John, pt. 42 | John 7:37-39

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July 16, 2023 Pastor Jeff Rice Covenant Reformed Baptist Church Tullahoma, TN

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John, pt. 43 | John 7:40-52

John, pt. 43 | John 7:40-52

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All right, if you will at this time, take your copy of the scriptures. We're going to be in the
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Gospel of John, chapter 7, verses 37 through 39.
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I know I said we'd try to get through the rest of the chapter, but that did not happen.
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So we added a verse, and that's progress, so John chapter 7, 37 through 39, and this is our 42nd message in this glorious gospel.
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Let me pray. Oh God, Lord, I come to you in the name of Jesus, the
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Christ, your Son, who is at your right hand, putting all of his enemies under his feet.
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Lord, we live in his reign, and Lord, we ask that today,
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Lord, as you're reigning over all the earth, that you reign in our mind and hearts right now as we are about to hear this message.
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And Lord, I pray for conviction. As I studied this week,
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I was so convicted, and Lord, I pray that you will continue to convict me throughout this message, and everyone here, and everyone who listens by way of online.
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Lord, we want to see the power of your Holy Spirit in our lives and in your church.
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Please use me this day to speak forth your word in Christ's name. Amen. So let's begin with the text,
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John chapter 7, verses 37 through 39. Now on the last day, the great day of the feast,
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Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
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He who believes in me, as the scriptures said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.
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With this he spoke of the spirit whom those who believed in him were going to receive.
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For the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.
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Our theme for this Lord's Day is giving an invitation.
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Those who have been filled with the Spirit of God are to give an invitation to those who have not been filled with the
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Spirit of God. We are to go and compel men, to compel women to come and eat for free, come and drink.
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Those who have no money, come and eat. Evangelism is a command.
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It is not a requirement for salvation, nor is it a suggestion.
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Likewise, love is a command. It is not a requirement for salvation, nor is it a suggestion.
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You do not, excuse me, you do not have to love your neighbor to become a
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Christian. Don't get anything twisted of what I'm saying. You do not have to love your neighbor to become a
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Christian. But guess what Christians are called to do? Yeah, you guessed it.
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We're called to love our neighbors. James speaks about a faith that does not love their neighbors and he calls it a dead faith.
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He says, show me, he says, I'll show you my faith by what
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I do. This is a justification before man. This is not a justification before God.
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Loving your neighbor does not get you into heaven. But guess what? People who are going to heaven do.
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They love their neighbor. Faith without works is dead.
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Faith without love for your neighbor is dead. You're showing that you do not believe in Jesus Christ.
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I'm about to say something. I think it's warrant from the text. Faith without evangelism is in the same camp as dead faith.
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What's the most loving thing that we could do for our neighbors? I was speaking to my wife this past week about generational wealth and how so -called famous people in Hollywood or even famous Christians who are storing up wealth for generational wealth are going to be judged.
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They're storing up wealth for that which we have on earth where the moth and rust can destroy it.
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They're not. We're called to store up treasures in heaven, in heaven.
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And we have the greatest treasure of all, eternal life. And listen,
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Christian, speaking to myself, we're not to keep it to ourselves.
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We have the greatest treasure and we're called to give it to the world. You might be thinking
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I'm going a little hard on this, but the scriptures go harder than I'm presenting it.
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The scriptures go harder than I'm presenting it. We are called to love our neighbors.
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And the greatest love we could ever give them is from this generational wealth that the church has been storing up for years and years and years and not giving it to the people.
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I mentioned this before, we're living in the unfruitfulness of Christians from 50 years, 100 years ago who thought that Jesus was coming next week, so why should we witness?
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Let's just hunker down and hold this to ourselves. We bought the bucket, the survival bucket, right?
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We bought the survival bucket. We have food for us, but not food for them.
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Ladies and gentlemen, this is terrible. It's terrible. Think about that with the gospel.
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We have the survival bucket. We have the gospel. We're not giving it to people.
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In all honesty, I wanted to,
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I mentioned this earlier, I wanted to just wrap up chapter seven. When I was looking at chapter seven,
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I thought maybe two messages, ain't that what I told you Pastor Gail? Maybe two messages and that's about it, surface level.
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I wanted to wrap this up, but after going back and listening to the message this week,
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I was convicted from verse 38. Look at verse 38. If anyone, this is
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Jesus, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
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Verse 38, he who believes in me as the scripture said from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.
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Beginning of verse 38, but this he spoke of the Holy Spirit. Those who believe in Jesus receive the
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Holy Spirit. And he says, if you receive the Holy Spirit, the
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Holy Spirit is going to come forth from you. And I am so guilty of harboring, hoarding, kidnapping the
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Holy Spirit and not letting him out. I'm guilty of that. And I was convicted.
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What goes in us, Holy Spirit, comes out of us, Holy Spirit. So in our outline today,
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I want to show the different ways that the Holy Spirit flows from the believer.
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Look at three points, of course, three points because I'm a Baptist, right?
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We'll see the fruit, forgiveness, and invitation. Point number one, the fruit, point number two, forgiveness, and point number three, the invitation.
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And as we transition two of these concepts, fruit and forgiveness, we've talked about concern and believers.
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So today I want to flip it around and focus on these ideas to the unbeliever.
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The hardest thing about this subject, speaking of evangelism, is not being offended when we are attacked for our faith.
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It's really hard. I've told this story before I was downtown preaching. Every time
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I've been downtown preaching, I was attacked in some way, right? Whether a group of people walk by, yell at me or say something or try to knock me off the box.
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But this one thing was really funny because I got to see the Holy Spirit protect me in a way.
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This woman, she tried to light me on fire.
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And so she'd light her lighters, she'd grab my clothing, she's trying to set me on fire as I'm speaking.
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And every time she'd light the lighter, the wind would put the lighter out.
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And she backed it off and she lit the lighter and it was going, wasn't no wind, and she put it to me and it would go out.
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And she was getting very frustrated. And finally she grabs her friend's drink and she grabs it and she throws it at my face and the wind came like a gush and no liquid landed on me.
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This is truth. I've experienced so much of this. Finally her friend grabs her from behind and drags her with her heels, scraping the concrete away from me.
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That was one day that someone was trying to attack me that the Holy Spirit would not let it happen.
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There'd be a crowd of elderly women walk by and give me the finger, the middle finger.
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And five minutes later, a crowd full of bikers walk by, look like they could eat you, and give me a hug.
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Nothing bad has ever happened to the point to where something good didn't come from it as I was being attacked.
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But the hardest thing about this subject, evangelism, is not being offended when you're being attacked.
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It's hard. Someone walks by and you're doing something for the Lord and they tell you to go, you know, yourself.
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It's hard not to say it back. It's hard not to, when someone attacks you, not to attack back. It's hard.
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As Christians, it's what we're called to do. Also as Christians, we should be more concerned when we're not being attacked than when we are being attacked.
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Because if you're not being attacked for your faith, that means you're, I'm going to say it, not sharing your faith.
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You're not being attacked for your faith, it's because you're not sharing your faith. If you're sharing your faith, you will be attacked.
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If you share your faith regularly, as I know some of you do, you know what
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I am talking about. You will be attacked. And in that attack, you have to not hold that against them.
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It's hard to do. So point number one, fruit. Those who are filled with the
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Holy Spirit will, listen, display the fruit of the
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Spirit. So let's look at the fruit of the Spirit, it's taken from Galatians chapter five.
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This is going to play a big role in our message today.
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Galatians 5, verse 22, let's see, let's read verse 25.
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But the fruit of the Spirit, notice it ain't fruits, but the fruit of the
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Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control.
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Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucify the flesh with its passions and desires.
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If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in step with the
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Spirit. What does that look like? It's this fruit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self -control.
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Who here thinks that's hard? I do. Right? Right? Are we honest?
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That's tough. These things are to be done with the believer, so when you're dealing with believers, the fruit of the
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Spirit. When you're dealing with unbelievers, the fruit of the
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Spirit. Does that make sense? The fruit of the
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Spirit. That's how we are to conduct ourselves. If we love our neighbor, we will tell them the gospel.
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Right? I'm so convicted with this right here. I am surrounded by people that I haven't spoke with and I'm terrified to speak with.
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Yes, there's been days I've knocked on their door and no one's answered, and sometimes a part of me is, my heart's beating so fast.
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Ain't that right, Robert? My heart's beating. We don't know what to expect. There's so many of my neighbors
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I haven't spoke to. We should see this as a joy.
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See what is a joy? Loving them. Preaching the gospel to them. Not as a burden.
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We should not see evangelizing for Jesus as a burden. We will, as much as it depends on us, have peace with them, our neighbors and all men, and not see them as our enemies.
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Not see those who are attacking us as our enemies. We should be patient with them, knowing that salvation can be a process.
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Some plant, some water, but God gives the growth. Just because you speak to them and you reject it, doesn't mean they're going to fully reject the message.
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Some plant, some water, God gives the growth. How many times did you hear the gospel before God gave the growth?
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We can have a poll on that. I heard it many times before God gave the growth. We are called to be kind to all men.
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I'm guilty of not being. We are to show them our goodness and our faithfulness to the
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Lord. I'm guilty of not doing those things. We're to show gentleness to our neighbors, as well as self -control in our conduct, and I am guilty of not doing those things, and I know you are too.
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We're guilty. I walked out of my office earlier during the
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Sunday school class, and Tony was quoting from a passage
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I want to take you to, Romans chapter 12. We're going to look at verses 14 through 21,
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Romans 12, 14 through 21. Paul's speaking, bless those who persecute you.
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Well that goes against our flesh. Bless those who persecute you.
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Bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice.
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Did you know that's even harder? Rejoice in those who rejoice.
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That goes against your flesh. Be happy and celebrate for someone who is succeeding in life.
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That means that you could be someone who's not succeeding, and you're called to rejoice with them.
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Not to covet, but to rejoice. Weep with those who weep.
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That's really hard for me. All right. Men, come on.
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I know there's some men that it's not. It's hard for me. When I see my wife crying,
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I just want to fix the problem. I don't want to sit there and weep with her. I don't know. I don't have that in me, and I wished
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I did. Weep with those who weep by being in the same mind toward one another.
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Not being halty. See, that's my problem in mind. But associate with the humble.
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Do not be wise in your own mind. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.
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To certain ones or anyone, right? Anyone. Never pay back evil to anyone.
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Respecting what is good in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
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Never take in your own revenge, beloved. Instead, leave room for the wrath of God.
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For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. But if your enemy, this is hard, is hungry, feed him.
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If he is thirsty, give him a drink. Or in doing so, you'll reap heap burning coals on his head.
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Do not overcome, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
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Does that clear as mud, right? It's hard.
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It's hard. Do you think if we could do these things on ourselves, we would need the
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Spirit? What goes in us, the Holy Spirit comes out of us.
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And the Bible tells us what the fruit that is. And sometimes
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I feel as a Christian, I'm more guilty of not suppressing the truth of God and unrighteousness, but suppressing the
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Holy Spirit and trying to be comfortable with my life. I feel like I should quote
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Bodie Bauckham right here and say, if you can't say amen, you should say out. Am I the only one who feels, man,
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I'm so guilty of this. In the Mosaic Law, God gives instructions to the
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Jews on how to conduct themselves in order to not be like other nations, such as the clothing they wore, the foods that they ate, and the penal code for justice.
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I could name more, but these were instructions for them to not be like the other nations. Our instruction to not be like the other nations.
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We are to be loving and have joy and be patient and to display the fruit of the
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Spirit. But also in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gives us instructions on how to love our enemies.
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Turn with me to the Gospel of Luke chapter 6. We'll begin in verse 27.
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The Gospel of Luke chapter 6, beginning in verse 27. Jesus speaking, but I say to you who hear, are you hearing today?
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If you are, He's speaking to you. Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
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Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who discourage you. Whoever hits you, this is hard, whoever hits you on your cheek, offer him the other also.
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And whoever takes away your garment, do not withhold your tunic from him either.
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Give to everyone who asks you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back.
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Oh, how we struggle there, right? Amen. And treat others the same way you want them to treat you.
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And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?
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For even sinners love those who love them. I can testify for that.
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Verse 33. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?
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For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?
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Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount.
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But love your enemies. Do good and lend, expecting nothing in return.
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And you will have great reward. And you will be sons of the
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Most High. For He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and evil.
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Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
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This is telling us that God is kind to the ungrateful and evil, and so we are called to be unkind,
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I mean, to be kind to the ungrateful and evil. We are called to be different.
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This is how we are to look set apart. Same way with the Israelites. I mentioned the law that they had certain clothings they could wear and could not wear.
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Certain foods they could eat and could not eat. And they had their penal code. Certain things for the
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Jews that God gave them that set them aside, that made them different from other nations. He doesn't leave us off the hook.
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We're to be different in other ways. We're to love those who hate us, bless those that persecute us.
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Sinners don't love their enemies. Christians are to love their enemies. Sinners don't lend and not respect and to receive.
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Sinners lend and expect to receive, not so for the Christian.
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It's hard to hear. Point number two, forgiveness. This is probably the toughest one.
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Those who are filled with the Holy Spirit will display forgiveness.
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Let me tell you how. We love our enemies. We lend and we do not expect it back.
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We love the ungrateful and the evil. We do something for someone, they're ungrateful?
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We forgive them. We do something for someone, they do evil? We forgive them.
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It's not popular in the reformed world. Matthew chapter 6, verses 17 through 15.
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If you can go there for a second. I just want to point out some things concerning forgiveness. This is in the context of the
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Lord's Prayer. Look at verse 7. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the
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Gentiles do. So in the context, we're looking at Gentiles and religious leaders.
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For they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them.
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For your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask. Pray then this way. Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name.
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Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
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Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.
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And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
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For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Verse 14.
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For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly
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Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your heavenly
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Father will not forgive you of your trespasses. We see the if this, then this.
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If you forgive others, then your heavenly Father will forgive you.
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Like there's no way to dance around that. That's what it says. Verses 14 and 15 are actually touching on verse 12.
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Look at verse 12 again. And forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.
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We see the if then reversed. I've done this. Please do this.
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Forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven, have forgiven our debtors.
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Look at verse 14. For if you forgive others of their transgressions, your heavenly
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Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then you will not, then your
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Father will not forgive you of yours. Now, I do not believe this is speaking of salvation.
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This is not salvific. This is not saying, I cannot forgive you of your sins salvificly, unless you do something forgiving everyone of their sins.
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That's not what this is saying. But I do believe it's speaking about a forgiveness that Christians need.
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If you look in 1 John 1 8 -9, they tell us that Christians need forgiveness.
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1 John 1 8 -9.
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If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
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John here in 1 John is speaking to believers. He's not speaking to unbelievers.
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He's speaking to believers. Believers still sin. Believers still need forgiveness.
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So this is not salvific. In Matthew 6, He's speaking to His disciples.
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This is not salvific. He's speaking to His followers. If you are a believer, and you are holding on to unforgiveness, in the same way that I don't fully understand, and listen,
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I don't fully understand this. So let me read that again. If you are a believer, and you are holding on to unforgiveness, in some way, which
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I don't fully understand, because forgiveness is a command. Command, excuse me, to break
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His command is a sin. 1 John 3 -4.
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Sin is lawlessness. Lawlessness is breaking God's command.
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If God has commanded us to forgive, and we don't forgive, we break His command.
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And that means you are not cleansed from all unrighteousness. You ever wonder,
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James, James tells us that is anyone sick, let him come to the elders.
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That the prayer of a righteous person availeth much. Unforgiveness will keep you from walking in the light, abiding in Christ, as well as hindering your prayers.
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If you are a Christian, and if you find Christian life difficult, maybe, just maybe, you have unconfessed sin in your life.
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If you've prayed for someone, right, as an elder, I think I'm guilty of this.
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That I've prayed, that there's times when I've prayed for someone, and miraculous things have happened.
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There's times where it hasn't. There's times where it hasn't. Could it be, and I'm not trying to be
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Pentecostal, but could it be that I have unforgiveness in my life? I have sins that I have covered up with dust.
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That I've covered with Adam, instead of letting Christ in me flow. Could it be?
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Because I'm positionally righteous, but I'm still a sinner. And because I'm still a sinner,
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I break God's law, therefore, I must confess sin. Or some way that I don't fully understand there's unrighteousness in me that's not forgiven.
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Therefore, my prayer doesn't availeth much. I was convicted of this message.
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So when we are walking in the light, displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and people are coming against us, what are we to do?
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The answer is to forgive them. Because forgiveness is a command. And if you don't, if you are not forgiving, you're breaking
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God's command. Therefore, you are in sin. Not because they deserve it, but because vengeance belongs to God.
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You don't deserve forgiveness. I don't deserve forgiveness. Neither does anyone that's offended you.
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But vengeance belongs to God. Point number three. Invitation.
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Those that are filled with the Holy Spirit will give an invitation. Here's why it's important to forgive.
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If someone offends you, and you hold something against them, are you going to give them what you're called to give them?
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Which is an invitation. You're called to be a witness. You're called to preach the Gospel.
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If someone has offended you, and you refuse to forgive them, they're not a
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Christian. You're in their presence. There's five minutes of airspace.
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If you have unforgiveness in you, you're not going to speak up for Christ. Those that are filled with the
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Holy Spirit will give an invitation. In John chapter 7,
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Jesus gives an invitation to a mixed multitude. Some wanted
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Him dead. Some thought He was leading the people astray.
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But some thought He was a good man. A mixed multitude. In the context
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Jesus has been teaching for several days at the Feast of Booths, the fruit of the Spirit has been on display.
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During this time, Jesus loves the people that He is speaking to. It's His joy to teach them.
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He's teaching them about Himself. This message of Himself can bring peace between them and God.
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He is the only means of reconciliation. This message, if He speaks this message, and they receive
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Him, they can have peace with God. For the past three years,
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Jesus has been patient with them. He has been kind to them. He has been doing good things for them.
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Think about the miracles. He fed them. He used a sack lunch to feed up to 20 -25 ,000 people.
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He's done good things for them. He's healed them. He has been faithfully pointing them to the
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Scriptures and to the Father, showing His own faithfulness. And how the
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Scriptures point to Him. The message that He's been preaching to them. Jesus has been gentle with them.
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And in His conduct, He has been one of self -control.
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Has been one of self -control. While the
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Jewish leaders want Him dead, they have also, at this time in our text, have sent officers to arrest
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Him. With all that's going on, Jesus knowing that in six months, the
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Feast of Passover, six months from this moment that we're in, in this gospel, six months, the same group of people are going to be screaming for His death and putting
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Him to death. And yet, Jesus opens
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His mouth and gives all of them an invitation.
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Look back at the text. We'll start in the middle of verse 37.
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If anyone... Who's He speaking to? A mixed multitude.
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Some wanted Him dead. Some said that He was leading the crowd astray. Others thought
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He was a good man. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.
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He who believes in Me as the Scriptures said, from His innermost being will flow rivers of living water.
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Notice it says, if anyone from this mixed multitude, those that want
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Him dead, those who think He's leading the crowd astray, and even those who think He's a good person. If anyone among that crowd comes to Him, He says, let him come.
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This is an invitation. And Jesus knows what's going to happen. He knows that they're going to nail
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Him hands and feet, turn Him over to Rome. They're going to nail Him hands and feet to a Roman cross. And He gives an invitation.
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How much more should we... We don't know the future. We don't know what our enemies are plotting.
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We should give them an invitation to come. Now in loving your enemies, we can't say what it doesn't say.
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We're not saying, go by my house, go and let them steal everything, come into your house and rob you blind.
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No, that's not what we're saying. We're to love people enough to give them the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the hardest thing to give them.
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It's so easy to give them a cup of water. It's so easy to give them a $100 bill. It's hard to open your mouth and to proclaim
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Christ having the victory over death. It's hard. That's what we're called to do.
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What Jesus is doing, He is modeling for us the likeness of the image, of His image.
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What it looks like to be conforming to His image. What does it look like? Fruit of the
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Spirit. Forgiveness. Evangelism. It's forgiving even when people are not being loving to you.
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And giving them an invitation to drink from the fountain. Now, what
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I'm about to say, I'm really only focusing in on Reformed Christians. So if you claim you're
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Reformed, whether it's Presbyterian Reformed or Baptist Reformed, which I see the two as two different things,
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I'm speaking to you. As Reformed Christians, we are to know the difference between the law and the gospel.
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And ladies and gentlemen, there's a difference. I know there's groups out there now that says there isn't, but in my opinion, they're not
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Reformed. The law is not the gospel. The gospel is not the law.
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The law means do this. This is what you are to do. The gospel means this has been done for you.
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It means done. Law means do. Gospel means done. Husbands, when the Bible says to you to love your wife, that is not the gospel.
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That is law. He's not loving your wife for you.
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You're to do that. You're to love your wife. Wives, when the
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Bible tells you to be obedient to your husbands, that is not the gospel. That's not good news.
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That's law. And you're to do that. Husbands, you're not to demand that your wife earns your love for her.
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Wives, you're not to demand that your husbands earn your respect for you to be obedient. Husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church and be willing to give their wife for their wives.
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Wives are called to respect and honor their husbands and to be obedient.
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Caveat. There is a caveat.
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Wives, if your husbands are beating you and not living for God and treating you like trash, there goes that command.
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Felt like that needed to be said. Loving your enemies.
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Remember? Loving your wife. Command. Being obedient to your husband.
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Command. It's not the law. I mean, that's not the gospel. It's the law. Same here.
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Loving your enemies is a command. That's not the gospel.
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Forgiving those who have done wrong to you is a command. Sharing the gospel with your neighbors and to all nations is a command.
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We're commanded to do it. It's a command. We speak a lot about the law today.
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This is a command. It's a command. It's law. It is what you are to do because you have the
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Spirit. The living water is the Holy Spirit.
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By drinking, by coming to Jesus and drinking, you are ingesting the living water in you and by drinking the living water, living water flows from you to the world.
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And what it looks like is the fruit of the
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Spirit. Forgiveness and evangelism. Giving an invitation to all people to come and drink.
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And how wonderful would it be if our enemies, those who hate us, came to Jesus and drank and the reconciliation we could have.
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God could even give them repentance. But there is no repentance unless God gives it to them.
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You might be saying to yourself,
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I don't have the gift of evangelism. Well, neither do I.
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I don't. You also don't have the gift of the fruit of the
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Spirit. That's not a gift. That's not a gift. But you're commanded to love.
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You think love is a gift? It's a command. You're commanded to love.
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To have joy, peace, and patience. You're commanded to show kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and to be self -controlled.
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I don't have the gift of forgiveness. I don't have it. But I'm commanded to forgive.
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And we are all commanded to make disciples. Let's look in Matthew chapter 28 once we wound this up.
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Matthew chapter 28 look at verse 16.
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But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee to the mountain which
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Jesus had designated. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.
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And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
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Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
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Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I command you.
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And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
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Question. Was that the gospel? Or was it law? It was law.
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It's not the gospel. We're commanded to preach the gospel, but him telling us to do something, that's law.
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That's law. That's New Testament law. Which is taken from Old Testament law when he tells the nation of Israel they're to be the light of the world.
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And they failed at it. In Matthew chapter 28, 19 through 20,
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Jesus gives the church her marching orders. It's not salvific. It's not salvific.
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It's not a requirement, nor is it a suggestion. It's a command.
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And if you break his command, it is a sin. If you're not evangelizing,
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I don't know what it looks like for you. It doesn't have to be standing on the street corners with me.
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It doesn't have to be knocking on doors. But it's a command. And if you're not evangelizing in one way,
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I don't know what it looks like for you, you're breaking his command. And breaking commands are sin.
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It's a sin. Look back at our verse. I want to look at verse 39.
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So speaking of the Holy Spirit, but this, he spoke of the Holy Spirit, talking about the living water, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
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So this concluding with the gospel, right? Jesus came into the world in the incarnation, took on flesh, lived a life we could not live, took upon himself our punishment in his death, was buried, and he rose again.
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And in his resurrection, this is what we talk about, his glorification. He came out glorified.
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And at this time, in our text, the Holy Spirit has not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
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After the resurrection of Jesus, in the book of Acts, Jesus either repeats what he said to the disciples in Matthew, or it's the same event from a different perspective.
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So real quickly turn to Acts chapter 1, and look at verses 6 through 8. Our focus will be on verse 8.
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So when they had come together, they were asking him, saying,
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Lord, is it at this time you will restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them,
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It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has said, but by his own authority, but you will receive power when the
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Holy Spirit comes upon you. See, you will receive power, you will, listen, you will receive power when the
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Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you shall be my witness, both in Jerusalem and all of Judea and all of Samaria, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.
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So this part right here, to the ends of the earth, this is us. This is us.
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This group of people did not make it to the ends of the earth. It's that mountain that's growing on the earth.
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It's God, Christ, putting all of his enemies under his feet. It was you and I who was once an enemy, but by the power of the
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Holy Spirit I've been placed under his feet because someone was bold enough to proclaim to us the Gospel. When the
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Spirit comes upon someone, they receive power. Power to do what? Power to be his witness.
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In Acts 2, the followers of Jesus were all together in the upper room, and the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to be a witness for Jesus, and guess what they did?
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They turned the world upside down. Now here's the point of the whole message.
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Take this away from the message. Take this away. You and I, by the power of the
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Holy Spirit, can do the same thing. We can turn this world upside down with the message of Jesus.
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The Gospel is God's power for salvation, and if you have drunk from Jesus, if you have come to Jesus and drunk from the fountain, if you want to break free of Jesus to be
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His place of residence and what goes in you, Holy Spirit comes out of you. Holy Spirit and the power to make disciples, so what do we do?
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We preach the Gospel. Life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.
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That's what we're called to do. To preach His life, His death,
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His burial, resurrection, and distinction. That's the invitation. What are we to do?
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We're to display the Holy Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self -control.
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What are we to do? Forgive. Forgive those who reject you for doing what
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God has commanded Christians to do. And if you're not an invitation, I mean if you're not a
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Christian, that's the invitation, right? Come to Jesus and drink.
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Come to the fountain by which you receive the Holy Spirit, and that which is in you has the power to change the world.
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But sadly, we harden our hearts to what the Spirit wants. We muzzle the
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Spirit's mouth. To the Christian, the church universal has failed in this.
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The Spirit is empty of its power. They muzzle the
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Spirit. They have the Spirit. Jesus walks among the lampstands, but they muzzle the mouth.
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And let us, as covenant Reformed Baptist Church, not follow in its footsteps.
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Let's take our hands off our mouth, be fruitful, forgive, and give an invitation to anyone and everyone.
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The leadership is available. Let's pray. Father, Lord, I don't believe anyone could be as convicted as I've been this past week, knowing my own heart and my own struggles.
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It's easy for me to set aside a day to go stand in front of people and proclaim, but it's not easy for me in my day -to -day life to be kind and loving and in casual conversations to bring up my
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Savior. Lord, please forgive me, and I pray that you will empower me to live in the likeness of Christ.
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I also pray that for everyone who is here, Lord, that you will convict us to not muzzle the mouth of the
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Spirit who is in us, but to proclaim victory over death in Christ.
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Lord, as we prepare ourselves to partake in the supper, I pray if there be any sin in someone's heart that they will confess those things and be forgiven for all unrighteousness.
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And Lord, that you will use this to conform us to the image of your