Ephesians 2:4-9

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Pastor John and Pastor Jeff teach through the book of Ephesians. You can join live on Wednesdays at noon.

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So talking about being able to witness to people and stuff like that The book of Ephesians we've we've had a couple of sessions with it now
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It's going to start out in the beginning the first half of the book your identity Who are you who are you in Christ because that's really what your identity how your identity is really defined
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And then we're going to go in chapters four and beyond eventually we'll get there this then is how you should walk
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So having established your identity that how does that translate into everyday life?
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In the middle of this first three chapters is this is this chapter two
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Which if you have the ability to read it to study it to meditate on it is
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Is a powerful chapter for talking to somebody About having true faith last week
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What was the title of your message last week the worst news possible now isn't that exciting to come to a
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Bible study? the worst news possible This week the title
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I was going to write it in Greek, but I wrote the English version of it Oh The fails
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Jack what's Oda fails me? That's our Bible school But got some of the most amazing words what we're going to do today
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Is I'm going to recapture the big picture if you would and then read
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Just re -summarize because you have to understand the worst news possible
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And then when Oda fail happens it has Made it it almost has to get your attention.
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So that's what we're going to do today We're going to recapture and we're going to look at Oda fail Dear God, we thank you that you did interpose in our desperate condition
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Lord when we were dead in our trust Pastas and sins you made us alive together with Christ by grace
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We haven't saved and we want to give you all the praise and thanks and glory for it And this morning Lord, we pray that we could delight in this news the best news possible
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Lord You are the God that saves sinners. We praise you for it We ask that you would open our eyes and give us delight and joy in these things and that you would receive glory
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This morning in Jesus name. Amen I Were to ask you to give me your emotional response to the phrase the sovereignty of God What would come to your mind?
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That's a great answer, I'm very thankful Yes, absolutely. Yeah Piece of understanding.
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Mm -hmm. Yeah, why do you say that? That's a great answer. Why do you say that because I can know
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In every circumstance I give thanks this is God's will for me in Christ Jesus so whether cancer hair loss now
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Whether cancer and loss of money and loss of it. I know my
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God is sovereign. He controls everything in our culture As our culture is falling apart
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God has it all together like he wants it does so that gives me that piece of Understanding You know that from before the foundation of the world
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This this is something that even though I've studied it and I understand it
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It's still totally blows my mind even before the foundation of the world It was
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God's sovereign plan that his son was going to die on the cross because I am a sinner
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In Wrapping your head around that is so so amazing Placing God in his proper place in all aspects of the life.
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Give me just that first half of verse 1 Psalm 127 1 unless the
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Lord builds the house those who build it labor in vain We know that God is calling us and blessing us and he seems to be leading us in a certain way right now 23
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Phillips Road, that's gonna be a big focus on Sunday We know that God is allowing us to come together in in Bible study and doing things
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I don't care what aspect you say unless it's unless the Lord builds the house They labor in vain who build it and then give me the last phrase in verse 2
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I was presumptuous. That's okay You know, so I'm talking about 127
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Okay, eating the bread of anxious toil at the very end of the verse 2 first.
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He gives to his beloved sleep Read that again for he gives to his beloved sleep
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You can have the stress of bad news. You can have the anxiety of Things falling apart.
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You can have the ridicule of somebody For whatever reason you can have attacks against you because of your faith and because our
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God is sovereign All of this stuff is just there.
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He is the one who gives sleep. I Want to do a panoramic view of the sovereignty of God where it comes to salvation
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So I'm going to hand out some verses if you can look at it, we're going to read them I'll talk about them very briefly, but that leads us into this part out of Ephesians 2 so Frank if you would please get
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Isaiah 14 verse 4 rich Genesis 3 -5
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I'm going to just talk to Romans 3 23 Romans 5 12 Jack John good to see you
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Get your Bible open to Ephesians 1 verses 3 to 5
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Candy 2nd Timothy 1 8 to 9. I sure hope I got these right And Romans, I'll just talk to the others.
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No Rod get Romans 3 23 and 24 See, here's the thing
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God's eternal plan for man's salvation God's eternal plan for man's salvation cannot be defeated
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Now We we know that there was this scoundrel who was in a place of honor.
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Do you have Ephesians 14 there? Frank Isaiah 14 of Isaiah 14 if you have
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Ephesians 14, you've got a bad Bible Isaiah 14 14
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I Lucifer was one of the one of the highly exalted angelic beings and his
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Heart went cold and he rebelled against God and he said I will make myself like the most high and there's the entrance of Rebellion against God Genesis 3 5
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This was Satan now talking to Eve and then that lie is passed on to God knows that you're not going to die if you eat of this you will be like God Then there's the rebellion that comes down and it manifests to everybody
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Romans 3 23 says for all of sin Okay, it's all short of the glory of God and Romans 5 12
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Just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin And so death spread to all men because all sin and this is the predicament is that our our state
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As we come into this world is inheriting this nature From our father
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Adam now Jeff spent some really good time last week And I'm glad you did talking about the unborn baby and God's mercy on that We're not going to revisit that But if you're really interested in look up last week's lesson because Jeff had some very very strong words at them
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But I will say that for all of us who have reached that age of awareness and everything else
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We are all born in one common condition send all short
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Ephesians 1 John Even as he chose us in him for the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him
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In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ According to the purpose of his will and give me second
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Timothy one, please candy Second to me they want eight to nine
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All of this was planned before the foundation of the world which is to say that Although Satan stood right in front of the face of God and proclaimed
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I will make myself like the Most High God and even though he approached Eve and then eventually
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Adam gets the same message You can't be like a God yourself God knowing all of this
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He still has this eternal plan that cannot be thwarted by Satan and that plan is for our salvation
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You can look through the you can look through the narrative of Scripture and find those opportunities where Satan In an attempt to defeat that prophecy that says you will bruise my heel
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I will crush your head. He had to stop the oncoming of the Messiah. He does things like yeah.
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Oh, you're just saying yes I'm saying yeah Thinking my brain that but now
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The three things that we're told in 1st John and the lesser flesh lessee. I had prior life
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It's in our sinful natures. I mean one of us and when myself I'm trying to control things
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I'm trying to take what God's doing and do it myself I reflect on what you said.
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It's really interesting. Absolutely last night in our small group We were talking about if you go into physics
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There's no such thing as darkness Darkness is the absence of light light does exist
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Darkness is just the absence of light if you go into thermal dynamics. There is no such thing as cold
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Hmm there is such a thing as heat cold is the absence of heat And if you go into fluids, there's no such thing as a vacuum
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There's pressure and the vacuum is the absence of pressure evil is the absence of God Satan said
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I'm taking God out of the equation. I'm gonna be my own God That's that's that's where we are.
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We are built with a rebellion Out of the equation and because of that what's left is our flesh and our evil now the good news starts
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Amazingly. Well, give me Romans 3 23 and 24 We all know Romans 3 23 for all our sin and fall short of the glory of God But give me that whole passage for all sin and fall short of glory of God Being justified as a gift by his grace
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Through redemption, which is in Christ Jesus. Amen. Amen to that.
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See this is the plan We're all sinners, but we got redeemed by God They're all
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Ephesians 5 8, but God demonstrated his love towards us while we were yet sinners
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He was so happy that we came to him worthy of his no, that's not what it says Well We're yet sinners
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Christ died for us We are in Ephesians 2 Jeff last week spoke to us about the worst possible news
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Ephesians 2 1 2 3 Basically says because of sinful flesh
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Which we all have we are dead in spirit And We are actually incapable of even approaching
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God We can't even respond to God. Our heart is so dead and Satan holds us in slavery
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John 8 34 says that Jesus Responded he said everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.
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That's who we are The Romans 619 decries the fact that we present our members as Slavery to impure do you realize the concept of presenting yourselves?
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It isn't like you're trapped and helpless Are by nature we willingly bring ourselves to the altar of impurity
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That's how bad we are and in facts 1st Corinthians 2 14, it says that the
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Natural man cannot even understand cannot even comprehend the things of God That's how dead we are
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That's how dead we are One of Sandy and and I one of our favorite shows
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Is is actually how it's it's it's like it's being taken place
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Up in Alberta, Canada It's a show called heartland And there's this young lady who has a gift for Working with horses that are difficult horses and she ends up with this horse
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That had been a racehorse But had been stolen and was used by off -track
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Racers illegal racing and they would race these horses one by one by one and until that horse ran
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But if it got injured they would just shoot it with methamphetamine speed so that it continued to run until it was no good anymore
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And then they just abandoned it out in the wilderness And so these horses are just they're just messed up totally messed up And so this young lady
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Amy finds this one horse by the name of Alcatraz can run And she brings it home and this horse has no ability to respond to her at all
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Whatever she tries whatever she loves she feeds it or whatever there is absolutely a barrier this horse cannot respond to her
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That's us We are so broken We are so damaged by the world
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But we are so dead in sin that even if God were to send the gospel the ungelian to you
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Unless your heart is softened to hear it. You cannot hear it because your heart is that dead now
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Oh to Thales As we move on from those first three verses the worst possible news
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It goes on with these three words. Oh Thales Jeff if you would give us a four through seven, please
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Ephesians 2 4 to 7 But God being rich in mercy
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Because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses
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Made us alive together with Christ by grace. You have been saved and raised us up With him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus Oh To Thales in the beginning of that passage
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It's it interrupts what's going on because I've got something else of more importance to say you and it's owed to Thales but God we do now from scriptural history that Satan's Bent is in rebellion against God and that he is going to do everything he can
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To blind the eyes of the unbeliever so that he won't won't be able to respond
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But here's the message of Oda Thales, even though Satan is in rebellion against God And even though he thinks that it's okay to relegate
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God to a position of irrelevance Let me rephrase that again
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Even though Satan thinks that it's okay to relegate God to a position of irrelevance
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In the world in your life and everything else. God is sovereign That's that's the beautiful message of all things
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I'm gonna ask a couple of readings Hebrews 2 John are you you next to read or did you already read you already read?
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Okay, Barbara aka Julie aka Whatever Barbara you got
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Hebrews 2 14 and 15 and Job 42 to if you would get that Rick see in 1st
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Corinthians 1 16 and 17 it reminds us that Everything all things are created by him and not only are they created by them
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But all things are in his hand and under his control Isn't that amazing he is the creator and he's not this
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God that created things spun it up in motion and Sent it off for you know
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Whatever nature to take its course. No God is God is involved in every every aspect your favorite verse in this regard in Proverbs is 1633
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The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord and The lot is the most random thing imaginable like casting of a lot is definitionally random but Proverbs 16 33 says it's every decision is from the
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Lord if Satan has a Design and he has an agenda and he is working that agenda.
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In fact, we are we know from Scripture He is the prince of the power of the air Okay, we know that he has
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He has reigned to do things on earth within the limits of God We know that from Job chapter 1 you can only go so far as what
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God allows him to cut to do But he has his agenda But but here's the thing whatever
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Satan is putting in place God still created and God is still the power In fact
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Hebrews 2 if you've got that 14 and 15 Since the children have flesh and blood he too shared in their humanity so that by his death
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He might destroy him who holds the power of death That is the devil and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death
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What words of encouragement sick Christ by his obedience on the cross suffering the death shedding his blood rendered
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Satan powerless There's nothing that he can do that can overcome old death fails
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Job 42 to you got that Wow And that's one of those things you can just put on a card and have in the middle of a really really bad day
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There's nothing that God plans. Nothing could be can be forwarded Fails is that big and that good give me all the verse for again, please
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But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us
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You know, this is the unconditional love that love agape that mercy aleo
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These are so immense and so huge that they and then they're lavished upon us
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The truth of God's love means that I am loved Unconditionally, I am loved even though I am unworthy
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That's exactly right and if you put that on top of verses 1 2 & 3
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We're dead in trespasses and sins. We're slaves to sin doesn't say that there but we're slaves to sin
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We're following after the prince of the power of the air. We're doing everything that our flesh wants us to do
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But God has a gap a love for us And his mercy is totally the quantities of his mercy cannot be measured
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Words that we would understand God has preferred But God has performed spiritual
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CPR on us by conquering death through Jesus Christ. Oh my goodness Who was it last week?
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Somebody was talking about the paddles of life. No, who is it sitting back there last week talked about that was
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Bob Ball Bob Ball Yeah, so he was he's an EMT and he's talking about 300 joules or whatever it was and And the individual is there at the heart's no beating and clear boom and the body jolts
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But nobody has ever given the paddles of life after three days You know the answer to the question, what can you do to incur eternal life is we can't do anything
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We have to realize that it's already been done for us. Amen, and we have to accept
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What God has done on our behalf Thank you, Jesus John I'm going to ask you to get
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Lamentations 3 it's on the list lamentations 3 22 and 23 And then
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Sandy I'm going to ask you to get Romans 9 We have to at least acknowledge
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Both sides of the coin on this but here's the thing God is merciful He is slow to anger abundant love and truth.
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That's in Psalm 86 That's our God, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us
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Lamentation do you have that yet John? Okay. I'll continue to talk First John 4 9 puts this love into historical context because it says that God's love was manifested when he sent his son,
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I Mean how much greater can that possibly be? There's there's one one little story that says
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Okay, I have an acquaintance his name was George and George is more or less an atheist
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Not really a militant atheist, but he just doesn't get it and his son just happens to be
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Christian That's his name And I said George here's the deal
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Everybody at Mount Laurel is condemned to die. That's it. It's been it's been he dictated. We're all guilty
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We're all going to be condemned to die But somebody comes up to you and says George if you let your son
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Christian take everybody's place The rest of the town will be spared and it breaks your heart, but you say, okay
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Christian is put to death and then the guy comes he said really John. I kind of missed the boat If only people had said they were sorry
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How foolish would that have been for George to let his son go to die? Well, that's what God did
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Because there is no other way and he sent said it said you got lamentations. Yes I Want you always when you wake up every morning and you're in the midst of the activity
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Whatever it is that God's love is mercy never fails first of all
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It did not depend on who you are and how many Prayers you said how many times you gave to the mission field even how many times you went?
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No, that's not it. It had it totally depends on his love Sandy and I have a acquaintance who has
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Been we've known this individual for so for over 20 years and and by all external
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Evidences this person is a believer. This person is active in church activities
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This person has has done many many acts, but but the life Excuse me, the life fruits not there
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It's just not there There seems to be is this heart right and that's when you go into Hebrews and you read these five woes
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What are those clothes talk about? I?
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May not be any other way for you to return. Oh, it's not that you can't return is you were never there in the first place
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God's love is so great that it gets us in the heart. It changes us and his mercies are there
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Romans 9 14 you have that Sandy I will have mercy and I will have compassion
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See this is God's sovereignty And if you end up with a debate with somebody that it just why would he let this person go and that person not?
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Go, he's not a loving God. How can you how can you possibly worship a God like that?
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He's my he's sovereign and he is righteous and he is just That he is going to have mercy
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Who he's going to have mercy Give me four and five again, please
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But God being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us
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Even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved
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Here's here's the great transformation. This is the great transformation from death to life.
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Yes Where does the power source come and comes from his love and from his mercy without the cleansing blood of Christ Without the grace of God that even opens up my heart to this message
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Without the Holy Spirit that then lives within me. I am nothing but hopelessly dead
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If all of these are not present I am I am hopelessly dead But the amazing news is even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins, we are made alive together with Christ So that in ages to come
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We're gonna talk about that because there is there's a big message in that verse so hold on to that thought
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First Peter 1 18 and 19. It says that I'm not redeemed by perishable things but by the blood of Christ I'm not redeemed by going to church and performing actions and rituals.
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I'm not performed by being Better than my neighbor I Will be very clear the verses that I want
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Hebrews 10 if we could get Hebrews 10, please
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Frank if you can get Hebrews 10 verses 19 to 22 ready, I'd appreciate that We are redeemed by the blood of Christ See I'm hopelessly dead yet because of Christ I am wonderful But as many as received him to them he came the right to become children of God That's that's life.
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That's that's life. That is blessed by God. That is life that experiences Experiences who
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God is and for 2nd Corinthians 5 17 puts it this way. I'm a new creation
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Mm -hmm The oldest passed away Now the reality of it all is we have to be honest is that it was
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God's choice To allow us to stay in this world And we'll get into that into the next paragraph but as His children we are given this gift that allows us to continually
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Be in his presence First John calls it the light Okay, he has the light for the world that light of the world
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That's like as we walk in his light The things that are displeasing to God are shown so that we can do what?
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confess We can be restored into fellowship by the way Passage in first John talks about walking in the light and that we would have fellowship one with another
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The context of that passage is not having fellowship one with another The context of that passage is having fellowship one
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That's really fellowship. Is that is it? That's what that's what we get. Do you have Hebrews 10?
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19 through 22 All those men are to the holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new moving way, which he hath
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Consecrated for us The veil that is the setting of his flesh
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And having a high priest into the house of God Let us go there with a true heart and full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from spring from an evil consciousness that our mind is reborn in.
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If you place that reality on top of the bad news of Ephesians 2, 1, 2, and 3, where all is dead and all is bleak and there is no hope, and you add it into that, that I'm cleansed by the blood, and that I can actually draw near.
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Now, I have this imagination that as Satan, who has, what, a third of the angelic being believed him and rejected
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God and were cast down to earth. And they're busy, they're busy. They know me, they know you.
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They don't know all things, but they'll try and try and try until they find something that works, and they will remember that, and they'll use that, they continually use that, and so he uses that against me.
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And a couple of nights ago, Satan, one of his little buddies, got a hold of me really good, and I responded very inappropriately with anger against this beautiful woman over here.
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He's big. Strong. And I believe,
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I firmly believe that at that moment of that time, Satan, who hears all this information, now
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I'm putting a whole lot of stuff in between the lines, right? He's got a great channel of communication, and this one guy gets up and says,
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I got one for you, that John didn't. And there's Satan, standing in front of the throne of God and saying,
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John is not worthy. God, what are you bothering with him for? Do you know what he just did?
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How he just treated his wife? Hello! But there's
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Jesus. There's Jesus. I know. And I died for that sin, too.
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I got that one covered. I got that covered. You know, it's amazing that the devil comes and accuses you.
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I mean, he tempts you. You fail, and then he accuses you. Yeah. That's absolutely right.
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Absolutely right. Our reality is that we are cleansed.
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His mercy is so great that even though we were dead, we are now alive.
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And here's the next good part. Give me verse 6. And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
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See, I think that there is a future reality that we have, okay? Okay, we are adopted.
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We are children of God. But I got news for you. We are still living here on the earth. Okay? My citizenship is in heaven.
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I have a future hope. But I really think I'm sealed by the Holy Spirit.
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I am sealed forever his child. And so I take future hope in the fact that I'm being raised up, seated with him in the heavenly places.
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But I don't have to wait for that blessing. I'm his child now. I'm his child now.
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I was dead. I was a slave to sin. But God, Ode Theos, in his love and his mercy, and I am raised up.
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My whole being is raised up into pure fellowship with God, one with another.
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I can be very jealous of Adam and Eve who got to walk in the cool of the day with God in the garden until they fell.
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But I have no reason to be jealous because I've been raised up in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
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I have had this Ode Theos experience where what I was in those first three verses is completely replaced.
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Though I was dead, I'm made alive in Christ. And I'm raised up in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Jesus prayed to his
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Father in his priestly prayer in John 17, don't take them out of the world, but keep them in the world.
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Keep them in the world. I have this God who is always there that even though I might be tempted in every which way,
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I have a way of escape that I can escape it through him. I always have him.
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Yeah, Ronnie. Can I read a comment by John McArthur? Oh, please. I wasn't going to say no to that.
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This is just during the moment when I saw this. Raised up and seated with him, the tense of raised and seated indicates that these are immediate and direct results of salvation.
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Not only is the believer dead to sin and alive to righteousness through Christ's resurrection, but he also enjoys his
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Lord's exaltation and shares in his preeminent glory. Absolutely.
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This is who we are today. I have no reason to be jealous of Adam and Eve because the only reason
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I don't get to walk with Christ today is because I choose to walk in darkness, which
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I don't have to. But we all do. But I don't have to.
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I've always got him. Rick, I'm going to ask if you would get Galatians 3 .20?
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Galatians. Or is that 2 .20? I think it's 2 .20. I think it's Galatians 2 .20. Galatians 2 .20.
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2 .20, yeah. And Jack, I want you to get Philippians 3 .20. I'm pretty sure that is 3.
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Do you have Galatians 2 .20? Yes. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer
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I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh,
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I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
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Oh, my goodness. Oh, to Theos. Amen. Oh, to Theos. That moment of salvation changes it, changes everything.
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I don't have to live alone anymore because I've got God. And he's making it right.
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And do you have Philippians 3 .20? Yes. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a
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Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to also have this hope within you that there is a coming reality that far exceeds anything that we can possibly experience here.
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Matthew 5 .8 says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. There is a present reality that when your heart is right, you get to see
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God. But there is a future reality that we are going to spend an eternity seeing
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God. That's our hope. What's happening to the rest of creation?
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Not creation, the rest of mankind. It's not pretty. We believe in an eternal punishment.
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We have an eternal blessing. But there is an eternal punishment. We eagerly await it. And we have this.
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Now, here's an interesting thought as we close off this section. Give me verse 7, please.
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So that in the coming ages, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
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Do you know that this is all for the glory of God? This is all for the glory of God. I have been saved miraculously for the glory of God.
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I can spend time in fellowship with people who I can see the Spirit of God within them for the glory of God.
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Not for my glory. It's for His glory. I'm a believer.
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I've been adopted as an heir. I am blessed. But the testimony of all of this transition should give glory to God.
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That's a beautiful thing. Do you know that there are things that we get to do here and now on earth that are giving glory to our
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Creator? There's an amazing... That's an incredible thing.
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1 Timothy 1 .17 says, To the eternal God be all glory.
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Eternal God, mortal, invisible. 1 Corinthians 10 .31 says, Do everything you do for the glory of God.
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Isaiah 61. I'm going to ask John to tour me. Isaiah chapter 60, verse 1, if you would get that ready.
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We walk out of here today having heard this amazing transition into Theos from the bleak news of the reality that Jeff had to give us.
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Because if you don't really get a grasp and really believe how bleak that news was, how poorly can you even comprehend how tremendous the good news is that we have in these next verses.
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And that transition is all owed to Theos. And that good news actually turns the glory right back to God.
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John, do you have chapter 60, verse 1 of Isaiah? Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the
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Lord has risen upon you. Arise, shine, the glory of God has come upon you.
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I like the way you did that. I love that dramatic effect. We are going to stop here.
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And we are going to get ready because Jeff is going to take us now into the message in chapter 2, verse 8 by Grace Isaiah is saved.
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But I wanted us to close off, and I'm going to let Jeff read this because he loves Trinitarian passages.
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Titus 3, 5. Titus 3, 5.
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He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
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Holy Spirit. Follow the pronouns. He saved us. That's the Father. And he saved us through the shedding of the blood.
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That's his Son and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is a Trinitarian message of salvation.
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I know you can use this next week. Yeah, I just stole it from him. Okay, good to know. Do you want to close this in prayer? Yes. So, our
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Father, we come to you through the Son, through the shed blood of Jesus, his body torn like a curtain that allows us to go into this most holy place.
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And we come by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, having washed us with the renewal of regeneration, the washing of the
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Holy Spirit. And so, God, we come to you not by anything that we deserve.
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We bring nothing but our sin. We are not worthy to come, and yet you have welcomed us in.
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You have brought us in. And so we want to say this morning, thank you, God. Thank you that you interposed for us, that you saved us.
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Thank you, God, for your grace towards sinners like us. We were dead, and you made us alive.
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Thank you, God. To you be all the glory, honor, and the praise. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
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John, can we have one more thing? Please. Page two. What I'm going to do,
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I'm going to send the file to Jeff, and it will be in the pastorgram that he sends out tomorrow.