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This morning, we'll be in 1 John

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4, reading from verse one until verse

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six.

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"Beloved, do not believe every

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spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from

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God, for many false prophets have gone out into the

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world. By this, you know the spirit of

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God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus

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Christ has come in the flesh is from God.

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And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from

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God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which

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you have heard was coming and now is in the word, the world

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already. Little children, you are from God and have

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overcome them, for he who was in you is greater than he who was

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in the world. They are from the world, therefore they speak from the

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world and the world listens to them.

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We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to

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us. Whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

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By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." This is the word

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of the Lord. You may be seated.

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Thanks a lot, Nestor. Appreciate you. How's everybody doing this morning?

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(Applause) Woo!

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Good, good. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving.

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I heard Corey come out here, and, uh, he was like, "Yeah, some of you guys are

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wearing ugly Christmas sweaters already." And you're like, "This is just a sweater.

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I didn't need you to insult me before we got rolling here."

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(Laughs)

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But, um, man, the... Regardless of how you chose to dress this morning, we're glad

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that you're here. Um, hey, look, we are gonna go ahead and start off a little bit

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differently than you'd probably expect.

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I promise you we're gonna get to 1 John 4 in just a second, but, uh, first, I want

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us to take a little poll of the room. Okay?

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Uh, I'll, I'll give you a statement, and then I want you to tell me whether you

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agree or disagree with the statement. Okay?

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I'm gonna say it out there first, I'm gonna give you a second to think about it,

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and then I'm gonna ask by a show of hands to raise your hand.

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Now, here's the one rule. Full participation. Okay?

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Need everybody to participate. All right.

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Here's the question, or the statement.

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Christians have a responsibility to judge

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others. Okay? Agree or disagree? I'll give you a second

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to think about it. All right. If you agree, raise your

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hand. Okay. And if you disagree,

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raise your hand. All right. Cool. The,

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the beautiful irony of this is that all the judgers are

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judging the non-judgers.

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(Laughs)

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(laughs) And the non-judgers are realizing how judgmental they are, right?

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That's what happening right now. Okay. Here's what I want you to do. All right?

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So take that statement, hold onto it.

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Christians have the responsibility to judge others.

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Now, here's what I want you to think.

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Regardless of if you raised your hand for yes or no, I want you to answer this

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question: Where did you learn that?

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Where did you learn that belief? Maybe you were raised and taught that by

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your parents, maybe it was a rule of life that you've just kind of adapted and

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chosen to believe, uh, because of, uh, the experience that you've had in life.

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Maybe, uh, you even recall hearing a sermon about it, right?

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And so you've learned, and now you believe either, yes, Christians have a

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responsibility to judge others, or no, they don't.

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Um, follow-up question to that: Why do you believe

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it? So not where did you learn it, but why do you believe it?

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So first, who taught me that? And now, why do I believe that?

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Because what you believe comes out through your actions, right?

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So the idea that you have, what you think about this will ultimately, uh-

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eke its way out into the way you live your life for various reasons, right?

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Maybe, uh, you believe it because you trust the person that told you.

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A parent taught you that, or a pastor taught you that, or yourself taught you that,

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or your experiences taught you that.

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Maybe, uh, you even believe it because you could've sworn that you read it in the

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Bible. Right? Whatever it is, that belief comes from somewhere.

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So, let's do a little exercise, okay?

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This is like the sermon before the sermon, so just bear with me for a second,

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'cause I promise you, it's gonna be important in just a few minutes.

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If you have your Bible, turn to 1 Corinthians 5.

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And I want you to- to flip through your Bible, because I want you to get used to

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this practice, uh, in and of yourself. So 1 Corinthians 5.

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And basically, what's happening in this passage, um, it's a weird one.

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We don't have time to get into all the details today.

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But there is a man in the church in Corinth, uh, who is having

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inappropriate relationships with his mother-in-law, okay?

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It's a really weird place to drop into the Bible, but just- just bear with me for a

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second, okay?

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He's having weird relationships with his mother-in-law, and Paul is writing to the

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Church of Corinthians because all of the other people in the Church of

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Corinthians are basically turning a blind eye to it.

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They're like, "My name's been in it and I ain't in it," right?

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"Whatever he chooses to do at his house, that is his business." Okay?

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So Paul writes to them. So this is 1 Corinthians 5, starting in

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verse 1 down to verse 5. He says, "It is actually reported

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that there is, uh, sexual immorality happening among you, and of a kind

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that is not even tolerated among the pagans." He's saying, "Even unbelievers don't

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do this." "For a man has his father's wife.

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And you are arrogant. Ought you not rather to mourn?

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Let him who has done this be removed from among you."

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It's pretty drastic, right? "For though absent in body," Paul is saying, "I

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am present in spirit. And as if I were present, as if I were physically there, I

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have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a

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thing." Okay? So Paul is already saying, "Even from a distance, I'm

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telling you this is wrong, and you should actually remove this guy from the

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assembly." "Let him who has done, um, this be removed from among

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you..." I'm sorry. Uh, jump down, uh, verse 4.

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"When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present with

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the power of the Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the

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destruction of the flesh so that his spirit may be saved,

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um, in the day of the Lord." That's harsh language.

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Right? Like Paul is saying, "Cast this guy over to Satan.

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Get him out of the church. I've already rendered judgment on him." Like that feels

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really, uh, really harsh. And if we're honest, it doesn't sound very Christ-like,

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Paul. Okay? Get your life together. Skip down to verse 9.

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Verses 9-13. "I wrote you my letter not to associate with sexually

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immoral people. Not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this

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world, or the greedy or swindlers or idolaters, since then you would

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need to go out of this world." He's like, "Hey, if I told you don't associate with

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anybody who sins, you'd have to leave the world." Okay? So he- he admits that.

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He says, "Since then, you would need to go out of the world." But, verse 11, "Now I

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am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name

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of brother," so anyone who claims to be a

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Christian, "um, if he is guilty of sexual

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immorality or greed or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler,

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not even to eat with such one. For what have I..." Check this out.

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This is important. "For what have I to do with judging

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outsiders? Is it not those inside the church who are

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you- you are to judge? God judges those

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outside. Purge the evil person from among you." So

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Paul is saying here, "Hey, listen.

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If they don't claim to be a Christian, whatever they choose to do, that's really

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between them and God, and I'm- I'm praying that God's working on them.

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But if they are a Christian, you have a responsibility to call out their sin

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and to correct them." Or, a word that we don't like to use, to judge them.

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Now, this is a different type of judgment than we know, right?

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This isn't like a prejudice. This isn't like, "Oh, I see you.

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Here's what I think about you. I'm gonna make a judgment call about you before I

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know you." He's saying, "No, you know these people, and you're not correcting

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them." And so you hear that and you go, "Well, wait a minute.

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Maybe I should've raised my hand for the other one."

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But no. "Aaron, Matthew 7." Right?

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Matthew 7:1. Jesus says, "Do not judge." Okay.

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Go ahead and turn your Bibles there. Go to Matthew Chapter 7.

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This is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.

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I promise you this has something to do with 1 John. I promise you.

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We're gonna get there in just a minute, okay?

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We gotta do some legwork first though.

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Matthew

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7:1.

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This is Jesus. Maybe your Bible even has this in red letter.

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"Judge not, that you be not judged.

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For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged with the same measure you

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use, it will be measured to you." Ha-ha! Got 'im. Right?

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(laughs)

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Jesus clearly says, "Don't judge people." That's why I raised my hand.

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Give me a gold star. Right?

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S- but now we have a problem.

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Was Paul wrong? And was Paul teaching people to do

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something that Jesus explicitly commanded him not to do?

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Does Paul contradict Jesus? Does the Bible contradict the Bible?

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Can the Bible be trusted?

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Let's keep reading. Verse 3.

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Jesus says, "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye

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but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Right?

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A lot of us have probably heard this before.

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"Or how can you say to your brother, 'Hey, let me take that speck out of your eye,'

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when there is a log in your own eye?"...you

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hypocrite. Right? And this is the reason why most of us say, oh, no, don't judge

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people, 'cause I don't wanna be hypocritical, right?

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But look at what Jesus says, First

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take the log out of your own eye, and

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then you will see clearly to take the

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speck out of your brother's eye.

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So Jesus isn't saying, hey, if your brother has a speck there, it's like, hey, only

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God can judge me, you leave that speck there. He says, no.

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You go to God first, allow Him to deal with you so that you can see rightly,

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and now you can actually help your brother out.

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This is the reason why he says, judge not lest you be judged. Why?

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Because he's saying, listen, if you judge somebody else, you're claiming to know

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the difference between right and wrong.

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And if you know right and wrong, you're now accountable to that, right?

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So Ju- Jesus is like, listen, you open your door, uh, wide open for this

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to be spoken into if you speak into somebody else's life.

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So Jesus' word is not do not judge, it's don't judge

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incorrectly, or don't judge based on the wrong things.

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Now, why do we say all of that? What does that have to do with 1

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John 4? Because the majority of people in this room, uh,

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raised their hand and said, I don't believe that a Christian is supposed to judge.

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Now, if I were to ask that question now, you may have a different response, right?

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But what we learned from scripture is, oh wait, there are some that we're supposed

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to judge and some we're not supposed to judge.

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There is a way to judge and a way not to judge.

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And in both of these situations, notice, the person who judgment is being

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rendered upon, whether it's the brother with a speck in their eye or if it's this

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guy who's having, uh, inappropriate relationships with his mother-in-law, the

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purpose in both is healing of that individual.

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It's not just, oh, let me just tell you all the ways that you're wrong so that I

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can make myself feel better and put you down. No.

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It's so that they will get the speck out of their eye or so that this guy who has

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been cast over to Satan will have his spirit healed.

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Okay? The reason why we go through all that, and the reason why I just

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went through this little exercise is because what we just did was test the

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spirit. What does that mean? It means there's

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something we have been taught, something we believed, and so we put

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that thing up to the light of God and to scripture to say, hey, I've

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always believed this, but is it right?

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And this is what 1 John 4 challenges us to do.

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It's saying, hey, when you hear things, when you learn things, when you're taught

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things, don't just take them at face value, but instead,

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test the spirits.

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Ask God, hey, this sounds good. This sounds even almost right.

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But God, is it from you? And in this day and age when there

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are so many, uh, different sources and voices out there who are speaking...

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Like, right now, any single one of you can pull out your phone and open a podcast

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and listen to a sermon from a different church on the other side of the world.

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You can watch a livestream from a different church on the other side of the world.

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You can scroll through TikTok and hear somebody, uh, try to correct something that

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maybe you've misread in scripture.

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You can read a book from anyone anywhere who got the

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money to self-publish, right? Like there's, there's so many different things out

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there. And what Paul... Or I'm sorry, what John is saying here is, hey, listen,

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don't be afraid of all of it,

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but judge it correctly.

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When you hear things taught about Jesus, what is your barometer

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for figuring out, man, is this something that is trustworthy or not?

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And his goal is not to instill skepticism but

496
00:33:44.022 --> 00:33:47.581
discernment. His goal is not to instill cynicism

497
00:33:47.841 --> 00:33:51.722
but certainty. This week, we are midway through this

498
00:33:51.762 --> 00:33:55.722
series, uh, in 1 John. Uh, and the title of the series is Uncertainty, and we've

499
00:33:55.782 --> 00:33:59.601
seen how John wants to give us certainty about, uh, multiple things,

500
00:33:59.641 --> 00:34:03.351
but in particular, he wants us to have certainty around us having eternal

501
00:34:03.422 --> 00:34:07.141
life, and he wants us to have certainty around who the person of Jesus

502
00:34:07.222 --> 00:34:11.141
is. And so, uh, in chapter 3, Ben Foote was here and

503
00:34:11.161 --> 00:34:14.542
he talked to us, he introduced this term to us, the Antichrist, right?

504
00:34:14.562 --> 00:34:16.942
And he did a great job explaining what the Antichrist is.

505
00:34:17.011 --> 00:34:20.922
He said the Antichrist is anyone who gives a message about Jesus

506
00:34:20.982 --> 00:34:23.661
that Jesus Himself doesn't co-sign on.

507
00:34:23.701 --> 00:34:27.322
An Antichrist is anyone who says, uh, hey, this is what Jesus was

508
00:34:27.342 --> 00:34:30.701
like, but it's not accurate to who He is.

509
00:34:30.721 --> 00:34:34.621
And so John now, two chapters later, is saying, hey, listen, these people who are

510
00:34:34.701 --> 00:34:38.442
telling you things that sound good, um, I

511
00:34:38.562 --> 00:34:40.022
want you to test those spirits.

512
00:34:41.282 --> 00:34:43.641
And I love what, what John is doing here.

513
00:34:43.661 --> 00:34:47.141
He, he even says, uh, in the passage, he says that these people have gone out into

514
00:34:47.181 --> 00:34:49.542
the world. That's an interesting statement because what he's saying is, is they

515
00:34:49.562 --> 00:34:51.022
didn't start out there.

516
00:34:52.181 --> 00:34:55.601
They actually started in here, and now they're going out.

517
00:34:55.621 --> 00:34:59.432
And so in other words, what John is saying in regards to these Antichrist or,

518
00:34:59.542 --> 00:35:03.302
uh, uh, to these, these, um, uh, these false prophets is this.

519
00:35:03.342 --> 00:35:07.221
Don't become so focused on looking out there that

520
00:35:07.302 --> 00:35:09.002
you fall victim for what lies within the

521
00:35:09.022 --> 00:35:12.802
walls. Don't be so cautious

522
00:35:12.942 --> 00:35:16.672
looking out into the news and the government and trying to find all these people,

523
00:35:16.862 --> 00:35:19.082
who is this, when is the Antichrist gonna come and all the things.

524
00:35:19.102 --> 00:35:22.782
John says, no, actually the spirit of the Antichrist is already here,

525
00:35:23.582 --> 00:35:27.261
and he's present in the assembly of the other people who are

526
00:35:27.282 --> 00:35:29.382
teaching you false things about God.

527
00:35:29.402 --> 00:35:32.502
And so this leads us to, uh, 1 John

528
00:35:32.922 --> 00:35:36.742
4:1 where he says, "Beloved, do

529
00:35:36.842 --> 00:35:40.721
not believe every spirit, but test the

530
00:35:40.782 --> 00:35:44.562
spirits to see whether they are from God." And this is what we just

531
00:35:44.602 --> 00:35:47.792
did. Let's take this thing we believe, let's look at it according to scripture, and

532
00:35:47.802 --> 00:35:51.702
then let's see what, what God has to say about it. So how do we do that?

533
00:35:51.742 --> 00:35:55.721
Because it's really easy to fall victim and fall prey to, uh,

534
00:35:55.842 --> 00:35:59.761
things that just sound good. And so if John wants us to test the spirits, how

535
00:35:59.802 --> 00:36:03.142
do we do that? And so I'm gonna give you here, uh, these are six ways,

536
00:36:03.922 --> 00:36:07.642
six tests that you can give and just, uh, incorporate into your daily

537
00:36:07.682 --> 00:36:11.471
life to help you test and discern the spirits and test and discern whether or not

538
00:36:11.502 --> 00:36:15.221
something is actually from God or not. Okay, you ready? We got a lot.

539
00:36:15.242 --> 00:36:17.682
I know that was like just the introduction, that's like half our time, but we're

540
00:36:17.702 --> 00:36:21.532
gonna get rolling. Here we go. Number one, it's the first test, it's the Jesus

541
00:36:21.622 --> 00:36:24.622
test. And the Jesus test asks this

542
00:36:24.682 --> 00:36:28.622
question, who does Jesus... I'm sorry, who do they say

543
00:36:28.682 --> 00:36:32.672
that Jesus is? Uh, this is the one that's central to John and

544
00:36:32.702 --> 00:36:35.362
his intended audience in 1 John 4:2-3.

545
00:36:35.382 --> 00:36:38.840
He says, "By this you know the Spirit of God:"Every spirit that

546
00:36:38.930 --> 00:36:42.480
confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from

547
00:36:42.570 --> 00:36:46.450
God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus

548
00:36:46.490 --> 00:36:50.460
is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is

549
00:36:50.570 --> 00:36:54.330
coming and now is in the world already." If you wanna know whether or not

550
00:36:54.350 --> 00:36:58.310
somebody's theology or doctrine can be trusted, the best

551
00:36:58.370 --> 00:37:02.110
first step in the flowchart of discernment is this question,

552
00:37:02.120 --> 00:37:04.280
"Who do you say that Jesus is?"

553
00:37:04.410 --> 00:37:05.170
Amen.

554
00:37:05.190 --> 00:37:09.150
Because this is the central claim of Christianity, that Jesus

555
00:37:09.230 --> 00:37:12.599
is the Son of God, he is the second person of the Trinity, that he is

556
00:37:12.650 --> 00:37:16.500
co-eternal with God, that he has come down and took on the form of a man.

557
00:37:16.550 --> 00:37:20.310
He is 100% God and 100% human. He was

558
00:37:20.350 --> 00:37:24.050
born to a virgin named Mary by a miraculous birth, he lived a

559
00:37:24.130 --> 00:37:27.710
perfect, sinless life, he fulfilled centuries-old

560
00:37:27.810 --> 00:37:31.490
prophecies that was punctuated by his crucifixion on the cross.

561
00:37:31.500 --> 00:37:35.470
And not only did he die a sinner's death, but three days later, he

562
00:37:35.630 --> 00:37:39.080
rose again, declaring victory over death, hell, and the

563
00:37:39.170 --> 00:37:43.110
grave. After which he ascended to heaven, where he now sits at the right

564
00:37:43.150 --> 00:37:47.090
hand of the Father, and he is coming back to make all things new and to renew

565
00:37:47.130 --> 00:37:51.010
the world to sinless perfection, where all of those who have

566
00:37:51.050 --> 00:37:54.530
put their faith in him will live in perfect unity with him

567
00:37:54.570 --> 00:37:56.870
forevermore. That is who Jesus is according to

568
00:37:56.930 --> 00:38:00.880
scripture. And if anyone leaves out any part of

569
00:38:00.970 --> 00:38:01.250
that,

570
00:38:02.950 --> 00:38:06.210
then they don't understand the real Jesus.

571
00:38:06.270 --> 00:38:08.560
So I wanna give you a scenario here.

572
00:38:08.630 --> 00:38:12.620
Um, I want you to imagine that, uh, it's a nice cold day.

573
00:38:13.710 --> 00:38:16.710
You're bundled up and you're walking through downtown Carey.

574
00:38:16.750 --> 00:38:19.580
And, uh, you're walking your way over there and you see this little, like,

575
00:38:19.610 --> 00:38:23.440
bookshelf that's set up, and there's an older lady and older gentleman that's

576
00:38:23.450 --> 00:38:25.290
standing there in the middle of the park.

577
00:38:25.330 --> 00:38:28.210
And, uh, on their little bookshelf, they have these little pamphlets.

578
00:38:28.220 --> 00:38:31.730
In those pamphlets, it says, "Free Bible lessons." And so you go over to them,

579
00:38:31.750 --> 00:38:34.290
you're like, "Hey, I read the Bible," and you start striking up a conversation, and

580
00:38:34.350 --> 00:38:38.070
very soon, you come to realize that these people are Jehovah's Witness.

581
00:38:38.110 --> 00:38:41.930
You start talking to these Jehovah's Witnesses, and at first, things seem a

582
00:38:41.990 --> 00:38:45.250
little bit okay, right? Because at first you realize, oh wait, they also believe

583
00:38:45.330 --> 00:38:49.270
Jesus existed. They also believe that Jesus is important for salvation,

584
00:38:49.450 --> 00:38:52.890
but they believe that Jesus was created

585
00:38:53.250 --> 00:38:56.810
by God. It's a small detail, but it's a big

586
00:38:56.850 --> 00:39:00.810
detail, because if Jesus was created by God, then Jesus

587
00:39:00.850 --> 00:39:04.750
is not God. And if Jesus is not God, then

588
00:39:04.770 --> 00:39:07.130
he's not worth putting our faith in.

589
00:39:07.150 --> 00:39:10.270
He's just some man that walked the Earth a few thousand years ago, right?

590
00:39:10.910 --> 00:39:13.930
Think about this one. Imagine you're sitting at home, you're folding laundry, you

591
00:39:13.970 --> 00:39:17.290
got a YouTube video on, and you hear a knock at the door.

592
00:39:17.300 --> 00:39:18.810
(knocks on wood) And this time, you're a little bit different.

593
00:39:18.850 --> 00:39:22.830
Normally, it's turn the lights off, code red, hide under the sofa, right?

594
00:39:22.850 --> 00:39:25.050
Like, don't let anybody know that we're here. But instead, you go, "You know what?

595
00:39:25.090 --> 00:39:27.550
I'm gonna open the door." And you open the door and there's two people in button-up

596
00:39:27.590 --> 00:39:29.890
shirts and a black tie. You see the bike behind them, and they are Mormon

597
00:39:29.930 --> 00:39:33.270
missionaries who have just walked over to your house. And you say, "You know what?

598
00:39:33.310 --> 00:39:36.530
Come on in. Come talk to me." So they hand you a copy of the Book of Mormon, they

599
00:39:36.590 --> 00:39:39.090
start talking. And at first, everything sounds okay.

600
00:39:39.110 --> 00:39:41.070
They believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

601
00:39:41.110 --> 00:39:43.430
They believe that he died, they believe that he rose again.

602
00:39:43.470 --> 00:39:45.270
They believe that Jesus brings salvation.

603
00:39:45.290 --> 00:39:49.150
However, in order to receive that salvation, not only do you have to have

604
00:39:49.210 --> 00:39:51.310
faith in Jesus, well, you gotta do some work too.

605
00:39:52.450 --> 00:39:56.390
So salvation is only received by faith plus your works, but here's the

606
00:39:56.410 --> 00:40:00.130
problem with that. Well, wait a minute, if it requires faith plus

607
00:40:00.230 --> 00:40:03.060
works to believe in Jesus and to be- be saved by

608
00:40:03.110 --> 00:40:06.720
him, what you're saying is- is that what Jesus did on the cross wasn't

609
00:40:06.750 --> 00:40:10.140
enough. I gotta add something else to it,

610
00:40:11.170 --> 00:40:14.010
and that goes against scripture. Let me give you one more.

611
00:40:14.030 --> 00:40:17.510
You're scrolling through social media and some guru comes on there and tells you,

612
00:40:17.520 --> 00:40:19.790
"Hey, everything that you need comes from within.

613
00:40:20.470 --> 00:40:24.220
There's an inner light inside of you, and if you embrace that, you can unlock this

614
00:40:24.250 --> 00:40:26.540
higher self. As a matter of fact, that's what Jesus did.

615
00:40:26.570 --> 00:40:30.450
He just- he modeled spirituality for us." But they deny

616
00:40:30.460 --> 00:40:34.350
that he alone is the Lord of all creation and they minimize him to a form

617
00:40:34.390 --> 00:40:38.330
of higher consciousness or just some sort of, like, spiritual archetype.

618
00:40:38.350 --> 00:40:41.190
And Jesus is so much more about this.

619
00:40:41.230 --> 00:40:44.690
So, uh, John's concern... I just- I just wanted to use that as an example to show

620
00:40:44.730 --> 00:40:48.270
you. John's concern is not to ask, "Hey, do they know..." Or, um, I'm sorry, "Do

621
00:40:48.310 --> 00:40:51.930
they talk about Jesus?" He's concerned with do they know Jesus and do they

622
00:40:51.950 --> 00:40:53.190
represent him accurately?

623
00:40:54.090 --> 00:40:58.049
Because just someone- just because someone says Jesus, and God, and light,

624
00:40:58.109 --> 00:41:00.210
that doesn't mean that they're talking about the same

625
00:41:00.410 --> 00:41:04.070
Jesus. This is a story that personally

626
00:41:04.090 --> 00:41:08.010
hits home for me. Uh, in 2018, uh, so I grew up in a

627
00:41:08.050 --> 00:41:12.010
church back in New Orleans, um, where I really began to own my faith

628
00:41:12.050 --> 00:41:15.950
in that church. And in 2018, they did a series called, uh, Who's Your Neighbor?

629
00:41:15.960 --> 00:41:18.560
And I love the idea of the series. As a matter of fact, we're gonna do one s- kind

630
00:41:18.570 --> 00:41:22.040
of similar to this next year. Uh, but the idea was- is, "Hey, let's talk about

631
00:41:22.070 --> 00:41:25.930
people who we typically disagree with, um, and let's just figure out,

632
00:41:25.970 --> 00:41:29.440
man, how do we love them well?" And ultimately, I have no issue with

633
00:41:29.490 --> 00:41:32.690
that. Uh, but there was one week where they talked about people of different faith

634
00:41:32.710 --> 00:41:36.150
traditions, and so the pastor of the church, he invited his neighbor, and his

635
00:41:36.190 --> 00:41:40.070
neighbor is an imam. If you don't know what imam is, uh, it's basically like a

636
00:41:40.130 --> 00:41:43.970
pastor of a Muslim church. Um, and so, uh, they

637
00:41:44.030 --> 00:41:47.619
come in and they have this interview on stage, and it's a beautiful interview.

638
00:41:47.630 --> 00:41:50.790
It's a beautiful conversation. It really is, because what the- the Christian pastor

639
00:41:50.810 --> 00:41:54.420
is trying to do is he is trying to help the audience see, "Hey,

640
00:41:54.470 --> 00:41:58.130
listen, these biases that you have, uh, the racism that you

641
00:41:58.230 --> 00:42:02.030
have, the assumptions you have about Muslims, um, listen, a

642
00:42:02.070 --> 00:42:04.630
lot of them are unfounded. If you'll just sit and have a conversation with people,

643
00:42:04.670 --> 00:42:07.200
you'll realize they're a lot more human than you think they are and they're not

644
00:42:07.230 --> 00:42:10.570
just a headline on the news." Totally okay with all of that, right?

645
00:42:10.650 --> 00:42:12.500
I- I love that they had that conversation.

646
00:42:13.250 --> 00:42:16.930
Where the problem came in was at the end of the conversation, where the Christian

647
00:42:17.030 --> 00:42:19.030
pastor goes, "Okay, listen, we got all that out the way.

648
00:42:19.070 --> 00:42:22.530
We- we learned about you and all that sort of stuff, but with all that said, what

649
00:42:22.550 --> 00:42:26.350
do you w- wish Christians knew about Muslims?" And the

650
00:42:26.410 --> 00:42:30.390
imam, he said, "Uh, I wish people knew that we love Jesus." He

651
00:42:30.430 --> 00:42:32.980
goes, "As a matter of fact, we walked, I walked through the airport one time and I

652
00:42:32.990 --> 00:42:35.820
was going up an escalator and somebody else was coming down the escalator and they

653
00:42:35.870 --> 00:42:39.820
saw me and they go, 'Hey, Jesus loves you,'" almost like in an angry, like,

654
00:42:39.890 --> 00:42:42.344
arrogant sort of way. And he turned to them and goes......

655
00:42:42.344 --> 00:42:45.474
and I love Jesus." (laughs) He's like, "Muslims love

656
00:42:45.614 --> 00:42:49.494
Jesus. The only thing is, we don't believe that he was the son of

657
00:42:49.534 --> 00:42:53.294
God." And the Christian pastor goes, "Is that

658
00:42:53.354 --> 00:42:57.124
it? Is that the only difference between us and y'all?"

659
00:42:58.254 --> 00:43:00.474
Hope. That is the thing.

660
00:43:00.534 --> 00:43:01.514
Yeah, amen.

661
00:43:01.534 --> 00:43:03.514
That is the single most important thing.

662
00:43:03.534 --> 00:43:07.514
It's the reason why governments and religious systems murdered Jesus, because of

663
00:43:07.554 --> 00:43:09.454
the very claim of who he claimed to be.

664
00:43:10.174 --> 00:43:14.054
It's not just some small, minor detail that separates us from the others, it is

665
00:43:14.094 --> 00:43:16.874
the central, uh, reality of our faith.

666
00:43:16.894 --> 00:43:20.594
And John tells us to put everything we hear to the

667
00:43:20.694 --> 00:43:24.634
Jesus test. Does the Jesus you present to me line up with

668
00:43:24.674 --> 00:43:28.594
the Jesus of the Bible? Because if we get Jesus wrong, nothing else

669
00:43:28.634 --> 00:43:30.954
that we get right will ever save us.

670
00:43:31.974 --> 00:43:34.854
The second test, and we're not gonna spend a lot of time on this, mostly 'cause we

671
00:43:34.894 --> 00:43:36.694
don't have it, (laughs) is test number two.

672
00:43:37.874 --> 00:43:40.884
The scripture test. The reason why we're not gonna spend a lot of time on that is

673
00:43:40.894 --> 00:43:43.594
because it's what we've done already. It's what we've practiced in here.

674
00:43:43.604 --> 00:43:46.934
Hey, I've always learned this thing, I've always known this thing, it sounds

675
00:43:46.974 --> 00:43:50.854
really, uh, nice, but does it line up with scripture?

676
00:43:50.874 --> 00:43:52.884
Does it line up with what God said in his word?

677
00:43:52.884 --> 00:43:56.714
Because to contradict the Bible is to contradict God himself, and to

678
00:43:56.754 --> 00:43:59.094
contradict God himself is to tell a lie.

679
00:44:00.274 --> 00:44:04.104
So if it doesn't line up with who God is and what he laid out in his

680
00:44:04.134 --> 00:44:06.294
word, well then we have to ask some questions.

681
00:44:06.314 --> 00:44:08.244
Listen, this is important to remember about the Bible.

682
00:44:08.274 --> 00:44:11.494
The purpose of the Bible is not just to make you feel good or give you warm and

683
00:44:11.514 --> 00:44:11.904
fuzzies.

684
00:44:12.814 --> 00:44:16.194
According to 2 Timothy 3, the purpose of the Bible is to correct, to

685
00:44:16.234 --> 00:44:20.134
rebuke, to train us in righteousness, not to reaffirm

686
00:44:20.154 --> 00:44:20.924
our own ideas.

687
00:44:22.254 --> 00:44:25.454
And can we be honest? That's really uncomfortable.

688
00:44:25.474 --> 00:44:29.254
Like, I read things in the Bible that ultimately, they, at times, they make me

689
00:44:29.314 --> 00:44:31.274
uncomfortable, they rub me the wrong way.

690
00:44:31.294 --> 00:44:34.913
But lemme just tell you, like if you read the Bible and everything just feels okay,

691
00:44:34.934 --> 00:44:37.384
you're like, "Yeah, that, that just makes sense. That's not hard to live out.

692
00:44:37.474 --> 00:44:39.894
I can just do that," you're probably reading the Bible

693
00:44:39.934 --> 00:44:43.724
wrong. And I say that lovingly, I say that n-

694
00:44:43.754 --> 00:44:47.154
intentionally. I was talking to a friend about this, uh, earlier this week, and he

695
00:44:47.174 --> 00:44:48.654
shared this quote with me from Tim Keller.

696
00:44:48.694 --> 00:44:52.554
He says, "If your God (laughs) never disagrees with you, you might be

697
00:44:52.594 --> 00:44:56.024
worshiping an idealized version of yourself."

698
00:44:56.094 --> 00:44:59.694
Oof. That's the best thing I'm gonna say up here, and I stole it from somebody

699
00:44:59.714 --> 00:45:01.494
else, just so you know. (laughs)

700
00:45:01.834 --> 00:45:03.124
(laughs)

701
00:45:03.154 --> 00:45:07.014
But we have to be cautious of this. We have to allow the Bible to do

702
00:45:07.054 --> 00:45:10.114
its work. The Bible should make us uncomfortable the same way that going to the gym

703
00:45:10.174 --> 00:45:13.974
does. It should stretch us, we should feel the

704
00:45:14.014 --> 00:45:17.464
tension, but we should trust that it's ultimately making us better as we are

705
00:45:17.534 --> 00:45:21.254
obedient to it. If you feel something and you disagree with it while you're reading

706
00:45:21.274 --> 00:45:23.654
through scripture, it's okay to feel that disagreement.

707
00:45:23.674 --> 00:45:27.534
But let that disagreement lead you to God and ultimately lead you to

708
00:45:27.594 --> 00:45:31.434
truth, 'cause the truth will never contradict his word.

709
00:45:31.874 --> 00:45:35.154
Uh, test number three is the community test.

710
00:45:35.214 --> 00:45:39.094
What do other God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians have to

711
00:45:39.134 --> 00:45:42.574
say about this? Listen, do not read scripture in a

712
00:45:42.584 --> 00:45:46.134
vacuum. Uh, I heard a pastor say one time that every cult that's ever

713
00:45:46.194 --> 00:45:50.134
started, uh, began with a guy reading the Bible by himself and going, "Maybe I'm

714
00:45:50.174 --> 00:45:52.714
Jesus." And I'm like, "Yeah, I th- actually think that's how it goes." Like,

715
00:45:52.774 --> 00:45:55.674
(laughs) Netflix documentaries come out about that all the time, right?

716
00:45:55.694 --> 00:45:55.704
(laughs)

717
00:45:55.714 --> 00:45:59.434
Listen. Do not read the Bible in a vacuum by yourself, because you

718
00:45:59.474 --> 00:46:02.174
will approach things that you don't understand.

719
00:46:02.194 --> 00:46:04.534
You will approach things that you have questions about.

720
00:46:04.594 --> 00:46:08.364
You will approach things that you need a- accountability for, and this is why

721
00:46:08.514 --> 00:46:11.974
community is so important. Reading the Bible in community, it

722
00:46:12.014 --> 00:46:13.124
encourages humility.

723
00:46:13.994 --> 00:46:16.723
It, uh, it m- makes us openly admit that there are things we don't

724
00:46:16.754 --> 00:46:19.734
understand. It welcomes new perspectives.

725
00:46:19.774 --> 00:46:23.413
Not new perspectives in like, oh, let me, uh, make up some stuff about the Bible,

726
00:46:23.434 --> 00:46:26.754
but new perspectives in helping us see things that maybe we didn't notice before.

727
00:46:27.334 --> 00:46:31.154
It builds fellowship. You glo- grow closer to other people,

728
00:46:31.234 --> 00:46:34.024
uh, when you are in the trenches of your study together.

729
00:46:34.114 --> 00:46:37.934
And it's God's design. God designed

730
00:46:38.014 --> 00:46:41.974
us for discipleship, to pass truth down from generation to generations, to

731
00:46:42.014 --> 00:46:43.924
make, uh, disciples out of one another.

732
00:46:43.954 --> 00:46:45.684
It's, it's how God designed the whole thing to work.

733
00:46:45.694 --> 00:46:49.544
It's what John is doing here in 1 John, it's what we're doing together right

734
00:46:49.574 --> 00:46:52.714
now, and it's how God designed the church to operate.

735
00:46:52.734 --> 00:46:55.334
Now, what's important is that you find the right voices.

736
00:46:55.354 --> 00:46:57.894
And I know that we have some younger people in here today from middle school

737
00:46:57.954 --> 00:47:00.804
ministry, high school ministry. I wanna, uh, this is for everybody, but I

738
00:47:00.894 --> 00:47:03.614
definitely wanna speak to you guys. Listen.

739
00:47:03.654 --> 00:47:07.413
With YouTube and TikTok and Instagram and social media, and

740
00:47:07.674 --> 00:47:11.594
anybody who wants a platform, readily available to grab one,

741
00:47:11.654 --> 00:47:14.444
I, I just wanna tell you, it is so important...

742
00:47:14.453 --> 00:47:17.694
Like, I, I remember, I had a old student from when I did youth ministry in

743
00:47:17.714 --> 00:47:21.014
Louisiana. And he was like, um, I asked him, I said, "Hey, man, are you in a

744
00:47:21.054 --> 00:47:23.453
church?" He's like, "No, but there's this TikToker that I follow and I learn a lot

745
00:47:23.494 --> 00:47:26.424
from him." And I go, "Well, what do you do when you have questions for him?"

746
00:47:27.354 --> 00:47:30.304
He's like, "I DM him." Like, "Yeah, do you get a response?" He goes, "Well, no."

747
00:47:30.304 --> 00:47:33.534
(laughs) Listen. Find someone that you can sit across the table

748
00:47:33.574 --> 00:47:37.484
from, find someone that you can look in the eye, who you can have crises of

749
00:47:37.594 --> 00:47:40.634
faith with, and say, "Hey, I don't know what's going on here.

750
00:47:40.674 --> 00:47:42.654
Can you, can you walk with me through this?"

751
00:47:42.694 --> 00:47:43.184
Amen.

752
00:47:43.194 --> 00:47:46.694
That is so vital to have. Those

753
00:47:46.754 --> 00:47:49.953
platforms, the, the podcasts and the sermons on YouTube and all that stuff, they're

754
00:47:49.994 --> 00:47:53.514
not bad, but they lack a dynamic of relationship that God

755
00:47:53.574 --> 00:47:56.814
hardwired you for. Test number

756
00:47:56.854 --> 00:48:00.824
four, the glory test. Does this

757
00:48:00.874 --> 00:48:04.203
give glory to God, or does it steal it away from

758
00:48:04.214 --> 00:48:07.994
him? Think about it this way. According to the gospel that I'm hearing,

759
00:48:08.034 --> 00:48:11.474
who's the hero of the story? Or rather, who's being

760
00:48:11.534 --> 00:48:15.354
served? Who's being worshiped? Because there are some pastors who

761
00:48:15.434 --> 00:48:18.934
often work to make themselves the hero of the story.

762
00:48:18.974 --> 00:48:20.634
Now, there are times when they're saying, "No, listen.

763
00:48:20.654 --> 00:48:23.274
Follow me as I follow Christ," and they're setting a good example for you, okay?

764
00:48:23.314 --> 00:48:24.594
I'm not, I'm not talking about that.

765
00:48:24.654 --> 00:48:28.374
I'm talking about glory thieves. The one who think that the

766
00:48:28.384 --> 00:48:31.854
platform and the laughs and the compliments and the social media views and all the

767
00:48:31.894 --> 00:48:35.594
attention they can garner for themselves, the ones who value that and actually get

768
00:48:35.614 --> 00:48:38.094
their identity from that. The ones who use you

769
00:48:39.534 --> 00:48:43.194
to stroke their own ego instead of to give God glory.

770
00:48:43.214 --> 00:48:46.674
The ones whose, uh, content is very little Bible, very little

771
00:48:46.754 --> 00:48:50.450
truth, very little Jesus.Listen, the goal when you hear the

772
00:48:50.470 --> 00:48:53.910
gospel preached, or when you preach the gospel to other people is this, people

773
00:48:53.970 --> 00:48:57.640
should walk away and think, "Man, what a savior," not, "Man, what a

774
00:48:57.670 --> 00:48:58.000
preacher."

775
00:48:58.490 --> 00:48:59.759
Amen.

776
00:48:59.770 --> 00:49:03.270
The goal should be that they walk away with a deep dependence on God.

777
00:49:03.310 --> 00:49:06.429
The Bible doesn't teach self-empowerment, it teaches spirit

778
00:49:06.470 --> 00:49:10.070
empowerment. So if anybody is telling you, "Hey, you're good enough.

779
00:49:10.130 --> 00:49:13.590
You can do it by yourself. Shake the haters off, embrace your full potential,"

780
00:49:13.630 --> 00:49:16.230
guess what? They're just trying to stroke your ego.

781
00:49:16.290 --> 00:49:20.049
No, listen, the Bible and the truth of God should actually break me down to

782
00:49:20.110 --> 00:49:23.430
my knees and build within me a dependence on God.

783
00:49:23.470 --> 00:49:27.310
1 John 4:5 says this, he says, "They," talk about these false

784
00:49:27.370 --> 00:49:31.350
teachers, "are from the world, therefore they speak from the world and the

785
00:49:31.390 --> 00:49:34.250
world listens to them." You know what John's saying

786
00:49:34.270 --> 00:49:37.140
here? He's saying that the world...

787
00:49:37.170 --> 00:49:40.440
That these, these, uh, false teachers will use the world's

788
00:49:40.630 --> 00:49:43.150
bait to catch worldly men.

789
00:49:44.210 --> 00:49:48.140
"Let me just promise you the... The, the self-empowerment, and the health, and the

790
00:49:48.250 --> 00:49:50.360
wealth, and the prosperity, and if I can...

791
00:49:50.390 --> 00:49:52.650
If I can play on..." You know what John calls those?

792
00:49:52.670 --> 00:49:55.990
We talked about them a few weeks ago. The sinful desires of the world.

793
00:49:56.049 --> 00:49:59.730
The desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life.

794
00:49:59.770 --> 00:50:03.650
But when they're cloaked and disguised in a Jesus message, people

795
00:50:03.690 --> 00:50:06.470
think, "Oh, well this is clearly, like, what God wants for me," right?

796
00:50:06.490 --> 00:50:10.150
But listen, what Jesus offers us, the life he really offers us is one that's

797
00:50:10.190 --> 00:50:14.110
difficult, it's hard, it requires perseverance, but it's

798
00:50:14.170 --> 00:50:16.690
also beautiful, and there's hope.

799
00:50:16.710 --> 00:50:20.410
And what Jesus offers you, more than anything he can bless you with or give you or

800
00:50:20.470 --> 00:50:23.140
drop in your lap, is he offers you himself.

801
00:50:23.670 --> 00:50:23.680
Yeah.

802
00:50:23.690 --> 00:50:27.009
And if a pastor offers you anything less than Jesus

803
00:50:27.049 --> 00:50:30.930
himself, he's probably preying on that, uh, selfish

804
00:50:30.990 --> 00:50:32.370
desire inside of you.

805
00:50:32.390 --> 00:50:33.390
Amen.

806
00:50:33.430 --> 00:50:37.009
The goal of the Christian is Jesus, not

807
00:50:37.049 --> 00:50:39.270
compromise. Number five.

808
00:50:40.730 --> 00:50:44.540
We got two minutes. (laughs) Number five, it's the

809
00:50:44.630 --> 00:50:45.330
fruit test.

810
00:50:46.430 --> 00:50:50.230
What is being produced by the heart and the word of

811
00:50:50.270 --> 00:50:52.430
this person that's speaking for me?

812
00:50:52.490 --> 00:50:55.090
Uh, when I was growing up, I grew up in a lot of churches that you can kind of

813
00:50:55.110 --> 00:50:57.710
classify as, like, Word of Faith, or Prosperity, you know what I mean?

814
00:50:59.250 --> 00:51:00.350
And, uh, they used to do this thing.

815
00:51:00.370 --> 00:51:03.040
We always used to have a New Year's Eve service, and the service would literally...

816
00:51:03.050 --> 00:51:05.380
It started at, like, 9:00 PM and it'd go to, like, midnight. Like, it would...

817
00:51:05.410 --> 00:51:08.090
Beyond midnight, right? We would ring in the new year together.

818
00:51:08.130 --> 00:51:12.050
And the pastor, every single year, would come up with a slogan, uh, that

819
00:51:12.190 --> 00:51:13.750
played on what every year we were going into.

820
00:51:13.770 --> 00:51:17.190
So I remember hearing things like, "You're gonna come alive in 2005." And people

821
00:51:17.210 --> 00:51:20.990
would get excited, and yeah. And, "Your check won't be late come 2008." And, "Your

822
00:51:21.090 --> 00:51:24.859
blessings coming in come 2010." Right? And we got excited. We loved it.

823
00:51:24.870 --> 00:51:27.210
The people... Like, you ever get those New Year's Eve glasses?

824
00:51:27.230 --> 00:51:29.990
And you're like, "How in the world are they gonna turn 2014 into a pair of

825
00:51:30.029 --> 00:51:31.859
glasses?" That was me with the pastors.

826
00:51:31.890 --> 00:51:35.390
I'm like, "What statement are they gonna come up with this year (laughs) to rile

827
00:51:35.450 --> 00:51:38.210
everybody up and get them excited?" But you know what happened?

828
00:51:38.330 --> 00:51:41.370
2020 came. Then 2022

829
00:51:41.430 --> 00:51:45.330
came, and new diagnoses rain in, and it

830
00:51:45.390 --> 00:51:49.319
became hard to pay bills. And I go, "Wait a minute, what's wrong

831
00:51:49.330 --> 00:51:50.470
with the promise that they gave me?

832
00:51:50.509 --> 00:51:54.440
They claimed they were talking from the Lord, but things aren't always

833
00:51:54.470 --> 00:51:58.370
that easy." And so, it led me down a crisis where I said, "Well, maybe I don't have

834
00:51:58.390 --> 00:52:02.190
enough faith." And then eventually I said, "No, you know what? That's not it.

835
00:52:02.230 --> 00:52:06.050
Maybe... Maybe God's not good. Maybe God's

836
00:52:06.090 --> 00:52:08.830
not real."

837
00:52:10.630 --> 00:52:13.290
And so, I just wanna let you know that this type of misrepresentation of the

838
00:52:13.370 --> 00:52:16.630
gospel, it's e- extremely harmful, so I encourage you to stay away from

839
00:52:16.670 --> 00:52:19.610
it. But I want you to test the fruit.

840
00:52:21.410 --> 00:52:23.940
Someone told me something was going to happen, they claimed it was a word from the

841
00:52:23.950 --> 00:52:26.390
Lord, if I hold onto that, what's gonna happen?

842
00:52:26.410 --> 00:52:29.529
Here's another way to think about that: If I put what I'm being taught into

843
00:52:29.550 --> 00:52:33.450
practice, what comes of it? More of Jesus or more of

844
00:52:33.490 --> 00:52:35.270
me?

845
00:52:36.130 --> 00:52:37.490
Amen.

846
00:52:37.509 --> 00:52:40.330
Because here's the truth about the gospel, if you put it into practice, you will

847
00:52:40.410 --> 00:52:44.290
only fall more and more in love with Jesus, and not more and more

848
00:52:44.310 --> 00:52:47.550
in love with self, or the pastor, or with a church

849
00:52:47.670 --> 00:52:49.540
branding, or any of that sort of stuff.

850
00:52:50.750 --> 00:52:53.470
Jesus offers himself.

851
00:52:55.690 --> 00:52:57.480
The final test, test number six, and I...

852
00:52:57.490 --> 00:53:01.470
And I saved this one for last intentionally, because it's the

853
00:53:01.490 --> 00:53:03.100
one that's the most important. It's the one...

854
00:53:03.110 --> 00:53:06.870
And I know we said a lot of stuff here today, but I hope it's the one that

855
00:53:07.029 --> 00:53:10.029
sticks with you as you walk out the door.

856
00:53:10.050 --> 00:53:11.410
It's the Holy Spirit test.

857
00:53:12.790 --> 00:53:14.350
Maybe you're hearing these and you're thinking, "Oh, you know what?

858
00:53:14.390 --> 00:53:17.580
I'm gonna write all these things down and every time I listen to a sermon or a

859
00:53:17.590 --> 00:53:21.270
podcast or read a book, I'm gonna try to refer to this list and see, you know, is

860
00:53:21.290 --> 00:53:22.220
all this sort of stuff..." Listen,

861
00:53:23.029 --> 00:53:25.550
I, I hope that this time has been helpful.

862
00:53:25.590 --> 00:53:29.450
But even more important than you listening to me, I hope you learn to listen to the

863
00:53:29.490 --> 00:53:30.350
Holy Spirit.

864
00:53:32.029 --> 00:53:35.180
This is what John says in 1 John 4:4,

865
00:53:35.180 --> 00:53:39.160
6. He says, "Little children." He's like, "Listen, I- I've

866
00:53:39.230 --> 00:53:40.460
warned you about these antichrists.

867
00:53:40.470 --> 00:53:42.970
I've warned you about this false teaching, and I know...

868
00:53:42.980 --> 00:53:46.090
I know you're gonna hear stuff, and this might even make you a little bit cynical,

869
00:53:46.130 --> 00:53:47.360
it might make you a little bit anxious.

870
00:53:47.390 --> 00:53:48.990
You might be like, 'Man, can anybody be trusted?

871
00:53:49.009 --> 00:53:51.150
Can anything be trusted?'" And look at how John calms them down.

872
00:53:51.350 --> 00:53:54.550
He says, "Little children, you are from God and you have overcome

873
00:53:54.590 --> 00:53:58.450
them, for he who is in you is

874
00:53:58.509 --> 00:54:01.520
greater than he who is in the world."

875
00:54:01.520 --> 00:54:01.520

876
00:54:01.520 --> 00:54:04.700
Amen. "We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us.

877
00:54:04.730 --> 00:54:07.029
Whoever is not from God does not listen to us.

878
00:54:07.069 --> 00:54:10.620
By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of

879
00:54:10.670 --> 00:54:14.620
error." Jesus himself, in John 16:13 says that,

880
00:54:14.620 --> 00:54:18.319
"When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into

881
00:54:18.430 --> 00:54:19.830
all truth.

882
00:54:21.270 --> 00:54:24.850
He will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but

883
00:54:24.870 --> 00:54:28.529
whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to

884
00:54:28.569 --> 00:54:32.130
come." Listen, when you put your faith in Jesus, you receive the Holy

885
00:54:32.230 --> 00:54:36.090
Spirit, and as you learn to pray and listen to his still, small voice, he

886
00:54:36.130 --> 00:54:40.080
will illuminate the truth of Scripture to you and he will protect you from anything

887
00:54:40.110 --> 00:54:44.069
that is not of him. So this last test, the

888
00:54:44.110 --> 00:54:47.200
Holy Spirit test, the question that we need to be asking is, is...

889
00:54:47.230 --> 00:54:51.210
In light of everything, d- regardless of who's on the stage, regardless of

890
00:54:51.230 --> 00:54:54.710
what building you're in, regardless of what podcast you're listening to, regardless

891
00:54:54.770 --> 00:54:57.810
of how long that person has made you feel good about yourself, the question that

892
00:54:57.850 --> 00:55:00.390
you need to be asking is, "God, what are you

893
00:55:00.550 --> 00:55:04.538
saying?"What are you saying?

894
00:55:04.578 --> 00:55:07.937
What are you teaching me? What are you showing me? What are you correcting me in?

895
00:55:07.977 --> 00:55:10.497
What are you, what are you trying to steer me away from?

896
00:55:11.558 --> 00:55:14.917
That is our prayer that helps us discern truth from

897
00:55:14.957 --> 00:55:18.908
lies. And thank God that he places his

898
00:55:18.937 --> 00:55:20.558
spirit within us.

899
00:55:22.058 --> 00:55:26.038
Because in a world that's full of noise and full of uncertainty, the still,

900
00:55:26.078 --> 00:55:29.988
small voice of the Holy Spirit will provide you a certainty and a clarity that

901
00:55:30.018 --> 00:55:33.738
makes you hold on fastly to this word, and hold on to the truth of the

902
00:55:33.778 --> 00:55:34.298
Gospel.

903
00:55:35.437 --> 00:55:38.618
And if you're here and you've never responded to that truth before, if you're here

904
00:55:38.658 --> 00:55:42.468
and, um, uh, you've never said yes to Jesus, here's the good news.

905
00:55:42.477 --> 00:55:45.957
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is the first inheritance

906
00:55:45.977 --> 00:55:48.658
(laughs) when you put your faith in Jesus.

907
00:55:48.678 --> 00:55:52.526
He fills you from the inside out and starts to, uh, uh, massage your heart and

908
00:55:52.618 --> 00:55:55.968
correct your spirit and to, to transform you into the image of

909
00:55:56.038 --> 00:55:59.538
Christ. He teaches us and guides us into all truth.

910
00:56:00.678 --> 00:56:04.518
Scripture calls him the Helper. And if you wanna invite the Helper

911
00:56:05.218 --> 00:56:09.158
to lead you, uh, through this life, I just wanna take a moment for all of us

912
00:56:09.178 --> 00:56:11.828
to pray together. Father God, thank you so much for your goodness and for your

913
00:56:11.837 --> 00:56:15.417
grace. God, I know we covered a lot of ground

914
00:56:15.437 --> 00:56:19.317
today, but this is so important.

915
00:56:19.357 --> 00:56:22.158
God, there is no greater truth than the truth of who you

916
00:56:22.258 --> 00:56:25.538
are. There is no greater reality

917
00:56:27.058 --> 00:56:29.317
than who Jesus came to show himself to be to us.

918
00:56:29.337 --> 00:56:32.417
And Lord, I just pray that you would protect all of us,

919
00:56:33.477 --> 00:56:37.337
that you would safeguard us. That we know that there are, uh, so many messages and

920
00:56:37.477 --> 00:56:41.397
so many voices out there. God, we pray that

921
00:56:41.437 --> 00:56:45.098
your voice will be louder and clearer than anyone else's, even my

922
00:56:45.138 --> 00:56:48.098
own. As I stand on this stage, God, I humbly submit to

923
00:56:48.158 --> 00:56:52.127
you. I pray that if there's anything that I said that, that is

924
00:56:52.198 --> 00:56:55.558
not true or is in error, God, let that thing fall to the

925
00:56:55.578 --> 00:56:56.738
ground.

926
00:56:57.877 --> 00:57:01.497
Holy Spirit, only, uh, uh, teach us the things that you would have us know.

927
00:57:01.538 --> 00:57:02.997
Make us more into the image of Jesus.

928
00:57:03.018 --> 00:57:06.038
And God, let that ultimately impact the way that we live our lives.

929
00:57:06.058 --> 00:57:09.417
Lord, we love you. We love you. We love

930
00:57:09.477 --> 00:57:13.138
you. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

931
00:57:13.178 --> 00:57:15.078
Thank you, guys.