Stumbling Blocks

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern

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Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

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And now, here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, chapter 17, verses 1 through 10.

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Jesus said to His disciples, temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come.

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It would be better for Him if a millstone were hung around His neck and He were cast into the sea, then He should cause one of these little ones to sin.

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Pay attention to yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.

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If he sins against you seven times in the day and turns to you seven times saying, I repent, you must forgive him.

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The apostles said to the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had the faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted into the sea, and it would obey you.

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Will any of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he comes in from the field, come at once, recline at the table?

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Will he not rather say to him, prepare supper for me, dress properly, serve me while I eat and drink, and afterwards you will eat and drink?

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Does he thank the servant because he did what he was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, we are unworthy servants.

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We have only done what was our duty. In the name of Jesus. Amen. All right.

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So this Sunday's gospel text and next Sunday's gospel text are a wee bit challenging to exegete correctly.

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Exegete, by the way, is just a fancy term for rightly reading out what the scriptures say.

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You want pastors who exegete texts. You don't want pastors who engage in what's called eisegeting.

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That means reading stuff into the Bible that ain't there, including yourself. You're not in there.

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All right. We might put you in there as representative, but the idea is you want to rightly handle God's word.

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And so on the exegesis scale of difficulty, this text is a clear eight and a half, nine on a scale of one to 10 as far as rightly understanding it.

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And where people oftentimes go wrong is they think that in this pericope,

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Jesus is talking kind of like three different things. It's like he talks about this, then he talks about that, then he talks about another thing.

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No, actually, all of the things that Jesus is saying are interrelated. And here's the key.

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This is still part of an ongoing, well, teaching moment that Jesus is having with his disciples.

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And so this is Jesus talking to the future leaders, pastors, preachers, teachers, and even the apostles who will lead his church.

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And so this is the context of what's going on here. And then you can see that they're all interrelated.

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These aren't three different things that Jesus is talking about. This is Jesus saying something, disciples going, whoa, and then saying, well, then

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Lord help us with this. And then him saying, and then now this is how you frame these things. I'll explain it as we go.

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So our text begins, Jesus said to his disciples, and I know that the

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ESV says temptations to sin. And I think that's too narrow.

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And I think that's one of the ways in which you can misunderstand what Jesus is talking about. I think it's better to go with what the

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Greek says, stumbling blocks. Stumbling blocks would be a better way of putting it.

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Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come.

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It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea, and that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.

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Who are these little ones? Well, these are Christ's sheep. Think of them as the people who are young in the faith, those who are learning, who are catechumens or new to Christianity and they're being discipled.

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These are Jesus's little ones. So what's a stumbling block? Well, I grew up on Looney Tunes cartoons, and I don't know if you all remember the

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Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, right? There's the Road Runner, and I loved how he never would be caught.

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It just is amazing. But there's the Road Runner tearing down the highway doing his thing. And what was

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Wile E. Coyote doing? He was trying to put stumbling blocks in the way of the

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Road Runner. Some ingenious ones at that, all designed to trip the Road Runner up so that he can have the

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Road Runner for a meal. So a stumbling block is something that's put in your way that trips you up so that you don't get to where you're trying to go to.

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So that's what a stumbling block is. And so in this context then, speaking to his disciples, not only the 12, but also the 72 who are going to be the leaders of his church, what would a stumbling block be?

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It's more than just a temptation to sin. A stumbling block would also include false teaching, false doctrine, anything that would take the eyes of our faith off of Christ, cause our faith to stumble, and then ultimately we not attain the goal of our faith, which is the salvation of our souls.

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So a stumbling block, if you want to do a little play on words, keeps you from getting to the stumbling block, who is

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Christ, right? The rock that makes men stumble. So that's what's being talked about here.

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So then Jesus says, so, woe to the one through whom these stumbling blocks come.

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Note this, when Jesus throws out woes, he doesn't throw them out like candy.

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Jesus isn't one of these guys who just starts saying woe and woe and woe. And a woe is a big deal.

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Woe is like a warning of damnation. And here Jesus is saying to his disciples, woe to the one through whom these stumbling blocks come.

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This is an explicit warning of the fires of hell. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

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And that's the idea. And so Jesus then tells his future pastors and leaders and apostles, so pay attention to yourselves.

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Watch it. Be very cautious in how it is that you preach and teach so that you care for Christ's little ones, the poor, the outcasts, the young in the faith, so that they may not be led into apostasy.

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And then Jesus says, oh and by the way, here's a little bit more information. Not only guard your doctrine carefully, but here's what your ministry is going to be like.

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If your brother sins, notice in this part of the text it's talking in general. It's not saying against you.

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The first part is if your brother sins. If your brother sins, rebuke him.

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Really? You want me to do what? Rebuke him. And if he repents, forgive him.

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You can kind of think of this as like the office of the keys. When somebody who is a brother in Christ sins, we as Christians don't wink at it and say, well, that's all right.

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No, that's just what he does or, you know, don't worry, it's covered by the blood. No. When somebody sins, we rebuke him and if he repents, he hears the absolution, he's forgiven.

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And then we get a little bit more specific. Then if he sins against you personally seven times in a day and turns to you seven times saying

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I repent, you must forgive him. Now most of us pretty much get derailed when one person sins against us just one time.

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One time in a week. One time in a month. One time in a year. That's a lot. And when that happens to us, we have a tendency to like all of the gears in our love box grind to a halt, right?

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And the machine stops working and then now you can't sleep at night and you're thinking, I'm going to get back at this person.

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All right. But Jesus says to his disciples, if somebody sins against you seven times in a day, who is this fella sitting against me seven times in a day?

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Doesn't he have better things to be doing, right? So in that scenario,

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Jesus says, get this. If he says seven times,

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I repent, you must forgive him. Put the bad away, put all that away, forgive, right?

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And why is this? Well, we forgive because we are forgiven, right?

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And we pray every day in the Lord's prayer, Lord, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

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And this all comes from Jesus's great commandment of the New Testament. As I have loved you, so love one another.

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And how has Christ loved us? Sacrificially, bleeding and dying for our sins.

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So when somebody sins, you rebuke him. If he repents, you forgive him. If he sins against you personally seven times in a day and turns to you seven times saying,

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I repent, you must forgive him. Little bit of a note here. And I'm not going to pick on you women, but I want you to know

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I've noticed something about women. Women have a tendency to keep scorecards. So let's talk about this for a second here.

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If somebody sins against you seven times in a day and then turns and says, I repent, you must forgive him.

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Do not take your scorecard out and say, well, I forgave him, but I'll just keep this for later.

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No, no, no, no, no. Okay. Love keeps no record of wrongs. Take the scorecard, tear it up, throw it away.

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And if you are a man and you're doing this too, this applies to you. I've noticed though that women have a tendency to do this more than men.

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And the reason why men don't keep scorecards is because it's too much work and they're just lazy.

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So after saying all of this, Jesus's disciples, um, well now they're like freaking out.

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Okay. It's like you want us to do what? So the response is quite fascinating.

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So now the apostles, the text actually says the apostles, you have to think about the 12. They said to the

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Lord, okay, Lord, then increase our faith because in order to pull this off, it's going to take a ginormous amount of faith.

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And then Jesus corrects them and notes something here. And I've said this before, and I'll reiterate the idea is that faith is like eyesight.

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Faith always is looking to something. There is always an object of your faith that your faith is looking at.

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So what is your faith looking at? Is your faith looking at your sanctification and your moral progress?

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Is your faith looking at your good works? Is your faith looking at your faith? I have great faith.

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Look at my faith. I can do great things with my faith. That's called faith in faith. That's kind of silly stuff.

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But if your faith is in Christ, even though it seems minuscule, small and microscopic, it isn't.

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And the reason for this is quite simple, because even tiny microscopic mustard seed faith has its eyes on the

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King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The object of our faith is ginormous, greater than the universe itself.

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So Jesus says, if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

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So the idea here is that the hiddenness of the kingdom of God in the preaching and teaching of the disciples and those who have become the leaders through their healing, their forgiving, they may feel as if they do not have enough faith.

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That's what they may be tempted to feel like. And Jesus telling them to do all this forgiving kind of made them feel like their faith is really small.

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Who can pull this off? But like a mustard seed, the smallness of their faith in Christ conceals

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Christ's great power. And through them, Christ produces great wonders for the kingdom.

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Not them, Christ does it. He does it through them, even through their microscopic faith.

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And then Jesus kind of drops the bomb. Oh, and by the way, boys, let's talk about how this leadership thing works in my church.

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And I'm going to give you a little bit of a contrast. We have a problem today in evangelicalism. And that is, is that there are many pastors who think that being a pastor is all about ruling and reigning and being in charge and in control and being the man at the top.

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Pastor is somewhere, well, akin to president of the United States, just a little bit smaller.

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They create little kingdoms for themselves. And so everybody points out how amazing and wonderful that man is.

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Not for Jesus's teachers, not for his pastors, not for his apostles. So here's how

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Jesus wants his pastors, preachers, teachers, and even his Christians to think about themselves.

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Ready? Will any one of you having a servant, servant's a little weak, let's crank that up a little bit, slave.

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If any one of you has a slave plowing or keeping sheep and say to him when he has come in from the field, come at once, recline at the table.

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Oh, it looks like it's been a hard day outside. Oh, it was really hot. Would you like some lemonade here? Let me serve you.

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The owner of a slave doesn't talk this way. So instead, will he not rather say to his slave, prepare supper for me, dress properly, take a shower, you stink.

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Serve me while I eat and drink. That's what he's going to say. And afterwards, then you can eat and drink.

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And then when that slave has done everything he can, does he thank the servant because he did what he was commanded?

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Nope, not at all. So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, all that preaching, all that forgiving, all that rebuking, all that helping and serving and watching and guarding your doctrine, not putting any stumbling blocks in any ways, after you've done all of that, you are to say, you are to say, we are unworthy servants because we've only done what was our duty.

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That's how Jesus's pastors, teachers, and preachers are to conduct themselves and even view their ministry.

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They are not to say, oh Lord, look how amazing I am. Wasn't that sermon just a hit?

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Everyone seemed to love it. Oh, we're really growing here. Oh, things are going swimmingly.

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I am so amazing. I must be experiencing the favor of God. No. Instead, when it's all said and done, when all the sermons are preached, when all the catechism classes are taught, when all the doctrine is carefully checked, when all the sins are forgiven, when all the prayers are prayed,

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Christ's teachers say, I am just an unworthy servant because all

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I've done is what it is I've been commanded to do. And any pastor who acts other than this is really in danger because he's made himself an idol and that's a problem.

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Now I would point you to our epistle text. And in our epistle text, we see that the apostle

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Paul, though he wasn't present when Jesus was teaching his apostles and his disciples this important lesson about how he wants leadership to be done in his church.

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The apostle Paul, through the work of the Holy Spirit, bears this fruit and his ministry exemplifies this exact way of doing ministry.

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Notice that Paul doesn't start off and say, Paul, king, ruler of the universe,

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I am the dude that Jesus met on the road to Damascus. You must bow before me and obey me.

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He's writing to a young pastor. Instead, he says to him, Paul, an apostle of Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus.

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See, even his apostleship, he realizes is not as a result of his great works or even anything that he's done.

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His apostleship is by the will of God. God willed this. That's why I'm an apostle. And it's according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus to Timothy.

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See, my beloved child, and see, you'll notice here.

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That pastors and teachers who are like Christ, they see the ones that they are instructing and building up in the faith as Jesus's little ones, as little children.

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And their love for them is according to that. He says to him, grace, mercy, peace from God the

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Father in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

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And so you'll notice here the apostle Paul isn't saying, you know, I'm an apostle. You better be praying for me. Instead, he says, you are my child in the faith, and I labor in prayer for you night and day.

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He's a servant. As I remember your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

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I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother

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Eunice, and now I'm sure dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you, fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

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For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self -control.

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In other words, God gave a gift to young Pastor Timothy when he was ordained in the laying on of hands.

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And then he says this, therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our

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Lord. You see, the testimony of Christ, the news that God became man, born of the

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Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried is a stumbling block to the people in the world and people who think the way the world thinks.

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But remember, I said Christ is the stumbling block that causes men to stumble. And so he says, don't be ashamed about the testimony of our

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Lord. And there's a lot of shame there, if you're thinking in a worldly way, nor be ashamed of me, his prisoner, the

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Apostle Paul, chosen by God, a prisoner. Instead, he says, share now in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

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Young Pastor Timothy, take up your cross, follow me, share in the sufferings for the gospel that I have suffered.

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We are not princes and kings to rule and reign and build kingdoms here on earth.

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We are called to proclaim the offense of Christ and him crucified for our sins and share in the suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

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And even that suffering is a we're able to endure it because God has given us the power to do so. And God saved us, called us to a holy calling, not because of our works.

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Over and again, Paul keeps pointing that out. God called us to these things, not because we were so amazing, not because we were holy and righteous and doing good works, but because of his own purpose and his grace, which he has given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and now has been manifested through the appearing of our

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Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, brought life and immortality to light through the gospel for which

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I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.

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But I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

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Indeed, Christ is. And that's the point. His faith, the object of his faith is

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Christ. And even if Paul had faith of a mustard seed, all of the amazing things that God did through him was because Christ is so amazing and so powerful.

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And he is the one that Paul knows is able, able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me, his faith, his salvation.

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In fact, he knows he's in good hands with Jesus and so are you. And so he says, follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me.

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That's right. The apostle Paul never laid any stumbling blocks in his preaching and teaching that would get in the way of people seeing

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Christ and trusting in them and believing in them, him for the forgiveness of their sins and life and salvation.

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So follow the pattern of sound words, sound doctrine. You'll notice over and again the scriptures make a big deal about sound words, sound doctrine, healthy teaching.

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The reason for this is simple. False teaching creates stumbling blocks. False teaching obscures

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Christ. False teaching leads to apostasy and apostasy causes your faith to be shipwrecked.

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So continue to follow the pattern of sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus by the

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Holy Spirit who dwells within us. Guard the good deposit entrusted to you. And you notice even the guarding of the good deposit is through and by the

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Holy Spirit. Paul over and again is confessing, I am not able to do these things, but God does them in me and through me for his glory and his salvation.

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Apart from Christ, I can do nothing. And that's what he's confessing. So brothers and sisters, do not be ashamed.

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Do not be ashamed of Christ. I know that he was crucified outside the city gates of Jerusalem, stark naked, bleeding, dying, scourged, dying a criminal's death.

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But that death he died, he died for you and he rose again for you. So don't be ashamed. So when people, your brothers or sisters sin, rebuke them.

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When they repent, forgive them. If they sin against you seven times in a day, which seems quite exorbitant, and they repent, forgive them.

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And trust that Christ has given you the faith to do this, even if it's as small as a mustard seed.

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Because mustard seed faith looks to the great Christ who was crucified, died, and was buried.

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And don't look to your good works and sit there and say, I'm so amazing because I'm able to do all these things.

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Instead, after you've done all that you have been commanded, say of yourself, I am still an unworthy servant because all

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I've done is what I've been commanded to do. But Christ is conquered.

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He is risen. He has forgiven. He has raised you from the dead and he is working in you right now.

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So come, join us all as we suffer for this good news and the gospel.

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And do that suffering by the power and work of the Holy Spirit. Because he is able to guard until that day that which has been entrusted to us.

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And the good deposit that has been given to us guarantees our inheritance in the kingdom of light when

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Jesus returns in glory again to judge the living and the dead. Trust in him. Look to that day.

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Today we serve as slaves. When Christ comes, we rule and reign.

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And we will rule and reign in the same love, mercy, grace that he rules and reigns now.

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All to his glory. In the name of Jesus. Amen. If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax -free donation to Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue, NW, Oslo, MN 56744. And again that address is

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Kungsvinger Lutheran Church, 15950 470th

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Avenue, NW, Oslo, MN 56744. We thank you for your support.

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