WWUTT 560 Q&A Defending Baby Declarations Hospitably?

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Should a church defend itself from an attack by a lone gunman? Does Matthew 18 -18 mean that we can heal a person in Jesus' name?

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And what does it mean to be hospitable? The answers to these questions and others when we understand the text.

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This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible teaching podcast to encourage your time in the Word. Find videos and other resources at our website, www .wutt

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.com. And here's your host, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. You're welcome. On Ligonier's programs, or I guess it would be

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R .C. Sproul's program, Renewing Your Mind, Lee Webb does the introduction to that program.

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And he's called the host. So R .C. Sproul isn't called the host.

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Lee Webb is. So this is the way that we've typically done the introduction to these broadcasts.

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Here's your host. So should you be the host? I don't know. Does that make me a guest? Hmm. The main speaker, maybe?

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Like what is... I'm the emcee. What is Dr. Sproul if Lee Webb is the host?

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The main guy? I don't know. The big cheese. Yeah, there you go. But that sounds bad.

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I could get used to calling Dr. Sproul the big cheese. He probably wouldn't get used to it. No, no, probably not.

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Welcome to the Friday edition of the program. And welcome back, my dear. Thank you. Who was gone last week.

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Since you started on this program, that's the first Friday you've missed. Well, I was kind of gone. Yeah, well, yeah.

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There was little liners in and out. You were still in there. Yes. I was still there. Just didn't have you on to respond to questions.

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Well, see, I'm usually here. I'm just not there. Not all there. Oh, hey,

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I had some other news to share with you here. Oh, dear. We are now up to 2 ,600 regular daily listeners.

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Why, hello out there. Over 2 ,600 people listen to this program every day.

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That's awesome. From all over the world. And so I thank you so much for listening to the broadcast. And on Friday, for those of you who are new, because the numbers increase every week, it's wonderful to see.

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On Friday, we take questions from listeners, which you can send your questions in via email.

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Best way to get a question to us, when we understand the text at gmail .com, I think we've got one question by Twitter, but I believe the other three are all of these came to us by email.

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Now, some of these have to do with the shooting that took place in Sutherland Springs, Texas on Sunday.

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We're going to address those questions first, because I had talked about that on the broadcast

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Monday. And then last week, I went through the five solos of the Protestant Reformation. So then one of these questions has to do with that.

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And then I think we have another miscellaneous question on top of that. So this first question comes from Joel, and he says,

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Hey, Pastor Gabe, I just heard your Monday episode. I didn't get to view the television yesterday due to a massive celebration that we were having in my church yesterday.

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Well, congratulations. Yay. I really felt your pain over today's podcast. This had to do with my addressing the shooting in Sutherland Springs on Monday.

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Well, the shooting was Sunday. I addressed it on Monday. Was the pastor a very close friend of yours, or was this just a connection with regards to being in a similar denomination?

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I know that shouldn't matter, but it sounded like you had a strong connection to the church. I hope your week goes well.

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Well, my soul was truly mourning for my brothers and sisters in Christ who lost so many loved ones in that tragic shooting on Sunday.

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I can't even imagine. And then I think Sunday night when I was preparing to record that episode, when I was reading about the pastor and the fact that his daughter's name was

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Annabelle, that just pulled my heart even more. So I felt like I couldn't do the

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Monday broadcast without addressing that. And this is likely going to become an ongoing story in the country, not just related to Sutherland Springs.

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But unfortunately, folks, we are going to see more church shootings. It is going to happen.

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And so we mourn with those who mourn, we weep with those who weep, we rejoice with those who rejoice.

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But when a body in Christ experiences a loss like this, we should all mourn together. It's affected us all.

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It's not just this church that has lost loved ones. We've all lost somebody because our brothers and sisters in the

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Lord were taken from this earth. But they, in Christ Jesus, are together with the Lord in glory.

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And so we rejoice that they've been set free from the trials and tribulations of this life and get to experience the kingdom of God, which we all will get to experience someday together.

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Amen. But in the meantime, as I said on Monday, it is right for us to mourn. And the more

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I read about the story, the more my heart was vexed. And I have to address this on Sunday. I'm going to talk about it with my own church congregation.

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And I've got to try to tie it into First Corinthians 14, because that's where we are right now. It may not seem on the surface like something like this could tie into Chapter 14, but I think

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I'm going to make it work anyway. So I thank you for listening and appreciate your question,

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Joel. It did seem like that it tugged at me in a very personal way. It wasn't because I knew anybody in the congregation, but because it wasn't just an attack that happened on this church, it was an attack on all of us, that this happened to our brothers and sisters in Christ.

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And we were just talking on Sunday in church about how we are safe and we don't have to worry about anybody coming in and telling us we can't worship

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God and just having the freedoms that we do in this country. And then to get home and hear that news.

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And to hear that, yeah, as soon as we got home. It was one of our elders, Chris Solano, had mentioned on Sunday that it was the, correct me if I'm wrong, the

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National Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Yes. Is that what it was? Yes. So it just happened to be that day.

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Yes. And he was bringing that up to encourage our prayers for those churches abroad.

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Right. Missionary churches. That experience persecution because they're in those hostile territories, regions where they don't get to enjoy the freedom of religion like we do here.

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Now, we do enjoy the freedom of religion. That doesn't necessarily mean that we won't have offenders like this who will come in attempting to take human life.

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Right. And the likelihood that it's going to happen is very, very slim. Right. So certainly don't not go to church because you think that that's going to happen to you.

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You got martyred for going to church. Praise be to God. You'll be praising

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God in glory forever because vengeance is his and because he has delivered us from the plight of evil men so that we might live forever with him in his glorious kingdom.

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So in that sense, we are going to glorify God forever because he is the righteous judge of all.

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But in the meantime, while we're. If you have concerns, you can go to your pastor and ask him, you know, OK, so what is all our protection and our security?

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What's like? Yeah. Like what are our security measures here? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I like schools do, you know.

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Right. Yeah. It's just a practice. It's right to have such security measures set in place, which is. Yes. Which is what this next question is about.

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So there we go. This question comes from Justin in Texas. He says, Dear, what? Following the deadly shooting at a church here in Texas on Sunday, I'm noticing a surge in articles about setting up security measures in churches.

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Some are even talking about carrying guns. Is this OK? I thought we as Christians were supposed to look forward to being martyred.

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I changed the wording of that a little bit because I wasn't quite sure what he I didn't quite

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I couldn't quite make sense of the sentence. But we don't we don't look forward to being martyred.

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No. Like you consider the number of times the Apostle Paul escaped martyrdom.

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So like we're going through or we just finished up second Thessalonians. Remember Paul's journey to Thessalonica and that he was only there for a few weeks.

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First of all, he was driven out of the synagogue and then he was preaching to the Gentiles. But the Jews wanted to kill him. So they smuggled him out of Thessalonica in the cover of night.

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Well, if we're supposed to receive our martyrdom with joy in the sense that we look forward to being martyred, then

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Paul just would have stayed there. That sounds more like the cage stage or whatever.

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Cage stage? Yeah. Isn't that what it's called? No. I don't think cage stage would apply. No. If they were excited to be martyred, like, you know, like,

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I'm going to preach the gospel no matter what type of thing. Yeah. I guess. Right. I mean, a person, a

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Christian pushing it, pushing it, pushing it, pushing it. Yeah. Like Martin Luther thought he was going to be killed for the gospel.

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And so it was one of the reasons why he didn't get married right away is because he didn't want to have that kind of a burden on his wife.

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But then ultimately Luther decided that he needed to get married just to spite the

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Catholic Church. Oh my goodness. So he had a very romantic reason for getting married. Sounds like it.

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So Luther was prepared to be martyred. So there's a difference between being prepared for that to happen versus you're excited for it or looking forward to it.

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I mean, if a person goes into a hostile country, preaching the gospel and expecting to be martyred.

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Hey, God be with you, man. But I'm not I'm not actually expecting that this is the

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Sunday that a gunman is going to run in and shoot my congregation and I'm going to go down with them. You know, that's right. That's not my expectation.

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So you can have a preparation for martyrdom in the sense that you are fully devoted to the Lord and you would go to your grave proclaiming

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Christ, even if it meant your life. That's the way every Christian should be. But if we can avoid being killed for the gospel, you should.

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If you can run away from the gunman, run away from the gunman. This is what you can shoot the gunman, shoot the gunman.

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And see, that's that's where everybody's going to get into differences of opinion is going to be.

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Should we have guns in church in order to put down a gunman who is going to come in and kill us?

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And I'm going to say that's that's going to be up to you as a church to decide that our congregation is armed.

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Not everybody. But I mean, we've got we do have people in our congregation that have guns and I know who's carrying them.

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And they've even come to me and said, is it OK if I'm a concealed carry? And yes. So, you know, we're a very military town.

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So we've got a lot of guys with guns in our congregation. Some of them are concealed carry. One of them, one of our deacons is open carry.

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So, you know, he you know, he has his gun on him. Why should we consider that?

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Why would it be OK for a church to do that, especially when we got passages like Jesus saying in Matthew chapter five, you have heard it said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

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But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. Or in Romans 12, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written vengeance is mine.

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I will repay. So where do we get the idea that it is OK for us to defend ourselves?

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Well, in Exodus chapter twenty two, beginning in verse two, if a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood guilt for him.

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And that's a thief. This is talking about a person who is coming in to steal your stuff. So don't you think you also have the right to kill somebody who means to come in and harm your family, which is which is what's going to happen in a church if a gunman comes in to try to shoot up a bunch of people and understand that this this gunman on Sunday and same with any gunman that runs into a place attempting to kill a lot of people, a large group of people, they're on a suicide mission.

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They don't really think they're going to get away with this. They're doing this. Where are they going to go hide precisely?

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And if the law does catch up, if they do survive it, I mean, if somebody is taking out two dozen people when the cops show up, they're going to put him down.

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Right. They're not really trying to take the man alive. And and furthermore, if that guy comes into your church and is going to try to take out a bunch of people's lives and take his own life in the process, put him down before he has the chance to do that.

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He is like a thief that is breaking in in the cover of night. And you don't know what it is that he is going to do.

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Kill that guy. And there shall be no blood guilt for him. Right. And I have no problem with saying that.

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Now, if if you are convicted, like I said. So when when Becky made that suggestion, put that guy down.

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She was totally right. When we have that discussion, there's going to be some people that are going to come to those passages, like I mentioned,

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Matthew five, Romans 12. They're going to say, no, we shouldn't do that. I'm telling you, you're not going to love that guy into not killing people.

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Right. It's not going to happen. He's there to die and take a bunch of people with him.

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So go ahead and put him down before he has the chance to take a bunch of people with him.

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I kind of go back to 9 -11 when they had that extra airplane that didn't end up crashing where it was supposed to crash, because, yeah, the one that crashed in Pennsylvania.

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Yeah. That one. And I mean, they were considered heroes, right? But they killed the guy.

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Yeah. They got the guy and they all died in the process, but they saved a bunch of other people from dying.

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And what you're asking, what people are asking us to do without defending ourselves and just letting them kill everybody is, is this,

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I mean, they should have just let the plane go. Right. And that's. That it was somehow wrong to stop them because.

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Right. Anyway. And that would be ridiculous. Everybody would agree. That would be ridiculous. Yes. So now it's the same concept.

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Now, if you have a problem carrying a gun. Right. That's different. I understand that. If you have a conviction about that, you know, don't don't just sit next to the person who you're confident with carrying a gun.

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Yeah. I mean, there's going to be guys in your congregation who are going to be OK with carrying and learn martial arts or learn martial arts.

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There are other ways. One of the right. One of the pieces of advice that is given in large crowds when a gunman comes in and started shooting at people, when people are running away from the gunman, they're opening up targets for him to be able to shoot.

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Right. If you run at the gunman, the only person he can shoot is the person running at him. So if there are people on top of him and tackling him to the ground, you might get shot and you might get killed, but you're going to save a lot of other people from getting killed.

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So just be prepared if you're willing to be a martyr in your church for a gunman against a gunman who is going to come in and try to take other lives, be that person that could run at the gunman.

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Of course, this is easier said than done. Oh, much. But but the guy that can tackle the guy to the ground and take the weapon away from him and be able to risk your life so that he won't take others lives in the process.

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Now, I'm not going to get into the details of some of the things that happened in this particular shooting, but it's it's horrible.

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Like this is not just a guy that stood outside the church and opened fire, which is what he did. But when he went into the church, the things that he said and did while he was in there,

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I mean, it's it's wretched. It's awful. You don't want to allow a person to do this.

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You want to stop this man before he starts taking lives in the horrific ways that this man did this.

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And you had just read today that they're going to tear the church down. Yeah, I did.

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They were actually saying that the day of the shooting, when the pastor was consulted and his wife, they were saying, we've probably lost our church building, not just because of the tragedy that happened there, but it was a small building and that gunman turned it into Swiss cheese.

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He started firing from outside, then he went inside and continued firing. What we should not have the attitude of is looking at that church and saying something to the effect of, well, if they just had a gun, as many people wouldn't have died.

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Oh, no, that's not fair. No, that that is not the way that we should consider the things that happened there.

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But rather, in light of that, if you're considering security measures for your church, that's up to you.

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You talk about it with your congregation and don't take it upon yourself. Well, I'm going to be the one that's going to protect everybody.

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It's just like anything within a body of Christ. These things need to be talked about. Right. It takes a village. Don't think of things that you can do by yourself, but talk it over.

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Get the deacons together. Yeah. You know, the elders together. That's what I was going to say. The elders and deacons. And talk about what it is that you can do to, at the very least, come up with an exit plan.

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So if somebody runs into our church, how can we get out of here? And who's calling 9 -1 -1 on the way? And not just a gunman, but have you really stopped to consider your exit routes if there should be a fire or some other kind of disaster?

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Are you living in a place that is susceptible to tornadoes or flash flooding?

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I mean, even these kinds of things need to be thought about. Consider contingency plans. What needs to be done to be able to protect the lives of the people that are in your building?

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I think that if we face death, we absolutely should be able to face it as Christians, knowing that our lives are secure in Christ and there is nothing that any man can do to us.

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Though he might destroy the body, he has no jurisdiction over our soul. If you are in Christ Jesus, that belongs to Christ.

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That is how to be prepared for any sort of incident that may result in the loss of your life today.

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And by body, just as a clarification, you mean the physical body of yourself? Yes. He can destroy your physical body.

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He cannot destroy your soul. So in that sense, yes, we should all be prepared, but we shouldn't all be sitting ducks.

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Granted. So you have the statement that Jesus made in Luke 22, let the one who has a money bag take it and likewise a knapsack and let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

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That's Luke 22, 36. And there are some people who have said that this is a figurative sword. Well, is it a figurative money bag and a figurative knapsack?

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Now he's talking about literal items there. Plus, the disciples were carrying swords and Jesus had not told them that they shouldn't be carrying swords because then the disciples reply, look,

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Lord, here are two swords. And he said to them, it is enough. So the purpose of walking around with swords was so they wouldn't look like sitting ducks.

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When you traveled from one city to the next, you're susceptible to bandits in the middle who are sitting in rocky crags or in the thicket, in the brush, in the woods, you know, something.

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And they're ready to pounce on passersby and rob them.

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But if they look like they're armed, that's going to dissuade or discourage a bandit from attempting to rob somebody.

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So it definitely was not for the purpose of advancing the gospel by way of the sword.

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That is not what our mission is. We don't advance the gospel by force.

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But at the same time, when it comes to sharing the gospel of Christ, there's nothing wrong with having the appearance of being able to defend yourself from those who would try to harm you or mean you harm and therefore would hinder the progress of the gospel because they had harmed you.

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Remember what Paul had asked of the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 3, pray for us that we might be delivered from the schemes of wicked and evil men.

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And there are evil people that are going to want to try to physically harm you because of the gospel that you preach.

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It's all right for your church to have an appearance of being able to defend itself. Like churches have signs out front that says there's an alarm in this church.

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You have the alarm sign out there. If you try to break in here, an alarm is going to sound. The police are going to come and get you.

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So the same thing is the case if people have if the general public has an inkling of an idea, somebody in that church is probably packing a gun.

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It is going to hinder a gunman from going into a place where they know they are going to get killed before they have the chance to accomplish what it is that they're going in there to do.

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Generally when a gunman goes into a public place, he's going into places where guns are not allowed. Like I said, that's up to you.

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That's for you and your church to decide and to discuss. But it isn't wrong for a church to arm themselves.

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Let's certainly not get into an attitude of saying that if this church had been prepared that not as many people would have died.

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Our attitude and our condition toward First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas is to mourn with those who are mourning.

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Oh, amen. So this next question has to do with also has to do with that.

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Hey, Pastor Gabe and Mrs. Hughes, thank you for your podcast ministry. May God continue to bless you.

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I have been thinking a lot this week about the church shooting and all the people who were killed, namely the babies and children.

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My question has to do with their eternal, their eternal destination. Most people agree babies and young children go to heaven, to which

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I think I agree from inferences that we see in scripture. What about passages that say that we are saved by grace through faith and that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ?

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How can we reconcile a young person not hearing and incapable of understanding anything yet God saving them?

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I believe God regenerates them out of his love and mercy before they die. But what would you say to this?

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Well, primarily, our understanding of salvation is that it is given by Christ. God is the one who saves.

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So if he has chosen to save an infant child, that is him and his sovereignty that has chosen to do so.

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And I believe that he does based on what we have in the book of Revelation, for example, at the final judgment, it says many books are open and people are judged by the works that they have done.

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Well, the infant cannot do any works by which they are judged. So in that sense, in that case, yeah, because everything's a reaction according to their sinful flesh.

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Yeah. I'm hungry. So yeah. Right. If God has chosen to save those who are not able to believe it is because he is righteous and good to do so.

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God is the one who saves. And so therefore he is the one who appoints salvation.

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Now, now the person who believes in the sovereignty of God, who believes that God has predestined those who are going to be saved from the foundation of the world, they can make an argument like this.

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But the person who does not believe God has determined who's going to be saved from the foundation of the world, they cannot make an argument for the salvation of the little ones.

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They can't do it because according to their soteriology, a person is saved because they prayed a prayer or they made some sort of confession of faith.

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They made a decision. They made a choice. And because an infant or even the unborn is incapable of making a choice, therefore those who believe in the doctrine of free will cannot make an argument.

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They cannot make a credible argument anyway for the salvation of the little ones. But we who know and understand that God has saved and he has predestined salvation from before the foundation of the world, we can make that argument because it is

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God specifically who has appointed salvation and therefore he's the one who can save the youngest.

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And we've gone through this several times before. It's a question that I've responded to. I would encourage you to read a paper from Daniel Aiken and Dr.

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Albert Moeller entitled The Salvation of the Little Ones. You can look it up online. It's a very short read, but it gives you a very detailed hermeneutical argument for the salvation of even the loss of the unborn or the loss of small children.

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So Charles Spurgeon believed that children would go to heaven who died that were too young to be able to make a decision to follow

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Jesus Christ. And so did John Newton, who was the author of Amazing Grace.

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He believed that babies went to heaven as well. So check out that paper, Matt, and thank you for your question.

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This next one comes from Celia, and this goes back to the podcast last week on the five solos of the

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Protestant Reformation. On your podcast of Solus Christus, you mentioned this scripture, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

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Matthew 16, 19. That's Jesus talking to Peter. I also noticed this is mentioned again later on in Matthew, Matthew 18, 18.

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Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

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I used to attend several Pentecostal churches in the past, and I have heard this scripture to be used by most pastors as their own personal declarations, like on rebuking demons and declaring healings and blessings here on earth.

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They're misinterpreting this scripture, right? And if so, how can I humbly, without sounding like a prideful person, talk to a pastor about this issue of misinterpreting scripture?

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I really love my old pastors and still have some contact with them. I'm worried about some of their teachings, but I don't want them to think that I am being rude.

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The best way to help a person understand their proper usage of a passage is to simply go to it and look at it in context.

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And what specifically is Jesus talking about there in Matthew 18? He's talking about church discipline.

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He's talking about disciplining a wayward brother or sister in the faith. He is not talking about casting out demons or declaring healing or blessing on somebody or anything like that.

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That is not at all what's being discussed there. And I talked about this this week. I also mentioned that passage,

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Matthew 18, on Friday last week when I was responding to Father Mike, the video from Father Mike, where he was talking about authority and that the

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Catholic Church has authority. So I referenced Matthew 18 there as well. But looking at it in context,

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Jesus is clearly talking about church discipline. He's not talking about, you know, name it and claim it or just bind it in the name of Jesus.

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You know, that's not what he's discussing there. So when it comes to helping a person understand the right interpretation of a passage, go to it in context.

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And when you correct them, do so gently. Don't try to be a jerk, right?

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You don't want to be rude. You don't want them to think of you as rude. Now, some people probably are going to think of you as rude just because you're correcting them and they think that you're passing judgment.

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They'll probably throw out Matthew 7, 1. Hey, judge not lest you be judged. You can't control that.

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And it's hard to be corrected, too. So just keep that in mind. Right. Whenever you are even in the most humblest of corrections, it can still come across as hurtful because,

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I mean, I'm right. You know, everybody's right in today's society. My goodness. Nobody wants to be knocked off their high horse.

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Yes. No. So and even if they're not on a high horse, they don't even have to be on a high horse to have their feelings hurt.

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So just keep that in mind and keep the door open of, you know, like body language and voice and stuff like that.

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Voice inflection. Yeah. Now, like I said earlier this week, my wife knows wonderfully how to handle me in these kinds of situations because she'll correct me on something and I'll throw up a defense.

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Oh, that's not what I meant. Or I was really saying this. And then it'll be it. And she'll just go,

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OK, sweetie. And then it'll be later. I'm thinking about it. I'm going, oh, my wife was right.

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So she knows she knows not to press the issue. And our elder, one of our elders at church,

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Chris, when we had our elders meeting on Monday, he was talking about this same thing. He said that between he and his wife, he has an attitude of I want it solved right now.

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And so if like if you don't get it right now, it tends to start an argument. And and Becky's not that way with me.

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She knows I've told him Gable, work it out in his mind. And you kind of you kind of put the present there on the table and you wait for them to open it.

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So, you know, it's right there. There it is. So use wisdom and maybe that's all you need to do.

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Just sort of present the argument. Maybe they're going to respond hostily to it. Don't fight. Don't raise your voice to them like they might raise your voice to you.

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Follow the instruction that Paul gives in Second Timothy, Chapter two, where he says the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach and correcting opponents with gentleness.

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And it should be a little easier because they are you are friends with them. And so if it's somebody, you know, right.

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Well, she says that she's in contact with some of them still. Yeah. So, I mean,

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I love my old pastors and I still have contact with them. And I would definitely use all of those words whenever you're talking with them about how, you know,

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I just I love your teaching. Right. And I have I have much respect for you. Yes. And you helped to make me into the person that I am.

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I was almost about to say the woman that I am. This is Celia. Yes. Yes. Well, you know, in this society today, many words you never know.

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So anyway, but I hope that's helpful for you, Celia. And again, best way to help somebody understand the proper meaning of a passage is to just show it to them in context.

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I've done this with the Jehovah's Witnesses that come to my door. They'll we start to get into a conversation. They'll throw a verse at me and I give them the whole verse in context.

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And suddenly they're baffled because they're like, OK, that's not usually how these exchanges go when we go door to door.

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So show it to them in context and they'll see that Matthew 18, 18 is not about binding it in Jesus name.

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Next question comes from Faith. She says, how do you respond to the pastor's wife or the Christian woman who doesn't want to invite people over to her house because her house is too nice?

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It's sad, but directly related to the fall and women's desire to rule over their husbands like the the wife is making the decision for her husband.

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I'm guessing not to not to open their home up to other people, given the fact that they are actually running the church.

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In some cases, it's obviously a judgment from God. The men have neglected their roles and stepped out of God's mandate for the church.

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Seems like a runaway train right now. So you have I take it pastors, wives who are not opening up their homes to other people because they don't want to make somebody jealous because of the possessions that they have in their home.

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That would be my guess. Is that kind of the approach here? So the instructions for overseers that we have in First Timothy three and also

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Titus chapter one. First Timothy three, two says, therefore, an overseer, pastor, bishop, elder, otherwise must be above reproach.

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The husband of one wife, sober minded, self -controlled, respectable, hospitable.

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Well, what does hospitable mean? Means that you are caring for someone else as though they were in your own home.

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Right. And being hospitable means to open up your home and to welcome them into your place that God has blessed you with your dwelling so that a person, particularly for an overseer, it's not just an act of kindness, but that your parishioners are able to see how you live.

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Right. Are you a man who loves his wife? Are you a man who is modest in his possessions?

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Are you a man who is keeping his children respectable? These are the things that people truly get to know about you when they see inside your life.

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And so I really think the reason why it's being said here that pastor's wives shouldn't be letting people into their home.

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I don't really think it has anything to do with not making somebody jealous because of their possessions. I really think it's we just don't want people to see how we live.

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We want to be private people and we want to be able to maintain the front that we put on in public so that that's what you see and not all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes.

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When you're in ministry, there's no nine to five. Yeah, precisely. This is coming from my wife, by the way.

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That's just how it goes. She knows I've gotten calls at 2 or 3 a .m. and have had to respond to something.

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So yeah, it's a 24 -7 deal. And remember that the position of an overseer, when we have these qualifications for an overseer given in these two chapters, 1

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Timothy 3, Titus 1, this is a picture of a mature Christian. So all things considered, all

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Christians should be aspiring to these kinds of spiritual traits. And the overseer is just a person who has that maturity.

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So they model that good behavior for their congregation. Right. But everybody in the church should want to be hospitable.

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Right. And it really doesn't matter if God has blessed you with a lot or he's blessed you with very little.

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What he's given to you, be willing to share with other people. Right. And if the leadership is doing the hospitality...

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Hospitality, there you go. There we go, spit it out. If the leadership is doing a good job of being hospitable, then the congregation will follow.

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Right, yeah. And it'll just be a wonderful, big family. The pastor sets the example.

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The rest of the church will likewise be hospitable. And you'll have a reputation for that as well. People in the community will know that you are very hospitable people that gather together in praise of the

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Lord. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, also in 1

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Timothy, but this is chapter 6, he says, Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world.

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But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

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For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

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So then Paul goes on to instruct Timothy as to how he should lead the rich in his church.

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Verse 17, As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

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They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

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And that's an instruction that is not being given to elders in this sense. This is those in the church who have been blessed with much, be generous and ready to share.

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And it's not going to be possible for you to hide your wealth if God has blessed you with a lot of wealth.

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People will know you're rich and they will know, are you being generous with that which

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God has blessed you with or are you being stingy? Are you being closed off? Are you,

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I mean, if you're closing yourself off in your great big house, nobody's going to look at you as, oh, I'm so glad that person doesn't welcome me into his home so that I might become jealous of his stuff.

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That's not what they're thinking. They're thinking, what is up with this guy? Won't share his stuff with his brothers and sisters in Christ.

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We would like to see his home. We'd like to meet his family and come eat dinner around his table. I love hearing stories about some of those pastors that I follow.

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And I mean, when you're a big name pastor, you probably pull in a pretty significant income. And yet I hear stories all the time about them opening up their homes and having dinner with people.

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Dr. Albert Moeller, as a matter of fact, all of the incoming students to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary get to eat dinner at his home.

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And you're going to attend their win? I'm just teasing. Yeah, right. I have a friend that's there right now.

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He went to Dr. Moeller's house and had dinner. That's awesome. That's fantastic. That's exactly the kind of model that we should set forth.

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What God has blessed us with, we should bless others with. Amen. And yeah, that's a horrible position to take the person that is regarded there in that particular letter, the woman who doesn't want to invite people over to her house because her house is too nice.

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I say that they are violating the instruction in Scripture that the elder overseer is supposed to be hospitable.

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And like Faith said, she's taking over the home and is making the decision that her husband should be making because he's the one that is supposed to have met those qualifications to be hospitable as an overseer of the church.

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Well, thank you for your questions today. We went all over the place. We did. We went from deeply emotional and probing to jovial and laughing.

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So I hope it wasn't too much of an emotional roller coaster ride for you today. But do be in prayer for the people at Sutherland Springs First Southern Baptist Church as they are considering what it is that they need to do next with their building.

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This is going to be the first weekend that they've gathered since the shooting on Sunday. I mean, that seems like it was so long ago, but this is our 24 -7 news cycle, right?

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Like we get done with one news story and we just roll right over into the next one. So this isn't over for them.

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And it is going to take months, years. And for many of them, it is going to be wounds that's going to stick with them for as long as they are here on this earth.

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The members of this congregation are never going to forget this. No. But pray that they have courage, that no one member of that church who is still living is lost, but that they would continue to attend church in bravery and courage and setting their full hope on the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's pray for them right now. Lord, we thank you for our time together, our time to be able to open up the word and discuss these things that we might give glory and honor to you and lead us in a right way of living that is pleasing unto the

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Lord, our God, who died for our sins, who bought us at a great price.

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And so as we have been redeemed, we have been bought and paid for by our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Let us do what is honoring and pleasing to God. And Lord, as brothers and sisters who have been unified by your shed blood, we pray for our brothers and sisters who are mourning and grieving over this horrible, tragic shooting that took place in Texas this past Sunday.

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And I pray that as they're coming up on this weekend, that they are still lifting up hearts that are honoring

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Christ. Many of them, I'm sure, asking questions like, why would God allow this to happen?

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But I pray that they're finding a comfort and a peace and a hope in the word of God, and that you be with the pastor of that church, that he may lead his congregation in the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ, according to what is written down in your word.

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And I pray that you protect other congregations in this country, that many churches would repent and return to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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And they would understand the bravery that is mentioned in the statement that Paul gives at the start of his letter to the

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Romans, Romans 1, 16, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

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We can't withhold this message because it is the message that saves. It is the message that gives us hope.

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It is the message that gives us the future that we are looking forward to in Christ Jesus when we will be with you in your kingdom forever in glory, in a place where there is no more crying, no more tears, no more pain, and you will have final judgment over your enemies.

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We pray that we give full faith and trust into your hands.

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And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. No, no, no, no.

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The one that I was complaining about earlier in the week, that one I posted on Tuesday. And then

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I just finished this one and posted it. So two days later. So this one came much faster than the other one.

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So quit. Quit doing difficult videos. Do I even need to write you a script anymore?

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Brought to you by Gabriel Hughes. Pastor Gabe is the author of many books, which you can get on our website at www .utt

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.com. No, I'm not like three. Many. And more to come.

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And more to come. Pastor Gabe is the author of many future books.

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Stay tuned. God willing. And keep your radios dialed.

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Isn't that what they used to say? Stay tuned. I don't know. Don't touch that dial.

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Yes, that's it. Don't touch that dial. I get a southern accent when I say that. I don't think I ever said that.

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I think by the time. Don't touch that dial, folks. By the time I had like my own air shift,

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I think it was like the. You were seven. I mean, like like a prime, a prime air shift morning, morning shift, afternoon drive, something like that, not like not like the stuff

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I did late at night or on the weekends or something like that. Anyway, as I was saying,

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I think that by that time you're pushing the scan button, so it wasn't you didn't have really a dial anymore.

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So I wasn't. Don't touch that dial. We'll be right back. After these messages.

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I was going to do that, but I was in the middle. We'll be right back. Yeah, I'm sorry.

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I should leave the jingles to you. Enjoy the jingle.