WWUTT 683 The Lord Knows Those Who are His?

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Jesus said, look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly

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Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? The Lord knows those who are

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His when we understand the text. You're listening to When We Understand The Text, committed to the sound teaching of the

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Word of God. Find videos and more at our website, www .utt .com.

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Now here's our host, Pastor Gabe Hughes. Thank you, Becky. We continue with our study of 2 Timothy chapter 2, beginning in verse 14, and I'm going to add a couple of verses to the section that we've been studying today.

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The Apostle Paul writes, remind them of these things and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

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Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

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But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene.

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Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened.

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They are upsetting the faith of some. But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal, the

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Lord knows those who are His, and let everyone who names the name of the

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Lord depart from iniquity. Now in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.

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Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

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You know, just yesterday, even as I finished up teaching on staying away from quarrels about words and avoiding irreverent babble, it struck me a certain quarrel that is going on in our culture that is exactly that.

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It is a quarrel about words. And this not only is taking place in the secular realm, but has even crept its way into evangelicalism.

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And this is the quarrel over social justice, in which inequality is being equated with injustice.

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There may be an argument for people being treated unequally, but does that mean some grave injustice is going on in our culture?

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That's a completely different discussion. And so this becomes a quarrel over words.

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Furthermore, entire groups of people are being lumped together as being the same.

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All white people are the same and experience the same benefits. All black people are the same and experience the same benefits.

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And these are the two groups of people that we're going to focus on. Let's not even consider Asians in America or Latinos or on and on.

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The ethnicity, the list of ethnicities can go. It seems like the discussion right now is only focused on black and white.

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It has become a black and white issue. And all whites experience the same thing. All blacks experience the same thing.

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All blacks are being treated unjustly. And this is the neo -Marxism that has infected our rhetoric.

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And it is a quarrel over words. And taking this issue alone, you can see how it is doing no good.

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It's actually causing division. It is not uniting people. It is only ruining the hearers.

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Hearing statistics that are being twisted and warped in order to side with their particular argument or bias.

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And they're allowed to say things about one group of people with immunity. You can't accuse me of the same thing.

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I can accuse you of being racist. And I can make racist remarks. But you can't make those same remarks toward me.

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And in order to believe some of the rhetoric that is coming about, you're being asked to take certain pieces of information for granted and not questioning any of it.

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And if you question it, well, see, that makes you socially unjust because you're just not woke enough yet.

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You are part of a system that has ingrained a certain mentality into you, and you're just not aware of the problems that exist all around you.

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You're totally comfortable with your whiteness and not seeing the plight of the black man. And once again, it's only focused on white and black.

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Doesn't consider anyone else outside that color spectrum, which in itself is racist.

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It's neo -Marxism. It's also racism. Let me come back for a moment to the sermon that I had played on Friday when

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I was talking about these things, addressing the problems with the MLK 50 conference that was held in Memphis, Tennessee, a little over a month ago.

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I played a sermon from Matt Chandler and highlighted all of the problems with it and how that sermon was characteristic of every other problem is coming out of MLK 50.

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I want to go to the section of the sermon where Chandler called for affirmative action in the way that we choose our pastors.

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There was something about that that was actually incredibly inconsiderate.

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I did not mention this on Friday. It was something I thought about later, but I want to play this part of the sermon again.

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Here's Chandler. And so one of the firms that's helping us find men said, let me ask you a question,

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Pastor Matt, if we find an Anglo eight and an

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African American seven, which one do you want? I said, I want the African American seven. And he said, what if we find an

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Anglo eight and an African American six? And I said, then give me the Anglo eight because the

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African American six will look and feel to our people like the kind of tokenism that I'm preaching against.

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Now you may already recognize how inconsiderate that is, but let me try to break it down a little bit here.

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So Chandler is saying that at one of his other village churches, if they're looking for a pastor for one of those churches, and it's between a white guy who would rank at an eight and a black guy who would rank at about a seven, he's going to choose the black guy over the white guy because the black guy has not had as many opportunities as the white guy has had again, lumping all black people the same and all white people the same.

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But what he ends up fostering in the heart of all of his black pastors and every pastor that will be hired in the future at the village church, that man will be left wondering if he really was the best and most qualified person for that job.

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Or if there was a white guy who was better suited for that position, and the only reason that guy was hired was because he was black.

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And that man who is not as mature as somebody else that Chandler could have hired for that position, it's very likely that he's going to end up judging people in his congregation according to their appearances, because that's the way he was judged.

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And likewise, the rest of the people in the congregation will judge one another by what they see instead of regarding one another as fellow image bearers of God and those who are being sanctified into the image of Christ.

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This is what Chandler is fostering in the hearts of the people in his church.

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And he thinks he's solving a problem, he's actually making it worse. And it goes against what we have been told in scripture.

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In James 2, 1, my brothers show no partiality as you hold the faith in our

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Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. This is quarreling over words.

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It is irreverent babble, and it does not lead to godliness. It does not lead to unity.

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In fact, it spreads like gangrene, and it will cause division in the body of Christ as parts of the body will rot due to this

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Neo Marxist thinking that has weaseled its way into the body of Christ and will get worse, by the way, it will get worse than the rhetoric that is currently being shared.

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And the result is going to be division. As a matter of fact, at the very start of this sermon, Chandler even admitted that he said there was a group of 300 fools is what he called them, who left the body left the village church because they were addressing this very issue.

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Now, there may have been a good reason for those families to have left, or it could have been that they really were fools and they refused to talk these matters out and come to an understanding and go through the process of approaching a brother that you disagree with.

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As we have laid out for us in places like Matthew chapter 18, maybe they really were divisive fools.

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But if Chandler is preaching at the village church like he preached this sermon at MLK 50,

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I understand why there are concerns among members of his congregation and why there are families who are considering leaving.

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Now, that's not to say that there is no such thing as prejudice in our churches.

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Prejudice is unfortunately a very common thing. And it even exists within the church because churches are full of people who are sinners.

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The difference between the church and those who are outside the church is that the church is being sanctified by Christ, whereas those who are outside the church are completely comfortable with their sin.

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So there is certainly going to be occasions in which issues just like this, just like prejudice are going to have to be addressed, but understand something about prejudice.

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It's not just something that exists between blacks and whites. Prejudice exists in black churches.

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It could be a social class issue. The upper echelon people in the black church look down on those who are lower class.

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There is prejudice that exists in a Latino church. There's prejudice that exists in an all

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Caucasian church where everybody speaks Russian. There's prejudice there. And when these matters of prejudice arise, they need to be confronted with the word of God and on a case by case basis.

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The problem with the way that Chandler was addressing it is that all white people experience the same thing and all black people experience the same thing.

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And the solution to this problem is to show favoritism to the black man, which becomes racist. It's not a genuine love and concern for individuals, but simply showing favoritism to you because you're black.

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And that does not develop a unity. It's still division. Even when you're giving somebody more than what you're giving another person, it is still showing partiality.

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It is exactly against what the scripture says that we should be in the way that we treat one another in the body of Christ.

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We're quarreling over words as we confront these matters rather than going back to the gospel.

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The good news that Jesus Christ died for all sin. There is not a sin that isn't covered by the blood of Jesus.

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You come before God and ask for forgiveness. He will cleanse you from all unrighteousness, as it says in first John one nine.

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As we read in Titus three, before we came to Christ, we were all hated by others and hating one another.

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That was all of us. We were not only divided from God, we were also divided from each other.

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But through Jesus Christ, we are reconciled to God and we're reconciled to God's people.

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As it says in first Peter four, eight, love covers over a multitude of sins.

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And now we can love one another with the love of Jesus Christ. Not looking down on each other, not showing favoritism to one another, but seeing one another as made in the image of God, being made in the image of Christ.

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And all of us are fellow heirs of the eternal kingdom of God through Jesus Christ, our

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Lord. We all share the same inheritance and God shows no partiality.

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This brings us to the passage that we're looking at today in second Timothy two verse 19, where it says

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God's firm foundation stands bearing this seal.

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The Lord knows those who are his and let everyone who names the name of the

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Lord depart from iniquity. Let's look at that first part. God's firm foundation stands from the foundation of the world bearing this seal.

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The Lord knows those who are his. I've got to go back to Ephesians one, having just read that blessed be the

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God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

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Just think of how amazing that is. In Christ, we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

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Amen. Praise the Lord somebody, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world is

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Charles Spurgeon has said, I'm so glad that God chose me before I was born because he certainly would not have chosen me afterwards.

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We should be holy and blameless before him. God has chosen us from before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him.

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God has chosen us to be justified in Christ Jesus and those whom he's justified.

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He is also going to sanctify. If a person is not being sanctified, if they're not being made holy, being made into the image of Christ, then they were not justified.

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God will sanctify those whom he has justified and he has chosen those for justification from the foundation of the world.

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Furthermore, in love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved.

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Just this past Sunday, before church had even started, there was a gentleman in my congregation who stopped me and said, hey,

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I've been listening to renewing your mind with R .C. Sproul. And I said, hey, that's a great program to be listening to.

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And he said, OK, I've got some questions about election. I said, all right. And he said, so if I'm a

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Christian, I'm elect. And I said, right. He goes, OK. And I said, yes, you've got it.

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If you're a Christian, then you are elect. If you have asked God to forgive you of your sins and you've committed your life to following Jesus Christ, you know, because of what we read in scripture, that you made that decision because God had predestined you from before the foundation of the world.

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Yes, you made a decision. Yes, the gospel was presented before you and you made a decision to leave your sin and follow

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Christ. But ultimately, we know from what the scripture says, when we get down to the doctrine, we get down to the theology of it.

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We know from what the scripture says that God chose us. We chose God because he chose us.

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We love God because he first loved us. And I don't think I went into that much detail as I was explaining it, but he said,

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OK, that makes sense to me now. And as I was walking away from that conversation, I thought to myself, I think that was the easiest question

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I've ever answered on the subject of election. Somebody usually wants to argue about it, but what about free will and what about this?

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And does God make us do this? And there wasn't any of that. It was just a clarification on election.

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If I am a follower of Jesus Christ, then I'm elect, correct? Followers of Christ have been chosen from before the foundation of the world for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.

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And ultimately, this is to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us in the beloved in him.

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We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

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You are forgiven your sins because God was gracious to you. You have a repentant heart before God because God is gracious to you.

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The the repentance that we have is even a gift from God, which he lavished upon us.

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Verse eight, in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

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We are united to God through Jesus Christ, not through worldly rhetoric, not through current social trends and hashtag issues that that permeate our culture and change with the wind and season.

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We are united to God through his son, Jesus Christ. Verse 11.

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And here's where we read about the inheritance that all followers of Christ share equally in him.

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We have obtained an inheritance having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things together according to the counsel of his will so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

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In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised

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Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.

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Again, as this section is closing up to the praise of his glory, all of this is ultimately to the praise and glory of God.

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As we read later on in Ephesians 4, for there is one body, there is one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call, one

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Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

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So we have no reason to show any partiality. We have no reason to sow any seeds of division.

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We should have nothing to do with quarrels over words, and we should avoid a reverent babble for it spreads like gangrene and causes ungodliness.

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But rather this verse, 2 Timothy 2, 15, do your best to present yourself to God as one a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

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And it is this word that transforms us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, unites us together in Christ and we are unified through the word of God, not through the word of man.

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The Lord knows those who are his and let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity, no longer go back to a life of sinfulness, a life of division, a life of hating one another and being hated by others.

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But be united to Christ Jesus, love God and love those who have been made in the image of God.

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And that's everybody. While we're so distracted judging one another by what we see on the outside, whether it's showing favoritism to somebody because of their appearance or we are tearing somebody down because of what they look like, the

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Lord looks at the heart. Have a heart that has been transformed in Christ Jesus and you will be justified.

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The Lord knows those who are his. Let's conclude with prayer. Our Lord God, we thank you for the lessons that we are given in your word and let it be your word that convicts our hearts, piercing us down to the very soul that we would mourn over our sinfulness, the continued struggle that we have with our flesh as we remain in these bodies.

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And may we cry out to the Lord, our God, for grace and forgiveness that we would be delivered from this mortal plight into your heavenly kingdom.

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Let us not be comfortable in this world, but we're constantly uncomfortable as we inhabit these bodies for we are awaiting the freedom that that is going to be ultimately bestowed upon us at the return of Christ, freed from this flesh, freed from the sinfulness and fallenness of this world and enter forever into your glory where we will be for your saints, praising

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God for all eternity. Thank you for the love that you showed to us while we were yet enemies of God.

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You have loved us and sent your son Jesus to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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Let us not neglect this gospel message. Let us be reminded of it daily and remind one another of it as well as we gather as the saints and preach this message also to the world so that they will be reconciled to God and to his people also, through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray.

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Amen. Gabriel Hughes is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Junction City, Kansas.