Ezekiel Part 26

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Ezekiel Part 27

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Let's pray then we'll get rolling Lord Jesus again as we open up your word and we consider what it is that Ezekiel has revealed to Us we may ask

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Lord that you would grant us repentance of our of our unfaithfulness in the ways in which we've betrayed you

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We pray for forgiveness and mercy as well as through the Holy Spirit to grant us the ability to walk in your commandments

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We ask in Jesus name. Amen. All right real quick. I haven't I have an announcement

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I forgot to announce and that is is that this Thursday March 14th

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At 7 p .m. At the Empire Arts Center in Grand Forks. There is a viewing of a movie called unplanned and Clearly it has something to do with like unplanned pregnancies and this is being put on by students for life of Grand Forks And so it says here it's gonna be at the

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Empire Arts Center at 7 p .m. On Thursday Donations are welcome online and and then you can follow them on Instagram and and you get the idea

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This doesn't make it sound like it's going to be it. So it is a free public viewing You don't have to pay to actually view it.

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So Yeah, so there you go We have been working our way through the book of Ezekiel and By way of fair warning what is coming in in the sections ahead?

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If you are offended by a wrathful God This this is not your cup of tea

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In fact, you might want to consider a different religion altogether because This this reveals

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God's great wrath against our sin And when we left off last week, we heard

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God in our text basically telling the the the elders of Israel who had come to inquire of him that he will not be inquired of By them because they have not repented of their own

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Idolatry which they learned from their fathers and from their fathers fathers and which has been going on for a long time

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So backing up it just a little bit in the context We're in chapter 20 verse 30 therefore say to the house of Israel thus says the

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Lord Yahweh Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and go whoring after their detestable things?

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When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire you defile yourselves with all of your idols to this day and Shall I be inquired of by you?

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Oh house of Israel as I live declares the Lord Yahweh I will not be inquired of by you and you're gonna know what is being said here again

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One of the primary things that was happening. It's not that they worshiped These idols exclusively they were engaging in something called syncretism

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Where they would offer gifts to Yahweh they would offer sacrifices to Yahweh and to Baal and to Ishearah and to Molech and you get the idea.

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The the problem is the syncretism and God will not permit us To worship or believe in or do anything in relation to other deities

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Okay, and so he's not going to be inquired of by them because they're continuing in their idolatrous syncretistic practices

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So what is in your mind shall never happen the thought? Let let us be like the nations like the tribes of the countries and worship wood and stone

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Why can't we just be like them as well? Why do we have to be exclusively worshiping of Yahweh when the when there is you know, when there's like nothing to see

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You'll you'll note that in the the temple in Jerusalem as the story goes when

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Antiochus Epiphanes went into Into the temple, which is a fascinating period of history during the intertestamental period

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He was shocked by the fact that there was there were no images inside the

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Holy of Holies None whatsoever depicting Yahweh And as a result of it, he thought what a strange religion.

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This is okay So same thing I did so that what they're doing is they're engaging into these syncretistic practices all the other nations worship gods of wood and stone

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Why can't we be like them or as my mother would say and if all of your friends wanted to jump off a cliff?

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Would you do it, you know? Did any of you get that lecture by your parents? You just you know, you know, and and I you know

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I just don't understand why she was upset about the idea of like doing chainsaw juggling

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I mean We were gonna take safety precautions, I mean, it's not like we're gonna lose a hand or something, you know, but you get the idea

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So continuing then as I live declares the Lord Yahweh surely with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with wrath poured out

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I will be king over you Now this next section it's important to us to recognize that this is going to ultimately

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Be alluding to Christ's return in glory to judge the living and the dead So when the on the day of Christ's return, is that going to be a great day for most of humanity?

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No, not at all it's gonna be horrifying, okay And so you'll note then in God talking about bringing the

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Israelites into Israel He's not talking about Them being brought out of Captivity in Babylon.

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That's not his terminus here He's talking about the ultimate return when everybody gets to return on the day of judgment and so you'll note

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God is describing that day as a day with wrath poured out and That will be

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Christ's return. It's it's it's a terrifying picture if you were to think about it and a second

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Peter I think gives what I consider to be like one of the most notable Descriptions of the return of Christ in terms of its devastation

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Let me This is a second

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Peter, let's see here. Yeah, here we go second Peter chapter 3

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Now this is the second letter that I am writing to you beloved in both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets

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Plural and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles So no Peter is pointing them to whom people like Ezekiel to Isaiah to the prophets of old

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Knowing this first of all that scoffers will come in the last day with scoffing following their own sinful desires now a little bit of a note here

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I Feel like I have to chime in at this point because I get accused of being one of these a scoffer

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But I'm not in the reason why is because we're talking about people who are denying actual scripture and when

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I scoff at somebody who gives a Prophecy and says that God's gonna give release a new sky raw season of sudden leaves and say that's not a prophecy

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That's not God speaking. I'm not scoffing at God I'm scoffing at the buffoon who is foolish enough to put words in God's mouth that God not has not given them to give

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So there's a difference. Okay. So when Peter is talking about scoffers, he's not talking about prophecy bingo

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He's talking about people who are legitimately denying what the scripture says so knowing this first of all scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires and they will say where Is the promise of his coming for ever since the fathers fell asleep?

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All things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation. In other words, you know

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What's happening today is what happened yesterday and what happened yesterday is that the day with the day before that things have been going on the

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Same why on earth should we believe that Jesus is coming back? Right, so it's a complete denial of Christ's return

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So they would deliberately overlook this fact that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the

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Word of God and That by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and then perished

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But by the same word the heavens and the earth that now exist are stored up for what fire?

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Being kept until the day of judgment and destruction and destruction of the ungodly

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But do not overlook this one fact beloved that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day

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I'm going to talk about that and here in a minute The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises some of count slowness

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But as patient towards you not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance but the day of the

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Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a roar and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and Dissolved and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed

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Since all these things are thus to be dissolved What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness waiting for and hastening the day?

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the day of God because of which the heavens will be set on fire and Dissolved and the and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn but according to his promise

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We are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells so that's a kind of a horrifying picture of what's going to happen, but the idea here is is that The entire creation the heavens and the earth you think the entire universe in that includes all the galaxies all the stars and the quasars and the quarks and the things like that all of that's going to be dissolved and It's gonna and then the earth itself is saved up for what fire and this is so the day of God's wrath

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So God's intent is to bring the entire creation to death Only to then raise it up death and resurrection is the way of dealing with sin here.

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That's that's the idea. So This is where I believe since I read this.

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I should probably put this into contact context here It is true

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That scripture says I just read it that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years in a thousand years as one day

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People take this verse out of context and then misapply it Let me let me give an example

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So anywhere in the book of Genesis where it says that that God created, you know

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Created the heavens and the earth in a particular day They say well see because with the

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Lord one day is like a thousand years That means that day in Genesis 1 is referring to thousands and thousands of years

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You Can't do that. That's just not how this works. What this text is referring to is

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Not how we are to understand the book of Genesis It's referring to how

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God perceives time Does that make sense? Let me give you an example.

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So those of you who are younger than children, but think back to your childhood

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Okay What was the longest period of time in the year?

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Thanksgiving until Christmas. How long did it take to get from Thanksgiving to Christmas every year?

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It took years to get there. Okay, it felt like an eternity Okay, and and the thing is is that you'll note that for young children

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Those five weeks feel like years. It's talking about a perception of time

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Okay, but if you were to chronologically map it out how long did it take you know four or five weeks right and as adults then

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I've noticed that every time I Make a circuit around the Sun the next circuit goes quicker at least perceptibly and it seems like You know,

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I was just telling somebody the other day. Can you believe we're almost to the middle of March? What has happened to this year

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What has happened to this? It's just it's not right, but you I've noticed that the the older I get the quicker everything goes yes,

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Don Oh, there's a math matter

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Don just gave us a mathematical explanation Don math is evil, okay Yeah, okay, and then and then have you ever had like a night where you were super sick

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Okay, and it's like the the only thing that you were trying to do is figure out how to get yourself to sit still enough

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So that you wouldn't throw up again Okay How long does that night last?

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forever Forever Okay, you know one night just seems to drag on in two weeks.

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Okay. I recently had the stomach flu It is like it was horrible You know, the only thing I was trying to figure out how to do is just like stay still don't oh no

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Oh, you know and so so the idea here is is that this text is not telling us anything

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About the book of Genesis. This is telling us about God's perception of the time

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That to him this is how he perceives it. Yes Right, that's completely arbitrary and I would note

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Genesis does not allow you to do that by the way, because it says there was evening and there was morning the first day and There was evening and there was morning the second day

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So what you're basically saying is that each day lasted five, you know, 500 years of daylight 500 years of nighttime

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Wrong Right, no, no, it's poetry.

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That's right. It's poetry because we said so what when does it turn to history later later at what point?

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Right way it appears with agrees with my reason then it then it becomes history. Yeah beware of folks like that So just I thought

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I would need to just put this in here since people misuse this text Next time you hear somebody do that say that text is not telling us how to interpret

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Genesis It's just telling us how God perceives time Okay Do not overlook this fact beloved that with the

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Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day That being the case in God's perception of time.

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How long has Jesus been? Ascended into heaven two days

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Right Jesus just got there the day before yesterday In God's perception of time.

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So for us, it seems like it's been forever since Jesus left, right? but that's the point is that God is not slow to fulfill his promises as he can as Some people count slow this instead

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Note, then that God is his he's being patient towards us and it's his goal that he wishes that not any would perish

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But that all should reach repentance. So the fact that Jesus is taking his dear sweet time is a

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Bonus for all of us because it's given us time to repent Which is what

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God wants. I I keep thinking it's like, you know, there's certain times in my life had Christ returned when

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I was 11 I don't think I'd Made it, you know

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But since Christ hasn't returned yet, if he shows up on Thursday, I think I'm okay, you know

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You get the idea, right? We can come to him and never hunger and thirst

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Why do we struggle with faith? The reason we struggle with faith is because faith when it comes when it's given to us is not fully developed it's one of these things that we actually grow in and you'll note that part of the part of the growth of faith is learning how to struggle against our sinful nature and so here's the issue being a

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Christian feels like being at war with yourself and When you sin and you fall short and you give in to the temptations of the devil or the world or your own sinful flesh

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You'll note that Satan is not really kind when it comes to how he treats us when we sin

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The devil comes along and tempts us and goes. Oh you deserve it. It's this this is the it'll be the best thing for you

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Just don't worry about it. No one's gonna know or whatever You just you know It tells you these things and as soon as as soon as you as you give in to it

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He hits the red button and the klaxon starts going off You sinner sit, right?

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It drives you to despair and into actual fear and you'll note then that our sinful nature fears death

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Fears God's wrath and knows full well that it is earned God's wrath. And so you have within yourself the legitimate experience of fearing

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God's wrath and So at the same time then you have the gospel preached to you and you now there's this tug -of -war the new man you are in Christ is latching on to the gospel the old man that you are in Adam is

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Rejecting the gospel and saying no we can't trust that we have to do something to save ourselves Or whatever or we just need to despair and just give up altogether forget this

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Christianity thing and so as a result of it, we we we struggle and And Through the power of the

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Holy Spirit we grow and We learn to put to death the fear of God's judgment the fear of God's wrath

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The fear of being thrown into hell as we deserve we put that all down Through the gospel the good news that Christ has bled and died for our sins

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So as Christ continues to grow and the gospel grows it becomes bigger than the fear of death

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But that takes time faith is faith is like a plant. It has to be watered It has to be cared for it has to be fed

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God describes it Christ describes our own faith as something like akin to a vine that then gets pruned and So where you are today is not where you're going to be tomorrow

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But my recommendation keep coming to hear the Lord forgive your sins keep coming to hear the gospel keep coming to receive the sacraments and Over time

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God the Holy Spirit will work out those other things you know, but that that that's that's common for all of us and so It's not like when when we're given faith.

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It comes out fully formed and And ready to you know, and we're ready to be martyred although some people

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I mean They've actually been martyred shortly after their confession of Christ And I think that God gives them the strength to be able to do that.

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So Yes We will

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So I would know so the question is will we be able to perceive time in the new earth? The answer is yes, and there's a reason for that is because God creates a new heavens in a new earth

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I in fact, let me show it to you this way This requires me to pull up a

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Hebrew text. Give me a second here If I were to go to Genesis chapter 1 okay, and Genesis 1 1 so these are the first two words of the

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Bible and The two words are better sheet in the beginning Okay now a little bit of a note here

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Rashid beginning that's an interesting word because What was there before?

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the beginning Nothing, there was nothing before the beginning

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Okay, and then those same words show up in the Greek version of it in John chapter 1

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And RK in the beginning. What was there before the beginning? There was nothing so in two places in Scripture you have words one

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One set in Hebrew one set in Greek that talk about in the beginning The beginning then is what if the universe

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God creates it out of nothing Before there was a beginning there was no time time itself is is a product of this creation and As a result of it, we have the perception of time.

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So this is why we talk about the time -space continuum So that both Genesis 1 and John 1 1

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Legitimately teach that that is the case that there were there at one point There was no time there was nothing and then

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BAM. Oh, there's a beginning and then there's this unbroken chain of time until Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead what happens to this current creation

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We just read in 2nd Peter this whole thing comes to a screeching burning flaming halt

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Everything melts and it's it's chaos. There will be no post -apocalyptic You know dystopia, it's the best way

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I could put it because there'll be nothing left Correct That's true.

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Hell would be the dystopia, right? But you'll note then that God creates a new heavens and a new earth and with the new heavens and new earth

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You have a new beginning That being the case There is a perception of time now

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I don't know if there's an actual perception of time when it comes to us in the intermediate state in heaven

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I would note that scripture hints at some kind of a perception of time but you have to understand that heaven itself where God lives is outside of this continuum and So because we are part our entire existence takes place

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Inside of this time -space continuum. I can't wrap my mind around What that means?

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Okay, so I remember one of my mentors Bob Pazzantino he would always like like his his mind would go down these roads and I would always have to say to him

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Bob We the Bible doesn't talk like this. Stop it. Knock it off, you know

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And so he says, you know, I just wonder you it's always his mind will always be like racing It was like it was at the 200 miles an hour

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His brain was just strong down the road and and his mouth would follow along slower, but it was really funny

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He goes, you know, I'm just I'm just thinking a question kind of interesting He says, you know when I die since I you know

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The intermediate state is in heaven It's outside of the time -space continuum then Wouldn't that mean that from as soon as I close my eyes here that I would actually open my eyes on the day of the resurrection and that from my perception there would be no time at all from my death to the resurrection and I go

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Maybe but the Bible doesn't say it so stop it You know, but this is how he would think and he goes

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I just kind of like to think about that of course, he died of a massive heart attack a few years later and And I'm thinking

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I wonder if he experienced a resurrection immediately But but the you'll note then that as you know as Christians as Lutherans We do not permit ourselves to go down the road of speculation

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We can have those conversations over a beer or me up with friends and stuff like that But note then it doesn't get preached from the pulpit.

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And so, you know, I'm using him as an example of what not to do You know, don't be speculating along these lines because we just don't know

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Right Right So and then you sit there and go well What about Abraham and Shaol and all that kind of stuff notice that they were not in heaven

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They were in the bowels of the earth right, okay, so however, there's one text that I can think of off the top of my head that does argue for the perception of time in Heaven and that's when the

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Saints are grumbling before Christ and his throne in the book of Revelation saying how long we before you've our blood and Jesus basically gives them a

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Mai Tai and tells him to lay on a chaise lounge and says Relax, just a little bit longer. I added this my type it but so Hey But yeah, that's the

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Roseboro that's the Roseboro paraphrase so, you know, it's it's not the passion but you know, it's

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But you get the idea so So that that's all the case so the next question do you think that if there's actually a climate change that it is

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God starting people to burn up this world and That is what the world is recognizing as climate change

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Yeah, the end by the end by the by the way, the answer to that question is yes and the reason I say yes is go back and listen to my study in the book of Revelation because the turmoil of the upheaval of weather is part of the ongoing things that God sends and it increases in amplitude as we get closer and closer to the return of Christ and so the climate change

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There's some debate about it, but it you know, I I think you can look at look look at the charts and say yes

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There's been an increase in in the temperature, but what's driving that answer God's wrath?

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Okay Because when you see earthquakes and war and famine and you know climate upheaval and stuff like this

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The Christian season goes I need to repent again Okay, and the world season goes.

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Oh, no, we're in trouble because how this is the only place we have we have nowhere else to go Fix it fix it for me, please.

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Here's some more money Yeah, but the the Christian sits there and goes and you ain't got to fix those with money and they're now there ain't a way

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To fix it now granted, you know, we have to be good stewards of the creation

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I love the fact that they're they're finally figuring out how to get rid of that that island of garbage in the

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Pacific Okay That's a good thing and that there are people who are dedicated to creating

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Technologies to getting trash out of the rivers in in third world countries

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That is a that is a blessed work and that is actually a godly thing And I would say that that is far more godly than how

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I care for my own yard Okay, because every year you'll note that I have a bumper crop of weeds and I'm not talking about marijuana.

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I'm talking about you know, I Always have to say that because I could just see somebody going did he say he's growing weeds in his garden.

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Mmm, okay Yeah Right Yeah so there is a real sense in which taking the chaos that we receive as a result of our fallen to sin and then creating order around it and Beauty that's actually a godly thing and so, you know

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But you know So understand this that not everybody who's trying to clean up the environment is doing so because they have some kind of a mother earth

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Gnostic agenda it's because they you know We had the law of God written on our hearts and we legitimately are the stewards of this planet at the end of the day

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Though you'll note that all of our stewardship is going to come to naught because Christ is going to destroy the whole thing

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Okay, but just because my house is gonna burn down next week doesn't mean I don't need to make my bed today.

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Okay It's not a prophetic statement

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No, it's not I know it's not I just I mean that is an analogy, okay, you know

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You get the idea. All right coming back then to hang on a second here

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So boy we got we got we're off to the races with questions today Can do can assurance, okay

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Adam, can we have assurance of salvation? Yes, absolutely Okay, absolutely We can have assurance of salvation but we're

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I'm gonna give you an answer to it that is different than the answer you're gonna get from a

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Calvinist and And there's a reason for it. So if you were asked the average Calvinist or evangelical

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What is your assurance of salvation the Calvinist that kind of in the Puritan tradition would sit there and so well

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I look at where I was and where I am and I can see that there's growth in my sanctification

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Therefore that proves that I'm a Christian so I can have assurance that I'm I'm a child of God I look at my sanctification and it looks like the stock market.

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Okay, there's ups. There's downs There's bear markets. There's a bull markets and the other in the actually a bear market

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But a bull markets and then bear markets is it's a it's a mess and and if you're constantly taking your sanctification temperature

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To for your assurance of salvation. Where are you looking? Internally right salvation is a complete and free gift of God and So where the

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Lutheran is going to point you to is where the Word of God comes to you from outside of you

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So, how can you be assured of your salvation? I would say how could you not be? Did you not hear that your sins were forgiven today?

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Did you not feast on the body and blood of Christ given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins? Did you not hear his words?

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Where you heard the gospel again preached to you and the great promises that Jesus gave in our gospel text

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That anybody who feasts on his body and blood abides in him and has eternal life, right?

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So the idea then is is that the Lutheran will never talk about assurance of salvation apart from the means of grace

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So this is why we continue to gather together to hear God's Word and to receive the sacraments and to hear that our sins are

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Forgiven is because this is the place where that God promises to be and he's handing out assurance of our salvation

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Every single Sunday, right? And then if you stopped coming to church

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My immediate question is going to be is where is your faith hearing these assuring promises?

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And you'll note faith is one of these things that we can we can unfortunately squander and starve, right?

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You know, I just No way. I am you know,

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I Give me like six weeks away from church and I'll be a pagan You know that this is this is not a good thing, right?

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So so the idea then is is that we will basically say keep coming keep hearing the word keep hearing that your sins are forgiven

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And let your faith continue to grasp on to that I have assurance that I am going to be alive unless something really tragic happens to me

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I'll be alive tomorrow and the next day the next day granted that I eat and I drink and I take care of myself

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Right, and of course that that will eventually run out but the idea here is that if is

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I steward the life that God has given me by eating by Making sure that I'm I don't spend the night in my driveway when it's you know, 40 below zero

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I said, you know I I keep my house warm and things like this same idea then is that you steward the faith that God has given you by feeding it and Sustaining it with God's Word and the sacraments and things like this.

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So So I have total assurance of my salvation Absolute total assurance no doubt in my mind and you know and like I said a few weeks ago in one of the sermons if you if you know if I were to stand before Christ on the day of judgment and Jesus said to me well off to hell with you

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As Luther has said I would stand my ground and say if you send me to hell you're a liar Because you said told me all my sins were forgiven

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You know, can you do that? Yeah, actually you can't that's how faith operates, you know So you have you have full assurance of your salvation keep coming to here where God is giving you that assurance.

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Yes Yeah Yes That's a good question what is true worship

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I'm gonna give you a basic answer to it that's gonna sound a little too

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Sophomorish, but it's the basic answer is this it's trusting

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God and believing his promises and praying back to him What he's given to what he's told us worship begins by faith and So you'll note then that in that faith then grows into real love for God And and then it and then it expresses itself in love towards others so so the idea here is is that you know what and I'm gonna give a terrible example because This is something

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I've been thinking about I don't know if you guys have heard the news But the the main worship leader at IHOP her name was miss her main

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Her name is Misty Edwards She resigned this week and the reason why she resigned is because she was in a multi -year long affair with a married man and She was the worship leader at IHOP Okay, I just I just kind of let this settle in I just Consider the disconnect here.

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She was one of the and she's like in the charismatic circles Misty Edwards is like worship royalty

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She's as well known as As Bethel music what we're talking about, which means that week after week after week

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This woman was leading people in worship and she was worshipping in what?

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Feelings because you described it as what raising your hands and singing love songs to Jesus but the problem with IHOP wasn't that Wasn't Let me put say what it was the problem with IHOP is that the

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Jesus that they worshipped and They believed in and the Holy Spirit that they worshipped and believed in was a different Jesus and a different spirit altogether

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All together and for all their talk of holiness and worshipping

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God We can say now definitively that that whole thing was a scam.

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It was legitimately Just a facade And in fact,

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I have been saying for years that that's the case Looking at the content of their preaching looking at the content of their worship so you're gonna note here then worst real worship is basically saying back to God the things he's given us to say about himself and Believing that he is who he says so you're gonna know in in our worship service.

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We don't begin the service God does God is the first mover in the divine service.

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Not us in the in in the IHOP model you come and you stand on your feet for 45 minutes singing love songs to Jesus and And there it's it's so predictable as far as how the hand motions and what people are gonna be doing

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That there are comedians now out there describing it You begun you begin by basically swaying back and forth with open hands and then you hold the television

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Right, and then and then and then you you you show them the fish.

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Okay, and then the fish gets bigger Okay, and then it's touchdown Jesus. Okay, they have there are comedians out there describing this

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Okay, and the thing is the whole thing is based upon a faulty premise

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I'm there at the beginning of the service me offering my sacrifice of praise in Order to get the attention of God So that he then rewards me or us collectively as a group by giving us a thick anointing

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Goose bumps and goose things like that Or you know and we can say all that worship service was really anointed

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We could really feel the spirit and all this kind of stuff. And here's the interesting thing is That that becomes that experience that collective experience becomes the thing that we point to Internally and going well,

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I have to be okay with Jesus because I had goose bumps the other day when I was at church

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The experience then becomes the thing you look to for the assurance of your salvation We all that's out the window here

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You come to Kong's me you go to any confessional Lutheran Church Christ is the first mover you come and you first thing you do is say

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I Confess that I've blown it. Okay, but the service has already become has already begun with in the name of the

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Father Son and the Holy Spirit Okay, and notice I never say the words we begin in the name of the

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Father Son and the Holy Spirit baloney We don't start nothing. Okay, we're two or more gathered

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Christ Promises to be present for us. And so what do we do? We confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean that we've sinned against God and thought word deed by all the things we've done and not done right and we speak the truth about ourselves and Christ has given authority

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To the church to then give an absolution to all the penitent and you hear that Christ has forgiven you and What is your response

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Thanksgiving and praise Right, so you'll note that in true worship.

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God moves first We respond He gives us his word.

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We thank him for it. He forgives us our sins. We rejoice he gives us his body and blood and we sing his praises and So you'll note that in true worship, it's not done in the vacuum it's done in the presence of God and he's the one moving first and It has to be grounded then in something objective that he's saying and speaking and not in the fleeting Emotions and experiences of the moment something completely different So does that answer your question by the way

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Hannah? Yeah, that is a form.

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That's that's I would say that's part of the worship Okay, the in fact the entire divine service is worship

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The entire the entirety of it and so the singing of hymns is part of it And then you'll note then the hymns that we sing

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Have any of you figured it out yet? It's like wait those hymns sure do seem to go along with the sermon

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Right Exactly. They're chosen because of that and then here's the thing

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How many of you there are certain hymns that you sing you can't sing them without getting choked up Okay, there's a motion there, but that emotion is driven by the content

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Okay, there are certain hymns. I don't care how many times I sing it It just doesn't matter once I hit that verse.

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I know I'm gonna struggle Because it reminds me so much of God's great love his mercy and his compassion for me that I can't sing it dispassionately and So you'll note then our emotions

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Our emotions are driven by content not just the experience All right, you get the idea.

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I I remember this past summer. I was at the higher things conference I was a speaker at the higher things conference and the opening divine service was spectacular

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I mean James will tell you it was absolutely stunning But the my favorite part of the service was the distribution time during the

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Lord's Supper When you have a thousand kids in in one Chapel, you're gonna have six

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Distribution hymns and one of the things that they had done is is that they had kind of pre worked out with Some of the kids who were coming that they had a choir and they had like a quick practice and they and then one of the hymns

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Some of the stanzas only the girls sang and some of the stanzas and what the guys it's like, oh it was so good

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It was so good I just I I think back to that and it just really stood out that that was probably one of the more powerful times of Worship that I've ever experienced and it was all based on the content

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But then the the sheer beauty of hearing all of these young voices

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You know singing these very old familiar hymns But done so in such in such reverence and awe it was just it was it was majestic.

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It was like insanely great So, all right,

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I think we're playing Bible answer man today, that's okay Yeah, yeah

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Let's see here. Yeah. Yeah Louie says Tim Hawkins does a routine. That's right. Exactly.

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You know it Lily says it creates an emotionally charged atmosphere that passes as the presence of their version of the

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Holy Spirit That's exactly right and I would note this Lily is is that have any of you ever been to a good

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Concert put on despite a normal secular band Okay. Yeah, like Have any of you seen it?

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I think we may rephrase this. Have any of you seen the videos of the kids that are going to the eras Yes, Taylor Swift's eras concerts.

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Okay All of them are screaming their heads off. They're having the same

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Biological Responses that people are seeking in worship services. How are they having those same experiences?

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The answer is actually quite simple music particular music is very emotionally evocative and And in the right setting with the right

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Music and and everybody knows with with the crowd there and everything like that you get a sense of a collective euphoria

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Should I assume that the Holy Spirit has fallen on the eras to her concert Josh is emphatic.

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No Okay So that I think that should alarm charismatics.

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I think that that should alarm them because Unbelievers can have the same exact experience and then the charismatic say yeah, but that's just biology

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But what we're experiencing is the Holy Spirit How do you know it's any different Because you'll note that Here at Kongsvinger.

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We don't cover the windows We don't have a laser light show and and all this kind of stuff as a result of it.

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You know, there's no there's no intentional manipulation and control Whereas I think of my friend

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Stephen Cozart. He used to be on a you know, he's played guitar in a praise band at his church, which was a

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Pretty healthy size megachurch and And he talks openly about the fact that when they would when they would decide what sets they you know

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When they would the worship set together they knew exactly at what point they wanted people to have their hands raised and have things be high and then

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Throw in a different song here to kind of bring it down and and stuff like this. Everything was designed for its emotional impact

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Everything and I can tell you this I pick hymns based upon their content you know, how is this going to work with the sermon and the biblical text that I'm going to be preaching on and And emotional impact is like not even on my list

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It doesn't show up because I believe the content has to drive everything and the emotions will follow

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So, yeah Let's see here Diane says

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I remember Todd Friel showed one of her songs It was the mesmerizing type same lyrics over and over again.

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Yeah, Misty Edwards. I Think it's hilarious that she's named Misty because I would

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I would count her as part of what I call the misty chicks Because she's she's a true mystic if you haven't seen her interview on the

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Sid Roth program It would be interesting for to rewatch it because I remember very specifically Her talking about you know certain themes of mysticism, but also at that time when she was on the

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Sid Roth program She was talking about her holiness It's like that didn't age well, okay

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Okay, Deb says I used to think I was deprived because I resisted being gushy about being in love with Jesus Deb I got to tell you this.

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I always hated that idea it I despised the Jesus of those experiences because it was like this hairy bearded

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Girlfriend who it was really upset because I wasn't texting him all the time and it's like come on This is just really creepy weird, you know

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Yeah, yeah So it was I was so comforting to recognize that emotion wasn't to be the indicator of faith while it may result in tears

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That's right. Have you noticed that most of these praise songs begin with the words? I I am waiting.

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I am lonely I am seeking I am hungry. Who are you singing about yourself? Right. Yeah that I always cut like to contrast it with like die strong word die strong word did cleave the darkness at thy speaking

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It was done for created light. We thank thee while they ordered seasons run Alleluia, alleluia praise to thee who liked us and right and then the third stand a stanza

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Thy strong word bespeaks us righteous bright with I don't holiness glorious Now we press towards glory and our lives our hopes confess.

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Who are we singing about? Christ Yeah, yeah, yeah

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So and then I have you also noticed that a lot of the praise songs are all written in future tense

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We will praise you. Well, when we will get to it, you know, you know

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You know, it's like I didn't and it's the same seven words, you know Sung 13 times.

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It's just so annoying Yeah, James says

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James and Stephanie says the poor sheep at IHOP must be so delusioned now with all their leadership

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I'll tell you my concern at this point is that having all of your sins like that aired so publicly

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Yeah, that's that my question is who's gonna pastor these fallen people Who's gonna pastor them, you know, and and I and it is as odd as this is gonna sound but Missy Edwards and Mike Bickle, they need to hear the gospel and You know and and Christ has bled and died even for all of this mess that they've created but I fear that there's there's you'll note that when it comes to Evangelicalism there is no absolution

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So, you know what what evangelicals do to their to their fallen as they usually shoot them and leave them on the side of the road

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So Pray for these folks. All right, I gotta go So Lord willing we'll see you next time.