Election (part 7) - Making Your Election More Sure [2 Peter 1]

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Ministry's Only Hope: Election (part 8)

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Well before we start this morning, thank you Louis for preaching while I was gone and for Dan going down to Hartford It was just a real joy to be able to travel and then know that the family of God is taken care of by Men who know their
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Bible, so thank you Probably the highlight of the Shepherds Conference was sitting next to Dave Jeffries during the
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Masters Chorale And watching Naomi come out and then having Dave just sit there years ago
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Dave went to the Shepherds Conference And he'll probably tell you the story, and he said Lord if someday
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Naomi could just be in that choir and so Fast forward two or three years
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Naomi walks out, and I was really not feeling well that day And I thought I've got to come for my friend
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Dave just to experience Vicariously through Dave what it would be like to have my daughter in the
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Masters Chorale So name Naomi came out It was just a wonderful time of ministry and Dave began to cry and then
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I began to cry and I looked next to me and then Steve Cooley began to cry And it was lovely
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Just to see the goodness of God We have a world that's crumbling around us and God is faithful and good to his people.
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He's given us the best gift salvation Christ Jesus And he'll certainly give us the other ones as well
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Steve Lawson will be here in just a few weeks and in my opinion if John MacArthur were to die today Steve Lawson is the man who would replace him and we have some new
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Advertisements that are coming out That Tiffany did a great job on and there they say how big is your God?
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And I thought forget Steve Lawson conference that may never come but today's sermon will surely come and it says on the right hand side how big is your
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God a Variety of adjectives, and I thought that is today's sermon We are preaching this morning and in a series seven or eight weeks on the doctrine of election that show forth
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God as immense powerful awesome immeasurable great infinite colossal
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Vast Unabounding abundant limitless
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Unfathomable Astonishing Magnificent, here's my favorite one stupefying
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Overwhelming wonderful amazing and the list goes on This doctrine today that God is exalted in his sovereign selection of people
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Gives him all the glory Charles Spurgeon said
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I do not hesitate to say that next to the doctrine of the crucifixion and resurrection of our blessed
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Lord No doctrine had such prominence in the early Christian Church as the doctrine of the election of grace
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This is just what people want to think about and talk about because it is so wonderful to get our eyes on the
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God With whom we have to do some may say well, you know, I've had enough of this series
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This is a part seven now in this doctrine and I think I've heard enough and I don't want to hear any more
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This sermons for you today For those that are finished with the doctrine of election and think that they've you know had enough of it
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This is directly for you. Of course, it's for everyone but I want to just show you that you cannot exhaust this doctrine because it is tied together with the nature and character of God Some say
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I could never love a God who would pick and choose Beloved I'm sorry. This is the
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God that's in the Bible Revelation is clear the book not the book of Revelation But the revelation from God from Genesis to Revelation that God sits on a throne and if we are prejudiced against this
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It is our problem and not God's problem. I could go about it this way is Destiny in your hands after you die is destiny in your hands after salvation is destiny in your hands while you're on earth
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We know the answers of those questions So why is it so weird or particular if I ask this question is destiny in your hands before you were born?
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We've been going through a series and it's called 20 questions on election. We should be done before 2010 and we're just working our way through this
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I'm gonna just go through the first few questions quickly to give you an overview I don't want to spend too much time review today and today
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We're specifically going to focus on how to know your elect for sure how to make your election
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That's certain in God's eyes more assured in your own heart. In other words
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God in his word has been so kind to us to let us know that we can have our election.
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That's objective in his mind Very assured even though it's subjective in our heart.
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We can know for sure that we're elect But before we get into that final question of today we just go through the first several 20 questions that will help us with the biblical doctrine of Election sovereign election and these have pretty much been from Ephesians 1 you don't have to write these down I'll just quickly go through them.
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They're on the tapes I met somebody in California and they said we've listened on the internet up to election part 6.
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Are we caught up? I said you're caught up Number one do you view election as something for mature
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Christians only? Every one of these is set up in such a way so that I'm trying to anticipate the objections that are commonly out there
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Election isn't just for mature Christians. It's for every Christian from Ephesians 1 every Christian needs to know about God's sovereign hand
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Number two, do you think election stifles praise the answer to that? We saw in Ephesians 1 it doesn't
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Stifle praise it elicits praise to the praise of the glory of his what grace Number three, do you think that all
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Christians believe in election? Certainly they all do if you believe the Bible you believe in election It just depends if is it a man -centered view of election that God elects based on something that the person will think do say or believe art is an election that finds its counsels and only rationale in the triune
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God before time begins Which leads me to number four. I've already answered it. When do you believe election took place?
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We found out from Ephesians chapter 1 that it is before Genesis 1 it is before time before matter before space before angels
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Number five, do you believe election is based on a person's faith? We answered that could not be true because it is based on God's working people respond in faith
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Number six, do you view election is unloving that can't be either because Ephesians 1 says in love he what?
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predestined us and we certainly when we see Jesus heal a
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Person of a physical disease and he doesn't heal everyone else. We never say oh how unloving
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God could have chosen to save everyone But he just chose to save some and he has under no obligation to save anyone else and it's just amazing
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They would save any number seven in your opinion is election impersonal and sterile.
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It's kind of clinical It's for maybe seminary, but for no one else Ephesians 1 says he adopted us as what sons how could adoption be impersonal?
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Number eight in your view is election grace based is Election based on God's grace or is it based on something that we would do and we know it's grace based number nine
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Do you believe in unbelievers will is totally free that is to say? God won't do anything first until the unbeliever does something and that unbelievers free from sin free from Satan free from Influences of the world.
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Of course, we don't believe that we needed to have God come and rescue us of his freewill Do you believe election inhibits evangelism?
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The answer is no it helps us with evangelism and I did some research 25 years after the time
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John Calvin began preaching this doctrine There were 2 ,000 places of worship with a half million worshippers in France alone
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Number 11. Do you realize that election does not eliminate human responsibility? Men are responsible.
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God is sovereign. We embrace both because the scriptures teach both Number 12.
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Did you know that it's a sign of maturity not to force mental closure on all doctrines?
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In other words, there are some things that are so wide we can't get around them so tall we can't get over them and we just have to say
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Lord, even though I'd like to tie this knot very tightly and Logically, there are some things
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I just can't figure out I'm blown away that you could be sovereign and men are responsible and I will accept both without force forcing mental closure
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Number 13, we're getting close to being caught up. Do you know that grasping depravity unlocks the doctrine of election in other words?
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when we understand how Depraved people are God must intervene. God is the one who is the initiator of salvation
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Sociologist Robert Bella said one of our current psychological gurus says that 98 % of Americans are dysfunctional
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He almost got it, right 100 % would have been correct and that dysfunction is due to sin and we need someone to save us to rescue us because we've fallen
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And we can't get up John Gerstner said of unbelievers. There's always room for deprovement
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There's always room for deprovement So humbling and and we need to be humbled and we'll know then
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God has to rescue us. It's like Churchill talking about Clement Attlee Churchill said in his very
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Churchill Ian way Clement Attlee is a very humble man Of course, he has a lot to be humble about he went on to say we are dependent on the work of another for our salvation
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Romans 5 says just as through one man's sin entered into the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all
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Sin at the end of the day the difference between one person's salvation and another's is not lying within themselves
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It lies in God alone Number 14 last one to review.
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Do you believe the non -elect will ever desire salvation if God elects people? Then what about people that want to go to heaven, but they're not elect
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Friends, they don't want to go to hell, but they'll never desire the holiness of God in heaven Mark this clearly in your minds
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God does not cause unbelievers to disbelieve they do that on their own
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And now number 15 does election promote sinful living. This is new Does election promote sinful living after all if God chooses us?
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We just run around and do whatever we want are on the other hand Who cares if God has chosen us it is
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I think it was a Doris Day case or a sera who sang that? If she didn't sing it she should have Whatever will be will be fatalistic live it up.
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This kind of promotes spiritual laziness I mean, we don't have to do anything. Do we if God is the one who's sovereign but even an inkling from Ephesians 1 we see that Election has a moral aim in view.
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It has an end desire There's a bullseye over there that God is shooting out with the bow and arrow of election and that bullseye is wholly living by his people
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And let's for the remainder of the time open our Bibles to 2nd Peter chapter 1 and find that out contrary to our
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Naturalistic logic almost in a counterintuitive way God uses election to spur us on to holy living it's like a goad
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To help us to be holy Far from being morally debilitating
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This is a morally elevating doctrine the doctrine of election promotes.
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Holy living not sinful living 2nd
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Peter is a book that talks about how to live in the midst of sin how to live in the midst of a doctrine
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That's false propagated by false teachers What do you tell people who are living in a horrible situation with false teachers everywhere
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And Peter answers that question if you zoom into chapter 1 verse 10 to start this is the tie -in with election
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Therefore brethren be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and what?
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Choosing you electing you be diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing you
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For as long as you practice these things you will never stumble Peter is saying if you do these things
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You will authenticate you will validate you will prove certain of your election true or false.
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God knows who's elect true true or false Peter writing for the
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Spirit of God wants to make you know if you're elect if you are elect That's amazing.
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That's true God wants us a sure of our confidence that we are a child of God And doesn't that make sense as he's writing to these people with all the false teachers everywhere
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Peter wants them to know for sure. They're going to heaven that there's glory waiting that God has has gifted them with this gift of eternal life
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And he wants a sure -footed belief in the doctrine of God has chosen me because it's going to affect the way they live
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When I was growing up my grandmother gave me a stuffed mountain goat head and I loved that mountain goat head to college and back
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I don't know the 15 years. I went to college Deciding on my major back and forth and the bad thing about the mountain goat head is
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I couldn't see the feet and here Basically Peter is trying to focus our minds on the sure -footedness of knowing that in whatever
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Situation you're in if you are elect it will change the way you deal with God with others and the world to know for sure that you're going to heaven
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God wants you to have full assurance. God is not up in heaven thinking You know what? I chose them, but I never want them to know if I did or not
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He could have done that but he didn't God is wanting us to have a valid stamp as it were to know that we've been chosen by him sometimes if I give a $20 bill to someone at a
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Supermarket they get out a yellow Marker a highlighter almost and what do they do with that highlighter?
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That's right. And so here is is almost the the holy lifestyle that the Christian lives is the authenticator yellow highlighter of the validity of that $20 spiritual bill called
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Election this is the warranty deed and if you see in verse 11 so wonderful this is a whole sermon on its own for in this way the entrance into eternal kingdom of our
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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be Abundantly supplied to you and Peter just starts stacking these words up Our kids don't play
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Legos anymore But they used to and so you stack Legos one on top of another and with the Greek language
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He's just stacking up a bunch of words. So you realize God is wanting me to know for sure that I'll have
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Glorification that I'll be in heaven that it will be abundantly supplied full entrance into eternal heaven full assurance
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Who wouldn't want that? Do you you want to know for sure you're going to heaven I do But it's interesting
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If you go back to verse 10 to have this assurance We need to bank certain that we practice what these things we've got to be certain that we practice these things
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That's the question of the hour today What are these things if you want to have full assurance that you're going to heaven if you want to have full confidence that God?
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Has chosen you then you need to practice these things What are these things? Well, let's find out instead of going back to verse 10
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Let's go all the way back to chapter 1 verse 1 who wants to jump into verse 10 when we have the ridges of verses 1
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Through 9 to go through first 2nd Peter chapter 1 verses 1 through about 11 will go through this morning
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Period if I can look at how this starts, I I'm gonna make a little wager on the side
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You're gonna love this passage so much that you're gonna have to go home and read chapters 2 and chapter 3 today
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This book is awesome this book to use the phrase growing up rocks
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This is one of those books when you start to read it. You just think the riches of this feast
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We went out to dinner the other night Bill and Lil and it was a major feast sometimes
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Go out to restaurants, and I'm not very impressed I was very very impressed And I just sat back and just the next food item would come in the next food item
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And it was one of those things where you just think this is so tasty every taste bud
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I wanted on all the different bitters and sweets and and it helped that they were pain I know that but it was really good, and this is a banquet.
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This is one of those Passages where you just think that God would give me something like this
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I want to take this to that desert island because 2nd Peter is chapter 1 verse 1
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Simon Peter Literally Simon means a little Samuel God has heard
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Simon Peter a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Not just a sent -out one, but I've got full authority from Christ Jesus Here's the recipients to those who have received a faith of the same kind of as ours
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By the righteousness of God and Savior God our Savior Jesus Christ Peter said
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I'm an apostle I'm sending out this letter to you and these people that receive the letter are those who have received faith
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I Can't go any faster because that whole phrase who have received faith is actually packed full of wonderful meaning in the original language
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It means to receive and it suggests that you get something by the casting of lots
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It's used in Luke chapter 1 this way now It happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division
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According to the custom of the priestly office he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the
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Lord and burn incense as This person this priest was chosen by lot to minister to God God So to gives out his faith by divine lot
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The lot of faith and second Peter is cast by God It is appointed are chosen by God's sovereign decree to give these people faith
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Peter says it's the same kind of faith as ours By the righteousness of our
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God and Savior Jesus Christ again extolling the divinity of Jesus Christ the deity of Christ Jesus Then he says in verse 2
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I Prayed this for you BBC this week Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
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Lord He says I want you to have grace and peace multiplied towards you and it's not just wrote paradigm intellectual knowledge
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But knowledge that would really help you with your fellowship with God fellowship with his word and then he says in verse 3
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Notice, I don't see anything about us so far what we're supposed to do or anything It's just a a front -end loading of the goodness of God his what he's done
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Seeing that his divine power has granted to us Everything pertaining to life and godliness
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God has given our bestowed same word where he he bestows the body of Jesus to Joseph then it says through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and Excellence God has given us everything.
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We need false teachers sinful area Persecution God has done it all everything we need everything
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To what degree oh, this is amazing verse 4 for by these he has granted to us as precious and Magnificent promises you can just hear the trumpet of praise in order that by them these
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Magnificent promises you might become partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust
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These great promises these precious promises make us partakers Fellowship errs koinonia people with God shares
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We don't become gods, but he uses this philosophical vocabulary of these Greeks in that area to say you know what you don't become divine gods
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But you become having a divine nature by sharing with these great promises. It's a provision of God Now if I look at verses 1 2 3 & 4
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I'm not central Men aren't central women aren't central Peter's readers aren't central everything is
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God God's righteousness saves Knowing him his divine power true knowledge comes through him precious and magnificent promises through him
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It's all the safety and security of God Can God lose a Christian? People always ask well can
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I lose my salvation well can Christ lose a Christian? And he's setting that up this objective side of assurance now
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He moves the subjective side and here we're coming to our passage today verse 5 now for this very reason also
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Applying all diligence in your faith supply, and then he lists those things that we have already determined as these things
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He says I want you to for this very reason Supply all these things
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Why because if you look down in verse 8 for if these qualities And I'm gonna preach all those qualities in 5 6 & 7 in just a second for if these qualities are yours and are
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Increasing they render you neither useless Nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our
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Lord Jesus Christ When these things are in our lives, and they're increasing we are fruitful
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And we are useful these words can be used of laziness they can be used of unemployment
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They can be used of for a lot of things God wants people to diligently pursue holiness
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And then in verse 9 it says For he who lacks these qualities is blind
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Are short -sighted he's talking spiritually here having forgotten his purification from his former sins now these days
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When I bring a book up to my eyes Closely I cannot read here anymore.
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I'm kind of doing this trombone action. How about you? Myopia is a condition.
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I've read this week of the eye in which parallel rays are focused in front of the retina Nearsighted people can see what's in front of them, but they can't see farther away
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Peter is saying this remember that God saved you remember his great promises remember how wonderful he is if you are too
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Myopic and too focused on everything in front of you your portfolio your job your life your kids your things
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Materialism, etc, etc Without seeing far away without seeing what
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God has done. Then you are going to become useless and fruitless it's almost like a spiritual
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Alzheimer's disease that he doesn't want us to forget how great God is and Therefore he says here's how you remember how great
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God is By action by doing by becoming holy and what we'll do for the remaining of our
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Remainder of our time today is look at seven Assurance builders that will remind you that you are elect if you're not elect
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You need to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ But if you are elect, this is a way you can know you're saved lots of people struggle with assurance
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This will help you with your assurance and help you to know that your election is sure
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False teachers are running around telling you one thing Peter says, but I've got the real truth I Personally as a pastor want to experience greater assurance and here he gives us this very reason
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But I have to tell you it's not going to be found at on the lazy boy recliner
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It's just a perfect name for that. Isn't it? I've got my lazy boy just yesterday college football
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I don't know. I'm a college football college basketball all day There it is. I Know more about college basketball now than I have all year.
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I Just felt kind of weird at the end of the night it's fine to watch college basketball, but That's when I feel the weirdest is when
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I just forget about my life my family all these issues and I just get sidetracked
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I get the spiritual myopia and Paul says Peter says Paul would say it He says it in Philippians chapter 2 work out your salvation with fear and trembling
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Here's the Christian life. And if you want to know if you're a Christian chosen by God then act
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Christianly, but it's gonna be Energy filled you see the text in verse 5 2nd
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Peter 1 5 for this very reason also who we are in Christ apply all the diligence
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Make every effort be zealous about it be eager be in a hurry.
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There's an urgency. There's a haste no delay And so people come to me all the time as a pastor and they'll say pastor
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I don't know if I'm a Christian. Well, this is gonna be my new counseling for you For those that just say
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I'm wondering if I'm a Christian or not But I'm stagnant and I'm sterile and I don't do anything for the kingdom
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Then God is purposely giving you those feelings so you get a move on But I don't want those feelings here.
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He says apply all diligence Put forth every effort and then it's not just effort
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Do you see what the passage says put forth every effort in your faith supply these things?
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Without faith, it's impossible to please God, but note very carefully It doesn't say supply your faith. You don't come up with your faith faith is
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God -given Faith is a gift from God. Yes, you believe but it is a divine gift It is given you are never instructed to supply your faith
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And he says okay now with diligence and in faith. Here's what I want you to supply in your life
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I can't even go any farther before I I see that word supply Let me tell you the
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Greek word for supply and you tell me if you recognize the English word. I Won't give you the whole
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Greek word because it's so long just the middle core a go Choreography, that's what that word is in all your face
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And all your face in all your faith. This is microphones messing up again everything every time
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I make a mistake I'm gonna blame the microphone this microphone that you gave me when it comes to making sure that you're chosen in your elect
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Christians act like little Christ and Peter's just trying to spur them along and he's saying I want you to diligently with all effort in faith
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Supply as a chorus master as a choreographer would all these details
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Back in those days chorus leaders took on the job of all the expenses of the chorus to the point of extravagance and basically what
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Peter is saying is if the king gives you a house and Says I want you to decorate the house and furnish the house in what manner would you furnish that house?
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Brownfolding chairs that say BBC on the back Or would you try to furnish that house to the best of your ability with enthusiasm?
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How fast would you do it? How well would you do it? To what degree would you do it? And for us as we furnish out this house that God has given us as it were
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Spiritual salvation as the furnishing increases the house begins to feel more like a what a home and So as God says you're one of mine.
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I've called you. I've drawn you. I've had my son die for you You're one of mine. My children act like me and as we begin to do that our assurance does what it goes up and These are the seven assurance builders that we'll find in the rest of 2nd
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Peter chapter 1 verses 5 6 and 7 So here's the outline Assurance builders that you are elect seven
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Home furnishings as it were to show that you are elect and I'll tell you right out at the beginning
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Not one of them is a neon e on your forehead. Not one of them. These are internal.
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It's not a how -to list It's not what to do its character and then how to treat other people
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By the way, I have every one of these I could use them for Christ Jesus. It'd be a good resume for him as well
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Assurance that you're elect number one in your life in your walk supply moral excellence right up to verse 5 2nd
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Peter chapter 1 verse 5 for this very reason also applying all diligence in your faith supply with extravagance moral excellence
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He just starts off with a bang. You'd have to be up and out moral energy Activity vigor energy
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In classical Greek this word was used of God -given ability to perform heroic deeds
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This is a dynamic active force
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Rise and shine up an atom the Puritans used to say, you know what? You're not feeling good.
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Here's our one remedy for all your maladies Quote be up and about in quote
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Be up and about Thomas Brooks went on to say if that would recover assurance then sit now sit not down discouraged
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But be up and doing we were made to worship
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God. We were made to love our neighbor So be up and about doing that is basically what he's saying with virtue not with lethargy,
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I Think it's the Marines that say we get more done by 9 o 'clock than the rest of the world gets done all day
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That's the army Armstrong zeal
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Not idly by my father would come downstairs most every week and say son your room is not going to be cleaned by Osmosis It's exactly right.
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If you want assurance God tells you in his goodness This is the means these are the means to assurance election never changes
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But how you experience election God has given you the means to have a full Confident assurance and it is done through first of all you with extravagance
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Furnishing that household of faith with moral energy and excellence and vigor
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Lloyd Jones says that is something you and I are called to do In other words, we must not recline on beds of ease and wait for something to move and disturb us
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This word is also used of something That does what it was made to do
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You make a car cars made to go fast Make a ball.
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It's meant to be bounced. You make it bored. It's meant to be surfed There are a variety of things like that here.
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God makes you he gives you new life and you're made to please him and to work Again, this doesn't earn our salvation, but this validates what
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God has already done validates so I'd like to do that, but kind of more boring routine mundane life
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One of the best things you could do is find somebody here in the church who serves all the time and just start hanging out
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With them hang out with servers. It's amazing. I watch even young people. I watch a Gladman and Bernard I don't have to ask them to serve.
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I don't have to ask them to do things I don't have to say well if you could do this or that they're just doing it and I would imagine if you ask those
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Two young men do they have good assurance when they're serving? The answer is yes.
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This is a zeal and verve for the Lord Passion spiritual caffeine if you will number two
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If you'd like to have good assurance in your soul knowing that you've been elect by God There are many ways to do it, but Peter gives us these seven number one supply moral virtue or excellence
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Not only that number two supply knowledge see that in verse 5 The outline just found right there in our passage 2nd
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Peter chapter 1 verse 5 Experience our election as sure and certain by not only supplying moral excellence, but in your moral excellence
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Knowledge this is not just intellectual knowledge, which is fine But this is knowledge that is more
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Wisdom oriented its practical application of knowledge. I just think how this is so logical
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Peter says I want you to be up and Adam so you're running around but you don't have anything to do or think about I'm just busy.
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I have excellence. I have moral energy. I'm just running around I figured it all out or how much I can walk around before this thing falls off and you're just moving
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But he's he's applying that movement towards a direction and that direction is a a knowledge that you learn
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But then you practically Apply it in the life of the church.
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Our energy is governed by What we know? This could include discernment practical knowledge
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Experiential knowledge. We're not just doing things to be busy doing things just randomly.
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We're doing things with knowledge Ignorance certainly isn't bliss and when it comes to your own
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Assurance We want to be busy, but we want to be busy doing things with Intellectual knowledge from God then lived out practically in the life of the church.
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See I'd like to do that. I Need some help. Well, one of the things that I'd like you to do is find out
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Find an older Saint around here a wiser Saint and live with them for a little bit That is to say you could be so bold as to say well, you know what?
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I'd love to come over some night and just hang out for a while Titus chapter 2 older women teaching Younger women
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Titus 2 older men teaching younger men There's something that we have at the church and that's good and we've got a lot of people with a lot of knowledge
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But we need to kind of grow a little bit and we have some faithful Saints here that tend to have gray hair
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Who just live that out and they've seen trials come and go and they know what the scripture teaches and they lived it out
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And that's one of the best things you could do is to hang out with older Christians it's one of the reasons why
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I don't want to have some kind of A Rock -and -roll circus here for music because if we have a rock -and -roll circus lots of things happen
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The main thing that happens is tons of young people show up and all the old ones leave
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Because the old ones just cannot stand windmill guitars and stuff like that. You just watch Energetic music that's just rock and roll coffeehouse sound the old ones leave to push your envelopes a little bit
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I'd rather have the young ones leave than the old ones because I need the old ones to disciple the young ones that care more
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About the Word of God than to feeling led by the Spirit because of the bass Vibrations of the guitar and that's a different sermon.
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Okay, I'm holding myself together If you want rock -and -roll music go out to your car crank stuff crank striper up to volume 11 and rock out
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What do I care? This is the church and the church has her own kind of music and this is church music
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Music that assists the singing not drowns it out Well back to the older wiser
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Saints find someone find somebody older than you in whatever area Frankly these days we have moms and dads who don't even train children how to make their beds or to cook food or do you know?
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Make laundry and it's not your own fault necessarily but if you're someone who can't even do their own laundry or cook bread or anything else grab a lady and say
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You know what? You don't even need to teach me the hypostatic Union But I'd love to learn how to make bread.
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I Love Lewis's mother. She's got all these 20 year old kids following her. They're called It's mrs.
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Joy Brown and they're called brownies because they follow mrs. Brown and all the brownies run around 20
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They don't know anything about life and she says now you come here I'm gonna teach you to make bread and when you get married and you get mad at your husband
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I want you to make bread Because you can need out all your frustrations number one and then number two You can present the one that you're mad at a gift in love love one another love your enemies
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That kind of thing. I said to Maxine all the time
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You don't even have to teach theology just teach people to make that awesome pie of yours We've got to keep moving.
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I Want to know that I'm chosen of God I struggle with it. It's objective in God's eyes
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And he's given us the wonderful means to know not just moral excellence. Not just knowledge, but number three
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Got to have some restraint on some of this activity and some of this knowledge found in verse 6 and in your knowledge self -controlled
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Self -control, they're all linked together Holding yourself in this is obviously the fruit of the
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Spirit Obviously every one of these we can't do on our own You can ask God the Spirit to help you with these but we want to have our passions under control
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In the old days the pre Bible days this word pertained to Athletic events and sporting events where that person training for the
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Olympics are for a gladiator kind of event Would have to refrain from unwholesome foods and unwholesome things to drink and unwholesome amounts of wine
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Abstaining this is not just talking about alcohol Abstention this is talking about just getting a grip on yourself in life to know when to say yes and know when to say no
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By the way, did the false teachers do any of these things? This is a resume exactly opposite of false teachers.
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No moral excellence. No knowledge. No self -control 2nd Peter chapter 2 it says verse 2 and many will follow their sensuality
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That's the opposite of self -control and because of them the way of truth will be maligned and in their greed
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They will exploit you with false words their judgment from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep
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This is a kind of thing where you say God You've given me a desire to be energetic a desire to work out my knowledge in a practical way
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And I've got to have some control some self -control some discipline some accountability By the way this is a long -haul thing so Contrary to some kind of come up to the front when you've got a problem and will zap you and will slay you and everything
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Will be fine all seven of these just go opposite of that reminds me the time my mother Was really hurting she went to her church
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My dad's dying of cancer anybody here, you know need to have a healing for a family member a friend Dad's in the hospital mom comes up to the front.
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They start trying to slay my mother And so they began to push her on the forehead. She began leaning forward a little bit
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They try to push her farther She'd try to push farther and farther and I said mom if that pastor was smart He would have just taken his hand off your forehead
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You would have fallen forward which even have been an extra special slain in the spirit because you fall forward number four
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Perseverance moral excellence number one knowledge number two self -control number three and number four supply
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Perseverance you see it's right there in the text verse six and in your knowledge self -control and in your self -control
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Perseverance remember the trials the struggles what was going on with the recipients?
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This is spiritual staying power One moment kind of letting up He's gonna open the crack up and so he says
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I want you to remain under I want you to have an unswerving purpose Endurance no giving up no giving in the word has an idea of courage voluntarily and daily enduring difficult and hard things for the sake of honor and usefulness at an arm
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Judson Went from Salem, Massachusetts, you can see the little statue right there sometime if you go up there
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It's a lot better to look at that than the witch Museum And there's the statue of an arm Judson the first American missionary and he went to Burma Can you imagine for 20 years no converts?
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Do you think he felt elect? Well, I'm sure he struggled like all of us do
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But Here peer is calling for a steadfastness a perseverance Judson said after all that time
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Quote permit us to labor on in obscurity and in 20 years you may hear from us again
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Give up take the easy route. It's our natural tendency to pursue pleasure and just run
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Fight or flight Peter says if you want to make sure you have election Then not just with moral energy not just for living it out with practical knowledge not just controlling it but he says
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I want you to have a Perseverance because as you see that in your life, you realize it's the work of another I could never do this on my own
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Three more quickly number five godliness right there in the text verse six and in your perseverance godliness
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Boy, that is a word fallen on hard times today. It means pious Whenever I hear pious outside of the church.
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Oh, you're you're pious It's negative Peter says if you want to make sure your election is sure be a pious godly person
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This basically means this that you are aware of God in every situation of your life
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It's almost as if there's a screen door in front of you and that screen door is God and you see you can see through The screen door to the people but it's akin to psalm 16 8.
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I have set the Lord Continually before me. It is a God consciousness It is
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R. C. Sproul's stolen slogan from John Calvin Coram Deo in the face of God in the presence of God God is always here and as that happens you realize you're different Sometimes I say to myself,
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I know I'm a Christian because I have different desires I have different thoughts before I wanted to do the right thing to look good and to make sure
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God would save me now I want to do the right thing because God has saved me and I want to respond for what he with what?
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With what he would desire and be pleased with and then he gets specific number six supply brotherly kindness
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If any of you are struggling with assurance And I think most Christians do at different times.
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It's because sin in their life This is a good way to positively deal with that assurance loss
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Number verse 7 and in your godliness supply Brotherly kindness, you know the word fill a what
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Philadelphia? kindness towards other people goodness And this just comes from the heart
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Sadly this didn't come from my heart. It came from my wife's heart We pulled the gas station the other day just yesterday and lady had about this much snow on her roof and on her hood
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And here's my response. I said fill it up unleaded, you know 87 and then she drives up She doesn't have any coat on I'm all ready to go skiing and stuff with a nice kind of parka thing
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And so I said to the kids here's here's how I responded That's the illegal and the
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West Boylston police pull you over for not getting the snow off the hood of your car I Took mine off today as I think
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Kim said well, why don't you go out there and clean it off for very very insightfully
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Kim said Don't you tell me what to do
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You're laughing because you've been there so I thought you know what? All right, I'll do it I got out. She had this stupid little scraper, you know one of these kind of you know 18 cent scrapers that you use and that had that crust on the top and that film and you could have ice -skated on top of Her car so I had to take my arm like this and I was like cutting it off in slabs
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You know one half one taking it off and then hop back in the car. It felt pretty good
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That didn't give me an increase in my salvation assurance because I didn't think of it
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I was glad I did it after I was done and was shamed because that should just be something I normally do because people don't do that around here
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But this is a little bit different. This is brotherly kindness to those in the assembly who are brothers and sisters
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This is doing good for the people in the church. Remember Jesus isn't here I know if Jesus walked in today and stood here at the pulpit the line to speak to him after the service would be quite long and The people in the line who are
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Christians would be willing to do anything for him. I need a ride to Boston Okay, I need you have
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I'd like to stay over at your house between now and second service Okay, whatever the list was, but Jesus he isn't on earth
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Physically, he's in heaven, but his body the bride of Christ is on earth And this is just that normal natural desire to serve
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Christ by serving other Christians Paul said to the church at Galatia. So then while we have opportunity
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Let us do good to all men the lady at the car place and Especially to those who are of the household of what?
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faith That's just loving other Christians doing for other
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Christians here at the local church What you would do for God? By the way, that is a plug to be involved in the life of the local church
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If you don't have a ministry serving other people here Then your assurance meter should be low on purpose by good divine purpose and then serve and your assurance goes up Because you're doing what
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God has called you to do It Shouldn't be out of duty. It should be out of God Thank you
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And I respond and I think of Jesus's words in Matthew 25 and the king will answer and say to them truly
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I say to you to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine Even to the least of them you did it to me
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Sometimes I think people See the pastoral staff and the elders as you need to serve and you need to serve because we need stuff done at the church
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Well, that's true. We need things done at the church But the church building and the cleaning and the snow and all those things they'll all work themselves out, but we are after you
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We're after not just the end clean building. We're after the people who grow in love for the
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Lord and other people as they clean You don't need your service. You need your service to others
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It's like people when they give money Well, we don't I'm not gonna give to pay your salary or pay for the church bills or this or that We can go without your money
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And if you don't want to give cheerfully when and to the Lord then keep your money We don't want one penny, but you for your own spiritual good need to give sacrificially.
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It's you who need to give and then lastly What you expect from Peter as he's heard two different kinds of love from Jesus After Peter's denials, he says number seven sacrificial love agape love in faith supply like an extravagant
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Choreographer would take care of all his people on the road supply agape love the highest good desiring in others deliberate love purposeful love loving in spite of loving even though loving the person
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Like you've been loved by God first John 3 16 We know loved by this that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren
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First John 3 14. We know that we've passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. I Know I'm a
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Christian because I love other Christians I didn't love other Christians before unless they could help me with my taxes Now I love other
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Christians because God has told me to and there's actually sometimes some lovable things in Christians to love, right?
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Sometimes there's not Sheep bite you but you can't kick the sheep because you're the pastor and they're God's sheep and that whole thing goes on But you go
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I love other people. My nickname in school was mean Mike Sadly, sometimes that still comes through but God has given me a heart for other people and a compassion for them and I meet struggling pastors and I just want to Hold them and just put my arms around them and love them.
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It's a desire. I met a guy at the Shepherds Conference he's a master seminary graduate matter of fact his wife and daughter will be here and We had an alumni banquet and the
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Dean said we have another student here that you might not recognize He doesn't get one of the 10th anniversary commemorative
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Bibles for his alumni graduation But in case you don't recognize
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Dave Danley has lost 180 pounds and he's here I Went up to Dave Danley who's a friend of mine and I thought he has a walking heart attack.
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He's going to die He's got a wife and kids and I'm not gonna go up to him and say, you know Hi fructose corn syrup, and you know, you're gonna die and you're fat and obese.
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You're a glutton all those things I don't know about medical conditions or anything else, but I thought You're not gonna die because you go down in the airplane
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You're gonna die because of the french fries that you stuff into your mouth all the time without exercise My friend's going to die and it's really kind of hard to approach those people
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And I saw him and I just began to cry Because of what God had done in his life and 180 pounds
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He lost half himself and there he is and I just so happy. I thought you know What would
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I do before before I was a Christian? How would I react towards that? I? Probably I won't even repeat.
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I was gonna say something I thought you know should I say it or not whenever you preach don't do it. Should I or shouldn't I? I don't know if I should okay, then don't
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But that would not be my response And you see people and you love them and encourage them so you've got to stay at our home when you're here for your daughter's
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Concert concert and all that. I just have to tell you this is not you know, talk about Mike sermon this is
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I am a Trophy of the grace of God because I would never have done that before plus I would never have cried because that's for sissies
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We don't cry and we don't say I love you to our dads or anything else You know, it's kind of and when I grew up it was you know, when
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I left at 22 to move to California You know dad said you can't say I love you go.
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Love you Well, that's like as low as you can stoop before you look somebody dies and say I love you
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We just don't talk that way. We oh, yeah, it's understood but not said forget that It's now
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God has redeemed us and as we love other people you think you know That person didn't even deserve my love that person wasn't even lovable that person wouldn't even a matter to me before But now
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God has changed me. He saved me. He's made me born again. I'm forgiven and in response to that I just want to serve
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God's people and then God didn't have to but he rushes in and fills us with I am a child of God because as Jesus loved the prostitutes and the sinners and the tax -gatherers
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I do too I used to hate homosexuals,
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I Love homosexuals. I do their funerals. I live by him I don't celebrate their sin and I don't celebrate fornication either and I don't celebrate pride but I know
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I'm different because when I love them and I go up to a man who's lost his life partner for 40 years and Hug him and bring him in close and say
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I'm sorry for your loss. I Think God has changed me and when I walk away, I think
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I am NOT the Hick from Nebraska I used to be because God has moved in my heart. So God says here's here's the lens
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You're already saved but if you want it sharper you say, okay moral excellence and there's a wisdom there's a self -control
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There's a godliness. There's a perseverance There's love for Christians and there's a love for people who are
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Christians And as you do that, you feel like you're more elect even though in God's eyes, you're always you've always been elect
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Yes, and Peter says in verse 8 we have to finish for if these qualities are
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Yours and increasing They render you useful, let me switch it and fruitful in the true knowledge of our
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Lord Jesus Christ For he who lacks these qualities is blind and short -sighted having forgotten his purification from his former sins say well, this is a lot
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I don't think I could do it all well, then my challenge to you this week is to spend one week alone quietly thinking about the cross and your sins and you will remember again what
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God has done for you and Then it will be much easier out of that to do for other people and to become who you should be election spurs on Godly living it doesn't stifle it
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Question 16 next week. Let's pray Lord.
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We come to your word today. And it's it's like drinking from a fire hydrant really so much truth
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So wonderful that you would give us your mind and we don't have to think about it and come up with it So many false pagan gods and they don't know how to please you
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They offer up good works or they offer up food They offer up something
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And Lord, we know we could never please you in any way shape or form Because we have been counted in Adam and fallen keep thinking about the man who said how many times would it?
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Take a servant spitting in his master's face To somehow earn the displeasure of that master and father we would admit that we were much worse than that Sophisticated yes
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Western yes, yet still we were rebels and yet you sent your love
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To find us and rescue us and it is because your love I think of the song even a popular
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Christian song That says God you have the kind of love that comes looking for your people
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And so thank you for that and Laura we would ask that your spirit would help us We would love to have energy to serve and love and self -control but we know their gifts and so use this proclamation of imperatives and commands yet against the backdrop of Your goodness towards us and the faith that we receive the righteousness of Christ We receive and father make this church look like a group of Jesus Christ serving here on earth one another with with loyalty