Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #24482 - 5 Things to Watch Out For in Our Spiritual Lives - Acts 20:31-38

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#24482 - 5 Things to Watch Out For in Our Spiritual Lives - Acts 20:31-38 · 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. Take your Bibles, open them to
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Acts chapter 20. We're going to finish the
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chapter today, this little miniseries in a pastoral
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chapter. So you have First Timothy,
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Second Timothy, and Titus. They're known as the pastoral
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Epistles. Then I added one for you.
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Second Corinthians, as Paul writes to the church in Corinth,
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is very pastoral. And then on top of that, we add
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a chapter of the Bible that's extremely pastoral.
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It's both for ministry leaders, elders, pastors, leaders, but
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it's also for servants. But it's also very personal.
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And we can take them very personal, these admonitions.
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It's one of those Bible, those series where I've got three
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points here and five points there, but jot them all down
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because when you get Bible studies that are broken down
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into points like that, they're really answering questions.
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And today I want to answer the question, OK, so I want to serve
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the Lord and I want to be effective and I want to be used
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greatly. What am I supposed to watch out
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for it? What are the things you would
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tell me to watch out for in my life so that I can pay attention
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to them and be more effective in serving the Lord?
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And we're going to answer that question today.
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Five things. I've titled this message 5
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Things to watch out for in Your Spiritual Life, but you could
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say also five things to watch out for as you serve the Lord,
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Five things to watch out for as a husband, as a wife, 5 things
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to watch out for as a follower of Christ.
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And we pick up by way of review now in Acts chapter 20.
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Let's go back. We're going to start in verse
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31. But for review, let's go back to
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verse 28 of Acts chapter 20, where we drop into this time
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Paul speaking to the elders of Ephesus there in my elitist
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verse 28. Therefore, take heed to
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yourselves and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has
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made you overseers to shepherd the Church of God, which he
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purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my
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departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing
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the flock, and also from among yourselves men will rise up
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speaking twisted. Or some of your Bibles might say
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perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves.
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That's where we left off last time.
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Remember, Paul is on his way to Jerusalem.
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He wanted to get there for Passover, but circumstances
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prevented him. So now he wants to get there by
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Pentecost. And he has a very special gift
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with him. He has taken up a collection of
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money from the Gentile churches to take back to the hurting
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Jerusalem church. Which is interesting because you
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would think where the Holy Spirit poured out first and
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foremost on the very birth place of the church, that they would
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be the stronger church sending help and resources around the
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world. But the exact opposite happened.
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It was the smaller churches scattered throughout the Gentile
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world that became the most generous, especially in relation
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to helping other churches. So Paul is taking up a
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collection and he's going to help the hurting church in
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Jerusalem. And it makes sense because
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Jerusalem church was in a place where great persecution, great
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difficulty, a lot of the believers scattered and had to
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leave. So it doesn't make sense.
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But that's where Paul is headed. Before he has his final journey
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to Jerusalem, though, he stops in my lead us.
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And he asked for the elders of the Church of Ephesus to come to
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him because he has some final words for them.
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And that's what has been the focus of our study for the last
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few weeks. We've been looking at the final
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words of Paul to a small group of leaders that oversee the
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church in Ephesus. We want to pay attention to
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someone's last. Words.
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They're almost always passionate, reflective,
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powerful. But it also got me thinking that
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we want to pay attention to anybody's words that's speaking
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to us because we never know if it's their last words.
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We want to value the person in front of us.
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We want to listen carefully. It's a great skill to develop,
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to listen to the person in front of you and to process because
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you don't know when their last words will be.
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But there are all those times where Paul's telling him, hey
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man, I think this is going to be it.
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I don't think you're ever going to see me again.
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And I just need to tell you these things because I love you.
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And we've looked at his pastor's heart here, and it's a very
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emotional time. They're crying.
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They're falling on him. It's an emotional time, as we'll
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see in a moment. But notice now, point number 15,
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things to watch out for in verse 31.
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Point #1 Therefore watch and remember for three years I did
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not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.
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Here's the first thing I want you to watch out for.
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I believe we gain from Paul's teaching here and that is this.
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Watch out for carelessness. Watch out for carelessness.
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Or another way of saying it is watch out for spiritual apathy.
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In your own personal life. I mean, really, this is a
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question. These are answers to the
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question back in verse 28 when he says, therefore take heed to
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yourselves and to all the flock and go, how do I take heed to
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myself? Here's number one, watch out for
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carelessness. Spiritual carelessness in your
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life will end in spiritual ruin, sudden destruction.
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This is no small matter. It's important that you learn to
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watch and to watch out. It's important that we learn not
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to let our spiritual guard down, to stay awake.
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See, not only did Paul feed them, but he warned them.
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For three years he warned them. He warned them about all the
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weaknesses and difficulties and false teachings and false
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teachers. But more than anything, he
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warned them about what would happen on the inside in their
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own personal law, especially the elders and pastors.
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Like this is so important for those of you in a position of
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leadership. And by the way, as Christians,
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we're all in some position of leadership.
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Somebody is following us. Somebody is looking to us, let
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alone those of us that may have a position or a title within the
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body of Christ, authority or responsibility.
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Watch out church. A careless attitude toward the
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things of God will not help you grow in Christ.
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It won't help you. And I know I'm not naive enough
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to think that there's some listening Mirror Now that that's
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that's just how you live your life.
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You're just kind of careless toward the things of God.
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You haven't put up the guards and the walls and the
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commitments and the habits that are necessary for you to
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continue to grow, and as a result, you pay a price.
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For it, I mean, if we were to step back and be have the
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opportunity maybe to have someone up here and interview
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them that have backslidden. And I mean, either way we can
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catch them while they are still backsliding and we could talk to
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them about how'd you get there? Or they've come back to the Lord
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and asked them how they got there.
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Whatever their story is, whatever their testimony is,
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whatever sin they got into, whatever gross immorality is a
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part of whatever. It is.
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I'll tell you this the root of it.
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It was carelessness toward the things of God.
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That's how it started. And they never, I mean, a lot of
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the testimonies would say, I never thought it would get that
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bad. I never thought I would go so
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far away. I never thought of that.
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I wouldn't. And carelessness is just put it
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in different terms here. Listen, I never thought that I
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really wouldn't care. That's carelessness.
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And So what do you have week after week, month after month,
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year after year? You have a pastor that stands in
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this pulpit and says, hey, read your Bible every day, pour into
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your life, take it in. Have those times of prayer and
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quiet times. We even looked at that quiet
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times with the Lord. Maybe it's on a walk or a bike
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ride or a quiet time in your house, but take those times to
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cultivate your relationship like any other relationship so that
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it might become a guard toward all these temptations.
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We don't know what's going to come against us.
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We don't know what's what we're going to face when we wake up in
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the morning. So because we don't know, we
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stay close to our Lord and Savior.
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Let me show you scripture. Turn over to Romans chapter 13.
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I believe Paul develops this thought a little bit deeper a
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few years later. Notice with me Romans chapter 13
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he says, but a little bit stronger.
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I would say a lot stronger. When you get there, go to verse
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11 with me. Romans 13, verse 11.
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Paul's writing. To the Gentile church, the
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Romans, the Roman believers, and notice what he says.
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And do this, knowing the time that now it's high time to awake
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out of sleep. For now our salvation is nearer
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than when we first believed. Can I pause there and have your
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attention? Listen, you don't need me to
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explain to you the world in which we live.
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I could do it. I could come with a list of 20
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things, 25 things that says look at this, look at this, look at
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this, look at this. Do you see the world in which we
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live? Do you understand the spirit of
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the Antichrist? Do you see the prophetic
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implications of this? Do you understand that this
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world in its Antichrist attitude coming against the church,
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coming against, I mean, I could do that, but you don't need
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that. You see it already.
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The question is, is whether you're awake or not.
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It's time to wake up church and to be the church.
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This is a time just simply and not not any other actions.
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Just wake up. You can't continue the way that
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you've been going and expect to make any kind of significant
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impact for the Kingdom unless you wake up.
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Your sleep and your slumber is not helpful.
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To your church family, it's not helpful.
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To your home family, it's not helpful.
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To your workplace, it's not helpful to this world.
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Paul says it's time to wake up church.
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He said that 2000 years ago. Do you think it's even we're any
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closer to having to wake up today and to be the church He
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says notice as he goes on. He says the night verse 12 is
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far spent the days at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the
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works of darkness. That's a way to wake up, start
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to care again and get rid of the darkness and then put on the
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armor of light. So he's he's actually saying,
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hey, look, deal with the darkness, but then get ready to
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fight. And remember, we fight
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spiritual. Our weapons of our warfare are
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not carnal. But they're mighty in God for
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the bringing down of strongholds and every high thing that exalts
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itself against the the name of God.
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Put on the spiritual armor and then let's walk properly like in
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the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, which are obvious
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party, the whole party scene, you know, like that's not for
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you believer. That's not your world.
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It might have been your world, but as a believer, it's not your
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world anymore. Drunkenness is not going to help
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you in your relationship with God.
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It's going to actually harm you. The whole party scene and all
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that goes with it. He says right here, don't do it.
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But then he also says not in licentiousness and lewdness.
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These are sexual sins. Sexual sin is not going to help
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your walk with the Lord. Pornography.
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I mean outright sexual sin. You know, living with your
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boyfriend and girlfriend, thinking that that's real
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marriage, stepping out on your marriage, adultery all.
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Of that. It's sin, it wrecks the church,
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but more than wrecking the church, it wrecks you.
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Paul says stop it. This is not for you.
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It's your past, but it's not for you.
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And then he also says, not in strife and envy, you know, just
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fighting and arguing about things all the time.
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If there's one thing that creates, there's like one thing
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on the top five things that Christians are really good at is
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arguing about things that don't matter and just spending energy
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and energy and energy is just really OK.
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You won the argument. Then what?
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Now what? I feel better about myself.
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Yeah, but absolutely nobody saved and one more person hates
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God. Is that what you were going for,
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Stripes? Walk away from it.
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Carelessness. You want to be effective, Don't
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be careless. That's what Paul saying.
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Come back to Acts. He's like, I wasn't careless
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with you guys. Three years, night and day.
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I gave you what I got. He said earlier, I haven't shown
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to give you the whole counsel of God #2 verse 32.
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Now and now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of
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His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an
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inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
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Here's point #2 something to watch out for is callousness,
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callousness, or hardness of heart.
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So another way of looking at this, guard your heart because
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out of it flow the issues of life and you need to guard your
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heart. So what does Paul do?
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He says, look, I'm leaving, I'm not going to be here anymore and
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this is what you need. I'm going to give you to God.
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And to the word of his grace. Do you know that's what will
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keep you soft? The grace of God?
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It'll make you less condemning because you'll remember where
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you came from. It'll make you less judgmental
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because you remember where you came from.
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It'll make you. Less tight fisted because you
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remember all that God has done for you, the word of His grace.
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Like we read in the Psalm today, it's a place of safety and
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refuge. And Paul says this is the best
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place for you. I'm going to give you to God.
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That's what you need. You don't need me.
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You need Him. And I commend you.
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Go to him with all the attacks within and without.
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I'm going to give you to God and his protection, His power, His
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Majesty. And I mean, ultimately, at the
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end of all the warning, all the feeding, all the ministry, three
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years being there, what does Paul say?
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Hey, you know what, God, they're yours.
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They've always been yours and they'll continue to be yours,
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the bride of Christ. And it's true.
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Notice I love this because this is the place where you're built
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up. It says, it says I'm giving you
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to God. I'm committing you to God in the
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word of his grace. Why?
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Which is able to build you up. That's what we we need to be
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built. Up in the Lord.
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I mean, you live in the world, you shop in the world, you play
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in the world. You know something about this
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world system, All it does is tear us down spiritually.
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There's nothing in this world that points us to the Lord.
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Everything. I mean, you can't even go
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shopping in the supermarket without hearing some song that
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you never asked for playing in the speakers above you.
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That for some of us, takes us back to a very sinful life that
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we want nothing to do. I just wanted a loaf of bread.
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That's it. They make you walk all the way
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to the back and they keep moving it.
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I don't know where it is these days.
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Like it was here, but now it's not.
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And it was like, so they want you walking around because the
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more things you see, the more things you buy.
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I just want some bread. That's it.
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And a song pops up and it. Doesn't build me up.
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It takes me right back to a moment, right back to a place,
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right back to a memory. But now I'm in spiritual
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warfare, looking for a loaf of bread.
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That happens 20-30 fifty times a day in your life and mine.
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You're watching a sporting event, you're watching the
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Broncos play and you're enjoying the game.
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And then boom, an advertisement. You're like, I didn't want this.
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And you're driving by and you see, I didn't want this because
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the world has a way of tearing us down.
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And because we're in the world, not of the world, you have to
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have your eyes open for this. It's going to happen.
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And so notice, Paul says, look, I know it's going to be tough
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and hard, but you got to go back to the word.
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Because it's going to. Build you up.
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It's a place of safety and security for you and for me.
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Let's bring it home real quick before we get into the next
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point. On a personal level, and you
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might want to jot this down, I've repeated this over and over
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again, but I want to teach you. I want you to remember it.
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Don't forget this in life when you're dealing with people, you
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need to do this. You need to learn how to take
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things personal, or excuse me, spiritual and not personal.
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You're already good at taking things personal.
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So take things spiritual and not personal.
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Why? Because when you learn to take
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things spiritual, you're going to take them to the Lord, and
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you're going to protect that soft heart of yours.
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Remember what happened when you and I were born again?
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The Bible says He replaced our heart of stone with a heart of
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flesh, A softness, a care and concern.
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But as we're dealing with people, as we're dealing with
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situations, it's very easy to go into self protective mode.
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And instead of having a soft heart, we take things all
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personal. We're easily offended.
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Then we're mad at the very people that God has called us to
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reach. So we have a hard heart, but
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here's another way of looking at it.
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You want to learn as you're serving and loving and caring
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for other people. You want to learn this, how to
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develop a thick skin while you maintain a soft heart.
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Thick skin maintain. But the exact opposite happens,
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doesn't it? You have soft skin like you're
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always offended and your heart is so hard, and then you're no
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use to the Kingdom because things are going to happen.
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Offenses will come, Jesus said. But woe to him by which the
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offense does come. But for you and me, we want to
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stay soft to the things of God. I know dealing with people on
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their worst days in a fallen world, I mean, you're just
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watching things happen. The way the world is set up is
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designed to harden your heart the way the world is set up.
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I mean, here we are. We're entering into a brand new
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political season and Christians are flipping out.
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They're all upset because they're taking everything
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personal, everything personal, Everything personal.
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So you just got to answer every single thing on Facebook.
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Every single thing on Instagram got to get it out.
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And then what? The election cycle.
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I've been around long enough. It's going to come and go.
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You vote for someone, they'll be in office.
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They don't in office. It's going to happen.
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You're still going to be going to the supermarket and buying
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bread. You're still going to go to
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work. But have you lost your witness?
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I'm often misunderstood at this place where you go, whoa,
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pastor, don't you care about politics?
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Of course I do. But remember.
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I care about. Politics because of the policies
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that come from politicians, but I care about the policies
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because they affect the very same people that we're wanting
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to reach. They hurt people in our
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community or help either way. And so I know kingdoms of men
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come and go, but the people in front of me, they're the most
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important people that we recognize, that we integrate in
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culture. But the hope of our land is not
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politics. Did you know that?
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I didn't hear any amens for that, But that's it.
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That's actually the truth. I'll help you along the way, but
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that's the truth. You serve a King Jesus, and he
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will help you in every way. It's much more convenient, I
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think, at times to have a hard heart toward the world in which
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we live and then be and then begin to advocate in ways that
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are not helpful for the gospel, the gospel.
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Remember the gospel, the good news that your sins can be
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forgiven through the broken body in the shed blood of Jesus
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Christ. Remember they buried our Savior
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and three days later he rose again from the dead.
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The gospel church, it's the gospel.
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Paul said this in Romans chapter one.
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I am not ashamed of say with me. The gospel.
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It has the power of God. It is the power of God unto
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salvation for all who believe, for the Jew 1st and also for the
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Greek. So get involved.
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Step into those arenas. Don't lose your witness.
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Be careful of callousness. It'll sneak up on you.
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All these things really sneak up on you and you're just like man,
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what has happened to me? I got my eyes off the Lord.
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I haven't been in the word. My prayer life is non existent
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and now I look like sound like and act like the world and
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there's no progress for the Kingdom when that I was praying
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this recently thinking about it became a prayer.
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You know the the problem today, the difficulty today in the
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world is not a harvest. We don't have a problem with
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harvest there there is plenty to harvest.
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Remember what Jesus said the. Harvest is truly.
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Plentiful. You know what the problem is?
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Laborers. A lack thereof.
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A real focused. Group of men and women that love
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Jesus supremely and are willing to pay the sacrificial price to
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reach the lost. Sometimes that's a financial
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sacrifice. Sometimes that's a personal
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sacrifice where I learned to die to myself and make no provision
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for the flesh so that I can be more usable in the Kingdom.
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I got to watch out for callousness because everything
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in this world wants to tear me down and harden my heart toward
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others and it's a trap. Church number three, number
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three. Look at verse 33.
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Now this is a, this is a great one.
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I mean, it's kind of out. Of out of place like I have
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coveted no one's silver. Or gold or apparel?
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That's interesting. So here's the warning.
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You ready? A warning against covetousness.
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Yeah, a warning for. Elders for pastors, for parents,
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for kids, for us as believers. Be careful of covetousness.
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Basically, wanting what someone else has so bad that you will do
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anything to get it. Wanting what someone else has,
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but you want, you will do anything to get it.
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It's a little bit worse than jealousy because Covetous Man
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put you in a place where I want that so much I'm going to go get
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it. And it doesn't even have to be
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someone else's. It could be just something that
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you will do anything to go get it.
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It's kind of a form of idolatry. Watch out for it.
22:29
It's not good for us, but Paul's here.
22:32
This is so good because this is this.
22:35
This place of Acts 20 is how we were discipled through our
22:39
Calvary Chapel ministries, what we were taught, and this is the
22:42
principle here that we were taught and that is ministry is
22:46
giving, not getting. That's why we're here to give.
22:51
Jesus put it this. Way in Mark 1045, he said that
22:54
the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give
22:59
his life a ransom for many, for God.
23:02
So loved the world that. He gave his only begotten Son.
23:09
Got y'all for? Covetousness.
23:10
It's interesting. He's there and he just has this
23:12
little line. I know you guys have silver, but
23:14
I didn't want it. And I know you guys have an
23:17
abundance of gold here. Very prosperous city.
23:19
I don't want it. You guys got the fancy clothes
23:21
and everything, but I'm not. It's not why God sent me here.
23:24
God did not send me here so I could want all your stuff.
23:27
God sent me here so I could love you and serve you.
23:31
And we see he was successful. God used them greatly, changed
23:34
his heart. And you know, on a personal
23:37
level, when you think about covetousness, isn't it true?
23:39
Haven't we learned yet all the things that we've so desperately
23:42
wanted come with a price? I mean everything, technology,
23:46
new car, whatever, whatever it is and we have an unhealthiness
23:49
about it. You know, when once we get it,
23:52
we, we want so badly to possess it.
23:54
We want so badly to hold. It and to have it.
23:56
But then once we get them, we've got to upgrade them, clean them,
24:00
Polish them, protect them, get an alarm for them, worry about
24:03
them they being we think we wanted to own something, but
24:06
then it starts to own us. And what's the answer?
24:10
First Timothy 66 Godliness with contentment.
24:15
Is great gain and whatever the Lord has for us, that's what we
24:18
want and we'll see in a moment even what God has for us is to
24:22
be given away be used for the Kingdom which brings us to
24:26
number 4 #4 is in verse 34. He says yes, you yourselves know
24:31
that these hands have provided for my necessities and for
24:35
those. Who were with me?
24:38
Here's the 4th warning. The thing to watch out for and
24:42
that is watch out for laziness. I couldn't find another C word,
24:46
so we've got to change. Watch out for laziness.
24:50
Paul can take his hands and say look at my hands.
24:54
Now if I did that with me, you will see that I have very soft
24:57
dishwater hands because I don't work with my hands that way.
25:00
Just calluses on the tips of my fingers for my computer is
25:04
basically what I use. God has made me work in a
25:07
different way. I'm not very good with my hands.
25:09
But Paul was remember what his job was.
25:11
He was a tent maker. That was the profession that God
25:16
gave to Paul in. He used it in order to provide
25:20
for the needs of his family. And we noticed not only for his
25:23
own needs for but for those that served with him.
25:26
God gave him this gift to make money and work hard so that he
25:32
could fund the ministry and not be a burden to any of the cities
25:36
that he came to. So that when he took up an
25:38
offering and said, hey, I want you to know we're taking up this
25:41
offering for the Jerusalem church, he could say it is all.
25:45
Going to Jerusalem, I don't need any of it.
25:47
What do you mean, Paul? How do you, Hey, I work once
25:51
again. This is the principle that we
25:52
were taught, especially for those of us that felt like maybe
25:55
God was going to use us to plant a church.
25:58
We were taught very clearly if you were going to plant a
26:01
church. The first thing you do is get a
26:03
job and work. That way you won't be a burden
26:07
to this new church. Fortunately, when I moved to
26:11
Colorado, I came with a very good job, very good one that I
26:15
could have stayed and I would have wanted to stay there for
26:18
many more years. Then I did because it was
26:21
helping us save to get ahead. It was really great.
26:24
It was wonderful, but God had other plans and I didn't end up
26:28
staying there all that very long, but I would have as long
26:30
as necessary so that we wouldn't be a burden to this new church.
26:35
And that's how all the most of the pastors here and leaders
26:39
here how before they come on staff.
26:41
They had a job. That's like you, those of you
26:44
that work full time and serve in this church.
26:46
You work with your hands to provide for the needs of your
26:49
home and you serve God faithfully in the life of your
26:52
local church. It's the same principle.
26:54
Church planning or not, God takes care of us as we work.
26:59
That's the warning. Don't be lazy.
27:02
Don't be lazy. Now there is a difference
27:05
between being tired and lazy and there is a provision, right?
27:09
We get tired. Life is like when you're working
27:12
and you're serving and you're raising kids and you got to yes,
27:14
you get tired, yes, Amen. Yes, but there's a provision for
27:18
being tired. You know what it is?
27:20
Rest or other services yelled out sleep.
27:24
You do whatever you need to do nap, sleep, lay down, but you
27:28
need to rest. You know God gave us.
27:30
This principle six days you work, one day you rest it's
27:36
important now in our culture they've gone even one more than
27:38
that and they say five days you work and two days you rest and
27:43
in that day of rest you cease from work, you rest your body
27:46
it's almost like God is saying because.
27:48
There was a spiritual component to it as well, where you honor
27:51
the Lord on that rest day. In the old covenant.
27:54
It was very precise. In the new covenant, now that
27:58
rest is found. In our Sabbath Jesus, he is our
28:03
rest. We can rest in His finished
28:06
work, but the principle still applies.
28:08
Your body needs rest. You can't keep going seven days
28:11
a week. You can't keep going with all
28:13
these 12 hour days. You need to rest.
28:17
Oh, by the way, you know the Bible has a remedy for laziness
28:20
too. Laziness.
28:22
You know what the remedy of laziness is?
28:24
Repentance because you're stealing from God.
28:29
He's given you gifts and talents and energy and a life to be used
28:33
and you've responded with laziness.
28:35
The Bible has a lot to say about laziness.
28:37
Did you know that one of them is very simple.
28:39
Proverbs chapter 6, verse six, It says go to the Ant.
28:42
You sluggard. I like that you bunch of
28:45
sluggards. Go check out the ants.
28:48
Consider her ways and be wise. That tells me that laziness.
28:52
Is. Not wise.
28:53
It's foolish. It's a waste of God's time in
28:57
your life, Time you'll never get back.
29:00
I know I'm speaking to some today that you know, maybe we
29:03
don't know, but you know that you're just plain lazy and I'm
29:07
serious. There is a remedy.
29:09
It's repentance. It's godly sorrow for how much
29:13
time you've taken away. You're here on this earth as a
29:16
born again believer, not for yourself, but for others.
29:21
Not so that you can, you know, work one day and rest the six
29:25
days and just do your own thing and play video games all night
29:28
and then not be any good. I mean, there are people at
29:30
church today. There are kids.
29:32
Right now that are not at church right now because they were up
29:34
all night playing video games and so, oh, you know, I'm just
29:37
so tired. No, you're lazy and you need to
29:40
repent. It's a waste of time.
29:42
That's not building the Kingdom. Oh, you know, I'm sure the
29:44
gospel won't playing video games.
29:46
Sure you do. Sure you do.
29:48
Yeah. I've got the big headset, you
29:49
know, and like, oh, man, like this is serious stuff.
29:52
It's time to wake up. It's time to wake up.
29:56
It's time for us to see our God-given identity and the
30:00
destiny that God has for us. It's to make a difference in
30:03
people's lives and not be lazy. And that's what Paul says.
30:07
He says it's like Paul standing there and he's got these, this
30:10
emotional moment. He's like, you guys, I always
30:12
want you to know, you see this. I don't want you to forget this.
30:15
I wasn't lazy. I don't think he was bragging,
30:21
you know, because you could take the other way.
30:22
Well, look what I've done for you.
30:23
I don't think that at all. I think he's letting him know
30:26
ahead of time that ministry service, even living as a
30:31
believer right the right way in the world, is going to lead to
30:36
temptations of pulling away and temptations of doing nothing.
30:41
And, you know, I, I see people do this all the time.
30:43
Well, I just need to take a little break.
30:44
And I go, yeah, you take a break, but pick a day when
30:46
you're going to be back. Oh, no, no, I don't know.
30:48
I mean, I'll just say I'll let you know when I no, because if
30:52
you don't pick a day when you'll be back, you're going to get
30:53
used to doing nothing. And it's actually going to be
30:57
kind of attractive. It's like, wow, I'm not
30:59
ministering anybody. I'm not counseling anybody.
31:01
I'm not going anybody with coffee because I'm just taking a
31:03
rest. I'm not teaching the kids
31:05
anymore. And before you know it, you
31:06
start to like that provision you made, which you really did need
31:11
rest, but your rest became laziness.
31:15
Be careful. I also see people do this when
31:17
it comes to church planting, where they stroll into a town
31:21
and they put such a heavy burden on the brand new church that
31:24
they're pastoring instead of just going and working like
31:28
anyone else. There is nothing that, you know,
31:32
sometimes people misinterpret the Bible like work is a part of
31:34
the curse. Do you know that work existed
31:37
before the curse, The part of the curse.
31:40
So it's not work. That's the curse.
31:42
Work can be very fulfilling. Work can be very.
31:45
Helpful work and put you in contact with people that you'd
31:48
never be in contact before. The problem with work is how?
31:52
Tiring it is and how hard it can become and of course now you're
31:57
in the world where you get tore down and on and on that goes.
32:00
Watch out for laziness, Church Proverbs 21 and verse 25 says
32:04
the desire of the lazy man kills him for his hands refuse to
32:10
labor, which brings us to our final point and perhaps one of
32:13
the most important in verse 35, it says, and I have shown you in
32:18
every way by laboring like this, that you must support the weak
32:25
and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said it's
32:28
more blessed to give than to receive.
32:33
Here's #5 watch out for selfishness.
32:37
Watch out for selfishness because a person that laborers
32:40
and a person that works and a person that's faithful and a
32:43
person that cares is usually entrusted with more, not less.
32:48
And because you're entrusted with more and not less, be
32:51
careful that you don't become selfish.
32:54
So what does he say? He says, hey, make sure you
32:57
understand you must support the weak, that that is a part of
33:02
your life to be a help to those that are weaker than you #1 And
33:07
then number two, he puts it into this broader context where Jesus
33:11
is quoted as saying it is more blessed to give than to receive.
33:16
And God wants you to experience that.
33:18
He wants you to know that as much as a, as a blessing to
33:22
receive, it is way better to give.
33:26
It's much more beneficial so that like our pastor used to
33:29
say, he would talk about, you know, you can't outgive God.
33:33
And then he would add, Pastor Chuck would add this.
33:35
He said he can't give out outgive God, but I've committed
33:38
to try. I'm like, oh, that's so good.
33:41
And he was known as a very generous man, not only
33:45
supporting the weak, but supporting others.
33:47
And I mean, he, he would invest, he would invest in these, these.
33:51
Outreach. Like he would do.
33:52
Things that would help all the churches.
33:54
In the community. He purchased a piece of property
33:57
once and he made it a retreat center where all these churches
34:01
would come and have their retreats there.
34:02
We would go there as pastors and pastors wise would go there.
34:06
And it was a property just dedicated to the fulfilling of
34:10
his vision of helping the weak and strengthening the weak and
34:13
building up the weak. And then it became the Bible
34:15
college. So the kids were and all my kids
34:17
were able to go to Bible college there and be instructed in the
34:20
Word, amazing heritage and example that God has left
34:24
through us through our pastor. And these are areas where we
34:27
want to be generous as a church and we want to continue.
34:30
Why? Because we learned this not only
34:32
as a church, but personally, I am on, I know this side of the
34:36
Scripture. It is, I can say it with Paul,
34:39
more blessed to give than to receive.
34:41
There's just something special about being a giver by giving
34:46
and being generous. Not even with the gift.
34:48
You guys that have the gift of giving, this is no problem for
34:50
you. You like it's just amazing the
34:52
men and women that have been given the gift of giving.
34:55
It's beautiful. But for the rest.
34:56
Of us, when we step into this through obedience, it's just a
35:01
beautiful thing to see, a smile to see, an encouragement, just
35:06
to know that what you gave was in the name of the.
35:09
Lord. And this is an important
35:10
principle, again, the discipleship part of our
35:14
ministry here that we have been taught biblically that a truly
35:19
God honoring ministry must focus on giving, not getting,
35:25
developing and not draining or taking advantage of people.
35:29
Jesus said you cannot serve 2 masters.
35:32
You either hate one or love the other.
35:34
You'll be loyal to one or despise the other.
35:36
You can't serve God in money and money becomes a measurement of
35:42
giving. You can give a lot of things.
35:43
You can be generous with people, you can give of your time, you
35:46
can give of your talents, your expertise, the gift you.
35:49
There's a lot that you can give, but the measurement that you can
35:53
look to if you're looking, I wonder if I'm a giver or not.
35:55
Follow the money isn't how the world says follow the money.
35:59
Where does your money go? Because where you, whatever you
36:02
treasure, Jesus said, there your heart will be also.
36:07
And both sides of that equation work.
36:09
Wherever your heart is, that's where you're going to put your
36:11
treasures, where you're going to deposit your treasures.
36:15
Look, you got to get a handle on this issue with money and
36:18
giving. You have to, you have to move
36:21
from that place of getting and taking and taking and taking and
36:24
taking all the time and get into the realm of God's blessing
36:28
where it's giving, where you're just a generous person.
36:31
Let me tell you a place to start.
36:33
It's a simple one. I call this I I, I say the same
36:36
thing over and over again. So even a lot in our Bible study
36:38
is repetition. But let's start with the tithe
36:41
where God's instructing us to give of our tithes and
36:44
offerings. The tithe.
36:46
Again, another thing that's debated.
36:48
I have taught this in depth and other studies, but when we were
36:50
in Genesis, I taught you something when we were studying
36:53
through Genesis and that is the tithe predates the.
36:56
Law. So just to put it in the old
36:58
covenant is not going to work. Well, you know, that was old
37:01
covenant. So I don't have to give anymore.
37:03
No, that is an indication right there that there's selfishness
37:08
taking root in your heart because that money is not yours.
37:11
Well, you know, I worked with my hands.
37:15
Who gave you the hands? Where'd you get those from?
37:19
Life came from the Lord, right? So tithing predates the law.
37:22
Of course. It was a big part of the Old
37:25
Covenant, for sure. The farmers and those that were
37:28
working would have to bring the first fruits of their laborers,
37:31
bring them into the storehouses, bring them into the temple, and
37:35
it was a big part. It was required.
37:37
In the old covenant. So even if I gave you and said,
37:39
well, you know that's old covenant, I'm a new covenant
37:41
Christian. Well, I'm glad that you admit
37:43
that you're a new covenant Christian because let me fill
37:46
you in on something. The new covenant requirement of
37:49
giving is greater than the. Tithe because what does God say?
37:55
God says, I want you to give me yourself, lay yourself on the
38:01
altar, give as God as you purpose in your heart, which
38:06
can't be measured. But the tithe is a good
38:08
beginning, and I'll tell you why.
38:10
It's so easy to do. It is one of the easiest things
38:15
that you and I can do. You can set up online giving.
38:18
You can have your boss do it at the office, you can have your
38:21
bank write the check for you like it is so easy.
38:25
Then why does most of the church not give regular?
38:28
I mean, we're talking all the church around town, every true
38:31
church. So many believers do not give
38:34
faithfully to the local work of the ministry.
38:37
Why selfishness. We have to watch out for this
38:46
because here's the logic. You ready?
38:47
If you can't do the easy part, what makes you think you're
38:50
going to have any heart for the harder parts?
38:53
So God, he does exactly what we do with our kids.
38:56
We give them something easy to do to train them for the harder
39:00
things. That's what Jesus did.
39:03
Remember with that man with that was lame that that that when
39:09
when he with the man with the withered hand, the man with the
39:12
withered hand was given a command.
39:15
He was given a command to get up something he could do.
39:20
He couldn't move his hand, but he could get up.
39:23
So he got up, building his faith and his stretch out your.
39:26
Hand and boom, you know what he did?
39:28
Stretched out his hand. God gave him something easy to
39:31
do. So they prepare him for what was
39:33
challenging. Listen, church, listen.
39:37
You need to learn how to be faithful with your money as
39:40
under the Lord. Of course, we don't have
39:41
storehouses today. We're not collecting the first
39:44
fruits of your tomatoes or the wool of your sheep or anything.
39:47
Today it's measured in money. That's the increase.
39:50
Almost everyone here today has increase.
39:53
And the question is, are you faithful?
39:56
Which, you know, people always when we're talking about money,
39:58
you don't need to be afraid of money.
39:59
The Bible talks a lot about money, but then there's always
40:01
that, well, you know, pastor, you must be suffering and now
40:04
you're trying to raise money for the church.
40:05
No, I'm not at all. God has been, we've been here 25
40:08
years. God has taken care of every
40:10
single need, every day of every week of every month of every
40:14
year. I'm only telling you the truth
40:16
because you need this in your life.
40:18
I remember walking into a church just like this.
40:20
Way bigger. They just finished the
40:22
sanctuary. Over 3000 seats.
40:24
There were pews there. Three, that was brand new.
40:27
I'm a brand new believer. And the 1st Sunday I was there,
40:30
they started passing the they had little bags that they passed
40:33
for the offering, which is great, no problem.
40:35
So they're passing on and I just remember watching it go right by
40:37
me, watching it go right by me. And in my mind, I didn't tell
40:40
anybody this, but in my mind I'm like.
40:42
This church don't need my money. Look at it they got they're
40:46
fine. They don't need my money.
40:47
They're real take it and it's almost like God.
40:50
If I if I was more in tune to his spirit back then it's almost
40:53
like God, he would be saying this to me to that Ed sitting in
40:56
the Pew back then Ed this church.
40:58
Don't need my need your money. I don't need your money.
41:02
But you need to give because you're a taker.
41:07
That's how I spent my whole life as an unbeliever.
41:10
Take, take, take, take, take. And it was like God saying, Ed,
41:15
I got something so much better for you.
41:17
I'm going to teach you a lesson. And here's the lesson.
41:21
It's more blessed to give than to receive any day of the week.
41:26
And over the years, God has shown, Marie and I and I, I was
41:29
thinking back last night of all the eight years of faithful
41:32
giving we had in our home church that we got to share in all the
41:35
testimonies. We got to share in all the
41:38
outreaches, all the people got saved there, all the lives that
41:42
were changed there, all the new opportunities they were doing to
41:45
open doors, the closed doors. Because when we gave, our heart
41:49
was in that church. Our heart was to support our
41:53
pastor and the leadership there and all that God was doing.
41:56
And for us, we. Just come alongside and serve
41:59
and give. And this is so important because
42:02
the tithe has been all twisted today.
42:05
And I know because some people have been taken advantage of.
42:09
You know, the rampant abuses of money by televangelists and
42:12
YouTube guys and gals and just false teachers.
42:15
Even churches have taken advantage of people surrounding
42:18
money. That a new attitude is, you
42:20
know, I don't tithe. I'm not giving anything to the
42:22
church. I'm going to keep my money in
42:24
the bank account and I'm going to give it to whoever I want,
42:26
whenever I want. First of all, I'm sorry that you
42:30
were hurt and taken advantage of.
42:31
That is not the heart of God. But I want to let you know
42:34
something Biblically, the tide does not belong to you.
42:39
It belongs to the Lord. Whether you choose to give God
42:42
what is His or not, that's up between you and Him.
42:45
But the tide belongs to the Lord.
42:48
And if you don't bring it in, you won't find your heart so set
42:52
in your church home. You won't find your heart so set
42:56
with the people you're sitting next to or the community in
42:59
which your church is in because your heart's going to follow
43:03
your money. If you want to give to other
43:06
ministries and you want to give like, you know, radio stations
43:09
to ministries that support the family, you want to do that.
43:12
There's a category for that tithes and offerings or love
43:17
gifts, but the tithe belongs to the Lord.
43:20
And each time you refuse to give of your tithe, you basically
43:25
telling God I do not want to obey you.
43:29
Well wait a minute pastor. The Bible says that I only give
43:32
with what I purpose in my heart, and I don't purpose in my heart.
43:35
To give to God. Then you need to go back to
43:39
point #1 and watch out for callousness because a heart in
43:43
tune with the Lord will be a sacrificial person.
43:47
A heart in tune with the Lord will look for ways to help
43:50
others. A heart in tune what we might
43:53
say in another way, a person that's walking in the Spirit,
43:56
bearing the fruits of the Spirit, walking in the wisdom of
43:59
God will be looking how to bless others.
44:02
That's just be your natural. How can I be a blessing?
44:06
So you can start there. It's an important part to
44:09
measure. Also, if you're one of those
44:12
guys, you know, I don't want to give anymore because I was taken
44:14
advantage of. I just want you to understand
44:16
there was a part of that where like if you gave to some guy
44:20
that said, yeah, if you give to us and so is seen in our
44:22
ministry, you'll get a hundredfold increase.
44:24
You know, that's nonsense, right?
44:27
Absolute bottom of the barrel lies and nonsense, but it taps
44:34
into something or covetousness. Who wouldn't want a hundredfold
44:39
increase? I mean geez, I'm putting my
44:41
whole 4 O 1K into that for sure. Hundredfold increase.
44:45
But that's not that's not how God operates.
44:48
God's not interested in giving you a hundredfold increase.
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He's already given you Jesus. How can he top that?
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He has forgiven us of our sins. He set us an eternity forever
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and ever with Him, and we're settling for a hundredfold
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increase or whatever weird thing.
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You know, some of these guys and gals, they'll find some obscure
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passage. Isaiah 53 four promise.
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And it really doesn't matter what the scripture.
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Says they just. Take the numbers now we're going
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to get we got a special this month only special from God,
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534% increase or whatever. And you're just like, no, but
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the reason why you someone would tap into that is not just
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vulnerability, it's also greed. And it's not from a giving
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heart. It's from a taking heart.
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And over the years, I've just learned it's so much better to
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give than to receive. And the church needs to be known
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as a giving. We we need to be known in our
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community as a church that gives and helps and supports that we
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leave this place better than when we first came.
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And that's Paul here. He's like, guys don't.
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Forget these words. Now you won't find these words
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in the Gospels. They're not recorded for us, but
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it was a well known saying that Jesus spoke all throughout his
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ministry and we know it was because now it's in the inspired
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word of God in Acts. That Luke wrote, but also.
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Remember John and John 21? Remember when he said many other
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things Jesus said and did that if they were all written, we
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wouldn't have enough books? Here's one of them right here.
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They weren't. Included in the Gospels.
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But here they include him here, and how we close here as we
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prepare our hearts for the communion table.
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It says when he had said these things, he knelt down verse 36,
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prayed with them all, and they all wept freely and fell on
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Paul's neck and kissed him soaring.
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Most of all. For the words which he spoke,
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that they wouldn't see his face anymore, and they accompanied
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him to the ship. These are grown men just a few
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years away from paganism. So you could say that these are
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men that like these are full grown men that we would think
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man, they work with their hands. They're they're in the
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community. But here at the end, Paul was
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used in their life in such an amazing way that they're broken
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hearted that he's leaving. Only God can take heart like
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ours and change it for his glory.
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I mean, to me, this is pretty amazing.
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Paul, we don't want you to leave.
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You're too special to us. You're too important.
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God has used in my life. And Paul's like, no, I got to
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go. My ministry here is fulfilled.
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It's time to move forward. I've got to get to Jerusalem.
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I don't know what awaits me there, but I'm going to go.
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And they're like, OK. But they also express their
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emotion very freely, which tells me that they have soft hearts.
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They're not all worried. Well, you know, if I cry, what
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was so and so say and elder so and so, It's like, no, we love
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you so much, Paul, that the love that they had for this man
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superseded anything they would think.
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No Fear of man, nothing. They're just like, man, We're
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going to miss you, bro. I'm so grateful to God for you,
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Paul. You changed my life.
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You changed my family, you changed this city.
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And we all know it was God. But your faithfulness and your
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obedience and you're Karen. So you stayed here three years.
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We're so grateful for you, Paul. I can't believe we're never
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going to see you again, but we're going to take you to the
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ship because we got to get back. You got to get moving and
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ministry continues, Paul. He basically is living out the
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truth where he says later, imitate me as I imitate Christ.
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All these examples are his life and this is going through this
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again. I've taught this a few times in
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our church family, but going through it again the last couple
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weeks, I'm like, this is what I want for my life.
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I want to be able to say you can follow my life.
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Paul wasn't perfect. If they live with them for three
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years, they know that. But we don't want to make
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excuses. We just want to be the best
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version of ourselves that we can in Christ.
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We want to continually improve and continually repent and
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continually to grow. So you can stand there and go
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and look, guys. I got to head out man, but you
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saw my life. I know you heard my words, but
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you saw my life and my words matched my life.
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I had a brother recently and we'll close with this.
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The worship team can come back up right now.
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Come on up now. I had a brother show up not too
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long ago, wanted to talk to me and pray with me after the
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service. And his basic thought was, you
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know what, pastor, I feel like such a hypocrite.
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And some things that happened in his life that was were difficult
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for him and some things that he thought needed to be in place.
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He just had this feeling. And I looked him in the eye and
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I say, well, are you? And I try to stunt him out of
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the feeling, right? I sometimes I'll do that.
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I'll just say something just to get your attention.
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So I look him in the eye and I know him.
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I look him in the eye. I go, well, are you a liar?
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And he's like, no, are you pretending before the people are
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slipping? No.
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Well then there's no need to feel like a hypocrite right now.
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You're just in a tough time. That's it.
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It's just a tough time. The Lord will get you through
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it. It'll be hard, but you're going
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to learn from it because your eyes are on Him.
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And sometimes our feelings, it could be so overwhelming and we
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can feel something that's actually not true, where you
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interpret your circumstances through your feelings.
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And today the Lord would just remind you that you interpret
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your circumstances by faith and not feelings, that you can trust
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him. Things might be hard right now.
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Things may not be everything that you want them to be.
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But don't think Paul's standing there going, hey, I got the
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perfect life. One day, if you're a good
50:53
Christian, you'll be like me. That's not what he's saying.
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He's saying, look, these are the things that helped me, and these
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are the things that are going to help you.
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So let's go together. I'm heading to Jerusalem.
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You go back to Ephesus and we will do what God has called us
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to do Amen. So Lord, we just thank you for
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the privilege of coming to your table today.
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You know, life can be so hard. This world tears us down, but we
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want to be built up. Lord, we were built up today,
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even though it was challenging. We're talking about money today.
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And so, oh, that's very challenging.
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But you're going to free people today.
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They're going to be free and released.
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They're just going to have a new perspective of every time they
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give, they're going to give a little bit of their selfishness
51:35
away every time they give a little bit of their covetous
51:37
away. Every time they give, they're
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going to be sowing seeds into people's lives and not expecting
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anything in return, but rather just giving because of all that
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you've done for us. And we come to the table to
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celebrate all that you've done for us to help us remember.
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And so God begin to minister to our memories right now as we
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prepare our hearts and minds to take of the body and blood of
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Christ symbolically this morning in Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
52:09
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
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For prayer, call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
52:22
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
52:25
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
52:31
or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.