The Effectual Call Or The Alter Call? - [2 Thessalonians 2:13-14]

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Which one of these statements? Do you think is true and depending how you answer it'll tell me a lot about how you evangelize and tell people they're about Jesus Christ and his salvation which one of these is true when someone gets saved
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Can they say number one I came by myself I? Got saved by myself.
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I went to Christ on my own number two can someone say
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I wanted to come God helped me cooperation number three
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God gave me sufficient grace to come because Christ died and I cooperated I Admitted total inability, but claiming sufficient grace it became efficient when
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I cooperated You say where? Too complicated to say no to that one
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PS anytime you hear the word cooperate with salvation you can toss that one out God brought me, and I did not resist
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Implying that you could resist our lastly when someone gets saved is it best for them to say?
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God brought me to Christ How and why do we come to Christ?
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What is it that accounts for one person being a Christian and not another person? Is it because this person cooperated came by themselves?
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Came through some kind of Cooperative program our God alone saved them
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George Whitfield said that the sinner's condition is worse than hopeless So how could you cooperate?
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The last one is the right answer God brought me to Christ. We are known by God What do you think about these statements?
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About Evangelism and revival if the church will do all her duty the Millennium may come in this country in three years
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If the church would do all her duty She would soon complete the triumph of religion in the world if the whole body of the whole church as a body had gone to work ten years ago and Continue it as a few individuals whom
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I could name have done there would not be now and an impenitent sinner in the land This man also said you see why you don't have a revival.
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It's only because you do not want one Because you are neither praying for it nor feeling anxious about it nor putting forth efforts for it our revivals
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Worked up or our revivals prayed down How are people saved why did
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Esau respond positively to God? Jacob rather and Esau negatively
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Who makes the difference in salvation is
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Jesus the gentleman knocking at the door of people's hearts waiting? To have himself led in by him what you believe about evangelism and salvation
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Will affect the way you do evangelism and preach salvation. Do you believe that?
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It's important to understand salvation because the way you understand it will affect the way you preach it and today
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We're going to talk about Something that I will call a love -hate relationship for me part of my sermon today.
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I'm gonna love part of it. I'm gonna hate You're gonna say I'm gonna do the same thing as I sit there and do the little critique sheet
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I'm going to love to talk to you about the effectual call of God, and I'll explain what that is
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And I'm going to hate to talk about something That's a modern invention that comes from the wrong view of salvation that what is commonly called in churches today
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The altar call I think there's a typo in the bulletin.
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There should be an a in their altar not altar Is Jesus really standing and knocking at the door of people's lives?
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And there's just a handle on the inside and only if they'll open it up and unlock the key Then Jesus is allowed a pretty please and thank you to come in And if that's true, then how would you talk to people about the cell about the
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Savior? How would you evangelize them? How are people saved is the real question because if we can answer that question it will determine how we preach the gospel
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It is God who makes the difference of salvation. It is God who saves Jesus came to seek and save sinners
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Jesus came to save sinners from their sins, or did he come to advise? discuss
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I Believe that effectual grace is one of the most under preached doctrines in the local church
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How many people have ever heard a sermon on effectual calling? factual grace irresistible grace intoxicating grace some have but if you understand this doctrine it's going to help you evangelize and let me just say from the outset as Last time we discussed that in eternity past God has chosen those whom he wants to favor
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That should give us encouragement because those people will come to faith effectual grace or effectual calling is what
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God does to that sinner man or woman boy or girl in Time and how he makes them alive
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Have you ever read our statement of faith? If so, here's what our statement of faith says about effectual calling.
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Here's the definition at a time appointed by and acceptable to God those whom
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God has predestined to life are Effectually called by his word and spirit out of the state of death in which they are by nature to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ Their minds are given spiritual enlightenment and as those who are converted they begin to understand the things of God God takes away the heart of stone and gives them a heart of flesh
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He renews their will and by his almighty power He sets them to seek and follow that which is good and at the same time affectionately drawing them to Christ And to all these changes they come most freely for they are made willing by divine grace
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The Holy Spirit working inside of a person to call them to faith
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It's important for us to realize how that happens and why that happens Because it will change the way you preach the gospel to people if people are saved one way
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Then you preach that way if people are saved another then you'll preach differently The Holy Spirit himself works immediately upon the soul of a person and gives them spiritual life
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He overwhelms them with love and grace and they respond let me make this statement and we'll get to the test
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The only reason you're a Christian is because the Holy Spirit Made you one through the proclamation of the gospel
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You are a Christian because God made you one Do you believe that?
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Let's turn to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 and look at a passage in the Bible that talks about Affectual calling our irresistible grace something that God does in the heart of people
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We can proclaim the gospel the gospel call when we preach But this is something that God does on the inside of someone and he does it through the proclamation of the word
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Therefore early on I'll just tell you ahead of time where I'm going if God makes people Christians to the preaching of the word
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What is your only hope to have someone saved? Is to preach them the truth and you say we already know that Well for those of you that know it amen keep going get better Excel still more as Paul told the church of Thessalonica But I'm wondering if you use some kind of persuasion some kind of trickery
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Some kind of you're playing to people's felt needs when you want them to become a Christian You don't really believe what we're talking about in terms of the effectual call if you really believe what we're going to teach about the effectual
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Call that the Holy Spirit saves Then you will only do what the Holy Spirit tells you to do in the word to get people saved and I know what it's like.
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I have family members and I want them saved so bad I could taste it if they'll only repent if they'll only believe and so if I'm not careful
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I will be tempted to change my message to get them to accept my message So then I think they'll be saved problem is it's only my message.
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It's like Spurgeon and the converts guys criticizing Spurgeon Haha, that's one of your converts right there.
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He's laying in the side of the road in the gutter He's a wino and Spurgeon said, you know what? He is one of my converts because if he was
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Christ convert, he wouldn't be there It's not our job to make converts. It is our job to preach the gospel and through the preaching of the gospel
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God makes Converts it is all about grace.
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It is all about the Spirit of God working through the word and here's a good example of that in 2nd
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Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 13 and 14 Paul's writing to the church of Thessalonica About the day of the
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Lord and he's correcting some doctrinal error and he's commending and encouraging them as well and talking about eschatology
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And in the middle of it, he says in verse 13 In contrast to the characteristics of Antichrist verses 10 11 and 12.
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He says but we What a resume for a Christian should always give thanks to God for you
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Why brethren beloved by the Lord? How do you know by the way if you're loved by God?
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Oh, I'm loved by God. What does what does Paul say? This is amazing Oh, I'm loved by God because you could do the little fill -in -the -blank you go home and you say these are the reasons why
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I know I'm loved by God. What would be the first thing on your list? It's amazing.
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He talks about Something that I would probably not pick unless I was thinking biblical because God has chosen you
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Looking down the corridors of time to see your salvation that you cooperated with God with and chose you
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No, he says God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification
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By the Spirit and faith in the truth, and then he has these words where we would have the word effectual call
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Theologically found in verse 14. It was for this he called you and note through our
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Gospel last time we talked about there's hope in evangelism because God has chosen people in eternity past There's also hope in evangelism because in time the
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Spirit of God comes to save those whom God has chosen in eternity past Think about it men and women can't save themselves
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God before time chooses some he sends his son at Calvary 2 ,000 years to die for those some
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Those some are still sinners until the Holy Spirit comes and affectionately says you now are someone who you weren't
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You are have a new creation. You're a new creation in Christ. You have a new calling you have a new You're a new person.
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You're a new nature. You're different and Paul says these kind of people know they're loved by God It's amazing.
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I know I'm loved by God because there's nothing I did. He just loved me. He chose me Literally the text is in verse 13.
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He chose me for are by himself Intensive he made it effective.
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He did it all he chose me. He enabled me. He did everything. Let me ask you this question
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Does God really have to do this work in somebody's heart? Can men kind of just help?
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Listen to what Jesus said in John 6. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me what? draw him
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He goes on to say every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me
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How about this one how many people were hearing the gospel preached let's just turn there it's such an amazing account
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We always think of Lydia, but there were other women there turn to Acts chapter 16 if you would for a minute
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There are other ladies hearing the gospel Why did some hear the gospel and believe and others did not believe they heard it?
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It was the same preacher and here's where I'm driving if you don't know already
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It does not matter if you're weak or frail or immature or a 60 year old
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Christian If you know the gospel you can be an effectual you can be an effective evangelist
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Let's hold effectual for God. I love Acts chapter 16 and if you look at verse 13 it sets it up a little bit and On the
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Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside or to a riverside Where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer we sat down and began speaking to the women who had been assembled
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There's lots of women there, and there's lots of proclamation, and here's Jesus words going forth through his messengers
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Salvation through Christ alone through faith alone a woman out of the many women women plural verse 13
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Singular in verse 14 a woman named Lydia. We learned some of her background She's a monotheist a worshipper of God.
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She's not regenerate. She was listening and What is the difference between Lydia who said yes,
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Lord? I'll follow and believe and all the other women Was it Lydia's? Smarts was it
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Lydia's acumen was it the preachers kind of he could get in there and do the the sales stuff
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You know I always talk about IBM selling all the time, and you're just gonna try to be really persuasive Well we want to beg people to Christ we want to see
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You know fly to Christ, but we don't want to try to talk them into it This woman believed why?
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Why do some people believe and other people don't believe here's the answer God and The Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul Did you get that?
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What happened in the other ladies and the Lord did not open their hearts to respond?
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to Paul true He did not do it to them. Oh God's playing favorites.
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That's what he's doing. He did this to her and he didn't do it to anyone else They've all got kids and maybe grandma their grandma's and they're all their people
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They're made in the image and likes of God But God Gav's gave special grace to Lydia, and he did not these others and in fact
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God did play favorites Not the way we would but he gave special favor grace
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Preserved as Sinclair Ferguson said demerited favor. He gave to Lydia, and he did not give it to them
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That is why she believed and we have three great forces working man's will
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Lydia's will there the devil's will and God's will and my question for you this morning is whose will trumps
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Who wins? God's will Devil's will and your will
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Whose will is the greatest? Well, first of all, we've got to back up a little bit because we live in a kind of a dualistic
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Society where you know the yin and yang and here's God He's all -powerful and the opposite of God is Satan and he's kind of like all -powerful but a negative way
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But we forget that Satan is a created being. Yes, and he's not omnipotent nor omnipresent So we've got
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God's will now we know Satan's will is subordinate to that. But what about human will? What about that island of righteousness?
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That's the human will What about that thing that just makes a human a human as some people would say
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Will God just say, you know If I somehow do something up to your will or do something to you without your permission
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That would make you some kind of robot that would make you some automaton And so I've got to let you be still with your will
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That wasn't planned I've got to let you just kind of stay there and I'm just hoping and waiting and if enough time goes along Kind of like evolution, you know, how do you get things to evolve?
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Well, you just go back billions of years and hopefully something happens in there. So we're gonna let you evolve
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Maybe your will will so evolve that it will Evolve from negative to positive and then you'll decide to choose me because right now what do we know about Lydia?
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I know several things about Lydia. Do you know anything about Lydia? Let me tell you just a few things about Lydia.
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Here is Lydia's resume I didn't pull it up online, but I got it right from the Bible Here is
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Lydia's resume. You can put this under education. You can put this under academic achievements.
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You can put this under Whatever you'd like, but the first thing I know about Lydia's she was spiritually dead before God saved her
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Would you agree with that? She was spiritually dead Ephesians chapter 2 says we were made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins and Lydia being dead spiritually could do nothing
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You agree with that Jesus said this without me you can do nothing Put a little hyphen between the
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O and the T. What do you get? Something that's what you get. No, you get no thing without me.
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You can do no thing. You can do nothing I like what Luther said it is totally unheard of Grammar and logic to say that nothing is the same thing as something
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Too large logisticians. The thing is an impossibility for the two or contradictory Lydia could do nothing
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She wasn't saying oh, yeah, I think I can I know I can my parents and I'm a monotheistic person.
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No She couldn't do it Romans 9 says so then it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs but on God who shows what?
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Mercy Lydia became a Christian. Although she was spiritually dead God affectionately moved in her life through the
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Spirit's power and she became a new person. I Lydia on her own could not have repented even if she wanted to She didn't have it in her.
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She couldn't do it Her will would not allow her to seek God John chapter 1 and let me read it with the emphatic
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Greek Influences who were born talking about people who were children of the
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God who were born not of blood Nor of the will of the flesh Lydia was not born by her own will
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Nor of the will of man but of God were born emphatic in the scriptures, but were born of God in the
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Original Greek it switches it around for emphasis, but of God were born She was only born because a born again because of God And you
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I know what you're saying congregation. You've been taught this you are all saying it's a long service We've had installation after ordination after acceptance after all these other things and we get it all we know
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God saves Do you really? Because if you really believe that God saves it will change the way you preach the gospel sometime on Monday or Saturday I'd like to just come with you men and women who preach the gospel, and I'll come to encourage
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But I'll also come to make sure your theology and your methodology matches up And I'm gonna be now giving you a litany of what happens here
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And then I'm going to be shocked when people at the end of the service call people up to an altar call
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I'm gonna tell you more about that later. You're just gonna have to stay tuned. Maybe you love altar calls I know you probably said
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I got saved by an altar call. I got saved when that happened well
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Don't throw anything at me yet, but an altar call never saved anybody
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And we'll find out who does save Lydia was spiritually dead as every unbeliever was is
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Lydia could not repent Thirdly Lydia couldn't seek after God Romans 3 or psalm 14
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The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there any who understand who seek
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God and what did he find? They have all turned aside They have all together become corrupt.
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There is no one who does good not one. Why don't we have seeker services at Bethlehem Bible Church?
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Because there's only one seeker and his name is God and God says you don't have services where Unbelievers come in and feel all happy I hope unbelievers sometimes do feel happy but first Corinthians 14 says you want unbelievers to come in and go
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God's here, and I'm sinful and if I don't have the cross to hide behind I am undone Fourthly Lydia could not understand spiritual truth even if she heard it
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She could understand the words, but she couldn't understand in her heart of hearts real spiritual truth
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First Corinthians 2 says by the natural man, but the natural man does not receive the Spirit of God For the things of the
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Spirit their foolishness to him nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned
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She could hear the words in Aramaic Greek Hebrew or whatever. They were proclaimed in but she couldn't get it
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It was like she had an AM receiver that was broken and God is sending forth his message through the airwaves of FM She couldn't get it neither could those other ladies
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Furthermore number five believers are under the power of Satan 2nd
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Corinthians 4, but if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing Whose minds the
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God of this age has blinded who do not believe lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ Who is the image of God could shine on them the key to understand that God saves people?
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Alone by his own grace for his own glory is to recognize the spiritual deadness of the people
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That he is saving That's the key Thomas Watson the great
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Puritan in the 17th century said these great words listen to this God rides forth conquering in the chariot of his gospel
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God Conquers the pride of the heart and makes the will which stood out as a fort royal against him
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To yield and to stoop to his grace He makes the stony heart bleed.
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Oh It is a mighty call Man true or false has the ability to will spiritual good on their own
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False man is not affected by the fall False man's will true or false is affected by the fall
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True his mind his will it was total and it is a lie beloved to have people preach this gospel
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Jesus has done everything in his power to save you and Now it is up to you to do your part
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That is not true Because your part will be like Lydia's part
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Lydia did come to faith. Maybe we should say your part will be like the other ladies who heard the gospel
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Regeneration being born again is a loan an act of God Just put the
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Greek grammar in the way it would go it is a loan an act of God it is God's work alone
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If you are a Christian it is because God renewed your heart and enabled you to believe God did not say
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Mike believed therefore. I'll save him Here's how here's how it happened. God made me born again, and then of my own free nature
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That is now a loving God nature. I said God I believe That is to say saving faith is not the cause of your salvation.
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It is the consequence in Other words your faith does not save you
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What I could feel the big crook coming right now faith doesn't save Sometimes the
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Bible uses Shorthand how about this shorthand is this true the just shall live by faith
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That's true Are you sure? The just shall live by faith
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That is true. I hope you believe it. It's in Habakkuk, and it's in Romans the just shall live by faith
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But is that all the truth about justification well, I do it this way
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Are you saved by works how many people think you're saved by works? works of righteousness a
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Few do kick him out new deacons Everyone here who is a
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Christian has been saved by works And they have not been your works that you have done in righteousness, but they are the works of Christ God Incarnate the just do live by faith
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But friends faith is it's not some cause It is not some little switch that if you're in here
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And you put the switch on then somehow that door can open so God could come in Because you would never let him come in because you don't love
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God as an unbeliever you hate him And you don't hate your sin you love your sin
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So how can a God hating sin loving person to be turned into a God loving sin hating person on his own?
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Can an Ethiopian change his skin color can a leper change his spots who has to do it?
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It has to be God You are not saved because of your faith matter of fact I'll even go so far to say that when you stand before God in heaven
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And he says why should I let you in I mean it's not going to happen that way, but supposedly You will say you know what
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I'm no longer a goat God because I made myself a sheep I Did it
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I was a goat and I'm a sheep Let me in you won't do that Do you have to believe yes?
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But that belief is even a gift of God Philippians chapter 1 29
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Ephesians chapter 2 8 9 and 10 you are a Christian because God made you a Christian So here's the point if God makes
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Christians through preaching. Why do you do anything else besides preach? Why do you have to manipulate?
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Why do you have to know at the last second? I'm gonna pull out the gospel and do this do that and we have all these different things and all right every head bowed every
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Eye closed no one looking around turn off the lights get the mood music going matter of fact as the number one Evangelist in the entire world so does
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I'm gonna put plants out in the audience Bob's a plant Steve's a plant Andrews a plant
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Nate's a plant Peggy's a plant And I'm gonna plant you and when I start saying you come up to the front
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Our people who are plants are gonna come because you got a prime the pump and all You got to get other people to start coming, and if you're the only one who wants to come by yourself
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If God alone saves then he saves for the preaching of the gospel. Why do we do anything else?
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Now it's good to be friends, but no one in the world has ever nor will ever be saved by friendship evangelism
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You get saved by a friend teaching you the gospel But you don't get saved by a Christian somehow being your friend and never telling you the truth
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Sadly we don't tell our friends the truth because we lose friends that way Right Dr.
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B B Warfield said the great Princeton theologian when Princeton was a school and not a cesspool
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Said sinful man stands in need not of inducements or assistance to save himself
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But precisely of saving and Jesus Christ has come not to advise
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Urge our woo or to help him to save himself but to save Jesus is a
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Savior, and he saved through preaching so why do we do anything, but preach by the way just to back up Should you be people's friends?
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Absolutely do you always have to go around saying the wrath of God is on your head today and all these things?
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Well, of course you have to But we are here to preach the gospel and there's bad news before there's good news
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Jesus didn't come to tell us to save ourselves He came because we could not save ourselves and it doesn't matter friends
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How eloquent you are someone said to me, and I think with very good motives, so I'm not blasting this person Mike if you would come on Mondays and Saturdays To preach the gospel down at the
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Worcester Common. I kind of like to go with you because I want to see the way you do It it's fine.
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I think we could learn from other seasoned pastors and elders and evangelists But it's not the way
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I do it. It's what I say when I do it, right and If you're going to the cops the
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Commons on Saturdays and Mondays, and you don't know the gospel Then we need to back up a little bit but you do know the gospel and since you do know the gospel and God has made you in a in his own image and Likeness in a unique way with friends and attributes and all these other things you just preach the gospel
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And you don't give good advice. You just give the gospel It does not matter how eloquent you are how new of a
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Christian you are It matters that God Opens hearts through the preaching of his word, and I like it because it makes my job very simple
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FB Meyer said my goal in life is to be an errand boy for God and my job is just to not to mess up the order and I'll tell you this and if it does happen to me it must happen to you as a pastor
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I know the gospel and I have friends and family and certain people that I know and I want to contour the
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Gospels rough edges because if I don't I know they're not going to like me and if it happens to me would it happen to you?
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But you have to remember God is only going to save when he's pleased and in time he's only going to save as the
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Holy Spirit Effectually calls that person through the preached gospel
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So we just keep preaching the gospel Kuiper said it is the task of the evangelist to communicate the gospel to impart to man faith in the gospel is
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God's prerogative the only power dead sinners have is
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Your eloquence for them to be saved how sad would that be?
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It doesn't matter Therefore we don't have to manipulate people
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It's like the old story of The congregant in W. E. Sankster's Church in Scarborough, England's Queen Saint's Church It was a barber there and he felt his duty to witness to people all the time
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But he wasn't always careful and one day he lathered up the guy for the shave picked up the razor and said are you prepared?
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to meet your God Supposedly the guy ran off with lather on his face.
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I mean he was gonna just preach he wasn't We don't need to manipulate people We don't need to market
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Barna said sadly Jesus was a communication specialist He communicated his message message in diverse ways and with the results
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It would be a credit to modern advertising and marketing agencies. He identified his target audience
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He determined their need he delivered his message directly to them by addressing the crowds on the mountainsides of the
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Jews in the temple He promoted his product in the most efficient way possible by communicating with the hot prospects
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When you know the God of the universe can't open someone's heart you don't need to go to the hot prospects because there's a you know, they're usually the ones who are so Inoculated with some other kind of faux truth.
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You just go to the hardest core people. Can you imagine? Paul can you imagine?
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Going up to Paul and saying, you know, my pastor just told me I got to go evangelize the Apostle Paul Would you be scared before Paul will say the
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Apostle Paul you go preach to Saul the Christian killer Who wants to go
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I Wouldn't it's my job to equip you for the work of the ministry But see that's the great thing about the gospel
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Because the gospel is the power of salvation to all who believe Not us and God gets glory that way
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One man said Doug Webster farming not retail remains the working analogy for the
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Christian mission We sow the seed. That's all we do. We just keep sowing and sowing and sowing
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We don't have to be pragmatic. We cannot hurry along people's salvation by being
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Giving stronger appeals or got a better personality or better stories
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Some kind of PowerPoint might get a man No If God and God alone saves
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Through the preached message of Jesus Christ the sin -bearer who has been raised from the dead Then why would we do anything else?
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So with that said let me talk about altar calls in the time we have left when
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I first got here I was told that I did not evangelize Some things people said about me were true.
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This one was not true I want people to get saved and Early on I think the first five years of my ministry if you've been here nine years at the end of every sermon
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I would implore people to believe the gospel to preach that Jesus Christ Is Lord and Savior I?
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Just kept thinking you know you kind of get these things and somebody sends you an email or somebody else tells you you know Somebody says you don't evangelize by the way don't do that to pastors.
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Don't do that to anybody You know there's a there's a few people who think that you aren't doing such -and -such Why would you come and tell me that I?
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Think you're part of those few people is what I think and if people come and complain about other people pastor elder deacon or other lay person just say
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That doesn't build up One if you've got a problem with somebody you go talk to them about it matter of fact You must so be godly that you're telling me for a reason and you're telling me for a reason and that reason is you want
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Help, so I'll hold you accountable to go talk to that other person in two weeks If you don't tell the person you've got a problem with them.
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I will that's a better way to do it isn't it? All that to say back to altar calls.
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I don't evangelize. I'm thinking what I don't evangelize Do I not know the gospel do I not know the issues?
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What's going on, and then I came to find out I don't do altar calls so therefore I'm not evangelistic
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I Am so glad that some of you have never seen an altar call Because God saved you and you're at this church, and you don't know anything different But when the altar calls start happening
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Why do they do that? What is it? Why do
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I say to speakers who come please don't do an altar call after you get done preaching Typically altar calls have some mood music in the background and the talker the pastor talks real nice He wants them to respond to God's work by slipping their hands up and heads bowed eyes closed
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No one looking around by the way. That's good to use as a dad before dinner with little kids. I wouldn't use it here
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You look up and see my eye Make your way down to the front of the aisle You can kneel
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You can hear just as I am 50 stanzas. I surrender all Have my own way
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Lord come to the front kneel and accept Jesus Don't know what else to do sing one nor him
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Let me give you several reasons why we don't do altar calls here number one There are no commands in the
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New Testament to do them the onus of the altar call people
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They have the onus rather to prove to me that we should do altar calls I've searched the pastoral epistles.
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I've searched Jesus and his words I've searched the commands in Scripture altar calls are not prescribed nor are they described evangelism yes
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Great Commission, yes But I could not find one word about evangelistic altar calls in a worship service
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They were not found in the post -apostolic period they are customs and traditions stemming from a man -centered
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Gospel 1st Corinthians 15. I like this Paul says almost in passing
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So we preach so you believe People get saved by preaching matter of fact if you want to know the background of altar calls
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The background the earliest altar calls were found in the late 18th centuries century among congregations of the
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Methodist Episcopal Church Later it was when Finney really brought them to bear and he had things called the anxious bench or the mourners bench
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You come up to the front and sit at these places He is the real proponent the man who has sinners preach the sermons preached like Sinners bound to change their own hearts
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And denying the penal substitution of Christ Whitfield no altar calls
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Wesley no altar calls men were invited to Christ and I wonder if anybody got saved for 1 ,800 years between the
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New Testament and Finney's Revolutionary concept the altar call was anybody saved I Don't do altar calls because I'm not told to do them number two why no altar calls at Bethlehem Bible Church And as long as I'm the pastor, and we have the current elder board
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There'll be no altar calls because God is quite concerned about the means to his salvation God is concerned not about the ends, but the means
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God is not a pragmatist. Do you believe that here's what one man?
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Says at the end of his altar calls very very famous. I'm going to ask you to come forward up there down there
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I want you to come you come right now quickly if you're here with friends or relatives. They'll wait for you Don't let distance keep you from Christ It's a long way
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But Christ went all the way to the cross because he loved you certainly you can come these few steps and give your life to him
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God is honored by the preaching of the gospel and by people saved, but we just don't abandon the means
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More on that maybe later number three most importantly why we don't do altar calls at this church
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Because that altar calls confuse the outward act coming to the front With an inward new birth it confuses somebody coming up to the front
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Equals that God regenerated them made them alive again in Christ on the inside You can fall on your knees you can raise your hands you can walk to the front you can sign a card
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You can bellow out with loud noises You can sit on the anxious seat and none of that contributes to your salvation unbelievers can do that Physical duties that unregenerates can perform are not the way to do things in church
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It confusing confuses coming forward with coming to Christ it confuses walking the aisle with repentance and belief
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Can you get saved? Only at the altar call or can't you get saved in a pew a pub a police station or anyplace else
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You can get saved anywhere number four Altar calls give a superficial view of man's sin and conversion
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Charles Finney said that people are converted quote by a change wrought in their nature by Creative not by creative power, but by yielding to the truth you are saved because you yielded to the truth
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And how do you preach to people it says? By argument in which you break down the sinners will
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You can break down the will all you want, but it's still gonna be broken down into a depraved will how can that help?
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Finney said to New York in 1834 for listen to this it's just shocking for many centuries
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But little of the real gospel has been preached for centuries before I came here to try to tell you that is within the persuasive moral arguments of the preacher that you can break down your will and I can get you to come up to the front not
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Many have been saved He doesn't understand depravity. He doesn't understand salvation Charles Hodge says and retort to that no more soul -destroying doctrine could well be devised
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Than the doctrine that sinners can regenerate themselves and believe and repent when they please
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Number five why we don't do altar calls, so I better speed this up Number five altar calls imply a gospel full of law
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Altar calls are a law gospel Not a grace gospel you come up here and do what
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I say and comply with me. That's extra That's not found in the Bible told that you obey me the preacher and you comply with my directions, then you'll be saved
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Where is that where is walking up to the front and doing what I say? Anywhere close to having the
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Bible being proclaimed number six it gives people false assurance This is the worst one.
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It makes people think that my one -time act of obedience coming up to the front therefore seals my destiny forever
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So tragic John Bunyan used to say at the gates of heaven. There is a what? porthole to hell
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Because you think you're going and all of a sudden. No, you're not going It confuses people about their spiritual state
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It encourages people to think that if you come forward and pray a prayer then everything set when
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Hebrew 6 says people have been enlightened and Tasted the heavenly gift and been marked partakers of the
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Holy Spirit and tasted of the Word of God and yet They did not have things that accompany what? Salvation we learned several weeks ago.
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You can sow the seed and people can respond with what joy and still not be saved I Reject this third sacrament of the church that we say you know what that's what we're gonna
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Do Spurgeon said about the altar call? It's led thousands to a kind of peace before they have known their misery
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Restoring the prodigal to the father's house and never making him say father I have sinned how can he be healed who is not sick or be satisfied with the bread of life who is not hungry?
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The old -fashioned sense of sin is despised and consequently a religion is run up before the foundations are dug out
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Deep sea fishing is almost an extinct business so far as men's souls are concerned which goes along with number seven altar calls obscure repentance and belief
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You don't repent and believe in your seats you come up to accept and receive You got to do it now got a strike while the irons hot
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It's like Lloyd Jones who who preached saw a guy who was ready he thought to do business with God He was crying.
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He was a drunkard the next day. He ran into the man, and he said Dr.. Jones if I would have talked to you that night and went to the prayer room.
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I would have been saved Well, he said well, what's wrong with now? Let's you know believe now
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No, if you would have asked me last night I would have done so Lloyd Jones says my dear friend if what happened to you last night does not last for 24 hours
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I'm not interested in it, and then a few big ones altar calls number eight delude
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Christians into inviting unbelievers to church I'm not gonna go ahead and preach the gospel because I'm gonna bring them to church to get saved
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Am I glad you bring your friends into church unbelieving friends? absolutely I'm glad for that, but the church isn't for unbelievers.
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It's not even for your unbelieving friends. It's not for your unbelieving family It's for the church, and so if you bring them to church, and then you say yeah, but pastor preached on I Don't know giving today.
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I never preached on giving hardly But pastor preached on giving when I brought my unbelieving friend. I can't believe he did that I was hoping it was gonna be on like how to have a wonderful life and be you know fulfilled and go to heaven, too
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Why didn't he do that? I'm not preaching to your unbelieving friends. It is your privilege to preach to your unbelieving friends.
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How about this for a dictum here Don't believe don't bring anybody to this church ever that you have not personally had the
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Privilege and pleasure to share the gospel of Christ with you preach to them first and of course bring them we want unbelievers here
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But don't think that you're gonna bring them here because of the end I'm gonna do an altar call and get them saved because that's just not what happens
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It confuses the people thinking the sacred space is up here But it's your job to go out there to proclaim the gospel on a similar note
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I Guess just do two more altar calls
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Distract people away from the pinnacle of the worship service that is preaching It's not the pinnacle because I'm speaking, but when
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God speaks It's the pinnacle of the worship service everything builds up to that and then all of a sudden you have the altar call you say well
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What's the service of success today? Well not really because nobody came nobody came up to the front Was the service of success did the people sing to the glory of God give sacrificially?
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Did they beseech the God of the universe to help them? Give them grace and help in time of need and the pastor preached the word and were the people attentive
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Then it's been a glorifying service to the Lord We don't have to have people come up and then we go well nobody wants to come up and get saved
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Does anybody want to come up and join the church? Okay, a few more just as I am does anybody want to come up and like be rededicated
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Re -irrigated and reconsecrated you can just come on up No, the pinnacle the worship service is not the altar call.
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It's the preaching Second to last one altar calls confuse the pastor with the mediator
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There is one God and one mediator also between God and men the man Mike a band
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Roth Wouldn't that be a sick place? How lame would that be?
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No, I mean you're gonna go give me some cake and call me Reverend. Dr. High -holy Father Marshall so -and -so
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But you call me that once and that's it I'm not the mediator
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There's one mediator between God man the man Christ Jesus. I didn't give a ransom for all Jesus did
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You don't have to talk to me. You don't you have to do business with Christ It's all papers paper stuff coming up and got to come to certain spots
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And then the last one and I'm sure this one will get me some probably good good email The last reason we do not do altar calls at this particular church
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Is because altar calls shame the leadership team pastors and elders
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Altar calls bring shame upon the pastor who would do them Let's close in prayer
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Do I think everybody who does altar call as an unbeliever and unregenerate and he's so shameful and everything else
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There are some who just have not learned the truth There's some who are growing. I'm maturing. But the reason why
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I said it like that is because I wanted you to remember it I wanted to be provocative. I wanted to be hyperbolic in a sense
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If I know that people get saved by the preaching of the gospel Then why would I bring some artificial means in to somehow get some external converts?
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Do we believe as a leadership team that the Word of God is powerful enough to save anybody here
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We do so therefore why would we somehow do something else? God is playing in his scripture that he saves through the preaching of his word
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So why would I do something else? I don't get it. The Word has the authority to do its work
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First Corinthians chapter 1 says Christ did not send me to baptize But to preach the gospel verse 18 for the message of the cross is the power of God Verse 21 it pleased
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God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe It is about the power of God Paul said
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I came declaring the message of God about Christ Jesus and what he confidently relied on what he said
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So I don't need to do anything else I don't have to add anything We're maybe some exceptions, but as the
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Presbyterians would have a regulative principle the Bible regulates what we do We try to follow that to the most degree
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We do things because the Bible teaches it and it doesn't teach that we should do that And I think if you're a Bible preaching pastor, and you do extra things.
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It's a shame Now you have two quick objections, and I know what the objection objections are should you invite people to Christ should you should we?
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Absolutely Luther's would say we close with Christ look to him receive him believe in him
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But he didn't say come up here to do it Spurgeon said I would
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Someone said to him. I want to go to the inquiry room Spurgeon said I dare say you would But we're not willing to pander to your popular superstition
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We fear that in these rooms men are filled with fictitious confidence very few of supposed converts of inquiry rooms turn out
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Go to your God at once even where you are cast yourself on Christ now at once are you stir an inch?
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And if you're not a believer, you don't need to see me. You don't need to see your friend You don't need to go to the inquiry room go to God go to Christ believe repent
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Spurgeon went on to say God is not appointed salvation by inquiry rooms for the most part a wounded conscience like a bleeding stag
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Delights to be alone that it may bleed in secret We give the gospel invitation
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But that is not the gospel invitation of the altar call to come up to the front And the other objection is you say well
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I've been saved by the altar call And I would just say you got saved by faith alone through Christ alone to the glory of God alone
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And if God used an altar call you got saved in spite of it. You didn't get saved because of it And I'm glad when people get saved by altar calls, but why did not
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John Knox George Whitfield George? Edwards Roland Hill John Bunyan Charles Spurgeon Why did they not get saved when they get people saved by altar calls because you can't get saved by altar calls
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I think I just said something that mistake just a minute ago I'm glad if anybody's saved by an altar call. I didn't mean that anybody's saved in spite of the altar call.
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I'm glad oh But you got a strike while the irons hot you mean to tell me if God how heats up the iron
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It's gonna cool off, and if you say we should do altar calls because of Pragmatics then you're just like Finney who said you know what you don't do altar calls, and I do
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I'll tell you what you show me how many converts you have and then you show me how many converts you have
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Does that have anything to do with anything? No All right one for next week.
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I'll just throw this out. I like to throw little bombs and rooms and then walk out Nobody has ever been saved by a sinner's prayer either if you think the sinner's prayer is the cause of your salvation
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Are you sure it's of grace or? Do you think people who really pray the sinner's prayer are already saved when they pray is?
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salvation a work of God and Does God wait for anything to happen before he's allowed to come in to save?
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Or is God like the great magnificent Triumphant warrior who comes in and Saves people for his glory people were saved without saying the sinner's prayer thief on the cross and others
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If you believe that God saves through the preaching of the gospel You should be buttress in the fact that you just have to go out and preach the gospel
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And then let God be concerned about the saving I Have not saved one person in my entire ministry and for all who would like to see the tick marks that are in the back of my
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Bible There are my tick marks And there's not one the only tick mark
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I have in my Bible is I carry this all the time and it's percentages of Evangelicals in America and in New York and New England it says there are one to four percent of Christians in these six states
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Jersey New York and New England What are you gonna do?
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What can you do? You can preach the gospel to anyone who listens and when God affectionately calls
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There's nothing Satan nor you nor the person can do to stop it
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And if you're a Christian that's happened in your heart Let's pray father. Thanks for this day.
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Oh, what a glorious mystery you are But Lord you've also besides your mysterious love and goodness
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You've also revealed much of those mysteries in the Bible many of those mysteries and now we know
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Lots about salvation. We know your eternal decree and we know that you are pleased to save sinners and father
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Help us today as a church to be buttressed in the fact that we can preach the gospel whether people listen or not
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You will do your work and Lord. We don't want to get converts We want to have your face to shine upon us
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So give us grace to do that help us not to be man -pleasers and Lord help us not to fight over And wrangle over words, but help us to be fighting over Do you receive all the glory and salvation or is there some little bit that goes to the person?
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Who believes are some little bit that goes to the person who preaches Lord? May that never be may we proclaim as a church that Salvation is from the