The Testing of Your Faith Part 2 (Pastor Josiah Shipley)

Whitten Baptist Church

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Now I want you to pay attention. It wasn't anything in Israel. It wasn't their military size.

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It wasn't the type of people. Would you turn with me to 1st

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Peter chapter 1 please? 1st Peter chapter 1. 1st

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Peter chapter 1. Let me do this now so I don't forget.

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So, last week I made on your sermon notes a homework sheet on the back and I forgot to mention it.

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So let me just do that now. On your handout for today, what handout? The one at the door. On your handout for today, on the back is homework for you to do this week.

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Now for those of you who in class always just did the homework during class when the teacher talked, that's fine as long as you hear

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God's word. I don't really care. But, I did that with the intention of you having something to study this week and it is somewhat connected to what we're talking about today.

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Okay, today is part 2 of the testing of your faith. Now last week we were in James chapter 1 and we'll review that in just a moment.

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But what I want to do right now is I want us to go to 1st Peter chapter 1 and we're going to read most of this chapter.

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So bear with me. We are in 1st Peter chapter 1.

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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles in the dispersion, in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.

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That's all modern day Turkey by the way. Verse 2. According to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, and the sanctification of the

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Spirit, for the obedience to Jesus Christ, and the sprinkling with His blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

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Blessed be the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, according to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again, to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable and defiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been tested and grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Skip down to verse 13 and keep reading with me. Verse 13. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober -minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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As obedient children, don't be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance. But as He who called you as holy, you also must be holy in all your conduct.

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Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. And if you call on Him as Father, who judges impartially, according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear during your time of exile.

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Knowing you were ransomed from your feudal ways, inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

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Verse 20. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for your sake.

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Who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave

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Him glory, so your faith and hope are in God, having purified your souls by the obedience to the truth and a sincere brotherly love.

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Since you've been born again, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again.

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Not of perishable seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding Word of God. For all flesh is like grass and its glory like the flower of grass.

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The grass withers and the flower falls, but the

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Word of the Lord remains forever. And this

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Word is the good news that was preached to you. Just to quickly review last week.

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So last week in James 1, part 1 of this series of the testing of your faith, James told us to count it all joy when you experience various types of trials.

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And the reason he said to count it all joy is because it's not purposeless. There was a reason for it.

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You got something out of it. And what you got out of it, if you let it have its full effect, is perseverance.

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The ability to push on. The ability to go one more step. The ability to go one more round.

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We talked last week about the difference between trial and consequence. And then maybe just review that one more time, because I just want to make sure we understood what

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I was saying there. Ladies and gentlemen, consequence just means with sequence.

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It is the next thing to happen in a logical sequence of events. Okay? Trials are tests from God to test you in order to give you an opportunity to grow your faith.

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And I gave the example last week and I stand by it. If you as a man have six children by four different women, no job, and call the court hearings of your financial state to be a trial, you're fooling yourself.

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That's disrespectful to those who are actually going through a trial. Ladies and gentlemen, that's consequence of your actions.

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What are you talking about? Trials are that which is not a result of your action.

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Now we talked about temptation. That's during that test and when Satan tries to entice you, instead of being molded into a mature man or woman of God, to sin against God.

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And then at the end we spoke about how unfortunately some people, even some

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Christians, spend their whole lives trying to limit the trial instead of growing in it.

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We talked about how that's a wasted life. That's a wasted life. So, with that being said, part two is in 1

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Peter and you note he says something very similar. You see, Romans 5, James 1 and 1

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Peter 1 all say basically the same thing. Three different apostles saying the same thing.

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That's because we recognize that the true author of Scripture is the Holy Spirit, not any work of man.

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So, I want to look one more time at verse 3 -7. Let's just look at that real closely, 1

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Peter 1. Remember, if you don't hear anything else I say, then hear God's word. 1 Peter 1 3 -7.

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Let's read that again. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again.

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Ladies and gentlemen, if you think salvation was your doing, you are fooling yourself. Who has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

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Paul says, if Jesus is not raised, then we're to be pitied above all people because we're believing a fairy tale.

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But in fact, He has been raised so that our hope is a living hope. This living hope is what?

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Verse 4. An inheritance. Now, if I could just for a moment, make sure you understand what's happened.

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This is the measure of grace that some of us have heard so often. It's numb to our souls.

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But just hear it real quick. Here's the situation. Every single person in this room has looked at God and said, forget you.

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I'm going to do it my way. Whether with your words or your actions. That's what you said.

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For those of you that are believers, make sure you understand. God's standard never changed.

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You know what the standard is to get into heaven? Perfection. You know what it was before the fall?

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Perfection. You know what it is right now? Perfection. And look at me, those of you who are thinking that I've lost it. I'll say it again.

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The standard to enter heaven is absolute, total perfection. That's the standard.

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That is what is required to get into heaven. There is no grading on a curve.

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There is no exceptions. That's the standard. Now, the next logical question your brain should be, then will heaven remain empty forever?

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And the answer is no. What salvation is, is not simply

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God forgiving you of your sins. That would not get you into heaven. That would just get you out of hell.

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Do you not see? All that does is forgive the debt. You still have no credit in your account.

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It's just not in the negative anymore when it comes to sin. You understand? That's what forgiveness does. What happens to that salvation is the credit for Jesus' perfectly obedient life is credited to your account.

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So He gets the credit for your sin. You get the credit for His obedient life.

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And it's as if you live that life. So now in verse 4, we are now talking about your inheritance, what you get as a reward for that obedience.

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The obedience that you didn't win, but was given to you. See, perfection is required to get into heaven, but it's not the perfection of your works, it's the works of another.

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And that's the Savior, Jesus Christ. And His standard of perfection is charged to my account. So when the

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Father sees me, He sees the perfect obedience of His Son, and I enter heaven based on the perfection of Jesus and the credit

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He gave me for that. So now, what that means in verse 4 is we're now talking about my inheritance.

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Ain't that something? Is that numb to your soul right now, or do you hear that?

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We are now talking in verse 4 about our inheritance. The only thing we should inherit is eternity in hell.

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But now we're talking about our inheritance in heaven. And what's it say? To an inheritance that is imperishable can't die.

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Non -perishable food items, you follow me? It's imperishable. It's undefiled. Nobody can mess with it.

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And it's unfading. It's just as powerful on day 1 as it is on day 10 ,000. Ain't that something? And it's kept in heaven for me.

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Carol, ain't that something? It's kept in heaven. Robert, aren't you glad? See, Justin, if God entrusted an inheritance to us right now, what happened to the prodigal?

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What happened to that guy? When he was given the inheritance early, what happened? He squandered it, didn't he?

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Y 'all remember? It's kept in heaven who by God's power are being guarded through faith for our salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

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Now verse 6 is our focal point. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while.

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In these next two words, if necessary, you're being grieved by various trials.

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Let's read that again. In this you rejoice, so yeah, we rejoice, yeah, our salvation is eternal and protected in heaven.

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That's a reason to rejoice, right? It says this, though now for a little while, if necessary, you are being grieved by various trials.

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If necessary. Maybe God misspoke right here. What's he mean by it's necessary to be grieved by various trials?

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Did he make a mistake right here? Is that a typo? Last week,

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James talked about counting it joy when we go through various trials. Peter's taking it a step further.

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See it as a necessity. A necessity to be grieved by various trials.

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Why? Look at the result. Look at the result. So the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it's tested by fire, may be found to result in what?

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The praise, glory, and honor of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Now I know that in this room we don't have people who have used church words their whole life and don't know what they mean.

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I know that every one of you can define those three words, and you haven't just lived your whole Christian life saying words that you don't know what they mean.

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I know no one in this room is that way. Yes? Do you know what the word hallelujah means?

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Praise Yahweh. Hallelujah. Praise Yahweh. Right? Look here.

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That it may be found to result. So that whole tested genuineness of your faith, the whole grieve by trials, why is it necessary?

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Because it's found to result in the praise, glory, and honor of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

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Let's review these terms, okay? Let's review these terms, and I understand that this is a little more of a lesson than a sermon.

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It's a good thing that I have the microphone. I can do what I want. So here we are here. Letter A. As all of you have your hand out and your pencil out, obviously, on letter

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A. Here we go. Praise. You know what praise is? What's praise?

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Somebody tell me what praise is. To worship? No. Close. To speak a good word.

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So praise is with your words to tell of who

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God is. Okay? So praising is giving

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God the credit He deserves. Let me say it again. Praising is giving God the credit

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He deserves with your words. Now, if any of you struggle with praise at its core, you know what's amazing about God?

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If you just describe Him, you automatically are praising Him. God, you are unsearchable.

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God, you are all loving. God, you are everywhere. God, you know everything. God, you are love.

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See, God is so in and of Himself worthy of praise that you can simply describe

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Him. You don't even have to start by saying what He's done. You can simply describe Him and you're praising Him. So praise, as Brother Jeff said, to speak a good word of, praise is to with your words give

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God the credit He deserves. Now, it's not on your sheet, but this is bonus. Worship, worship is anything you do in your heart in obedience to God.

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Anything you do in your heart in obedience to God. Now, here's why that's important. So, praise is with your lips.

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Worship is with your heart. Praise is with your lips. Worship is with your heart. Because sometimes, sometimes,

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I have to make myself praise even though I'm not worshiping in my heart. But that's not hypocrisy.

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That's training my body to submit to what my mind tells it to do. You follow me on that? Let me say it again.

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Sometimes, I'm not feeling like worshiping God right here. But I make myself praise anyway to train my body to be in submission to my spirit, not my spirit to be in submission to my body.

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Okay? Worship is with the heart. Now, glory. Glory is this.

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Glory is the outward manifestation of who God is. You ready for that one? I'll say that one again.

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Glory is the outward manifestation of who God is. Don't ask me how to spell manifestation.

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I don't know. Glory is the outward manifestation of who God is. Now watch this. The seraphim.

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You can call them angels if you want. They're some type of spiritual being. Remember they got six wings. Y 'all remember this?

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They got six wings, right? They got two covering their eyes, don't they? They have two they're flying with.

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Two they're covering their feet, right? And day and night, you find this in Revelation and in Isaiah 6, they're screaming holy...

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How many of you don't like repetitive songs? You're going to have a hard time in heaven. Day and night, they never stop screaming these words.

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Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His...

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What do you think it would say? Holiness? Holy, holy, holy is the

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Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. You see, holiness is who

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God is. It's that which... Holy means set apart, right? Holiness is that which separates

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God from everything else. Holiness is that which separates God from everything else.

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Glory is us being able to see that. When the Bible says Jesus is the glory of God, He's God made visible.

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You understand? The outward manifestation of who He is. It's like it fits together. It's like the same guy who wrote

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Genesis is the same guy who wrote Matthew. Isn't that something? Holy, holy, holy is the

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Lord God Almighty. But the whole earth, the visible part for us, is full of His glory. Full of His glory.

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If this were burned today, I could still see the glory of God by walking out that door.

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Because the whole earth is full of His glory. The outward manifestation of who

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He really is. Isn't that something? So holiness is who God is. That which makes Him other.

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That which separates Him. Glory is the visible manifestation of that. So when the Bible tells you to glorify

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God, manifest, shine light on who He really is. When you give glory to God, you're making much of Him.

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Like a magnifying glass. Saying, hey, look at God. That's what glorifying God is.

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It's making much outward manifestation of who He is. The best example

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I've ever come across with this is the moon. The moon has no light even of itself.

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It is a dead, lifeless rock. But 93 million miles away, there is a star that we call the sun.

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That can shine on that in such a way that it can light up my backyard.

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Where I can see. Isn't that something? The light reflecting off a rock can shine and make things visible to me at night.

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That's what I want to be for God. In a dark world. I want to so reflect, so manifest, so shine the light of God on somebody else, that even in darkness, it can be made visible.

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That's what the Bible means when Jesus says, let your light so shine among men.

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They can what? Before you've ever opened your mouth, they can see your works and glorify the

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Father in heaven. So glory is the outward manifestation of who God is. Y 'all got that? Honor means to give someone the credit they deserve.

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So praise is to speak it. Honor is to give someone the credit they deserve. So praise is with your mouth telling of who

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God is and what he's done. Honor overall means to give someone the credit they're due.

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You see, this is as I've said before, this is the problem. Right now, every day,

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Jesus is not getting the credit that's due him. The problem when

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I'm most grieved with that is not when people in San Francisco do that, or Washington D .C.,

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or Beijing. I'm used to that. The problem is when I don't do that. Give him the credit that's due him.

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You understand? That's what grieves me the most. I want to live my life in such a way.

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Why I'm giving him the credit that is due him. And some of this shocks us because we are so not used to hearing of the

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God centeredness of this world. Even in the churches. This world was created by God and for God.

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Do you understand what salvation is? You are saved, wait for it, by God, you are saved from God, and you are saved for God.

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Let me do that again because several of you weren't listening there. You are saved by God.

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Now, most people at least think they've got that one down. You're saved by God. You are saved from God.

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As Pastor Jeremiah was telling me this morning, it's impossible to see God's grace if you're not looking through the lens of God's wrath.

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You're saved by God and from God. He is the destroyer. He is the judge of all the earth.

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And you are saved for God. Your purpose as a Christian is to give

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God the credit he deserves and show others that. That's your purpose. Now, with all that being said, look what it says again in verse 6.

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In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary. You've been grieved by various trials.

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So that the tested genuineness of your faith. You know, repeatedly in the

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Scriptures. The positive thing, if we can use that term, about persecution.

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About the people of God under severe testing. The genuineness of their faith is revealed.

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Those who aren't genuine fall away. Now here's what happens there. And the example is used here of gold.

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And this is the analogy God uses. Do you understand how you purify a substance?

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Do you understand what's happening? You put it in the fire. And what happens? When someone says it's 99 .9

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% gold and this one's 80%, what's the difference between the two? Can you believe

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Pastor Jeff is calling me right now? He is so... Probably or he's probably forgotten.

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That's probably more likely. But anyway, the difference between that 80 % pure gold and that 99 % what's the difference?

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What happened to the one? They put it in the furnace. They melted it down and the impurities, the dirt, the grime, the carbon, whatever, melted away.

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Then they let it harden again. You know what they do? They do it again. And then they do it again.

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And you know the worth of that gold far exceeds the other one. Why? Because this one's been tested as genuine.

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Ladies and gentlemen, the tested genuineness of your faith.

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You know, when you have to live in fear that at any moment a government agent come out and punish anyone who's inside worshiping

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Jesus, there's not a whole lot of fake Christians left in the room. Not a whole lot, is there?

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Trials are necessary for the tested genuineness of your faith. But not just as the corporate, but as for you individually.

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Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. And I can say this, I can say this not even halfway through my life,

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God willing, yet. I can't even look back and say, I am really glad for that test right there.

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Because now, lying in my bed at night, I can reason in my spirit,

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God brought me through that one. He'll bring me through this one. You see, when there's never been a test, when there's never been a test, you don't know what you can do.

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I remember, after about my third or fourth MMA fight, I ceased being super nervous.

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Because I recognized something. Well, not only have I already done this three or four times,

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I have spent thousands of hours in the gym doing this very thing. A practice lasts two hours.

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This fight will last 15 minutes. There's nothing that's going to happen in here I haven't already done. With your faith, ladies and gentlemen, remember the whole thing about letting it have its full effect from last week?

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What you come out as is somebody who is more mature, somebody who can handle more, somebody who's more useful for helping others, because you've been put through the test.

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You've been put through the fire and have come out a little more pure, a little less like Josiah, a little more like Jesus, a little less like James, a little less like Brandon, and a little more like Jesus.

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And that's worth it to me. That's what I want. I'm not going to run away from that type of trial.

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I want to be that much more pure, not on my own, having been made that way by another.

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What do you love, ladies and gentlemen? What do you love?

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What's the Bible say? That which you treasure, where your treasure is, there's where your heart's going to be.

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There's where your heart's going to be. You know, don't miss what Jesus said when

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He said, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. Let me say that again. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

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Whatever you're putting in, what's coming out? Out of the overflow. What are you filling that heart with?

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What are you filling that heart with? Because where your treasure is, it's not just there your heart will be also.

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That's where the test is going to come. That's where the test is going to come. Look in the Bible.

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Look in the Bible. Those who were, even with their actions, putting something ahead of God, that's where the test is going to come.

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And God does not pass people along. That test will be passed.

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No matter how many times you have to retake it. That test will be passed. Think of the rich young ruler.

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If you would turn with me just for a moment to Matthew chapter 19. If you would turn with me please to Matthew chapter 19.

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Maybe you're familiar with this account. There's a rich young ruler. And Jesus tells him something.

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He never told a single other person in his entire ministry.

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Only this guy did he say this. The guy comes up to him and says, what?

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Hey, you say I must obey. I've obeyed everything since I was a boy.

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The arrogance. I've obeyed everything perfectly since I was a boy.

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What do I still lack? Because he asked him about entering eternal life. And Jesus says, alright if you want to be perfect, go sell all you possess and give it to the poor and you'll have treasures in heaven and then come follow me.

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Now I have a question for you. Why did Jesus never say this to anybody else? Because this was the test of what this guy loved more than anything else.

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This guy. See Jesus reads hearts, I don't. This is what this guy loved more than anything else.

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And now there's the test. There's the test put in front of this young man. What do you love most?

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Decide right now. What do you love most? And once you look at the result. Verse 22

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When the young man heard this, he went away grieved. Sorrowful. For he had great possessions.

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See the test came. And the temptation from Satan was to choose the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of God.

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And unfortunately this young man failed that test. And we don't know what happened to him after this.

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But right here, he failed that test. Because he loved the cares of this world more than he did

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Jesus. And he showed that by his actions. Do your actions reveal that? Do your actions reveal that?

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Josiah, what if I've already failed that test? So did

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Peter. When the test came and Peter failed, he grieved, but his grief was something different.

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He grieved and then repented. See this rich young man grieved and left.

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Peter grieved and repented. So what's the conclusion? It's a different type of grief.

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It's a different type of grief. 2 Corinthians chapter 7 By the way, there's a typo on number 3 letter

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C. It's supposed to say 2 Corinthians 7, 8 through 10. 2 Corinthians 7, 8 through 10.

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But I just want to read this real quick to you. Paul writing to the church of Corinth, for even though I made you grieve with my letter,

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I don't regret it. Though I did regret it, for I see the letter grieved you, though only for a little while.

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As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, because you were grieved into repenting.

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For you felt a godly conviction, a godly grief, so you suffered no loss through it.

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Godly conviction, godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret.

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Whereas worldly grief produces death. You see, the rich young ruler felt bad, but not to the point of repentance, and went away sorrowful, but keep doing the same thing he was doing.

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Peter, when grieved, when tested, repented. That's the difference.

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That's the difference. Ladies and gentlemen, when that conviction comes, what will it turn into?

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Godly grief or worldly grief? Not the same type.

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Not the same type of repentance. But I want to note just one thing before we move on.

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Paul says he doesn't regret making them grieve with what he said to them. Can you do that for other people?

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Or if it's going to make them uncomfortable, are you just not going to say it? Let me read that again. For even though I made you grieve in my letter,

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I don't regret it. Because that grief led to repentance. Ladies and gentlemen, can you do that for somebody else?

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Sometimes, that's necessary. That's accountability. I would rather someone be upset with me, but their spirit be restored than someone be a friend of me and be just as lost or just as disobedient as they were the day before they talked to me.

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I need that. I need that. This is what the

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Bible teaches about accountability. Paul right here is saying, I know I made you upset, and I'm not rejoicing in that, but I am rejoicing that it led to your repentance, so I would do it again and again.

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That's what we're supposed to be for each other, ladies and gentlemen. What kind of grief are you experiencing over your sin right now?

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No grief at all? You should be afraid. If you can openly sin against an almighty

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God with no conviction, no desire to repent, none at all, and wake up tomorrow just like you did today, and you have no care in the world, you should be afraid.

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And I beg you to hear the Word of God today. Maybe you're like, no,

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Josiah, I feel that conviction, but it never leads to repentance.

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If I only ever kept that to myself, I'd be in the same boat as you.

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But the whole purpose, the entire purpose of the church, is that I wouldn't stay that way.

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See, if we're all moving towards the same goal, we're going to, by nature, grow closer together.

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But if you just worry about you, you just worry about you, and you just worry about you, well, individual parts of a body never come together as a body.

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That's not how the body works. It's called the body of Christ because we all serve a purpose. Obviously, Robert's the eyebrow, and maybe

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Clift is the left pinky toe. Maybe Jeremiah's the right eyeball. And the point is, we all serve a purpose, but if...

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Think about it for a minute, and I know this analogy, but it's in the Bible, so I can use it. If I took out my knife right now, and I'm not going to, and I cut off my right ear, and I threw it on the ground over there, how much hearing would it do?

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You can say none. What purpose would it serve? But as part of the body, it serves a great purpose, don't it?

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Some of you are living your Christian lives, which God designed to be as part of a body, off on your own and wondering why you feel no sense of purpose.

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Because your purpose is meant to be fulfilled in the body, not on your own.

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Does that not make sense to you? Well, that analogy is repeated in the Bible over and over, is it not? How many times do you use that phrase, the body of Christ, and never recognize what it means?

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Let today that change. That's because your purpose is to serve another. We're almost done.

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The purpose, back in 1 Peter, and this is where we'll end, back in 1 Peter. It says that now, if necessary, you've been grieved by various trials, so the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, though it perishes, though it's tested by fire, may be found to result in something.

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To result in the praise, the honor, and the glory of the revelation of Jesus Christ. You see,

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I want to be thick -skinned and tender -hearted, not tender -skinned and thick -hearted.

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Now, which are you today? See, I want what the Bible says a mature

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Christian is supposed to be, thick -skinned and tender -hearted. But I fear there are a lot of Christians today that are tender -skinned and thick -hearted.

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It takes nothing to offend you. Nothing at all. The smallest thing.

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Someone can be by your side. The moment they do one thing that bothers you, you cut them off.

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And you're so offended, you've got to tell 100 people about it, except for the person that wronged you, by the way.

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And you're so thin -skinned, nothing can happen to you without it being an all -out assault on your character.

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That you, and you'll even call it a trial. And yet, your heart is so thick, that you can't pour out love to somebody else to save your life.

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That's backwards. What are we doing? See, the Bible says that we should be thick -skinned and tender -hearted.

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That's what we're supposed to be. Let that be the mold you follow. Let that be the mold you follow.

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Let it be easier to serve someone than it is for you to be offended. There's your test right now.

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Be honest with yourself. What comes easier? You being offended by somebody, or serving somebody?

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Wait for it. With a pure heart. What comes easier to you?

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If it's easier for me to be offended, you need to read verse 7 one more time.

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How does he test that faith? Throwing it in the fire. Ladies and gentlemen, where your treasure is, that's where the test is coming.

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We are not, as Christians, to be soft, or to be soft -hearted. But we're not to be soft.

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I know that as believers, here, it's amazing to me, not just how easily offended we are, but how little, and look at me as I say this, persecution, testing has to come for you to fold.

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Some of us in this room lose our joy, our joy over a flat tire, or your

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A .C. being out. Mercat will be there tomorrow to fix it. You can live one day.

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And I mean, within two hours, yeah, okay. I mean, with something like that, your joy can be shaken.

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Your joy can be shaken. Ladies and gentlemen, a day of testing by fire is coming for everyone.

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Where it will cost you something far more than a little discomfort to be a

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Christian. And if you think you're going to stand that test, when you can't even see the joy in your present circumstance, you are a fool.

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You are a fool. Let the test have its full effect.

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So you won't be a soft, weak Christian, but a mature one that can show somebody else who's struggling a little bit, show somebody what it means to be a man and a woman of God.

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To stand the test of time. To be able to look back and say, no, this is where God brought me forward, and He was faithful, and He taught me how to be faithful.

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That's the measurement. I want to end by saying this, and whatever music crew is coming up, if you could,

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I want to end by saying this. I know we have a lot of our ladies out today, which actually works in our favor.

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Gentlemen, I'm going to beg you right now, I'm going to beg you to take that piece of paper and go home, and if you are not already, now if you're already doing this, let's do this right now.

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Gentlemen who are married, I want you to raise your hand if you are currently reading your

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Bible or praying with your wife, at least on a somewhat regular basis. That's good. Jesus doesn't do half hands.

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Good. Okay. Yeah. That was eight people. That was eight people.

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Eight. Eight. I want everyone, married or not, but especially you married men,

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I want you to take this home. Use the homework sheet on the back if you need to. There's nothing wrong with that.

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Use that as a tool to study this week. As a tool to study this week. And have some fun going through it with them.

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Listen, I want to make sure you understand something. One time I was talking to somebody, and she told me, well yeah

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Josiah, it's easy for you to do that. I'm sure when you, and she was being serious, I'm sure when you open your

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Bible you set scented candles and dim the lights so there's an ambiance of the

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Spirit entering the room. And she was stone cold serious. I said, let me tell you something. When I read the Bible with my family, it's more like this.

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Naomi, quit picking your nose. Ava, focus up. Here we go. Okay, we're going to read the Bible. And this is how it happens.

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We read through Psalms, and every time, every time we read where it said God is our shield,

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Naomi said like Captain America! I'm not teaching them because I want them to right now at the age of three understand the doctrine of justification.

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I'm teaching them to trust and to see the priority of the Word of God in their lives.

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So that they don't hear their dad saying something but not doing it. Remember that whole being a doer of the

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Word and not a hearer only? That's why. So, you know what? Everyone, I strongly encourage you, use the paper as a homework sheet, as a

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Bible study tool this week. Some of them may trip you up a little more than you think. Number five,

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James, don't give it away yet. Hey, gentlemen, remember this. Priest, prophet, provider, protector.

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At the bottom of your sheet. Priest, prophet, provider, protector. Remember the job of a priest is to represent your people before God.

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That's what a priest did, right? He represented his people before God. See, a prophet did the opposite. He represented

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God before his people. Your job is to be both. A priest represented his people before God.

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A prophet represented God before his people. You're to be a provider and you're to be a protector.

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And if you need a little help doing that, when we do invitation, come forward and someone can help train you how to do that.

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You're not on an island. You're not on your own. Maybe today, you as an individual, maybe today, for the very first time in your life or the hundredth time, you felt the call of the

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Holy Spirit to repent. Do not ignore that. Do that while it's still called of the day.

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Maybe some of you have no idea what it means to have a personal relationship with God.

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Maybe some of you have no idea what it means to be saved. Well, let me just break it down for you one more time.

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It's Jesus Christ getting the credit for your sin and you getting the credit for His righteousness and your merit to enter

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Heaven is solely based on the merit of Jesus and not your own. And all that is given to you, not by church membership, not by paying money, on the basis of faith and trust in Him.

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That's it. That's salvation. If you need that, I'm going to ask you to come forward.

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As the pastors come forward, I'm going to ask that if you need to get right with Jesus in any way, if you need help repenting, if you need help learning how to study the

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Bible, if you need help understanding what it means to join a church, if you've never been baptized, I want you to come forward and ask about that and you don't have to come forward here.

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You ask somebody sitting next to you. That's what the church is about. Yeah? Would you please stand with me and whatever God is telling you to do, do that today and do not wait another moment.