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A Closer Look At 1 John 2:7-14, We Ought To Walk As He Did
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Feb 19, 2025
We’re going to continue our odyssey of the book of 1 John today. We’ll be looking at 1 John 2:7-14. We’ve talked about the fact that John was warning his readers about false teachers that had infiltrated the church early on in chapter 1. We also talked about John’s biblical criteria for establishing whether a person was walking in the light or not. We defined what that meant. In our last study we talked about what it meant to have a love for God that has come to perfection. And we concluded that unless God extends first His love to us by changing the dispositions of our heart, it is impossible for us to love Him. In other words we love Him because He first loved us. And loving God and doing His will is a clear sign that God loves us, our obedience to God is a by-product of His love toward us. John also made a bold statement in v6 of 1 John 2 “ whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked”. And He is going to be elaborating on that in the next verses. We’re going to be exploring v7-14 today, mainly to know what it means to walk as Jesus did.
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hey what's going on guys uh this is
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taivo at highest.com
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and today we're going to continue our
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study of the book of john
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and we are in chapter 2 and verse
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7 2 14. and the title that i chose was
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we ought to walk
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as he walked and when i say he i'm
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talking about
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on jesus christ so i'm gonna go into my
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introduction
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and then um basically
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it's revealing this odyssey of the book
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of first john
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and today like i said we're going to
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look at chapter 2
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verse 7 through 14. and so far we've
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talked about the fact that john
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john was warning his readers about false
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teachers
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the heart coming to the church this is
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in chapter one
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and we also talked about john's biblical
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criteria for establishing
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whether a person was walking in the
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light or not we talked about it
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and we also defined what that meant and
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in our last study
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we talked about what it meant to have a
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love for god that has come to perfection
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and our conclusion was that unless god
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himself extends
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his love first to us by changing the
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disposition of our heart it is
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impossible
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for us to love it in other words we love
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him because he first
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loved us and in loving god and doing the
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will of god is a clear sign that god
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loves us
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and we say that our obedience is a
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byproduct of
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the love of god toward people like you
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and i
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so and john makes a bold statement in
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verse six or first john two he says
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whoever says that he abides in him or to
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walk in the same way in which he walked
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and he's referring to jesus and then we
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he's going to be like
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elaborating on that on the next verses
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so we're going to look at verses 7-11
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and then we're going to
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learn what it means to work like jesus
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walk
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so let's go into that so first
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we're going to look at verse 7 okay
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verse 7 says
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beloved i'm writing to you
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no new commandment but an old
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commandment that you've had
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from the beginning the old commandment
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is the word that you have heard
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so what is john saying to us here the
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observation
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john is saying he said in verse 6 that
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the way we know that our life
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reflects the character of god is seen in
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the fact that we live
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and walk as jesus did okay
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so in verse 7 john is reminding his
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readers that telling them to walk as
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jesus did
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is not a new command but one that
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they've had since the beginning
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so we need to know how did he just how
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did jesus walk
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and what is the commandment that jesus
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followed and this is what we need to
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decipher
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as the people of god so if you go to
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chapter 3 we're gonna kind of cheat a
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little bit
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john gives us a clue of what that
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commandment is the old commandment that
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he's talking about
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in verses and verse 11. he says in verse
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11 of chapter 3
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for this is the message that you've
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heard from the beginning
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that we should love one another so
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basically john is saying to his readers
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listen i'm not telling you something
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that you don't already know
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you know about this commandment that you
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should love one another
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and if you go to leviticus 19 18 the
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scripture says
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you shall not take vengeance or bear a
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grudge against the sons of your own
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people meaning your own people the
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people of god
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this is god speaking to his people but
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you shall love your neighbor
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as yourself i am the lord and this is
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exactly how jesus lived
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he loved his neighbor as himself
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okay and so john is saying to them
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listen you shall love
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one another this is nothing new you've
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known about this commandment
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it is not like i'm telling you new
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information you've known about this
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thing
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because you've heard it before it's in
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the news in the old testament
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and jesus personified that he lived it
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out
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so basically they may have known the
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command like theoretically
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but they did not live it out and jesus
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lived it out to model it before you and
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i
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and before his disciples so and he
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charged them
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to teach not to cheat to teach the
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message to he's elected once he said
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teach them okay this is this is what
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john is doing he's saying listen
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we know the commandment we've heard
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about it but you guys probably didn't
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understand it
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jesus lived it out before us he modeled
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it and we saw it
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now we are teaching you this commandment
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that you you've been known about
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this is not something new so let's go to
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verse eight
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so verse eight this the scripture says
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at the same time
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it is a new commandment that i'm writing
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to you which is true
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in him and in you because the darkness
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is passing away and the true light
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is already shining so what does all that
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mean so john is basically saying
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he is reiterating the fact that the
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command existed forever
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and the people of god received it but
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because they did not grasp
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his meaning now it sounds like a new
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command because they didn't grasp it
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jesus lived it out in order for us to
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understand what god
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requires of us or from us
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okay so the pharisees the sadducees the
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scribes and the teachers of the law
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and the expert of the law they failed to
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grasp and properly interpret the spirit
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of the law
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of god they didn't but jesus
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lived it out he modeled it
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and he did it to show us the heart of
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god in that way
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this is a new command because that which
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was obscure
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because mankind failed to understand it
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it was obscure to people when when the
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scripture says love your neighbor as
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yourself didn't understand what it was
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so now it's almost like it's a new
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commandment
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because they didn't grasp it they didn't
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grasp it and that old way of thinking is
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passing away
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the darkness is passing away and now
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we've been exposed to the true light
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because of jesus so jesus came
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and showed us exactly what he meant to
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love your neighbor as yourself
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so now that jesus has showed us and
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taught us
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uh john in john 1 18 the scripture says
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no one has ever seen god
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right the only god who is at the
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father's side
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he jesus has made him known to us
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you see that in john 1 18 the scripture
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says that no one has ever seen god the
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father no one has ever seen
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but god the son by
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mothering the life that god requires us
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god the man
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he showed us who the father was by the
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way he lived his life
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because he's god incarnate okay so we
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have the blueprint
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and as a result his spirit is changing
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us so that we may emulate the life of
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christ
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this is what the spirit of god does the
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third person of the treaty he comes
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to change us and to mold us into the
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likeness of christ
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jesus so that he may be the first born
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among many brothers
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if you go to romans 8 verse 28-32 the
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scripture says that and we're going to
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go to that and
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read it real quick okay let's do that
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let's
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let's see what a scripture says here and
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we know that for those who love god
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all things work together for good for
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those who are called
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according to his purpose for those whom
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he for knew he also predestined to be
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conformed
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to the image of his son in order that he
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might be the firstborn among many
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brothers
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and those whom he predestined he also
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called and those whom he called he also
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justified
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and those whom he justified he also
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glorified
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you see what scripture is saying here
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see
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jesus set the blueprint and now
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we have been made into his image we are
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now into the likeness of the son of god
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so he's changing us so that we might be
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like him in order that
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the world may know that we are the
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children of the living god
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because we are just like his son through
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his spirit in us
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okay let's go back to our present so we
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just read uh romans 8 verse 28 to 32 and
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now we're going to go to verse 9.
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okay now verse 9 says this and whoever
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says that he's in a light and
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hates his brother is still in darkness
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those are heavy heavy words okay
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so basically john is giving us an
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illustration of what the true light is
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hitting another brother or sister in
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christ
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is a sure and clear sign that we are
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still in darkness
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meaning unsaved okay remember what jesus
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said to his disciples
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by this the world will know that you are
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my disciples if you love
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one another and this is in john 13 35
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which means if we do the opposite if we
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don't love one another we show that we
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are not
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his disciples so why is that so
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important
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claiming to be in christ is saying that
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we are children of god
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and only those who have the spirit of
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god are true sons and daughters of god
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and the spirit of god cannot hate the
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spirit of god
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in another person let me say that again
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the spirit of god cannot hit the spirit
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of god
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in another individual it's an
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impossibility
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this is why the one who hates his
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brother or sister
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prove that he or she is still in
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darkness because if you truly have the
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spirit of god in you
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there is no way you can hate another
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brother in christ that has the spirit
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the same spirit of god
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in him or her it's an impossibility
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so this is why the scripture says
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whoever says that he's in the light and
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hates his brother
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is still in darkness now if you go to
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scripture in john 13 34 the scripture
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says
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a new commandment i give to you that you
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love one another just as i have loved
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you
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you also have you also ought to love one
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another
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okay and in john 15 12 the scripture
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says
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this is my commandment that you love one
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another as i have loved
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you jesus is speaking and then we read
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in john 15 17
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these things that command you so that
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you will love one another
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so you can see that if you claim to be
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in the light and hit your brother you
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are technically saying that i'm really
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not in the light i'm still in darkness
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because
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if the spirit of god in you there is no
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way the spirit of god in you
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will hate the spirit of god in another
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person
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so you are still in darkness and now
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we're going to go to verse 10 through
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11.
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the scripture says whoever loves his
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brother abides
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in the light and in him there is no
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cause for stumbling
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but whoever hits his brother is in the
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darkness and walks in the darkness
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and does not know where he is going
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because the darkness has blinded his
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eyes
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these are heavy words so john has us
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some strong words for those who claim to
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be in the light yet
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hit their brothers and sisters john says
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that they are so lost
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that they have no clue where they are
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going in life
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and john he's going to later explain the
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reason why false brothers
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hate those who belong to christ in first
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john 3 12 the scripture says
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because their own actions are evil while
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their brother's actions are righteous
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so righteousness is at the root of the
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hatred
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you see that the reason why another
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brother in christ will hate another
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brother in christ is
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usually because of righteousness see
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jesus was hated by the religious
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establishment
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who was who was supposed to welcome
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jesus see those were supposed to be the
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people to lead
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other people but they hated jesus
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without a cause
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they did have a cause but it was
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righteousness because he was righteous
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and their own
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actions were evil so they hated him so
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the hatred is
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totally is like deeply rooted in the
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fact that
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they are unrighteous and because of
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jesus
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they have been exposed so they hate him
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for that reason
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scripture says in john 1 verse 9 to 10
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the true light which gives light to
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everyone was coming into the world
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he was in the world and the world was
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made through him
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yet the world did not know him
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she didn't recognize him because they
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were so filled with hate
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so john is saying to his people but
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whoever hates his brother in
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is still in darkness and walks in
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darkness and does not know where he's
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going
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because the darkness has blinded him so
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basically you can't
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be a brother in christ or sister in
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christ and then hate another brother in
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christ
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and sister or sister in christ you are
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basically lost
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because you are still living in darkness
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and most people hate
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another brother or sister in christ
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probably because of righteousness
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because their own actions are evil and
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they have been exposed to the light so
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they can't
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stand it you see if you
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go into the presence of a holy being
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your dirt your sins get exposed and you
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hate that you hate you hate that because
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you want to hide
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that's what happened to us because when
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we truly come into the presence
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of a holy being we know
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how sinful we are and it causes us to
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stay
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away from me i don't want to deal with
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you i don't want to see you because
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you are exposing my nakedness i don't
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like it
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this is why another brother in christ
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will hate another brother in christ
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because of
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unrighteousness because they have been
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exposed and they can't
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stand it and therefore they want to turn
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away from it and when you turn away from
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the light you are living in darkness
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this is why john is saying whoever
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hates his brother is still in darkness
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and walks in darkness and does not know
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where he's going
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because you turn away and now you become
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blind because you don't want to see
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your actions or your your the thoughts
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of your heart being exposed
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so that you can change no you turn away
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now you are still in darkness
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these are heavy words from john okay now
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verse 12 to 14.
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i'm gonna pause and read verse 12 to 14
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and we're to come back to this
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let's do that so in verse 12 to 14 john
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has just given a discourse
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on what it means to walk in the light
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and to walk as jesus walk
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and now he's saying in in 12 12 and 14
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i'm writing to you a little children
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because your sins are forgiven for his
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name's sake
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i'm writing to you fathers because you
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know him who's from the beginning
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i'm writing to you a young man because
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you've overcome the evil one
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i write to you children because you know
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the father
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i write to you fathers because you know
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him rules from the beginning
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and i write to you young men because you
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are strong and the word of god
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abides in you and you've overcome the
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evil one
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and now are we gonna go and understand
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why he was saying that
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so basically john has just connected
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like loving
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a brother or sister in christ to living
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in the light he made that connection
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and he wants to make sure that his
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message falls into the ears of the right
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people so remember in the beginning john
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exposed the false teachers who were
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claiming
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that what one did with the body didn't
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matter
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and they put an emphasis on some some
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form of like
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mystical knowledge and weird out of the
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body
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experiences so that's what the false
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teachers were doing and they came into
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the church and they were trying to
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distort the truth of god so john wanted
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to make sure that his message concerning
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loving the brothers
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reached the right people this message
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about love only applies to those who are
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qualified by
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god and john singles them out in verse
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12 to 14. he's saying
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that's why the phrase i'm writing to you
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kept coming up
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john's message under the inspiration of
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the holy spirit was directed at the
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people group he mentioned
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he's saying i'm wearing to you little
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children i went to you young man and
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fathers he's saying these
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i'm telling you guys so you know how to
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decipher
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how to identify false brothers
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because you guys are of the truth and
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you listen to me
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so therefore i'm writing these messages
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to you so that you
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have the tools to properly interpret
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what i'm saying because i want to make
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sure that you understand this message
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i want to make sure that you know how to
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recognize a false brother
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from a true brother so he's saying i'm
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running to you you guys have
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overcome the evil one you guys know the
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truth so i'm telling you so that you
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have
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more knowledge and you'll be more
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grounded and we ought to do the same
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with one another
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because we are living in the times where
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things have gotten crazy
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and as believers we need to warn each
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other we need to help
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one another so john is doing i say i'm
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writing to you a little children i'm
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writing to you young
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young adults and i'm running to you
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fathers so
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now i'm speaking to you if you're
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listening and god has opened your ear so
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listen
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saying be careful how you walk not as
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unwise but as white says the scripture
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so now we need to really understand what
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it means to work as jesus walk we have
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to walk in obedience to the father
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through the holy spirit
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it's not something that we can do on our
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own okay
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so we have to walk in a light and love
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one another this is the biggest
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way to know that we are stealing we are
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in christ
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if you love another brother in christ
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another brother who's exuding the
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qualities of jesus
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you're gonna gravitate toward our
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brother because you love to see
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righteousness
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where if you begin to see that you are
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resisting another brother in christ
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because of his righteous
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living there's gotta be a problem with
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you
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because that means maybe the spirit of
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god does not rest in you because you
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cannot hate another brother in christ
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because the spirit of god you cannot
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hate the spirit of god in another person
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unless that person is living in a way
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that is contrary to the word of god
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then righteous indignation can rise out
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of you
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but if this if it's the opposite my
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brother maybe you're not a believer
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it's time for the house of god to begin
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to be judged and to begin to be shifted
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and this is what we are going through
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now and god is making sure he's bringing
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his
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holy ones and he's really sifting the
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church to show
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who's really in the kingdom okay
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so i'll invite you to do that again to
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read that chapter again and we're going
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to continue the book of first john maybe
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in a couple of weeks or something like
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that all right have a wonderful day
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and i'll see you next time thank you