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A Christian's Greatest Danger · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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John is writing to answer the question in this little New
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Testament letter of first John, how do you know?
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How do you know that Christianity is true?
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How do you know that you're a true Christian?
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It's that second question that we actually spent the last three
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weeks unpacking as John has LED us through three different
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tests. Y'all tired of taking tests and
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praise God it's not a test day. Amen.
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So John is moving on to 1/3. How do you know?
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Question. But we took the the love test
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that was most recent. Before that we took the like
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test and before that we took the light test, right?
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God is light. Or are you walking in the light
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and the like test? Does your life look like Jesus?
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And then the love test? Are you loving God and one
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another the way God has designed us to show and share His love?
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How do you know Christianity is true?
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How do you know you're a true Christian?
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By the time you get through the 3rd test, John is assuming
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you've passed his test all right.
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And in fact, he is writing that we have assurance that we know
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that we know that we know that we're children of God.
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And so he's now continuing to write to us as the children of
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God. And he's writing now to answer
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1/3 how do you know question? And that question would be this,
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how do you know what's dangerous to a child of God?
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Another way to ask that would be more simply what is what is
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dangerous. In fact, what is the most
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dangerous thing to a child of God?
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That's what John is going to answer.
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That's what John's going to warn us about.
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Now that we've passed the test, we know that we're in Christ.
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We know that we've trusted in Jesus.
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But now we need a warning about then what in the world could be
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dangerous to us? But before we get the warning,
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John here pauses to review just what a child of God is, What is
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a Christian? And in fact, he defines it so
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simply and straightforwardly. If you're here and wondering or
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have questions about the Christian faith, what does it
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mean to be a Christian? Whether you're in the room or
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watching online, this is a straightforward and clear an
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answer as you'll hear in all the Bible.
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Listen, as we pick up in chapter 2 beginning through verse 12
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through 14, remember this, what is a child of God?
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We're going to see 3 characteristics here.
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John says I'm writing to you little children.
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He's not talking about actual little children, but he loves
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that phrase to talk to Christians in Christ.
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I'm writing to you, little children, because your sins are
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forgiven for his namesake. And I'm writing to you, fathers,
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because you know Him who is from the beginning.
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And I'm writing to you, young men, because you have overcome
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the evil 1 And I write to you, children, because you know the
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Father. And I write to you Father, is
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because you know him who is from the beginning.
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And I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the
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word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
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We're going to start with just a reminder of three
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characteristics of a child of God.
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And the first one is this. A child of God is 1 whose sins
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have been forgiven. A child of God is someone whose
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sins have been forgiven. You see, forgiveness is the
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fundamental condition, if you will, of the Christian life.
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What's the difference between a Christian and a non Christian?
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Number one, it's forgiveness. It's the fact the child of God
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has received something from God Almighty through His Son Jesus
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Christ that no one else has if they've not trusted in Jesus for
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it. You say, why do we need
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forgiveness of sin? Well, we'll get to that in a
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second, but forgiveness is mankind's greatest need.
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It's our greatest need because sin is our #1 greatest problem,
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he said. Pastor Carl, I don't really even
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know what sin means. Sin is anything, anything in our
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lives, thought, mind, word, or action that does not honor God,
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that is not right, that breaks His law, that breaks His heart.
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It's anything in our lives and it's of all types.
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We've said it, done it, thought it, including your pastor.
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We come out in this world naturally bent towards sin,
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causing us the issue. And who?
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God is holy, He's righteous, He knows no sin, and then our sin
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that separates us from God. Therefore our fundamental need
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is forgiveness of that sin, and we instinctively know it.
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In fact, a famous atheist was once asked, if there was a God,
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what would you want him to say to you?
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If there was a God, what would you want him to say to you?
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To which the atheist responded, If there was a God, I would want
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him to say to me, you are forgiven.
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Now that's quite a fascinating answer, is it not?
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Because here's a man who claims not to believe in God, and yet
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he knows himself well enough that if there was one, he'd be
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in big trouble. Because he knows he's got a
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problem called sin. He knows he's done things, said
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things and thought things that if there was a God would put him
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at outs with that God. And if unless there was
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forgiveness, he'd have no hope. This is the fundamental need of
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every single man, woman, boy and girl is forgiveness from God.
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That's, by the way, only offered through His Son, Jesus Christ.
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Forgiveness happens when we believe on Jesus realizing what
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he's done for us. And let me just give you that
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reminder. I hope you could say the gospel
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in 30 seconds or three seconds or 30 minutes, because it's
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three simple things. Jesus lived a sinless life for
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you #2 Jesus died on the cross for your sin, and #3 he overcame
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the grave by walking out alive. Jesus lived, died, and rose
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again. You can say that in three
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seconds or 30 minutes if you want to, but that's the good
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news of the gospel of what Jesus has done about your sin problem
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and mine. So the Bible says if anyone
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calls on the name of the Lord, they will be what saved, rescued
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from their sin and forgiven. Do you know that you know your
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sins have been forgiven? Psalm 103 verse 12 says as far
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as the East is from the West. So far has he separated, removed
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our sins from us. A child of God.
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If you trusted in Jesus Christ and called out to him.
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You may be hearing about Kyle. I don't know how to get that
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forgiveness. What does that mean that I do?
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The Bible says you call out from your heart talking to God, his
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Son Jesus Christ and asking, literally asking, just ask in
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faith for forgiveness of your sin, trusting Jesus as your
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Lord, the only one who can provide it.
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Do you know that you've experienced forgiveness of sin?
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That's what a child of God, number one.
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But a second characteristic is this.
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A child of God is one who knows the Father and his Son Jesus
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Christ. This is verses 13 and 14.
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You see, not only does the Christian experience forgiveness
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of sin, y'all, but that person comes into a personal
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relationship with God. They come to know God.
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This person no longer knows about God, but they know God
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personally. In fact, John 17 three defines
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eternal life like this, and this is eternal life that they know
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you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you've sent.
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The definition of eternal life is a personal relationship with
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God the Father through his Son Jesus Christ.
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Let me just try to make things clear.
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God made every single man, woman, boy and girl to live
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forever. Our souls deliver.
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Our bodies will wear out, but when our souls enter eternity,
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they are headed towards eternal life or eternal death and life.
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Eternal life is eternal togetherness with God.
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Eternal death is eternal separation from God.
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Like physical death is the separation of body and soul, but
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spiritual eternal death is separation from God and the
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soul. So eternal life or eternal
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death. And the difference is, do you
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know God personally through a relationship with Him through
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his Son Jesus Christ? Because your sins have been
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forgiven. If they have, then you've come
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to know not just about God, but to know him personally.
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And you're now one as a child of God who can walk and talk with
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God in a personal relationship with him.
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Now you may be thinking, Kyle, what in the world does that
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mean? Walk and talk with God?
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That sounds ridiculous to me. Listen, I can't necessarily
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physically show you because we are not yet to the point where
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we're seeing Jesus face to face. But here's what happens when you
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call on Jesus to save you and he forgives you of your sin.
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He gives you the Holy Spirit on the inside to dwell within you,
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and He's given you the Word of God that you heard when you were
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saved. We'll talk about that in a
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second too. And with the word of God,
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hearing the voice of God, inspired by God for us, for you
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and for me, for his children, having the word of God to listen
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to him. And the Holy Spirit of God on
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the inside that no, I've never heard his audible voice.
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But my goodness, I've certainly heard and, and sensed his
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conviction. And I've sensed his guiding and
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I've sensed him challenging me and pushing me and impressing
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upon me and leading me and comforting me and strengthening
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me and providing for me. And I've sensed on the inside
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when I've sought to listen and listen to the Word and I've
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heard him bring The Word Alive and I can walk and talk with
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God. And so in you with the Word of
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God and the Spirit of God on the inside, and though you can't
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explain it all, it's this mystery of God living in you,
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guiding you primarily through the light of this word for his
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plan for your life. As you walk and talk, as you
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listen to the Word and as you read it and internalize it and
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listen and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you, you're walking and
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talking with God to the day that we get to see Him face to face.
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This is what I mean by you come to know God personally, God the
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Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.
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Do you know God personally? Do you know your sins have been
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forgiven? Do you know that you know God
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personally? That's the two characteristics.
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There's a third of the child of God, and it's that it's one who
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has overcome the evil one. This is verse 13 and 14.
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I love this one. Like my team didn't win
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yesterday, but I've still overcome the evil one through
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Jesus Christ. Amen.
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God's good, right? Even when Saturday's not I mean,
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I'm serious, right? This is this is the this is one
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of the most amazing things about the Christian life that we have
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the victory over sin and over death and over the enemy, the
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devil himself because of Jesus, right?
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It says we have been over, we have overcome the enemy, we've
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been saved. And again, I just want to be
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real clear what in the world to be what does it mean to be
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saved? It means to be rescued.
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You know what being rescued means?
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You're facing death. Unless someone intervenes and
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snatches you out of that situation.
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Spiritually, this is what's going on.
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We're facing eternal life or eternal death, and then our sin
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separates us from God. Guess where we're headed?
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Eternal life or eternal death? Eternal death until the Son of
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God intervened. Jesus Christ took on human flesh
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and lived a sinless life. Why?
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So that living for us, dying for us, being raised from the dead
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for us, offering us eternal life and forgiveness of sin.
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If we call out on Him, He in that moment rescues you from
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your sin and eternal death and snatches you out of the Kingdom
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of darkness, the wrong team, and into the Kingdom of His beloved
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Son, the right team headed towards eternal life.
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We're talking about a total transition from your total
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eternal destination. We're talking about being dead
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in sin to being made alive in Jesus.
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This is what we mean. We say saved, rescued from what
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you rightly deserve for your sin and given everything we don't
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deserve because of God's mercy in Jesus.
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You've overcome. You've been snatched away from
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the devil's grip. You've been snatched out of his
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hand, and no one can snatch you out of Jesus's hand.
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Bible says here Colossians 113, Christ has delivered us from the
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domain of darkness, transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved
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Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
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How did the victory come in our lives?
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Did you notice? It says because you're strong
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and the word of God abides in you.
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The way of rescue came to us when we heard the word of God
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and that rescued us from Satan's grass when we by faith believed
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it and acted on faith to call on Jesus.
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And by the way, it's the Word of God that continues to give us
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the victory as children of God against the enemy and against
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temptations, against his seek seeking to get a foothold in our
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lives and to try to reclaim areas that now belong to Jesus.
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It's the word of God, right? When you read about the armor of
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God, what's the only offensive weapon?
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The sword of the Spirit. How did Jesus in the wilderness
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when he was tempted by the devil three times, how did he respond
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every time with the word of God? He knew the truth, he stood on
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it and by that overcame the attacks of the enemy.
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You've overcome as a child of God by the word of God.
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So a child of God is 1. Whose sins have been forgiven?
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Who knows the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, and who has
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overcome the evil one? Let me just give you one other
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quote I love about our overcoming of the evil 1 man by
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the name of David Allen. I studied under in my ministry
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training said this knowledge of the word of God takes the fangs
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out of the serpent the devil. It takes the teeth out of the
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lion, the devil who walks around seeking whom he may devour and
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he says a fangless snake in a toothless lion can't do much
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damage. The the the picture I want you
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to think about is that, yeah, Satan that feels might get you
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in his mouth and maybe gnawing on you has a roaring lion, but
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he's got no teeth because Jesus Christ has ripped him out when
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he rose from the dead, paid for your sin and walked out alive.
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You have the victory in Jesus. Is this who you are?
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Do you know that you know your sins have been forgiven, that
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you know God personally like you walk and talk with him through
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his word and by the spirit and that you've overcome the enemy?
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Isn't it amazing what being a Christian is all about?
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Like I mean, when you wake up to those realities, yes, you can
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have a bad day, but listen, any bad day is still a grace filled
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amazing day for a child of God because of who you are, what
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God's done, what he's doing in your life.
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So if that's who you are, then the question is what in the
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world could be dangerous to you? What in the world does John need
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to warn us about? Well, before we before we read,
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let me just show you some things that you might think about when
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you think of danger. All right, this is not Bible.
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This is more Kyle here and some statistics, but this is kind of
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just for for extra. All right, when you think of
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danger, you might think of animals.
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These are the number of human beings killed per year per
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animal. Don't know if this is
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interesting to you or not. I find this fascinating.
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I would never have put lions as less dangerous than the
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mosquitoes in my backyard, but there you go, right?
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Lions kill a couple 100 people a year.
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Hippos 500. That'd be a bad way to go.
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Elephant 600, Crocodiles 1000, Scorpions 3300.
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I don't even know what an assassin bug is.
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I just pray I never run into one.
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That sounds pretty vicious. Dogs bites from rabies is where
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that number comes from. Snakes.
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Human beings are pretty dangerous and mosquitoes top the
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chart. All right.
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You might think of like maybe a different category.
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You may just think, well, what are just the top hazards?
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I'm stressing some of y'all out right now.
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I'm sorry about that. Top hazards to your health.
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This is what they say. All right, again, this is not
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Bible. It's just a free extra, all
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right. Having no regular check UPS,
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leading a sedentary lifestyle, eating too much, staying sleep
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deprived, texting and driving. Uh oh, shipping the sunblock,
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not washing your hands. All right, we got one more
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category. These are just the leading
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causes of death that's reported in 2021.
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All right, here you go. Heart disease.
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They say someone dies from heart disease every 34 seconds.
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Stroke, lower respiratory infections, chronic obstructive
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pulmonary disease, neonatal disorders, diabetes, Alzheimer's
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and other dementias, cancer, kidney disease and other bodily
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injuries. Amazing all the dangers that are
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out there in our world. I hope you still take your nap
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this afternoon without any problem.
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But none of these things is what John is warning us about.
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None of those things are the most dangerous thing in the
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world to a Christian. So what is?
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Well, here's what the Bible says.
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Let's pick up in verse 15. Do not love the world or the
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things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the
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love of the Father is not in him, For all that is in the
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world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the
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pride of life is not from the Father, but it is from the
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world. And the world is passing away
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along with its desires. But whoever does the will of God
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abides forever. What is the most dangerous thing
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in the world for a child of God? The most dangerous thing in the
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world for a child of God is loving the world.
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The most dangerous thing in the world for a child of God is
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loving the world. Now, John doesn't actually say
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exactly that, does he? What he does is, is he gives us
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a command. Now, by the way, I don't know if
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you printed out first, John, on 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of paper, so
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you can read it on your own and mark it up.
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If you still haven't done that, we're only in Chapter 2.
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It's not too late, all right? I encourage you to get in this
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book and stay in it daily, weekly, Let it marinate in your
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own heart and life. And one of the things you might
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do, here's a little Bible study insight.
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If while reading the New Testament letters, if you will
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mark all the commands, if you get to a verb and it's an
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instruction, if it's A to do, if it's an imperative, underline it
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or circle it. As someone has said, those
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commands, those verbs are the load bearing walls of language
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when it comes to the letters of the New Testament.
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That's where the meaning, so much of the meaning is.
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And if you are marking your 8 1/2 by 11 printed out sheets of
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first John, this would be you would notice you would not mark
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a command in this letter until verse 15 of chapter 2.
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There is no instruction and 1st John 2 not in the form of a
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command until this one right here.
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And it's a -1 do not one do not what love the world John says.
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John is actually giving us a command as our warning and
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commands are not very popular. Let's be honest, at least in our
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culture, right? No one really likes being told
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what to do, but commands can actually be some of the
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strongest expressions of love. Can you imagine never telling
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your children not to run across the street without looking?
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Can you imagine never telling your child don't touch that hot
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iron? Can you imagine never telling
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your children to buckle up when they get in the car?
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Right. Commands can actually be some of
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the deepest expressions of love, and John is giving us a
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expression of love, a command in the form of that's taking a
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warning in our lives here. So what John is saying, is this
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the most dangerous thing in the world?
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That is loving the world do not love the world.
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What is the world? The world is anything and
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everything that's part of this earthly life that's under the
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curse of sin. I want to make another
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clarification for you because what I don't want you to think
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is the wrong definition of this world, of this word world.
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And John 316 it says for God so love the by which he means all
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the people of the world. When John says don't love the
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world, he's not talking about the people of the world.
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He's talking about all the physical or the things that are
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of the here and the now, not the people that will not last to be
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part of the Kingdom of God. Don't love this system, don't
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love the things, don't love the pursuits, don't love all the
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stuff that's under the cursive sin now that will not last to be
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part of the Kingdom of God. What does it mean to love?
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It means to value, it means to be loyal to it means to give
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your affection or your allegiance to it means to
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sacrificially pursue with your efforts and your energy.
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John is saying don't value y'all.
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Don't be loyal to don't give yourself sacrificially to what's
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of the here and now that will not last to be part of the
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Kingdom of God. Why?
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Why John? Why?
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Why? What's so dangerous about loving
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the world? Two reasons.
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That first one is the end of verse 15.
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He says if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is
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not in him. Reason #1 Loving the world is so
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dangerous, it is impossible to love God and the world at the
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same time. Johnson's reason number one, you
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all not love the world as it is impossible to love God and the
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world at the same time. You can't do it right?
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If A you're loving the world, then B, you're not loving God.
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And if we were in a debate with John, we might say John, OK, we,
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we hear you. But why is that?
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Why really can't we love God and the world at the same time?
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He says verse in verse 16, because the things of the world
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are not the things of God, they're polar opposite and he
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names 3 categories of things in this world that we ought not
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love. You notice them here, the lust
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or desires of the flesh, the lust or desires of the eyes, and
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then the boastful pride of life. Let's talk about these just for
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a moment. What does he mean by the lust or
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desires of the flesh, Right. Our bodies and the desires of
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our bodies are not inherently bad.
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God made us as physical beings, more than just physical beings,
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but God as he made us and gave us physical bodies, designed us
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with physical desires for our good, right?
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And just a little bit, If I preach too long, you're going to
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get what you're going to get hungry.
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You might be hungry now, right? That's a good desire.
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God gave you that desire. But that desire, any bodily
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desire you have perverted or distorted by sin can be turned
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into a lust of the flesh. It can be turned into overeating
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or it can be turned into under eating.
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And you can misuse that desire, right?
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What about the desire for thirst?
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We would desire naturally to quench our thirst.
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You're not going to live if you don't stay hydrated.
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And yet that desire can be perverted and twisted and
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distorted and into drunkenness. Guess what?
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You have a desire for pleasure. You have a desire for intimacy,
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maybe a desire for offspring. That desire can be perverted and
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distorted into sexual immorality.
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You have a desire for rest. You have a desire for sleep.
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You have a desire for comfort. That desire can be distorted
23:39
into laziness, but you can take any good.
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This is what sin is. It's when the good things that
23:45
God designed and made, that he called good at creation, are
23:48
taken and distorted or twisted and used for things other than
23:52
the glory and goodness of God at which God designed them.
23:55
These are the the lust of the flesh.
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Then there's the lust or desires of the eyes.
24:00
These are the cravings produced in US based on what we see.
24:03
By the way, much of these things aren't inherently bad either.
24:07
These can be good things, things God designed for us to enjoy.
24:10
But anything that our eyes see that caused our hearts to long
24:14
for more than God can produce a lust of the eyes, right?
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I mean, it could be down to the clothes you wish you had.
24:21
Clothes are a good thing. I'm so glad you got dressed this
24:23
morning. Amen.
24:25
But what if you wanted certain clothes more than you really
24:27
wanted God? What if you wanted a car really
24:29
more than you? A certain car you wish you drove
24:32
more than you want God? What if there was a house you
24:33
wish you had and you lived in more than you really want to go?
24:36
Whether if there was an office you really wish you had, a job
24:38
you really wish you had more than you wanted God?
24:41
What if it was vacations you wish you could take more than
24:43
you wanted God, right? You could go down the list.
24:45
None of these things are necessarily bad, but if your
24:47
eyes see them and your heart desires them more than they,
24:50
your heart longs for God, guess what?
24:51
This is a lust of the the eyes. And by the way, I had even named
24:56
one of the most dangerous ones in our culture and time today.
25:01
But they're the images that are pervasive in our culture.
25:03
Any time you get on a screen or you can see off a screen.
25:07
But in our day, most of the time through media and the Internet.
25:11
I'm not going to use the full terminology just because I love
25:15
for you guys to be able to handle whatever age you brought
25:17
into the worship service at your timing.
25:19
But you know what I'm talking about when I talk to the graphic
25:22
of these images I'm Speaking of, I just, it is parents, listen to
25:32
me close. Kids are seeing this stuff now
25:35
between the ages of eight and 11 on average.
25:39
OK. If you think your kid hasn't
25:43
seen it and they're beyond the age of 11 or 12, you're probably
25:47
wrong. I just need to tell you that as
25:50
your pastor, you're probably wrong if you think they haven't
25:54
seen it and they're at least 12 years old because on average
25:57
they're seeing it between 8:00 and 11:00.
26:00
OK. You've got to have conversations
26:02
with your kids at that age and a little bit before and especially
26:06
through that age so they can come to you and tell you and you
26:08
use age appropriate terminology to know if they've been exposed
26:11
to something, if they've seen something, they can come talk to
26:13
you. And it's not just little boys,
26:15
it's little girls and, and it's both genders.
26:17
It is, it is, it is, it is pervasive.
26:21
It is almost impossible for someone to make it to adulthood
26:24
and not see this stuff at some point, somehow, somewhere.
26:30
So what happens when they're exposed to it?
26:32
And if they're not, if they don't have someone to talk to
26:34
about it and can guide them through those dangerous waters,
26:37
that almost always they're going to want to look again somehow.
26:40
And what happens is, is that this becomes an addiction.
26:46
And the way this works is that it's almost like a shark hook
26:48
that gets in their soul and their mind and their heart with
26:51
the Barb so big it's almost impossible to pull out.
26:53
They can't overcome it themselves.
26:56
By the way, just pastorally, I work with lots of people that
26:58
deal with this very issue. And it's more people than you
27:01
would realize. And if you're in it and you
27:02
think you're alone, you're not. Almost weekly I'm working with
27:07
someone in this issue. Psychologists talk about the
27:11
fact that it's actually destroying the way our brains
27:14
and our minds were meant to work.
27:15
It is rewiring the synapse structure in the way that the
27:18
brain connects things. So much so I this may.
27:20
I don't want to get TMI, but I just want to.
27:22
I want you to understand the destructiveness of this sin
27:25
where often times someone that's been so artificially exposed to
27:28
this cannot even physically function in the normal God
27:32
design way because they've been so distorted according to
27:35
exposure to the distortion of the desire, the lust of the
27:38
flesh, that life doesn't even work for them in the normal way
27:41
anymore. Listen parents, you've got to
27:47
have this conversation with your kids.
27:49
They've got to know you're a safe place they can go to say,
27:51
hey, I saw something I need to talk about.
27:55
You cannot give a screen to your kids that's unprotected and
27:58
expect them not to see it at some point.
28:00
I'm going to say that again, you cannot give a screen to your
28:05
children with unfiltered Internet access and not expect
28:09
them to see it. At some point.
28:11
Mark it down, they will. They will see it.
28:15
It's on the games they play, it's on the phones.
28:18
If they're unfiltered, it's coming through your Internet
28:21
router. If it doesn't have something
28:22
that blocks and if it doesn't come on the devices, it'll come
28:25
on the friends devices that come over that get on your router.
28:27
That's unfiltered, they're going to see it and it will silently
28:32
destroy them from the inside out.
28:34
It'll destroy the marriage unless something and you've got
28:38
to get help. I need you to come talk to me.
28:41
I need you to come talk to someone on our staff.
28:43
You've got to come talk to someone.
28:44
If this is, if this is anything anywhere in your life, you've
28:47
got to get help. All right.
28:51
The victory is possible, but you're not going to defeat it by
28:53
yourself. And then there's thirdly, the
28:57
boastful pride of life. These are, you know, this is
29:00
anything. Again, this doesn't have to be
29:02
bad things. It can just be things that we
29:04
like, feel good about, and like about more than we take our
29:08
pride, take our identity and our purpose in God.
29:12
This is the thing the world loves to have and boast in, like
29:14
money, money, money, toys and possessions and stuff.
29:18
And all the clout and popularity and success and status and
29:21
getting higher in the pecking order based on this or that or
29:24
whatever it is from who you are and who you know to how you look
29:27
or what you have or what you can do.
29:29
And anything that gives you status and standing and self
29:33
esteem based on the stuff of the world that's under the curse of
29:35
sin. That won't last.
29:37
That's not God and boasting in or identifying in or finding
29:41
purpose and meaning in that more than you do God, God, John is
29:45
saying y'all these things, the things of the flesh, the desires
29:49
of the eyes and the pride of life.
29:51
These things are of the world. It's impossible to love God and
29:53
them at the same time. Why?
29:55
Because they don't share anything in common.
29:59
Reason number one, you can't love God and the world at the
30:02
same time. Do not love the world.
30:03
But there's a second reason John also gives us in December 17.
30:07
Listen to verse 17 again and the world is passing away along with
30:12
its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
30:17
Reason #2 Loving the world is so dangerous is because the things
30:21
of the world are temporary, but the things of God are forever.
30:26
The things of the world are temporary.
30:28
What do I mean by that? I mean the things of the world
30:32
are literally awaiting ultimate destruction.
30:36
Say whoa, do what? Listen to what the Bible says.
30:39
Listen second Peter 3 verse 4 through 7.
30:41
They will say where is the promise of his coming?
30:45
Hey, it's been 2000 years, where's Jesus forever since the
30:49
Father's fell asleep? All things are continuing as
30:52
they were from the beginning of creation.
30:53
For they deliberately overlooked this fact that the heavens
30:56
existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and
30:59
through water by the word of God.
31:01
And that by means of these, the world that then existed was
31:04
deluged with water and perished. Noah and the flood, Hello.
31:09
But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now
31:13
exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of
31:19
judgment and destruction of the ungodly in verse 10.
31:22
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, That is when
31:25
no one's expecting it. And then the heavens will pass
31:29
away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned
31:31
up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on
31:35
it will be exposed. So guess what happens to those
31:39
who love the world? God gives them what they want.
31:47
They get the world and they go to destruction with it.
31:53
This is why loving the world is so dangerous.
31:55
The things of the world are temporary, the things of God are
31:58
forever. Notice he says in verse end of
32:00
verse 17. But the one who does the will of
32:05
God abides forever. Now, if you're paying close
32:08
attention at all, something ought to strike you as off.
32:11
When I just read that right there, you're like, wait a
32:13
second. It says the one who does the
32:15
will of God. I thought we were talking about
32:16
either loving God or loving the world.
32:19
Why doesn't he say there? But whoever loves God abides
32:23
forever. Did you notice that's not what
32:24
he said. Why does he say, But whoever
32:27
does the will of God abides forever Because do you remember
32:31
the words of Jesus? If you love me, you will what
32:36
you'll obey me. Jesus is not looking for love
32:41
verbally professed he's looking for love live live lived out
32:51
because Jesus says if you love me it's going to be lived out.
32:54
The one who lives it out demonstrates that they really
32:56
love me escapes the danger of loving the world and loves God
33:03
first Father, heart, mind, soul and strength for a child of God,
33:09
the most dangerous thing in the world is loving the world.
33:15
Many of y'all know this. I grew up in South Georgia
33:18
little town called Americas Sumter County.
33:21
If you're familiar with the South part of the state and we
33:27
lived in a, in a, in a, a little neighborhood when I was very
33:30
young. But as a child we moved out to
33:33
more of a rural area of the county several miles outside of
33:36
town. So that's really where I
33:38
remember growing up. It was kind of out in the
33:40
country. And my best friend, his name is
33:43
Matthew Green, still lives in Americas, Georgia to this day
33:46
lived 3 miles from me. That sounds like a long way, but
33:50
that wasn't a problem with a four Wheeler.
33:52
We caught them in ATVs if you want to be all proper.
33:55
And so Matthew and I spent a ton of time together.
33:57
I mean, through farm fields and back roads and login roads.
34:00
We'd meet up and have a great time.
34:04
We had a mutual friend that lived halfway in between us,
34:08
about a mile and 1/2 from me, across a couple fields and
34:11
through some woods. And we'll just call this
34:14
friend's name Ben. That's not his real name, but
34:17
we'll say Ben lived there and and Ben's family just happened
34:20
to be extremely wealthy. And so Ben had just about
34:24
everything a 10 year old boy could imagine having.
34:30
In fact, Ben didn't just have one full with it a ride.
34:32
He had about two or three he could pick from.
34:35
He had a couple go karts. He had a dirt bike.
34:38
I had a basketball goal, but but Ben had a full scale basketball
34:42
court. Ben in his backyard.
34:45
Ben would love that. I mean, we played full court
34:48
when we went over to his house, he had a batting cage.
34:51
I had a batting cage, but but Ben had a professional baseball
34:54
coach that showed up at his right.
34:56
My dad's shoulder was kind of rough, but I praise God that he
34:58
threw all the pitches he could through my batting gauge.
35:03
Ben had model airplanes. I don't mean the kind of like
35:05
you buy Walmart that fly with batteries.
35:07
I'm talking about the ones you put gas in and I'm talking about
35:09
really fly. Ben had a big screen TV in his
35:13
room. That doesn't sound like a big
35:14
deal now that they're flat and cheap.
35:16
But you know when there were monstrosities back in the day,
35:18
he had one upstairs in his bedroom.
35:21
Ben had a couple of different horses he loved to ride.
35:25
Ben had all the name brand clothes.
35:28
Ben was the most popular kid in school.
35:33
I love spending time at Ben's house.
35:39
I was saved as a nine year old boy.
35:42
I was 9 when I trusted Jesus to forgive me of my sin.
35:47
That's when I came to know God personally.
35:49
That's when I overcame the evil 1 by the blood of Jesus Christ
35:52
and my faith, faith in Him. Nine years old.
35:56
When I was about 10 years old, my mother came to me one day
36:01
said Kyle, I need to talk to you.
36:05
I was like, OK. And she said I had a dream last
36:10
night. Now, I was really listening and
36:15
this has never happened before or since.
36:17
I'm not telling you. You may think a lot of different
36:19
things about this. I'm just telling you the way it
36:20
happened in my life. And she said, yeah, the Kyle,
36:24
the dream was quite unusual. And she said you were over at
36:28
Ben's house and all of Ben's stuff was in this giant pile,
36:36
like mounded up the AT VS the basketball stuff, baseball
36:41
stuff, the TV model, airplanes, horses, all the stuff in this
36:47
huge pile. And, and Ben was in the middle
36:51
of the pile playing with all his stuff.
36:55
But she said what was really unusual was that all the stuff,
36:59
the whole pile was on fire. But obviously Ben did not know
37:04
it was on fire. He was in the middle of it
37:06
having a great time enjoying all the stuff and she said then I
37:11
looked and you were not in the pile, you were not in the fire,
37:14
but you were off to the side looking on watching Ben enjoy
37:18
all his stuff and you obviously didn't know it was on fire
37:23
either. So you just kept getting closer
37:26
and closer, one step at a time, eyes locked in, mesmerized by
37:30
all the stuff in the fire and the fun he was having and
37:33
getting closer and closer. She said you got to the point
37:35
you got so close to the fire you could reach in and pick up a
37:38
piece of what was in the fire to enjoy, to do something, whatever
37:41
toy that was. She said as soon as you leaned
37:43
in and reached him, your fingertips caught on fire.
37:46
And I woke up. I mean, I was, I was a 10 year
37:54
old boy, but I knew exactly what God was trying to tell me
38:03
exactly. I knew I had been falling in
38:07
love with all of that stuff. Nothing wrong with any of that
38:12
stuff. But loving that stuff instead of
38:16
loving God was incredibly dangerous to me growing as a
38:22
child of God. The world and all the stuff of
38:27
the world is not yet on fire. But mark it down.
38:31
It is being prepared, along with all those who love the world for
38:35
a fire. Do not hear me.
38:40
Do not love the world. Don't give your allegiance.
38:45
Don't give your affection and your loyalty.
38:47
Don't sacrifice your energy and effort to run after that which
38:49
will not last. Jesus says, what will it gain a
38:53
man? What will it profit a man if he
38:55
gains the whole and yet forfeits his soul?
39:00
Don't love the world. For that matter, don't even
39:03
flirt with it. Don't give your heart.
39:06
Don't give your love to the things of the world that won't
39:08
last. Listen, here's the deal.
39:14
Some of you in the room may be in this situation.
39:18
The situation that I was in as a 10 year old boy, I was saved,
39:23
was a child of God, but I was falling in love with the stuff
39:28
of the world. Now here's the deal, when God
39:33
saves you and transfers you from the Kingdom of darkness to the
39:36
Kingdom of His beloved Son, He doesn't haul you back.
39:40
Y'all should say Amen to that right there.
39:43
He doesn't take you back. He never just owns you.
39:45
He doesn't undo what only He could do in your life.
39:47
If you've been saved, if you've been rescued, God's not going to
39:50
unsaved and unrescued you. But here's the deal.
39:53
It is possible for a child of God to live all of their life in
39:57
loving the world instead of loving God and one day stand
40:00
before Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior and only have the
40:04
ashes of a wasted life set on fire by love for the world and
40:08
not a love for Jesus. That they did not live out the
40:11
plan of God for their life and they bore no fruit for the
40:13
Kingdom of God and got nothing, nothing to show for it when they
40:17
stand before Jesus Christ. Saved, yes.
40:19
Fruitful for the Kingdom? No, because a love for the fire
40:22
of the world burned up any effectiveness for the Kingdom of
40:24
God. You don't want to do that.
40:30
You don't want to do that. So the question is, do you have
40:34
any areas of your life that are on fire for the wrong thing?
40:41
They may not be bad things, they're just not God.
40:46
And maybe you need to ask God to be a firefighter, to flood you
40:50
with His love and remind you of his plan and His goodness.
40:54
And maybe you just want to come and get on your knees or posture
40:56
yourself, or come pray with me or one of our counselors or
41:00
encouragers and say I've got fires in my life.
41:02
I need God to put out loves for things that have gotten out of
41:06
control, that are robbing me of fruitfulness and effectiveness
41:09
for the Kingdom of God. Maybe you're here and John and
41:14
praise team are coming to the stage.
41:17
Maybe you're here and you're not forgiven of your sin because you
41:22
never asked. You don't know God personally
41:26
because you never trusted in Jesus as your Savior, and you've
41:29
not overcome the enemy because he's whooping you up and down
41:33
right now and you know it, and you don't have the victory
41:35
through Christ. Would you step out from where
41:37
you are and come tell me, pray with our encouragers.
41:40
Come ask questions we could help walk you through.
41:42
Take those next steps to trust Christ.
41:44
We'd love to do that with you. I'm going to pray and then I'm
41:46
going to ask you to stand and respond as the Lord leads you
41:49
this morning, Heavenly Father. God, I want to ask right now in
41:54
these next moments, Father, that you allow us to say yes to
41:57
whatever it is you've pointed out in our lives need to be
42:00
surrendered to you. God, I pray you'd put out any
42:02
fires in our life where a love for something other than you is
42:07
taking territory and robbing us of fruitfulness for the Kingdom
42:10
of God. God, we don't want to stand
42:11
before you one day with the ashes of a wasted life.
42:15
God, we want to be vessels through which you can use and
42:19
bear fruit for the Kingdom of God.
42:21
Help us love you first. Keep us from the danger of
42:24
loving the world and help us tell others how they can escape
42:27
that same danger by trusting you.
42:30
And I pray if anyone is there on the precipice of a decision for
42:34
Jesus today. Father, you lead them to full
42:36
faith in your son. Rescue them from their from
42:39
their sin. Pour out your forgiveness.
42:42
Give life as you promised. If they call on you, let them do
42:45
it even now. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
42:47
Would you stand? Would you sing?
42:49
Would you come as the Lord leads you this morning?