Mark 1:14-15 Sermon by Jeremiah Shipley

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Would you please open your Bibles to Mark chapter 1. The testimony of Brother Mike and Brother Donovan from last week, their testimonies, if I were to sum them up, would be nothing but the faithfulness of the men of God and the impact that that can have.
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I'm one of those who was with Brother Mike for my whole time in R .A
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.s. So thank you, Brother Mike. That is very true and impactful, and it goes right along with what
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Brother Donovan said last week. Mark chapter 1, we're going to be reading verses 14 and 15.
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Let us pray first. Father God, may we honor
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You, may we hear Your Word, may we receive Your Word, and apply
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Your Word, God. Soften our hearts, open our ears, and be with us today.
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In Your name I pray, amen. Now after John was arrested,
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Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the
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Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the Gospel. The Lord is near to you today.
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He is not far off. The theological term, if you want it, is imminence.
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God is at hand. He is close. We read in Psalms, it says, the righteous cry out, the
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Lord hears them, He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
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And saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have troubles, but the
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Lord delivers them. The time is fulfilled. Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the
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Gospel of God. I love that, because it's not a Gospel about God, it's the
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Gospel of God. He owns it. He ordains it. It is His because He is the author of it.
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Jesus, the ultimate prophet, the great messenger of God, is coming and saying, all the time of patience, of waiting, everything the
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Old Testament is speaking of, is here now. Jesus, and both
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Matthew and Mark, had just come out of the desert. He had just finished being tempted.
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He had just baptized by John the Baptist. And this is the commensuring of His ministry.
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And His first words, the Alpha and the Omega of His entire preaching, believe the
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Gospel and repent. This message today is equally for those who need salvation as for those who possess salvation.
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Repentance and faith is not just a conversion thing. It is a sanctification thing.
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It is a thing that both brings you to God and carries you to the gates of heaven.
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And I hope you see that today, no matter where you're at, whether you've been a
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Christian for a year or 50 or 60 years, repentance is just as necessary and your faith is just as necessary today as at day one.
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What brings you into justification is the same thing that will carry you through your sanctification.
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You can write that down. That's a line I want you to remember. What brings you to salvation, to the blood -purifying grace of God, is the same thing, the same formula that carries you in your day -to -day walk.
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Many people, though, are convinced of their conversion due to some emotional moment.
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I know Pastor Jeff doesn't preach on this enough, but they rely on some emotional timestamp in the past.
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But this is foolishness. When, even in your own life, when is your emotions and your feelings a good judgment of anything?
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It doesn't work with your boss. It doesn't work with your wife or your husband. It's not a good advice for parenting.
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Just going off the whim on my feelings aren't a good standard of measurement for anything in any place of life.
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How much more is it dangerous when we come to our eternal destination?
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That is a very dangerous thing to be basing your salvation on, a one -time emotional moment of regret and shame, true regret, true shame.
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And see, I'm not doubting the moment, but that's what you're going to hold onto, not the grace of God of today, not that the
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Spirit's speaking and working in you today. Don't hold onto that, my friends.
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Hosea chapter seven says, they do not cry to me from their heart, but they wail upon their beds.
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Your tears, your tears of crying in your bed,
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David says, my pillow is soaking wet from tears. Now these men in Hosea were not the man after God's own heart.
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It says they wept and wailed in their beds, but they did not do it from their heart.
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They did it from a place of shame and regret, not from a place of repentance.
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If you need a verse for when Pastor Jeff says all the time, your tears don't mean anything, there it is.
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Hosea 7 .14, write it down. What we do often is the same thing the prophet
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Jeremiah condemned those people of. They came and they told the people, peace, peace, you're good to go, when there was no peace.
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These men were telling all the people of Jerusalem, you're good to go,
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God's favor is on you, you're saved, the Lord is good to you. Jeremiah's over here saying, absolutely not, you need to repent and get right before God.
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So they were saying, peace, peace, when there was no peace. Are you doing the same thing today?
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Are you looking at your life and saying, I'm good to go, it's all good, I've got this,
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I've got that, I've done that, peace, peace, when there is no peace?
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That was the statement of the false prophets God condemned and later killed. Do not make the same mistake.
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Do not make the same mistake. Examine yourself always and seek true repentance.
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Here's another mistake we make when it comes to repentance. The origin of our repentance can never be out of a fear of losing your salvation.
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If you repent because you're scared of losing your salvation, either this is a false repentance or it's a very, very childlike repentance.
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I've seen it with Alina, I've seen it with Ava, they're going to do something wrong and only when they realize the punishment's coming do they, oh,
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I didn't mean to, I'm not going to do that, Daddy. It's not until the hand is on its way that they have regret and repentance.
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And let me tell you now, the waterworks can come on quick. The waterworks will come up quick and it'll look like the most genuine repentance ever.
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Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Daddy. And then I turn around. Is your repentance out of a place of losing your salvation, out of a fear?
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Is that the source of it, is that the origin? There is a healthy place for the fear of God's wrath.
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Absolutely, I preached on that last time. But is that the sole origin of your repentance?
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If that's the case, we have problems. Where's the desire for holiness?
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Where's the moral compass of the Holy Spirit within you? I know this is wrong because it's wrong.
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I desire righteousness. I desire the things of God. If it's only out of a place of fear and losing your salvation, check yourself.
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That repentance is more than likely not a true and genuine repentance.
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The last way we'll talk about of which we get hoodwinked and thinking we have good repentance is the fear of hell.
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But the fear of hell is not a good sign of repentance either. Many, many people are terrified of hell, but they do not accept the grace of God.
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It's a big difference. I had a friend, a co -worker, broke my heart many times.
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He would tell me, and he used quite foul language, he said, Jeremiah, I know what a rotten man
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I am. I know what kind of horrible things I've done. And he actually said, when
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I leave church, I want to know how much I deserve hell. I'm like, yeah,
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I mean, I understand that, man. I agree with you, but where's the grace of God? He's like, well,
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I don't deserve that. I'm like, right, right. But he couldn't accept the grace of God for himself.
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So his great fear of hell and his great understanding of his sin still was not enough for salvation because there was no repentance.
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Do you see the importance of repentance here? This man had no mercy, had no grace, because he could not receive it from the
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Lord. And because of that, he quite rarely would give it to others. He was mean and bitter because he hated who he used to be.
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And he could not accept that God would love him. He could not love him and forgive him of such things.
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There was a quote by the great preacher John Bunyan. He said, Satan doth beat the great hell drum in the ears of man's soul to prevent them from hearing the sweet trumpet of the gospel.
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Those whispers for this man weren't whispers anymore, but had turned into that consistent drum of the gates of hell that talked about how he didn't deserve it and he wasn't worthy.
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And the deep, I think of the Board of the Rings, you hear the drums from the deep, right?
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And no, but for real, those drums of his past of shame, he allowed to become so loud, he could not hear the sweetness of God's grace.
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He couldn't do it. So to you, I ask, is that you this morning?
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Do you hold sin against you that God no longer holds against you? Why would you do that?
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You're contradicting the Father. You are holding yourself guilty for things
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God has already declared innocent. I've been teaching through the mind of prophets, if you can't tell.
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So Joel chapter two, we see a beautiful picture of what true, genuine repentance looks like.
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And context here, this is the coming of Babylon. This is, these people are about to be destroyed and this wasn't like hundreds of years out.
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Joel was like, hey guys, like they're coming. You need to repent.
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But look at the beautiful words of his first opening, even now. It's not too late, even now.
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You're on your deathbed, even now. You're still planning tonight or tomorrow or this weekend to go and continue sinning, even now.
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Joel 2, 12 and 13, even now declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.
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Rend your heart and not just your clothes. Return to the Lord your
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God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.
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And he relents from sending disaster. If grace is the cornerstone on which our salvation and sanctification rests, then faith and repentance are the stones to the right and left.
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If grace is the one that holds it all together, faith and repentance are standing there hand in hand.
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They are what we hold on to. They're the parts of salvation that have to deal with us, that we have a say in.
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The longer you go without repenting, the longer you will go without repenting.
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The longer you put it off, the longer you procrastinate, the longer you will procrastinate.
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And let me clarify this for y 'all because this is really important. Many times
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I have the lie in my head. You know, when you just continue to have the same lie and you know it's a lie, but you still got it anyway.
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You have the same lie in your head of, okay, but I know God, that you already know what's going on here.
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And so we both know that we both know why do I need to repent? I don't actually have to come down here and pray because we both know like, all right,
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God, I'll do better, all right, cool. And we're good. But then you wake up the next day and that conviction's still there.
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It's still there, it's not gone. And it might be just be a little louder. Why is that so important?
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Because your prayers are not to inform God as if he didn't know.
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They're about to build a relationship with God that you are ignoring.
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It's about relationship. It's about communication, not information.
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Your prayers to God are vital for your relationship with him.
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Your repentance to God is vital. You and repentance need to be best friends.
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There was an old saint, nearing the end of his life, said this.
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For over 60 years, I have lived with a dear friend. And I'm sad to say,
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I'll have to leave him at the gate of heaven when I go through because his name is Repentance. Do you have that kind of relationship with repentance?
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Or do you see him more as an enemy trying to push him off and push him away because you don't want to have to deal with him?
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You see, this man, he called repentance his friend. Because in his darkest times, it was the tool of which
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God used to bring him out of that mire, to pull him from the depths of his own mind.
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Repentance is the only avenue that we have back to the
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Father. Christ paved it all the way to Calvary.
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Christ paved it. It's the only road. You have no other road.
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And so this man walked it with his friend, Repentance. And it was a comforting, but also a saddening thing that I'll never be able to repent again because the
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Lord is with me and I have no need. What a comforting thought. What a beautiful thought.
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But moving past repentance, do not look for the fruit of repentance without the root of faith.
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Faith is the source of your repentance. It's the root. Do not look for the fruit.
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I do this so you can remember it, okay? If you can. One -liners are for you to remember it easier. Do not look for the fruit of repentance without the root of faith.
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If you're gonna repent, you're believing it's gonna do something. You're repenting to someone.
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You believe it's not in vain. So there's a requirement of faith there.
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There's a level of belief in that repentance. But let me ask you, do you believe that God can save you?
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Do you believe that? God does not command, or I'm sorry,
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God will not do something you don't even believe He can do. Now, He'll send
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His Spirit to change your heart. But our pain, listen to what this does sometimes.
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Our pain will make us arrogant at times. We'll become so hurt, so betrayed, so left alone that we think no one, not even
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God, would love us or save us or stay with us. But that mindset right there, that victim mindset is actually an arrogant one.
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You think, you presume on God so much that you know what
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He will and will not do? Your pain has given you insight to the mind of God?
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Your hurt has blinded you, my friend. You don't understand the
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Father. As we read in Joel, He is abounding in steadfast love.
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He, when Jonah was sent, the reason Jonah didn't wanna go to Nineveh and preach, he said, because God, I knew how loving you are.
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I knew you would forgive them. He was so bitter. I knew you were gonna forgive them, God. I knew you love to show mercy.
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You love to forgive people. You love having compassion. Don't presume on God, thinking that, oh, well, you're too far gone.
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You're so bad. That's a mindset of arrogance. Don't call it anything else. Don't water down that sin of arrogance, presuming on God.
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Or maybe that's not you. Maybe you're, I'm gonna say, like a wallflower. Your faith is like a wallflower.
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You sit among sin. You watch sin. You're not gonna say anything.
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You're not gonna do anything. You're just gonna sit like a wallflower while it happens. You sit arm in arm, hand in hand with the unrighteous.
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People will speak foul language, and you just laugh along and join along. There's no distinction there.
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There's no standing out there. Your faith is one that just sits on the wall, and everyone walks by and doesn't even recognize, doesn't even see it.
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The more you grow in faith and holiness, the more you will grow to hate sin.
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Those who have been saved for a few years now, the sins you used to do and you forget now just eat you up.
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You thought of sinning for too long. You didn't actually do it, but you were thinking, you were pondering it too long.
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You thought a mean thought about somebody. You thought about saying something foul, or rude, or cursing.
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You didn't actually do it, but you thought it. You thought it, and you repent of that.
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A young and mature believer, they would say, well, I didn't do anything, so what's the big deal?
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I didn't actually do it, so whatever. Young friend, learn to love righteousness.
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Learn to love the things God loves, and hate the things God hates.
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Is there a better definition for spiritual maturity than loving what God loves and hating what
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God hates? You who are elect and chosen by God before the foundation of the world, favored by the
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Creator, and snatched from the fires by His merciful hand, how could I sin against such a loving
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Father? The great and painful sacrifice of my Messiah. My Messiah.
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He belittled Himself, and humbled Himself by taking the form of a slave.
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I always think like an ant in an ant farm. Jesus became a man. He had to live in that ant farm for over 30 years.
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Was nailed and butchered to a cross. How could
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I sin against such a Savior? The gentleness of the
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Spirit. How incredibly patient He is with me. He teaches me all things, and He doesn't give me a sigh of annoyance or impatience of how many times.
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No, that's not what the Spirit does with me. He comes to me, convicts me, comforts me.
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How could I sin against such patience and mercy? These are the thoughts of that mature believer.
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Faith and belief is something ongoing. It's not a one -time decision.
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It's not a something you apply at one time and it sticks with you. It's like Donovan's bald head on the beach.
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You gotta keep applying that sunscreen. You just, if you apply it, apply it once in a day, it's just gonna get burned by lunch.
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You have to reapply. Hold on, let me get back upstairs.
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You have to reapply. Keep working, keep adding.
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It's not a one -time thing. Not at all. This is the life of the
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Christian. Reapply, reapply that sunscreen, just like his bald head.
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In Ephesians, Paul gives us an analogy that our faith is a shield. And if I just sit there and I hold this shield and I don't move at all, guess what they're gonna do?
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He's gonna come right around and shoot me with an arrow from over there. So sometimes
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I think the shield is malfunctioning. It might need some help. No, no, no.
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No, no, no. Don't add to it. Faith, repentance, that is what you need.
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You have a shield so that you can move forward, not sit in the same spot that you are.
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You have a shield to get up and move. By the way, I've never seen a shield without a handle. You gotta hold on.
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You have to pick it up. Now it's not like, I'm not talking about salvation here.
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You're not putting your faith down and losing salvation. But in your day -to -day walk and your obedience to God, when tough things come, do you pick up the shield of faith and trust in the
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Lord? Or do you think, well, it didn't work last time, so let me help my faith out.
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Let me add my own wisdom or let me take some of the world's wisdom and put that with the shield of faith, and now
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I have my blind side covered. No. You repent, you pick up that shield of faith, and you move forward.
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You need nothing else, for God has given us everything required for life and godliness. We need nothing else.
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But it is a choice to pick that up. It's a choice. You have to make it. I'm almost done.
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Music people, if you want to come forward, please. Sinning, repenting, and believing.
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These three things will stay with us for life. Sinning, repenting, believing.
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Until we get to that pearly gate, we'll have all three. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.
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Just like we spoke of the power of the gospel in the beginning, that it is God's gospel, it is the power of the gospel that still carries you through.
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The power of the gospel is not just a salvation thing. It is a life thing, and your marriage, and your parenting, and your work, and your finances.
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What area does God not speak on? What area does the gospel, repenting, having faith, and submitting to God, what area does that not help in?
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You think that repenting, believing, trusting God, and moving forward doesn't help your marriage? You think it won't be as a benefit in your parenting?
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You think it won't help you in your work and business? Absolutely it will.
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It is the power of the gospel that will carry you. You wanna add something to it?
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You're just trying to add something to the shield. Hold on to the shield, nothing else. Grab the sword with the other hand and move forward.
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This time that we're about to have is the time of repentance. And whether it's for the first or the thousands, it doesn't matter.
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And honestly, I think the latter is more beautiful. The repentance for the thousands, 10 ,000th, 100 ,000th time, we need to see that today.
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The steadfastness of seeing a brother Mike up here. 35 years of steadfastness and faithfulness to God.
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We need to see that more in the church. We need to know that it's possible not to give a strong push and then quit and give up, but to stay steady, to persevere, to stay consistent with God.
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Consistency is the hard one. Day in, day out. Week in, week out.
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No vacation. Fight the good fight. That's what this time is for.
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If you need to repent, I beg and I plead with you, I compel you, come forward and repent.
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Do not let pride and shame hold you down, hold you back. Put that stuff away, come forward.
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If you need accountability, that's what the church is for. We were never meant to do this alone.