The Prison Of Christian Liberty

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We'll turn your Bibles to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 this morning We are going to cover 12 verses at breakneck speed this morning last week 9 verses
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This week 12 verses when I return from California 15 verses
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I can feel the momentum We're working through the book of 1st Corinthians. Just taking section by section
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Chapter by chapter as you're looking for the book 1st Corinthians and coming to chapter 10
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I have a quiz for you. Here's the quiz You can even say them out loud if you'd like What are the five?
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solas What are the five solas of the Reformation sola meaning?
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Alone are only if you had to guess one of the solas. What would you guess anyone? Sola scriptura, that's actually the first one very good secondly
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Somebody just say sola gracias, I don't think but coming from the same root by the way
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Second in order is sola Christus third in order sola gratia fourthly sola fide and finally soli deo gloria
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What are those? Why are they important from where do they come? Sola scriptura means
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Scripture alone that is to say we get our source of God's revelation
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Not in traditions not from men not a magisterium from no one else from nothing else except Scripture alone
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Sola Christus Christ alone No one else saves but Christ the mediator the church can't save Staff can't save leaders can't save You can't save yourself
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Christ alone must save thirdly sola gratia grace alone
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Only by grace that we've been saved and you can think of versus for all these of course Grace alone working not grace with us partnership cooperating
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Synergistically no, but grace alone monergistically God alone saves sola fide number four faith alone
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Faith does not cause your salvation. God does not save you because you believe
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But faith is the instrument Faith is a result of salvation. You must believe but faith doesn't save and it's not faith plus Baptism faith plus a sacrament faith plus anything sola fide and then lastly solo soli deo gloria to God alone be the glory
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Because of all these things because salvation is accomplished by God's will and God's will alone who gets the glory
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We don't get any glory if we contributed to our salvation then there might be a time for us to receive glory
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But since it's God alone working Through his word through Christ. We get no glory our part of salvation is simple sin rebellion transgression
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Trespass and God's part of salvation is grace mercy Forgiveness found in the eternal
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Son of God Christ Jesus our Lord The king who reconciles redeems who raised himself from the dead
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Luther was battling during this time of the Reformation people that had something called the theology of glory
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Luther was pushing the theology of the cross, but others were pushing the theology of glory you get your salvation partly to Christ by Christ's work partly by the
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Saints work partly by your own work the Theology of glory and Luther said no, it's the theology of the cross and all the glory goes
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Not to the sinner But to Christ alone He said no the only true gospel is that which gives all glory to God alone as is taught in the scriptures
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But here's the question the verse that we use for this doctrine solely deo gloria.
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Where is it found? What is the context and it's kind of amazing that it's found in the middle of a context of Christian Liberty?
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It's not found in the context of Romans 3 Doctrine of justification it's found in the context of Christian Liberty The motto for your
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Christian Liberty if you've been saved by God and you can't get him to love you more
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You can't sin and have him love you less You can't become one iota more justified or less justified based on your performance based on your sacraments based on if you go to the
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Shepherd's Conference or not Based on that you have freedom to do all kinds of things you have
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Christian Liberty Romans 14 Romans 15 1st Corinthians 8 9 and 10, but your motto shouldn't be for Christian Liberty bottoms up Your motto for Christian Liberty shouldn't be cheers your motto for Christian Liberty should be solely deo gloria
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And we're gonna see in chapter 10 verses 23 through 11 one bad chapter break there
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That the motto for Christian Liberty that you have in Christ Jesus Has some parameters and the parameter is life is not about you
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Your job isn't primarily about you. Your family's not primarily about you
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The church is not primarily about you. You're not primarily about you your neighborhood
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You're not primarily the one who's the center you exist to glorify God and everything is about his glory
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So when we say to ourselves, we have liberty to do this or we have liberty to do that That is true, but it's hemmed in by is this going to give the
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King glory or is it not? And that's exactly what we're gonna see in 1st
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Corinthians chapter 10 So I have all kinds of friends that they push their liberties But at the end of the day, here's what we'll see in 1st
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Corinthians 10 23 through 11 one Those kind of people that push their liberties. I want to see them push the glory of God even more
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That's what I'm after If you've got a motto for your liberty, it's not let's go to the bar.
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Let's go to the hookah pipe place Let's go to the movies. However, you express your Christian liberties.
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It should be I have a motto and that is solely deo gloria Handel used to write this at the end of his manuscripts
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This is a motto solo deo gloria for Luther College Dort College the
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Chapel Choir at Capitol University And it's even the motto for the American Guild of Organists But primarily
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Essentially, it should be your governing principle For how do
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I extend my Christian liberty and can I in Christ do this? Should I if all of my life is to be lived to the glory of God if?
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Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever How does that affect what I do what I eat what
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I don't eat what I listen to where do I go When I think of glory,
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I think of praise and honor and worship to God acknowledging him for who he is
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Affirming and consenting with Scripture that he's great and holy So let's take a look at our passage here in 1st
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Corinthians chapter 10 verses 23 and following I'm going to read the section. So you see the larger context 12 verses and The point is
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I'm saying it again Maybe now for the fourth time that there's something more important than your liberties and that is
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God's glory You're made to give him glory All things are lawful 1st
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Corinthians 10 23. I'm reading from the ESV, but not all things are helpful All things are lawful, but not all things build up let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor
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Eat, whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience For the earth is the
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Lord's and the fullness thereof One of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go eat
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Whatever sent before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience But if someone says to you this has been offered in sacrifice
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Then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you for the sake of conscience
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I do not mean your conscience verse 29, but his For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience if I Paul partake with thankfulness
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Why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? so Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God Give no offense to Jews are to Greeks are to the
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Church of God Just as I try to please everyone and everything I do Not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved
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Chapter 11, which should be the end of chapter chapter 11 1 should be the end of chapter 10 really be imitators of me as I am of Christ Seeking the glory of God more than your
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Christian liberty. Let me give you the outline for this morning
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It's super simple. Let me give you four laws for Christian liberty Laws Liberty get it four laws for Christian Liberty.
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Maybe I could call this the prison of Christian Liberty Christian Liberty, I got one.
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It just came to me. God just told me Christian Liberty incarcerated
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By the glory of God and for the good of other people The first law for Christian Liberty that we even can learn from you can see the special context back in the idolatrous
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Meat markets and all that stuff, but there are still principles for us. The first law is Your freedom in Christ should build up others
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This is the first restriction your liberty must be limited as you seek the good of others
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Not your own good. You have the freedom in other words to build up other people That's the freedom that you have take a look at chapter 10 verses 23 and following You can see the slogans in the
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ESV have parentheses or not parentheses, but quotation marks around them And they love to say this all the time
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If it feels good do it is our society's slogan. They had a slogan to all things are lawful
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But not all things are helpful All things are lawful, but not all things edify or build up let no one seek his own good
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But the good of his neighbor chapter 8 Liberty chapter 9 Liberty chapter 10 Liberty You have the liberty to do all kinds of things because if Jesus paid for your sins past present and future
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You can't do anything to undo what God did can somebody lose their salvation. It's a wrong question.
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Can Christ lose a Christian? Answers no, so if I can't lose my salvation then maybe
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I can dabble in whatever I want Well as you do your dabbling and as you do your your thinking that way you have to be thinking differently
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Like will this be good for other people? Will this build them up? You have the freedom to deny yourself in other words
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In chapter 6 Paul had said the same thing you guys have all this lawful quotes Quotations and models all things are lawful in chapter 6 when it comes to sexual license
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Paul said I'm not gonna be dominated by Sexual license and now social issues. I don't want to be dominated by those as well
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Listen to Romans 14. It's gonna sound very familiar to you So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil
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For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the
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Holy Spirit Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men
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So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up building What do you do if you're a
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Christian you want other people to mature and to grow and to be edified? And so what
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I do is limited by other people even though I have Liberty in Christ I'm trying to act in not my own best interest but in yours
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He says it clearly in verse 24. Let no one seek his own good But the good of his neighbor kind of sounds to me like love your neighbor as yourself type of thing, doesn't it?
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Obviously it does. Hey, I'm not my brother's keeper Yes, you are in one sense.
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You are your brother's keeper more. So you're your brother's edifier So you say well, I have the Liberty to do all these things.
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Will it build that other person up? My enjoyment my Liberty ends when
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I can't build the other person up listen to Romans 15 Each one should please his neighbor for his good to build him up We live in a culture.
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Here's the culture two worlds world one self pleasure me world to Sacrifice that's the paradigm of the world
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Selfishness our sacrifice and this is who we were This is who Jesus is and what he's done.
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And now we're children of the light and now instead of Selfishly consuming ourselves like Oscar Wilde come here for a moment and let me tell you about myself theology
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G Gordon Liddy kind of theology. I have faith. I have a strong faith I have a pure faith and that faith is in G Gordon Liddy and he has never failed me once ever
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This whole deal here selfishness and now Paul says but remember we have a
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Savior who gives for God So loved the world. He gave The giving
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God now has children called by the Spirit of God who should be saying I should be giving for others, too
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The me sentiment me first sentiment is out. I Know people who grab this idea.
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I can't lose my salvation. I can't be more justified I can't be more loved by God. Jesus is loved by the
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Father to the same degree that I'm loved by the Father and therefore It's wild chaos
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Liberty driven. I'm Preoccupied by what I now can do in Christ Jesus and Paul is saying your preoccupation should first be what about the good of others?
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And he gives an application. This is specific to the Corinthians, but it's kind of interesting Take a look at verses 25 and 26.
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This is the application of that very principle And you know all the meat market issues back in those days some of the meat offered to idols
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So what do you do? You got to go shopping? It's like I go to Hannaford today, and I want to get some steak
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Hey, it's Sunday night. I need a Ben and Jerry's chubby hubby. That's obvious and I need
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I like a filet some tenderloin and I walk over and I happen to know the butcher there and I Really looking for a nice piece of meat not too much fat.
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I'm gonna have an extra raw I don't even really want to cook it tonight. I'm gonna eat it.
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How meat should be eaten raw Tartar is the word of the day, but you know what?
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I like the price. I like the cut hasn't been offered idols Because if it has and So here's what
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Paul is gonna say if you're a Christian and you're back in those days Don't even ask You don't need to know you don't need to be caught up in all the machinations of was this sold or was it not
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Because here's what you need to know if you're a Christian even if you live in Lancaster and worship on Saturday The whole earth is
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God's and before it was an idols It was God and you know what
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God wants you with just good conscience to pick up that piece of tenderloin Raw to the bone blood coming out of it.
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Just eating it and say this is the Lord's Take a look at the passage. I'll prove it. It's in the
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Greek Eat whatever is sold in the meek art meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience
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Why he gives the reason that you don't have to be a USDA meat inspector finding out if there's an idol in the meat if it's been
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Offered to an idol or if there's a demon in the meat Some kind of demon busters kind of thing.
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What's the reason for the earth is the Lord's and all it contains It's not well what you don't know won't hurt you it's who needs to even know it's it's nothing and idols nothing
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Pagans are nothing It's indifferent. I don't have to get caught up in all that for the earth is the
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Lord and all it contains That's verse 26 right from Psalm 24 That's a great
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Psalm. You should read Psalm 24 sometime That is where the Jews got we should pray and thank
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God and exalt him before we eat Psalm 24
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God's the Lord of Creation. It was God's first Nothing is unclean in itself
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Time out for a second. What would this be like for a Jew? Jews need to know think about Jews today.
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Is it kosher? Is it not? This would be like a Hindu veg or non -veg
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I've got to have this all figured out and now the Christian could walk into a Gentile meat market and Just say you know what whatever
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Show me a Jew who can walk into a Gentile meat market and say I'll eat whatever And I'll show you somebody who hasn't thought
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New Testament Lee yet. This is revolutionary. No inquires need to be made
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It's like a rabbi today going on a cruise line and having some hot dogs served and some pork tenderloin
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And just saying okay. Do I is this pork? Is this the new white meat? Do I need to know what this is?
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Don't even ask you don't need to know Side note if anybody comes along to you and says you can't eat these certain foods and be a
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Christian You have to go on this certain kind of diet and all these other foods are bad And they want to draw you back to Mosaic law for food regularly at regulations.
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You remember this verse? You remember this context there are many more, but you don't get defiled by what you eat
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You're defiled by who you are and what comes out, right? So when people say you can't eat that you ought not to eat that you need to give that up for Lent you need to do
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This out of the other to me when people talk that way I just my stomach juices start flowing because I just think this is the bounty of God God gave me his greatest gift
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Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord and he died for me and then he says everything else just enjoy it
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Acknowledge me and enjoy it. Don't let anyone put you under some kind of food laws
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Well another situation pops up look at verse 27 This is kind of a meat market situation.
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Now. We move into someone's home. We move into their dining room. And of course, this isn't necessarily
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Applicational to us, but you'll see the bigger principle and that principle is looking out for other people
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That is Christians Verse 27 if one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner You're disposed to go you don't have to go
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Sometimes unbelievers invite me over to dinner and I want to go and I say yes, sometimes I don't want to go I say no Mainly, I don't get invited
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Eat whatever is set before you that'd be a good take good verse to take out of context to make your kids eat the peas
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Eat whatever set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience
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They face this all the time. If you went to a Jewish person's house, you wouldn't have to raise the question
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But now the scene is no longer the temple but a dining room and probably of a Gentile you probably know what they did
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Don't ask just be quiet Jews didn't think this way. I'm telling you rabbi
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Shimeon Ben Eliezer said Israelites outside the land worship idols in purity How if a non
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Jew prepared a wedding feast for his son and sent out to invite all Jews in his town? Even if they have food and drink of their own and have their own servant waiting for them.
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They worship idols If a Gentile asked you to eat don't go
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Paul's now saying go it's food if you want to go go
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But there's an interesting twist here more details come up verse 28 But if someone says to you a believer who's at this meal says to you they're a weak
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Christian This has been offered then do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you for the sake of conscience
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I don't mean your conscience, but his the weak Christian who said I think this is offered idols For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience?
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We know the answer because we want to love them So you're somebody invites you over for dinner.
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You don't ask anything about it Is it offered to Diana or not? You just are eating the guy nudges you when the guest host stands on the host stands up I think this is offered to Diana then don't eat it and it'd be better for you to offend the host than offend a fellow brother
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Because if the host is offended He'll be less offended by you offending him than you offending somebody in your own family the
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Christian family So Paul is working through these issues, but the big picture is as he's anticipating the objections
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Other people's welfare is more important than your freedom Paul says in verse 30 if I partake with thankfulness
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My friend has just said to me. It's offered to idols I eat anyway, and I'm thanking
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God 24th chapter of Psalms verse 1 God. You're great. You're the Creator Why am
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I denounced because of what because of that for which I give? Thanks, how am
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I gonna say God? Thank you for this food? Simultaneously hurting the conscience of this brother
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It's hard to pray that prayer and so Paul's working through this issue with Christian Liberty and he's saying it's for other people
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It's not for you second law second law of Christian Liberty Not just limiting your liberty to seek the good of others
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But number two your limit your liberty must be limited by the glory of God in other words seek
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God's glory More than your own liberties, I mentioned this earlier in my introduction and here we get to the bigger point
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We've had the horizontal issue now. We come to the vertical issue So whether you eat or drink whatever you do do all to the glory of God how many people memorize that verse?
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It's a great verse to memorize, but where is it? It's right here in the middle of Christian liberties, so here's how sometimes people will preach it well
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Even in mundane things in life that you have to do on a regular basis How often you have to eat a day how often you have to drink a day in regular routine mundane things?
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You should be giving glory to God. Is that a true statement? That's a true statement, but it has nothing to do with this passage
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It's a theological verity But the passage here is whether you eat or whether you drink regarding Christian Liberty things that's offered to pagan
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Sacrifices are things that you even do now limited by the glory of God One man said
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God get this God becomes the hermeneutical litmus test for a gauging whether things are right or wrong
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This is not mundane activity the point is related to food and drink
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Overriding concern should be God's glory does this glorify God so I could ask you if you think
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Alcohol you're able to drink alcohol with Christian Liberty you say this is for God's glory the answer could be yes
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The answer could be no smoking Tobacco going to movies.
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I don't know what their things shooting guns. I don't know what I don't know what people struggle with these days
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Does this give God glory? Number three the third law of Liberty.
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Oh This is so good. You must have a I'm gonna give you another big word a Soteriological attitude when thinking about Liberty you must have a
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Soteriological attitude in other words you must think about Evangelism so tear means
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Savior soteriological regarding salvation what you do should be determined Should be influenced by I want other people to get saved
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Look at what Paul says watch this give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the
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Church of God Just as I try to please everyone and everything I do not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved
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Newsflash My goal in life is not to get you to become a Republican. My goal is not get you to become a libertarian a
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Democrat I Don't see you as black. I'm this is this
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I'm deadly serious now. I don't see people as white black Jew Gentile male female
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Free old young I don't see you that way When I look at people in the world, here's how
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I see them You're either saved or you're lost That's how
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I see everybody you're lost or you're saved. I don't care if you're rich or poor That's not my deal.
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My deal is if God puts you into my life. I'm thinking I can't determine by looking someone
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Whether they're saved or lost. I Wish I could But I look at them thinking are they a
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Christian and these days most people you meet are or are not They are they they are not
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Christians. If you just assume that every person you meet is not a Christian That's a pretty good assumption
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Maybe we shouldn't do that in the church. But if you want to in love, I Meet people and I think to myself if they don't repent and follow
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Christ Jesus If they don't grasp that Christ is sufficient and they are
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Insufficient to save themselves to use a slogan the proverbial phrase.
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They will bust hell wide open Forever and ever and ever people are either sheeps are goats.
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And so when Paul Thinks about Liberty I can do this Remember in chapter 9
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I could ask you guys to pay me I'm working by preaching But I'm not thinking about that right now.
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I'll just work I'll just make my own tents Because I can sacrifice for the good of others.
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I don't want them to think you know, I'm in this for the money So Paul says I'm doing this for a reason of course to build up people
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Of course to give God glory and I see everybody as either saved or lost When I see the butcher at Haniford, I think saved or lost
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I Think when I see the mail person saved or lost and I've got a little agenda and my agenda is not
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Immediately give them everything I know about Jesus Although sometimes I do Well, I don't give them everything but a full complete rounded deal, but Paul said
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I am after People getting saved. So I'm wondering the people you live next door to I Don't want you to think oh, they're either loud.
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Are there a good neighbor? They watch my house are they don't rake up their leaves and it comes over in my yard
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They put a bunch of Ron Paul signs on their yard There's a bunch of you know,
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Deval Patrick signs on their yard and all this stuff to me. That means nothing Republicans Democrats boys and girls white and black they all go to hell if they're not born again
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Paul sees people that's the only way he sees him Forget this whole white black thing Brown Puerto Rican whatever we are forget all that.
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It means nothing when Jesus Not the Jew But Jesus the man first Timothy chapter 2
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The mediator the God -man is the only way of salvation So Paul doesn't want to try to be offensive
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He's trying to not put up a big huge hurdle Because he's got a bigger issue to talk about Why would
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I want to offend these people unnecessarily in matter of fact? We're gonna go from preaching to meddling
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Those of you here at the church that like politics that like to vote that all these kind of things fine.
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It's good But if that's what you do, that's how you're identified in your neighborhood and with people at work
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Stop it Stop trying to convert people to a political system that's going to rust
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That's not the issue. How about just stop talking about? Republicanism in a workplace full of Democrats so you're not isolated for something stupid
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How about be isolated because you're the person who stands up for the fame and the glory and the honor of Christ Jesus?
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And by the way, if you look at the passage there so that they may be saved Just a nuance but a beautiful nuance
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Passive voice Not that so that they save themselves But that God alone can save them so that they're saved by God.
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Jesus is the active agent Paul said this is my pattern.
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This is what I do verse 33 just as I try to please everyone It's what I do This has an echo of chapter 9 verse 22
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I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some
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We have Liberty in Christ, but it's Eclipt Liberty, it's restricted
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Liberty by the good of others. It's restricted by God's glory. It's restricted by our
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Salvation agenda, it's a restricted and now number four the fourth law of Christian Liberty Your Liberty Must be like It must be in the footsteps of Christ himself
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In other words, you're to imitate Christ Jesus had all kinds of Liberty and he restricted it for the good of others see it in verse 11 chapter 1
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Sometimes Paul just says imitate me But here we see the full bore application be imitators of me
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Paul say in the context here Christian Liberty I'm out for God's glory. I'm out for other people's good. I'm out for salvation agenda
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Be imitators of me as I am of Christ the unselfish
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Sacrificial approach to the Christian life the word there imitate is where we get our word mimic our mime
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It's the same word Was there anybody like Jesus who so relinquished his rights?
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for the sake of others Commentator Garland said as Christ did not please himself, but emptied himself taking the form of a slave even to the point of dying on the cross to save others as Christ was rich yet him made himself poor for our sakes so that by his poverty we might become rich as Christ loved us and gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God as Christ suffered on behalf of others as Christ did not please himself so that he might benefit others
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So Paul does not please himself First Corinthians, excuse me
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Romans chapter 15 for even Christ, please not him So friends we live in a day and age where people are lovers of them
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Selves, maybe the most selfish age in all the world and we're called to be the exact opposite turn with me
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If you would to mark chapter 14, let me just give you a little peek into Christ selfless sacrificial life here we're going to look at the
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Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is Praying and you're going to see and here's what
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I'm trying to show you that Jesus Christ is The model for Paul and then is the model for Corinth and now is our model when it comes to sacrificial
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Looking out for the best of others Following Christ's example. Sometimes it's bad to say what would
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Jesus do? Sometimes it's good. And this is one of those good cases Mark Chapter 14 verse 32 and they came to a place named
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Gethsemane and he said to his disciples sit here until I have prayed So this garden is named olive press.
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That's what Gethsemane means And we walked in Gethsemane just a year ago all kinds of olive trees shady close to Jerusalem and verse 33 says and he took with him
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Peter and James and John those inner three and Began to be very distressed and troubled
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Very distressed that word distressed means Something that's going to be shocking
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The kind of news that you get when I get the phone call from my mother and she says your dad has died
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I'll never forget that phone call That's this kind of distress, but it's even more strong than your father's dead
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This is kind of a shuddering awe Something bad is on its way conscious of something big
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That's going to happen And he's not only distressed. He's very distressed and he's not just distressed and very distressed.
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He's troubled It means to be agitated almost to the point of disorientation and when you are distressed the easy caboose to the engine of being that distressed is
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Troubled Why was Jesus so terrified? He knew he'd raised himself from the dead
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Why was he? Shocked as it were Well, you know the answer because he knew he would soon be the sin bearer and bear the curse and have our sins
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Credited to him. He made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him
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But even more Jesus was going to have to bear sin as the sinless one
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One man said a violin slightly out of tune inflicts. No discomfort on a man with a dull and unmusical ear
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It is sheer torment to a man whose ear is fine and sensitive The pure the soul the keener its sense of the awfulness of sin
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It is not the sinner who feels the horror and shame of sin most keenly But the saint and now
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Jesus knows I'm going to be the sin bearer, but I'm the sinless one who will bear sins
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But maybe what's worst of all is he's going to have to bear sin alone he will bear sin alone and Jesus could not pray on Calvary because of the heinousness of sin
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Even though I walked through the valley of the shadow of death. I fear no evil for Thou art with me the poem goes joy is a partnership grief weeps alone
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Many guests had Cana Gethsemane but one The tsunami of God's wrath is imminent.
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He knows he has to bear it alone and he's distressed To what degree how bad was it?
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And he said verse 34 to them. My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death Remain here and keep watch
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Went a little beyond them and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible the hour might pass him by And he was saying
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Abba Father all things are possible for thee remove this cup from me yet. Not what I will but what thou wilt
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Remove this cup if it's possible, but I'll submit to you to bear the wrath of God the pure one
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When he didn't deserve it, but it was for others is a perfect illustration of looking out for other people
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Seeking their own good and not your own. That's Philippians 2, isn't it? Take this cup from me
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Not gonna be there be thought of as the traditional way If there's a way that it could bypass me
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I'd like that because I know how bad sin is or maybe it could be After I've drank the cup of your wrath on Calvary Please raise me from the dead remove it after I've drank the cup and So I say to you congregation
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Jesus in the days of his flesh He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one able to save him from the death from death
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And he was heard because of his piety Although he was a son he learned obedience from the things he suffered and having been made perfect He became to all those who obey him the source of eternal
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Salvation being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek Why would he do this?
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John 15 greater love has none than this that one laid down his life for his friends imitate
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Christ I've been crucified with Christ and it is no longer. I who live but Christ lives within me and the life
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Which I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me
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We're to imitate Christ not by dying on some cross but by dying to ourself as we minister to other people regarding our liberties
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This is love not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins
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One man said love is God Eternally sharing himself and giving himself for God so loved the world
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He gave his only begotten Son that those believing in him should not perish but have Everlasting life sing about songs as we sang ours and each and each was sung this morning.
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I Love that stanza, but there's another stanza when I think about the God who gives I Think of this line these lines
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Could it be with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made
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Where every stock on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade trade
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To write the love of God above would drain the oceans dry Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky
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He who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how will he not also with him freely give us all things
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So when it comes to your liberty You have liberty to do all kinds of things if you're a Christian But those liberties are hemmed in by the good of others.
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They're hemmed in by I Want God to get glory from this they're hemmed in by I?
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Want this person saved I? Mean think about it. Would you say and I'll talk preach to myself
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Mike would you say no? To a ultra rare Filet tenderloin and chubby hubby for the sake of someone's eternal soul yeah,
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I Mean it's just it's inconceivable that people would think that way And then you look at me
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Forget me look past to Paul you see Paul and forget Paul And then you think
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Jesus had everything and then he condescended And humbled himself for other people
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You say why theology important? Why is the gospel important just give us five things to do?
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No, I'll give you four things to do and then I'll tell you the gospel that allows you to do it
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That gives you strength to do it that gives you the ability to do it that gives you a reason to do it you look
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To Christ Jesus people say well, you know what I have a hard time with Christian Liberty I have some answers for you get the cross of Christ by Stott and read that book
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Get the apostolic preaching of the cross by Morris and read that book because as you see Christ on the cross
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You'll learn how to live your life Husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church the doctrine of the cross is central to your life
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That's why we will never retreat from the doctrine of the cross and the elders here have determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ And him what?
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crucified Jesus the
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Eternal Son Laid down everything and that's why
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I can't take any credit nor can you for your salvation? And that's why solely deo gloria is all about God.
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Oh The depths and the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and how unscrutable his ways
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Inscrutable for who has known the mind of the Lord who has been his counselor or who has given to him a gift that he might
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Be repaid for from him and through him and to him are all things
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To him be the glory forever. Amen Let's pray our
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Father in heaven We would ask that a Bethlehem Bible Church that you would receive all the glory through your son
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Christ Jesus our advocate friend Redeemer Mediator I pray for those who are listening today who are
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Christians. I Pray that you would help them to walk in the feet of Christ Jesus. That is to say as by following his example of love giving being generous
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Not with their own liberties But with an attitude of loving other people and I pray for those who are here today
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Surely there must be some who are not born again, and I pray that you would grant them repentance and belief
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That you would give them no sleep. No rest No slumber for as long as it takes no rest in their souls