Sermon
Reigning Faith p.3 with Ap. Marci Glisson
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Second Peter chapter 1 verses 5 through 11.
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This is where we started our journey a few weeks ago and it
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said this for this very reason applying.
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Well, actually I don't want to read out of the amplified.
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I want to read it out of the new American standard.
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So second Peter, and we'll start in verse one just to recap
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because it's been a couple of weeks.
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Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ to those
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who have received a faith of the same kind of ours by the
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righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and
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Jesus our Lord. Seeing that His divine power has
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been granted to us and everything that we need
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pertaining to life and godliness, aren't you thankful?
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Come on that He gave us faith, Hallelujah, and that now we have
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been given everything that we need for life and godliness to
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live here doing and growing and becoming everything that God has
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in store for us to be and to do. Verse 2 says grace and peace be
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multiplied to you and the knowledge of God our Lord Jesus
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Christ. Seeing that this divine power.
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Did I already read that? Sorry.
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Yes, through the true knowledge of Him who has called us His own
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glory and excellence, For by these He has granted to us His
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precious and magnificent promises.
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Aren't you thankful for His promises, so that by them you
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may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
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the corruption that is in the world by lust.
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Now, for this very reason also applying all diligence in your
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faith. So we've been talking about
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faith and we have said this, that faith is what the currency
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of the Kingdom. So faith is the thing that we
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need as a believer to be able to operate in the Kingdom of God
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right now in the earth, right? And it is the very thing that we
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need to make an exchange so that we can receive the promises that
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God says we can have in His word.
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And the whole Kingdom operates off faith and faith alone.
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Come on. So our faith is very important.
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And we know I'm not going to go back through every Scripture,
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but we know that when we got born again, we saw right here
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that He gave us faith. He gave us His divine nature,
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and He gave us his divine power and everything that we need to
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be able to live this life. Amen.
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And we see here that we have some things that we must do with
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our faith if we're going to obtain and walk in the promises
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of God and the things that he wants us to have in the earth
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while we're living here. And so we know the Scripture
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says that every one of us has been given the measure of faith
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or what The seed of faith. We can say it that way.
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We've all been given the seed of faith the minute that we have
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confessed Jesus Christ as our Lord.
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Faith, come on. The seed of faith, the God kind
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of faith got planted within us. Amen.
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And now he expects us. We know Roman says the
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righteous. What are to what?
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Live by faith. We're to live by this faith.
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Faith is not to be obscure or say I'm a Christian, I have
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faith. No faith is to be actually lived
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by. It is to be tangible in our
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life. We're to what?
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Walk it out every day. Amen.
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He says it's impossible to please him.
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What without faith? So if we're going to be pleasing
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to him, we're going to have to live by faith.
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We're going to have to learn how to operate in faith.
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And we've we have been taught for years how faith comes.
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We know faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of
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God. We know we've been taught
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hindrances to our faith. What hinders our faith from
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working unbelief, doubt, not hearing the word or having
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knowledge of the word. What else hinders our faith?
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There's so many things, bitterness, unforgiveness, and
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we've taught and learned so much about that.
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We must what our faith worketh by love.
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But I have not heard a lot of teaching out of this scriptures
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verses one through 11 about there is some things about our
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faith that need to be added to that need to be added to.
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And here in second Peter it outlines 7 qualities that need
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to be added to our faith. Not just us being able to
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confess, you know, and call those things that be not as
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though they are Amen. No, there are some things that
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will bring a nourishment when he says here in verse 5, he says
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this now for this very reason also applying all diligence in
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your faith supply. So when you look up that in the
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Greek, it literally means there are some things that we are to
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add to our faith. We are to, it also means to
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furnish our faith with. So these things, these qualities
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are going to be a support to our faith.
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It's going to furnish our faith, It's going to add to our faith.
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And not only that, it is going to minister nourishment to our
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faith. When you look it up in the
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Greek, that's what that means. It's going to minister
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nourishment to our faith. And so we see that these
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qualities here that we list, these 7 qualities are things
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that He's letting us know need to come right alongside our
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faith to help our faith operate. Why is this so important?
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It's so important because He expects us to live by faith.
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He expects us to live. This is exciting news.
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We're not here trying to be, you know, you know, just whatever.
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No, this helps us actually be able to obtain the fullness and
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the promises of God in our life. And that is something that's
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awesome. Hey, man, don't you want to walk
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in the fullness of God? Don't you want to see the
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promises of God come to pass in your life?
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Don't you want to see the fullness of Christ and all the
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things in your life flourishing and growing?
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Come on. We want to receive these things
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that the Word says because it's good.
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It's not meant to be bad or a hard thing.
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No, it's meant to bring a refreshing to us and bring
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faithfulness to us and bring goodness to us and bring all the
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things that God says that we can have, which is the gospel, the
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what? Good news.
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So it's good news for us to walk into a faith that's going to be
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full and a faith that is actually going to be tangible in
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my life, not obscure, that I can actually see the faithfulness of
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God, the plan of God, the purposes of God come to its
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fullness in my life, which is if that's healing, then I can by
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faith believe God that my body can be healed and whole.
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Isn't that good? Yeah, Hallelujah.
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If He says in His word that there is a full resource
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financially, that He shall supply all of my needs according
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to His riches and His glory, that I by faith, would be able
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to walk into that and receive that promise and see it tangibly
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work within my life to be a blessing to other people.
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Amen. So this is a good thing.
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This is not meant to be hard. This is not meant to be, you
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know, like what in the world I got to do.
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Yes, because it's good for you. It's good for you.
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Amen. It's good, it's wonderful.
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And so he says this, let's add some faith to add some things to
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our faith. And those seven points were
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what? Moral excellence, knowledge,
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self-control or temperance, perseverance or endurance?
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Come on, godliness. Godliness is a good thing.
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Aren't you thankful you're godly and you're not strung out on
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drugs on the side of the road? How many were and God delivered
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you. Come on.
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Hallelujah, godliness. These are good things that we
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are to add to our life. Brotherly kindness.
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Come on and love. So we see these 7 qualities here
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in Second Peter that are going to be a support to our faith.
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And do you know why this is so important?
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Because you know there's so many people.
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Well, I'm calling those things that be not as though they were
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and I'm, you know, getting my faith built up because faith
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comes from hearing and hearing from the word.
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And I'm doing I'm making my confessions, but yet they're
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still not seeing things come to pass in their life.
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Well, it might be because of this seven list, seven things in
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this list are not being nourished to your faith.
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So it may not be any of these other principles of faith that
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we've been taught except these that might still be lacking in
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your life, these principles that still may be lacking in our
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life. You know why this is important?
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Because I found a Scripture, it says in First Thessalonians,
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First Thessalonians chapter 3 and verse 10 out of the
1 Thessalonians 3 chapter mention
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amplified, this was Paul obviously talking.
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He says we continue to pray day and night most earnestly, that
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we would be able to come and see you face to face and may
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complete whatever may be imperfect and lacking in your
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faith. So there may be some things that
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are still lacking in your faith. And Paul's letting them know,
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man, I'm trying to get there so that I can help get you to a
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place. Come on and impart in you the
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Word so that your faith will not be lacking in some areas.
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And that's exactly what we're doing tonight, trying to impart
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within you that there may be some of these qualities that are
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lacking still in your life, but they are here to help what
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nourish your faith, build your faith up to be a support so that
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you can see some things begin to move and start come to pass in
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your life. Amen.
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Because faith is the currency and this is this is a must for
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us to be able to receive what God has for us.
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And so our faith has to be strong.
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Or you can say it like this when he says added to or nourished or
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ministered to or furnished or supplied to.
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You could also say faith. These qualities are a support to
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they're there to support your faith or what uphold it.
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And if one of these things is lacking, then what's going to
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happen? Your faith is not, there's going
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to be a what a crack in your faith, so to speak.
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So it's not going to work and support you and do the things
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that it should be doing in your life.
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And then how many of you, you can also look at these 7
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qualities, like how many of you remember when pastor ministered
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on ingredients of faith and he had the stove up here and
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cooking up things, you know, that were necessary for your
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faith. You can also say that these
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qualities that we list here, these seven things are also
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ingredients to your faith. And you need all of these
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things. Come on, working together,
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bringing all this resource together so that our faith will
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work. Hallelujah.
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Because what good is it to say I have faith and I'm not seeing a
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single thing work in my life or change or produce the fruit of
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come on. And so this is very important
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that we recognize this. And so all of these qualities he
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lists here is and you continue to read through second Peter one
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through 11 is so that we will grow and that we will increase.
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It is also so that it will keep us from being fruitless and
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idle. So as a believer, we should not
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be idle. This is what I'm saying.
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We should not be like that little boat in the pond idling
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while you're fishing and just sitting there idling along.
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No, we should be what? We have momentum moving forward.
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We have momentum moving forward. We're not going to be idle.
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We're not going to be fruitless. And if we do these qualities and
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add them to us, what is it going to do?
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It's going to keep us from falling and stumbling or messing
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up or what else was it stumbling, falling, making a
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mistake, sinning, or to trip or also to offend?
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Very interesting because your life matters, your life of faith
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matters and the qualities that he's talking about that that
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could be lacking in your life, could be causing someone else to
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stumble, could be causing someone else to stumble.
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And so again, because remember, this thing was not just about us
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and what Jesus did for us. This was about the Kingdom of
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God and the purpose and the plan of God that he had for your life
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so that you could be an influence into other people's
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lives. And So what we do matters and
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what we don't do matters, Amen. What we do matters, and what we
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don't do matters to God because it could trip someone else up
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and hinder them, be a stumbling block to them.
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And I know what he says about being a stumbling block.
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What does he say? You might as well tie that
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millstone around your neck and go throw yourself over into the
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sea or lake or river or whatever, right?
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So we don't want to be a stumbling block, but we can be
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if we're not putting the right things in our faith to produce
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the right things so that people see it in our lives.
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Let me read that second Peter 1 and 10 out of the amplified
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because when you read the whole context of this chapters one
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through 11 and you read about all the things that he gave to
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us through his power and his divine nature and he put within
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us, He's letting us know. I put all of that in you so that
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you can walk in these qualities, so that you can live these
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things out and add them to your faith.
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And so anyway, in second Peter chapter 1 and verse 10, let me
2 Peter 1 chapter mention
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read this to you out of the amplified.
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It says therefore, believers be all the more diligent to make
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certain about your calling and and him choosing his choosing
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you be sure that your behavior reflects and confirms your
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relationship with God. Are you hearing me your
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relationship with God? For by doing these things that
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they just, He just listed those 7 qualities.
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By doing these things actively and developing these virtues,
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you will never stumble in your spiritual growth and you will
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live a life that leads others away from sin.
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Do we live a life that leads others away from sin or do we
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participate with others in their sin?
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Just a question. Because he's letting us know
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right here. The reason for these qualities
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to be added to our faith is so that we are people, that we are
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not going to lead others into sin.
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And that is not just, you know, the things you want to list as
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sin. But how about sinning and
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gossip? How about sinning And you know
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what? Some of the other things that we
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think are not important, but God says they are.
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How about lying? How about not being a person of
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integrity? How about talking about your
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boss? Come on.
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Or your leaders. See, so these things matter and
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they will affect our faith and it may be we're not seeing a
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result of some things happening in our life is because we still
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need to grow in some of these qualities.
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Amen. So let's look at, you know, the
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last time we talked, the last Wednesday night, we talked about
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moral excellence and what was moral excellence or virtue?
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It was just you. And this is the context when you
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look moral excellence up, you aligning yourself with what is
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right according to the word. That is moral excellence.
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That is moral excellence. It also means right living or
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righteousness. So again, we wonder why things
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aren't happening. As a believer in our life, are
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we aligned with the word of righteousness?
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Are we living right? Are we living with integrity?
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Are we are we abstaining from sin?
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Or are we still dabbling and practicing and playing?
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So he's saying, listen, your faith is not going to fully
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work. If there's still some things
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that are not morally excellent in your life, you're not doing
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some right things. You're you're cheating people in
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your business. Oh, what about that one?
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You see what I'm saying? So there's a lot of things that
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we have to ask ourselves. Are we living right?
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Are we aligning ourselves with the right way of living
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according to the word? Not what the world says is
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right, not what the world says is love?
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Come on. But are we living according to
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what Agape has said in his word is love right and all of these
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things. So it has to do with aligning
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our thoughts, our feelings and actions with the righteousness
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of God. All of that matters to God.
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Remember, He cares about our whole being.
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First Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23 what that he wants
1 Thessalonians 5 chapter mention
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us to remain blameless, right? Both what spirit, soul and body
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until the coming of the Lord. He wants all of us to be right,
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all all aspects of us, our mind, our will, our emotions,
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everything to be in alignment with righteousness.
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And what does that mean? That I am choosing to do what he
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says about every scenario, every situation, everything.
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I'm not going to worry about how I feel about how this person
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made me feel. I don't have a right to lash
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out. I'm going to do what the word
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says. He says, if you're, you know,
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slapped in the face, then what are you to do?
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Turn the other cheek? Do I have a right to punch them
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out just cuz I feel like they deserve it?
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Right? So this is what we're talking
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about, right? Live it, doing things God's way,
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moral excellence. And so we we looked at all these
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things and we gave you a couple of scriptures concerning that.
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OK, so then let's move forward. We also talked about what is
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knowledge? Knowledge simply is his, His
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word, His wisdom, that's His knowledge, Amen.
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And us getting wisdom, getting understanding, getting the
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knowledge of God and then putting it into application in
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our life. And I can assure you this, that
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if you are putting into application the word of God in
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your life, you are going to look moral, period.
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Clearly, if you are doing the Word, you will be living morally
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excellent and righteous. But outside, if you don't know
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what the Word says about a situation, right?
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If you don't know that, the Word says, you know that you should
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not be in a, you know, extramarital situation.
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You're married and yet you're sleeping around with somebody.
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If you don't know what the word says about that, well then
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you're ignorant of the word. You don't have knowledge.
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But when you do have the knowledge, he who knows the
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right thing to do according to knowledge and chooses not to do
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it. It is what he said is send to
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you. So if you have the knowledge and
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you're applying it to your life, you will live morally excellent.
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You will be in a place of living in righteousness and the fruits
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of that will you'll see it produced in your life, right.
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So we must be in a position, and I'm going to tell you in the
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changes of look at the denominations now in the
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churches that have changed doctrine and belief.
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And if you as a believer and as a follower of Christ do not have
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your own knowledge of what the Word says, then you would what,
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fall in line with whatever they're saying.
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Well, it must be because we just want to be relevant to all
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people. But I know what the scripture
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says. I have knowledge of the Word.
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I know what he says, that there is a man and there is a woman.
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So no one can convince me otherwise.
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You see what I'm saying? So it's imperative that we stay
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in the word of God, rightly dividing the word of truth, and
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that that is your truth and there is no other truth because
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the world's truth changes. Now they're saying, you know,
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that this person is not a male, when scientifically, for
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billions of years we have said not billions.
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You know what I mean? For all these years, scientists
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have said these chromosomes are a male and these are a female.
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But now what is happening? They're changing it.
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But if we don't have the knowledge of the word as a
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believer, we will be deceived. OK, So if we'll a lie, we have
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to stay in truth because we've said this faith comes from what?
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Hearing and hearing from the word of God.
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And it doesn't come just from having heard.
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We have to be in a place that we are continually hearing the Word
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because I'm going to tell you, you can hear other things and it
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sounds convincing. That's why I've got to go back
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to the word. Wait a minute, what it, what's
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the word say? I need faith.
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I need to hear this word again. OK, So again, this is what we're
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talking about, what true knowledge is concerning the
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Word. And if we're going to have
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reigning faith, we're going to have to be people of the Word
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and continually in the Word. What else?
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Renewing our mind to the Word. That's why Romans 12/1 and two
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says that we are what? Therefore, to renew our minds
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daily, daily we need to be renewing our minds to the Word
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of God. I'm telling you, you can't take
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a day off. The minute you try to take a day
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off, boom, something's going to hit you.
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Try to get you off. Come on.
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No, we need to be daily renewing our mind to the word of God
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daily, taking in the bread of life daily.
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He tells us this is our bread and this is what we should be
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eating every single day because it will keep our minds anchored.
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He is the anchor, right? The Word should be the anchor to
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your soul so that when everything else is changing, it
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doesn't matter about my emotions, my will, all these
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things that are going on because I have an anchor to the Word of
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God for my soul and it's not going to be moved.
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An anchor holds right, and it holds true to truth.
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All right. So again, it's so imperative
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that we renew our mind to the Word of God and that we hold on
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to it daily. You know, as I was talking with
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Pastor about this as we were going home or whatever, and he
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said, you know, it seems as if too, when you make this list, is
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that these, these attributes or qualities or ingredients of
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faith that are supposed to be a support are it seems as if it
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can be progressive, right? Like it builds upon one another.
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Because he gives us the faith. And the first thing he tells us
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that we need to do is now start applying what the word, what
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the, the moral excellence is to our faith, which is start living
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right because because without faith you can't live right,
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right. So moral excellence is the first
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thing that he starts talking about that righteousness.
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You can't do it out in your own self and in your own works.
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You can't live a moral godly life without Christ.
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I don't care how good or nice you think someone is.
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They have the seed and the nature of sin in them.
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Okay, So the moral excellence and then once you have that
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faith put in you and you're growing in the righteousness of
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God in that moral excellence, the only way you're going to
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grow in that is through the knowledge of God's Word, right?
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And then what happens as you apply the knowledge of God's
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word and you're walking out these moral excellencies and
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living your life right, you're going to then have to have
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self-control to do it right? And, and that was our next point
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that it leads to is self-control or one translation says
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temperance, right? Temperance and self-control is
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so important. And things that you know, again
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should be evident in a believer's life.
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If you're a believer and you are out of control, you can tell
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that there's not been some things added to your faith.
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If you're out of control, like you are a practicer of being out
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of control in in, in your work, you're out of control.
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And in this situation that you just had with your family,
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you're out of control. Come on, you have no
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self-control. You have no temperance.
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Then you can tell you've not allowed these moral excellencies
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and these things to be added the word of God to your life.
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OK. And of course we know that
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self-control is what a fruit of the Spirit.
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It's a fruit of the Spirit. Amen. self-control and
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temperance is a full is a fruit of the spirit.
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And so when he talks about self-control and temperance,
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he's really talking about the virtue of one who knows how to
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master his passions and desires and sensual appetites.
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We're talking about reigning faith.
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We're talking about a reigning church.
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And what is reigning mean? That we know how to operate in
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dominion. And Pastor said several years
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ago that the first thing of dominion that we have to be
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operating in is our own life. You're not going to operate in
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dominion in other things if you can't even have self-control and
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dominion over things going on in your life, your flesh, your
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passions, your desires. And you can't have self-control
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with anger or whatever the case may be, right?
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And so he's letting us know that that's what he's actually
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talking about with Temperance, is being able to master these
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things. And He expects us to do this.
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And when we learn how to have self-control and temperance,
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then we're going to have strong faith.
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You know why? Because there's going to be
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times that you are standing and believing God in faith and the
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enemy's going to come in and try to get you off and distracted
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and get you aggravated because you're not seeing it come to
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pass and going to want you to just abandoned your position.
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And you have to have self-control and temperance to
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be a person that when I've done all the stand, I am standing and
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I will not be moved off my position.
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But if you haven't practiced self-control in the passions and
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all these other things in your life, then guess what?
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He's going to be able to get you off.
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It's going to be able to get you off because you're going to lose
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control and you're going to abandon your faith.
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You're going to abandon your position.
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And I'm telling you, This is why this these things have to be
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looked at and continually nurtured within our life as a
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believer if we're going to walk in the fullness and the promises
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of what God says that we should have in this life.
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So y'all know Galatians chapter 5 where he talks about what the
Galatians 5 chapter mention
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fruit of the spirit it is. But I want to go up to Galatians
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5 verse 16 and start there. Because remember, we're talking
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about being able to have self-control and temperance over
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the flesh, over the passions and the desires of the flesh, which
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is what the pride of life, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes,
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deceitfulness of riches. See, you can't have lust for
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money, come on, because that money is going to take you into
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a place that you don't want to be so looky.
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Here in Galatians chapter 5 and verse 16, he says, But I say to
Galatians 5 chapter mention
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you, walk habitually in the Spirit, seek Him and be
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responsive to His guidance, and then you will certainly not
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carry out the desires of the sinful nature which responds
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here. It is impulsively without regard
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to God and His precepts. For the sinful nature has its
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desires which is opposed to the Spirit, and the desire of the
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Spirit opposes the sinful nature.
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For these two, the sinful nature and the Spirit are what?
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In direct opposition to each other, continually in conflict.
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So this is never going to go away until we get our glorified
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bodies. So every day it is in conflict,
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our flesh is going to want to respond.
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This is why we must be continually what in the Word,
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adding, adding the knowledge of God's Word, renewing our mind to
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what the word says, walking righteously, walking in the
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moral excellencies of God, so that when it comes to the battle
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that's going to happen every day, because my flesh is going
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to want to respond still in a sinful nature, but because I've
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learned how to what master it? Take dominion over it because I
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don't let it dominate me, right? Then I'm going to be able to
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walk in the faith that I need in the circumstances that I need to
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have my faith working because I've learned how to not be
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moved, how to not be moved, how to not let things dominate me,
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how to not let things control my emotions, control how I feel.
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All these things that want to get you off of where you're at
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with God. OK, so he tells us this.
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And then what does he say here in verse?
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Where were we at? Continually in conflict so that
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you as a believer do not always do whatever good things you want
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to do. Verse 18 But if you are guided
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and led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
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Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident.
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And then he lists all the things, right?
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But look what he says here. I love the way the Amplified
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reads this. Total irresponsibility and lack
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of self-control here as one of these works of the flesh.
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And This is why we've got to be people that have learned how to
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have temperance and put this body in subjection.
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Come on and learn how to master its passions and its desires.
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Verse 20 Idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy,
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fits of anger. Come on, as a believer, are you
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still having temper tantrums? Fits of I mean, it should not be
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so. And this could be a reason why
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your faith is just lacking and not working because you have not
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put under these things and mastered them and added them to
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your faith. Add them.
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Bring a supply to your faith by operating in self-control and
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temperance right disputes. Dissensions, factions that
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promote heresies, envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior,
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and all these other things. I warned you beforehand, just as
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I did previously, that those who practice such things will not
-
inherit the Kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit is what
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the result of His presence within us is.
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Lovejoy, inner peace. I love that inner joy is inner
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peace. Joy is more than an emotion of
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laughter. Joy is on the inside.
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Come on. So it doesn't matter how you
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feel, you should have joy on the inside.
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That's why you should be joyous about the days ahead.
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Come on about the days ahead. Because it doesn't matter my
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circumstances, because I know that the joy of the Lord is a
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fruit of the Spirit and it lives on the inside of me.
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And I'm going to choose this day to operate in joy and inner what
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peace and pull strength up from the inside of me to be able to
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look forward at the days ahead and be able to laugh.
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Because my God sits in the heavens and laughs.
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He is not moved by one thing, by one thing.
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He sits in the heavens and he laughs.
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Patience, not the ability to wait, but how we act while we
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are waiting. Oh, that's a good one.
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How do you act when you are waiting in the line at Disney
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World? How you waiting while you're in
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the line at the grocery store? How are you waiting in the line?
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Come on of traffic in Saint Augustine, right?
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How are we waiting? Are we really patient or are we
-
agitated? I'm adding to my faith just like
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everyone of you add to your faith.
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Come on, when you're ready, when you want something to be done,
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are you being patient with God? God, this should already be
-
taken care of. But are we being patient?
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Say, let my patience have, it's perfect work in you because it's
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doing something in you. It's doing something in you.
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It's doing something in me, right?
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So inner peace, patience, not the ability to wait, but how we
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act while waiting, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
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gentleness, and what self-control.
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All of these have already been imparted within us in our spirit
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by the Holy Spirit. And what are they to do?
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They're to flourish and they are to be evident in a believer's
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life. And the way they're going to be
-
evident in the believers life is that we're going to be in
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situations that are going to pull, have to pull these fruits
-
out. Amen.
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And if we never let these fruits come out, we're not adding to
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our faith. Some things that God says need
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to be added to our faith to be able to properly work so that we
-
see some results. OK, So what is verse 23 says?
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Gentleness, self-control. Against these things there is no
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law and those who belong to Christ Jesus.
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What has crucified this sinful nature together with its
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passions and appetites? Remember, that's what we said
-
self-control and temperance is about being able to crucify
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these passions and these appetites of the normal fleshly
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responses because we're in this right body that has not been
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glorified yet, right? Verse 25, If we claim to live by
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the Spirit, we must what, also walk by the Spirit.
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Look at, look at, Amplified says with personal integrity, godly
-
character and moral courage. Our conduct should be empowered
-
by the Holy Spirit. Moral integrity, godly
-
character, these are all things that should be a part of our
-
faith. And sometimes people's faith is
-
not work working properly because there are some things
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that are not godly about their life.
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And I don't care how long you quote Mark 1123 and 24.
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He's not going to work through your life with a life of non
-
integrity and character of God. Now he's going to give you time
-
to grow because he's a good God and he knows where everybody is
-
and he's going to work through you where as you're growing and
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do it. But when you know and you choose
-
not to change certain things and still allow and excuse certain
-
behaviors, then your faith is going to be hindered and lacking
-
and you're not going to see the results.
-
And you're going to wonder why, Well, why is everybody else
-
prospering? Why is everybody else's marriage
-
been restored? Why is everybody else's kids,
-
you know, doing good and not rebelling?
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Now, I know that your kids have their, they have a will, but I'm
-
going to tell you, you as parents can open the door to
-
some things for your kids if you hide and stuff in you.
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But that's a whole nother subject.
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That's a parenting conference that most parents don't want to
-
come to. But anyway, we'll move on.
-
This will be our last scripture 'cause I know y'all are ready to
-
go. So Romans chapter 8, let's look
Romans 8 chapter mention
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what it says about self-control and temperance In Romans 81 and
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17 it says therefore now there's no condemnation for those who
-
are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit is
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life which is in Christ Jesus. And the law of our new being has
-
set us free from the law of sin and death.
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For what the law could not do, that is, overcome sin and remove
-
its penalty, its power being weakened, and by the flesh man's
-
nature, without the Holy Spirit, God did.
-
He sent His Son in the likeness of a sinful man as an offering
-
for sin, and he condemned sin in the flesh, subdued it, overcame
-
it in the person of His own Son, so that the righteous and the
-
just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in US who do
-
not live our lives in the ways of the flesh, guided by
-
worldliness and our sinful nature, but we live our lives in
-
the ways of the Spirit, guided by His power.
-
See, we do not have to be in a We don't have to have
-
self-control and temperance by willpower.
-
Some of us are trying to do this in our own willpower instead of
-
the power of the Holy Spirit. But you know, I know there's
-
many people that do have willpower and can be so
-
disciplined when it comes to working out and eating right and
-
all these other things. And I know people that have such
-
willpower when it comes to a budget and finances and all
-
these things, but yet they have no willpower to do the word.
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Right. So again, God doesn't expect us
-
to have willpower to do it in ourselves.
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He has empowered us with everything we need for life and
-
godliness and has given us Dunamis power.
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We said this from the very beginning, Dunamis power,
-
dynamite power living on the inside of us so that we can walk
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and have self-control and do all the things that he is saying.
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These qualities are needed to be added to our faith so that we
-
can walk it out in this life. Amen.
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So that we do not have to be mastered by our flesh and our
-
passions of the way we feel and all these things.
-
But no, we have allowed the Holy Spirit on the inside of us to
-
dominate and to empower us with the grace of God to be able to
-
walk in self-control and temperance.
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Come on. And all the things that we need
-
to be able to walk morally excellent.