F4F | Joel Osteen's False Doctrine of the Whispers of God

Fighting for the Faith

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Welcome to another installment of Fighting for the Faith. My name is Chris Roseborough. I am your servant in Jesus Christ.

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This is the channel that compares what people are saying in the name of God to the Word of God.

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So you've probably heard it before that we need to learn how to hear the still small voice of the

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Holy Spirit and God the Holy Spirit is going to speak to you in whispers. Whispers! What if I told you the

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Bible doesn't teach that? Now it does mention the low whisper for sure, but it doesn't ever say that God is going to speak to you in a still small voice.

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It tells you something very different. In fact, there's a place where we can know that we're hearing the

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Word of God and hearing His voice and it ain't whispers. So let's do this.

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How do I prepare you for what's going to happen? We're going to head down to Lakewood and we're going to listen to Joel Osteen as he preaches about the whispers of God and things like this.

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So let me whirl up the desktop and let's pull up the web browser.

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And so the name of the sermon is called Listening to the Whisper. He recently re -promoted this.

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It was actually from a year ago and surprised I missed it, because this is exactly the kind of material that I'm looking for for a

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Fighting for the Faith episode. And so that you know ahead of time, as we're listening to Joel Osteen, he will be transmogrified and warped and his voice pitch changed.

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This is not to embarrass him. This is because he refuses to allow for fair use to work when it comes to critiquing him.

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So he has this really, really bad habit of any time somebody critiques him and he gets the alerts on YouTube, his people, they take down videos.

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Mike Winger learned this the hard way. And so we always try to stay a step ahead of folks like Joel Osteen.

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So we will be transmogrifying and warping his voice. That being the case, you need to know that we're going to work through some of his presuppositions here.

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We'll do a little methodical Bible teaching along the way. However, we're going to listen to a little bit more of Osteen than I normally would like to, because I want to make sure that people understand exactly what it is that we're critiquing and they see that we're doing it in context.

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And I'm going to note that in the segment that we're going to be looking at, no Bible was pulled out.

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Just allusions to biblical stories, but a complete twisting of scripture by not actually reading it and actually checking out what it says.

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So all that being said, let's take a listen to Joel Osteen and his sermon, listening to The Whisper.

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Here we go. I want to talk to you today about, listen to The Whisper. We don't always realize how

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God speaks to us. We've seen in the movies where, what do you mean we don't realize how God speaks to us?

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If God's talking to me, I'm going to hear it. So this idea that somehow

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God the Holy Spirit is powerless, like there's God the Holy Spirit tapping on his microphone, hello?

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Is this thing on? Hi, this is the Holy Spirit.

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And can you hear me? Hello? Is this thing working?

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I have a message I want to give to you. Hello? You'll know that this is just ridiculous.

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It's ridiculous right off the bat. Listen again. In Jesus' name,

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God bless you. I want to talk to you today about, listen to The Whisper. We don't always realize how

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God speaks to us. God speaks to me in his word.

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And if God wanted to talk to me any other way, he could. And I would know he was talking to me.

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We've seen in the movies where God spoke to Moses, the voice boomed out of the heavens, sounded like thunder, so powerful and dramatic, gave you goosebumps.

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But most of the time, God speaks to us in a gentle whisper. It's not something loud.

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It's not forceful. It's called the still small voice. Now, here's the thing. No biblical text teaches this.

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Like not even one. Most of the time that God talks to you, it's going to be through a still small voice.

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No, it's not. It's going to be in his word. Like 99 .9999999

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% of the time that God talks to you, it's going to be through his word. And I know this from scripture.

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This doctrine that God's going to talk to you, and most of the time when he's conversing with you, it's going to be a still small voice.

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It's a twisting of a particular biblical text. In fact, let's open up our Bible and let's take a look at the first text that we need to look at in this regard.

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And so, he doesn't even reference it in the section of the sermon that we're going to be looking at.

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But where people get the concept of the still small voice is from 1 Kings chapter 19.

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And here's how it reads. Ahav told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

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In fuller context, back in chapter 18, you had the showdown between Elijah, the prophet of Yahweh, and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.

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And that didn't end well for the prophets of Baal. They were all killed at the end of it when God actually showed up and took the sacrifice of Elijah and burned it with fire.

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It was just an amazing, amazing story. So Ahav, the husband of Jezebel, he witnessed all of this and he goes and he tells everything that happened on Mount Carmel and how

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Elijah had killed all the prophets with the sword. And rather than Jezebel going, oh, you mean

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Baal isn't real? Oh my goodness, we need to repent and we need to trust in Yahweh and believe in him.

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No, she doesn't repent at all. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me.

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And more also, if I do not make your life, make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow,

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I'm coming to murder you, Elijah. How dare you kill my false prophets? So then he was afraid,

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Elijah was afraid, and he rose and ran for his life and came to Bereshiba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there.

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But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree.

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And he asked that he might die saying, it is enough now, oh Yahweh, take my life, take away my life for I am no better than my father's.

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And he laid down and he slept under the broom tree and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, arise and eat.

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And he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water.

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So no, prophet of God in the wilderness being miraculously fed. There's themes going on here that kind of invoke the exodus, but Elijah's heading the wrong way.

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He's heading back to Mount Sinai. That's the wrong direction, I'm just saying, all right?

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So he looked up, behold, there was at his head a cake baked on stones and a jar of water and he ate and drank and laid down again.

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And the angel of Yahweh came again a second time, touched him and said, arise and eat for the journey is too great for you.

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And he rose and ate and drank and he went in the strength of that food, 40 days, 40 nights, 40 years in the wilderness.

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You see the kind of the theme that's invoking exodus, that oftentimes the scripture like, you know, hyperlinks itself in these ways.

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To Horeb, okay, this is the mountain of God. So he's gone from the promised land back to Mount Sinai, which doesn't make any sense.

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So there he came to a cave and lodged in it and behold, the word of Yahweh came to him and he said to him, what are you doing here,

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Elijah? Note, God is capable of talking and he spoke clearly to Elijah, asked him a question.

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He said, I've been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of armies, that's what savah means here, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword and I, even

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I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. And he said, you go out and you stand on the mount before Yahweh, behold,

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Yahweh passed by in a great and strong wind, tore the mountains and broken pieces the rocks before Yahweh, but Yahweh was not in the wind.

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And after the wind, an earthquake, but Yahweh was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but Yahweh was not in the fire.

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And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. Some translations say still small voice, but, you know, but low whisper is probably, you know, the, the, the better of the translations here, uh, you know, so low whisper.

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And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and he went out and stood at the entrance of the cave and behold, there came a voice to him and said, what are you doing here,

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Elijah? He said, I have been very jealous for Yahweh, the God of armies.

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That's what savah means for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword.

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And I, even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away. And Yahweh said to him, you go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.

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And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king over Israel and Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel Mahaloah, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.

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And one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death. And the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall

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Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave 7 ,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.

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So that's the account. Okay. That's the account. And nowhere in this account are we led to believe by scripture that because Elijah heard a still small voice or a low whisper, that this is normative now for Christians.

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Far from it. This is a descriptive text, not a prescriptive text.

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Nowhere in scripture are we taught that as Elijah heard the still small voice, so God the

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Holy Spirit is going to speak to you in a still small voice. It doesn't say it anywhere.

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And those who take this idea from this passage and say, God's going to talk to you in a still small voice, they are twisting the scriptures and they are teaching you to hear a voice that isn't the voice of God.

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Oftentimes, most of the time when people hear this still small voice, it's their own emotions, their own passions, their own gut feelings, whatever.

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It's not the Holy Spirit. Or worse, sometimes people in chasing after this still small voice are instead listening to deceiving spirits who are going to teach people to depart from the faith.

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And the fact that everybody who teaches this doctrine about the still small voice is twisting this text should tell you something, that they are deceivers or deceived, but they're not teaching you the truth of scripture.

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So let's come back to Joel Osteen and his claim regarding the still small voice.

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I'm going to back this up just a little bit and watch what he does. He goosebumps, but most of the time

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God speaks to us in a gentle whisper. It's not something loud, it's not forceful, it's called the still small voice.

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Which biblical text says that most of the time God talks to us, it's with the still small voice? No biblical text says it, period.

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That means this is not a biblical teaching, this is a false doctrine. We feel an impression, a prompting, not in our head, but in our heart, it's like a suggestion, something that we suddenly know we're supposed to do.

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That's not random, that's not you just thinking up things, that's God speaking to you. Says which biblical text?

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Which biblical text says that when you get a prompt, you know, when you get something like this, that that's the Holy Spirit speaking to you.

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No text says it. Not one. Six times in the Gospels, Jesus said, he that has ears, let him hear what the

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Spirit is saying. Everyone has ears. He wasn't talking about physically, he's talking about your inner ears.

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He was saying, are you sensitive to the whisper? Are you paying attention to what you're feeling in your spirit?

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Alright, so now we have like first reference to something in the Bible from him, like legitimately.

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And here's the problem, is that he is absolutely lying, like legitimately, on purpose, deceiving.

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So in Accordance, which is this Bible software I use for this, for fighting for the faith.

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I study in Logos, by the way, I teach in Accordance, but that's a whole other story.

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But you'll note, so if I typed in, he who has ears, and I limited my search to the

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Gospels, and so we got one, two, three, four, five, six. Six different times it says, he who has ears, let him hear.

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Here's the issue, is that a couple of these times, three of these times, it's all in the same parable, just retold.

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So Christ only said this a few times, and when we fact check Joel Osteen, so for instance, one time,

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Matthew 11, 15, Jesus says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. Is Jesus saying, you need to be alert and pay attention to the still small voice of the

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Holy Spirit speaking inside of you? Was that his point in Matthew 10, verse,

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I'm sorry, Matthew 11, verse 15? Well, the answer is no. So here's our context. Jesus is talking about John the

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Baptist, so Matthew 11, 12. So the three rules for sound biblical exegesis are context, context, and context.

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Put this back into context, and then ask yourself, is Jesus saying what

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Joel Osteen said? So Jesus said, truly I say to you, among those born of women, so this is

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Matthew 11, 11, there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist, yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

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From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

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For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the

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Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So Jesus isn't here saying, you need to be in tune to the still small voice.

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What he's saying is, I want you to dig deeper into what I'm saying. You'll see what

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I'm saying is true. And it's almost like saying, test me, check this out, see if this doesn't really, and the fact there's even deeper meaning here if you'll dig for it.

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That's what Christ means here in Matthew 11, verse 15.

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Now the other time in Matthew that Jesus says this is after he gives the parable of the sower and the soils.

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So let me show you that in its context. So let me back this up. You know, oh, I added too much context here.

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Hang on a second. There we go. So that same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. Great crowds gathered about him.

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So they got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying, a sower went out to sow.

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And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil.

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Immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched, and since they had no root, they withered away.

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Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

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He who has ears, let him hear. You're going to note, that's at the end of this parable.

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And the disciples had to go to Jesus and ask him to explain what he meant.

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So Jesus here, again, he's talking in parables, but what he's saying is absolutely true. And so it has to be listened to in faith, in him.

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And he explains how the exegesis works here, how you interpret parables. Christ makes it very clear.

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He gives his disciples a crash course on how to understand the parables, so that they, having ears, they will hear what it is that he's saying.

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Because the meaning that Christ has given here is not on the surface of the parable, it's in interpreting the parable.

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And so, he who has ears, let him hear, that's a call for the careful disciple of Jesus to sit down and consider the meaning of the parable itself.

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So this is not, as Joel Osteen has said, Jesus saying, you need to be alert and listen to the voice of the still small voice inside of you.

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That's just not true at all. And then, so, Matthew 13, then,

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Jesus tells another parable, and he explains the parable.

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So watch what it says, so the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. This is the parable of the sower who sows good seed in the ground, and then an enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat, right?

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The field is the world, the good seed is the sons of the kingdom, the weeds are the son of the evil one, the enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age.

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The reapers are the angels, just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so it will be at the end of the age.

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The son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace.

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In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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Jesus is, again, this is a call to faith, a call to study and dig deep into what

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Jesus meant in this parable. It is not telling you to listen to the still small voice that's supposed to be speaking into your heart.

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And then when we fast forward a little bit farther, you know what I've added context here, we go into the gospel of Mark, in the gospel of Mark, Jesus said, other seeds fell into the good soil, produced grain.

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This is just Jesus saying, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. This is Mark's recounting of Jesus giving the parable of the sowers.

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So that doesn't count as a fourth time, this is still technically one of the three times that we've looked at where Christ has said, he who has ears, let him hear.

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And then if we fast forward even farther, let's see here, in Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seeds again, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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This is not a fifth time that Jesus said that, it's still part of the three times that Christ has said it that we've looked at so far.

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And then let's see here. In Luke 14,

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Jesus says, no, this is going to be a fourth time Jesus says it because it's unique and it's not a redundancy.

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Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile that is thrown away.

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He who has ears to hear, let him hear. That's a call for people in faith to deeply consider the meaning of what it is that Jesus is saying here.

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So those are all six of the accounts and four of them are original. Three of them are

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Jesus saying at the same time in the parable. So there's only four times that Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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And not one of them, not even one, is Jesus saying what

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Joel Osteen says he's saying. Again, listen to what he says. He that has ears, let him hear what the

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Spirit is saying. For everyone has ears. He wasn't talking about physically. He's talking about your inner ears.

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He was saying, are you sensitive to the whisper? Are you paying attention to what you're feeling in your spirit?

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It's easy to ignore. No, he's not. Not any of the four times that Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.

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It was Jesus saying, are you sensitive to the Spirit who's speaking inside of you? That still, small voice, Joel Osteen just twisted the scripture horrifically.

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What does this tell you about this doctrine? Satan is the one who wants you to chase after hearing the

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Holy Spirit as a still, small voice, not God. If God wanted you to hear his still, small voice, he would teach you in his word directly.

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Why isn't Joel Osteen just going to the passage that says, God is going to speak to you in a still, small voice, and this is the primary way he's going to communicate to you.

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You need to learn that, because there is no text that says it. So he's left with a conundrum.

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Since he believes this, and it's not taught in the Bible, what must he do?

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He has to twist the Bible to make the Bible appear to teach this doctrine, but it doesn't.

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So keep that in mind. ...push it down, but if you'll start obeying these promptings, the suggestions, the gentle whispers,

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God will lead you down the best path for your life. And how do you know that voice is God's voice?

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You see that co -worker, suddenly you have the desire to be good to them. Okay, nobody says you have a co -worker and suddenly you have the desire to be good to them.

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You are aware, sir, that the Bible instructs Christians to be good and treat kindly even our enemies.

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Let me, let me give you a text on this one. Okay. Let's see here. Is it

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Romans 13? All right. Yeah. Let's see here.

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Um, it might, it might actually, hang on a second here, uh, Kohl's, I'm going to just look for the word

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Kohl's and let's see here. Ah, Romans 12. Okay. Romans 12.

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We're going to add a little bit. Uh, here's what scripture says, uh, beloved, never avenge yourselves, leave it to the wrath of God for it is written vengeance is mine.

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I will repay, says Lord. To the contrary. If your enemy's hungry, you feed him. If he's thirsty, you give him something to drink for by so doing you will heap burning

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Kohl's on his head. Do not over be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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So I, I, the Holy Spirit has instructed me through his word to be good to my coworkers and to people and stuff.

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I, you know, if you're waiting for a prompting, you know, the still small voice to give you a kick in the pants, you're not listening to the voice of God.

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Now real quick, this is where I think we need to interject with a little bit more scripture. And, um, people say, well, doesn't

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Jesus say in the gospel of John, my sheep hear my voice.

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Oh yeah. He says that, but he's not talking about the still small voice, nor is he talking about God talking directly to you in your heart.

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In fact, it's, it's not even close to that at all. Luke chapter 10, verse 16,

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Jesus says to his disciples who will become his apostles. The one who hears you, hears me.

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The one who rejects you, rejects me. The one who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.

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So let me ask you, where can we go to hear the words of the apostles?

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Scripture. It's in the new Testament. That's where it's recorded. Um, Jesus in the gospel of John chapter 17 in his high priestly prayer, listen to his prayer.

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He says, I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.

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That's you and I, uh, I believe in Jesus because I've heard the gospel and how did

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I hear the gospel through the word of the apostles? So no crisis, he prayed for you here.

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And who are we? We believe through whose words? Theirs that are written in the scriptures, the apostolic scriptures.

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This is also why then in Ephesians chapter two, it says this in starting at 19, you are no longer strangers and aliens.

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You are fellow citizens with the saints and you are members of the household of God, which is built on what?

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The foundation of the apostles and prophets. You'll note that the same Holy Spirit that, that, uh, that gave utterances to the prophets of the old

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Testament is the same Holy Spirit that is working through the apostles and there and the Holy Spirit is the unified voice between what's written in the old

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Testament and the new. And so the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

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That's what it's built on. God's word, the scriptures, Christ alone himself being the cornerstone.

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Peter in his last letter before he dies says this, we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and the coming of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when he received honor and glory from God, the father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory.

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This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Again, this is referencing the Mount of Transfiguration.

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I would note that as far as, um, uh, glorious experiences, the glory that there's now there's few that are even this close in scripture.

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This one's like a pinnacle one apex. Peter was there to witness the very glory of Christ and he himself says, we, we ourselves heard the very voice born from heaven where we were with him on the holy mountain.

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And we have the prophetic word, which is more fully confirmed. The prophetic word is the scripture to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns in the morning star rises in your heart.

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Knowing this first of all, no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the

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Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is still speaking in his word. He has not promised to speak to you in a still small voice, far from it.

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In fact, the apostle Paul, uh, apostle Peter here is pointing us to the word just before he's crucified.

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Pay attention to the word, the word, the word, the word, the word, the word, because he knew that what he experienced on the

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Mount of Transfiguration, as glorious as it was, the word is even better than that.

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And we know that the Holy Spirit speaks through the word. Uh, Paul in, in his last epistle in second

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Timothy says this, understand this, that in the last days, there will come, uh, times of difficulty.

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People will be lovers of self, narcissists. We live in these times, by the way, right now. Lovers of money, you know, like Joel Osteen, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self -control, brutal, not loving the good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

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This sounds like Twitter, uh, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power, avoid such people.

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Among them are those who creep into household and capture weak women. Think Mike Bickle. Burdened with sins, led away by various passions, always learning, never able to arrive at a, at a knowledge of the truth.

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Just as Janice and John Breeze, those are the magicians that opposed Moses in Pharaoh's court, opposed

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Moses, so these men also opposed the truth. Men corrupted in mind, disqualified regarding the faith.

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They'll not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. But you, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, which persecutions

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I endured, yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

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But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you have learned it and how from childhood you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, grammata, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

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All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

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Right. So where do I hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? In the scriptures.

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That's where Christ points us to. That's where the apostles point us to.

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Why would we listen for God's voice anywhere else? Believe me, if God really wanted to talk to you, he would, and you would know it was him.

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Okay? So, yeah, so what they're basically doing here is just absolutely deplorable, best way

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I can put it. But we'll talk more about God's word in a little bit, but let's come back to Joel Osteen.

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Compassion, something says, let them know that you care. You'll be tempted to reason it out. They look like they're doing fine.

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They don't need my encouragement. Don't ignore the whisper. God wouldn't have given you that impression if they didn't need it.

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You don't know what people are going through. You can't judge by the outside. That whisper is

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God leading you. The more your scripture says that I've had, I've run into so many people who've claimed that they followed these whispers and gotten themselves in all kinds of really awful circumstances.

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Now I can't even trust that I'm hearing the voice of God. You weren't hearing the voice of God. Stop listening to the voice inside of you.

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That's just your feelings and your passions or worse, the devil trying to deceive you and listen to the word.

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Be a disciple of the word of God. God is speaking through his word and will equip you for every good work through the word.

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Obey that still small voice. The more God can entrust you with. Sometimes you feel an unrest.

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I got to back this up because he just made it. This is a doctrine, but it's not taught in scripture.

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Listen again. Wouldn't have given you that impression if they didn't need it. You don't know what people are going through. You can't judge by the outside.

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That whisper is God leading you. The more you obey that still small voice, the more God can entrust you with.

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Where in scripture does it say the more you and you obey that still small voice, the more God can entrust you with chapter and verse.

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Which verse says it? There is no passage that says this. This is totally made up.

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Sometimes you feel an unrest and uneasiness. I like listening to you. It makes me really uneasy.

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Arm is going off, telling you not to do something. Stay away from that person. Don't take that business deal. Don't get involved in that situation.

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Don't listen to this man's teaching. He's a false teacher. Looks fine. Everything seems okay. My still small voice doesn't tell me that God's word does.

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Against the whisper. God sees things that we can't see. He knows where the dead ends are. He knows the people that are going to pull us down and waste our time.

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When we look back over our life mistakes, we've made disappointments, failures. If we're honest, most of the time we can see how

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God tried to warn us. We felt the uneasiness. We knew something wasn't right, but we wanted our way so badly.

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We overrode it. Why do you think that's the Holy Spirit? Why? It could be just like just plain old logic, you know, and you know, something doesn't seem right because two plus two doesn't equal 22.

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Uh, that doesn't take the Holy Spirit. The intuition like this is, um, this is common to humanity, even among pagans.

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If there's an unrest, if that whisper is saying back off, it's not because God is punishing you, keeping you from something good.

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He's protecting you. He's keeping you from heartache. The reason that whisper is saying no is because he has something better in store.

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When you have big decisions. Where in scripture does it say that? The reason why God is protecting you through this whisper is because he has something bigger in store.

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You're making a promise for God that God's word doesn't make. Where do, who authorized you to make this promise for God?

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Because it's not found in the Bible. Things you're concerned about. It's important to get quiet and listen to the whisper.

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Listen to what you're feeling. You can't hear it if you're always busy. Listen to what you're feeling. Feelings, nothing more than feelings.

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This isn't God. This is just feelings. Feelings. Whoa, feelings, noisy, stressed out, getting opinions from others on the phone all the time.

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It's not that God isn't speaking. It's that it's too loud around us. Where in scripture does it say that it's too loud?

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Because God's speaking to you in a whisper. You've got to find a quiet spot to listen and tune in to the whisper.

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Where does it say that? No biblical text teaches it. In fact,

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I would argue that you'll probably find this doctrine being taught in the scripture right next to the biblical passage that says that Mary was a perpetual virgin and teaches semper virgo and that we should pray to her as well.

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You'll find it in the same passage, same section, which means it's not there at all.

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You need times of peace, times where you can get quiet and hear the whisper. It says no scripture anywhere.

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Every morning, I start the day off saying, God, help my spiritual ears to be sensitive to your voice. Help me.

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There's your problem. You should be reading his word. To hear what you're saying today. It's not going to be your mind, just a feeling down in here, an impression.

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All of a sudden, you have a desire to check on your children, a prompting to go to a certain place.

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Which biblical text is he preaching from? He isn't. It's easy to dismiss it all.

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That's nothing. That's just me daydreaming. No, that's God speaking to you. Pay attention to the whispers.

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There are times these whispers are going to ask you to do things. Just look at the sheer amount of people there to hear this false doctrine.

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And they show up week after week after week, and they are not learning God's word at all.

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They are being taught man -made doctrines or worse doctrines of demons, and they are eating it up in droves.

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Pray for these people. The God would open their eyes and deliver them out of this mess. Don't understand things that don't make sense.

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If you reason it out and look at it only from a logical point of view, you'll talk yourself out of it. When Victoria and I were first married.

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Now, this next section, it's a little bit long, but I'm going to point this out. He's not going to a biblical text because there are no biblical texts that teach this.

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So, in order to prove that this doctrine is true, he's now going to give personal testimony.

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Oh, well, I know this is true because Victoria and I listened to a still small voice and had a great outcome.

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And you can have great outcomes, too, because we did when we listened to the still small voice. And people consider this to be a really definitive argument.

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Like, oh, this is proof that it's true. No, it's not.

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If it were true and Christians were to believe it, it would be in the scriptures. But it's not.

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So, what does he have to do now? He has to go to personal experiences. And here's his retelling of a personal experience where he and Victoria listened to the still small voice.

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And boy, did it turn out well for them. We found this town home that we really loved. It was a beautiful place with big windows looking out to the woods, tall ceilings.

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We got it for an amazing price. Almost half of what it was worth. We were so grateful. We never dreamed that in our mid -twenties we would have a place that nice.

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But about a year later, Victoria said, Joel, I feel so strongly we need to sell this place and buy a house.

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And there's no proof that this is the Holy Spirit. There's none. There's no proof at all. Because God, the

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Holy Spirit, promises to speak through his word. Psalm 119, an entire psalm dedicated to the praise of God's word in God's word.

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Listen to what it says. Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of Yahweh.

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Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.

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You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. And where do we find God's precepts?

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Scripture. Oh, that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes.

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Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all of your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart when

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I learn your righteous rules. I will keep your statutes. Do not utterly forsake me.

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How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart,

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I seek you. Let me not wander from your commandments. I have stored up your word in my heart that I may not sin against you.

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Blessed are you, oh Yahweh, teach me your statutes. With my lips, I declare all the rules of your mouth.

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In the way of your testimonies, I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts, fix my eyes on your ways.

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I will delight in your statutes. I will not forget your word.

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Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

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I am a sojourner on the earth. Hide not your commandments from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times.

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You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I've kept your testimonies.

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Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes.

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Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors. My soul clings to the dust.

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Give me life according to your word. When I told of my ways, you answered me.

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Teach me your statutes. Make me understand the way of your precepts. I will meditate on your wondrous works.

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My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law.

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I have chosen the way of faithfulness. I have set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies,

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O Yahweh. Let me not be put to shame. I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart.

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Teach me your way, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end." Interesting to note here when people say that Christianity is a relationship, not a religion.

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It's not a religion, it's a relationship. That's how they talk, right? Well, therefore, we should expect to hear God's voice because,

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I mean, what kind of relationship would you have if you don't have communication from the other party?

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But over and again, they don't consider the written word of God to be valid communication from God to those whom he is in relationship with.

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But yet the scriptures make it clear, this is the means by which God talks to us. That's just the case.

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And if what Joel Osteen was saying here were true, why isn't he going to the biblical text and just making the biblical case and saying, there it is.

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You need to learn how to hear God's still small voice. Nope. He's just giving us personal testimony time.

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I know this is true because my wife once felt bad about a real estate deal. Okay. What do you mean?

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This place is perfect. We just got here. That didn't make sense to my mind. But when I got quiet and listened down in here,

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I could hear that same thing. Don't be surprised if that still small voice whispers things that go against your logic.

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God's ways are not our ways. That's a test. Yes, it's true. God's ways are not our ways and God's thoughts are not our thoughts.

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That has nothing to do with hearing whispers. In fact, I seem to remember there's a context.

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In fact, let me do this real quick. I'm again, just to kind of demonstrate this.

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If I were to go to Google, right? God's ways are not our ways.

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Just do a quick Google search. You want to find a passage. Isaiah 55 is your text, okay?

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And my thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. There's a context of that text in Isaiah 55.

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Let's take a look at it. Isaiah 55, and I recently taught on this. But it's worth paying attention.

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So, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways. Let the unrighteous man his thoughts.

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Let him return to Yahweh that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares

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Yahweh. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

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And so, you'll note here, that's spoken then, you know, God's ways are higher than our ways.

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That's spoken in the context of what? Repentance and forsaking wickedness.

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And then it goes on to say, for the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.

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So shall my word that goes out from my mouth, it will not return to me empty. So, note, the very passage that he referenced has nothing to do with hearing a still small voice, instead has to do with repentance and hearing and believing the word of God, Isaiah 55.

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So, that should be even further proof that what this man is doing is absolutely wicked.

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Backing up, listen again. Here, I could hear that same thing. Don't be surprised if that still small voice whispers things that go against your logic.

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God's ways are not our ways. That's a test. You have to trust that God knows what's best for you.

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Again, you just twisted Isaiah 55. It has nothing to do with hearing a still small voice. We took that step of faith and sold it.

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A few months later, Victoria called and said, Joel, I found our new house. Meet me at the property. I pulled up.

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It was this old rundown house. Hadn't been lived in in years. Had broken windows, foundation problems.

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The kitchen had buckets of water on the floor from the holes in the roof. Wasn't even livable, but it was on a beautiful half acre lot.

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By the way, it's the still small voice that Joel Osteen is listening to that he uses to explain why he doesn't preach repentance or anything negative from the scripture.

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Keep that in mind. Close into the city. All of our logic said, are you crazy? You moved out of your beautiful town home to this piece of junk?

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But down in my spirit, I could hear that whisper saying, this is it. Move forward. The scripture talks about peace that passes understanding.

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Which has nothing to do with the still small voice. Okay. Another search.

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Okay. We'll just go Bible. Peace that passes all understanding.

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If you want to know where the text is, it's Philippians 4, 5 through 7. So let's take a look at that, shall we?

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Let's see here. Okay. So Philippians 4, Philippians 4. So this is in the tail end of the book of Philippians.

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So he's giving personal information here. I entreat you, Daya, and I entreat

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Syncthi, to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

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Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Okay. And here we have an imperative, a wonderful imperative.

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Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication. Supplications are emergency prayers in a time of urgency.

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By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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Yeah, this text isn't teaching anything about still small voices.

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Instead, it's in the context of not being anxious and to bring all of our requests to God in prayer and God's peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, even in the midst of those anxieties where we're having to pray and offer up urgent supplications for ourselves and for others.

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So Joel Osteen again has twisted God's word. What does that tell you about this doctrine? We continue.

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That means sometimes your logic is not going to understand. Your intellect is not going to get it. But down in your spirit is not what that means in Philippians 4 at all.

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There will be a peace, a rest, a knowing. You can't explain it. Doesn't make sense.

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Philippians 4 is not about being able to make decisions and make, oh, well, I have a peace about it. That's a twisting of God's word.

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And that's not even a biblical practice. Paper. You just know that, you know, it's right for you.

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We bought the house and we're going to fix it up. The day we closed on the property, I was standing in the front yard and this car pulled up.

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Lady got out and asked if we wanted to sell the property. I said, no, ma 'am, we just bought it. She said, how about I pay you more and you make a good profit?

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I said, no, thanks. We really want to stay here. She said, congratulations. You just bought your dream house.

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I didn't know what she meant. Well, the neighborhood was in the process of changing the deed restrictions so you could subdivide the property.

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A year later, a builder knocked on our door and wanted to buy it. We sold half of the property for more than we paid for the whole property.

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He built two houses, one for him and one for us. Our house he built for no fee. We just paid the materials and the labor.

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No, this is held up as proof that God's going to speak to you through a still small voice. But there's no evidence that God had anything to do with this.

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Since he's a false teacher and he's twisting God's word, maybe it was the devil who prompted him to get into this really good real estate deal.

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It was more than we could ever imagine. We went from a small town home to a beautiful new house in a nice area in Houston.

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This all started from a whisper, a simple suggestion down in our spirit. If you'll be sensitive to that still small voice, not talk yourself out of it,

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God will lead you places that you've never dreamed. No scripture says that either. Where in scripture does it say if you follow still small voices,

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God will lead you to places you've never dreamed of? No biblical text says that either.

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Wow. See, the Holy Spirit is on the inside of each one of us. True. The Holy Spirit does dwell in Christians.

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He's called our helper, our counselor, our advocate, the paraclete. Yeah. Guide. The more sensitive we are to his whispers, what we're feeling, the promptings, the nudgings, the further we're going to go.

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No scripture says that. Not one. Not even half of one. This is just flat out a completely man -made doctrine and a man -made practice, which is, that's the reason why he can't open up a biblical text and show you where it teaches it.

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This is something I've learned so strongly, especially the last 20 years. I won't go against what I'm feeling on the inside.

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And there's where we're different. I always check my feelings in accordance with the actual word of God.

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I won't go against the word. He doesn't care about that. He's not teaching people to hear

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God in his word. He's teaching people to hear God in their guts. And it could be a piece of bad pizza from the night before.

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It could be your sinful passions. It could be the voice of the devil. But there's no, there's no promise.

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The promises he's making for God are not found in the scripture. This is not a biblical doctrine.

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You want to hear the voice of God? Open your Bible and read it.

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You want to hear it audibly? Go to a church where the pastor reads and preaches the word correctly and rightly handles it.

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You'll hear God's voice and God the Holy Spirit will speak through his word. So hopefully you found this helpful.

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I know there's going to be comments going, well, you can't be right, Roseboro. If you want to leave comments, you can.

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But if you're going to leave a comment and tell me that, no, God speaks to us through the still small voice, chapter and verse, please.

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Show me in the scriptures where it says that God's going to speak to us in whispers.

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And explain to me if this was a biblical teaching, why Joel Osteen had to twist it all up to make it look like it was a biblical teaching when in fact it isn't.

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This is really taught in the Bible. You just be able to walk into those biblical texts and say, here you go.

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There they are. But they don't exist because God speaks to us through his word.

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And thank you for all of you who do. And until next time, may God richly bless you in the grace and mercy won by Jesus Christ and his vicarious death on the cross for all of your sins.

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