Perilous Times
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Good morning and welcome to Insights
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with Pastor John.
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Today we're going to talk about perilous
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times. And uh
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let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank
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you for this opportunity to take a look
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at your word today. We ask Lord that you
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open our minds and hearts to receive.
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Help us to understand what you're saying
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to us, Lord. And help us to see the
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truth in the things that you say. In
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Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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So,
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perilous times and uh we're going to be
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looking at several different passages of
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scripture this morning. Uh the first one
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is in Matthew chap 7 and this is Jesus
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speaking from the sermon on the mount.
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It's right at the end of the sermon
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starts in verse 15 of chapter 7. He
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says, "Beware of false prophets which
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come to you in sheep's clothing, but
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inwardly they are ravening wolves.
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You shall know them by their fruits. Do
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men gather grapes of thorns or figs of
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thistles? Even so, every good tree
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bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt
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tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good
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tree cannot bring forth evil fruit,
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neither can a corrupt tree bring forth
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good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
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forth good fruit is heuned down and cast
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into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits
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you shall know them.
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Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord,
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Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
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heaven, but he that doeth the will of my
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father which is in heaven. Many will say
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to me, in that day, Lord, Lord, have we
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not prophesied in thy name? and in thy
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name have cast out devils and in thy
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name done many wonderful works and then
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I will profess unto them I never knew
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you depart from me ye that work
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iniquity. So as I was studying this I I
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was in
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in prayer about it and to have a better
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understanding.
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There's a a whole bunch of people out
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there that think that uh the walk of a
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Christian is simply doing what uh Romans
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10:9 and10 says.
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And uh that's all you got to do from
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that point on. You're saved. You can
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never fall from grace. Nothing's going
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to happen. U everything's going to be
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good and wonderful.
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And uh you're perfect just the way you
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are. God accepts you as you are, which
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he does. Uh but you don't have anything
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to do after that point.
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And uh
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Romans 10:9 says that if thou shalt
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confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
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and shall believe in thy heart that God
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hath raised him from the dead, thou
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shalt be saved. For with the heart man
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believeth unto righteousness, and with
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the mouth confession is made unto
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salvation.
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And verse 11 says, "For the scripture
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saith, whosoever believeth on him shall
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not be ashamed."
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Um, and as I was reading that and
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reading this, I'm asking
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this question,
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which is
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what was Jesus talking about when he
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said, "If if Romans 8:9 and 10 says what
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it says, and I truly believe that it
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means what it says,
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then if I do that, how could I fall into
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the group of people that he's talking
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about here because if if I if I look at
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one, how can the other be true also? And
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they're both true. And the reason I say
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that is Jesus made some statements in
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his ministry. Uh he was speaking to the
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people one time and um he he made this
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statement. Remember Lot's wife? Well,
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what happened to Lot's wife? Well,
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in Sodom and Gomorrah, God sent the
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angels in. They told Lot to take his
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wife and his two daughters and to leave
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the city and not look back. He provided
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salvation for them. And he told them to
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go and not look back. And as they were
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leaving, what happened? Lot's wife
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stopped and turned around and looked
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back. She looked back at the life she'd
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left behind, and she was turned into a
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pillar of salt.
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Jesus also made this statement will be
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unto him to put his hands to the plow
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and look back. And as I was going
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through that and thinking about that,
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stop and think about this. Judas
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who betrayed Jesus
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had a full portion of the ministry that
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Christ had u given to them and he sold
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that
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portion of ministry for 30 pieces of
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silver. The money meant more to him than
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Jesus did. Therefore, he lost everything
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that he had worked for.
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Now,
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how does that apply today? And that's
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always that's always one of the
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questions you should always ask when
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you're studying the Bible. There's some
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things you need to do. The first one is
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always study it in context. Never
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nitpick or pick out a a scripture
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without reading the scriptures before it
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and the ones that come after it. So,
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read it in context. The next thing you
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have to do
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is you need to understand who Jesus or
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who the writer was speaking to, why he
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was speaking it, and what was going on.
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And so as I was reading this and and I'm
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looking at this and I'm saying, "Okay,
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Lord,
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for me to enter into the kingdom of
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heaven, I have to do the will of the
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father
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because if I don't, I'm going to stand
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before Christ's judgment seat and I'm
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going to make all these claims and then
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he's going to confess to me, I never
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knew you. Depart from me, you workers of
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iniquity."
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So I started asking the question,
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well, how can a person be saved
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and and working in ministry and lose
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their place in heaven?
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And I realized that there's a lot of
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people
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who
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have opened the doors to things that
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will separate them from God.
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And uh in this uh 2 Timothy chapter 3,
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this is what he says starting in verse
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one. He says, "This know know also that
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in the last days perilous time shall
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come. For men should be lovers of their
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own selves, covetous, boasters, proud,
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blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
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unthankful, unholy, without natural
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affection, truce breakers, false
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accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers
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of those that are good, traitors, heady,
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high-minded, lovers of pleasures more
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than lovers of God, having a form of
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godliness, but denying the power
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thereof. from such turn away. For of
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this sort are they that which creep into
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houses and lead captive silly women
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laden with sins led away with diverse
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lusts, ever learning and never able to
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come to the knowledge of the truth. Now
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as Janice and Jambre withtood Moses, so
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do these also resist the truth. men of
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corrupt minds reprobate concerning the
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faith, but they shall proceed no
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further. For their folly shall be
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manifest unto all men as theirs also
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was. So, as I was reading through this
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and trying to gain understanding of what
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Jesus said, I realized there's a whole
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lot of people out there that come in the
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name of Jesus
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and
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try to convince you that the message
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they have for you is the message of the
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hour.
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Uh but and on the outside they look
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really great. They look really good. But
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on the inside, as Jesus said, they're
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filled with dead men's bones because
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they are their concern is not where you
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spend eternity, but how much fame and
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fortune they can gain.
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And uh he warns us not to follow those
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that preach the gospel for the sake of
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money.
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James in chapter James chapter 1, James
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put it like this,
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give me just a second while I turn to
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the passage of scriptures.
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James put it this way. He said, "My
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brethren, count it all joy when you fall
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into diverse temptations, knowing this,
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that the trying of your faith workketh
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patience, but let patience have her
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perfect work, that you may be perfect
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and entire, wanting nothing. If any of
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you lack wisdom, let him ask of God to
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give it to all men libery, and upgradeth
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not, and it shall be given him. But let
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him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For
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he that waveth is like a wave of the
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sea, driven with the wind, and tossed.
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For let no, let not that man think that
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he shall receive anything of the Lord. A
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double-minded man is unstable in all his
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ways. So you can be uh double-minded and
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ruin your own
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uh opportunities with God to move
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forward simply because you can't uh grab
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a hold and believe that what Jesus said
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he means and um you there is two sides
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to our walk with Christ. We have what
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Christ said would he would do which when
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he was hanging on the cross he said it
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is finished everything that was needed
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had been completed and then there's your
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part which requires you
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to walk according to what Christ has
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told you
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and so as I was going through this
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um
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I realized that there's a whole lot that
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uh we can uh
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ruin for ourselves. And I want to read
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this to you. This is out of first Peter.
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It says, "Wherefore g up the learn uh
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sorry in verse 13. Wherefore gird up the
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loins of your mind, be sober and hope to
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the end for the grace that is to be
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brought unto you at the revelation of
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Jesus Christ. as obedient children, not
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fashioning yourselves according to the
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form of lust in your ignorance. But as
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he which hath called you is holy, so be
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ye holy in all manner of conversation.
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Because it is written, "Be ye holy, for
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I am holy." And if you call on the
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father, who without respect of persons
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judgeth according to every man's work,
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pass the time of your s sojourning, hear
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in fear. For as much as you know that
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you were not redeemed with corruptible
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things as silver and gold from your vain
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conversations received by tradition from
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your fathers, but with the precious
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blood of Christ as of a lamb without
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blemish and without spot, who verily was
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for ordained before the foundation of
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world, but was manifest in these last
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times for you. who by him do believe in
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God that raised him up from the dead and
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gave him glory that your faith and hope
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might be in God.
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Seeing you have purified your souls and
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obeying the truth through the spirit and
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unfeigned love of the brethren. See that
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you love one another with a pure heart
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fervently being born again not of
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corruptible seed but of incorruptible by
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the word of God which liveth and abideth
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forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
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all the glory of man as the flower of
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grass. The grass withers, and the flower
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thereof fallth away, but the Lord but
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the word of the Lord endureth forever.
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And this is the word which by the gospel
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is preached unto you.
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And so we're living in times where
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people
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um they live
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lies and they live delusion. They have
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false interpretations of what judgment
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is. Uh you've heard that statement,
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don't judge me. Don't judge me. Or they
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will misquote what Jesus said. He says,
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judge not lest you be judged with the
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same judgment wherewith you judge. And
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he's not saying don't judge. He said
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don't judge unrighteously. Well, how do
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we judge? We're not judging in
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condemnation. We are inspecting fruit.
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We are looking to see if what they say
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and what they do match. And if they
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don't match, then we have to separate
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ourselves from them. We shouldn't follow
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what they say. If their actions and
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their words do not line up, they're
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false. And these are the false prophets
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that Jesus is talking about. Just like
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Judas, he spent three and a half years
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traveling through J uh Judea and Galilee
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and Samaria with Jesus.
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And yet at the end he betrayed him
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because his love of money uh had
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completely corrupted him. And Jesus even
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said, "Go and do as your father, the
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devil, has commanded you." You know, and
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it's it's pretty uh scary situation to
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be there in a place where Jesus removes
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his hand from you and lets you go.
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I honestly believe with a whole heart
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that you could send away your day of
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grace. If you couldn't, the example of
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Judas wouldn't be in the Bible. If you
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couldn't, it wouldn't say in Hebrews
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that if you willingly go back to the
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life you were living before before there
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remains no sacrifice to cover the sins.
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You can send away your day of grace. You
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can come to a place where the spirit of
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God leaves you just like it did Saul
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um when the king of Israel
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and he received a tormenting spirit in
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its place. He no longer was the anoint
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he was the king but the anointed the
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anointed king was David and it was
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through acts of disobedience that caused
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that to happen. And we when we look at
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the old testament and we study the old
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testament it's not just stories or
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history.
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There's examples of in the Old Testament
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of how to live a righteous life and how
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to get yourself into trouble and remove
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yourself from the protection of God. And
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so we should always start our
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application of scripture
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in this way. How does this apply to me?
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Am I doing these things it tells me not
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to do? Have I allowed these things to be
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in my life?
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You know, we're not talking about things
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like is it okay to eat pork and
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shellfish,
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okay? Because
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uh Jesus cleared that up in Acts chapter
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10. He told Peter, "Don't call anything
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I created unclean." He's speaking of
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things that you could or could not eat.
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Now, some of them might be disgusting or
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whatever, but it doesn't mean that
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they're not okay to eat. But on the
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other hand,
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he had condemned
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u the homosexual lifestyle, LGBTQ plus
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or whatever they call it now. Those are
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all spoken directly against in the
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Bible. And you you're not supposed to be
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uh tolerant of that in a way where you
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say, you know, it's all right. You're
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okay. Everything's good. No, you have to
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point out sin for sin. and that sin. But
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you also have to provide the means of
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escape from the sin which is Jesus
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Christ. And if you are following Jesus,
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you can't follow Jesus and live that
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lifestyle. We're back to
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actions speak louder than words. If I
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sit here and claim to be saved every
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day, all day long, yet in my life, I'm
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living contrary to what God's word says,
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I'm in danger of hellfire.
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I could send away my day of grace. So
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what is it that comes? The word of God
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does two things. It convicts and it
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converts. It convicts you of your sins
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and your shortcomings and your failings.
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And then it provides you hope that
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through grace you are saved and that God
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will deliver you from your own
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stupidity.
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Now people don't like it when I get real
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like that, but it is what it is. Most of
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the time the trouble we get into is not
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caused by the enemy or and it's
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definitely not caused by God. It's
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caused by our own stupidity because our
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mind is a place the devil attacks us at.
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And he can't force us to do anything. He
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can only try to convince us that through
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deception that what we're doing is okay.
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And therefore, he leads us astray. And
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that's all he did in the Garden of Eden.
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He he wrapped
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a lie
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with a little bit of truth
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and he begiled and convinced her that it
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was okay.
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And after that, she in turn did the same
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thing to Adam. And Adam who knew better
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could have said no, but he didn't.
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And that happens to us too. So as you go
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through this where this week, I want you
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to keep in mind that that we live in
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perilous times. We live in times where
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people uh just take a look at our
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political uh environment right now. You
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know, people out there claiming
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tolerance for things the Bible says is
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sin and saying, "Well, if you're a good
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person, you know, you're going to
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support these people living this
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alternate lifestyle and all these kind
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of things." No. If I'm a good person,
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I'm going to point that out and say, you
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know what, the Bible specifically speaks
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against that. And whether you accept the
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truth or reject the truth is immaterial
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because if Jesus said it, I believe it.
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And that makes it so. So when I look at
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God's word, which is truly inspired by
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the Holy Spirit, then I have to take a
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stand for what that word says. And if I
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don't, I'm guilty of it because I didn't
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warn them.
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So, as you're going through this week
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and as you're looking at different
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things and you're you're deciding
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whether uh to accept or reject things
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that people are are sharing with you,
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remember at the end of the day, what
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God's word says is final. If it says
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it's sin, if it was sin 2,000 years ago
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or 4,000 years ago or back at the
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beginning of creation, it's still sin
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today. And God doesn't wink at sin. He
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judges sin righteously. But what Jesus
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provides
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is freedom from living that life of sin
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and redemption
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and being washed clean of your past. And
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so it falls to you to make sure that
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you're going through going forward based
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on what God's word says.
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So
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I want to leave this with you. Perilous
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times are around us today.
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These are signs telling us that the
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imminent return of Christ is about to
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come.
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If what I've said to you today ministers
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to you in such a way that you find
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yourself lacking,
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repent.
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Turn from it. Ask God to give you
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victory over it. Trust him to do so.
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and begin to walk according to God's
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word.
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So, I'm going to leave that with you
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today. If I've ministered to you, praise
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the Lord. If I've offended you, offended
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you, it's the word that offended you and
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not me. And I want you to have victory
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in every area of your life. So, let's
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pray. Thank you, Lord, for today and
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your word. God, touch all these hearts
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that'll hear today's message. Help them
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understand that they are free from that
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if they choose to be, but there are
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consequences for the decisions we make.
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I want to give you all the praise and
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all the glory, Lord. Thank you for
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forgiving me, for setting me free. Thank
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you, Lord, for showing me when I mess
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up, and help me, Lord, to move forward
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in all things in Jesus name. Amen. All
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right, guys. We'll see you next week.
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Have a great
#Religion & Belief

