matters is the relationship with God that you have with him and
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trying to get to heaven and serving those that
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are in need. You'll also
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take note in the book of Revelation where John mentions the great white
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throne of judgment. You know, we're accountable for our own actions.
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Mentioned earlier. If you look at Revelation, we'll skip on toward the back to chapter
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20, verses 11 through 13.
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Then I
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saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it. From those who faced
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the earth and the heaven fled away, and there
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was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small, great,
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standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is
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the Book of Life. Which is the Book of Life. And the
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dead were judged according to their works, by the things which are written in
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the books.
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The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered
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up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to
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his works. You know, as bad as I'd like to help
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anyone and everyone get to heaven as I could, ultimately the only one I can
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help is myself get to heaven in terms of,
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you know, being responsible for my own actions is what I'm saying.
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You know, it's a blessing to have health
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and ways that you can help serve and try to connect with people and then
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help them throughout their journey with Christ.
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But ultimately, you know, when it comes down to it, we are all responsible
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for our own actions. We've got to hold ourselves accountable to what we do.
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And say.
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But— and is there any other comments around the
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lesson tonight? I'm sorry it's a little choppy, y'all. Like I said, this is the
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first time I've done this. Voice is a little sore. I've been trying to come
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down with something the last couple of days. But do y'all have any comments tonight?
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No.
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Right, right. Good to appreciate the comment.
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Anyone else?
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Appreciate it, y'all. Well, thanks, and I hope y'all have a wonderful
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week. Any critiques y'all have, I'll take.
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Love to be better. Thanks,