October 9, 2025 • 57 mins
What is a Christian? A Christian is someone who is dedicated to living for Christ. Pastor Lance shares from Scripture the dedication of a Christian and gives 6 principles that show I want to live for Christ.
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(00:00):
Father, we thank you for today. We are grateful, Lord, for this
opportunity to spend time in theword of the Lord.
You have allowed us this opportunity, Lord, and we are
grateful. Our prayer tonight is that you'd
open our hearts and minds to be able to behold the the beauty of
your great name and that Lord, we would understand what it is
you'd have us do as your children that we might live in
(00:22):
obedience to You. We are grateful Lord, for the
word of God that teaches us, that grows us, that stimulates
us, that motivates us, and that the Spirit of God uses the word
of God to move us on to maturityin Christ.
For that we are grateful and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.
(00:43):
This past week I had a unique opportunity.
We had a homeless man come by the church on Monday and he came
by because he needed a place to stay.
He had been kicked out of the location he was for alcohol and
he had been there for eight months.
But because he was drinking, they they kicked him out.
(01:05):
And so he came by the church andof course Peggy asked if I'd
love to talk to him. And I said sure, I'd love to.
So I came down and talked to himabout his situation, why things
went the way they did. And I asked him, do you live in
the area? He said, well, my wife and two
children, they, they live in West Covina.
I said, well, why don't you, whydon't you go to their, their
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home? So I can't because I've been
kicked out of my home. I said, well, when you, when
were you kicked out? I was kicked out two years ago
by my wife and by my father-in-law simply because of
my alcoholic problem. I said, oh, so you can't go back
there because you were kicked out.
You can't go back to the home you were in because you were
kicked out. What do you want me to do?
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I mean, where do you want me to put you?
I don't know what to do. He says, well, I just need a
place to stay. So I said, well, you know, we
can find a place for you and look for a place and see if
there's someone who can take you.
And he had in his Bible, he had a beat up Bible.
He had a a place that would allow him if we call to maybe
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stay. So I took out my phone and
called the place and the man said yes, we we do have a bed
and yes he could he could come tonight.
I said great, I see he goes wellwe need to interview him.
I said OK, so I put him on the phone.
His name is Ronnie. I sit here Ronnie, this guy
wants to interview you. So he interviewed him on the
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phone and then gave the phone back to me and I said does he
pass the interview process? He says yes.
Says now our home is in Fontana.I said, well, that's a good
thing. I I live in Fontana.
That's not a problem. Where, where is the home at?
So he told me exactly where it was.
I said, what? That's right next to my house.
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No problem. So I hung up with him.
I said, OK, Ronnie, we're going to get in my car and we're going
to make our way to Fontana because they have a bed for you
tonight and you can stay there for as long as you want.
He said, really? I said, yeah, so let's get your
stuff and get your coat and get in my car and off we'll go.
So we got in the car and I said,hey, you know what?
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It's a it's about a 40 minute drive and I probably need
Starbucks to get me home, so howabout we go by and get some
coffee? He goes, well, I don't drink
coffee, so you don't drink coffee.
He says, no, I said you drink alcohol, but you don't drink
coffee. He says, no.
I said, we need to change that around for you to help you
understand that coffee is a lot better for you than alcohol is.
He says, yeah, yeah, I know. I said, so how about if I just
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get you a lemonade? He goes, OK, so I got
Frappuccino and got some lemonade and off we went.
I said, now we have a 40 minute drive and I said, so I have you
as a as a captive audience and, and I'm a preacher.
So I'm going to talk to you about the Lord Jesus Christ for
the next 40 minutes. He said, really?
I said, yeah, for the next 40 minutes I'm going to talk to you
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about the Lord. And so I very succinctly went
through the gospel with him to help him understand what it
means to make a decision for Christ.
What the Bible says in Luke Chapter 9 verse #23 that if any
man follow me, let him deny himself, take his cross and
follow me. I said, there's a decision that
you need to make based on what God says in his word.
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Outside of that, you need to understand what a Christian is.
I said, do you know what a Christian is?
He says, well, somebody who who follows God.
I said, well, sort of. I said, but let me explain to
you what a Christian is. So I began to define for him
Christianity. Having defined Christianity for
him, I, I went on to describe for him exactly what a Christian
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is. How he is in Christ, in Christ
is in him. I said, you need Christ in you.
I said, because the only way youcan overcome your addiction, the
only way you can overcome the alcohol addiction that you have
is through the power of the Spirit of God in your life.
You can't do it on your own. You can go and you can go to
some kind of rehab center, whichyou have done and you were sober
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for a while. It didn't last, I said, but
Jesus Christ can do a great and mighty work in your life.
So once you're in Christ and Christ is in you, then the
Spirit of God does a a marvelouswork.
So I talked to him about what itmeans to be in Christ.
If any man be in Christ, he is anew creation.
Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. And I said, you need to become
new. I said, and God is just want to
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reshape you. He wants to recreate you into
his image. So we talked about that for a
little bit and I asked him some questions along the way.
And and then I finally said to him, you need to understand that
to be a Christian, you must confess that Jesus Christ is the
Son of the living God, that he is the Messiah of God and that
he came to die for your sins. So it took me all of the 40
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minutes on our way to Fontana totalk to him about the Gospel.
We got to the end of the our time and I said, listen, you
need to give your life to Christbecause that's the only hope you
have. He said, well I'm not sure I
want to do that. I said, well, you might not be
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sure you want to do that. I said, but if you die tonight
and you're really in not really good condition, but if you die
tonight, you're going to go to hell and you're going to burn in
hell forever. I said, but you can go to heaven
if you give your life to Christ.But you need to do that.
And if I was you, I wouldn't putit off much longer.
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I said, because you have no guarantee how much longer you're
going to live. And I said, so you, you know
where my church is and you know what my name is and so you know
where we're at. You're more than welcome to come
anytime you you want to come, but I will let you know I'm
going to buy you buy you lunch. And then you just need to wait
right here and the the home is going to come by and pick you up
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right here at Ralph's in in Fontana.
And then it'll take you to whereyou need to be and give you a
place to sleep. He says, OK, I said, but you
need to know that all this was providential.
So you know what Providence is? He says no.
I said, do you know what the sovereignty of God is?
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He says no. I said, well let me explain to
you. So I explained it to him.
I said it was providential that you came by the church today.
It was providential that the home was in Fontana.
It was providential that that God allowed me to talk to you
about the gospel today for 40 minutes without any
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interruptions. It was providential that that
God has allowed us to engaged inthis conversation.
This was not an accident. This was a divine appointment.
And I'm not sure how many more divine appointments God's going
to give you to hear the gospel. He might give you more, He might
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not, I said. But you need to understand that
today is the day of salvation. You can put it off for a day or
two or three or four or how longyou want, but I can't guarantee
that you'll live all those days.I can only guarantee this
moment. He says I hear you, but I'm not
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sure. I, I, I just want to do that.
It's OK that that choice is completely yours.
So you know my name, you know where our church is, You're
welcome anytime. Basically the whole conversation
centered around what is a Christian trying to explain to
him, the decision that a Christian makes, the definition
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of a Christian, the description of a Christian, the declaration
of a Christian. I basically summed up in 4 weeks
what we talked about in 40 minutes.
And of course you're probably thinking, why can't you just do
what you did in four weeks and 40 minutes, right?
But I didn't give him the whole kit and caboodle like I'm giving
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you guys. So the bottom line is, is that
you walk people through an understanding of what it means
to be a Christian. And when you get all said and
done, they they might want to respond, they might not want to
respond. And our job is not to get them
to respond. Our job is just to present the
gospel. Our job is to show them the way,
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help them to understand who Christ is.
And that's all our responsibility is.
We don't save people. We just proclaim the truth to
people. God saves people.
Ronnie and I had a time of prayer together before we left.
I fed him lunch or bought him lunch.
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And then I said, I trust that one day you'll give your life to
Christ. What is a Christian?
I told him. I said, you know, when you
become a Christian, you live no longer for yourself, you live
for Christ, and that's just the greatest of all lives.
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I said right now you're living for yourself.
That's why you're an alcoholic and that's why you've been
kicked out of your house, and that's why you've been kicked
out of the home you're in because you're living for
yourself. But a Christian, he lives for
Christ, and that simply is the Christian and his dedication.
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A Christian is dedicated to living for Christ.
Paul said it well in Philippians121 For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain. That is the Christian's
dedication. He does that simply because of
what the Bible says in Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse #15
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which says he, Christ, died for all.
So they who live might no longerlive for themselves, but for him
who died and rose again on theirbehalf.
Christ died so you would no longer live for yourself, but
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you would live for Christ. So Paul says for to me, to live
is Christ and to die is gain. Paul was dedicated to living for
Christ, not living for himself. But isn't it interesting that
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everybody lives for someone or something?
You you live either for money, power, prestige and fame.
You live for recognition, you live for honor, you live for
appraisal. You, you live for yourself.
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Everybody lives for someone or for something.
But the Christian is unique. He doesn't do that.
He lives for Christ. For to me, to live is Christ and
to die is gain. Now do you live for Christ
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perfectly? No.
But you do live for Christ progressively.
That is, you progress in Christ like this because you want to
live more and more like the Christ.
But nobody lives perfectly for Christ, this thought of
eternity. But you do progress in your life
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with Christ and for Christ. And so when Paul says for to me
to live as Christ and to die as gain, he recognizes that the
premise of a great life is to live for Christ.
And the promise of a great life is nothing but gain, complete
gain. Why?
Because everything for a Christian is gained in glory.
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The Christian knows that. Because the Christian doesn't
live for the here and now, because he's not of this world.
He knows that. She knows that the Christian
knows that they're aliens and strangers in a foreign land.
They know that they're only passing through.
They're living for Christ because they're living for
eternity. They have the value of eternity
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in mind in all that they do. That's the Christians
dedication. He's dedicated to living for
Christ. So I ask you the question this
evening, who are you dedicated to living for?
What do you live for every single day?
What do you wake up for every single day?
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What motivates you all throughout the day?
Is it the Christ or is it someone else, or something else?
Unfortunately, most of us live only for ourselves.
Solomon did. Remember Solomon, please.
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Yes, he's chapter 2. This was his testimony about his
life. Listen to what he says.
Verse one I said to myself, comenow, I will test you with
pleasure. Enjoy yourself.
Now we might not say it like that, but that's how Solomon
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said it. Remember, this is his journal.
Those of you who with us who arestudying Ecclesiastes, this is
the life journal of of Solomon. He lived for himself, it says,
and behold, it too was futility.I, I said of laughter, it is
madness and of pleasure. What does it accomplish?
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I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine
while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of
folly until I could see what good there is for the sons of
men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.
I enlarged my works. I built houses for myself, I
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planted vineyards for myself, I made gardens and parks for
myself and I planted it in them all kinds of fruit trees.
I made ponds of water for myselffrom which to irrigate a forest
of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves,
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and I had a home born slaves. Also AI possess flocks and herds
larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
Also I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure
of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and
female singers and the pleasuresof men, many concubines.
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Then I became great and increased more than all who
preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them.
I did not withhold my heart fromany pleasure, for my heart was
pleased because of all my labor,and this was my reward for all
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my labor. Thus I considered all my
activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had
exerted, and behold, all was vanity and striving after wind,
and there was no profit under the sun.
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Here was the wisest man, the richest man, the king of Israel,
who could have whatever he wanted and basically obtained
all that he desired. And after it was all said and
done, he said, you know what? It's just nothing but emptiness.
There's nothing there. It's futile.
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There's nothing of value here amidst all the parks and all the
ponds, amidst all the houses andall the money, amidst all the
concubines and all the slaves, amidst all the things that he
erected and created and he coulderect and create anything he
desired. None of it fulfilled him.
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It was all empty. None of it accomplished what he
thought it would accomplish, because the things of this world
just don't do that. But Solomon lived for himself.
And for those of us who think that living for ourselves is
going to bring us the happiness and the joy of our lives, it
does not. Oh, it might break you satisfied
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for a moment or two, but it doesn't bring you lasting joy.
Only Christ can do that. That's why Paul says for to me
to live is Christ. He died that I might live for
him, that I might no longer livefor myself.
You have to ask that question. If you're living for yourself,
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do you really know the Christ? You have to ask that question.
If Christ died, said you would no longer live for yourself but
for him. Why is it you keep living for
yourself? That's a legit question.
Why don't you live for Christ? Why don't you live to honor him
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and to please him and to and to glorify his name?
We fight this struggle all the time.
And So what does it mean to livefor Christ?
And how do you know you live forChrist?
Well, let me give you a few principles that will help you,
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that will guide you along the path of living for Christ.
Those who who live for Christ, number one, listen to Christ.
Now this might sound elementary or basic, but in order to live
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for Christ, you got to listen toChrist.
You got to hear Him speak. That's why the Bible is replete
with commands about he who has ears to hear.
Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 2 and three Christ would say in Luke chapter 8.
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Be careful what you hear in Marsgospel, he said Be careful how
you hear because if you have ears to hear you need to listen
well. Jesus said in John chapter 5
verse #24 He who hears my words and believes in him who sent me
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has eternal life. Those who live for Christ listen
to what He says they want to hear.
What Christ has said the Bible says in Luke 9 verse #35 on the
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Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James and John hear the
thundering voice out of the cloud.
This is my beloved son. Listen to him, listen to him.
Mary and Martha had their spat in Luke chapter 10 because Mary
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wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus and and listen to him
speak. But Martha wanted to do the work
in the house to prepare the mealand was upset that Mary wasn't
helping her. And Christ said to Martha, oh
Martha, you are worried about somany different things, but Mary
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has chosen the good part. Mary has chosen the one thing
that's needful, just one. One thing is what's really
needed in your life, Martha. And Mary's chosen that better
part. And that is a sit at the feet of
Jesus and listen to what he has to say.
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That that has always been the theme.
You can go all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy chapter 6. It says now this is the
commandment, the statutes of thejudgments which the Lord your
God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in
the land where you are going over to possess it.
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Say you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord and
your God, and keep all the statutes and his commandments
which I command you all the daysof your life, and that your days
may be prolonged. Oh, Israel, you should listen.
Listen and be careful to do thatit may be well with you, and
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that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of
your Father's has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and
honey. Then the great Shema, which
means to hear, hear, O Israel, are you listening?
The Lord your God is one. Are you listening Israel later
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in in the book of Deuteronomy Chapter 11 verse 26, Moses says
see I am sitting before you today a blessing and a curse.
The blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord
your God, which I commanding youtoday, and the curse, if you do
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not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn
aside from the way which I commend you today by following
other gods which you have not known, there's a blessing and a
cursing. The blessing comes to those who
listen and obey. The cursing comes to those who
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do not listen. Therefore they cannot obey it.
But it's always about listening to what God says, not not
listening superficially, not notlistening with a, with a 1/2
hearted turning to God. He, he wants you to listen with
all of your heart. He wants you to listen intently.
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He, he wants you to listen wholeheartedly with passion.
He wants you to hang on every word that he says.
But you know what? For the most part, we don't do
that. We go to church or we read the
Bible and and we are partially listening.
But no, no, we're not really allinto listening, you know, And
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the question comes, why not? In order to live for Christ, you
have to listen to what the Christ has to say.
So therefore, you're all in and on, on what he is saying.
Later in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse #15
the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
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among you, from your own countrymen, and you shall listen
to him. There's coming to prophet Moses
says that that's, that's greaterthan I am from our own
countrymen and, and you need to listen to him.
And that's why Luke 9 is so important, because when God says
this is my beloved son, listen to him.
It was a fulfillment of the bookof Deuteronomy, the 18th
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chapter, that this was the prophet, the prophet, not a
prophet, but the prophet that would eventually come, the
Messiah of Israel. Solomon would say in Proverbs
chapter one verse #33 he listensto me, shall live securely.
Who doesn't want to live securely?
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He listens to me, will live securely and will be at ease
from the dread of evil. Who doesn't want to be at ease
from the dread of evil? Well, it comes from listening to
what God says. Proverbs chapter 8.
Solomon once again says it this way.
Heed instruction, be wise, do not neglect it.
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Then he says, Blessed is the manwho listens to me, watching
daily at my gates, waiting at mydoorposts.
For he who finds me, finds life,and obtains favor from the Lord.
Blessed is the man who listens to me.
Blessed is the man who waits daily at the doorposts, who
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can't wait to hear what God has to say.
To live for Christ begins with listening to what Christ has to
say. Again, every one of us listens
to something or someone. The question is, do you listen
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to God more? Do you want to hear what God has
to say more than anyone else hasto say?
That's the important thing. So to live for Christ means you
listen to the Christ #2 Those who live for Christ not only
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listen to the Christ, but they love the Christ.
Notice this, If you listen to him, you will love Him.
And one of the reasons you don'tlove Him as you should is
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because you're not listening to what He says.
The key to everything is being agood listener.
That's why. That's why Stalin says in
Ecclesiastes after 5, when you go near to the House of God, go
there. Guard your steps, because you go
there to listen. Why do you go to church?
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You go to listen. That's why you come.
What is God's going to say? What does God's word say?
How is God going to speak to me today through His Word?
When you draw near to the House of God, guard your steps because
you're going there for one reason and one reason only.
You're only going there to listen because Jesus said
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there's one thing that's needfuland you need to hear me speak.
And God only speaks through His Word.
So God's word must be preached and proclaimed.
So you know what God says? Well, when you listen to the
Lord speak, you can't help but love the Lord who has spoken.
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That's why the Bible says in First Corinthians 1622, if
anyone does not love the Lord, let him be a cursed.
Let him be a cursed. That's why Peter says in First
Peter 1/8 though you may not seeme yet, you love me, may not see
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the Christ, but you certainly love the Christ Philippians one.
This was Paul's prayer for the Church of Philippi.
He said, and this I pray that your love may abound still more
and more in real knowledge. OK, in real knowledge and all
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discernment. In other words, I want your love
to grow. And the only way your love is
going to grow is if you grow in the knowledge of God.
And the only way you are going to get to know God is if you
listen to him speak. And so I want your love to grow.
And by the way, this should be apattern for all of our lives
when it comes to praying for other people and for our church.
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When we pray about things that are so superficial, instead of
praying for things that are truly spiritual, everyone of us
should be engaged in praying, praying that our love would
abound more and more in the knowledge of God so that we can
have the discernment to be able to decide between that which is
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good and which is evil. That's what you need.
And then he says this so that you may approve the things that
are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the
day of Christ having been filledwith the fruit of righteousness
which comes through Jesus Christto the glory and praise of God.
I want you to be able to prove all things.
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I want you to be blameless for that to happen.
Your love has got to abound moreand more in the knowledge of
God. So important.
So let me ask you a question. Do you love the Lord?
I think everyone of us in the room would say, yeah, I love the
Lord. But the question comes, how do
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you know you love the Lord? Because if you're going to live
for Christ, you got to listen tohim and you must love him.
But what does it mean to love the Lord?
That's a great question. It goes way beyond the feelings
and emotions that we have for the Lord.
There is feeling and emotion in it.
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But how do you know you love theLord?
Well, let me give you a few ways.
You know that one is if you lovethe Lord, you're going to
meditate daily on the Word of God.
If you love the Lord, you're going to meditate daily on the
Word of God. Psalmist says this way, Psalm
119970 how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day.
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You see, if you love the Lord, you love His Word, because you
can't love the Incarnate Word without loving the inspired Word
to go hand in hand. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and the Word
became flesh and dwelled among us.
And the Word of God is the breathed Word of God.
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So to love the Lord do you must love His Word.
So you will meditate daily upon His word.
It says over in verse #127 thesewords.
Therefore I love your commandments above gold.
Yes, above fine gold. There you go.
Do you love the commandments more than gold, more than money,
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more than anything else? Verse 163 I hate in the spice
falsehood, but I but I love yourlaw.
Verse 159 Consider how I love your precepts.
Verse 167 My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them
exceedingly. You know you love the Lord when
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you meditate daily on the word of God because you can't wait to
hear Him speak another way. You know the Lord is not only
that you meditate daily in the Word of God, but you hate fully
all that God hates. You know you love the Lord when
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you hate what God hates. Hate evil.
All you who love the Lord, Psalm97 verse #10 hate evil, you who
love the Lord. So if you love the Lord, you
hate evil. So you're going to hate fully
what God hates. Remember first John chapter 2,
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First John chapter 2 verse #15 do not love the world nor the
things in the world. Why?
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
Him. You can't love the things of the
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world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and
the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not
from the Father, but it's from the world.
And the world's passing away also its lust.
But the one who does the will ofGod, that person abides forever.
So in other words, you hate whatGod hates.
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It's so important to realize this.
We we forget that our love is seen in hating what God hates.
And so we don't love the world, we don't love the things of the
world, we don't love evil. We hate evil because God hates
evil. So when you begin to get down to
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brass tacks as to what it means to love the Lord, it means that
you're going to meditate daily on the law of the Lord and
you're going to hate fully the things that God himself hates #3
if you love the Lord, you're going to imitate authentically
God himself. Ephesians 5 verses one and two,
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that we are to be imitators of God and walk in love.
So if you love the Lord, you're going to imitate authentically
God himself. You're going to walk in love.
This is so important. How do I know you love God?
I know you love God because you love your wife as Christ loved
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the church. That's how I know you love God.
I know you. I know you love God simply
because you're forgiving, because the greatest standard
and measurement for your love isthe willingness to forgive those
who have sinned against you. And so forgiveness then begins
to reign supreme in your life. For love covers a multitude of
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sins, the book of Proverbs tellsus, along with first Peter
chapter 4, love. Love does not expose people's
sins. Love covers those sins love
forgives. So you want to imitate God, you
want to imitate his forgiveness.You want to imitate his love,
you want to imitate his grace and his mercy.
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You want to begin to imitate authentically the God you say
you you love. You want to be like God, See
that? That's what love does.
That's how love manifests itself.
It manifests itself because I meditate daily on His law
because I want to know all thereis to know about Him because I
love Him so. And then I'm going to hate what
he hates because I don't want tooffend him in any way.
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And then I'm going to, I'm goingto imitate him daily because I
want to be like Him. That's how you know you love the
Lord. So important and #4 you, you
demonstrate. You demonstrate freely your
obedience to Christ. Listen to John chapter 14, John
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14 verse #15 If you love me, youwill keep my commandments.
Verse 21. He who has my commandments and
keeps them is the one who loves me.
And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will
love him and will disclose myself to Him.
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Love is always seen in obedienceto the commands of God.
I'm going to do what God says. If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. If you don't love me, you could
care less about my commandments.You don't want to obey my
commands, but if you love me, you will keep my commands.
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Another way is that you consecrate holy your life to God
above everything and everyone else.
So when Christ comes to Peter inJohn 21, it says, Peter, do you
love me more than these? And we don't know what the these
are in John 21. It could be the other disciples,
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it could be his business, his fishing business, right?
The question is, do you love me more than your financial
stability? Do you love me more than your
friends? Do you love me more than
anything else? Do you love me more than these?
He says, of course I love you, Lord, then feed my sheep.
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But Christ asked him three timesthat same question because he
wanted to make sure Peter understood that everything about
loving him centers around consecrating your life to him.
And he goes on and talks about how he's going to follow him and
how he's going to stretch out his hands where he doesn't want
to go. He's going to be crucified.
He's going to die by following Christ.
Those who love the Lord consecrate their lives fully and
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freely to him. He means more to them than
everything else, than anyone else.
So ask yourself, do you love theLord?
Peter denied the Lord, Judas denied the Lord, but Peter loved
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the Savior, Judas loved himself,and Judas was the son of
perdition. Big difference there.
And so you have to ask yourself,do I love the Lord?
Why? This is why I listen to Him,
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because I get to know Him, and if I listen to Him, I will love
Him. For to me, to live is Christ.
To do that I must listen to him #1 #2 I must love Him, and #3 I
must learn all I can about Him. If you love the Lord, you're
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going to learn everything you can about Him, and you'll never
stop learning. You'll want to know Him deeply.
Intimately, Daniel 1132 says that people who know their God
will display strength and take action.
Let me ask you a question. Do you display strength and take
action? If you don't display strength,
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you probably don't know the Lord.
If you display weakness and fragility, you probably don't
know the Lord. Daniel says if you know the
Lord, you will display strength and you will take action.
You will do great exploits for God.
Why? Because the knowledge of God
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does something in your life thatmoves you and motivates you to
live for the glory and honor of His Kingdom.
And the power of God within the life of a person catapults them
to action. So important to realize this.
There's something about knowing God and learning about God.
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It it is, it is a pursuit, a pursuit that is impenetrable.
In other words, you're, you're never going to know God fully
this side of eternity. Psalm 145 says his greatness is
unsearchable. You're never going to find it
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out. So, so knowing God is
impenetrable because he's infinite and you're finite, so
you're never going to fully cometo know him, but there's this
passion behind the pursuit of him to learn all you can about
him because he's your God, He's your savior.
He's the the God that you love. Knowing God is life's most
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impenetrable pursuit, but it's life's most impressionable
pursuit. Nothing will change your life
more than knowing the Lord God. Listen what the Bible says Over
in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 1, Paul says
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this. For this reason, since the day
we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to
ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will
walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
You can't walk in a manner worthy of the Lord unless you
know who He is. You got to learn all you can
about Him. You'll please Him in all
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respects. You'll bear fruit.
You'll increase in the knowledgeof God.
You'll be strengthened with all power according to His glorious
might. For the attaining of all
steadfastness and patience, joyously give me thanks to the
Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance,
inheritance of the Saints in light.
That's what God does. There's something about it,
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there's something about learningabout God that that just
catapults you into another sphere of living because
everything about your life centers around living for
Christ, knowing that dying is gain.
Back in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah says this, and Jeremiah
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Chapter 9 verse #1 Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a
fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain
of the daughter of my people. He wept for Jerusalem.
He went for Israel. Why?
Because Israel was once a strongnation.
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Israel was God's people. Israel was was going to be used
by God in a great and mighty way.
But now he begins to weep bitterly over Jerusalem.
He says the verse 20 that I had in the desert a wayfarers
lodging place that I might leavemy people and go from them.
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He said, oh, if I, if I just hada home, if I, if I had a condo
in Palm Springs, I would go there.
If I had a house in Tahiti, I would go there.
If I had a condo in Maui, I would go.
I would go anywhere to escape what I'm facing right now.
(44:29):
So he says these words for all of them are adulterers and
assembly of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like
their bow. Lies and not truth prevail in
the land, for they proceed from evil to evil.
I don't want to be around evil. I don't want to be around liars.
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I don't want to be around adulterers.
I don't want to be on treacherous mid.
So if I can escape and go someplace other than where I'm
at, I would do that. He couldn't, but if he could, he
would. So what was the problem that he
tells you? And they do not know me,
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declares the Lord. That was a problem in Israel,
Hosea tells us. They were destroyed for lack of
knowledge. They just did not want to learn
all they could about their God. It cost them desperately.
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It cost them tremendously because He would not learn all
they could about their God. To live for Christ simply means
that you listen to all that He says.
And once you listen to Him, you can't help but love Him.
And the more you love Him, the more you want to learn all you
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can about Him. So you know you love Him when
you just can't get enough of Him.
Have you had enough of God? Are you bored with God?
Are you done with God? Those who want to live for
Christ, they want to live to know all they could about Him.
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And know this, once you learn about Him, this is number 4.
You lean upon Him, you lean uponHim, you trust Him, right?
All your energies, your life is just thrust upon God.
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You can't help but trust Him. The psalmist in Psalm 50, verse
#15 says, Call upon me in the day of trouble.
I shall rescue you, and you willhonor me.
In Psalm 56, verse #3 when I'm afraid, I will put my trust in
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you. I'll lean upon you in God, whose
word I praise. In God I put my trust.
I should not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?
How about this Proverbs chapter 18?
Proverbs chapter 18, verse #10 The name of the Lord is a strong
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tower. The righteous runs into it and
is safe. The name of the Lord, the
character of God, the nature of God, is a strong tower.
It's a place of refuge, and the righteous can't wait to run into
it for safety, for protection. Verse 11 A rich man's wealth is
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his strong tower. This is this, and like a high
wall in his own imagination. Oh, how wise that is.
A rich man's strong tower is hiswealth, his riches, his
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financial stability. The righteous have a strong
tower, and that is the name of the Lord.
They run to the strong tower andthey are secure.
They they are safe, they are protected.
But the rich man, he runs to hisimagination, his imaginary
tower, his finances, his stability, his strength.
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What is your strong tower? What is your fortified city that
you run to, that you lean upon, that you trust in?
For some it's their their degree, their education, that's
their fortified city. For others it's their four O 1K
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That's their fortified city. For others it's a friend,
husband or wife. But for the righteous it's the
name of the Lord. That's the strong tower,
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Psalmist said. When I am afraid, I trust in
you. That's it.
I just lean on the Lord. Psalm 44, six says I do not
trust in my bow. What he doesn't say is
(50:01):
important. He doesn't say I throw my bow
away. I don't trust in my bow, so I
throw it away. No, he still has his bow.
See, you can still have riches, you just can't trust in riches.
You can still have friends, you just can't trust in your
friends. You can still be married, just
not trust in your marriage. You got to trust in the name of
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the Lord. You can't lean on your own
understanding. You got to trust in what God
says and who He is and those whowho love Him and have learned
all they can have. The reason you lean on Him is
because you learned about His omnipotence.
You've learned about His omnipresence, His omniscience.
You've learned about the fact that He's the mighty God, the
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Almighty God. You learn about His forgiveness,
His grace, His mercy. Do you learn about Him?
You can't wait to lean on Him because of who He is and because
of what He does. That's what it means to live for
Christ. That's how Paul lived his life.
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He lived the life that honored the Lord.
And those who live for Christ, they, they listen to him, they
love him, they learn about him, and they lean upon him.
JC Rile in his book on the holiness of God, says this about
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those who love God. This is really good, he says.
Let it never be said that we cannot find out whether a
Christian really loves Christ. You ever wonder whether or not
people know you love Christ or not?
This year, Rao says, Let it be known never, never be said that
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we cannot find out whether a Christian really loves Christ.
It can be known. It may be discovered.
The proofs are already in your hand.
You have heard them this very day.
Love to the Lord Jesus Christ isno hidden secret, no impalpable
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thing. It is like light, it will be
seen. It is like sound, it will be
heard. It is like heat.
It will be felt where it exists.It cannot be hid where it cannot
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be seen. You make sure, be sure that
there is no love at all. That's just so good.
If you love the Lord, like light, you see it.
Like heat, you feel it. But if you can't feel it and you
can't see it and you can't hear it, there is no love that's
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there. Now.
I didn't say that JC Rile, a much smarter man than me, a much
more intelligent man to me, a much better preacher than me,
understood the love of God. People say, well, I I love the
Lord, but you don't ever see it.You don't ever hear it, but they
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say it. Just because you said it means
nothing. Can you feel it?
Can you see it? Can you hear it?
That's when you know someone really truly loves the Lord.
So Paul says for to me to live is Christ and to die his game.
How do you know you live for Christ?
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How you listen to everything he says.
Can't wait to hear him speak. Once you hear Him speak, you
just fall deeper and deeper in love with Him.
And the more you love Him, the more you can't wait to know
about Him. So you just keep learning all
you can about Him, and the more you learn about Him, you just
lean upon Him all the time. Just trust Him day after day
because there's nothing else youcan trust in because He's
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everything. To live for Christ means you
look to Him for everything and no one else.
You look to Christ, your gaze isaway from everything and
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everyone, and you look to Christalone.
Looking into Jesus. Hebrews 12 the author, the
originator and finisher of our faith.
Consider him right If Hebrews tells us that that we look to
Christ, Why? Because He is the originator of
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our faith, and we turn our eyes away from the things of the
world and look completely upon Him.
And once you look toward Him, you long for Him to return, just
long for Him to come back. So what Paul would say in second
grade 2nd 4 verse #8 that the crown of righteousness is for
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all those who who love his appearing, who long for Him to
come back, and those who who live for Him long for him to
return. So Paul says, for to me to live
is Christ, and to die is the greatest of all gains.
(55:27):
How do you live for Christ? Well, you listen to what He
says, you love Him for who He is, you learn all you can about
Him, you lean upon Him, you lookto Him, and you long for Him.
Why? Because if you don't, you're
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lost without him. You're completely lost without
the Christ. And Paul knew that.
That's why I gave his life to Christ, because he was lost
without him. But with him you were found.
You're in Christ, you're his child.
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That's the Christians dedication.
He is dedicated to living for Christ and not for himself.
He is living dedicated to livingfor Christ and not for the world
or anything else. He is sold out to live for
Christ. Is that you?
What is a Christian? Christian is known by his
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dedication. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for tonightchance to be together to look
into Your word once again. Truly, you are a great God.
You've allowed us to have a brief moment where we can look
into the Word of God and examineour lives.
I pray for everyone in the room that Lord, they would truly live
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for Christ. They'd ask themselves, who am I
living for? What am I living for?
They might examine their lives in light of what Your word says
and ask, am I, Am I living for Christ or myself?
Do I listen to all that He says?Do I listen in such a way that I
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just love Him more and more? So much so I just want to learn
all I can about Him. I just can't get enough of Him.
And the more I learn about Him, I just lean completely and
totally upon Him for everything.I look to you, no one else that
long to be in Your presence one day.
May that be each and everyone ofus, Lord, as we seek to do your
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will and glorify your name untilyou come again, as you most
surely will, in Jesus name, Amen.
Father, we thank you for today. We are grateful, Lord, for this
opportunity to spend time in theword of the Lord.
You have allowed us this opportunity, Lord, and we are
grateful. Our prayer tonight is that you'd
open our hearts and minds to be able to behold the the beauty of
your great name and that Lord, we would understand what it is
you'd have us do as your children that we might live in
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obedience to You. We are grateful Lord, for the
word of God that teaches us, that grows us, that stimulates
us, that motivates us, and that the Spirit of God uses the word
of God to move us on to maturityin Christ.
For that we are grateful and we thank you in Jesus name, Amen.
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This past week I had a unique opportunity.
We had a homeless man come by the church on Monday and he came
by because he needed a place to stay.
He had been kicked out of the location he was for alcohol and
he had been there for eight months.
But because he was drinking, they they kicked him out.
(01:05):
And so he came by the church andof course Peggy asked if I'd
love to talk to him. And I said sure, I'd love to.
So I came down and talked to himabout his situation, why things
went the way they did. And I asked him, do you live in
the area? He said, well, my wife and two
children, they, they live in West Covina.
I said, well, why don't you, whydon't you go to their, their
(01:25):
home? So I can't because I've been
kicked out of my home. I said, well, when you, when
were you kicked out? I was kicked out two years ago
by my wife and by my father-in-law simply because of
my alcoholic problem. I said, oh, so you can't go back
there because you were kicked out.
You can't go back to the home you were in because you were
kicked out. What do you want me to do?
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I mean, where do you want me to put you?
I don't know what to do. He says, well, I just need a
place to stay. So I said, well, you know, we
can find a place for you and look for a place and see if
there's someone who can take you.
And he had in his Bible, he had a beat up Bible.
He had a a place that would allow him if we call to maybe
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stay. So I took out my phone and
called the place and the man said yes, we we do have a bed
and yes he could he could come tonight.
I said great, I see he goes wellwe need to interview him.
I said OK, so I put him on the phone.
His name is Ronnie. I sit here Ronnie, this guy
wants to interview you. So he interviewed him on the
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phone and then gave the phone back to me and I said does he
pass the interview process? He says yes.
Says now our home is in Fontana.I said, well, that's a good
thing. I I live in Fontana.
That's not a problem. Where, where is the home at?
So he told me exactly where it was.
I said, what? That's right next to my house.
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No problem. So I hung up with him.
I said, OK, Ronnie, we're going to get in my car and we're going
to make our way to Fontana because they have a bed for you
tonight and you can stay there for as long as you want.
He said, really? I said, yeah, so let's get your
stuff and get your coat and get in my car and off we'll go.
So we got in the car and I said,hey, you know what?
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It's a it's about a 40 minute drive and I probably need
Starbucks to get me home, so howabout we go by and get some
coffee? He goes, well, I don't drink
coffee, so you don't drink coffee.
He says, no, I said you drink alcohol, but you don't drink
coffee. He says, no.
I said, we need to change that around for you to help you
understand that coffee is a lot better for you than alcohol is.
He says, yeah, yeah, I know. I said, so how about if I just
(03:33):
get you a lemonade? He goes, OK, so I got
Frappuccino and got some lemonade and off we went.
I said, now we have a 40 minute drive and I said, so I have you
as a as a captive audience and, and I'm a preacher.
So I'm going to talk to you about the Lord Jesus Christ for
the next 40 minutes. He said, really?
I said, yeah, for the next 40 minutes I'm going to talk to you
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about the Lord. And so I very succinctly went
through the gospel with him to help him understand what it
means to make a decision for Christ.
What the Bible says in Luke Chapter 9 verse #23 that if any
man follow me, let him deny himself, take his cross and
follow me. I said, there's a decision that
you need to make based on what God says in his word.
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Outside of that, you need to understand what a Christian is.
I said, do you know what a Christian is?
He says, well, somebody who who follows God.
I said, well, sort of. I said, but let me explain to
you what a Christian is. So I began to define for him
Christianity. Having defined Christianity for
him, I, I went on to describe for him exactly what a Christian
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is. How he is in Christ, in Christ
is in him. I said, you need Christ in you.
I said, because the only way youcan overcome your addiction, the
only way you can overcome the alcohol addiction that you have
is through the power of the Spirit of God in your life.
You can't do it on your own. You can go and you can go to
some kind of rehab center, whichyou have done and you were sober
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for a while. It didn't last, I said, but
Jesus Christ can do a great and mighty work in your life.
So once you're in Christ and Christ is in you, then the
Spirit of God does a a marvelouswork.
So I talked to him about what itmeans to be in Christ.
If any man be in Christ, he is anew creation.
Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become
new. And I said, you need to become
new. I said, and God is just want to
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reshape you. He wants to recreate you into
his image. So we talked about that for a
little bit and I asked him some questions along the way.
And and then I finally said to him, you need to understand that
to be a Christian, you must confess that Jesus Christ is the
Son of the living God, that he is the Messiah of God and that
he came to die for your sins. So it took me all of the 40
(05:45):
minutes on our way to Fontana totalk to him about the Gospel.
We got to the end of the our time and I said, listen, you
need to give your life to Christbecause that's the only hope you
have. He said, well I'm not sure I
want to do that. I said, well, you might not be
(06:06):
sure you want to do that. I said, but if you die tonight
and you're really in not really good condition, but if you die
tonight, you're going to go to hell and you're going to burn in
hell forever. I said, but you can go to heaven
if you give your life to Christ.But you need to do that.
And if I was you, I wouldn't putit off much longer.
(06:27):
I said, because you have no guarantee how much longer you're
going to live. And I said, so you, you know
where my church is and you know what my name is and so you know
where we're at. You're more than welcome to come
anytime you you want to come, but I will let you know I'm
going to buy you buy you lunch. And then you just need to wait
right here and the the home is going to come by and pick you up
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right here at Ralph's in in Fontana.
And then it'll take you to whereyou need to be and give you a
place to sleep. He says, OK, I said, but you
need to know that all this was providential.
So you know what Providence is? He says no.
I said, do you know what the sovereignty of God is?
(07:10):
He says no. I said, well let me explain to
you. So I explained it to him.
I said it was providential that you came by the church today.
It was providential that the home was in Fontana.
It was providential that that God allowed me to talk to you
about the gospel today for 40 minutes without any
(07:31):
interruptions. It was providential that that
God has allowed us to engaged inthis conversation.
This was not an accident. This was a divine appointment.
And I'm not sure how many more divine appointments God's going
to give you to hear the gospel. He might give you more, He might
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not, I said. But you need to understand that
today is the day of salvation. You can put it off for a day or
two or three or four or how longyou want, but I can't guarantee
that you'll live all those days.I can only guarantee this
moment. He says I hear you, but I'm not
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sure. I, I, I just want to do that.
It's OK that that choice is completely yours.
So you know my name, you know where our church is, You're
welcome anytime. Basically the whole conversation
centered around what is a Christian trying to explain to
him, the decision that a Christian makes, the definition
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of a Christian, the description of a Christian, the declaration
of a Christian. I basically summed up in 4 weeks
what we talked about in 40 minutes.
And of course you're probably thinking, why can't you just do
what you did in four weeks and 40 minutes, right?
But I didn't give him the whole kit and caboodle like I'm giving
(09:00):
you guys. So the bottom line is, is that
you walk people through an understanding of what it means
to be a Christian. And when you get all said and
done, they they might want to respond, they might not want to
respond. And our job is not to get them
to respond. Our job is just to present the
gospel. Our job is to show them the way,
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help them to understand who Christ is.
And that's all our responsibility is.
We don't save people. We just proclaim the truth to
people. God saves people.
Ronnie and I had a time of prayer together before we left.
I fed him lunch or bought him lunch.
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And then I said, I trust that one day you'll give your life to
Christ. What is a Christian?
I told him. I said, you know, when you
become a Christian, you live no longer for yourself, you live
for Christ, and that's just the greatest of all lives.
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I said right now you're living for yourself.
That's why you're an alcoholic and that's why you've been
kicked out of your house, and that's why you've been kicked
out of the home you're in because you're living for
yourself. But a Christian, he lives for
Christ, and that simply is the Christian and his dedication.
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A Christian is dedicated to living for Christ.
Paul said it well in Philippians121 For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain. That is the Christian's
dedication. He does that simply because of
what the Bible says in Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse #15
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which says he, Christ, died for all.
So they who live might no longerlive for themselves, but for him
who died and rose again on theirbehalf.
Christ died so you would no longer live for yourself, but
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you would live for Christ. So Paul says for to me, to live
is Christ and to die is gain. Paul was dedicated to living for
Christ, not living for himself. But isn't it interesting that
(11:40):
everybody lives for someone or something?
You you live either for money, power, prestige and fame.
You live for recognition, you live for honor, you live for
appraisal. You, you live for yourself.
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Everybody lives for someone or for something.
But the Christian is unique. He doesn't do that.
He lives for Christ. For to me, to live is Christ and
to die is gain. Now do you live for Christ
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perfectly? No.
But you do live for Christ progressively.
That is, you progress in Christ like this because you want to
live more and more like the Christ.
But nobody lives perfectly for Christ, this thought of
eternity. But you do progress in your life
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with Christ and for Christ. And so when Paul says for to me
to live as Christ and to die as gain, he recognizes that the
premise of a great life is to live for Christ.
And the promise of a great life is nothing but gain, complete
gain. Why?
Because everything for a Christian is gained in glory.
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The Christian knows that. Because the Christian doesn't
live for the here and now, because he's not of this world.
He knows that. She knows that the Christian
knows that they're aliens and strangers in a foreign land.
They know that they're only passing through.
They're living for Christ because they're living for
eternity. They have the value of eternity
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in mind in all that they do. That's the Christians
dedication. He's dedicated to living for
Christ. So I ask you the question this
evening, who are you dedicated to living for?
What do you live for every single day?
What do you wake up for every single day?
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What motivates you all throughout the day?
Is it the Christ or is it someone else, or something else?
Unfortunately, most of us live only for ourselves.
Solomon did. Remember Solomon, please.
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Yes, he's chapter 2. This was his testimony about his
life. Listen to what he says.
Verse one I said to myself, comenow, I will test you with
pleasure. Enjoy yourself.
Now we might not say it like that, but that's how Solomon
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said it. Remember, this is his journal.
Those of you who with us who arestudying Ecclesiastes, this is
the life journal of of Solomon. He lived for himself, it says,
and behold, it too was futility.I, I said of laughter, it is
madness and of pleasure. What does it accomplish?
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I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine
while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of
folly until I could see what good there is for the sons of
men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.
I enlarged my works. I built houses for myself, I
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planted vineyards for myself, I made gardens and parks for
myself and I planted it in them all kinds of fruit trees.
I made ponds of water for myselffrom which to irrigate a forest
of growing trees. I bought male and female slaves,
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and I had a home born slaves. Also AI possess flocks and herds
larger than all who preceded me in Jerusalem.
Also I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure
of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male and
female singers and the pleasuresof men, many concubines.
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Then I became great and increased more than all who
preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me.
All that my eyes desired, I did not refuse them.
I did not withhold my heart fromany pleasure, for my heart was
pleased because of all my labor,and this was my reward for all
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my labor. Thus I considered all my
activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had
exerted, and behold, all was vanity and striving after wind,
and there was no profit under the sun.
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Here was the wisest man, the richest man, the king of Israel,
who could have whatever he wanted and basically obtained
all that he desired. And after it was all said and
done, he said, you know what? It's just nothing but emptiness.
There's nothing there. It's futile.
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There's nothing of value here amidst all the parks and all the
ponds, amidst all the houses andall the money, amidst all the
concubines and all the slaves, amidst all the things that he
erected and created and he coulderect and create anything he
desired. None of it fulfilled him.
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It was all empty. None of it accomplished what he
thought it would accomplish, because the things of this world
just don't do that. But Solomon lived for himself.
And for those of us who think that living for ourselves is
going to bring us the happiness and the joy of our lives, it
does not. Oh, it might break you satisfied
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for a moment or two, but it doesn't bring you lasting joy.
Only Christ can do that. That's why Paul says for to me
to live is Christ. He died that I might live for
him, that I might no longer livefor myself.
You have to ask that question. If you're living for yourself,
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do you really know the Christ? You have to ask that question.
If Christ died, said you would no longer live for yourself but
for him. Why is it you keep living for
yourself? That's a legit question.
Why don't you live for Christ? Why don't you live to honor him
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and to please him and to and to glorify his name?
We fight this struggle all the time.
And So what does it mean to livefor Christ?
And how do you know you live forChrist?
Well, let me give you a few principles that will help you,
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that will guide you along the path of living for Christ.
Those who who live for Christ, number one, listen to Christ.
Now this might sound elementary or basic, but in order to live
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for Christ, you got to listen toChrist.
You got to hear Him speak. That's why the Bible is replete
with commands about he who has ears to hear.
Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 2 and three Christ would say in Luke chapter 8.
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Be careful what you hear in Marsgospel, he said Be careful how
you hear because if you have ears to hear you need to listen
well. Jesus said in John chapter 5
verse #24 He who hears my words and believes in him who sent me
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has eternal life. Those who live for Christ listen
to what He says they want to hear.
What Christ has said the Bible says in Luke 9 verse #35 on the
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Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James and John hear the
thundering voice out of the cloud.
This is my beloved son. Listen to him, listen to him.
Mary and Martha had their spat in Luke chapter 10 because Mary
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wanted to sit at the feet of Jesus and and listen to him
speak. But Martha wanted to do the work
in the house to prepare the mealand was upset that Mary wasn't
helping her. And Christ said to Martha, oh
Martha, you are worried about somany different things, but Mary
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has chosen the good part. Mary has chosen the one thing
that's needful, just one. One thing is what's really
needed in your life, Martha. And Mary's chosen that better
part. And that is a sit at the feet of
Jesus and listen to what he has to say.
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That that has always been the theme.
You can go all the way back to the book of Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy chapter 6. It says now this is the
commandment, the statutes of thejudgments which the Lord your
God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in
the land where you are going over to possess it.
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Say you and your son and your grandson might fear the Lord and
your God, and keep all the statutes and his commandments
which I command you all the daysof your life, and that your days
may be prolonged. Oh, Israel, you should listen.
Listen and be careful to do thatit may be well with you, and
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that you may multiply greatly, just as the Lord, the God of
your Father's has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and
honey. Then the great Shema, which
means to hear, hear, O Israel, are you listening?
The Lord your God is one. Are you listening Israel later
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in in the book of Deuteronomy Chapter 11 verse 26, Moses says
see I am sitting before you today a blessing and a curse.
The blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord
your God, which I commanding youtoday, and the curse, if you do
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not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn
aside from the way which I commend you today by following
other gods which you have not known, there's a blessing and a
cursing. The blessing comes to those who
listen and obey. The cursing comes to those who
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do not listen. Therefore they cannot obey it.
But it's always about listening to what God says, not not
listening superficially, not notlistening with a, with a 1/2
hearted turning to God. He, he wants you to listen with
all of your heart. He wants you to listen intently.
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He, he wants you to listen wholeheartedly with passion.
He wants you to hang on every word that he says.
But you know what? For the most part, we don't do
that. We go to church or we read the
Bible and and we are partially listening.
But no, no, we're not really allinto listening, you know, And
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the question comes, why not? In order to live for Christ, you
have to listen to what the Christ has to say.
So therefore, you're all in and on, on what he is saying.
Later in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse #15
the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from
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among you, from your own countrymen, and you shall listen
to him. There's coming to prophet Moses
says that that's, that's greaterthan I am from our own
countrymen and, and you need to listen to him.
And that's why Luke 9 is so important, because when God says
this is my beloved son, listen to him.
It was a fulfillment of the bookof Deuteronomy, the 18th
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chapter, that this was the prophet, the prophet, not a
prophet, but the prophet that would eventually come, the
Messiah of Israel. Solomon would say in Proverbs
chapter one verse #33 he listensto me, shall live securely.
Who doesn't want to live securely?
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He listens to me, will live securely and will be at ease
from the dread of evil. Who doesn't want to be at ease
from the dread of evil? Well, it comes from listening to
what God says. Proverbs chapter 8.
Solomon once again says it this way.
Heed instruction, be wise, do not neglect it.
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Then he says, Blessed is the manwho listens to me, watching
daily at my gates, waiting at mydoorposts.
For he who finds me, finds life,and obtains favor from the Lord.
Blessed is the man who listens to me.
Blessed is the man who waits daily at the doorposts, who
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can't wait to hear what God has to say.
To live for Christ begins with listening to what Christ has to
say. Again, every one of us listens
to something or someone. The question is, do you listen
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to God more? Do you want to hear what God has
to say more than anyone else hasto say?
That's the important thing. So to live for Christ means you
listen to the Christ #2 Those who live for Christ not only
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listen to the Christ, but they love the Christ.
Notice this, If you listen to him, you will love Him.
And one of the reasons you don'tlove Him as you should is
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because you're not listening to what He says.
The key to everything is being agood listener.
That's why. That's why Stalin says in
Ecclesiastes after 5, when you go near to the House of God, go
there. Guard your steps, because you go
there to listen. Why do you go to church?
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You go to listen. That's why you come.
What is God's going to say? What does God's word say?
How is God going to speak to me today through His Word?
When you draw near to the House of God, guard your steps because
you're going there for one reason and one reason only.
You're only going there to listen because Jesus said
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there's one thing that's needfuland you need to hear me speak.
And God only speaks through His Word.
So God's word must be preached and proclaimed.
So you know what God says? Well, when you listen to the
Lord speak, you can't help but love the Lord who has spoken.
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That's why the Bible says in First Corinthians 1622, if
anyone does not love the Lord, let him be a cursed.
Let him be a cursed. That's why Peter says in First
Peter 1/8 though you may not seeme yet, you love me, may not see
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the Christ, but you certainly love the Christ Philippians one.
This was Paul's prayer for the Church of Philippi.
He said, and this I pray that your love may abound still more
and more in real knowledge. OK, in real knowledge and all
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discernment. In other words, I want your love
to grow. And the only way your love is
going to grow is if you grow in the knowledge of God.
And the only way you are going to get to know God is if you
listen to him speak. And so I want your love to grow.
And by the way, this should be apattern for all of our lives
when it comes to praying for other people and for our church.
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When we pray about things that are so superficial, instead of
praying for things that are truly spiritual, everyone of us
should be engaged in praying, praying that our love would
abound more and more in the knowledge of God so that we can
have the discernment to be able to decide between that which is
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good and which is evil. That's what you need.
And then he says this so that you may approve the things that
are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the
day of Christ having been filledwith the fruit of righteousness
which comes through Jesus Christto the glory and praise of God.
I want you to be able to prove all things.
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I want you to be blameless for that to happen.
Your love has got to abound moreand more in the knowledge of
God. So important.
So let me ask you a question. Do you love the Lord?
I think everyone of us in the room would say, yeah, I love the
Lord. But the question comes, how do
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you know you love the Lord? Because if you're going to live
for Christ, you got to listen tohim and you must love him.
But what does it mean to love the Lord?
That's a great question. It goes way beyond the feelings
and emotions that we have for the Lord.
There is feeling and emotion in it.
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But how do you know you love theLord?
Well, let me give you a few ways.
You know that one is if you lovethe Lord, you're going to
meditate daily on the Word of God.
If you love the Lord, you're going to meditate daily on the
Word of God. Psalmist says this way, Psalm
119970 how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day.
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You see, if you love the Lord, you love His Word, because you
can't love the Incarnate Word without loving the inspired Word
to go hand in hand. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and the Word
became flesh and dwelled among us.
And the Word of God is the breathed Word of God.
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So to love the Lord do you must love His Word.
So you will meditate daily upon His word.
It says over in verse #127 thesewords.
Therefore I love your commandments above gold.
Yes, above fine gold. There you go.
Do you love the commandments more than gold, more than money,
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more than anything else? Verse 163 I hate in the spice
falsehood, but I but I love yourlaw.
Verse 159 Consider how I love your precepts.
Verse 167 My soul keeps your testimonies, and I love them
exceedingly. You know you love the Lord when
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you meditate daily on the word of God because you can't wait to
hear Him speak another way. You know the Lord is not only
that you meditate daily in the Word of God, but you hate fully
all that God hates. You know you love the Lord when
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you hate what God hates. Hate evil.
All you who love the Lord, Psalm97 verse #10 hate evil, you who
love the Lord. So if you love the Lord, you
hate evil. So you're going to hate fully
what God hates. Remember first John chapter 2,
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First John chapter 2 verse #15 do not love the world nor the
things in the world. Why?
If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
Him. You can't love the things of the
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world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and
the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not
from the Father, but it's from the world.
And the world's passing away also its lust.
But the one who does the will ofGod, that person abides forever.
So in other words, you hate whatGod hates.
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It's so important to realize this.
We we forget that our love is seen in hating what God hates.
And so we don't love the world, we don't love the things of the
world, we don't love evil. We hate evil because God hates
evil. So when you begin to get down to
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brass tacks as to what it means to love the Lord, it means that
you're going to meditate daily on the law of the Lord and
you're going to hate fully the things that God himself hates #3
if you love the Lord, you're going to imitate authentically
God himself. Ephesians 5 verses one and two,
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that we are to be imitators of God and walk in love.
So if you love the Lord, you're going to imitate authentically
God himself. You're going to walk in love.
This is so important. How do I know you love God?
I know you love God because you love your wife as Christ loved
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the church. That's how I know you love God.
I know you. I know you love God simply
because you're forgiving, because the greatest standard
and measurement for your love isthe willingness to forgive those
who have sinned against you. And so forgiveness then begins
to reign supreme in your life. For love covers a multitude of
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sins, the book of Proverbs tellsus, along with first Peter
chapter 4, love. Love does not expose people's
sins. Love covers those sins love
forgives. So you want to imitate God, you
want to imitate his forgiveness.You want to imitate his love,
you want to imitate his grace and his mercy.
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You want to begin to imitate authentically the God you say
you you love. You want to be like God, See
that? That's what love does.
That's how love manifests itself.
It manifests itself because I meditate daily on His law
because I want to know all thereis to know about Him because I
love Him so. And then I'm going to hate what
he hates because I don't want tooffend him in any way.
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And then I'm going to, I'm goingto imitate him daily because I
want to be like Him. That's how you know you love the
Lord. So important and #4 you, you
demonstrate. You demonstrate freely your
obedience to Christ. Listen to John chapter 14, John
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14 verse #15 If you love me, youwill keep my commandments.
Verse 21. He who has my commandments and
keeps them is the one who loves me.
And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will
love him and will disclose myself to Him.
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Love is always seen in obedienceto the commands of God.
I'm going to do what God says. If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. If you don't love me, you could
care less about my commandments.You don't want to obey my
commands, but if you love me, you will keep my commands.
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Another way is that you consecrate holy your life to God
above everything and everyone else.
So when Christ comes to Peter inJohn 21, it says, Peter, do you
love me more than these? And we don't know what the these
are in John 21. It could be the other disciples,
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it could be his business, his fishing business, right?
The question is, do you love me more than your financial
stability? Do you love me more than your
friends? Do you love me more than
anything else? Do you love me more than these?
He says, of course I love you, Lord, then feed my sheep.
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But Christ asked him three timesthat same question because he
wanted to make sure Peter understood that everything about
loving him centers around consecrating your life to him.
And he goes on and talks about how he's going to follow him and
how he's going to stretch out his hands where he doesn't want
to go. He's going to be crucified.
He's going to die by following Christ.
Those who love the Lord consecrate their lives fully and
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freely to him. He means more to them than
everything else, than anyone else.
So ask yourself, do you love theLord?
Peter denied the Lord, Judas denied the Lord, but Peter loved
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the Savior, Judas loved himself,and Judas was the son of
perdition. Big difference there.
And so you have to ask yourself,do I love the Lord?
Why? This is why I listen to Him,
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because I get to know Him, and if I listen to Him, I will love
Him. For to me, to live is Christ.
To do that I must listen to him #1 #2 I must love Him, and #3 I
must learn all I can about Him. If you love the Lord, you're
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going to learn everything you can about Him, and you'll never
stop learning. You'll want to know Him deeply.
Intimately, Daniel 1132 says that people who know their God
will display strength and take action.
Let me ask you a question. Do you display strength and take
action? If you don't display strength,
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you probably don't know the Lord.
If you display weakness and fragility, you probably don't
know the Lord. Daniel says if you know the
Lord, you will display strength and you will take action.
You will do great exploits for God.
Why? Because the knowledge of God
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does something in your life thatmoves you and motivates you to
live for the glory and honor of His Kingdom.
And the power of God within the life of a person catapults them
to action. So important to realize this.
There's something about knowing God and learning about God.
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It it is, it is a pursuit, a pursuit that is impenetrable.
In other words, you're, you're never going to know God fully
this side of eternity. Psalm 145 says his greatness is
unsearchable. You're never going to find it
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out. So, so knowing God is
impenetrable because he's infinite and you're finite, so
you're never going to fully cometo know him, but there's this
passion behind the pursuit of him to learn all you can about
him because he's your God, He's your savior.
He's the the God that you love. Knowing God is life's most
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impenetrable pursuit, but it's life's most impressionable
pursuit. Nothing will change your life
more than knowing the Lord God. Listen what the Bible says Over
in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter 1, Paul says
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this. For this reason, since the day
we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to
ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all
spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will
walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.
You can't walk in a manner worthy of the Lord unless you
know who He is. You got to learn all you can
about Him. You'll please Him in all
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respects. You'll bear fruit.
You'll increase in the knowledgeof God.
You'll be strengthened with all power according to His glorious
might. For the attaining of all
steadfastness and patience, joyously give me thanks to the
Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance,
inheritance of the Saints in light.
That's what God does. There's something about it,
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there's something about learningabout God that that just
catapults you into another sphere of living because
everything about your life centers around living for
Christ, knowing that dying is gain.
Back in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah says this, and Jeremiah
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Chapter 9 verse #1 Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a
fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain
of the daughter of my people. He wept for Jerusalem.
He went for Israel. Why?
Because Israel was once a strongnation.
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Israel was God's people. Israel was was going to be used
by God in a great and mighty way.
But now he begins to weep bitterly over Jerusalem.
He says the verse 20 that I had in the desert a wayfarers
lodging place that I might leavemy people and go from them.
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He said, oh, if I, if I just hada home, if I, if I had a condo
in Palm Springs, I would go there.
If I had a house in Tahiti, I would go there.
If I had a condo in Maui, I would go.
I would go anywhere to escape what I'm facing right now.
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So he says these words for all of them are adulterers and
assembly of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like
their bow. Lies and not truth prevail in
the land, for they proceed from evil to evil.
I don't want to be around evil. I don't want to be around liars.
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I don't want to be around adulterers.
I don't want to be on treacherous mid.
So if I can escape and go someplace other than where I'm
at, I would do that. He couldn't, but if he could, he
would. So what was the problem that he
tells you? And they do not know me,
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declares the Lord. That was a problem in Israel,
Hosea tells us. They were destroyed for lack of
knowledge. They just did not want to learn
all they could about their God. It cost them desperately.
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It cost them tremendously because He would not learn all
they could about their God. To live for Christ simply means
that you listen to all that He says.
And once you listen to Him, you can't help but love Him.
And the more you love Him, the more you want to learn all you
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can about Him. So you know you love Him when
you just can't get enough of Him.
Have you had enough of God? Are you bored with God?
Are you done with God? Those who want to live for
Christ, they want to live to know all they could about Him.
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And know this, once you learn about Him, this is number 4.
You lean upon Him, you lean uponHim, you trust Him, right?
All your energies, your life is just thrust upon God.
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You can't help but trust Him. The psalmist in Psalm 50, verse
#15 says, Call upon me in the day of trouble.
I shall rescue you, and you willhonor me.
In Psalm 56, verse #3 when I'm afraid, I will put my trust in
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you. I'll lean upon you in God, whose
word I praise. In God I put my trust.
I should not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?
How about this Proverbs chapter 18?
Proverbs chapter 18, verse #10 The name of the Lord is a strong
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tower. The righteous runs into it and
is safe. The name of the Lord, the
character of God, the nature of God, is a strong tower.
It's a place of refuge, and the righteous can't wait to run into
it for safety, for protection. Verse 11 A rich man's wealth is
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his strong tower. This is this, and like a high
wall in his own imagination. Oh, how wise that is.
A rich man's strong tower is hiswealth, his riches, his
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financial stability. The righteous have a strong
tower, and that is the name of the Lord.
They run to the strong tower andthey are secure.
They they are safe, they are protected.
But the rich man, he runs to hisimagination, his imaginary
tower, his finances, his stability, his strength.
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What is your strong tower? What is your fortified city that
you run to, that you lean upon, that you trust in?
For some it's their their degree, their education, that's
their fortified city. For others it's their four O 1K
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That's their fortified city. For others it's a friend,
husband or wife. But for the righteous it's the
name of the Lord. That's the strong tower,
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Psalmist said. When I am afraid, I trust in
you. That's it.
I just lean on the Lord. Psalm 44, six says I do not
trust in my bow. What he doesn't say is
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important. He doesn't say I throw my bow
away. I don't trust in my bow, so I
throw it away. No, he still has his bow.
See, you can still have riches, you just can't trust in riches.
You can still have friends, you just can't trust in your
friends. You can still be married, just
not trust in your marriage. You got to trust in the name of
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the Lord. You can't lean on your own
understanding. You got to trust in what God
says and who He is and those whowho love Him and have learned
all they can have. The reason you lean on Him is
because you learned about His omnipotence.
You've learned about His omnipresence, His omniscience.
You've learned about the fact that He's the mighty God, the
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Almighty God. You learn about His forgiveness,
His grace, His mercy. Do you learn about Him?
You can't wait to lean on Him because of who He is and because
of what He does. That's what it means to live for
Christ. That's how Paul lived his life.
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He lived the life that honored the Lord.
And those who live for Christ, they, they listen to him, they
love him, they learn about him, and they lean upon him.
JC Rile in his book on the holiness of God, says this about
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those who love God. This is really good, he says.
Let it never be said that we cannot find out whether a
Christian really loves Christ. You ever wonder whether or not
people know you love Christ or not?
This year, Rao says, Let it be known never, never be said that
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we cannot find out whether a Christian really loves Christ.
It can be known. It may be discovered.
The proofs are already in your hand.
You have heard them this very day.
Love to the Lord Jesus Christ isno hidden secret, no impalpable
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thing. It is like light, it will be
seen. It is like sound, it will be
heard. It is like heat.
It will be felt where it exists.It cannot be hid where it cannot
(52:33):
be seen. You make sure, be sure that
there is no love at all. That's just so good.
If you love the Lord, like light, you see it.
Like heat, you feel it. But if you can't feel it and you
can't see it and you can't hear it, there is no love that's
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there. Now.
I didn't say that JC Rile, a much smarter man than me, a much
more intelligent man to me, a much better preacher than me,
understood the love of God. People say, well, I I love the
Lord, but you don't ever see it.You don't ever hear it, but they
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say it. Just because you said it means
nothing. Can you feel it?
Can you see it? Can you hear it?
That's when you know someone really truly loves the Lord.
So Paul says for to me to live is Christ and to die his game.
How do you know you live for Christ?
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How you listen to everything he says.
Can't wait to hear him speak. Once you hear Him speak, you
just fall deeper and deeper in love with Him.
And the more you love Him, the more you can't wait to know
about Him. So you just keep learning all
you can about Him, and the more you learn about Him, you just
lean upon Him all the time. Just trust Him day after day
because there's nothing else youcan trust in because He's
(53:57):
everything. To live for Christ means you
look to Him for everything and no one else.
You look to Christ, your gaze isaway from everything and
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everyone, and you look to Christalone.
Looking into Jesus. Hebrews 12 the author, the
originator and finisher of our faith.
Consider him right If Hebrews tells us that that we look to
Christ, Why? Because He is the originator of
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our faith, and we turn our eyes away from the things of the
world and look completely upon Him.
And once you look toward Him, you long for Him to return, just
long for Him to come back. So what Paul would say in second
grade 2nd 4 verse #8 that the crown of righteousness is for
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all those who who love his appearing, who long for Him to
come back, and those who who live for Him long for him to
return. So Paul says, for to me to live
is Christ, and to die is the greatest of all gains.
(55:27):
How do you live for Christ? Well, you listen to what He
says, you love Him for who He is, you learn all you can about
Him, you lean upon Him, you lookto Him, and you long for Him.
Why? Because if you don't, you're
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lost without him. You're completely lost without
the Christ. And Paul knew that.
That's why I gave his life to Christ, because he was lost
without him. But with him you were found.
You're in Christ, you're his child.
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That's the Christians dedication.
He is dedicated to living for Christ and not for himself.
He is living dedicated to livingfor Christ and not for the world
or anything else. He is sold out to live for
Christ. Is that you?
What is a Christian? Christian is known by his
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dedication. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you for tonightchance to be together to look
into Your word once again. Truly, you are a great God.
You've allowed us to have a brief moment where we can look
into the Word of God and examineour lives.
I pray for everyone in the room that Lord, they would truly live
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for Christ. They'd ask themselves, who am I
living for? What am I living for?
They might examine their lives in light of what Your word says
and ask, am I, Am I living for Christ or myself?
Do I listen to all that He says?Do I listen in such a way that I
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just love Him more and more? So much so I just want to learn
all I can about Him. I just can't get enough of Him.
And the more I learn about Him, I just lean completely and
totally upon Him for everything.I look to you, no one else that
long to be in Your presence one day.
May that be each and everyone ofus, Lord, as we seek to do your
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will and glorify your name untilyou come again, as you most
surely will, in Jesus name, Amen.
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