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Voddie Baucham - Christians, We Must All Be Ready to Answer · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: First Peter, chapter three. We get the word apologetics from
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: First Peter Chapter three. They're in verse fifteen, famous verse
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  Speaker 1: where Peter tells us to always be ready to give
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  Speaker 1: an answer to anyone who asks us the reason for
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  Speaker 1: the hope that is in us, and that reason response
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  Speaker 1: that he tells us to give, and the Greek is apologia.
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  Speaker 1: And so apologetics is really a transliteration of a word
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: rather than a translation, kind of like deacon, right, deacon
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  Speaker 1: is not a translation of a word. It's a transliteration
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  Speaker 1: of diakonos. And sometimes sometimes that can be confusing. We
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  Speaker 1: do that when we do that, but in this case,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes it's confusing for people because apologetics we hear apology,
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  Speaker 1: and unless you know, you have some classical training, and
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  Speaker 1: unless you you know, have you have have done some
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  Speaker 1: Greek and Latin in your education, apology sounds like something
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  Speaker 1: we don't want to be doing, right. And yeah, I've
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  Speaker 1: heard preachers even go off on the apologist, you know,
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  Speaker 1: because we don't need to be apologizing for the gospel, right.
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  Speaker 1: But an apology is a reasoned response. Okay, that's that's
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  Speaker 1: what the word means. But in order to grab what's
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  Speaker 1: happening there in first period three fifteen. We need to
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  Speaker 1: put it in some context, and so the key text
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  Speaker 1: there but in your hearts on a Christ the Lord
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  Speaker 1: is holy, always being prepared to make a defense to
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  Speaker 1: anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope
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  Speaker 1: that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.
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  Speaker 1: There's some keys here to Peter's admonition. First, his admonition
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  Speaker 1: is for every believer. His admonition is for every believer.
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  Speaker 1: Will make that clear as we go through. It has
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  Speaker 1: nothing to do with creating an elite special forces brand
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  Speaker 1: of Christian. It is rooted in the context of humility, holiness,
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  Speaker 1: and suffering. This is what you're going to discover. And
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  Speaker 1: this is why instead of just dealing with that verse,
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  Speaker 1: we're going to deal with this whole section here so
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  Speaker 1: that you can see. I want you to see clearly
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  Speaker 1: what Peter is doing here because it's a game changer. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: it's a complete game changer when you see what he's
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  Speaker 1: doing here, and it ought to be a natural part
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  Speaker 1: of our Christian walk. There's a lost paragraph, this paragraph
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  Speaker 1: that we often don't think of. And the reason I
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  Speaker 1: call it the lost paragraph is becomes it comes before
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  Speaker 1: the well known apology paragraph, and that's Chapter thirteen, Chat
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  Speaker 1: Verses thirteen through seventeen. Right, that's the apologetic paragraph. And
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  Speaker 1: we know that paragraph, right, and it comes right before that,
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  Speaker 1: but it also comes right after the well known marriage
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  Speaker 1: paragraph one Peter three one through seven. Right, So if
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  Speaker 1: you ask, you know, I'm not talking about new Christians.
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  Speaker 1: I'm talking about stouts Christians who love their Bible, you know,
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  Speaker 1: first Peter three, one through seven. They can muddle their
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  Speaker 1: way through that, may be able to quote it for you,
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  Speaker 1: and they can probably tell you, oh yeah, I think
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  Speaker 1: that's you know, marriage, you know first Peter three. You
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  Speaker 1: know fifteen or you know thirteen through seventeen. Well, they
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  Speaker 1: know fifteen is in there.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: If I say first Peter three, eight through twelve, how
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  Speaker 1: many of us just immediately going oh yeah, nope, we
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  Speaker 1: wait a minute, okay, right before that, that's okay, right
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  Speaker 1: after that.
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  Speaker 2: But hmmm. So that's why I.
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  Speaker 1: Call it the lost paragraph, Okay, because it's right here
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  Speaker 1: between these two very useful and very memorable paragraphs. But
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  Speaker 1: it's very important if we're going to understand three point fifteen.
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  Speaker 1: The lost paragraph belongs to a broader section of Peter's epistle,
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  Speaker 1: which spans from chapter two, verse eleven all the way
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  Speaker 1: down to chapter three, verse twelve. That's very important to know. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: it's part of a broader section. Hence the paragraph is
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  Speaker 1: actually the conclusion of a section, because this section of
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  Speaker 1: Peter's argument ends and three twelve, then we get to
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  Speaker 1: the paragraph about apologetics. Okay, So again, think about what
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  Speaker 1: we're doing here. You know, Peter is building his argument
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  Speaker 1: here in his letter, and he's going to get to
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  Speaker 1: this section on apologetics, but before that, from two eleven
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  Speaker 1: to three twelve, he's setting it up, laying a foundation
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  Speaker 1: for it, so that whatever is happening in thirteen through seventeen,
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  Speaker 1: we've got to understand what's going on in two eleven
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  Speaker 1: to three twelve in order to sink our teeth into it.
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  Speaker 1: And the overarching message of this section is winning the
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  Speaker 1: respective outsiders through your conducts and specifically through your suffering.
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  Speaker 1: This is this is huge, Okay. I especially like to
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  Speaker 1: talk about this with with younger audiences.
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  Speaker 2: You know who we talked.
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  Speaker 1: About that that that fit in that unfortunate phase sometime
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  Speaker 1: where you have the sort of you know, obnoxious young
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  Speaker 1: man who you know knows everything.
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  Speaker 2: What's what's the saying.
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  Speaker 1: You know, when you're a teenager, you know your your
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  Speaker 1: your father dumber and dumber every year. Then you get
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  Speaker 1: out of the house and get married, start having kids,
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  Speaker 1: and he becomes smarter and smarter every year.
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  Speaker 2: Right, It's amazing how that happens. Amen.
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  Speaker 1: And so this is very important for us to press
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  Speaker 1: home as it relates to those who may be more
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  Speaker 1: confrontational and aggressive and just kind of that natural, that
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  Speaker 1: natural let's pick a fight type person, and apologetics can
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  Speaker 1: be seen as kind of an excuse for that. Right,
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  Speaker 1: So let's look at the broader context and two eleven,
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  Speaker 1: two three twelve. We won't read all of it, but
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  Speaker 1: I want to give you that broader context. The section
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  Speaker 1: begins with the identification of the people of God as
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  Speaker 1: sojournals and exiles. And this is important because you know,
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  Speaker 1: this is kind of during the time of the diaspora.
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  Speaker 1: This is during the time of persecution, when people are
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  Speaker 1: being scattered. Christians are being scattered abroad, and the Gospel
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  Speaker 1: is basically being scattered abroad because of this persecution. And
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  Speaker 1: think about it from a historical perspective. We all think
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  Speaker 1: about you know, when Peter stands up and he preaches
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  Speaker 1: the day of Pentecost, and we think about the thousands
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  Speaker 1: who come to the church, and then we think about
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  Speaker 1: how the church there is growing in acts, and we
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  Speaker 1: think about how all those people are having problems with
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  Speaker 1: the you know, taking care of the helles and widows, this,
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  Speaker 1: that and the other. But we don't just stop to recognize
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  Speaker 1: that list of nations that you find who are listening
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  Speaker 1: to his servant, and how thousands upon thousands of people
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  Speaker 1: remained and did not go home. Okay, this is why
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  Speaker 1: you got the church growing exponentially like it is. People
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  Speaker 1: are remaining and they're not going home.
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
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  Speaker 1: But if the gospel is going to spread to all
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  Speaker 1: these different parts of the world, people have to go home.
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  Speaker 1: What makes him go home persecution, okay, And so he's
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  Speaker 1: writing to these sojourners in exile during the diaspora in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of persecution. The apostle then proceeds to address
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  Speaker 1: three means through which the conduct of believers wins the
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  Speaker 1: respective outsiders. All three involve humble, faithful submission to authority
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  Speaker 1: our dual audience. There's two audiences that Peter's making us
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  Speaker 1: aware of. First, this subjection to authority is an act
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  Speaker 1: of obedience to God. We submit to God by and
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  Speaker 1: through our submission to authority. We submit to God by
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  Speaker 1: and through our submission to authority. And secondly, it's a
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  Speaker 1: witness to a watching world. It's a witness to a
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  Speaker 1: watching world. The way we submit to authority, and especially
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  Speaker 1: the way we endure suffering in the process of submitting
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  Speaker 1: to authority is a witness to a watching world. And
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  Speaker 1: it's important to note that that's a lot of what
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  Speaker 1: Paul is dealing with in three fifteen. This is similar
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  Speaker 1: to Paul's admonition to fulfill the household codes that you
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  Speaker 1: find in Titus. For example, in Titus two five, that
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  Speaker 1: the word of God may not be reviled, Titus two eight,
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  Speaker 1: so that an opponent may be put to shame, having
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  Speaker 1: nothing evil to say about us.
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  Speaker 2: And then in Titus two.
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  Speaker 1: Ten, so that in everything we may have during the
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  Speaker 1: doctrine of God our Savior, again wearing it before those
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  Speaker 1: who are around us. Both audiences are going to be
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  Speaker 1: important to remember when we approach the apologetic text in
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  Speaker 1: three fifteen. Remember remember these two audiences, and remember what
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  Speaker 1: Paul is saying about these two audiences.
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  Speaker 2: So be subject to human authority.
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  Speaker 1: First, Peter urge's believers to be subject, for the Lord's
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  Speaker 1: sake to every human institution. We find that in chapter two,
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  Speaker 1: verse thirteen. These words are reminiscent to Paul's words in
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  Speaker 1: Romans thirteen. Now Peter has in mind, if you look
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  Speaker 1: at thirteen to fourteen, the Emperor as supreme or to governors,
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  Speaker 1: as sent by him to punish those who do evil
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  Speaker 1: and praise those who do good. This, of course, is
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  Speaker 1: an admonition to all Christians. That's important to remember as well.
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  Speaker 1: In these earlier sections we've got him talking to all Christians.
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  Speaker 1: We're gonna make the point again that we saw when
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  Speaker 1: we looked at Jude makes it clear that he starts
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  Speaker 1: this is for all Christians.
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  Speaker 2: Peter makes this.
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  Speaker 1: Clear as well, I'd say even more so than Jude does.
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  Speaker 1: And then secondly he goes from the general to the specific,
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  Speaker 1: and he are just slaves to a verse to eighteen.
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  Speaker 1: Be subject to your masters with all respect, not only
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  Speaker 1: to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.
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  Speaker 1: That's important. When we get to three point fifteen, that's
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  Speaker 1: going to be important. Okay, be subject not just to
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  Speaker 1: the good and general, but also also to the unjust. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: your subjection is not contingent upon somebody being worthy of it.
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  Speaker 2: Right.
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  Speaker 1: If that's the case, then it's really not it's not
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  Speaker 1: your subjection. It's not your submission. If it's contingent on
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  Speaker 1: somebody being worthy of it. The other problem is nobody
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  Speaker 1: will ever be worthy of it. Amen, nobody will ever
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  Speaker 1: be worthy of it. Peter goes on to encourage believers
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  Speaker 1: who find themselves in this situation to suffer for righteousness sake.
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  Speaker 1: Look at in verse nineteen, for this is a gracious
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  Speaker 1: thing when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
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  Speaker 1: How about that? How about that? Two audiences? Remember there's
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  Speaker 1: two audiences. Number one, there's the audience of God. What
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  Speaker 1: are we saying to the audience of God when we
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  Speaker 1: suffer even unjustly? I trust you, I trust your sovereignty,
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  Speaker 1: I trust your providence. You are a good God, regardless
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  Speaker 1: of what's happening right now. And then we're saying something
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  Speaker 1: as well to a world that's looking on, especially when
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  Speaker 1: that world is trying to make us respond a certain way.
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  Speaker 1: You know, this is something it's very interesting. I grew
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  Speaker 1: up very mindful of this. I did not grow up
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  Speaker 1: with my father. I told you before. I was raised
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  Speaker 1: by a single mother, but I knew my father, and
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  Speaker 1: I spent time with my father from time to time.
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  Speaker 1: My father was a huge man. I'm just my father's
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  Speaker 1: way bigger than me. One of the great disappointments of
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  Speaker 1: my life when I was a young man was I
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  Speaker 1: never got a big is my dad.
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  Speaker 2: All my friends got bigger.
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  Speaker 1: Than their dad, even bigger than their dad.
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  Speaker 2: Right. My father was six'. Six come, on, man he
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  Speaker 2: married a woman who was five to. FOUR i got, cheated.
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  Speaker 1: Y'all and other people would look at me and they be, like,
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  Speaker 1: yeah but you're. Talking oh, man come, on don't tell me.
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  Speaker 1: THAT i don't want to hear THAT i got.
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  Speaker 2: Cheated BUT.
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  Speaker 1: I saw him in the way that he carried himself
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  Speaker 1: and the opportunities that we had to be with each.
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  Speaker 1: Other AND i learned things from him THAT i didn't
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  Speaker 1: even realize THAT i learned from. Him and it's very.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting being a very large black man can be intimidating to.
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  Speaker 1: People AND i remember as a young, man you, know
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  Speaker 1: walking down the street and women seeing me and clutching
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  Speaker 1: their purses tighter right walking down the street and having you,
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  Speaker 1: know police cars slow down to check me.
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  Speaker 2: Out, RIGHT i, MEAN i remember. THIS i remember, when you, know.
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  Speaker 1: Just like playing as a, kid being the big kid who's.
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  Speaker 1: PLAYING i, REMEMBER i remember watching When shaquille O'Neil was
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: in THE. Nba you, know If shack was being shacked
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  Speaker 1: diesel and bulldozing, people he's a big.
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  Speaker 2: Bully if he, wasn't he's. Soft you just can't.
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  Speaker 1: Win and it's interesting how when you are a large,
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  Speaker 1: person when you're an intimidating, person when you're a black
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  Speaker 1: person and a lot of black people, around which is
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: really interesting for me now THAT i live In, ZAMBIA
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  Speaker 1: i come back over, here, Man i'm, like we're all
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  Speaker 1: the black people at.
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  Speaker 2: You, know.
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  Speaker 1: You kind of learn how to do things to put
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: people at, ease, Right you learn how to be conscious of,
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  Speaker 1: that and you learn how in certain circumstances you're getting
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: upset is a no. WHEN i, MEAN i REMEMBER i remember.
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  Speaker 1: THOSE i remember the. Conversations stuff would happened at. SCHOOL
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  Speaker 1: i remember my mom saying to, me, son you have
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: to remember when stuff like this.
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  Speaker 2: Happens BECAUSE i got.
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  Speaker 1: BUSSED i went to an all black elementary school In Los,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: angeles AND i got bussed To Pacific Palisades Elementary school
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: is back when they, were you, know doing all the
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: bust and. Stuff Pacific. Palace that just sounds like a
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: place without a lot of black, people, Right AND i
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  Speaker 1: got bussed To. PACIFIC i didn't. KNOW i went to
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: an all black elementary. School they told me that they
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: were gonna, bust we were gonna be Bub. Why my
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: mom was, like cause you go to an all black
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: elementary school and you know they don't. Whatever AND i was, like,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: no that's Not, yeah he? Black well what m she?
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Black? Too?
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  Speaker 1: Well, MAN i go to an all black. School and
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: so you, know we got we got bus out. There
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  Speaker 1: it was interesting And i'll never. REMEMBER i got in
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  Speaker 1: trouble one day and my mother had said something to,
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  Speaker 1: me and there was a black teacher at the school as, well.
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  Speaker 2: And AGAIN i was sort of bigger.
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  Speaker 1: Kid AND i remember the black teacher at the, schools
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  Speaker 1: the male sitting me down one day, saying, son there's
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  Speaker 1: some things that you need to. Learn they're not, fair
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  Speaker 1: but they're just. True there are people who are going
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: to provoke you, here and if you, respond you're just
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: the angry black. KID i didn't like. THAT i didn't
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: like that at, all but it was just. True if
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: other people go, off, right they WHATEVER i go, off
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: it's the angry black. GUY i hated. THAT i hated.
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  Speaker 1: That but that's part of What peter is saying. Here
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  Speaker 1: we we live in a place where As, christians we
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: are the extreme hated.
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  Speaker 2: Minority this is what peter' is saying to. People we
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  Speaker 2: are an extreme.
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  Speaker 1: Minority we are a hated minority within this, context and
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  Speaker 1: there are going to be times when we suffer. Unjustly
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: and if we go, off it's, UH i knew That
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: jesus stuff wasn't.
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  Speaker 2: Real. Hmm this is part of what he's. Saying, okay.
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  Speaker 1: Part of it is, again because of Who christ is in,
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  Speaker 1: us because of What christ has done for, us we
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  Speaker 1: are able to do, this and we are called to do,
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  Speaker 1: this and and there's the audience Of. God, right and
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  Speaker 1: then he also points to this other. Audience don't let
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  Speaker 1: them have anything to say about.
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  Speaker 2: You don't do.
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  Speaker 1: It if you, suffer make sure you're suffering, unjustly Because
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: god doesn't get glory when you get in trouble and
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: you deserved, it, Right this is the point that he's
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: making