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Episode 82: John Epistles VIII · End-Time Revival Ministries, USA

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Blessings, Blessings, blessings to each and every one of you. We welcome
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you once more and again to this another edition of End Time Revival Ministries USA
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podcast. I am your host, Pastor al Zachary. And today we are
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continuing and actually concluding Brother, our short series in these epistles of the Apostle
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John to the Church of Jesus Christ. And today we are concluding with John
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third John, Brother third John, the Letter of Third John. So if
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you have your Bibles, please go with us to this Amen, final letter
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that the Apostle wrote. Amen to the urge. And before we began,
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of course, we want to a man pray God's blessings upon his word,
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that our ears and our hearts certainly be listening ears and attentive hearts and obedient,
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a man in our spirit, in our souls, in our inner man.
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Amen to the a man word of the Living God. Amen. We
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need the Word. We need a man it to lead us and guide us
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into all truth. And certainly a man. It is our Amen duty,
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a man as the people of God, to hear the voice of the Lord.
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Amen, to be not forget for hearers, but doers of the Word.
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A man that we may be blessed thereby. So, Father, we
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thank you today for all of your blessings that you bestowed upon each and every
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one of us. We thank you for allowing us again this opportunity one more
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time to speak for your truth a man with a man clarity of thought.
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Lord, give us also Amen again, listening ears and obedient hearts. Lord,
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that we might be that people bringing glory and honor to your great name.
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Be magnified in your people today, be magnified in the Church. Amen,
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as you Lord, get the glory out of our lives. In Jesus
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name, we praying give thanks for all things, Amen and Amen. The
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John epistles the final Amen letter, Third John, chapter number one. If
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you have your Bibles, you can read along with us as we go into
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the word of the Lord. Amen. Third John, Chapter one. Of
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verse number one, the Elder to the beloved Guias, whom I love in
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truth, Amen. Verse number two, Amen, Beloved, I pray that
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you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul
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prospers. For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that
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is in you. Just as you walk in the truth. I have no
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greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. Amen. Now
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let's take a moment here. We want to expound upon a man we just
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read these first four verses of this letter. Amen to the church and the
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elder himself, of course, is John the beloved Apostle, a man,
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an aged one by this particular time, Amen, writing to the church and
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addressing one individual, in particular, a man by the name of Gaius,
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whom he calls well beloved. And this term beloved is only used a man
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in the New Testament for addressing those who are in the faith, fellow believers,
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saints, Christians. Amen, we are the beloved of God, loving
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him as this same apostle John reminds us, because He first loved us.
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And we are commanded, of course by Jesus to love one another in sincerity
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and in truth. And this is what John says, Amen, in writing
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to the Church, in writing to and addressing the beloved Guias, he says,
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whom I love in truth. Amen, true love towards one another,
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as Jesus taught us. Amen, is one of the greatest of the identifying
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characteristics of the saints. By this Jesus says, shall all men know that
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you are My disciples. Indeed, by the love that you have one toward
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another. Now, not much as known about this Guius, Amen, beyond
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the mention of his name by the Apostle in his greet and that, of
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course, he was more more than likely a Roman convert, a man to
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the faith by the name Gius, a man we a man presumed that he
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was a Roman. He was beloved again as a faithful devoted as we're going
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to see in the words of John that he writes, Amen to the Church.
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This Guias was a man, a beloved and faithful, devoted servant,
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a man of the church, and he was known a man by others and
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through their testimonies, a man that we're going to see that he was one
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who truly walked in the truth. He walked the walk. He didn't just
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talk to talk, he walked the walk. And that's what we're going to
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focus on today, also because we want to be walking as Guius did in
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the faith and also be found as fellow truth workers, fell truth workers.
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We'll get to that in just a moment. But every loving god fearing parent
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in the faith, Amen, desires for their children to be faithful to the
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calling of Jesus Christ, and also to be walking in truth, Amen,
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and loving one another. This is what this is all about, Ladies and
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gentlemen, Church of the Living God. Amen. We are to be faithful
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Amen to the call of Jesus Christ, walking in truth, loving one another.
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And John gets joy. Amen. He said, he said, I'm
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excited, if I'm a paraphrase a little bit. He's excited about this because
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he says, listen, I rejoice greatly when brethren came and testified first.
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He says, of the truth that is in you first of all, and
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that you are walking in the truth. He says, I have no greater
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joy, no greater joy, than to hear that my children walk in truth.
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John rejoices greatly a man again when he hears testimonies of the effectiveness of
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the truth that is working in Guius, as well as those others a man
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in the church who are again walking into this again. This ought to bring
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us the greatest satisfaction to know that God's truth Amen. To know that God's
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word Amen is effectual, is working a man, is converting the soul,
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is making a man saints out of sinners. Amen, that's what the Word
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of God is designed to do. The Word of God, the Bible teaches,
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is quick, it is powerful, It is sharper than any two edged
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sword. Amen. It is the truth, Jesus says that sets us.
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He's free. You'll know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
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And he whom the sun sets free is free. Indeed. And this
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gives John the Apostle great joy to hear that this man, as well as
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others a man in the Church of Jesus Christ, are not only a man
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receiving the truth, obeying the truth, but they are certainly walking in it,
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demonstrating it. Amen, by their actions. Amen. Verse number five.
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Listen what he says, Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for
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the brethren and for strangers, Amen, who have borne witness of your love
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before the church, if you send them forward on their journey and a manner
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worthy of God, you will do well. This man, Amen, is
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to be again commended. Amen, for his faithfulness. Amen, that he
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did for the brethren, that he did also for strangers. And the Bible
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says, we are not to a man be like those who are not welcoming,
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showing hospitality. And this is exactly what this man did. A man.
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The Bible teaches us, by the way in the Book of Hebrews,
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to be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for some have entertained angels unawares.
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Amen, and guias is to be again commended a man for his faithfulness,
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for his a man's service, a man in the church, toward the brethren,
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and for those who were strangers. Amen. And there were people who
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saw this. You could see this. Jesus says, by this shall all
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men know that you are My disciples. Indeed, again, by the love
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that you have one toward another, Let your light shine. Amen. This
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is not talking, Lord, ladies and gentlemen. This is deeds. This
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is action. Amen. And they saw this man, a man in his
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action and in his activities, in his deeds toward the brethren and toward strangers.
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Even so, the Bible teaches here, listen what John writes concerning this
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man. People have borne witness of your love before the church. There it
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is amen. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy
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of God, he says, you will do well. And well done is
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what this man did. A he said, because they went forth for his
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namesake, taking nothing from the gentile. So he was there a man in
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support of those, a man who were working in the kingdom. And this
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is what this is all about, being fellow truth workers. A man.
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We are all to be fellow truth workers. We are to stand for the
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truth. We are to support the truth. We are to pray for the
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free flow as Paul requested on several occasions, of the Word of God,
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the truth of the Gospel. Amen. And we are to pray and to
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intercede for those who are carrying for the truth, because again, this is
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the only thing that is going to set men free. God's truth. Jesus
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said it again, you will know the truth, and the truth will make
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you free. This is what the apostle is talking about. Listen to verse
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number eight. We therefore ought to receive such that listen what he says,
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that we may become fellow workers for the truth. Amen, fellow workers for
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the truth. I mean, if you're a fellow worker for the truth,
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guess who you are working for and with and not against. That's Jesus,
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who is the very embodiment of truth. Being a fellow worker for the truth
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is precisely what we are all called to be ladies and gentlemen, Church of
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the Living God, Amen, a fellow worker for the truth is exactly what
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Gias was known to be in his actions. We should be known for our
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deeds above the words that we speak. Amen. When our deeds do not
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liign up with our words, we should then, as the Bible advises us,
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to be more swift to hear and slow to speak. Amen. It's
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not Amen. Again, as James put it in his epistle, Amen,
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there are people who say that they have faith, but the works are not
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there. Amen. They speak it, but they don't do it. It's
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sort of like the pharisees who would put and bind burdens on other men's shoulders,
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as Jesus said, Amen, but they would not with one finger lift
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amen Amen in any burdens, or carry any load or you know. In
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other words, they talked it, they dressed the part, they looked,
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the part, they prayed, the public prayers, got the praises of men.
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Amen. They but they but the deeds did not line up with their
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words. Amen. And so we need to be Amen, swift to hear,
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swift to obey, swift to walk into truth, swift in our love,
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swift in our Amen, obedience to the doctrine of Christ, and slower
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in our speaking. Amen. It's not what we say, ladies and gentlemen,
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it is what we do that makes us fellow workers. Work. Work
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is not talking, work is action. Workers for the truth. Amen,
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just like guys. This is what Jonas, we therefore ought to receive,
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such that we may become fellow workers for the truth. Amen. Oh,
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thank you, Oh God, we need it. Oh, we need it.
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We need it. And thank God for all of you who do pray
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for the truth. Support the truth, Amen, Stand for the truth,
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living in the truth, walking in the truth. Amen. Because we are
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currently living in a world and in a culture you know this, Amen,
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that is both in denial of truth. And not only that, but this
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world, this culture that we're living in. Of course, they are being
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led by the prince of darkness, the prince and power of the air.
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They're being tossed to and fro. Amen. They are actively also in hostility
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and seek hostility to the truth and seeking to suppress the truth. As the
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Bible teaches in Romans chapter one in their unrighteousness, the truth is is uncovering.
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That's what it does. It uncovers, Amen, It is enlightening.
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It shines to light. Amen. It shines the light where people prefer hiding
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and operating. And that is ladies and gentlemen in the darkness. This is
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the condemnation of sinners, ladies and gentlemen, not that they are sinful,
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but because they will not come to the light, come to walk in the
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truth. Men. Amen, love, as Jesus says, the darkness rather
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than the light. This is the condemnation. Jesus says, men, love
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the darkness rather than the light. And in our corrupted and depraved, uncivilized
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society that we are degenerating into. The more we turn away by the way
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our ears from God's truth, we desperately need, ladies and gentlemen, Oh
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Church of the Living God, Please, we desperately need for those who are
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walking in the truth to band together a man in our actions, amen,
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not in our works. We got plenty of people talking. We need actions.
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We need fellow workers for the truth. That's what we are called to
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be. Salt and light. That's action. City set on the hill,
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that's action, lit up, that's action. Men seeing our good works,
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that's action. Because truth, ladies and gentlemen, is indispensable and Please understand
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this truth is always under assault, but it will never be defeated. God's
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Truth will never be defeated. There's a song, the Old Song, that
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says God's Truth is marching on. It cannot. Truth cannot amen, even
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though it is denied, even though it is being denounced, even though it
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is being rejected by those who are living, who are persisting in their living
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and delusion. Amen, ladies and gentlemen, God's Truth. And that's why
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we have to be fellow workers for the truth, Stand for the truth.
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Cleave to God, Resist the devil, Resist the lives of this culture,
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resist the lives of this world. Resist, Resist, Amen, with every
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fiber of your being. Amen. The lies Amen, that amen again,
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are an attack against the truth. It's an attack against the Church. It
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is an attack against God. Amen. It is an assault on his holiness,
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on his right. But again, it will not prevail. Amen.
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And I don't care how much of it. I don't care how much it
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compounds, I don't care how much it grows. It doesn't matter, Ladies
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and gentlemen, God is fully in control first and foremost and all of these
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things. Again, the Bible tells us and teaches us about all of these
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things about the hearts of men, about people turning their ears away from the
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truth and being turned to fables. Amen. But we, as the Church
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of the Living God, are to cleave to God's truth, cleave to God's
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word. Amen, stand on his truth, stand on his word, and
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be a fellow worker, ladies and gentlemen, worker for the truth, just
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as Gias was. Now in contrast to Guius, we're going to see in
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this next verse, verse of A nine, a man in the church,
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a man who was just the opposite, just what we absolutely cannot be.
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Amen, this is what the Bible says. Says here verse of A nine.
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John writes to the church. He says, I wrote to the church,
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but Diotrophies, who loves to have the does not receive us. I
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wrote to the church, but Dioptrophies, who loves to have the pre eminence
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among them, does not receive us. Now, this man, Dioptrophies,
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was neither walking in love, nor was he, ladies and gentlemen, a
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fellow worker for the truth. He was obviously perhaps one who was in authority.
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Obviously, from what we're going to see from the apostle John, he
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was obviously in authority. Perhaps as an elder or even a bishop. By
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all accounts of this letter to the church, this man was a selfish,
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self centered, self seeking, self serving, self promoting Tyrannica type of ruler,
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Amen, who was in denial of the and rejecting of the apostolic authority
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of the Apostle John, both in his words and in his actions toward the
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Apostle. Now in the Bible, listen verse nine. Again, the apostle
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had written an earlier letter to the church, but this man theotrophies both rejected
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the letter and he refused to make the letter known to the church. Amen.
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Therefore, look at verse ten. John says, if I come,
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I will call to mind his deeds which she has done praying against us with
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malicious words. See, he did not only reject the authority of John.
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He did not only reject the apostleship of John. Amen. And by the
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way, when you reject, Amen, those whom Jesus has sent, guess
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who you are rejecting. Also, you're rejecting Jesus. Don't tell me listen,
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listen, listen. When you reject what God has ordained, what God
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has orchestrated, what God has designed, what God has decreed what God has
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a man set forth, you are rejecting him. As Jesus told his disciples.
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Amen, if they reject you, they are rejecting me. He who
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receives you receives me. He who does not receive you is rejecting me.
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Also Amen. God is the one who has sent Amen. Amen, his
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apostles, his prophets, his ministers, and justice. It was in the
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Old Testament with the prophets. A man in the Old Testament they rejected the
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prophets who came. And guess what they did. When they rejected the apostles
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their prophets. Rather, they were rejecting God himself. They were rejecting his
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word. They were rejecting Amen, those whom God had authorized to speak on
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his behalf. And when you reject those whom God has authorized to speak on
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his behalf, you are rejecting God himself. I mean this goes all the
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way back, all the way back to Moses. Amen. The people a
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man rebelled against Moses, and the Lord said, listen, Moses, they
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are rejecting me. When they are rejecting you, they are rejecting me.
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And so this man thatotrophies a man not only rejected the apostleship, the authority
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of John. He refused us to make the letter that John had written to
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the church known. And he not only did that, ladies and gentlemen,
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it wasn't just about that. And that's why again he was easily amen to
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be identified as selfish, self centered, self seeking, self serving, self
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promoting. Amen. This is what John even says about him. Amen.
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He said, therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his
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deeds, which he does praying against us with malicious words, speaking evil against
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the apostle. And then listen what he says. That's not all, not
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content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren. So it wasn't
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just the apostle John. He didn't just have some kind of animosity against John,
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some kind of personal vendata or jealousy or whatever against John, but none
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of the brethren either, who were sent and listening what the Bible says.
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And he forbids those who wished to so when there were other people in the
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church who wished to receive the brethren, who wish to receive and show hospitality,
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to be fellow workers for the truth that arentropies for bad them to do
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so, and the Bible says, oh, that's not it. He put
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them out of the church. He put them out of the church. So
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John says, listen, beloved people of God who are walking in truth,
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do not imitate what is evil. This is evil conduct this man, however
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he rose to or got to this position. It is clear. The Bible
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says, he loved to have the pre eminence. He was full of pride,
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selfishness, self centeredness. It was about him. Amen. And this
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is evil. Pride goes before destruction, the Bible teaches, and a haughty
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spirit before a fall. That's who this man is and his conduct. Amen.
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And so John says, beloved, do not imitate what is evil what
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this man was doing as the ruling elder or bishop, a leader, or
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whatever a position or title, whatever authority that he had in the church.
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Amen. He was evil, evil, evil in his conduct evil. A
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lot of times we want to have our own definition of what is evil.
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But this is evil. This man is doing evil. He is speaking against
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God's authorized servant with malicious words. Ladies and gentlemen. He would not receive
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the brethren. That's not brotherly love, that's not showing good hospitality. And
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then he forbad anybody else from doing so. And if anybody showed in hospitality,
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such as a Guias would do, he put them out of the church.
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He's a tyrant. He's acting as Peter advised the Amen shepherds, not
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to do lording over the people we have at Listen, listen. This is
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for all who are called in leadership, called to a man to be a
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man, pastors and leaders over the people of God. I mean, we'll
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have to be examples. We'll to be servants. Amen. We are not
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to lord over as it were. Peter again warning to those who are in
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authority that God has called to be in the positions that God has set.
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Not everybody now, and let me make it clear by the way, not
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everybody who is in authority is of God. Not everybody who is in authority
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has been called by God, appointed by God. Amen. Again, that's
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clear. Readsecond Corinthians, chapter eleven. Paul writes about false apostles, false
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teachers, a man, false prophets the Bible is I mean crystal clear about
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all of this. A man those whom Satan has put in the church,
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and a man clearly from Theotrophi's conduct, he was one of them. I
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mean, he was such an one evil in his conduct. And John says,
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do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who
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does good is of God. I'm reading from the Word verse eleven, final
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verse. I'm gonna read, beloved, do not imitate what is evil,
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but what is good? He who does good, that's practicing. Y'all,
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practicing in your conduct, in your walk, in your actions. He who
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does good is of God. But he who does evil has not seen God.
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Walk in truth as guy As did, and not as this rebel,
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this evil one the entrophies did. Then we will all be the fellow workers
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for the truth that we are all called to be. And furthermore, ladies
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and gentlemen, we will be found pleasing to the Lord, and we will
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be of great service in the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
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Father, helps somebody today. Let your words sink deep within our hearts,
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that we may be again obedient hearers of the Word, that we may
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be blessed thereby and you get the glory out of our lives. We thank
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you now, We bless your name. Amen and Amen.