The Attributes Of God 'C' for Creator

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all right well tonight we're going to get back into the Bible and we are back into the attributes of God series on Sunday night, a different attribute for every letter of the alphabet so far we've got
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A for all -knowing, God is all -knowing and B, God is what? He's beautiful and we talked about both of those in length and tonight we're going to look at C I could have picked compassionate,
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I could have picked caring but I did something that's not even an attribute per se but it's a work of God stemming from his character certainly but God is creator,
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God is the creator of the universe in a day and age with evolution and its proponents running wild and an offspring of Darwin and the origin of species
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I wanted to talk a little bit about God creates but before I do
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I want to remind you why it's important to study the attributes of God I don't have to tell you it's important because you're here on a
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Sunday night but it is important to study the attributes of God for many reasons who could just tell me one,
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Sunday morning I don't really, we have too many people for you know open questions but on Sunday night it's fine, why would it be important to study the attributes of God?
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You don't have to raise your hand, you can just tell me to know him better, okay good,
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I couldn't tell where that voice was coming from so we can praise him rightly, okay good, yes puts us in our place, okay excellent anybody else?
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Alright it could instill in us a holy fear a holy awe of God, good, anyone else?
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shows how sinful we are when you see the majestic holiness of God we realize who we are in comparison because we like to compare ourselves to other people don't we we can always find somebody who's a little worse than we are, are not quite as smart and matter fact
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I used to love it that there would be those kind of people when I was in high school and college because you know when it comes to the bell curve you could finally graduate because there had to be a few people in your class that weren't quite as sharp and you could make it, but when you compare yourself to God we know that we're undone and we need a
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Savior okay anyone else? I had a few, one was that it is essential for Christian living,
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Colossians 1 says for this reason since the day we heard of it we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the
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Lord to please Him in all respects bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, that we are to increase in the knowledge of God it helps us grow, 2nd
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Peter chapter 1 grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
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Lord, speaking about what these men have said, I like to study the attributes of God because it gives me no more reason to boast we are prideful people, we like to brag and we like to talk about ourselves but when it comes to studying
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God we immediately see who we are and who
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God is and I think of Jeremiah 9 29 thus says the Lord, let not a wise man boast of his wisdom and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches but what?
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let him who boasts, boast of this that he understands and knows me that I am the
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Lord who exercises loving kindness justice and righteousness on earth for I delight in these things declares the
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Lord, so there's lots of reasons why to study the attributes of God but it helps us to get to know the object of our faith better and tonight it will be see
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God is creator, if you'll turn your Bibles to our main passage tonight to 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 we're going to look at this God the creator who not only creates physically but he also creates spiritually
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God is a God who creates physical things but he also is the creator of our spiritual life and this verse really ties both of these vital aspects of creation together physical creation and spiritual creation and we're going to see how these can even be linked together and my premise tonight really is
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I want to show you that God is a creator spiritually physically and if he is a creator then in the physical realm there's no room for evolution and in the spiritual realm there is no room for evolution spiritually
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God alone creates and that should make us be in awe of him and praise him 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 we'll look at context later but I just want to show you how this verse links these two ideas of physical and spiritual creation for God who said light shall shine out of darkness there's your physical creation is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ you see both creations there he's linking the two together many similarities but the same
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God physically and spiritually creating so here's what we're going to do tonight we're going to look at Genesis 1 first physical creation then we're going to look at 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 1 -6 spiritual creation then we're going to look at similarities and see how there's the similar
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God similarly, is that a word? in a similar fashion God creates the world
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Genesis 1 and also God creates new creatures in Christ so Genesis 1 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 1 -6 and then the similarities about this God who creates so let's do the first one
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Genesis chapter 1 let's take a look at physical creation and this could be a whole sermon series on creation but I want to just give you a broad overview so we can understand 2nd
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Corinthians 4 verse 6 a little bit better and as you know Genesis is the book of beginnings or the book of generations has beginnings about creation man and women
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Sabbath, marriage, work, sin, murder sacrifice all kinds of things redemption and Genesis is really built around 11 units separated by these are the generations of so that's why we call the book of generations and Genesis has lots of purposes to it it tells us how time began and how the
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Israelites were brought into Egypt it tells us how God deals with men and women how he chooses to work through special men and women through Seth, through Noah, through Shem through Abraham it talks about God as the hero of the
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Bible he's the one who should be praised but we don't want to forget that it mainly shows here initially at least
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God is creator how many chapters in Genesis just a little background it's been 10 years since I preached
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Genesis from this pulpit how many chapters in Genesis? 50 how would you kind of outline
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Genesis if we're just thinking about the book for a minute what would be a good outline for the book of Genesis and I'll give you a hint four, four, how would you outline
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Genesis? four, four events what are the four events in Genesis you've got
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Genesis 1 to 11, four events you've got Genesis 12 to 50, four people, so you have four events and four people is a good way to try to think about it and what were the four events let's make it easy they all start with a
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C so now we have four and C yes, what's the first C Luke? creation okay good what's the second
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C? well corruption that would be excellent
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I have curse but hey you're an Avendross so that's fine corruption would do, the fall okay next, four events we've got creation we've got the curse we've got what?
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flood can we think of a C word for that catastrophe okay good and then lastly confusion the
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Tower of Babel right chapter 11 so we've got four events and then four people and who might those four people be when we think about Israel in particular kind of a family tree for the
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Jewish people who would those four be? Abraham Isaac, Jacob, Joseph okay good so when you think of Genesis I like to think of the big picture and then zero in and now we're going to zero in on Genesis 1 -1 one of my favorite verses in all the
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Bible a verse that doesn't try to prove God's existence it doesn't have some kind of polemic for God's existence it just simply says with the first few words of the
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Bible here's who God is and here's what he's done in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth statement of declaration it's an announcement and here we have the break between eternity past and now time and that word in the beginning always is referred to time did you know that there was a time before Genesis 1 -1 my notes
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I say there was a time before time began and let's look at several words here look at the word
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God this is the word Elohim it's a masculine plural word it just shows majesty it shows how supreme
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God is shows how mighty he is it's not his personal name but when you think of how God creates things it would be natural and normal for the writer
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Moses to use the word that talks about God's mighty creative power wouldn't it because God is mighty he creates which word are you going to use his personal name or his mighty creation name he's using
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Elohim here's this active God he speaks his personal sees and here he creates a word never used for anyone else except for God and it's used very sparingly this is not a word that's all over scripture it's just sprinkled here and there we might make things or form things or fashion things but God alone makes out of nothing
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God alone makes by divine Fiat what's Fiat mean I can still hear my father about a
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Fiat car it's a Fiat did you what see it I can hear him to this day say that about Fiat but what's
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Fiat F -I -A -T actually mean in Latin well you're gonna have to hold on because I've got the answer right here in my notes but it's gonna be better placed later in the sermon
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Bob's close God creates always used for God in this subject he creates wind clean hearts new earth
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I like Isaiah 45 for this is what the Lord says he who created the heavens he is
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God he creates out of nothing with a word I like John 1 3 talking about Jesus through him all things were made without him nothing was made that has been made
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Psalm 90 verse 2 before the mountains were born are you brought forth the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are
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God God existing eternity past and then in time he enters in and creates the world but people don't like it if God's creator because if he's greater he's the second thing that we talked about in the twelve words to preach the gospel and he's not just creator he's also what then he's a judge so people attack
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Genesis 1 1 all the time they attack Genesis 1 a lot atheists
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I believe attack Genesis 1 because they have to then realize that the world and the universe is created by God pantheists hate
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Genesis 1 because this verse shows Genesis 1 1 that God is transcendent he's over all that he's created he's not part of creation he is over it polytheists hate
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Genesis 1 by the way if you think of the word theist it means a believer in God if you put an
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A in front of it it does what to that word it's an alpha privative it just negates it if something's typical and you put an
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A in front of it it is atypical it's no longer typical so theists believe in God atheists don't believe in God pantheists what's pan mean?
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it means all right there everything's God all's God I don't know how that fits into pan pizza but I think it's a different pan right all
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God polytheists what's poly? many polytheists hate Genesis 1 because it shows one
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God creates all things idolaters especially hate Genesis 1 because frankly this is what
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Genesis 1 1 is attacking no one ever thought I can still hear Dr. Block's words echoing in my mind that no one who ever read the
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Bible in those days would think somehow evolution happened and we all came out of goo he said that's not even the polemic that's not even the argument against things in Genesis 1 1 it's against idolatry
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I like Jeremiah 1011 these gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens did you get that?
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tell them this these gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens
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Psalm 96 5 for all the gods of the nations are idols but Yahweh made the heavens this wipes away idolatry because there's only one
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God evolutionists despise Genesis 1 for lots of reasons but it shows the
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Creator I'll have more to say about that in a minute materialist hate Genesis 1 1 because matter has a beginning humanist hate
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Genesis 1 because God not man is the ultimate reality and Henry Morris sums all these false philosophies up by saying quote actually all such philosophies are merely different ways of expressing the same unbelief each one proposes there is no personal transcendent
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God that ultimate reality is to be found in the eternal cosmos itself who does that sound like by the way?
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that's exactly right and that the development of the universe into its present form is contingent solely on the innate properties of its own components all are arrayed in opposition to the great truth marvelously simple and understandable to a child yet inexhaustibly profound that in the beginning
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God created the heaven and the earth as one man says in the beginning time
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God created heaven space and the earth matter and now if you go to verse 2 we've got force with the
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Spirit of God and motion as he moves verse 2 of Genesis 1 the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surface of the deep and the
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Spirit of God was moving or hovering a participating kind of word a protecting kind of word a creative force kind of word hovering over the surface of the deep and the
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Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters and Moses is not trying to be a scientist he's just saying there's a supernatural
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God who supernaturally creates everything and now we move in to the first day of the week
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Genesis chapter 1 verses 3 through 5 and there's kind of a five -part deal he always uses he gives the creative word he says this is what it does here's what's
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God's evaluation of it good here's the naming sovereignly of it and here's the numbering and see if you can spot the first one here in Genesis chapter 1 3 to 5 because this is where Paul plays off of in 2
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Corinthians 4 Genesis 1 3 then God said let there be light and there was light
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God saw the light was good God separated the light from the darkness God called the light day and the darkness he called night there was evening there was morning one day
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I like this where it just says and God said this is not some kind of verbal thing where God verbalized it and made it happen this is this is a word that's got the words decree and will and appointment and determination and he makes it happen he says this and then it happens nine times in Genesis 1 here he says the plan no accident no kind of springing up God says something and immediately there's a result
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Psalm 39 33 9 for God spoke and it came to be he commanded and it stood firm verse 4 says he saw that the light was good in the light
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God separated the light from the darkness when it says God saw the light was good he's not trying to make you think that somehow
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God peered over looked at it and wanted to know if he made with something good I made something I wonder if it was good no it doesn't suggest that separates the light from the darkness and I've got a question for the congregation tonight where's the
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Sun better question when was the Sun made here we've got light there's no
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Sun there's no stars what is there there's light where's it coming from how can there be light without a
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Sun it's amazing thing where is the Sun Sun is made on day 4 there's light there's no
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Sun John Whitcomb a great Genesis scholar said it was a created light localized somewhere in the universe possibly incorporated into the stellar universe on the fourth day of creation week after its unique and temporary function was accomplished talking about where's light before the
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Sun perhaps this was to speak out against future pagan worship of the Creator's Son the false religious science of astrology and the evolutionary idea of the earth's coming from the
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Sun God gives him new names day and night and by the way it's very
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Eastern we start with darkness in the morning and you know dark midnight we start with it's dark this light this dark we kind of split it up but the
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Eastern culture would be what very biblical culture it starts off sunset new day alright if I notice here just a few comments
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God makes supernaturally by his own will by his own design light was passive God was active
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God alone creates he creates out of nothing and now let's go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 as we say in the business here of preaching that's all introduction 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 because Paul uses Genesis 1 verses 3, 4, and 5 and if you don't get that it's hard to understand 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6 alright let's go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 every time you go to a new book of the
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Bible you should say what's the background here Paul has had difficulties at Corinth there are these apostles that say they're right therefore they have to say
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Paul's wrong because it's a different message Paul has spent 18 months there remember Acts chapter 18 we looked at that earlier a couple weeks ago
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Paul writes his personal letter it's almost like the fourth pastoral epistle and he writes to these people that they're all messed up he's going to to tell them how why he has credibility he doesn't like to stand up for himself but sometimes he has to do it and he goes to 2nd
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Corinthians chapter 4 verses 1 to 6 and Paul is going to tell us something about his ministry and how he's commended himself to the gospel 2nd
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Corinthians 4 verse 1 you'll see how it all unfolds therefore since we have this ministry what ministry is that the gospel ministry the new covenant ministry the ministry that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice the risen sacrifice as we have received mercy we do not lose heart some people might be cowardly some people might surrender some people might despair some people might get tired some people might do all that but Paul says that's not what
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I do verse 2 he's kind of expanding his self -defense but we have renounced the hidden things because of shame not walking in craftiness or adulterating the
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Word of God but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God they do those things
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I do something completely different and what do they do he tells us three things that these false apostles do in verse 2 what's the first thing they do he says we've renounced the things hidden because of shame
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Paul says I'm bold these people like to cover up their true intentions they're trying to do secret things
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I'm just telling you I'm being transparent here's what I do and they are doing hidden things because of their shame it's shameful it's sinful it's immoral they're hypocrites and that's not noble at all what else do they do this is an interesting one not walking in craftiness
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MacArthur says people who were dishonest in business used to dilute wine with water tamper with things
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Paul says I didn't do that I wasn't sly and crafty and tricky and deceitful or anything else sometimes used for a word that people will stoop to any level to deceive someone he said
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I didn't do that and also the worst you want to pray for your pastors pray that we don't do this or adulterating the
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Word of God adulterating the Word Paul says
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I'm bold I'm straightforward coming right at you with the gospel you say you know what some people reject what you say
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Paul therefore your bad Paul you preach people reject it ad hominem attack attack the person you're the one with the problem so Paul addresses that verse 3 and even if our gospel is veiled it is veiled to those who are perishing the message can be great the messenger can be godly what's the third component the hearer there could be something wrong with the hearer it doesn't mean that the speaker's wrong or the message is wrong it could be the hearer who has the problem it's not
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Paul's doing the gospel that says the Messiah is going to die a ignoble death on the cross is a rock of stumbling it's a rock of offense but something more verse 4 you think depravity is bad how about blind depravity verse 4 in whose case the
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God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God who's this
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God who's the God of this age I thought there weren't any other gods that there's only one what's
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Paul doing calling this a God I thought all gods are just like some kinda demonic manifestation what's
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Paul trying to see here the God of this world is certainly Satan and Satan is blinding the minds of the unbelieving they can't see the light of the gospel they have no spiritual vision no insight they can't see it
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Paul says you know what the influence that is is around these people is making them blind
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I preach the right gospel and I'm a godly man the people have the problem but there's another problem
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Satan is influencing them the God of this age and by the way just to throw it out so you could study sometime the
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God of this age has made so many people write so many weird things I don't know what has happened to him but it was you know they had too much curry before they went to bed to come up with these weird things
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Marcion said the God of this age makes him think that there's an inferior creator
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God and a supreme savior God there's two gods Tertullian said that this
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God of this age is really capital G God the God who creates things how can there be two gods
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Arians say Satan is called the God of this world therefore since Jesus is called a
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God he can't be divine what's Paul trying to say here's a
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God who basically quote -unquote God has dominion and influence and he influences people
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Paul says you're going to attack my credibility you're gonna attack my message well you shouldn't do that because the people are the ones who are rejecting and they're rejecting because themselves and they're rejecting because Satan is after them
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Satan is blinding their what minds that's where Satan targets his assault so Paul says what do
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I do you don't like me you don't like my message you don't like who I am people have problems they're depraved they're having a veiled mind and Satan is also blind in their minds so what do
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I do what are my options Paul says here's what I do I preach Jesus Christ that's what
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I do verse 5 for we do not preach ourselves like those false apostles do but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus sake you think
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I'm in this for my own good I'm not the gospels not about me it's not about my selfishness it's not about my personality cult following it's not about anything else it's about Jesus Christ that's who
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I preach and didn't Paul do that that's who Paul preached you could just wake up Paul in the middle the night give him an elbow to the ribs and it would be
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Jesus Christ in him crucified that's who we would preach working our way now to verse 6 we've arrived why does
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Paul just preach Jesus why is Paul only preaching the Messiah why is he only preaching him as Lord the
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Corinthians are all messed up I mean some kinda behavior modification some kinda moralism we want the society to be a little bit better why does
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Paul only preach Jesus verse 6 this is the reason for God said for God excuse me who said light shall shine out of darkness is the one who is shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ now look at how he compares if you look at verse 4 and verse 6 look at the comparison between Satan and God the
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God verse 4 God verse 6 of this age of creation has blinded has made the light shine minds of the unbelievers in our hearts so they cannot see to give us the light of the gospel the light of knowledge of the glory of Christ the glory of God who is in the image of God in the face of Christ Paul says you know what
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I was that man on the Damascus Road did Paul have a little experience with light Paul's mind was a manifestation of his ungodliness and Paul was blinded physically so his spiritual blinders could be taken off you know
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Paul's thinking about what's going on in Acts the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ and here this light comes out of darkness it beams out
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Paul says you know what the same God that creates the physical universe is the same
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God that has to be recreating your mind and soul that's why I preach Jesus why do
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I act like I do because that's your only hope Warren Wisby said this
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I thought this was good like the earth of Genesis 1 to the lost sinner is formless and empty but when he trusts
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Christ he becomes a new creation God's let there be light makes everything new and here
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God sends a supernatural light to the gospel and it's like when the light bulb goes on you ever see those little commercials or little comics oh the light goes on and that's exactly what happens and Paul says that's what
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I know you need you need the light of the gospel to dispel your dark heart okay
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I have a lot more to say but I'm just going to stop there now let me show you a few physical and spiritual creation comparisons
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I'm gonna ask you for some before we stop because I'm I can tell I'm losing some you so here's what we're gonna do physical creation by God spiritual creation by God creating the heavens and the earth creating a new heart in a person give me some similarities between those two and then you
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I'll give you my similarities what is similar about physical creation and spiritual creation
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I have eight gladden okay it's true
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God's Word excellent here God's Word was used both times yes they're both what the both involved light okay yes can you with the mouth like that or they both creation okay good what else yes something out of nothing good
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I like that they're both monergistic all these big words
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I mean I like simple stuff me they're both monergistic okay we'll talk about that in a minute they're both good both last for eternity well in a sense it's true because God will create the new heavens and the new earth and the word new in 2nd
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Peter chapter 3 is not new from nothing it is new revamping something so God will revamp he will actually flood this world again true or false he will flood this world with fire next time and he will wipe it all out and this earth will this earth will contain it will it will have heaven heaven will come down in glory will fill our souls just kidding by the way thank you for this morning
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Fred for singing I really was blessed by the special music this morning and I was
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I was blessed thank you alright we'll get to the we'll get to the eternal creation but it'll be in just a little bit different form but certainly with our new creation we will last forever okay anybody else before I give you my 8
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Brian okay man's in his image created would that somehow translate into physical creation okay well that would be that would be good that would be voice college discussion sometime anybody else yes okay good and see what
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Paul's doing is he's saying when it comes to the gospel and he's thinking of his Damascus Road experience and also all the other believers that the light of the gospel shines into their heart
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Paul saw it externally and he felt it in his heart as it were we only receive the second but Paul's comparing saying here's how
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God creates physical light and here's how God creates spiritual life and their similarities and it has to be
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God who does it and therefore I preach this God who can do it I don't have to do with these other false teachers do and so there's a lot of similarities okay we'll keep going for a minute both life giving okay alright let me give you mine and these are some similarities and we're talking about God as creator both physically and spiritually number one my first similarity is they're both created instantly
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God creates them both instantly there is no no process to be found in Scripture it is an instant and immediate work of God this gradual build -up of evolution whether it's creation or in salvation is not to be found
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Genesis chapter 2 if you have your Bibles if you wanna flip back over there you can see that there's not a process of evolution billions and billions of years no the process is done
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I think the process is done when you say let there be light and there's light but if you don't want to buy that how about Genesis chapter 2 verse 1 thus the heavens and the earth were what completed in all their vast array by the seventh day
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God had what finished the work he had been doing so on the seventh day he rested from all his work in the physical area he creates instantly and that's why people when they start doing this whole day age thing
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I don't think you can find that in the text you're taking modern science and trying to layer it on Genesis chapter 1 and 2 similarly the
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I say that word again in a similar fashion the pictorial day theory who knows about that we can't let the
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Bible just ride and take it for face value you have to come up with all kinds of funky things in the funkiest one that I can come up with was the pictorial day theory
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God created the universe it took a really really long long long time billions of years but he had to explain it to Moses in seven days so it took him one day it was day one that was just God telling
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Moses how he did it day two day three I mean how bad can you get the gap theory etc etc it is instantaneously that God creates and it's the same thing when it comes to our salvation
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God changes us immediately when he declares us righteous it is immediate when he makes us new it is immediate there is no gradually getting to be more like God with some kind of infused grace no
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I like what Spurgeon said he just zoomed in and said to sanctify a man is the work of a whole life but to give a man a new heart is the work of an instant in one solitary second swifter than the lightning flash
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God can put a new heart into a man and make him a new creature in Christ Jesus born -again number two
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God not only creates instantly but he creates supernaturally creation was supernatural so too is new creation it is supernatural it is not by natural processes number three some of these
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I'll just go quickly number three both physical and spiritual creation require an omnipotent
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God requires an all powerful God I mean how do you create the universe
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I was thinking about God's omnipotence this week while I was shoveling snow were you? here's how
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I was doing it I have a little snow blower and everything and it was kind of nice to be able to use it this year wasn't it?
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so I was doing that and I thought well I need to shovel some up over there and I'll just take the shovel and I kinda like it because I try to pray when
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I'm shoveling and I pray more than just God don't let my back go out but I just try to I praise him you know the acts acronym of excuse me praying and I thought as I dug the shovel down and it's kind of a neat experience that I have and I I hate to share all my personal things with you but I have the shovel that was my dad's shovel it's about 30 years old the shovel it was the shovel that my father used to force me to use when
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I had to shovel back in Nebraska and then now I get my dad's shovel and I'm just thinking I have my dad's shovel shoveling my driveway and I picked up one thing of snow and it was so heavy can you imagine how heavy snow is?
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there's light dusting snow but there's that really heavy moist snow so heavy and I thought
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I can barely take the snow and throw it far at all I mean crack rib maybe I I can't throw it even as far as I used to but I'm scooping up that snow and I just think the weight and the density of the snow and I think of the rocks you ever pick up a rock and think that God makes the world with a word everything how could a
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God do that? it's amazing to me it would take an omnipotent God to save a sinner to create the universe number four as was said earlier we have a verse for this both physical and spiritual creation come through the instrument of God's word let's turn to first Peter chapter 1 and I want to show you that the means of salvation is through the word the means of creation physically was the word
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Hebrews 11 by faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command and first Peter chapter 1 or James 1 for that matter but we'll just look at first Peter 1 the means of new life of new creation is through the word that is why we have to preach the word first Peter chapter 1 verse 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but what imperishable that is to the living and abiding word of God God saves people to the preaching of his word number 5 both physical and spiritual creation is through the
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Holy Spirit's ministry through his agency the Spirit of God John chapter 3 verse 5 6 and 7 you may want to turn there we can see very clearly that not only is physical creation through the
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Spirit Genesis 1 -2 but also spiritual creation this is the passage that Whitfield preached two thousand times that I alluded to earlier today
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John chapter 3 verse 5 truly truly I say to you unless one is born of water and the what and the who spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God that which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of the
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Spirit is spirit do not marvel that I said to you you must be born again Luther was debating with a man on can a fallen man really be totally completely dependent on the spirit for regeneration and so Luther quoted this passage and he said this the flesh profits nothing and that nothing is not a little something it has to be the
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Spirit's work it's not our own work it's the Spirit's work and then
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I think we have to go lastly I'm gonna have to skip ahead to number eight for me which is not number eight for you number six for you
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I believe and we'll use Nate's words both in physical creation and spiritual creation
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God alone works alone mono works erg
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God is alone working God is the author of physical creation and spiritual creation now physical creation
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I was studying a little bit evolution one man said violates two laws of thermodynamics anybody know those two laws of thermodynamics that evolution would go against Brian matter cannot be created or destroyed okay good that's even an extra one okay order to disorder good the two
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I have here a number one matter energy cannot be destroyed or created but it can be changed from one form to another so spontaneous generation just come kind of out of itself can't happen things move from order to disorder in other words and secondly
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I thought this is interesting genetic laws argue against evolution working on chance mutations things cannot produce higher forms of themselves how long would it take a monkey pounding irrationally at the computer to come up with these words
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Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God created heavens and the earth any guesses bunch of monkeys let's let 1 ,000 ,000 tireless monkeys pound away at record speed 12 keys per second on an easy keyboard that had only capital letters now try to think of a rock so large that if the earth were at its center its surface would touch the nearest star the star is so far away that the light from it takes more than four years to get there traveling 186 ,000 miles per second if a bird came once every million years and removed in amount equivalent to the finest grain of sand for such rocks would be worn away before the champion super simians would be expected to type
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Genesis 1 1 but friends it would take a billion times longer for a sinner to change his own nature he can't do it we don't believe we work with God to be saved we believe that God alone works we believe that God says by divine
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Fiat let it be done that's what Fiat means let it be done and God creates new life for just the last few minutes if you turn to Ephesians chapter 2 it talks about regeneration how
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God makes us alive I mean we were dead we were not just sick we didn't need mouth -to -mouth resuscitation we didn't need some kind of know the paddles on our hearts we needed new life new heart the best definition
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I can think of it for an unbeliever that they were dead the best definition of a believer I think with one word is alive spiritually dead now alive and first a chapter of Ephesians talks about how great
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God is and then chapter 2 it talks about how God makes us alive he makes us born again he regenerates us he gives a second birth and it is
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God alone doing it people have come up with this kind of weird way of cooperation and you can either do it the
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Roman Catholic way are you can do it the Protestant way but both ways fall short it is
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God alone working we respond with faith yes but it is God who makes us alive if you look at Ephesians 2 5 it just simplistic it's wonderful even when we were dead in our transgressions
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God did what made us alive together with Christ by grace you were saved
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Paul is just amazed by it he has to just say it again it's so good makes me think of Romans 417 even
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God who gives life to the dead and calls into being which does not exist he quickens us he resurrects us as it were with Christ he makes us alive makes us born again he says the same thing in Colossians 2 he made you alive together with him and I know
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Bruce will give me a big on this one long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night thine eyes diffused thine eye diffused a what a quickening making alive ray
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I woke the dungeon flame with light my chains fell off my heart was free I rose went forth and followed
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God's working salvation is from the Lord Bruce everybody's looking at you to see if you'll do it you know what
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I don't want Bruce to feel bad so let's all together because of that rich truth respond in the Reformed Baptist way by saying mmm 1 2 3 mmm
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God alone works human nature is too far gone it's too far gone to be mended years ago we're at that place on the lake
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I mean I don't know how we're ever alive to tell about it but there's all kinds of things that are going on I'm not trying to think the house is haunted but it was you know all those pine trees around there and what was the story
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Kim when you were driving home I think I was out of town instead of parking in the regular spot you pulled up to the side and brought the kids in and just took one extra second longer and all the sudden the tree comes falling right down on the porch and just smashes that porch is so rotten it had to be repaired no just have to gut the thing
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God makes us alive and inner recreating of a fallen human nature by a sovereign gracious almighty
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God and it has to be God I find it striking that when
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Jesus says you must be born again it's not even a command because it is a command maybe he's implying you could do it it's just a fact you need to be born again and you can't even do it we are passive in regeneration we contribute nothing just think about physical creation what did the earth that was formless and void create to creation
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I mean contribute nothing and it changes the way you think when
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I think of physical recreation and Carl Sagan says the cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be that's crazy in 1996
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Carl Sagan three weeks before he died was interviewed by Ted Koppel on Nightline he was gonna die and so here's what
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Koppel says said to Sagan on his basically deathbed Dr. Sagan do you have any pearls of wisdom that you would like to give to the human race on his deathbed what would you say
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Sagan said we live on a hunk of rock and metal that circles a humdrum star that is one of four billion other stars that make up the
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Milky Way galaxy which is one of billions of the other galaxies which make up the universe which may be one of a very large number perhaps an infinite number of other universes that is a perspective on human life in our culture that is well worth pondering he also wrote a book that was published just about the time he died he said our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark in our obscurity in all else this vastness there is no hint that help will come from anywhere to save us from ourselves what you believe will determine what you do which will determine how you praise
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God how sad for Carl Sagan and how glorious for us we were bought with a price we're children of the living
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God and God creates us out of nothing and God recreated our souls that were dead and now we're alive makes me think of this morning's song to God be the glory great things he has done
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God creates physically by instantaneous out of nothing divine fiat and he creates in the life of a person new salvation the exact same way that's why the best thing you can do for someone in your life who's not a
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Christian and you'd like them to be is what preach the gospel yes but how about asking the one who recreates life in them to be pleased to save them since that is his nature to do that C God is creator
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D I'm done I used to be undone and now
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I'm just let's pray Lord it's good to look in your word and just I'm awestruck by thinking of even the
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Grand Canyon by flying to India just recently and seen all the landmass and you can just create it and Lord what
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I'd like to be even though sometimes I'm not I'd like to be more impressed with how you save people how wonderful that is and how you say because it cost you to do that it cost you your son it was free to us gracious to us but costly to you the precious blood of Christ your only son help the congregation to appreciate you more as well and Lord thank you that you've given us your word to tell us the truth about everything how life began where we go when we die and Lord what a pity it was to hear the testimony of a man on his deathbed believing in nothing except himself and Lord I pray for us that we when we're on our deathbed that we would extol the virtues of Christ Jesus and tell other people about his greatness even as we lay physically dying in Jesus name,