Baptism Celebration

Grace Covenant Reformed Church

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Take your

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Bibles go ahead and flip over to the book of Philippians. We're going to spend some time in Philippians this morning and as we prepare to Go into this celebration of baptism.

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I Want to remind us that Psalms 100 verse 4 teaches us that we are to enter into his gates with thanksgiving and That we are to enter his courts with praise

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This morning as we come together we are certainly filled with thanksgiving and We are certainly filled with praise, but we also

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Come filled with joy joy as we celebrate together the ordinance of baptism

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Any time that we can join together with brothers and sisters who are professing faith that are desiring

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And have by the work of the Holy Spirit come to Christ and they desire to publicly proclaim their faith

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There's a time for celebration But along with celebrating it is also a time for personal

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Reflection and honest personal evaluation

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Now typically in in this instance as a pastor stands up front with a

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Group of people who are preparing to be baptized the focus becomes these individuals that are to be baptized in Their personal evaluation and their personal reflection, but I would challenge you this morning

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That this is a time not only for the candidates to personally reflect and personally evaluate their lives

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But for each of us here today to understand and ensure

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That our hearts are properly prepared for this Celebration as we begin this preparation we wish first to focus in and reflect on the

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Ordinance itself and To do so we turn to the 1689

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Baptist confession of faith now as a reminder

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Because we love the fact that there are always naysayers This document is a tried -and -true teaching tool teaching tool

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That clearly lays out for us our faith But it is always subject to the authority of Scripture like the very first line of the 1699

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London Baptist confession of faith says the Holy Scripture is the only sufficient certain and infallible rule of all saving knowledge faith and obedience 1689 faithfully summarizes the teaching of Holy Scripture regarding baptism in this way

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The 29th chapter The first paragraph says baptism is an ordinance of the

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New Testament Ordained by Jesus Christ to those baptized it is a sign of their fellowship with him in his death and in his resurrection of their being grafted into him of Remission of sins and of submitting themselves to God through Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life

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The second paragraph says those who profess personally profess Repentance toward God and faith in and obedience to our

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Lord Jesus Christ are the only proper subjects of this ordinance in other words

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Those who have not professed faith those who do not repent are not proper subjects

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The third paragraph says the outward element to be used in this ordinance is water in which the individual is to be baptized in the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in the fourth chapter defines what sets us apart as Baptist when it defines immersion or dipping of the person in water is

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Necessary for this ordinance to be administered properly Now as you will know in the first paragraph of that chapter that baptism is a sign or an outward demonstration of a profession of faith of saving faith itself baptism in and of itself does not say but it is a

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Proclamation of salvation and although the act itself is not required for salvation

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It is in the sense that it is necessary to Be saved it is

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Demonstrating saving faith and so a desire for those who believe

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Because they desire the commands of God and in that sense it does become Obligatory.

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In other words, it is something that as a true believer you desire

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To Undertake each of our candidates for baptism this morning have professed faith in Christ and They now desire to demonstrate that faith and the obedience

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That results from that faith What's interesting to me that is that in many churches today that as baptism is

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Celebrated as it should be and it is performed as it should be It is often treated as an isolated event in the life of a believer in other words, it becomes something that is

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Personalized to the individual that it's all about that person and that person alone but I would argue that One of the realities that should surround

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This time within the church is That we give fault not only to what this moment signifies but what it signifies for the individual going forward and for the fellowship of believers the church

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You see it doesn't just change the life of the individual It's not just a sign of something in the individual's life.

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It is also a sign of something in the life of the church And so as we prepare for this celebration,

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I want us to be thinking about what comes next For these individuals

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For the church as a whole you see as the body of Christ we have a responsibility

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To ensure that those who are publicly demonstrating their faith continue to grow in grace and knowledge

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That they continue their walk in such a way as that their relationship with their

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is Deepened and so as we come to the

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Word of God Regarding these truths. I want to take a moment and Lay a foundation and I want you to understand for some of you sitting here this morning.

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This is going to be somewhat Repetitious, in other words, you've heard it before For some sitting here this morning this may be

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Absolutely different than what you have been taught or heard before But we need to be clear in a time

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When everything is under attack Especially the

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Word of God Not just from the outside not just from the world

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But from the very church that is supposed to be living by that word it is necessary for us to be clear and So this morning we're going to take a few minutes and we're gonna get clear about a couple of things the first of those is

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Salvation itself. What exactly is salvation well a definition of salvation without getting into a five -hour lecture is

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The effectual work or the effective work of the Holy Spirit in the life of an individual Which leads us to place our faith in Christ?

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Clearly outlined for us in Scripture Paul Writing in Romans chapter 10 verses 8 through 10 says but what does it say?

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The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart that is the word of faith Which we are preaching that if you confess with your mouth

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Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead

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You will be saved For with the heart a person believes leading to righteousness and with the mouth he confesses leading to salvation the compelling action here in Confession and in belief the compelling action in our lives is faith and Faith as We learn in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 9

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For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves

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It is a gift of God Not of works so that no one may boast

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This faith this this action that is driven is a gift of God. It is not something that we generate

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The Spirit works in and through us to create this faith And so oftentimes when we define it this way and we are clear that we believe that the entirety of Salvation is

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God working in and through you and none of you we always get the question. Well, what about repentance?

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Well brothers and sisters Repentance is

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Absolutely a necessary reality But let me be very clear here and this may hurt some people's feelings it may shock you a little bit

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Repentance does not lead to faith faith leads to repentance

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Repentance does not lead to faith faith leads to repentance

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There is no question That throughout Scripture we are called to repent

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But this true repentance is only a result of the work of the

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Holy Spirit in the life of an individual Prior to the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual.

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We have no desire to repent If we could muster the desire to repent apart from the work of the

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Holy Spirit in our lives Then salvation depends on us and there would have been no need to send

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Christ to the cross Because it's still by our effort You see

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You say well what but but Christ went to the cross. He paid the price he did But if you say that I can repent of my own

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Volition if my own desire then of what purpose does that serve if you never decide?

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and if you do decide today and you decide against it tomorrow what of eternity

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The reality is It is a gift So that we cannot boast listen

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It's not about taking away your choice It's about ensuring that the honor and the glory and the boast is properly placed

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That it is given to God That it is not of yourself so this leads to the question if faith is necessary for salvation

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What does it truly mean to believe What does it truly?

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Mean to believe to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ It means that we have faith in the reality that first the

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Lord our God is One the only living and true God that he this divine and infinite being consists of three real persons the

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Father the Son and the Holy Spirit and that the second person of these three the

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Lord Jesus Christ being truly and eternally God took upon himself human nature and Most willingly undertook the office of mediator in order to discharge it.

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He was born under the law he perfectly fulfilled the law he experienced the punishment that we deserve and that we should have endured and That we should have suffered he was made sin and a curse for us

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He endured extremely heavy sorrows in his soul and extremely painful sufferings in his body

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He was crucified and he died and remained in the state of death yet. His body did not decay

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On the third day he arose from the dead with the same body in which he suffered In this body.

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He also ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of the Father interceding And he will return to judgment and angels at the end of the age

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He has fully Satisfied the justice of God.

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He has obtained Reconciliation he has purchased an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven for all those given to him by the

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Father He has accomplished these things by his perfect obedience And the sacrifice of himself

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Which he once for all offered up to God through the eternal spirit

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This is what it means to believe to profess to proclaim to understand and to stand firm on these truths

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But here's the reality that is not the extent of What we determine and design or define as salvation

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In this world today salvation is often taught as this momentary action

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And there is some truth to that. So we're gonna work on this a minute so that you understand But it is seen as something such so simple as a statement made or a prayer prayed

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And that there are no future demands or consequences of that action. In other words, I can come down front

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I can sign a card I can go about my merry way and I can live my life just as I have always lived my life and there is

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Nothing that anyone is going to say about it because now I am saved And it is okay, but that's not what scripture teaches us regarding salvation there is a

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Level of truth to this momentary reality And at the moment we have faith we are saved or Justified in the eyes of God through the work of Christ on the cross, but in truth

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Salvation is a momentary event and a continual process

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You see it's something that happens But then continues to happen throughout your life

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Now this in no way takes away from the reality that it is going to be completed

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But it does help us more deeply understand Scripture teaches in John MacArthur summarizes this three dimensions of salvation in this way

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Believers therefore have been saved. That was the momentary event when you placed your faith and trust in Christ You are being saved

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That's the continual process and you will be saved. That's a another momentary event

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The First of these dimensions that we've been discussing that first momentary event That we often use the word salvation for has a correct and proper term and that proper and correct term is justification

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It is the time when you are justified by faith in Him this is the redeeming work of Christ on the cross

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This is the action by which the punishment for our sins was completed This is the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement.

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In other words. He went to the cross paid the price for us He was the substitution for our sins therefore

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Christ's death on the cross was a punishment for our sins paid by him and our faith our faith in Him is what justifies?

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At that moment his righteousness is imputed to us that's a momentary event that occurs

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The third dimension of salvation is also a momentary event the proper theological term for the the third dimension is glorification

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This is the point in which Either through our physical death or if we happen to be still living when

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Christ comes through to call his children home Where we are taken into glory with him the result of either being that we are removed from the life of flesh and Eternally enter into the presence of the

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Almighty God fully glorified to live eternally

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There it's that second dimension. However That is a continual process

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That so often gets overlooked Unfortunately that the proper theological term for this second dimension, obviously, hopefully, you know

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It is the process of sanctification And this is the Christian life whereby the

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Spirit molds you through his will and his working in us and our responsibility in this to obedience

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So you understand that this this process of sanctification? requires work of God through the

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Spirit in our life But it also requires that we take responsibility for our actions that we respond to the

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Word of God in obedience and Through this we grow in grace and knowledge

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Again, this is not an action that you take that leads to salvation. It is not an act that you take that Guarantees your salvation.

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This is the Spirit working through you and in you Creating this desire for us to live in this way

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So this morning as we prepare to enter this time of celebration, we're going to look a little deeper at this dimension of salvation

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Our text this morning comes from Paul's letter to the church at Philippi Now this letter was written as an encouragement to the believers in this church

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It is written to a group of believers Who are actually?

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Doing fairly well in their Christian walk. They're certainly not perfect, but they are living pretty close to what they have been called to do and So as an act of encouragement and edification of this body

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Paul writes this letter And he makes a statement in the opening paragraph or passages of Philippians in chapter 1 verse 6 where he says for I am confident of this very thing this is something

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Paul is extremely confident of and what he is confident of is that he who began a

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Good work in you will perfect it in the day of Christ Jesus Now there are those who teach this teaching or who who take this teaching of sanctification as a teaching that there is this

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Possibility that we could lose our salvation or that we could fall away and be lost

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But the reality is is as we study sanctification as we study the entire process And we're certainly not going to unpack it all this morning

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What what does happen though as you study it as you understand it is that you begin to realize?

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That it's it's not Something that teaches that you could lose it is a Encouragement and a promise that you cannot lose it and through our text this morning

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We will see something that demonstrates this We will see a command that is given to us a

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Comfort that is given to us that is offered to us and a purpose of the perseverance That we as sinners saved by grace are to be obedient and responsive to the work of the

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Holy Spirit within us So that ultimately we live as lights in this dark world for God's glory alone

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So if you will flip over to Philippians chapter 2 This morning we will be reading verses 1 through 13 for context, but our focus will narrow down to those final two verses 12 and 13

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If you will, please stand for the reading of God's holy inerrant infallible authoritative complete and sufficient word

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Paul's letter to the church of Philippi the second chapter the first verse begins and reads this way therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ if there is any consolation of love if There is any fellowship of the

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Spirit if any affection and compassion Fulfill my joy

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That you think the same way by maintaining the same love being united in spirit

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Thanking or thinking on one purpose Doing nothing from selfish ambition or vainglory, but with humility of mind regarding one another is more important than yourselves

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Not merely looking out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others Have this way of thinking in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus Who although existing in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped

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But he emptied himself by taking the form of a slave by being made in the likeness of men

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Being found in appearance as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross

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Therefore God also highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name so that the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth

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And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the

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Father So then my beloved Just as you have always obeyed

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Not as in my presence only but now with much more in my absence work out your salvation with fear and trembling

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For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure

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Heavenly Father Thank you for our Blessed Lord Jesus no human mind could conceive nor invent the true gospel message that Christ acting in eternal grace is both the messenger and the message

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This message that was lived out on earth through infinite compassion enduring in your life insult injury and even death

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This done so that we might be redeemed by your blood ransomed by your sacrifice and freed from the bondage of sin in our lives

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Blessed be you Oh Father For decreeing this reality before the foundation of the world

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Eternal thanks to you O Lamb of God for opening the way to us and everlasting praise to you

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Oh Holy Spirit for applying this way to our hearts glorious eternal

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Trinity Continue to impress upon our hearts and soul the truth of the gospel

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Until every faculty that we possess is filled with its truth that this truth is heard acknowledged professed and felt

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Teach us to secure this mighty blessing by submitting our heart and our lives to the command of your words

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That it controls our affections that it shapes our understandings That it keeps us in your commands and strengthens us to resist all forms of temptation from the evil one

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Or take us to the cross Take us to the cross that we may seek glory from its infamy infamy

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Will strip us of every pretense of personal righteousness by your strength precious

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Lord how often We have neglected you How often we have put you to open shame how often we have crucified you again by our pride prideful flesh

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And our prideful ways Lord we are so thankful for your long -standing patience and for the grace that has now made us willing to be yours in all ways

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Father unite us to you With inseparable bonds that nothing could ever draw away

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Us away from you our Lord and Savior These things we ask in the precious name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ I'm in you may be seated. The first reality that we need to deal with in discussion of this passage is the

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Unfortunate misunderstanding that so many have regarding the writing of Paul in Much of the church today the writing of Paul has been denounced as not truly part of the

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Word of God but the words of man But we understand that Paul was writing under and through the direct influence of the

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Holy Spirit and so the words that Paul writes our Scripture just as if you turn to the

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Gospels and read the words written in Red to deny any portion of the

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Word of God Is to deny the entirety of its word And so as we approach this we must therefore approach it as God's Word not

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Paul's Word not our thoughts not any of these other things, but is God's Word alone

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And so as we approach this text Specifically verses 12 and 13 of what we just read.

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We have to keep this in mind Now Paul opens this

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Passage or he makes this transition in verse 12 with the word Therefore it's translated in the

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English therefore or your your translation. I don't know what Bible you have in front of you It may say something like so then

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But that's the the idea is that he is Connecting what has come before in verses 1 through 11 with what is about to follow

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Specifically in verses 12 and 13 so all that he built in 1 through 11 as he talks about What Christ did the way in which

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Christ lived? He then says okay So in light of all of these things in light of this truth in light of Christ's humility and in light of Christ's exaltation

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Because of Christ's work on the cross because of Christ's resurrection Because of Christ's ascension.

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This is what will occur in your life or what should be occurring in your life

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The reason it is occurring in your life is because you have faith in this reality

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You see when we say we have faith It means that we have faith in God's Word from beginning to end from Genesis through Revelation that we understand that these truths are eternal and that they do not change and So we have this faith we have a true belief that he physically lived

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That he truly died that he was bodily raised and That he was then taken up Ascended where he now sits at the right hand of the

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Father and waits To call us to himselves Paul writing to the church at Corinth and 1st

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Corinthians chapter 15 verses 13 and 14 Reminds us of the importance of this understanding he said but if there is no resurrection of the dead

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He's writing to a group of people who are arguing that there is no such thing as reality in resurrection

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He says but if there is no resurrection of the dead not even Christ has been raised and if Christ has not been raised in our preaching is in vain and Your faith is in vain.

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This is Foundational this is bedrock This is the reality of why we gather and worship if you do not believe these things

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Then there is simply other things that you should be doing with your time on Sunday morning

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Because this is what the word teaches But the reality that we understand the reality that we know the reality that we profess the truth that we see in scripture is that he has been raised and so our faith

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Is anchored in Christ finished work

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So Paul says to the church at Philippi. So then Therefore as a result of all of that my

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Beloved sometimes so many times we skip over that statement because we see

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Paul say it Often sometimes and I think in doing so we miss

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Something that Paul is doing here you see oftentimes especially in today's world when we start talking to someone about the commands of God or Directions that they should take or we make statements about how they are wrong about something

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The first perception is is that we don't love them Because we don't agree with them.

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But the reality is is we can love them and disagree with them Paul writing to a church who is predominantly being obedient still wants them to understand

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Some of what I'm going to tell you may not be what you want to hear that I still dearly love you and because I dearly love you.

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I'm gonna tell you anyway the word

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That we translate here actually contains a very interesting root word

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Most people who have grown up in any kind of church or been to at least a Valentine's Day sermon have have heard

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Of the three different types of love used in Scripture, right? You have brotherly love you have romantic love and then you have

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God's love Agape. Oh, what's interesting is

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Most of the time when we are addressing One individual to another individual the word that is used is the word for Leo or brotherly love

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However, the root word of this word that Paul uses the Greek word that we translate into brothers dearly beloved is

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Not brotherly love but the kind of love that God has for us

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You see Paul's depth of his love for these people as individuals were so great that he needed them to understand

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He needed them to comprehend that regardless of how they thought regardless of what they believed.

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He had deep affections for them and so he was willing to Make this statement

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Then he says to them just as you have always obeyed not only in my presence, but also much more in my absence in other words

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So then because of what all of you have just seen my beloved those of you who I love you have been obedient Continue to be obedient.

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You have done well when I am present you have done even better when I am absent Continue to do this because a regenerated heart a someone who has been saved to the uttermost desires obedience to God Now doesn't mean that we will be perfect in that obedience what it does mean is that this is our overall driving effort that something has been changed within our nature by the work of the

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Spirit and So now we desire To be obedient to what

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God has called us to True faith will always

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True faith will always lead to obedience. It will always lead to obedience

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Regardless of the circumstances regardless of what the world says

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Regardless of what anyone regardless of the persecution true faith leads to obedience, but Paul moves

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Into saying listen you have been obedient my beloved brothers Both in my presence and in my absence continue to do so in my absence do so even more in my absence

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But this is what he is calling them to be obedient to so here's the command that we find in verse 12

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Look at verse 12 with me for just a moment So you saw the first clause so then or therefore however

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It's translated in your copy of God's Word my beloved Just as you have always obeyed not only or not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence and here's the command work out your salvation with fear and trembling now

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Here's where it's going to get sticky for some folks because what

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I will get back Comments that I will receive it over you're talking about man's salvation you're talking about a workspace salvation

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That's not what I'm talking about This is work as a result of your salvation

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This is you making an effort listen. I don't know how many of you are science

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II people in here But in science there is this thing called osmosis.

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It's it's this transmission of things happening. Just they pass through So there's a barrier things pass from this side to this side

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I'm oversimplifying it some of you who may be more scientific II type people know that there's a lot more technical stuff behind it

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But listen, we don't Learn and grow and develop by osmosis in other words just because We have the biggest

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Bible that they offer and the heaviest Bible That they offer and the fanciest

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Bible with the gilded pages and the little scallop cutouts with the markings of the individual books and just because we're really good at carrying it around and Turning it under our arm and putting it on our nightstand and putting it on our coffee table doesn't mean we're learning a thing

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We only learn it if we open it We only learn if we study it

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We only learn if we apply it to our lives That's great to be able to quote scripture

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It's fantastic. But if you don't understand what the scripture means that you're quoting You failed

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Listen, he doesn't tell us in this passage to work for our salvation He doesn't tell us to work at our salvation.

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He says to work out a salvation meaning salvation

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Something that we have already received is now being lived out in obedience

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This is the action behind it John 15 verses 9 through 17 Jesus says just as the

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Father has loved me. I also have loved you abide in my love

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So we're all good right now. We love this passage, right? Jesus says hey, he loves the father father loves him when he's left us the same way

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All he wants us to do is abide in our love There is not a church out there who would disagree with the statements that I've made so far regarding that particular passage

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But Jesus doesn't finish. He says if you keep my commandments you will abide in my love now, we've got a problem

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Because you see what comes now is well But what Jesus is saying is that you keep those two commandments that he specifically gave.

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I love that response by the way Because that's exactly right It is 100 % accurate that we are to love the

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Lord our God With all our heart all our soul all our mind and our neighbor as ourselves

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What we forget is that Jesus says that this completes the law This is the entirety of the law in other words you can take all ten commandments

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The first half of those Commandments are summed up in the statement love the Lord your God with all your heart all your soul all your mind all your strength

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The second half are summed up in loving your neighbor as yourself In this all of the law is summed up.

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He goes on he says greater Love has no one than this the one let that one lays down his life for his friends

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You are my friends if you do what I command you How interesting you see we don't want to talk about this part of these verses

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We want to skip over but but notice he says listen he follows that statement with this

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You are my friends if you do what I command you no longer Do I call you slaves for the slave does not know what the master is doing?

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But I have called you friends for all things that I have heard from my father I have made known to you you did not choose me

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But I chose you another part of that verse that most people don't want to talk about and appointed you But you would go and bear fruit and that your fruit would abide

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So that whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he may give to you this I command you that you love one another

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You want to summarize that? Here's a summary for you

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Being obedient To the commands of Christ is a demonstration that you remain in his love

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Your salvation your faith The fact that you are justified the fact that you are regenerated made new reborn

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That you are no longer the old creature But you are now a new creature will result in salvation

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Matthew 22 37 through verse 40 And he said to them you shall love the Lord your

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God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind This is the great and foremost commandment and the second is like it

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You shall love the neighbor as yourself on these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets

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For those of you who are sitting here today who may not understand what Jesus means when he says the law and the prophets

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Let me let me help you for just a second Because this is this is a very important thing that we understand

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So I'm gonna turn in my Bible you don't have to turn in yours because I'm not gonna read anything I'm gonna turn to Matthew's gospel and say so what

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I'm holding in my hand right here is Matthew revelation What we define as the

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New Testament The thing that so many people want to unhitch from this side right the thing that we call the

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Old Testament, but if you're Sitting here this morning and you're not sure what

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Jesus means by the law and the prophets. Let me help you I'm holding it up for you now

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It's the Old Testament everything here Depends on what he just said loving the

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Lord your God with all your heart all your mind all your soul all your strength And loving your neighbor as yourself

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The truth proclaimed here is fulfilled here

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John 13 34 a New commandment I give to you I've always found that fascinating because it's not really a new command.

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It's the same command if you you read the command It's the same command he's given It's the same command God gave.

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So why did he call it a new? well he's trying to help them understand that what they've been doing is not the what he's taught a

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New command that I give to you that you love one another even as I have loved you that you also love one another

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We are commanded to cry to love as Christ has left us which means that we love

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Sacrificially now How many of us truly understand

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What that means sitting here? today we

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Would give up all that we have

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Sacrificially, it's not a sacrifice if it's from your abundance you understand.

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It's not a sacrifice until it deeply affects you Until it is something that causes pain

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Go back through the Old Testament read about the sacrificial system. Tell me how many times in there there weren't pain involved sacrifice requires this giving to the point of Pain, so he tells us to work out our salvation

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But he tells us to do it in a certain way He doesn't just say run out and do whatever he says to work it out

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With fear and Trembling we must recognize the seriousness of our call to obedience

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That's what this fear and trembling means It means that we have a

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Reverential all that leads us to completely rely on God's grace because we understand that we don't have the capability of doing it ourselves our lives testify

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Not to our ability, but to God's grace in our ability

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We continue to do exactly what we've always done and mess it up but then verse 13 comes and Provides us with a comfort now the odd thing about verse 13

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Is that for a vast majority of people who read this it does not provide them comfort?

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it bothers them and The reason that it bothers them is because they do not understand the concept

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That is being portrayed here or they are not willing to submit to the understanding of Scripture Now the reason that I'm kind of pegging that so hard is because one of the things that that is done in verse 13

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Gives us definitive Evidence that it is

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God and Not us So verse 12 so then dearly beloved

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Continue to obey just as you have always obeyed even more so in my absence continue to obey but work out your salvation with fear and Trembling then we get to verse 13 for it is

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God who is at work in you It is God who is moving.

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It is God who is Providing the effort to be obedient. This is why it's such a blessing

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Listen, I don't know about y 'all I grew up In the 80s Right, I know some of y 'all weren't alive in the 80s, that's okay, but as I grew up I was always a

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Rebellious kid. I know all of you probably grew up perfect always obeying everything your parents told you, right?

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No, we look back at our lives. We know that we go against right? We are a rebellious people.

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That is our nature The good news is is it the ability to respond in obedience to God is not being

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Accomplished through and by us it is by God. He is at work

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It is God who is at work in you teaching edifying strengthening

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Giving us the ability to obey. What is he doing? He is both willing He is both to will and to work that's what he is doing

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So it is God who is working in us both to will that means he is the one that's creating your desire

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He is the one that's creating your will he is the one who makes you want to be obedient to him

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By the movement of his spirit in your life Not only is he giving you the will?

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But he's also giving you the ability to do I've said it in here before and I often get kicked back not necessarily from anyone in here

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But from some other folks when I say this statement when you're saved

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At the moment you're saved and dwelt by the Holy Spirit you are Enabled and empowered to be fully and completely obedient to God Are we know?

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But the power is there the abilities there because the spirits there that doesn't mean that we immediately do

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We just now have the ability to Romans 12 2 says do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed how by the renewing of your mind

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Renew your mind work study So that you will approve and understand what the will of God is

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Whose will is that which is good and pleasing and perfect Transformation comes in this way

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Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17 through 24 Therefore this I say and testify in the

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Lord that you know Well, no longer just as the Gentiles also walk and the futility of their mind being darkened in their mind alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them because of the hardness of their heart and they having become

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Callous have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness

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That's the world but you You as a believer did not learn Christ in this way

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If indeed you heard him and were taught in him just as truth is in Jesus You were taught to lay aside in reference to your former conduct the old man

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In other words that person who was disobedient you were taught to lay him aside Because he is being corrupted and in accordance with the lust of deceit and to be

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Renewed in the spirit of your mind and to put on the new man Which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth

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Titus 3 5 he saved us not by works, which we did in righteousness But according to his mercy through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the

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Holy Spirit It's his power That works in us both to will go to create that desire in us and to work why for his good pleasure

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Apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of believer. We have no ability to function in the manner in which

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God has called us to And so if you will just look down with me for just a moment in verse 15

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Verse 15 we find the purpose Paul writes so that you will be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world

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The life of a believer the the life of one who has been brought by the blood of Christ the life of one who has faith is

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Transformed so that we become a beacon of light in a dark world Matthew 5 verse 14 You are light of the world a city set on the hill.

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You cannot be hidden 2nd Corinthians 3 18 but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the

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Lord and being Transformed into the same marriage from glory to glory just as from the Lord the

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Spirit. We are called to be different We are called to be set apart We are called to shine

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We were called to be transformed by God's renewing work through his word true faith is always accompanied by the action of obedience

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But here's the reality Sanctification is not a solitary process

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Sanctification is a process where we as believers are called to help and Encourage and edify and exhort and build one another up Hebrews 3 13 encourage one another day after day as long as it is still called today

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So that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin Galatians 6 to bear one of the burden and so fulfill the law of Christ Hebrews 10 24 to 25

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Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some

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But encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day drawing near Walking together in faith reminding one another of the power of the gospel and helping each other stay obedient to the commands of Christ having accountability

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To one another our faith is a deeply personal thing, but it is never meant to be private

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This is part of the purpose of the ordinance of baptism is to proclaim that faith to no longer keep it

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Private and then it is to be lived out within the context of the local church so as we

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Conclude and prepare to move To the final portion of this service salvation is not merely a past event it is an ongoing work of sanctification through the power of God as One who has been believed we are justified by faith

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And we are being sanctified daily And we await that final glorification

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When we are complete in Christ to our baptismal candidates

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Today is not just a ceremony Today is a public declaration of your obedience to Christ It is a testimony to the church and the world that you belong to him

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That you have been united with Christ in his death In his resurrection and that you now walk in the newness of life

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But continually remember that baptism is not the end. It is simply the beginning

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It is the beginning of a lifelong journey of faith and discipleship To the church who is witnessing this ordinance let it serve as a reminder of your own profession of faith, but it serve as a reminder that Questions you are you walking in obedience?

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Are you working out your salvation with fear and trembling knowing that it is God who works in you both to will and to work?

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for his good pleasure Let today be a time of renewal and recommitment to the life of obedience and faith to which

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Christ has called you and We both candidates and the body

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The whole have a responsibility to each other We are called to encourage to exhort and to build each other up in faith

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These being baptized today cannot walk this road alone We as the church must walk alongside them teaching discipling bearing each other's burdens

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This is why God instituted The church why he gave us a community of redeemed sinners striving together towards the upward call of God in Christ Jesus so let us rejoice

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Not only in the baptism of new believers, but in the ongoing work of salvation that God is accomplishing in each of us

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Let us continue to grow in grace pressing on in faith knowing That he who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus And we depart from this place today with renewed hearts committed to obedience and strengthened by the assurance that God himself is working in us and Encouraged by the fellowship of the

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Saints to him be all glory and honor forever. Let's pray most gracious.

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Heavenly Father. We thank you As we bow before your throne of grace and mercy Lord, we just give thanks and glorify your name father we ask now that as we prepare to to move to the other location and go through this time of celebrating

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The baptism of these three individuals father that you would just continually remind us as the body of Christ That we have a responsibility to one another

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In all things father. We love you. We thank you. We praise you. We give you the honor

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We give you all of the glory. We ask all of this in your most holy and heavenly name

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Amen We have before us

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Shane Ganey. Shane has Been with us now for And we have enjoyed

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So much getting to know Shane and watching Shane grow and we know that he will continue His love for the

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Lord his desire to lead his family has been absolutely Awesome to watch

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Shane you come today to be baptized So we're gonna We don't hold him under don't tell him we don't hold him under for a while, okay, we'll watch it all

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Okay, all right Shane I baptize you my son in the name of the father son the

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Holy Spirit Buried in the likeness of the dead raised in the newness of life

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All right, it's next young lady

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I just met a couple days ago But I have had the pleasure of watching this little teeny baby

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Grow into a Very proud of very smart and and so Anna today you come to be baptized, right?

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Anna my daughter I baptize you in the name of the Father son Buried in the likeness of the dead raised in newness of life

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Yep Laura is

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Shane's wife And so she's been with us for the same amount of time and we've had a pleasure of getting to know her and her love

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For the Lord and her desire to grow and so we baptize her today as well

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All right Baptize you in the name of the Father Son of the

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Holy Spirit buried in the likeness of the dead raised in newness of life The As we talked about earlier the reality of baptism is is not just a singular event

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And so although we have taken a few moments to celebrate and we'll continue celebrating Next door with the meal.

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This is truly a Life altering change and so we as the body of Christ are now tasked with the responsibility of edifying Teaching training and helping these

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This brother and these sisters to grow in grace and knowledge of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I'm gonna say a prayer and I'm gonna ask Brendan leads you guys an amazing grace and then after he's finished while we're still finishing changing the things you guys would like you can join us in the fellowship hall for a

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Meal and some time of fellowship. So let's pray Gracious heavenly father. Well, we thank you once again for these brothers and sisters in Christ.

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We thank you for their desire to make their love for you know publicly father to exalt you

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To praise you to give Place in their life to you and you alone to submit to your authority in all things father we ask now that as we move past this time of celebration

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Lord that We as a body of Christ Holy and deeply commit to the reality of The next steps the the growth that is necessary as we

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Seek to know you more fully more deeply and to watch

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This brother and these sisters Continue in their walk with you Father we love you.

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We thank you. We praise you or we give you the honor We give you all of the glory