Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #16215 - See How Much God Loves You - 1 John 3:1-3

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#16215 - See How Much God Loves You - 1 John 3:1-3 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to 1st John
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chapter 3. We're going to pick up in verse
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one there and just cover a few verses as we're working our way
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through verse by verse. First John, it's a good thing to
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live our lives simply and carefully.
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In First Timothy chapter 2 and verse one, it says, therefore I
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exhort first of all, that supplications, prayers,
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intercessions, and the giving of thanks be made for all men, for
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kings and all who are in authority.
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And that often gets the emphasis in this verse that we're to be
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praying for those in authority, those that oversee us, those
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that are in great positions of authority.
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But notice why he says that we may lead a quiet and peaceable
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life in all godliness and reverence.
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It's important that we live simple, careful lives.
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Because in the early church, there were those that tried to
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live inside of the church but outside of God's commands.
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They were loveless spiritual frauds within the fellowship
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that John was writing to. They weren't content to live by
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themselves, but instead sought to deceive and draw away
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believers to follow after them. John hasn't hesitated to point
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them out and warn the church. The main reason why John hasn't
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hesitated to point them out and warn the church is because he
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was a good pastor and he loved the flock.
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And as much as it is for us to encourage and teach and exhort,
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it's also necessary from time to time to point out false
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teachings and false teachers. And he was strong.
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He's called them liars, Antichrist deceivers and and the
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children of the devil. That's a pretty heavy thing to
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call, but it's true. Why the stern words?
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Well, wolves must be dealt with as wolves.
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False doctrine must be met swiftly with the truth of the
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gospel. In chapter 3, as we work our way
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through, we'll highlight those characteristics that determine a
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believer from an unbeliever, a real Christian, from a
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counterfeit. The real proof is that there are
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changes in the one who encounters God, the one that's
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born again. So let me just step back for a
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second and say in your life, can you see any changes that the
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Lord has made in your life? Yes, of course we have.
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It's one of those proves of the presence of the Holy Spirit.
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Not just us deciding to be more moral or not just us because we
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want to turn our lives around, but real inward work of the
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Lord, new desires, new thoughts, a whole new direction in our
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lives. Now the word Christian literally
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means to be Christ like, and it was an Antioch in Acts Chapter
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11, verse 26 that believers were first called Christians.
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And it's the name of Jesus that marks a Christian, a person that
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says they're a Christian that is 1 because he or she is growing
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into being more like Jesus every day.
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And notice now what a Christian gets to enjoy in verse one.
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It says, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on
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us, that we should be called children of God, therefore the
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world does not know us because it did not know Him.
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Behold, it's one of those attention grabbing words to, to
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grab all of your attention to this one thing.
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It's like John is saying, get ready because I have something
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very important I want you to hear.
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Get ready because I want you to hang on these words.
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John was overwhelmed at the thought earlier in John's
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gospel. In John chapter 1, you can jot
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it down in verse 12. John wrote this.
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He said as many as received him to them.
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He gave the right to become children of God to those who
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believe in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the
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will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
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And now he says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has
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bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God, what
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a loving and caring father we have.
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It tends to be forgotten, this manner of love, how much God
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loves us, how much he cares for us.
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It's misinterpreted, it's misrepresented.
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But I want to take you back to one of the first times we see
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the love of God demonstrated all the way back in the Garden of
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Eden. This is the kind of Father that
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you have in heaven when Adam failed and sinned against the
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Lord. Was it Adam that ran through the
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garden going back to his Father? Yes or no?
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No, you know what it was. We get the picture of a father
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walking through the garden looking for Adam, calling out to
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him, pursuing him after his failure.
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And you know, today we learned that God is very loving and
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patient toward us. Jesus would take it even deeper
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as he gives us the parable of the loving father with two
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prodigal sons. One took the money and went and
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partied with it. The other stayed home, very
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stealth, righteously. And when the one that ran away
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finally came to his senses, what do we have but a Father who runs
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and embraces and loves his Son? Are there things to talk about
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with the Son that returns? Yes, but not right now.
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What he needs right now is to know how much he's loved, how
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much he's missed, how difficult it's been without him.
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You know God's love is not just to His children.
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In John chapter 3 verse 16, it says that God so loved the
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world. There is a love of God that goes
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out to the lost and to the wandering, but the forgiveness
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of sin is available to anyone that will turn to the Lord.
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However, His love is special to His kids.
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I mean, you think about the relationships that you have and
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you can say in a general way that you love people and you
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care for them. You have different levels of
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relationship, different connections.
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You have love, but the people that are closest to you, you
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love in a unique way. You love in a special way.
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And this is a unique, special love that God has bestowed on
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us. It's unique to those who have a
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relationship with him. We are his kids, and you can say
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that He is our ABBA, our daddy, our Father, adopted into his
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royal family. The only path to childhood is
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through the new birth. And when a man or a woman is
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born again, then God takes us as outcasts and rebels and accepts
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us into his family. It was Charles Spurgeon that
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said, and I quote, beloved, now we are the sons of God.
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He says that's easy to read, but it's not so easy to feel.
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How is it with your heart? This morning he writes, Are you
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in the lowest depths of sorrow? Does corruption rise within your
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spirit and grace seem like a poor spark trampled under foot?
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Does your faith almost fail you? Fear not.
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It is neither your graces nor your feelings on which you are
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to live. You must live simply by faith on
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Christ. In what manner of love the
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Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of
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God. Therefore he says in verse one,
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the world does not know us because it did not know him.
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Can I just say this is one of the big temptations toward
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compromise, this one phrase, the world not knowing you, not
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accepting you, you feeling like you don't belong in this world.
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You've experienced the love of Christ and the changed life and
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the glorious new direction and, and the the amazing things that
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God has done in your life. But then you have to face a
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hostile world that hates your Savior and therefore hates you.
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Jesus said as much. If the world hates me, you can
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expect that the world will hate you.
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And this statement here, therefore the world does not
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know us because it did not know him taps into this and that what
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they even they even have a phrase that that's being used
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today. I don't know if it's still being
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used lately, but they would would call it fear of missing
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out. FOMO.
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Christians experience this a lot, feeling like you're missing
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out what the world has missing out on what you experienced
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before. You start to assess, you know,
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in the very beginning, it's so exciting, so wonderful what God
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is doing. Then you begin to assess you
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like, well, you know, maybe there's a little bit of the
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world I can have back. Maybe there's a little bit of
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world where where I'll be accepted.
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Maybe I don't have to be so strong.
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Maybe I don't have to be so stern.
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Maybe I, and I'm not talking personality wise, We God can
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always work on our personality. I'm talking about your new
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commitment to a higher love than you and I have ever experienced
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in this world. And because the world doesn't
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know us, there's something in US, especially in these latter
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years with the advent of social media and platforms and such,
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there's something in us that just wants to be known and
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accepted. And this love of the Father,
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when he says what manner of love, it's extraordinary.
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This manner of love, it literally means from what
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country, what tribe, what nation has experienced this type of
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love? Where on earth did this love
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come from? And the answer, of course, it
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didn't come from earth, it came from heaven.
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His love showered on us unparalleled in human
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experience. The love of the Father for you
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tonight is so great and so rich and so full that he sent his
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only begotten Son in order that by your believing in Him you
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might become a child of God, that you belong in the family of
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God. It's important to see this love
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is bestowed by the Father, by the Father.
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Many times it's taught and seen as Jesus being the loving part
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of the Trinity, the Good Shepherd, the loving part and
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and the Father. God the Father is always
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portrayed as the one of judgement in the Trinity.
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But I want you to see that the love comes from the Father.
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This is a triune love, but in particular, this is a special
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relational love. And it's unfortunate and an
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impossible separation of the Godhead because God is love.
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It's his very character. Because of the, because of this,
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the world doesn't know you. You, they, they think you're
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weird and strange. They, they, they can't figure
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you out. So what do you experience?
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What do we experience? Name calling, persecution of
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various levels depending on what country you're in.
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I know a lot of times when we speak of Christianity, we think
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of just our world, but around the world there are levels of
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persecution that none of us have ever experienced.
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Why? Because of the love of the
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Father. Because God rescued them, saved
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you, gave you a purpose and a hope.
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The devil hasn't come. Except to what?
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Kill, steal and destroy? And it's something you're going
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to have to accept, if you haven't already, or regularly
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accept because of God's love upon you.
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The world doesn't know you. You're unexplainable to a world
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that has defined love, something other than their creator.
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And you become one of the reasons why you're you and I
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face this type of isolation in the world is our very presence
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is a conviction of the sin that exists and those that are around
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us. You may have experienced that
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where you have brother believers around you when you weren't
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saved and all they did was bring conviction.
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They didn't even have to say anything.
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There you are. You're taking a drink, you're
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getting drunk. And they're like, yeah, I don't
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do that anymore. Come on, man.
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What do you mean you don't do that anymore?
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And then you're trying to tempt your own friends back into the
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sin that they're trying to save you from.
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Who was showing real love? The one that had the love of the
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Father. It's not love to tempt people
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into sin. It's not caring to draw people
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down instead of build them up. That's not real love.
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Notice what happens when the love of God is in you and upon
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you. Verse 2.
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Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet been
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revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is
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revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
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You may have heard this said, and I believe it to be true.
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I quote it says God loves you just the way you are, but He
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loves you so much that He's not going to let you stay that way.
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He loves you as you are and you can come as you are, but you
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can't stay as you are. God wants to develop change.
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You need it whether you see it or not.
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Some changes you see right away. There's some things you can
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acknowledge right away that you know, I, I want to give this up.
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It might even been the reason why you were drawn to church,
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drawn to reading the Bible, drawn to watching teachings on
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YouTube. It may be some of the reasons
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where you just look at your life and you go, you know what?
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I don't know what's wrong with me, but I'm wrong.
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Something's wrong about me and you're drawing and you're even
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began that way. I think this needs to be
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changed. I don't know how, I don't know
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what, but I think this needs to be changed.
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And God sees even more than you, and he sees that initial thing
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that got your attention. But guess what?
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There's a lot more that He wants to change in your life and mine.
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Because the end goal is not to become a good little Christian
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or a good churchgoer or somebody that's more moral than you were
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last week. The goal is to be fully in the
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presence of the Lord, completely, completely
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transformed into the image of Christ.
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Can you just let your imagination think for a moment
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what it's going to be like to be fully transformed into the image
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of Christ? We've got a little taste of it.
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We've experienced just a little bit of it.
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We see it regularly as we abide in Christ, we walk in victory,
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We see new love, new care, new concern.
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But Can you imagine never to have to deal with sin again in
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your existence? It's hard to imagine.
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Our flesh is always before us. Our relationship with the Father
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will naturally produce spiritual changes upward.
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In Romans chapter 12 and verse 2 it says and do not be conformed
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to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
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your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
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and perfect will of God. And in verse 2 it still hasn't
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yet been revealed. It says what we shall be.
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We don't have the full picture except for looking at Jesus, and
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we can see the image of perfection in humanity as God
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became human, fully human, fully God the incarnation.
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We see a glimpse as we read about it in the Scriptures, but
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it hasn't yet been revealed what it will look like in US.
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Have you ever felt defeated or discouraged because you don't
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feel like you know a lot about the Bible where you just look at
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your life and you're like, man, I got so much studying to do.
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I remember back in the early days of being a new believer, my
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pastor would be up in the pulpit like this and he would step away
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from his notes and just start sharing the word, sharing the
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scriptures. And I remember thinking, and I
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saw that in the, all the pastors that I was able to watch in a
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service. I, I would think, how does he
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know that? How can he know that?
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Like how can he not look down and read?
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How is it just flowing out of him?
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And I remember asking, 1, I forget what pastor I asked, but
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I said, how do you know that? It was very simply.
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He just said time, a lot of time in the Word.
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It was just time. There wasn't anything special
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except that he spent time in the word and he spent time in
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prayer. And because you haven't spent a
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lot of time, you feel a little defeated.
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You're like, man, I, I want to know that scripture or every
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time I try to memorize Scripture, I can only get 2
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words into it or I remember a scripture, but I forget the
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address. For goodness sake, I even forget
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my Bible. You know, I all of these things
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that you beat yourself up, but I want you to understand.
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I want you just to see, to step back for a moment in the reality
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of John here. You would expect John in his
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late 90s, been walking with the Lord for a long time,
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experiencing Jesus first hand, being used of God to read, to
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write some of the most important books on all the Bible.
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And what does he say? He says here, right here in
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verse 2, there are things that he still doesn't know, 90 years
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old, and there are things that he still doesn't.
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It hasn't yet been revealed. If you ask John what's it going
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to be, what's he going to say? I don't know.
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Well, it hasn't been revealed yet.
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I mean, I know the Scriptures and I, this is a man that spent
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three years with Jesus. This is the one that Jesus
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loved. This is the one that leaned on
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the breast of Jesus and intimacy and closeness.
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Hey, John, what's it going to be like?
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I don't know, Hasn't been revealed yet.
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It's something that the Lord's still going to show us day by
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day, moment by moment. I meet a lot of people down the
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road as well, where you just don't see the progress in your
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life and you're so discouraged because it's not just that you
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don't know things and there are still questions that you, but
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you also don't see your progress.
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Perhaps you've forgotten where you came from or you're so
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caught up in the, the struggles and the fights today where
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you're just like, man, I've been walking with the Lord for five
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years and, and I shouldn't be struggling with this anymore.
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And like, well, that's true. There's can be more victory in
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the Lord, and perhaps you shouldn't be struggling with
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this for for the way that you are for sure.
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But look how far you've come. How about this?
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You're wrestling with something today.
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You had a big failure today, but you've been walking with the
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Lord for five years. How about celebrating that
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you're still walking with the Lord and you're not the same guy
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that you were, the same gal that you were the day you were born
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again, and you definitely aren't the person you were the day
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before you were born again. The Lord is at work in your
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life, whether you see it or not, and whether you feel it or not,
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or whether the progress is all that you wanted.
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The Father, he's on your side, He's cheering you on.
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He's helping you along the way. He's embodying exactly what Paul
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would write to the Corinthians in First Corinthians 13.
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Where as God looks at you, he is for you.
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He love, hopes all things, believes all things.
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He's on your side. He's promised to never leave you
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or forsake you. He's not going to abandon you
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and it's OK to be where you are right now.
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Now, if you're in rebellious sin, that's not that's not OK.
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You're not OK to be in unconfessed rebellious sin.
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But I don't believe that's where the love of God will take you.
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The love of God will not take you to a place of unconfessed
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rebellious sin. A person that's living in is,
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has left the love of God, just like Paul wrote to or excuse me,
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like John wrote to the church in Ephesus in the 2nd chapter of
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Revelation. You know great things, Ephesus
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church, you guys are doing great things, but you left your first
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love. When you leave your first love,
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you make all kinds of bad decisions.
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When you leave your first love, you make all kinds of mistakes,
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sinful mistakes. And if you don't repent, you're
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going to just, it's just going to get worse.
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And even though we don't know exactly what it shall be right
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now, he says, I can rest in I'm a child of God.
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If you haven't lost your sonship or your daughtership or your
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relationship, behold, he says right now we are children of
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God. If you say that in five more
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seconds, you know it's the great now every time you say it, you
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want to say it on the way home tonight.
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You can say it right now. I'm a child of God right now.
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You can say it anytime. You can look back and say I was
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a child of God for the last X amount of years, but right now
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it's like Romans chapter 8 verse one.
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those that are
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in Christ. So I'm a child of God, I'm in
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Christ. So right now you can keep saying
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it over and over again, the eternal now of your relationship
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with the Lord. Right now I'm a child of God.
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Right now there's no condemnation.
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Right now the Spirit of God is working in my life to conform me
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into the image of Christ, to bring me to the place of
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maturity. These are good things to know.
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We don't know know now, but we're going to know.
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OK? We don't know now what the end
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is going to look like, but we're learning day by day the
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sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
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It's so good, so good to know God is working us and He's not
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going to abandon us. It's not yet revealed, but we're
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going to be like Him. We're going to see Him as He is.
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Verse 3 And everyone who has this hope in him, what hope?
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The hope of seeing him. And while we're alive right now,
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it is the hope of his soon return.
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We can hope beyond the soon return, for sure, just to see
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him. But for those of us that are
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alive, you could even say this hope, the return of Christ, the
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rapture of the church, Everyone who has this hope in him
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purifies himself just as he is pure.
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The backdrop of John's writings, that false teaching of the
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Gnostics. And you know what their hope
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was. Their hope was more knowledge,
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their hope for you. If they were given a platform to
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give you false teaching, if they hit you up at the mall or at the
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gas station, and this is, this is what they would have offered
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you. We have something for you that's
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greater than anything. What is it?
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What is it? Is it eternity?
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Is it salvation? Is it knowing God personally?
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And they would say we want to give you a personal membership
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into our secret club and you will get the same knowledge that
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we have. You know the sad thing about
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that is many people stop short at special knowledge.
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When you can know all things in Christ, you stop at special
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knowledge. The cult still use that tactic
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today. Special knowledge.
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We're the only ones that have the truth.
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So don't read your Bibles, just read our stuff.
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And don't talk to other Christians, just talk to us.
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And and they isolate you and control you because they are
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afraid of the truth of the Bible.
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But you never have to be afraid of the truth of the Bible.
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The truth of the Bible will set you free.
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And so you read it every day, you pray every day.
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And I promise you the Holy Spirit will lead you into all
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truth. The Holy Spirit will remind you
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of the things you've been taught.
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The Holy Spirit will remind you of your relationship with the
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Father. You are a child of God right
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now. And the hope and the love of the
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Father produces this hope. And how we need to look up
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today. You know, some have said that
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you can be too heavenly good for your own good.
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But I believe you can't really be earthly good unless you're
25:25
heavenly. You have a heavenly heart and
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you are looking for the return of the Lord.
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I mean, if you live life thinking Jesus is never going to
25:32
return, then the Bible, Jesus taught us you're just going to
25:35
be lazy. You're just going to be lazy
25:38
spiritually. I don't even mean physically.
25:39
I mean spiritually. You're just not going to pay
25:41
attention to the things that are going on in the world through
25:44
the lens of the Scriptures. You're not going to care about
25:46
the lost. You're you're not going to care
25:48
about the hurting. You're not going to care about
25:50
the widow or the widow or you're not going to care about the
25:52
orphan. You're not going to care about
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the poor. You're not going to care about
25:56
those that are marginalized. You're just not going to care
25:57
because you're not looking for the Lord.
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When you're not looking for the Lord, the world just revolves
26:03
around you and your little world.
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But when you're looking for the soon return, there is an
26:10
inspiration toward living holy and pure lives, a sense of
26:15
urgency to share the gospel. When you're looking for the soon
26:19
return of the Lord, you could say that your eyes are on the
26:21
Lord. And when your eyes are on the
26:23
Lord, you're open to hear from him and the Spirit of God is
26:26
speaking and you know, with a byproduct of waiting for the
26:29
Lord to return, soon return, keeping your eyes on him.
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Purity, purity, purity. We received some bad news this
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week of a another church in another state where it was
26:45
revealed a couple of the pastors on their team were in years long
26:51
adulterous relationships. Years long.
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Not a one off, which would be bad in and of itself, but years
27:00
long. What that means is they were in
27:03
sexual sin. They were living a lie and
27:07
standing in the pulpit teaching God's word week after week after
27:12
week. They were in prayer meetings I'm
27:14
sure. Stop.
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They were making decisions for the direction of a church.
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They were pretending to be something that they were not.
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And I don't know the story about them.
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And my heart breaks for all that were hurt by their sin.
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And I don't know everything about them.
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I actually don't even know them personally.
27:32
I know of them, but I don't know them personally.
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But I can tell you, I can say with absolute certainty based on
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the Word of God, that they were not living their lives looking
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for the soon return of Jesus. You go.
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How can you say that? Because they were living impure
27:48
lives. The Bible says whoever has
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everyone. Do you see that?
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Guess what, You're in everyone. I'm in everyone.
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Whoever has this hope purifies himself.
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Why? Because Jesus is pure.
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There's a purity, A balanced and proper attitude to those things
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that will defile you because Jesus himself is pure,
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righteous, and holy, and our hearts are set on soon being
28:21
with Him. While we wait, our lives become
28:25
more pure. I hope you've seen that in your
28:27
own life. I've seen in my own life a depth
28:31
of purity, not because a pastor told me, or I read some book on
28:34
purity or I made some personal commitment, but because I fall
28:37
in love with the God who loves me.
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I begin to see myself like God sees me.
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I begin to value my body and my family and my those that I love
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in a way where I want to honor God, but I also want to honor
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the commitments and the covenants and all those things.
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I don't need anyone to, to keep, you know, coming down on me.
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Are you pure? Are you pure?
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Are you pure? Hey, look, I'm looking for the
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return of the Lord. I want him to come back.
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I want to see that more in my life.
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And the more I see it, the more purity that will come.
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I mean, think about it, guys, and maybe some gals.
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You sitting there on your phone looking at Internet pornography.
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You're not waiting for the return of the Lord.
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You can't invite Jesus into that.
29:28
Hey, Jesus, come on over. Let's look at some pornography
29:30
together. I mean, it's so silly to hear
29:32
it. You're so disconnected from your
29:36
father, you might even be looking at your father tonight
29:40
like, well, he's just telling me what to do.
29:43
Well, there are times, you know, we need dad to tell us what to
29:45
do. We need dad.
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We need someone that will help us make decisions that we're not
29:52
willing to make for ourselves. I mean, to rescue someone in
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sin, to tell them the truth is an act of love.
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To let somebody just keep going and destroy their lives.
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There's no love in that. I could list off quite a few
30:09
sins that would be easily applied, but you'll have to fill
30:13
in the blanks of those areas in your life that remind you, hey,
30:16
I just man, I want to wait. I, I Lord, come back.
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I want this hope of your soon return.
30:25
The Gnostics, the false teachers of the day, not only were they
30:29
offering more knowledge, but they they were offering
30:32
perfection. If you were to become a part of
30:35
their group, not only would you have all the knowledge you ever
30:37
need, but you would have arrived while they live sinfully immoral
30:41
lives. I want to close with the
30:44
scripture here. Would you turn over to 2nd or
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excuse me, First Corinthians chapter 13 where Paul says
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something similar to John does here and the reason why he says
30:56
something similar is because God is the author of the Bible and
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God inspired John to write what he wrote.
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God also inspired Paul to write what he wrote.
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Notice this angle from Paul's perspective.
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First Corinthians chapter 13. When you get there, would you
31:13
pick up at the end in verse 12, very similar to what John said
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tonight, he says, now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to
31:25
face. Now I know in part, but then I
31:30
shall know, just as I also have known.
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Now abide faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of
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these is what church love. Oh, what manner of love the
31:43
Father's bestowed. The creator of these is love.
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In verse 13, there's such a great insight of abiding in
31:52
faith and abiding in hope and abiding in love, staying in this
31:58
place that God that God blesses the brother and sister you.
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You may not know much of the Bible today because you're brand
32:07
new to the Bible, but you know how to stay put.
32:12
That's what the word abide means.
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You know how not to move, just stay put.
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You may not know 100 verses. You may not even memorize your
32:21
first verse, but you know how to stay put.
32:26
You may not know any of the songs, words to the songs that
32:29
we sing, and you require the words that we provide because
32:33
you're learning the songs. You may not know the words of
32:35
the songs, but I know this. You know how to stay put.
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And you might even say, but no, Pastor, I just kind of moving
32:40
around. I could never stay put.
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Yeah. You know the difference between
32:44
moving around and staying put. Of course, you know, of course
32:48
we know. And our faith in God that would
32:52
that which abides, because without faith, it's impossible
32:56
to please God. Our faith in God's word, our
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faith in the promises of God, our faith in the promise of
33:03
salvation through Jesus Christ that abides.
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And the hope that we have in our hearts, the hope of a heavenly
33:10
Kingdom, the hope of eternal life, the hope that he is soon
33:14
returning, that abides. And this agape love, the love of
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God shed abroad in our hearts through Jesus Christ, the love
33:23
that was demonstrated at the cross, perfect love crucified
33:28
for you and me. That love, it abides.
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It's eternal faith, hope and love.
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The greatest of these is love. Faith.
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Faith looks back. Faith looks back.
33:42
Faith tells me Jesus came. Faith allows me to embrace what
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Jesus did for me at the cross. Faith reminds me my sins are
33:50
forgiven. Faith delivers me from fears and
33:53
anxieties, while hope looks ahead.
33:57
Faith looks back, but hope looks ahead.
33:59
Hope tells me Jesus is coming. Hope reminds me I don't have to
34:03
be upset or troubled by the future.
34:06
Hope shows me God's faithfulness and hope delivers me from
34:10
hopelessness. We learned from John that hope
34:14
develops in me. Purity, purity, a cleansing from
34:19
sin. Not just sexual purity, but
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purity. A pure heart.
34:23
A simple, careful life. Love while faith looks back and
34:29
hope looks ahead. You know what love does?
34:31
Love looks around. Love looks around.
34:35
Love tells me that Jesus is here.
34:37
Love frees me to serve in the present, to live in the eternal
34:42
now. Love helps me to see others in
34:44
helping them. Love covers a multitude of sins.
34:48
Love inspires forgiveness. Love comforts the troubled
34:52
heart. Love restores.
34:55
Love enables. As wonderful as faith and hope
34:59
are, love is the greatest. Well, because it's the only way.
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It's only through love that we're able to respond to God and
35:06
others right now. You know, the person that lacks
35:10
faith won't be able to love in the present because he'll be
35:12
paralysed by the hurts and the sins of his past.
35:17
And the person who lacks hope will not be able to love in the
35:19
present because he'll be too worried about his retirement
35:22
account and too worried about, you know, what's going to happen
35:25
and not at all looking for the soon return of the Lord.
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Only the person that has put his past behind him through the
35:32
power of the cross, only the person who looks forward to the
35:35
future through the promise of heaven can truly love in the
35:39
present. And so when you come back to
35:41
verse 12 in First Corinthians, right now, we see in a mirror,
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we don't see it all. We certainly see more than we've
35:49
ever seen before, but we don't see it all.
35:52
It's dim. It's not quite clear there.
35:55
There needs to be a polishing, there needs to be more maturity.
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And this is something you'll see, those of you that might be
36:03
younger in age, younger in age physically, or younger in age
36:07
and following the Lord. Things become clearer the longer
36:11
you walk with the Lord, both in age, physically and spiritually.
36:16
Maturity has so much. Not that God can't give you
36:19
revelation as a young person, yes.
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And not that God can't show you something as a young person is a
36:24
new believer. Yes, yes, yes.
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But the longer you walk with the Lord, things become much
36:29
clearer. But then there's a day coming
36:32
where you'll see face to face. I know in part today, but then I
36:37
shall know, just as I'm also known.
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And faith, hope, and love, they carry me along.
36:44
They deal with my past, they deal with my present.
36:47
But more importantly, love helps me to deal with those around me.
36:54
I'm so grateful that you've experienced the love of the
36:57
Father because it's made you more loving.
37:00
It's true, you may not be where you want to be today, but God is
37:03
at work in your life. You're becoming more like
37:05
Christ. You truly are different.
37:09
Maybe your personality is being worked on a little bit later,
37:12
But your heart, God went right for your heart, didn't he?
37:15
He went right for the heart. He wasn't so worried about your
37:18
personality as you were. Maybe He wants your heart.
37:23
So, you know, if he gets your heart, he'll get the rest of
37:25
you. But you make a little
37:27
personality change. You know, you might.
37:29
Hey, I'm going to just stop cussing.
37:30
I mean, it's great. Please stop cussing.
37:32
Please, Christians, stop cussing.
37:35
I agree. But you know, it's not what
37:37
God's after you to stop cussing. You know what?
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He's after your heart because if he has your heart, He's got your
37:44
mouth because out of the abundance of the heart, the
37:47
mouth speaks. So you can change your behavior.
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And we're all thankful that you will and that you're
37:54
considering. But you only see dimly.
37:55
You think, well, you know, if I just change these two things,
37:58
you only see dimly. You don't see the whole picture.
38:02
You don't need just two things change.
38:03
You need like 2,000,000. Things change and it's
38:07
overwhelming. You can't do that, but your
38:10
father can. Your father will do for you what
38:13
you can't do for yourself. And how will he gain your trust?
38:18
By his love. He loves you.
38:20
Just accept his love today. He loves you, he cares for you,
38:25
He has a future and a hope for you.
38:28
He came for you, died for you, rose again from the dead for
38:31
you, and He's coming again for you.
38:36
He's been with you through the difficult times.
38:37
He hears all your prayers. He receives you when you're
38:42
you're repentant and he pursues you when you're rebellious.
38:47
What manner of love the Father bestowed on us?
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That, my friends, is what impacts a world that doesn't
38:56
know you. They don't know you because they
38:58
don't know the Father. And you can see how important it
39:02
is to say laser focused and what a Christ like person is to be in
39:08
our culture. And it doesn't matter.
39:10
You don't have to study the culture of the rest of your
39:12
life. You don't have to study.
39:14
We've been, you know, those of us have been around few
39:16
generations, a few iterations of culture.
39:19
You're like, why? Just learn that now it's
39:20
changing again. Now you don't need to worry
39:21
about learning about the culture.
39:23
Just know your dad, just know your father.
39:27
Just know love. It doesn't matter what's
39:29
happening in the culture. You don't have to try to keep.
39:33
You might be even overwhelmed. I just can't keep up with it all
39:35
that I can't keep. It's OK.
39:38
Use that energy to get to know your Father.
39:41
Abide in faith, abide in hope, abide in love.
39:47
And perhaps, like John, you can leave here today.
39:51
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us.
39:58
And that's what we pray for. Our friends, our family.
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Lord, thank you for your love tonight.
40:03
The joy of knowing you personally, there's nothing like
40:06
it I can almost receive. I can almost sense like
40:10
receiving this message from a 90 year old guy who's lived with
40:15
your love for 60 + 70 plus years and just see it in his eyes.
40:23
Sense it in his presence. Experience it in his actions.
40:29
This guy, Son of Thunder, wanting to call fire down and
40:37
just wipe people out is telling me about the love the Father's
40:42
bestowed on us. Forgive us God, for writing
40:46
people off thinking they're too far.
40:49
Forgive us, God, for giving up. Forgive us like Adam running
40:56
away from you in our own faults and failures.
41:00
But we also thank you God, because the focus is not on our
41:02
sin, but on your blood. From the very beginning, you
41:07
demonstrated that you're a pursuing God, that you're a
41:11
loving Father, that you will help us in our weaknesses, cover
41:16
up on our iniquities, not to hide them, but to take away the
41:20
shame and the guilt that comes through our failures and just
41:26
pour that back into us. Lord, as we read the Bible, we
41:31
would see and experience in a real way for those of us that
41:35
are parents make us more loving grandparents make us more
41:39
loving. For those that are still single
41:42
and connected with family, make us more loving.
41:46
Give us patience, the fruit of the spirit, self-control.
41:50
Forgive us for our opinions and whatever you know, you're just
41:55
revealing stuff in the hearts right now.
41:58
You're just revealing, you know, just we get so set in our ways,
42:03
like, and we don't want to be set in our ways.
42:05
God, that's not how we started. We want to be flexible and open
42:09
to a work of your spirit. We want to know what we need to
42:13
know about the culture, but we want to know you more.
42:16
And we want to know what we need to know about what's going on at
42:19
work, but we want to know you more.
42:22
And we want to know what we need to know about a hobby or
42:24
something. But we want to know you more and
42:26
that you might give us hope for your return.
42:30
That would build our faith. But ultimately, we would learn
42:34
how to love those that can be so unlovely, make us so angry and
42:41
frustrated because they don't know us, they don't understand
42:44
us and protect us from the temptation of compromise because
42:50
we're fear like we're missing out.
42:52
We're not missing out on anything.
42:55
We've been given eternal life, age, abiding life.
42:59
You have transformed you. You, you went for the heart, and
43:02
then you got all of us. And just reveal to those
43:06
listening right now, God, remind them how far they've come.
43:11
Remind them of the work you've done thus far to remind them how
43:15
you rescued their marriage, how you delivered them in their
43:19
singleness, how you have restored relationship, and how
43:22
now they have new forgiveness in their hearts.
43:25
And never like it's so different, but it's because you
43:29
love us. And for those that have a hard
43:33
time seeing you as Father God because of how their dad treated
43:37
them, would you soften that part of their hearts?
43:40
Bring healing to the pain they carry.
43:43
Teach them what it's like. Maybe their father passed away
43:47
early and they still just have this grief ache in their hearts
43:51
and just begin to heal God and remind them that you are our
43:56
eternal Dad, our ABBA, our father.
44:00
And it is a mind blowing thing. You demonstrated our love not
44:04
because we were good or perfect or anything, but because you
44:07
love us because you are love. God bless your people.
44:12
Lord bless them tonight. Pour out your spirit.
44:16
I wish the whole church could hear this.
44:18
Just be reminded of love. But for us, that's for us.
44:23
Maybe you'll inspire folks to listen online or catch a study
44:27
later this week just so they could be reminded not of a great
44:30
Bible study, not of a grand Bible study.
44:33
They're just reminded of your love, That's all.
44:37
Just to be shocked right there in their car or walking around
44:41
the park or taking a lunch break.
44:43
Just to be utterly astonished. Behold how much the Father loves
44:49
me. He has a plan for my life and my
44:53
future. He has a plan for generations
44:57
until He returns. And I use that word lazy
45:01
tonight. I pray for those that might
45:04
consider themselves lazy tonight.
45:05
Would you? Would you speak to them and draw
45:07
them out of that physically, spiritually?
45:10
I know you don't condemn them, but it's hard to hear that we're
45:14
lazy. That you might just pour out
45:16
your spirit and love and say it's there's so much better life
45:19
for you if you deal with this part of your flesh.
45:22
So much more for you. If you weren't so lazy, if you
45:26
weren't so apathetic, if you weren't so lackadaisical, if you
45:31
just pressed in, if you just sought me.
45:35
I think of that scripture, Lord, where it says if you seek me
45:37
with all your heart, I will be found by you, saith the Lord.
45:42
And just pour out your spirit of exuberance and and strength and
45:48
vitality on your church, Lord. You ask that question Lord, if
45:57
when you return, will you find faith on the earth and I I pray
46:01
God you will among us you'll find faith among us.
46:03
We love you, we trust you walk in obedience to you lay our
46:08
lives down before you. We repent.
46:11
We come to you with dirty hands and ask you to clean them.
46:14
We lay our minds before you, our hearts before you are, our
46:17
family before you, our kids before you are we give it all to
46:21
you Lord and grow in your grace. Speak to you your church, Lord
46:25
Jesus name and the church says Amen.
46:30
I pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
46:32
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church for
46:36
prayer, call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
46:45
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
46:48
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
46:54
or download our free Calvary Church app.
46:57
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.