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2 Timothy 2:1-13 - God is Faithful When We are Faithless · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, they're faithful listeners, and welcome to the
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  Speaker 1: Bible Explain podcast. On this lovely Thursday morning, we are
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  Speaker 1: in the Book of Two Timothy today and we're going
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  Speaker 1: to talk about God's faithfulness even when we are faithless.
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  Speaker 1: Stay tuned, and of course, before I begin this episode,
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  Speaker 1: here is a quick word from a sponsor or. Two So,
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  Speaker 1: I'm so bummed, you guys. I'm so bummed because earlier
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  Speaker 1: today it was beautiful out and I was thinking, oh man,
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  Speaker 1: maybe spring's going to come early this year, but no,
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  Speaker 1: because it is now snowing like cats and dogs. Literally
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  Speaker 1: at the start of this episode when I started recording,
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  Speaker 1: it was raining outside and like the snow was gone,
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  Speaker 1: and I was really really excited because I dislike snow.
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  Speaker 1: It is all back, the ground is covered once again.
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  Speaker 1: And that is how fast the weather in Ohio can change,
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  Speaker 1: Like in an instant, it goes from sunny, rainy and
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  Speaker 1: then snow in just you know, fifteen minutes. Really really
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  Speaker 1: crazy stuff. Okay, let's go ahead and read Two Timothy
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  Speaker 1: two one through thirteen. There's a lot to talk about
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  Speaker 1: in this portion of scripture. We're gonna talk about some
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  Speaker 1: analogies of the Christian life. We're going to talk about
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  Speaker 1: the faithfulness of God and how we can be effective
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  Speaker 1: evangelists for the Gospel. We're gonna get into all those
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  Speaker 1: topics today. So grab your Bible out of the version
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  Speaker 1: that you prefer. I'll be reading from the World English
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  Speaker 1: Bible or the Web this morning. Grab a cup of coffee,
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  Speaker 1: and let's jump right in together. You, therefore, my child,
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  Speaker 1: be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: The things which you've heard from me among many witnesses,
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  Speaker 1: commit the same things to faithful men who will be
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  Speaker 1: able to teach others. Also, you therefore must endure hardship
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  Speaker 1: as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on
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  Speaker 1: duty entangles himself in the affairs of life that he
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  Speaker 1: may please him who enrolled him as a soldier. Also,
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  Speaker 1: if anyone competes in athletics, he isn't crowned unless he
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  Speaker 1: is competed by the rules. The farmer who labors must
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  Speaker 1: be the first to get a share of the crops.
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  Speaker 1: Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you
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  Speaker 1: understanding in all things. Remember Jesus Christ risen from the
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  Speaker 1: dead of the offspring of David, according to my good news,
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  Speaker 1: in which I suffer hardship to the point of chains
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  Speaker 1: as a criminal. But God's word isn't chained. Therefore I
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  Speaker 1: endure all things for the chosen one's sake, that they
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  Speaker 1: also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus
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  Speaker 1: with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy, for if we
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  Speaker 1: died with him, we also will live with him. If
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  Speaker 1: we endure, we also will reign with him. If we
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  Speaker 1: deny him, he also will deny us. If we are faithless,
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  Speaker 1: he remains faithful, for he can't deny himself. So Verse
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  Speaker 1: one says you, Therefore, my child be strengthened in the
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  Speaker 1: grace that is in Christ Jesus. Now we know that
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  Speaker 1: this is Paul talking directly to Timothy, and he calls
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  Speaker 1: Timothy his child. And this is not the first time
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  Speaker 1: we've seen this. We actually see Paul call Timothy his
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  Speaker 1: child all the time. And I really do think that
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  Speaker 1: Timothy and Paul had a special kind of like father
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  Speaker 1: and son relationship almost They really did seem to have
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  Speaker 1: a connection in that way. So he says, Timothy, my
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  Speaker 1: child be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: So how are we strengthened by grace? You know, typically
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  Speaker 1: we don't think of grace as something that strengthens us,
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  Speaker 1: but if you think about it, God's grace really is
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  Speaker 1: what gives us strength as Christians. There is nothing more
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  Speaker 1: empowering than knowing that God is on your side, knowing
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  Speaker 1: that God has given you grace and that if you
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  Speaker 1: call out to God, He's going to hear you. You know,
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  Speaker 1: yesterday on the podcast on the Old Testament side of stuff,
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  Speaker 1: we talked about that very subject. We talked about how
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  Speaker 1: when we're going through a trial, if we cry out
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  Speaker 1: to God, He's going to hear us. So ultimately, God's
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  Speaker 1: grace to us is the strongest power or we could
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  Speaker 1: ever receive, because God is the strongest. So that's how
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  Speaker 1: we're strengthened in grace. And so Paul encourages Timothy to
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  Speaker 1: also be strengthened in that grace that is in Christ Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Then he says in verse two, the things which you
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  Speaker 1: have heard from me among many witnesses, commit the same
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  Speaker 1: things to faithful men who will be able to teach others. Also. Now,
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  Speaker 1: likely what Paul's talking about right there is that spiritual
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  Speaker 1: gift that Timothy received in front of all the witnesses. Again,
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  Speaker 1: how many times has Paul mentioned this now without actually
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  Speaker 1: saying what Timothy's spiritual gift is? Like, It's driving me
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  Speaker 1: nuts at this point. I just want to know what
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  Speaker 1: Timothy's spiritual gift was, because it was clearly really special.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever happened for Paul to mention it this often, but basically,
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  Speaker 1: Timothy received a spiritual gift in front of all of
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  Speaker 1: these witnesses when Paul laid his hands on Timothy. And
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  Speaker 1: whatever this spiritual gift is, Paul keeps telling Timothy, you
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  Speaker 1: gotta use it. And he says it again right here
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  Speaker 1: in verse two. The things which you have heard from
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  Speaker 1: me amid the many witnesses commit the same things to
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  Speaker 1: faithful men who will be able to teach others also.
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  Speaker 1: So I do wonder, based upon the way this verse
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  Speaker 1: is worded, if Timothy's spiritual gift really was teaching, because
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  Speaker 1: he does tell Timothy to commit the same things to
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  Speaker 1: other faithful men who will also be able to teach.
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  Speaker 1: So I wonder if Paul is telling Timothy that he
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  Speaker 1: should lay his hands on other faithful men, faithful men
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  Speaker 1: specifically to help them also have a spiritual gift of teaching.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know, though, to be frank this verse kind
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  Speaker 1: of confuses me a little bit because we don't know
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  Speaker 1: exactly what Paul is talking about. When I was reading
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  Speaker 1: through the commentaries, most people think it's when Timothy received
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  Speaker 1: his spiritual gift, but Paul honestly could be talking about anytime,
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  Speaker 1: any particular thing that was stated in front of all
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  Speaker 1: of these witnesses that Timothy heard, and Paul is referring
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  Speaker 1: back to that, and Timothy would have known what Paul
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  Speaker 1: is talking about here. So regardless whatever that thing is,
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  Speaker 1: whether it's the spiritual gift or maybe even a sermon
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  Speaker 1: that Paul preached in front of all these witnesses, whatever
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  Speaker 1: it is, he tells Timothy to commit the same things
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  Speaker 1: that you heard to other faithful men who will be
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  Speaker 1: able to teach others. Also. Now, before I move past
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  Speaker 1: that verse, I think it's important to note that only
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  Speaker 1: faithful men should be receiving these things, which means that
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  Speaker 1: these people would have to be tested to know whether
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  Speaker 1: or not they were faithful. There's a verse in First
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  Speaker 1: Timothy that says you should not lay your hands on
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  Speaker 1: people too soon and what that means is you should
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  Speaker 1: vet people before giving them any kind of power or
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  Speaker 1: leadership in the church. They should be vetted completely to
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  Speaker 1: make sure that they are faithful people, because unfaithful people
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  Speaker 1: coming into the church and getting a lot of power
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  Speaker 1: can do a lot of damage. I was actually just
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  Speaker 1: listening to an interview that Mike Winger put out I
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  Speaker 1: think yes yesterday of a famous preacher I believe connected
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  Speaker 1: with Bethel and I hop not the Pancake Place, the
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  Speaker 1: prayer Place, and also a morning Star. And the interview
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  Speaker 1: was the son of this guy coming out and revealing
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  Speaker 1: all of the sexual abuse that his father had done
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  Speaker 1: over the years, because the son had actually worked with
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  Speaker 1: the dad for a really long time, and so the
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  Speaker 1: son was saying that, you know, he was so ashamed
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  Speaker 1: of Bethel because Bethel, without even knowing his father, just
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  Speaker 1: gave him a whole bunch of power and leadership from
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  Speaker 1: the get go without really vetting who he was. And
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  Speaker 1: the son had already known that his dad was kind
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  Speaker 1: of psycho by that point and went to Bethel and
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  Speaker 1: was like, hey, you know, my dad is kind of
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  Speaker 1: a nutcase and you probably shouldn't put him in a
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  Speaker 1: leadership position, but the people at Bethel wouldn't listen because
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  Speaker 1: they really liked the dad. So then of course it
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  Speaker 1: came out that his dad was doing all sorts of
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  Speaker 1: terrible things and prophetically abusing people and getting women to
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  Speaker 1: sleep with him through prophecy and stuff, really really awful stuff.
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  Speaker 1: But my point is that Bethel consistently actually refuses to
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  Speaker 1: vet people that come in, and so all of these
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  Speaker 1: bad actors are coming into the church causing so many problems,
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  Speaker 1: but Bethel doesn't do anything about it until it's too late.
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  Speaker 1: Then they engage in cover up culture and you know,
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  Speaker 1: don't want people to know what ended up happening. But
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  Speaker 1: all of it could be avoided from the beginning. The
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  Speaker 1: Sun was saying, if you would just get to know
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  Speaker 1: people who are coming into your church before just like
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  Speaker 1: throwing them into a leadership position. And so that's the
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  Speaker 1: case right here that Paul is saying to Timothy. He's like,
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  Speaker 1: make sure that when you give anybody a leadership position
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  Speaker 1: or you lay your hands on them, that they are
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  Speaker 1: faithful men, not newbies to the faith, not unfaithful, but
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  Speaker 1: faithful men. So you have to vet these guys. Then
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  Speaker 1: he says in verse three. You therefore must endoor he
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  Speaker 1: hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier
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  Speaker 1: on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life that
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  Speaker 1: he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.
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  Speaker 1: So now Paul goes into three analogies of the Christian life,
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  Speaker 1: the first analogy being that Christians are like soldiers who
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  Speaker 1: must endure hardship for Christ Jesus, and he brings it
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  Speaker 1: back to a human perspective. He says, Look, there's no
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  Speaker 1: soldier that is actively on duty that entangles himself in
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  Speaker 1: the affairs of life. But he does a good job
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  Speaker 1: as a soldier. He is focused on his task and
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  Speaker 1: he does what his commanding officer tells him to do.
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  Speaker 1: And I mean, that's the truth. When you are actively
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  Speaker 1: on duty, you can't just go do whatever you want
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  Speaker 1: to do. You have to listen to the higher ups.
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  Speaker 1: You got to do what they tell you to do.
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  Speaker 1: And that's essentially what the Christian is doing. We are
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  Speaker 1: actively on duty for Jesus. Jesus is our commanding officer,
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  Speaker 1: and when Jesus tells us to do something, we got
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  Speaker 1: to do it. We got to act within his will.
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  Speaker 1: And then he makes the analogy of a Christian being
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  Speaker 1: similar to an athlete verse five. If anyone competes in athletics,
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  Speaker 1: he isn't crowned unless he is competed by the rules.
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  Speaker 1: So if a athlete is, you know, breaking all the rules,
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  Speaker 1: he's obviously not going to be allowed to play any further.
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  Speaker 1: He's going to be benched or the team is going
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  Speaker 1: to lose because you have to play the game by
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  Speaker 1: the rules. And the same thing goes for Christianity. You
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  Speaker 1: have to play Christianity by the rules. And what are
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  Speaker 1: the rules. It's the book that we've been given, the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: that is the rules. So you can't just pretend to
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  Speaker 1: be a Christian without following what the Bible says. That's
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  Speaker 1: not true Christianity. Just as an athlete isn't truly playing
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  Speaker 1: the game if he's breaking all the rules, a person
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  Speaker 1: is not truly a Christian if they don't follow the
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  Speaker 1: rules of the Bible and they're just making up their
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  Speaker 1: own rules doing whatever they want to do. That's not
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  Speaker 1: the way Christians are supposed to live. And then he
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  Speaker 1: gives his last analogy in verse six. The farmer who
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  Speaker 1: labors must be the first to get a share of
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  Speaker 1: the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord
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  Speaker 1: give you understanding in all things. So now the farmer
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  Speaker 1: is brought up. First it was the soldier, then it
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  Speaker 1: was the athlete, and now it's the farmer. So how
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  Speaker 1: is the Christian life like the farmer? So a farmer
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  Speaker 1: who does good work for Jesus gets the first share
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  Speaker 1: of the crops. You know, every Christian is commanded to
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  Speaker 1: go out and preach the Gospel to every creature. Right,
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  Speaker 1: that's the great commission. That's like the basics of Christianity.
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  Speaker 1: One oh one, you go out and you make disciples
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  Speaker 1: of all the nations. So evangelism is a big part
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  Speaker 1: of the Christian faith. You are supposed to want more
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  Speaker 1: people to become saved, And if you are a farmer
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  Speaker 1: in this analogy, you share of that crop first, meaning
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  Speaker 1: that the Gospel has been presented to you. First. You
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  Speaker 1: have to understand the Gospel message effectively before you can
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  Speaker 1: go out and evangelize to other people. There's actually a
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  Speaker 1: story in the Book of Acts that reminds me of
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  Speaker 1: this verse where there is a man I believe his
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  Speaker 1: name was Apollos, and he was going around partially preaching
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  Speaker 1: the Gospel but didn't fully understand it. And Aquila and Priscilla,
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  Speaker 1: the famous duo in Scripture, heard him speaking and they're like, wow,
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  Speaker 1: you know, this guy has a talent. Unfortunately he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: really know the gospel message all that well. And so
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  Speaker 1: they went up and started talking with him and teaching
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  Speaker 1: him about what the gospel message was. And after that,
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  Speaker 1: Apollos became like a fantastic preacher of the Bible because
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  Speaker 1: he fully understood it. So before he was not super effective,
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  Speaker 1: but afterward he was. And that shows us that us
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  Speaker 1: Christians need to partake in the Bible every single day.
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  Speaker 1: We have to first get our share of the crops
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  Speaker 1: before we give them to other people. And this is
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  Speaker 1: not to say that the Bible is super hard to understand.
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  Speaker 1: We can never get it and we should be terrified
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  Speaker 1: to go out and preach if we don't fully understand it.
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  Speaker 1: That is not what I'm saying at all. You know,
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  Speaker 1: the Gospel message is actually quite basic, but a lot
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  Speaker 1: of times when we evangelize, people are going to have
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  Speaker 1: questions about the Bible, and if we can't answer some
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  Speaker 1: of their basic questions because we don't know what Scripture
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  Speaker 1: says about that particular topic, we're not going to be
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  Speaker 1: as effective as we could have been. Similar to Apollos,
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  Speaker 1: before he knew the entire gospel message, he was a
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  Speaker 1: fantastic preacher, but he was not as effective as he
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  Speaker 1: could have been because he didn't have the entire story.
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  Speaker 1: And so that's why all of us Christians who want
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  Speaker 1: to evangelize, and who should want to evangelize, must read
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  Speaker 1: the Bible for ourselves first, so we can answer any
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  Speaker 1: question that comes our way from people who are interested
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  Speaker 1: but don't really understand the Gospel themsel elves. So all
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  Speaker 1: that being said, the Christian is supposed to be like
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  Speaker 1: a soldier, supposed to be like an athlete, and supposed
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  Speaker 1: to be like a farmer in order to effectively minister
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  Speaker 1: to other people. Essentially, and then Paul says, consider what
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  Speaker 1: I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in
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  Speaker 1: all things. So he knows that Timothy and whoever else
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  Speaker 1: reads this book may not fully grasp what Paul is
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  Speaker 1: saying here, but Paul has confidence that anybody who remains
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  Speaker 1: in Jesus is eventually going to understand these things. As
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  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit gives you knowledge and helps you understand
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more then in verse eight he says,
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  Speaker 1: remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the offspring
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  Speaker 1: of David, according to my good News. Now, what's really
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  Speaker 1: funny about that is, obviously Timothy already knows Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: and doesn't have to remember these things. Like Timothy is
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  Speaker 1: not just forgetting the entire gospel message. So why is
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  Speaker 1: Paul asking Timothy to remember Jesus Christ, who was risen
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  Speaker 1: from the dead and who is of the offspring of David. Well,
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  Speaker 1: because that is the basics of Christianity. A lot of
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  Speaker 1: Christians like to get tangled up in the weeds with
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  Speaker 1: all of these things that just don't matter as much.
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  Speaker 1: You know. For example, Paul told Timothy to avoid endless
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  Speaker 1: genealogies and these myths and Jewish fables that were really
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  Speaker 1: popular in his day, And I think he's kind of
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  Speaker 1: reminding Timothy of the same thing. He's like, forget all
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  Speaker 1: that stuff that doesn't matter, and focus on Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: who has risen from the dead and who is the
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  Speaker 1: offspring of David. So he is the Messiah, He is
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  Speaker 1: the one prophesied about that should be the forefront of
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  Speaker 1: every single message that Timothy preaches. That Jesus is the
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  Speaker 1: Messiah and he has been risen from the dead, because
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  Speaker 1: that is the Gospel message. That is what we live for.
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  Speaker 1: And Paul says, that's what he lives for. In verse nine,
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  Speaker 1: he says the good News in which I suffer hardship
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  Speaker 1: to the point of chains as a criminal. Then he
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  Speaker 1: says this, and I really like this. But God's word
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  Speaker 1: isn't chained, even though Paul is in chains. For the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel message, the Word of God can never be chained.
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  Speaker 1: No matter how many regimes across the millennia have tried
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  Speaker 1: to stop the inflow of the Bible, they can't do it.
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  Speaker 1: No matter how many times the Bible is banned, how
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  Speaker 1: many book burnings there are of the Bible, it can't
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  Speaker 1: be stopped. The Bible is not going to be stopped.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible is not chained. Even if individual Christians get
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  Speaker 1: chained because of the Bible, the Bible itself can't stop.
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  Speaker 1: It won't stop. It's never going to stop. That's why
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  Speaker 1: we have the New Testament two thousand years after Jesus
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  Speaker 1: ascended into heaven. That's why we have the Old Testament,
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  Speaker 1: which at this point in time is around four thousand
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  Speaker 1: years old. We have the Bible in its entirety because
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  Speaker 1: this is God's word, and God can preserve his word
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  Speaker 1: no matter how much people want to get rid of
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  Speaker 1: it or want to chain it up. It's never going
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  Speaker 1: to be chained. He says. Therefore, I endure all things
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  Speaker 1: for the chosen one's sake, that they also may obtain
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  Speaker 1: the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
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  Speaker 1: So Paul says, I do this for you guys. You
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  Speaker 1: know I'm suffering right now. I am stuck in prison,
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  Speaker 1: chained up. But I endure these things for you guys,
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  Speaker 1: so that they may obtain salvation which is in Christ
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  Speaker 1: Jesus with eternal glory. And then in verse eleven, he
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  Speaker 1: mentions this little poem that a lot of people believe
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  Speaker 1: was in early Christian hymn. He says in verse eleven,
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  Speaker 1: this saying is trustworthy. Quote, for if we died with him,
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  Speaker 1: we also will live with him. If we endure, we
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  Speaker 1: also will reign with him. If we deny him, he
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  Speaker 1: will also deny us. If we are faithless. He remains faithful,
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  Speaker 1: for he can't deny himself. So let's break down this
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  Speaker 1: hymn verse by verse it says, for if we died
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  Speaker 1: with him, we also will live with him. Now, that
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  Speaker 1: of course is the basics of Christianity. If someone becomes
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  Speaker 1: a Christian and dies, they will live with Jesus. They
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  Speaker 1: will wake up in eternity with Jesus forever. That's the
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  Speaker 1: first line of this little song. A second line, if
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  Speaker 1: we endure, we also reign with him. So firstly becoming
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  Speaker 1: a Christian and dying that means, yes, we're going to
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  Speaker 1: live with Jesus. But if we endure, if we never
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  Speaker 1: ever give up on our Christian faith, even to the
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: point of death or trials or persecutions, if we endure
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: through all of these things like Paul was doing, We're
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: also going to reign with Jesus. This may be a
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: little controversial, but I actually do believe that there are
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: levels to heaven. I've talked about this a little bit
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: on the PO podcast before. I don't really think that
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: heaven is one dimensional, especially when scripture says versus like
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: how you know one city is going to be judged
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: harsher in the end than another city. You know, Jesus
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: actually said that himself. He said that Jerusalem was going
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: to be judged harsher than Sodom and Gomorrah when the
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: day of judgment comes, because Sodom and Gomorrah didn't have
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: Jesus with them, but yeah, Jerusalem did and was still
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: rejecting Jesus. And there's other verses that talk about harsher
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: punishments for people than other people. It presumably saved people.
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: And actually in First Corinthians, I can't remember what chapter,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't look it up, I'm sorry, but Paul talks
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: about Christians standing in front of Jesus someday and how
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: all of their works are going to go through some
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: sort of fire and whatever works were crap are going
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: to be burned away, and the only thing that's going
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: to be saved is the person themselves. I want to
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: say it's First Corinthians two that Paul talks about that,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: but I can't remember specifically. So I mean that right,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: there is Paul talking about Christians, some of them getting
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: better rewards and some of them getting punished when they
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: stand before Jesus to get judged someday. So in this
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: song it mentions firstly, just the average Christian that dies.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: When they die, they're going to live with Jesus, and
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: that is a great, great thing. But if those Christians endure,
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: they will also reign with him. If they are never
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: ashamed of the gospel, if they keep ongoing, there's going
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: to be a great reward for them when they do die.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Not only are they going to live with Jesus, but
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: they're going to reign with Jesus as well. Then the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: third line of this little hymn says, if we deny him,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: he also will deny us, And I think that's really sad,
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: you know, I mean, but here's the thing though. I
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: think a lot of people believe that if you deny Jesus,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: that's just kind of the end of your salvation. But
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: think about Peter. He denied Jesus three times, very famously,
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: and yet Jesus did not reject him. So denial is
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: not the end of the line for you. Like if
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: you've denied Jesus before, or if you're in the process
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: of denial right now, or even if you're a Christian
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: questioning your faith, that doesn't mean that Jesus is necessarily
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: going to deny you. I think what this verse is
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: getting at is not Christians who are questioning faith or
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: super fearful. But I think it's people who just refuse
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Jesus completely. They deny the Holy Spirit, they deny that
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: Jesus ever existed, they deny God the Father. They might
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: be atheistic, they might be some other religion. They just
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: deny scripture completely. So if you deny Jesus in that way,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: he's also going to deny you. Now, all that being said,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: if you're a Christian and you do struggle with a
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: lot of fear and you're starting to deny you know,
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: Christ out of you know, peer pressure or something like that,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: that's not good and you don't want to live your
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: life that way. It's not good for you personally because
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: you know, people are really fickle, and just because you
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: deny Jesus out of fear of peer pressure doesn't mean
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: that those people are going to be your friends in
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: the future. Doesn't mean they're going to stop harassing you
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: or whatever is going on. That's the first reason it's
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: really bad for you. The second reason is that you're
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: going to be racked with guilt later on. If you
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: deny Jesus due to something like peer pressure or even
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: due to something like persecution, it's just not going to
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: be good for you mentally to go back on who
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: you believe in. And also, it's not going to be
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: good for you when you eventually stand before Jesus. You
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: know how many times did Paul say, all of these
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: people do to fear or whatever reason, have left the faith.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Don't be one of those those people, because it's not
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: going to be good for you. It's not good for
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: you here right now on earth, and it's also not
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: going to be good for you when you eventually stand
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: before Jesus someday, even if you still believe in him
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: in your heart, but if you're denying him outwardly, that's
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: not that's not going to be great. But there's good
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: news though, verse thirteen. If we are faithless, he remains faithful.
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: I love that verse because there are going to be
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: times as Christians when we're going to doubt, when we're
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: not going to understand. You know, even even John the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Baptist doubted. You know he can tell he did because
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: when he was stuck in prison awaiting a death sentence,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: and you know, Jesus was out preaching, John the Baptist
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus if he
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: truly was the Messiah. So, yeah, even John the Baptist,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the Pinnacle of faith was doubting and faithless at one
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: point in his life. So when we are faithless, he
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: remains faithful to us. Us. There's a beautiful versa says,
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: no one can ever pluck you out of his hand.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Once you are a child of God, nothing can remove
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: you from his hand. He is faithful to us even
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: when we are not faithful to him. And here's why.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: Because he can't deny himself. God is the definition of faithful.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: He can't not be faithful. So that's good news to
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: us for anybody that has struggled in your faith, or
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: you're in denial or doubting, even when you are faithless,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: God remains faithful to you. All right, faithful listeners, here's
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: a quick word from our sponsor before I end today's episode.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: I hope today's episode was encouraging to you. It was
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: to me. I really like diving into topics like this
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: with you know, analogies of Christian faith and how God
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: is so faithful to us even if we are not
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: faithful to him. I just love topics like this because
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: I think they're very encouraging and something that is timeless.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: You know, even though scripture was written two thousand years ago.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: At this point, this is timeless stuff. This still applies
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: to today, and I just absolutely love that about scripture
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: that regardless of how old it is, we can apply
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: it to our lives right now. Faith Listeners, if you
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: liked the episode, please share it on your social media
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: platforms and tell people that the Bible Explained Podcast exists.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: If you know somebody that is struggling in their faith
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: right now, maybe this is a good episode to share
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: with them. And also write the podcast wherever you're listening
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: from five stars and write a nice little review because
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: sometimes I like to read those reviews on the podcast,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: and I did promise you guys that i'd read one soon,
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: but I haven't done that in a while, but I
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: will do it. Okay, I will read one of your
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: guys's reviews soon. So go over to Apple Podcasts and
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: write a nice little review, and if you do, I'll
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: potentially read it on the podcast or put it up
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: on my website as a testimonial. Faithful Listeners, have a fantastic,
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you guys on Monday,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: bright and early, because tomorrow, don't forget is for the members.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: If you'd like to become a member, you got to
• 26:10
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• 26:13
  Speaker 1: become a Coffee Tier member. And when you do, you're
• 26:16
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• 26:18
  Speaker 1: are ad free and for the members only. All right,
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: faithful listeners. If I don't see you guys tomorrow, I'll
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: see you all on Monday. Happy listening and God bless.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: I just want to take a second to thank the
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: team at Life Audio for their partnership with me on
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: the Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: lifeaudio dot com you will find dozens of other faith
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: centered podcasts in their network. They've got shows about prayer,
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  Speaker 1: Bible study, parenting, and more.