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Gospel of John chapter 13, please.

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Gospel of John chapter 13, verse 34.

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Now everything that I read here will be

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the words of the Lord Jesus.

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A new commandment I give unto you, that

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you love one another as I have loved

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you, that you also love one another.

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Chapter 14, verse 15.

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If you love me, keep my commandments.

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Chapter 15, verse 4.

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Abide in me and I in you.

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As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself

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except it abide in the vine, no more

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can ye except ye abide in me.

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I am the vine, ye are the branches.

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He that abideth in me and I in

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him, the same bringeth forth much fruit.

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For without me ye can do nothing.

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And then a little while, and ye shall

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see me, because I go to the Father.

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We've been reading here the last words of

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the Lord Jesus Christ to his own.

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This took place, of course, the night before

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he went to the cross.

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Now all the words of the Lord Jesus

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have weight and are important, but I don't

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know about you, but I remember the last

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words of people that I've known.

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I think my own mother, who died just

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four years ago this month in a hospital

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in British Columbia, I remember her last words.

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And I, and unless I become totally senile,

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I don't think I'll ever forget.

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Last words.

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Interesting what the Lord Jesus spoke to his

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own about, his last words.

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Chapter 13.

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Now I'm just going to refine and just

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look at a few different things.

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Chapter 13 we read, he told them, love

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one another.

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Just three words, love one another.

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Then in chapter four, 14, three words, keep

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my commandments.

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Chapter 15, abide in me.

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And then chapter 16, a little while, a

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little while.

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But first of all, in chapter 13, these

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words, love one another.

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Now we all know this.

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This is well known to even the youngest

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Christian that the Lord has told us to

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do this, to love one another.

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But notice what he says after that.

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In verse 34 of John 13, he says,

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love one another as I have loved you,

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as I have loved you.

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How has he loved us?

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You know, as parents, sometimes we tell our

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children, don't worry about what I do, just

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do what I say.

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You know, we tell them to do things

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and maybe we're not a very good example

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of what we're telling them.

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The Lord Jesus wasn't like that.

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And so often, what he told his people,

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he was the perfect example of what he

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wanted them to do.

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Now, he says here, love one another as

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I have loved you.

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How has he loved them?

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How has he loved us?

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Look with me a little bit earlier in

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chapter 13.

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Let's read in verse 1.

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Now, before the feast of the Passover, when

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Jesus knew that his hour was come, that

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he should depart out of this world unto

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the Father, having loved his own which were

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in the world, he loved them unto the

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end.

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Verse 3, Jesus knowing that the Father had

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given all things into his hands, and that

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he was come from God and went to

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God, he riseth from supper, and laid aside

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his garments, and took a towel, and girded

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himself.

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After that, he poureth water into a basin,

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and began to wash the disciples' feet, and

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to wipe them with a towel, wherewith he

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was girded.

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Then cometh he to Simon Peter, and Peter

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saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my

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feet?

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Jesus answered and said unto him, What I

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do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt

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know hereafter.

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Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash

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my feet.

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Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not,

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thou hast no part with me.

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Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my

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feet only, but also my hands and my

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head.

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Jesus saith to him, He that is washed,

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or different word here now, he that is

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bathed, needeth not save to wash his feet,

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but is clean everywit.

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And ye are clean, but not all.

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For he knew who should betray him, therefore

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said he, Ye are not all clean.

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So after he had washed their feet, and

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had taken his garments, and was set down

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again, he said unto them, Know ye what

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I have done to you?

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Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye

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say, Well, for so I am.

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If I then, your Lord and Master, have

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washed your feet, notice, ye also ought to

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wash one another's feet.

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For I have given you an example, that

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ye should do as I have done to

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you.

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Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant

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is not greater than his Lord, neither he

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that is sent greater than he that sent

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him.

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If ye know these things, happy are ye

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if ye do them.

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He says, I've given you an example.

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Do as I have done to you.

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What had he done?

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He'd washed their feet, and he says in

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verse 14, Ye also ought to wash one

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another's feet.

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Now we know the Lord doesn't expect us

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to physically wash one another's feet.

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To me, it's pretty clear in verse 7.

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He tells Peter, What I do, you don't

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know now, but you'll know hereafter.

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Later in verse 12, he asked the disciples,

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Do you know what I've done to you?

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Listen, these men, although they were fishermen, they

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were not imbeciles, they knew that the Lord

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had washed their feet.

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What they didn't understand was the spiritual meaning

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of it.

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What is the spiritual meaning?

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In these days, days in the New Testament,

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people didn't have running water like we did.

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And my understanding is that if they wanted

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a bath, they would go to the public

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baths.

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They would be bathed all over.

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The Lord talks about that.

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But coming back home, dusty roads, perhaps sandals,

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their feet would get dirty.

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They wouldn't need to be bathed all over,

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but they wouldn't need to have their feet

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cleansed and washed.

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The day the Lord saved you and me,

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we were washed, we were bathed all over,

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as far as the penalty of our sins

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is concerned.

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Washed whiter than snow.

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That's what he's talking about in verse 10

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when he says, He that is washed.

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The word is bathed.

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He says he only needs to wash his

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feet.

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What's the point?

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When we are saved, we are cleansed once

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and for all from our sins.

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However, as we walk through this world, we're

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defiled and we need cleansing from that defilement.

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Brother, sister, the Lord wants you and me

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to help one another with the defilement that

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we all contract as we walk through this

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defiling scene.

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Well, let's bring it down to where we

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live.

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What is our attitude to our brother and

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sister that we can see has some defilement?

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For example, maybe there's a brother that that

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smokes.

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What's their attitude?

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You know, some people, I had lots of

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habits before I was saved.

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Smoking, I didn't have difficulty giving up that.

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But some Christians have a tremendous difficulty with

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that.

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You know, we can just write them off

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and think they're subpar Christian or we can

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help them with it.

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What about the teenage believer and we happen

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to get in their car and maybe they

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ask to drive their car and we turn

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on the key and this music comes blasting

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out just about knocks us out of the

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driver's seat and we say, How can they

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listen to music like that?

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How about the believer that gets discouraged so

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easily because of circumstances in their life?

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You know, some of us are more prone

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to discouragement than others.

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Maybe things at work, things in the home,

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things in the assembly and they just, you

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know, you find them discouraged.

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Or how about the brother that's a workaholic

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and you say, you know, doesn't he realize

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what this is doing to him and his

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family, the assembly?

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All he does is work.

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I've just mentioned a few things.

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Listen, there isn't one of us here this

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afternoon that isn't affected by the world.

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We didn't grow up in a bubble.

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We don't live in a bubble.

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The world has an effect upon us.

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And I'll tell you, our attitude to one

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another with our faults and failures, our shortcomings,

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the effect the world has upon us, it's

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critical.

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What's our attitude?

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You know, we can take the attitude of,

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say, the Pharisees and, you know, they would

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stand at a distance, point their finger and

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say, Look at those dirty feet.

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And we might talk to this one now

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and, Did you see so-and-so?

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Can you imagine listening to that kind of

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music?

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You know what?

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I smelled smoke on them the other day.

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You know, we can gossip away or we

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can take a sword and cut those feet

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off.

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And unfortunately, I've seen well-meaning believers take

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another believer to task and go up one

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side and down the other and just chew

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them out for what they perceived was wrong

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behavior.

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Unfortunately, I've also seen it when the person

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that was so well-meaning and thought, you

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know, they were doing the right thing, they

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were totally wrong, totally wrong.

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The person hadn't done anything.

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Love one another as I have loved you.

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You know, it seems to me one of

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the biggest challenges that you and I face

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in Assembly Fellowship and the day in which

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we live is to get along with one

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another.

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We are all so flawed and we all

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need grace from God, not only to be

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the people God wants us to be, but

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to put up with one another.

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Love one another as I have loved you.

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Listen, the Lord Jesus washed the disciples' feet,

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even Judas.

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Is there any believer that you wouldn't want

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to wash their feet?

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If I then, your Lord and Master, have

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washed your feet, you also ought to wash

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one another's feet.

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For I've given you an example that you

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should do as I have done to you.

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I want to tell you, I thank God

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for Christians, especially in my younger years as

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a believer, who took time to help me

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with things in my life that needed changing.

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Sure, they could have just read the riot

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act, chewed me out.

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You know, the Lord Jesus girded himself with

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a towel and he got down by those

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disciples and he had a basin and he

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washed their feet.

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You know, if we're going to help one

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another, and I say this to myself because

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I'm no paradigm of excellence here at all,

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but you know, to wash somebody's feet, you

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need to get low and you need to

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get close.

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The towel and the basin.

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And I feel that, I know in my

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own life, this is lacking.

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In the society in which we live, it's

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so easy to be independent, live in our

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own little worlds.

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And so many of God's people are hurting.

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Oh, they have a smile when they come

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to meeting.

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Brother, sister, the Lord deals so graciously with

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our failures, does he not?

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Shouldn't we deal graciously with others?

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You know, I would think in the days

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in which this was written in New Testament

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times that it would be very refreshing if

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your feet are dirty and, of course, they

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didn't drive around in cars, maybe feet would

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be very refreshing to have your feet washed.

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You know, I think there's many believers that

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are weary.

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They're weary.

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And their walk isn't as clean as they

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would like.

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We have a choice.

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We can point our finger at a distance

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and say, look at that.

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Can you believe it?

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We can even speak to them strong words.

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Or, in love, we can try to get

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close to them and take the low place

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and try to help them.

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Help them, kindly, because that's what the Lord

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Jesus does with you and me.

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Love one another.

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Then the Lord says in chapter 14, keep

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my commandments.

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You know, it seems that some of us

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were big on the love.

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Others of us are big on the commandments.

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But the Lord Jesus is the perfect example.

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And here's the example here.

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Love one another.

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That's first.

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But here it is in verse 15 of

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chapter 14.

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He says, keep my commandments.

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You can't get around that.

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Both are commands.

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To love one another, to keep His commandments.

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Both are equally true.

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And He says, as the motivator for keeping

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His Word, He says, if you love me.

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I enjoyed that hymn our brother Dick gave

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out this morning, Lord Jesus, I Love Thee.

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And it's well that we should sing that

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from our hearts.

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But you know as well as I do

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that our love for the Lord isn't just

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shown with our lips, but with our life.

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And our love for the Lord can be

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measured by our obedience to His Word.

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Christianity is very practical.

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I can say I love the Lord Jesus,

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but if I'm not keeping His commandments to

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that degree, I don't love Him.

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Now it goes without saying that if I'm

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going to keep His commandments, I'm going to

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have to find out what they are.

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And young believer, this is just one reason

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why we read His Word.

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If we love Him, we try to find

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out what does He want me to do.

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I remember when my wife and I were

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first married, and there were different times that

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she would say, honey do you like, and

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she'd, you know, meatloaf, or I'm glad she

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never said you like chopped liver.

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But different things she would ask me if

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I liked this.

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Why was she asking me that?

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Because she loved me and she wanted to

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please me.

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We've been hearing, didn't Apostle Paul say that?

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Lord, what do you want me to do?

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And that's why, one reason why we read

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His Word.

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You know the Word of God is not

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a buffet.

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It isn't picking out this, or we all

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have our favorite sections.

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The whole Word of God.

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He doesn't say if you love me, keep

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some of my commandments.

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Keep the commandments you like.

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He says if you love me, keep my

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commandments.

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And I look at that as the whole

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Word of God.

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Brother, sister, do we love Him enough to

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submit to His Word?

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And you know, again the devil might make

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us think that if we submit to His

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Word it's going to be, you know, drastic,

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00:19:05,310 --> 00:19:07,850
and no fun, and my life's going to

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be ruined.

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Listen, there is tremendous blessing, there's tremendous joy

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00:19:12,310 --> 00:19:13,910
in living for the Lord.

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Nothing can compare to it.

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Walking with the Lord Jesus, having fellowship with

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the living God, letting Him guide your life,

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letting Him as a Word have His hands

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on the steering wheel of your life.

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Listen, He is able to do exceeding, abundantly,

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above all that we can ask or think.

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And anyone who has ever let Him be

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the Lord of their life has never regretted,

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00:19:45,510 --> 00:19:49,250
never regretted it, as has never been the

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00:19:49,250 --> 00:19:49,530
poor.

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My friend, our Lord is gracious.

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00:19:54,570 --> 00:19:55,750
He wants to bless us.

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00:19:56,470 --> 00:19:57,790
He knows what's best for us.

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00:19:58,650 --> 00:20:00,830
And if we just want to do our

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00:20:00,830 --> 00:20:03,730
own thing, go our own way, He might

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allow that in measure.

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But we're the one who's going to suffer.

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Someone might say, you know, I would like

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00:20:17,060 --> 00:20:18,540
to love my brother and sister, but you

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00:20:18,540 --> 00:20:19,220
know, it's hard.

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00:20:20,340 --> 00:20:24,720
I'm selfish, and sometimes I do dumb things.

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It's hard.

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00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:29,320
Somebody else might say, you know, I love

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00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:30,780
the Lord, I want to keep His commandments,

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00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:34,360
but, you know, I'm so sinful, I can't.

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Well, listen, the Lord knows what we're like.

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And so in chapter 15, the next three

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00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:44,440
words we read, to me, is the answer

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00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,740
to how we can love one another more

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00:20:46,740 --> 00:20:49,900
perfectly, how we can keep His commandments more

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00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:50,340
perfectly.

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What is it?

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Verse 4 of chapter 15, He says, abide

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in Me.

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Abide in Me.

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00:20:56,700 --> 00:20:58,620
I'm so glad that we don't have to

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00:20:58,620 --> 00:21:00,260
live the Christian life in our own ability.

429
00:21:00,780 --> 00:21:02,200
We couldn't save ourselves.

430
00:21:02,740 --> 00:21:04,120
We can't keep ourselves.

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00:21:05,780 --> 00:21:06,960
It's all about Him.

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Abide in Me, He says, and I in

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00:21:13,500 --> 00:21:13,600
you.

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Now listen, to me there's a positional aspect

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00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:17,800
to this, and there's a practical.

436
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:20,040
If we're saved, we're in Christ.

437
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,320
The moment we trusted Him, we rested in

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00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,960
Him, and our position is secure.

439
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:28,860
Nothing can take us out of His hand.

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00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:32,160
But there's that resting in Him moment by

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00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,980
moment, in a practical way, living in the

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00:21:35,980 --> 00:21:38,660
good of my union with Him.

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00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:43,820
You know, I get some help in understanding

444
00:21:43,820 --> 00:21:47,160
what He means to abide in Me by

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00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,440
the picture that He uses.

446
00:21:48,980 --> 00:21:51,660
He says, as the branch cannot bear fruit

447
00:21:51,660 --> 00:21:52,160
of itself.

448
00:21:52,340 --> 00:21:55,240
He says, the branch cannot bear fruit of

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00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:55,600
itself.

450
00:21:56,420 --> 00:21:57,700
Now, you know the picture.

451
00:21:57,860 --> 00:21:59,360
I don't know much about grapes, so I'm

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00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:01,800
not going to go there, but just a

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00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:03,960
branch in a tree, whether it's a peach

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00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:06,740
tree, apple tree, you know that that branch,

455
00:22:06,980 --> 00:22:09,520
if it's separated from the trunk, there's not

456
00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:11,280
going to be an apple or peach on

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00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:11,680
the end of it.

458
00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,760
The branch cannot bear fruit of itself.

459
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:20,840
You and I cannot produce fruit for God

460
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:30,720
on our own, and I take fruit primarily

461
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:32,960
to be Christ's likeness, the fruit of the

462
00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:34,200
Spirit, love, joy, peace.

463
00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:35,300
That would characterize Him.

464
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It's character, first of all.

465
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Now, what makes that peach?

466
00:22:40,910 --> 00:22:41,710
What makes that apple?

467
00:22:41,910 --> 00:22:43,990
It's the sap flowing through the trunk and

468
00:22:43,990 --> 00:22:44,830
out through the branches.

469
00:22:45,330 --> 00:22:47,270
What is it that produces fruit in your

470
00:22:47,270 --> 00:22:48,090
life and mine?

471
00:22:48,690 --> 00:22:49,790
It's the life of Christ.

472
00:22:50,750 --> 00:22:51,590
We're in Him.

473
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The Lord wants us to rest in Him,

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00:22:53,770 --> 00:22:56,590
depend on Him, moment by moment, let Him

475
00:22:56,590 --> 00:22:59,210
live His life out in us.

476
00:23:00,690 --> 00:23:04,170
And maybe a sort of parallel thought, looking

477
00:23:04,170 --> 00:23:05,050
at it a different way.

478
00:23:05,870 --> 00:23:08,150
In Galatians 2, Paul says, I've been crucified

479
00:23:08,150 --> 00:23:08,950
with Christ.

480
00:23:10,210 --> 00:23:14,510
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ

481
00:23:14,510 --> 00:23:15,290
lives in me.

482
00:23:15,770 --> 00:23:17,450
And this life I live in the flesh.

483
00:23:18,190 --> 00:23:22,130
I live by faith, trusting the Son of

484
00:23:22,130 --> 00:23:24,450
God, who loved me and gave Himself for

485
00:23:24,450 --> 00:23:24,690
me.

486
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:30,040
I want to stop and leave, leave a

487
00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:31,140
little room at the end here.

488
00:23:34,380 --> 00:23:36,800
But the last thing we read about, the

489
00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:41,640
last three words, the Lord Jesus said, a

490
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:46,220
little while, a little while and you shall

491
00:23:46,220 --> 00:23:46,680
see me.

492
00:23:47,020 --> 00:23:48,520
Now, I know the context here, He was

493
00:23:48,520 --> 00:23:50,820
probably speaking they would see Him in the

494
00:23:50,820 --> 00:23:52,180
resurrection, but I want to apply it this

495
00:23:52,180 --> 00:23:55,560
way, brother, sister, a little while, a little

496
00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,060
while, and we're going to see Him.

497
00:24:00,770 --> 00:24:02,930
I enjoyed gathering around the Lord Jesus this

498
00:24:02,930 --> 00:24:03,210
morning.

499
00:24:03,570 --> 00:24:05,130
I've enjoyed being at this conference.

500
00:24:05,870 --> 00:24:07,030
It draws our hearts to Him.

501
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:11,560
What is it going to be like when

502
00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:12,120
we see Him?

503
00:24:13,500 --> 00:24:14,500
A little while.

504
00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:17,500
It could be a very little while.

505
00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,480
And have you ever thought what it's going

506
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,740
to be like to look into His eyes,

507
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,400
this One whom having not seen, we love?

508
00:24:28,860 --> 00:24:31,840
And I wonder what will be the first

509
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:33,100
words that He'll say to us.

510
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:36,060
I'll tell you what a moment that'll be.

511
00:24:37,300 --> 00:24:40,120
He says, a little while and you shall

512
00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:40,600
see me.

513
00:24:42,630 --> 00:24:47,360
Last words of the Lord Jesus Christ, love

514
00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:54,980
one another, keep my commandments, abide in me

515
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:57,760
a little while.