Latest / Crosswalk / How Will They Hear? — Romans 10:11–16

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How Will They Hear? — Romans 10:11–16 · Crosswalk

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Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
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Him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
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Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
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of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
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to lead you to the cross through the teaching
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of God's Word. It says verse 11, for the scripture
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says, whoever believes on him will not be put
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to shame. You know what whoever means in Greek?
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It's whoever. It doesn't say that when the elect
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believe on him, they will not be put to shame.
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It says whoever believes on him will not be put
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to shame. Then he says, for there's no distinction
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between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over
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all is rich to all who call upon Him. You know
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what all means in Greek? It means all. It's all
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of them, anybody. He goes on and says, How then
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shall, or excuse me, verse 13, for whoever calls
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on the name of the Lord shall be saved. And again,
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whoever is whoever, how then shall they call
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upon him in whom they have not believed? How
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shall they believe in him of whom they've not
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heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
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And as you go through that passage, you have
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the free will of God being spoken about. So verses
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nine and 10, if God is sovereign, it doesn't
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matter what I do. a radical Calvinist will say,
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if God is sovereign, it does not matter what
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I do. I am either elected or not elected. And
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if I'm elected, there's nothing I can do to stop
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that. If I'm not elected, there's nothing I can
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do to change that. That is not what nine in 10
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says. It says, if you confess with your mouth
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the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
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God has raised him from the dead, you will be
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saved. With the heart one believes unto righteousness,
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with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
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And again, the point I'm making here is a Calvinist
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doesn't write that. And any time that you're
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going at your Bible and you're getting stuck
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on verses and you're looking at passages and
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you're going, I don't like it that the Bible
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says that, and you're trying to do back flips
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to get out of it, the problem is not the Bible.
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The problem is your doctrine. And so you have
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to conform yourself. to the word of God. Later
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on in Romans chapter 12, it says, don't be conformed
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to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
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of your mind. And that's what reading the Bible
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does. It transforms you. It takes you out of
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your prejudices. It takes you out of your agendas.
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And it starts making you a person who is beginning
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to think like God thinks. And this is what God
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thinks about your salvation. He goes on. in the
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passage and talks about the fact that, again,
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if you're looking at verses 11 through 13, if
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God is sovereign, then there's no chance for
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some. Some people are going to be chosen for
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hell and people will even say, and I talked to
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you about John Calvin, who said that election
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and reprobation belong together. There could
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be no election without its opposite, reprobation.
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And so if God's electing some people, he's reprobating
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other people. And again, there's no chance for
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some people. And that again is not what the passage
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says. It says something that's exactly the opposite
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of that. And again, if I'm a Calvinist, if I'm
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John Calvin, I don't write that in my Bible.
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I don't write that in the scripture. And so again,
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you have to look at these things and understand
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where God is coming from. Here's another one,
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verse 14. If God is sovereign, then there's no
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need for me to share Jesus. And when you're talking
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about somebody who's a radical reform guy, radical
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Calvinist, they will literally, I've known some
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of these guys that have gone to Billy Graham
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Crusades or Greg Laurie Crusades, have signs
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up saying that Greg is. deceiving people because
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he's giving them an offer of salvation, and they
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can't be saved unless God's chosen them, and
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you can't know if God's chosen them. Therefore,
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I can't say to you, if you believe on Christ,
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you confess that he's Lord, and you believe that
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he's been raised from the dead, you will be saved.
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I can't say that if I have that doctrinal position
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because I'm deceiving you at that point. But
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again, when you look at verse 14, it says, How
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shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
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How shall they believe in him of whom they've
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not heard? And how shall they hear without a
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preacher? And so you know what I think that kind
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of means? I think it means that God wants people
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to be preachers so that they can go talk to people
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who haven't believed in him, who haven't heard
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about him, so that those people who have not
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heard about him can believe in him. I think that's
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what that means. And so again, that is something
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that is exactly the opposite of what a Calvinist
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would say. And again, when you're talking about
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the other position, coming at it from Arminianism,
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there are things in Romans chapter 9 that an
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Arminian would never write. They would never
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write it. Because it talks about God's choice
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and God's choice being final and God's choice
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being something that is based in his sovereign
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will and not in our works. And so what you've
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got here is not either or, it's both and. So
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at the very same time that God is letting me
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know that I'm not a mistake, God is also letting
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me know that I need to trust him. And both those
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things are true. And that becomes a paradox,
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because Calvin's right. If you have election,
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then you have to have reprobation if you're using
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logic, okay? And you have all the information.
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And Jacobus Arminius is right. If you have passages
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that are talking about the fact that I need to
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exercise my free will, then God's election has
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to be based on something that I have done, exercising
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my free will. And Jacob Arminius would be wrong
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in that. And there are passages in Romans chapter
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9 that the Arminians would never write. And what
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I'm telling you is both those things are in the
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Bible and this is a paradox. God hasn't given
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us all the information. And so you can use logic
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if you have all the information. If you don't
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have all the information, you're going to find
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out really quick because you're going to go from
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one point to the next point to the next point
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and somewhere in there you are going to have
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a logical fallacy and the problem is not going
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to be necessarily your logic, it's going to be
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the fact that you have a wrong premise. You don't
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have all the information. That's exactly what
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we have with God. God is multi -dimensional.
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Actually, he's beyond dimensions. And there are
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any number of aspects of the character and nature
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of God that I don't understand and don't fit
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within my four -dimensional context. Four dimensions
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being three dimensions in time. So God's timeless.
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God's all these different things. How do you
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do this stuff? And if I've got God pinned down
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and I've got him in a box, guess who I don't
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have? God because it beyond dimensionality and
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he's going to be doing things and being things
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that I cannot understand if I'm actually worshipping
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and following the true God and so Paradoxes are
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allowed you guys you have a number of them in
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the Bible and they're allowed and again The reason
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that they're there is because God hasn't chosen
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to give us all the information I have no doubt
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that when we get home to be with him in heaven,
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we're going to understand exactly what the Trinity
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is all about We're gonna understand exactly how
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free will of man and the election of God can
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coexist we're going to understand it and We're
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going to understand his timelessness because
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the Bible says that we're gonna know him like
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he knows us And so we're going to be able to
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see that because we're going to be beyond our
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dimension at the point where we go home to be
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with him. And so everything's going to be different
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from us and we're going to be seeing it in a
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different way. Up until that point, guess what
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you have to do? You have to trust him that what
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he's saying is actually what he means. You have
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to trust him. And if you find yourself in a position
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where you don't like verses, and I've done that
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before, this is why I'm so adamant about this.
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When you find yourself in a position where you
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don't like verses, it's because you don't trust
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the verses. Do ya? And so things have to change.
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And what's got to change is your mind. He talks
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about the need for apostles, verse 15. It says,
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how shall they preach unless they are sent? The
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word for sent there is where we get the word
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apostle in English. It's apostolus. in Greek.
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How shall they preach unless they are sent? As
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it is written, how beautiful are the feet of
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those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring
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glad tidings of good things. And so there needs
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to be preachers who are sent. And guess who that
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is? That's you. It's me too, but that's you.
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And he talks about the fact that the feet of
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those who go and do that are beautiful. Now I
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just want to let you know right now that I think
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feet are ugly. It's like I've never looked at
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anybody's feet and somebody will say, oh look
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at this girl, she has such beautiful feet. And
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I'm just sitting there looking at them and going,
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and I'm silent. She may be a beautiful girl,
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her feet are not that great looking. I'm not
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gonna take a picture of her feet. All you guys
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that like feet, you're weird. There's something
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wrong with that Steve. I've seen you put feet
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on your Facebook page Yes, I do that, but I'm
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not doing that because I think my feet are so
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beautiful I think the reason I don't like be
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I don't like feet is because I don't like the
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I don't like what my feet look like But I still
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throw the pictures up when I go on the trip If
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I go to the beach, I always sit on the beach,
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and it's like I don't want to do a whole selfie
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thing, and so I'll just lift my feet up, there's
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the waves behind it, and take a picture of my
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feet, and that lets everybody know I'm having
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a good time on vacation with my feet. In fact,
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I put it, my feet are there! Even though I hate
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them. Yeah, why am I talking? What am I saying
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here? In any case, anytime I go to a beach, I
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do this, and so somebody just... commented, oh,
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it's the yearly feet picture with a smiley face
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because I know I don't like feet. Love my wife
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and then there's feet. But God looks at feet
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and he sees them as beautiful and this is what
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he's talking about. Remember when we were in
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Romans chapter 6 and we were talking about using
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your members as instruments of righteousness?
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yielding your members as instruments of righteousness.
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And so the Bible talks about the fact that our
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eyes are members, ears are members, hands are
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members. What I do with my body is going to be
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something that glorifies God or doesn't glorify
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God. I got a song that I've been listening to
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lately. It's basically a song about only giving
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10 % of your heart to the Lord. And in the song
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there's a lyric that says, Good God, I've pierced
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your side because I don't guard my eyes. I like
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that. There's a passage in the book of Job that
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talks about, I guard my eyes. I put a guard on
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my eyes so that I don't look on a young woman
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to lust after her. And obviously the writer is
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talking about that issue specifically. And so
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what you do with your eyes matters. It's either
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going to be glorifying to God or it's going to
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be detrimental to the gospel and to the work
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of God in your life. Same thing with my hands,
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the same things with my feet. Your feet are designed
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to take you places. Your feet are designed to
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put you in certain positions. And God wants to
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take you places. And when you're going in those
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places and you're representing Christ, your feet
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are beautiful. They're being used for exactly
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what God wants to use them for. And this is where
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I want to go with this whole thing. When you're
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talking about evangelism specifically, there
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are a lot of people who look at evangelism and
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they just go, I'm not an evangelist. And so why
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do I need to do this stuff? And the reason that
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you need to do it is because you're commanded.
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And God sends you into certain places to have
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certain influences on people that I, for example,
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are not going to be able to do. people get saved
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around here the reason they get saved is because
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you bring them to church with you and the reason
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that they get saved is because you've been an
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influence in their life the reason that they
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get saved is usually because you've been talking
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to them and some of them maybe for years and
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so you've been planting in their life you've
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had beautiful feet you've been sharing the lord
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jesus with them And because of that, they come
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and God doesn't work on their heart and they
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give their heart to the Lord. That's why evangelism
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happens around here. It's because God's put you
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in certain places. The way that this is supposed
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to work is every single one of us is going out
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and sharing the gospel with the people who are
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around us. It's not one guy's job. It's not my
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job to do that. It's part of my job, and so I'm
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going to do that, but it's part of yours too.
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Jesus said in Matthew 28 18 through 20, this
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is the Great Commission and Jesus came spoke
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to them saying all authority has been given to
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me in heaven and on earth and what he said So
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what he's saying is listen up Go therefore and
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make disciples of all the nations Baptizing them
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in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Spirit
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teaching them to observe all things that I've
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commanded you and Lo I am with you always even
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to the end of the age. That's the Great Commission.
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That's to everybody And so I may not be an evangelist,
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but that doesn't mean that I don't evangelize.
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And so again, God's put you in positions and
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he's put you with people that I'm never going
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to be able to reach because I don't go to your
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house, I don't go to your job, I don't know the
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friends and family that you have, I don't know
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these people, but you do. And God's placed you
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there so that you could be an influence in your
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life. Jesus talked about salt and light. So in
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Matthew chapter five, verse 13 through 16, Jesus
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said, you are the light of the world. And then
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he says a city, and he talks about the fact that
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you're the light of the world. Don't take your
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light, put it under a basket. A city that's set
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on a hill cannot be hidden. And so let your light
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so shine before men. And so you're the light
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of the world. He talks about you're the salt
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of the earth. He says you're the salt of the
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earth, but salt that loses its flavor is worthless.
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And it's only fit to be thrown out into the road
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and be trampled by men. And when I think of salt
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and light, I think of light as actually sharing
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the gospel. People are in the dark, you come
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in, you share the gospel, the blinders go off,
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the lights come on, and there it is. And when
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I think of salt, I think of influence. Salt makes
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people thirsty, right? And so people need to
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be thirsty for Jesus. This is why they put salt
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on your $300 popcorn when you go to the movies.
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And so you'll buy the $200 pop to quench the
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thirst that came from the $300 popcorn. And that's
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why that happens. And so your life makes people
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thirsty for the things that you have. How many
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of you have had people who walked up to you and
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said, what is different about you? I know something
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about what you're going through. I know what's
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happening in your life. And you still have a
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grin on your face. You've got peace in the midst
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of this whole thing. What is different about
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you? And I had that happen with construction
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workers on my job. And then I tell them and many
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times they don't want to hear it. It's Jesus.
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No, really, what is it? It's Jesus, you doofus.
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I started adding adjectives to let them know.
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In any case, the salt is also a preservative.
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And I don't think that the church has been a
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very good preservative lately. The church has
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always been the one that looks at the world and
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brings it back to a moral compass. And our world
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is getting more messed up because of the fact
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that the church hasn't had the influence that
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Jesus wants it to have. You have an influence
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in your family. You have an influence at your
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work, on your job. You have an influence with
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your friends. And that influence is supposed
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to be something that doesn't get trampled on
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because it preserves things. And so when you
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walk in the room, do they stop telling the dirty
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joke or do they expect you to join in? When you
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walk in the room, do they start telling the dirty
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joke all the more loudly? If they're saying it
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loudly, it's because actually you are an influence
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and they're trying to get you, right? But you're
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an influence. And so again, when you're talking
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about evangelism, it's we probably have almost
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a thousand people in here. Maybe a thousand and
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so we got a thousand people in here with influence
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in all these different areas There's no way I
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can reach that many people no way no possible
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way And so God's got you there and when you go
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there and you are that salt you're that light
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you're that ambassador 2nd Corinthians 5 17 through
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20 talks about being ambassadors of Christ and
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an ambassador is somebody that's representing
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their government to a foreign nation that they're
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living in I love the United States. I think the
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United States is the greatest place on the planet.
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And I've got reasons to think that. I've been
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to Russia, I've been to Europe, a number of countries
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in Europe, I've been to Israel, I've been to
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India, I've been to Africa, a number of places
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in Africa. This is the best spot on the planet,
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you guys. It's the best spot. And I love it that
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I live here. And I love the freedom that we have.
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And this place is not my home at the very same
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time. I'm a citizen of heaven. And so I love
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being a citizen of the United States, but I'm
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also a citizen of heaven and I'm an ambassador.
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I'm representing the king of heaven to people
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who have no king except for themselves. And they
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need to know who he is because he's coming back
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and is going to take over their little kingdom.
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In any case, We're ambassadors for Christ and
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we are supposed to be going out and sharing those
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things He says but they have not all obeyed the
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gospel for Isaiah says Lord who has believed
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our report? And what he's talking about is Isaiah
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53. That passage starts off with, who's believed
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our report? And it goes on to talk about the
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fact that the Messiah is going to be somebody
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that, from the outside, you don't see anything
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that commends Him to you. It's all on the inside.
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There is no form or comeliness. I memorize this
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in the King Jimmy. There's no form or comeliness
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that we should desire Him. In other words, there's
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nothing on the outside that makes Him any different
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than anybody else. He talks about He's a man
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of sorrow, and sorrow is acquainted with grief.
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And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. We
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esteemed him stricken and smitten by God. And
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then it goes on and says, yet it was because
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of our iniquity. It says that all we like sheep
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have gone astray, and we've wandered each one
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to our own way. And God has laid on him the iniquity
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of us all. And it's going through in Isaiah 53
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and talking about what Messiah was going to do
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in 700 years. in the future. Another reason I
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believe the Bible is the word of God. And it
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goes on to talk about the fact that he's going
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to die with criminals, that he's going to be
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buried with rich men. He was buried in a rich
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man's tomb. That he was going to arise and he
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was going to see the result of his death and
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the atonement that he made. That's all in Isaiah
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53. And what Paul's saying here is the problem
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here is not that they weren't preached to. The
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problem here is they didn't obey the gospel.
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They didn't receive the gospel. Who has believed
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our report? That's all about Isaiah condemning
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the people of Israel for the fact that they're
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not going to receive Messiah when he comes, 700
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years before the events. And again, you have
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this situation where in Romans chapter 9, not
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all Israel is Israel. In Romans chapter 10, the
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problem is they didn't receive the gospel. The
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problem is they didn't respond. They rejected.
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they responded with a rejection, and then chapter
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11 is going to be about their salvation. So we're
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going to end it right there, because that's as
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far as I got first service, and that's as far
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as I got second service, and we're going to do
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communion right here. So again, when you're talking
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about specifically this whole situation with
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the Jewish people and just with people in general,
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again, when I look at the doctrine of election,
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I love it. I think it's awesome. It's a great
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thing. And again, because you're not an accident.
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If you've given your life to Jesus, you're not
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an accident. If you haven't given your life to
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Jesus, you can give your life to Jesus and you
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can expect that he's going to respond to you
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when you call on his name. And so one is about
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God's work in salvation. The other chapter, the
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end of chapter 9 and chapter 10 is about man's
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response to God. And the fact that we need to
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respond with a heart of faith. And that is not
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a work. Faith is a belief. Belief is the only
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thing you can do without doing anything. And
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that's what, excuse me, God expects from you.
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When we're looking at the book of Romans, again,
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the whole thing is just couched in the fact that
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it was God who had to do a work in us. It was
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Christ that he... did the work through, and what
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we are doing is responding to that work. That's
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what communion is all about. And so, Jesus, when
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he sets up communion, he says, this is my body
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which is given for you, my body which is broken
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for you. And the whole thing is of remembrance.
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He says, do this in remembrance of me. We're
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looking back to the work that Jesus has done.
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Communion is not something that commends us to
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God. It doesn't make us more holy. It's just
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a remembrance of what Jesus has done for us.
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And so the first thing that Jesus did for me
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was he went to a cross instead of me going to
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a cross. He took a beating instead of me taking
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a beating. He took a judgment instead of me taking
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a judgment. And he traded places with me. And
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when you're talking about the cup, It's a picture
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of the fact that it's not my goodness that commends
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me before God. It's not my goodness that makes
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me pure. It's the blood of Jesus that commends
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me before God. It's the blood of Jesus that makes
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me pure. And that's what we're celebrating every
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time we celebrate communion. All the things that
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Jesus has done for me. All the things that Jesus
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has done for you. And so let's pray and we'll
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pass out the elements and we'll do this. Father
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we thank you again for the time that we have
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together to think. I was just talking about the
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fact that we're here to worship, not to work.
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And Lord, this is another act of worship. This
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is us coming before you and just being thankful
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in our hearts for the things that you have done
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for us. And so Lord, as we celebrate communion,
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as we go through and sing the songs that we're
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gonna sing, Lord, we want it to be an offering
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that's pure, an offering that's real. You've
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been listening to Crosswalk with Pastor Steve
24:07
Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry of Calvary
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Chapel Tri -Cities in Kinoent, Washington. If
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you're wanting to know more about what it means
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to follow Christ, then please contact our church
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office by phone at 509 -736 -2086. You can also
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look us up online at calvary -tricities .org.
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Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities is offering two in
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-person training courses for those seeking to
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serve in missions or ministry. The School of
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Missions starts with 12 weeks of classroom -style
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learning and local outreach in the Tri -Cities,
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Washington, followed by a 10 -week cross -cultural
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mission outreach. The School of Ministry, this
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course is 18 weeks of in -person learning environment,
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followed by a four -week mission trip. Find out
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more at calvarytrainingcenternw .com.