Latest / Karl and Crew / Living as Sojourners with Dr. Jim Coakley & Set Your Hope Fully on Christ with Dr. Eric Redmond

Transcript

Living as Sojourners with Dr. Jim Coakley & Set Your Hope Fully on Christ with Dr. Eric Redmond · Karl and Crew

• 0:00
  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
• 0:05
  S1: and crew.
• 0:06
  S2: Come as you are an experienced guide, overcome what seems
• 0:11
  S2: impossible and live as you never imagined.
• 0:14
  S1: Start your morning with a laugh.
• 0:16
  S2: Cold spaghetti's. Great. Okay.
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  S3: Okay, I disagree. I guess not. No, I guess certainly
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  S3: it is not. No. Okay. Well, man, I'm going back.
• 0:26
  S2: To my bachelor days. I guess I like cold spaghetti
• 0:29
  S2: was universally loved.
• 0:31
  S4: I've never been known for, like, high levels of coordination.
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  S4: That's just. It feels like.
• 0:37
  S2: I've never been known for high levels of coordination.
• 0:42
  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
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  S4: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
• 0:48
  S4: and you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
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  S4: that would make it worth it.
• 0:53
  S5: Our own way. Never ever works. Because it's apart from
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  S5: the life source, which is God.
• 0:59
  S6: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
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  S6: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
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  S6: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
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  S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
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  S1: and crew.
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  S2: All right, all right. One thing I didn't cover with
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  S2: you guys is that I made it all the way
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  S2: through the weekend, sadly, without doing this. What is this? Ali?
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  S4: Sadly. Um.
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  S2: Without doing this. Made it all the way through Friday. Saturday,
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  S2: Sunday without doing this. What is this?
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  S4: You said it's sadly so. Uh, barbecuing?
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  S3: Yeah.
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  S4: AM I right?
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  S3: Yeah.
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  S2: Oh, you nailed it.
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  S3: That's not too bad.
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  S2: Nary a burger. Nary a rib, nary a hot dog.
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  S2: I was one boring dude over the weekend, let me
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  S2: tell you.
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  S5: No barbecuing for me, either.
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  S2: Really?
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  S5: Yeah.
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  S2: What's the matter with you?
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  S7: I'm not. I, to be honest, I don't care all
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  S7: that much about barbecuing. I mean, like, it's fine, but no,
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  S7: it's not a big deal. I'll go out and get
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  S7: something right now.
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  S2: We gotta. No, Ali.
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  S4: No!
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  S2: No barbecue. Oh, boy. We are the boring ones, my friend.
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  S4: I cleaned up the grill and fired it up yet,
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  S4: so it didn't really feel like doing that this weekend. Yeah.
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  S7: Long weekend. Not really cleaning up the grill energy right there.
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  S7: I don't need to do extra stuff right now.
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  S2: Yeah, we're all kind of in that season, huh?
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  S7: Yeah. I think sometimes you got a long weekend. Just
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  S7: enjoy not doing anything.
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  S2: Yeah, I'm with you.
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  S3: There's too much to do.
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  S2: I'm with you. Well we are, um, I I'll tell
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  S2: you what I did do. I logged them, I got
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  S2: 22 hours of final edits on my book.
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  S3: Ooh.
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  S7: Oh, yeah. I forgot you were doing.
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  S3: That.
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  S2: From Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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  S7: That's a lot of hours, man.
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  S2: It's a lot of hours. But can I tell you
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  S2: through prayer? I've just felt the joy of the Lord
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  S2: each morning. Got up, prayed with my bride. And then
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  S2: I jumped in Sunday, got back from church, jumped back
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  S2: into it. And it's so weird how 4 to 6
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  S2: hours in one block just goes and you don't even
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  S2: know it.
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  S3: Mhm.
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  S7: I don't know.
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  S3: If I've ever felt that. You guys.
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  S2: You got kids around you?
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  S3: I don't know.
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  S7: I don't know if I've ever if I don't, at
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  S7: least I don't remember the last time I felt 4
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  S7: to 6 hours. Just go like that.
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  S2: Oh, it's really funny. If you can get deeply focused
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  S2: on something. And guess what I had to do to
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  S2: stay focused. Any guesses? Allie, you're one for one.
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  S4: Ah!
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  S2: Come on. What did I have to do to see.
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  S4: Your phone in another.
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  S2: Room? See? You're two for two.
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  S4: Yes. I'm on.
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  S2: Fire. You're on fire! Allie's on.
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  S3: Fire!
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  S2: Oh my goodness, guys. Um, one cool story that I
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  S2: saw a woman put up on X and I don't know,
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  S2: I think it was her husband or father must have
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  S2: been a father. And she said, I won't be able
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  S2: to get to Arlington. Could somebody. If you go there,
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  S2: somebody take a picture of my. I think it's a father's, um, gravestone,
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  S2: and I think it was Arlington. And anyway, whatever it was,
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  S2: it was a Memorial Day thing and she couldn't get there.
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  S2: And just when you think there's no hope in this world,
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  S2: the folks came through.
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  S3: That's great.
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  S2: The amount of viral people that went there put a flag,
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  S2: videoed something, left the flower and gave her a message
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  S2: saying thank you for your, I guess, father's, uh, service
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  S2: or something like that. It was astounding.
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  S7: That's really cool.
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  S2: Just when you think, oh no, all the news in
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  S2: this world, what's going to happen with this one? In fact,
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  S2: when somebody said, take a look at the thread, I'm like,
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  S2: oh no, she got blasted for having a dad that
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  S2: was in the military and died or, you know, you sure? Sorry,
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  S2: but I imagine the worst. I'm like, oh great, this
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  S2: thread is blown up with knuckleheads. No, it's blowing up
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  S2: with good folks.
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  S7: That's awesome.
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  S2: How cool is that?
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  S7: It is nice to just be reminded that we are
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  S7: all made in the image of God, and sometimes we
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  S7: can do good things.
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  S2: Sometimes we can pull something out of the hat.
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  S7: Yeah.
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  S4: It's so true. You know, I was I got to
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  S4: see my parents over the weekend, which was awesome because
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  S4: they celebrated their 50th anniversary, got to spend some time
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  S4: with them. But my dad was showing us a heartwarming video.
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  S4: Not that that same one, but something along those same lines.
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  S4: And my mom was saying how, you know, you can
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  S4: always you're always surprised by the depths of the depravity
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  S4: of humans, but it's also good to be surprised by
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  S4: the humanity sometimes that you see. And so both sides,
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  S4: it's good to not underestimate.
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  S2: Know I love that you're right on, Ali. Yeah. People
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  S2: sometimes ask how in the world can people who are
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  S2: enemies of the cross of Christ born with their back
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  S2: to God? They are not children of God. Whoever receives
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  S2: him not accepts Jesus but receives him. He gives the
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  S2: right to become children of God. So we're not born.
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  S2: I know everybody loves to say we're all children of God.
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  S2: No we aren't until we are in God's family by
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  S2: surrendering our life to Jesus Christ. But we ask the question.
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  S2: It's a good theological one. How can lost people do
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  S2: good things? How can people that are otherwise even have
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  S2: a vein of being despicable do good things? I mean,
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  S2: you see old black and white, grainy videos of Hitler
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  S2: bouncing a grandchild on his lap and he's smiling and
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  S2: playing with his kid and you're like, wow, that's incongruent
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  S2: with your life, bro.
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  S7: Yeah. No doubt.
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  S2: But there it is. I mean, every once in a
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  S2: while we can eke out something. No matter where you
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  S2: are in this world that reveals that we are image bearers,
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  S2: that we are made in the image of God, that
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  S2: there is a there is a God ness about our
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  S2: creation that sometimes out pops something that looks pretty good.
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  S2: Isn't that amazing, guys?
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  S4: It's amazing. It's amazing. And it points. It points to God.
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  S2: Yeah, it really does. I mean, the order that we
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  S2: can have the the, uh, going to Arlington, taking the
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  S2: time to take a picture at that gravesite or a
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  S2: video and sending it back on to X, that just
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  S2: shows that there's a little bit of a little taste
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  S2: of God inside of us, which is really cool. Well,
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  S2: I got some big news coming up. And I mean
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  S2: big news. And I don't I try not to get
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  S2: crazy on this. If I say we got big news,
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  S2: I generally mean it. We've had some I've I guess
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  S2: I've tongue in cheek at a time or two, but
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  S2: I haven't had you wait for it. But this one
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  S2: I'm going to make you wait for.
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  S7: Must be good then. Yeah. I'm excited.
• 8:04
  S2: Happy Tuesday everybody.
• 8:06
  S1: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 8:12
  S2: Carl and crew. Helping you take your next step with Jesus. Well,
• 8:15
  S2: big announcement here. And not a lot of fanfare. No
• 8:18
  S2: bed music. Nothing like that. But we have we have
• 8:22
  S2: been dreaming, thinking about at least some of the management
• 8:26
  S2: around here, about getting us off to something really a
• 8:32
  S2: real intensive time to be together and to see God's
• 8:36
  S2: creation in an astounding way. And we do not have
• 8:40
  S2: a registration page, but I have been asked to let
• 8:43
  S2: you know it's coming. Uh, by June. Well, when's June here?
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  S7: Uh, next.
• 8:48
  S4: One is next week.
• 8:49
  S2: June 1st next week. So we're going to have it
• 8:51
  S2: by June 1st because a year from now, the first
• 8:55
  S2: week of June, we are taking an Alaskan cruise. That's
• 9:01
  S2: right from Seattle through the inside passage. We're going to
• 9:05
  S2: see I do not know the exact itinerary, but I
• 9:08
  S2: know it's June in Juneau and Sitka and glaciers and
• 9:13
  S2: fjords and mountains and dog mushing, taking a helicopter up
• 9:19
  S2: to a mountaintop, a glacier top, and doing some dog mushing.
• 9:23
  S2: Can you believe that?
• 9:25
  S7: That's exciting.
• 9:26
  S2: Yeah, it's going to be thrilling. And here's some more details.
• 9:29
  S2: I'm going to be breaking open. The word Michael Riedel
• 9:33
  S2: is going to be breaking open the word. We had
• 9:35
  S2: a call last week, just breaking down the sessions and
• 9:39
  S2: how that's all going to work. We're going to be
• 9:40
  S2: opening the Word of God inspiring you in the Lord,
• 9:44
  S2: helping you take your next step with Jesus. And Micah
• 9:48
  S2: Tyler is going to be on this cruise and he
• 9:51
  S2: is going to be leading worship. So we're pretty excited
• 9:54
  S2: about this.
• 9:55
  S4: This is exciting opportunity. And yes, we're going to get
• 9:59
  S4: you as soon as the registration opens and the link
• 10:02
  S4: is available. Some of you might have already received it
• 10:05
  S4: by email, so you may already. This may be old
• 10:07
  S4: news already.
• 10:08
  S2: Some people got.
• 10:09
  S4: Emails. Some people have already gotten some email about this,
• 10:11
  S4: but it is coming for everyone and registration will be available.
• 10:16
  S4: You'll get the pricing details, the dates, the exact itinerary,
• 10:20
  S4: and you'll get to decide if this is something that
• 10:22
  S4: you are able to do, maybe by yourself or with
• 10:25
  S4: a friend or with your spouse, but Alaska Moody Radio
• 10:29
  S4: Alaskan Cruise coming in 2027.
• 10:32
  S2: Yeah, not not first week of June in 2026.
• 10:35
  S7: Correct. Yes. Not happening.
• 10:36
  S2: Next week would be a short window. It would be
• 10:40
  S2: funny to know how many would jump on board if
• 10:42
  S2: we had five days. There might be 2 or 3 couples.
• 10:46
  S7: There might be 2 or 3. 2 or 3.
• 10:48
  S2: But a year out, we're ready to roll. And boy,
• 10:51
  S2: I'm thrilled we've actually, you know, on these ships. And
• 10:54
  S2: this is a great ship, by the way. I don't
• 10:57
  S2: want to say which one it is, because I don't
• 10:59
  S2: know which one it is. And I'm not even going
• 11:01
  S2: to say the company. But it's a great ship and
• 11:04
  S2: it's got this. They've got these auditoriums in the bows
• 11:07
  S2: of these cruise ships. Right? Yes. And they seat like
• 11:10
  S2: 900 people. And we've got that reserved for us for
• 11:14
  S2: our teaching and worship sessions. It's going to be an
• 11:17
  S2: incredible time. You get to see God's creation break open
• 11:20
  S2: the Word of God, get really encouraged in the Lord.
• 11:23
  S2: So buckle up, get a swig of water, and we're
• 11:26
  S2: going to have links for registration starting next week. Just
• 11:30
  S2: want to put a bug in your ear and get
• 11:31
  S2: you thinking about that. So people might be opening up
• 11:34
  S2: their calendars going, hmm, what's going on? First week of
• 11:37
  S2: June in And 27.
• 11:39
  S4: Yep.
• 11:39
  S2: It's going to be good. Okay. Um, coming up in
• 11:43
  S2: a moment. Have you ever stumbled across an issue in
• 11:47
  S2: the Bible that you go, I don't understand that and
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  S2: I don't think I ever will.
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  S4: Yes.
• 11:54
  S2: Good. Alis three for three today. Man. I mean, she is.
• 11:59
  S2: We're doing so. Ali, you are on it. Memorial day
• 12:04
  S2: freshen you up. I mean, you're always on it, but
• 12:08
  S2: you're like extra.
• 12:09
  S4: Okay. Yeah.
• 12:11
  S2: Let's go with being extra. Coming up, we've got a
• 12:14
  S2: theological conundrum for you that there's really no answer for. Really?
• 12:20
  S2: What is it? Straight ahead.
• 12:23
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 12:26
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 12:30
  S2: Okay. If you're just hearing that wet wood thing. I
• 12:33
  S2: need you to know that Ali says the craziest things
• 12:36
  S2: if you're new to the show here. So just hang
• 12:38
  S2: around a little while and you'll hear just absolute craziness
• 12:41
  S2: come out of her mouth.
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  S7: Yeah. And it's really only her. No one else does
• 12:44
  S7: anything crazy under control. Mhm.
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  S2: Um. Okay. There is, uh. I think when I was
• 12:52
  S2: a freshman in Bible college. I think without even saying
• 12:56
  S2: it aloud, my conviction is I want to know everything
• 13:00
  S2: and have certainty around all things theology, the study of God.
• 13:06
  S2: Gotta break it to you. The older I get, the
• 13:07
  S2: more I realize there's some questions that we have about
• 13:10
  S2: God and the way he works in this world today
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  S2: that there's no good earthly answer for. Now we know
• 13:17
  S2: God's look. God's ways are not our ways. His thoughts
• 13:21
  S2: are not our thoughts. They're far above. And now I'm
• 13:25
  S2: actually thankful that I don't actually get it all the time.
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  S2: You know what I mean, Allie? Because it might freak
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  S2: me out.
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  S4: You mean the understanding of it? Or that if God was.
• 13:35
  S4: If we could fully comprehend everything, then would God really
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  S4: be God?
• 13:39
  S2: Yeah. Would God really be God? And isn't there? Aren't
• 13:42
  S2: there some things that are just going to be a
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  S2: mystery to us? And there are. Let me give you
• 13:46
  S2: this one. We're going to be tackling. And we have
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  S2: been already this morning. First, Peter, kind of a best
• 13:51
  S2: of first, Peter. We're going to have great experts in
• 13:54
  S2: all week just tackling this book. It's such a great
• 13:57
  S2: book written, by the way, to a dispersed group of
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  S2: followers of Jesus, mainly Greeks, but some Jews written in
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  S2: probably 62 to 64 A.D. and they were called to
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  S2: submit to, as we find in chapter two and even
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  S2: chapter three, they were called to submit to the Emperor.
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  S2: Honor God, submit to the emperor. And it's very interesting
• 14:23
  S2: because the Emperor guys was Nero. This dude was rough.
• 14:29
  S2: If you know anything about your history. Nero was one
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  S2: brutal guy. So Rome gets sacked in 8070 and he
• 14:39
  S2: blames the burning. It burned, I should say it burned down.
• 14:43
  S2: And he blames the burning of Rome on Christians. And
• 14:46
  S2: he became such a despicable figure that you've got to
• 14:50
  S2: ask the question you really mean. And we've got to
• 14:53
  S2: honor the Emperor, really? Because he, in order to illuminate
• 14:59
  S2: his gardens, which were very expansive, is. This is morbid.
• 15:05
  S2: It's sickening. Little ear warning here right now. I'll give
• 15:07
  S2: you three, two, one. Little ear warning. He would illuminate
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  S2: his gardens by lighting Christians on fire with flammable liquids.
• 15:20
  S2: That's how he illuminated his gardens. It's pretty dark, right?
• 15:24
  S4: It's horrifying. Yeah, it doesn't even describe it.
• 15:27
  S7: Yeah, it's. It's unimaginable how sickening that is. Yeah. To,
• 15:32
  S7: to just be able to be like, oh yeah, so
• 15:33
  S7: I can see my flowers better.
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  S2: Yeah.
• 15:36
  S7: And not be bothered by that.
• 15:37
  S2: Not be bothered by that. Yeah. There's no, there's no
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  S2: end to how, how dark things can get. Ah, so
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  S2: I digress. The issue in first, Peter, is that you've
• 15:51
  S2: got this group of people who are called to submit
• 15:54
  S2: to one another. Um, I mean, we get into great
• 15:57
  S2: texts that we're going to highlight this week. Uh, just
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  S2: the radiance that women can have for even lost husbands.
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  S2: Peter writes, and how men, as they really submit and
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  S2: yield and begin to live with their wives in an
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  S2: understanding way, their prayers can be effective again. It's pretty cool.
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  S2: I mean, a lot of powerful content, but the first
• 16:19
  S2: couple of verses are really insightful. Peter, an apostle of
• 16:24
  S2: Jesus Christ to those who are elect exiles, that's the
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  S2: word As elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia,
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  S2: according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. So there's
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  S2: two words here that are pretty heavy to wrestle with.
• 16:43
  S2: We see here very clearly the doctrine of election. And
• 16:48
  S2: you got to ask, well, what's the doctrine of election?
• 16:50
  S2: And it has to do with foreknowledge, meaning that God
• 16:53
  S2: predestines or chooses who is going to be with him
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  S2: for eternity. Now, the problem or the challenge or perceived
• 17:02
  S2: problem or challenge with that can be, well, hold it.
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  S2: I thought, whosoever will may come and that we're all
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  S2: given free will, and that we have the ability to choose.
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  S2: And you ready for this one? We do. And some
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  S2: have tried to resolve the issue of election or foreknowledge
• 17:22
  S2: by saying, oh well, foreknowledge is God's able to look
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  S2: down the road with me here. See the decision you're
• 17:31
  S2: going to make to follow Jesus or not. And out
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  S2: of that foreknowledge, God chose us. So it's really not
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  S2: him choosing us. He predestined us based on what he
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  S2: can see because he transcends time and because he can
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  S2: see who's going to follow him and who's not. That's
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  S2: how that's how that person is chosen. And wouldn't that
• 17:56
  S2: be good if that were the answer to that question? Ellie?
• 17:58
  S2: Wouldn't that be great?
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  S4: Yes. I mean, that's still that one. Even that explanation
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  S4: is still difficult to wrap the mind around.
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  S2: Well, let's make it more difficult. Okay. Because in Romans
• 18:10
  S2: 829 through 30, it's often called the golden chain of salvation.
• 18:14
  S2: This is what it says for those whom he foreknew,
• 18:17
  S2: he also predestined to be conformed to the image of
• 18:20
  S2: the son, in order that he might be the firstborn
• 18:23
  S2: among many brothers, and those whom he predestined. He also
• 18:26
  S2: called no. Those whom he called, he also justified. And
• 18:31
  S2: it goes on from there. Now here's the point. You
• 18:35
  S2: can think and hope, okay? That word foreknowledge that's repeated
• 18:40
  S2: again in Romans 829. That means that he foreknew, he
• 18:44
  S2: saw into the future. And kind of that's how he
• 18:50
  S2: determined who's going to be in or not based on
• 18:52
  S2: their free will. That's who's in. Here's the problem with that.
• 18:57
  S2: The Greek word for foreknew is used in two different ways.
• 19:00
  S2: One is in that way, somebody looked down the road.
• 19:03
  S2: It's used in the book of acts. That way. They
• 19:05
  S2: look down the road and they could see what was
• 19:07
  S2: kind of coming, right. But more often than not, in
• 19:11
  S2: here in Romans eight and in first Peter, it's used
• 19:14
  S2: of a relationship. He foreknew, he, for he established ahead
• 19:21
  S2: of time a covenant relationship with this person. So this
• 19:27
  S2: question persists. What do you do with this? What do
• 19:31
  S2: you do with this? Now, there's a lot of ways
• 19:33
  S2: it's been tried to be resolved, but there's no resolution
• 19:40
  S2: for this. J.I. Packer called this rightly in antinomy. And
• 19:47
  S2: this is really good. And antinomy are and this is
• 19:53
  S2: this is important to note here. It exists when a
• 19:56
  S2: pair of principles stands side by side, seemingly irreconcilable, yet
• 20:03
  S2: both totally undeniable. That's a quote from Jay Packer. They
• 20:08
  S2: are both true, even though we cannot make them fit together,
• 20:13
  S2: not in our human minds. There's a couple of ways
• 20:16
  S2: to look at these truths of election and free will,
• 20:19
  S2: and it's like looking at these two truths as railroad
• 20:22
  S2: tracks and they're going down the road together. They're both
• 20:26
  S2: absolutely true, but they don't seem to connect until you
• 20:30
  S2: look way down the road at the horizon. And then
• 20:33
  S2: they blend together way down the road. Does that resolve it? Nah,
• 20:39
  S2: not in my human mind. So I heard in my
• 20:42
  S2: first year at Multnomah Bible College that the way to
• 20:44
  S2: describe this is like a big flat screen as we
• 20:50
  S2: enter into the kingdom of God. And it says on that,
• 20:53
  S2: let's say it's an LED wall and it splashed up there,
• 20:56
  S2: whosoever will may come. And we walk into the kingdom
• 21:01
  S2: of God and we look back and there, oh, wow,
• 21:04
  S2: there's another LED wall and it reads chosen before the
• 21:08
  S2: foundations of the world. It's this is one of those mindbenders. Ali,
• 21:14
  S2: I'm looking at you.
• 21:15
  S4: Yeah. My, my my wheels are spinning.
• 21:18
  S2: So here's, here's the point I love the fact that
• 21:22
  S2: even guys who are never lack a moment of surety
• 21:26
  S2: like John MacArthur, right? Never lacking for an answer. I
• 21:31
  S2: love the fact that he was asked in a Q&A,
• 21:34
  S2: just probably, I think his most recent one on this topic,
• 21:37
  S2: and he's answered it scores, if not hundreds of times.
• 21:41
  S2: Somebody asked him, how do you reconcile this? You know
• 21:44
  S2: what his answer to that one was I can't. I
• 21:48
  S2: don't know the mind of God. I can't do it.
• 21:55
  S2: And boom! Crew. I want to leave you with an
• 21:57
  S2: unsettledness today. We don't have an answer. And by the way,
• 22:01
  S2: I love you all. But. But don't even try to
• 22:06
  S2: answer this one because great theologians forever have tried or
• 22:10
  S2: give it a go, I guess. But you'll land where
• 22:14
  S2: I land. And that is. This is an antinomy. Hold it.
• 22:17
  S2: God's given us free will. And yet, before the foundations
• 22:21
  S2: of the world, he foreknew with relationship. How does that work?
• 22:29
  S2: You know where I've finally landed on this one, Ali?
• 22:31
  S2: I'm okay. That I don't know because I don't think
• 22:34
  S2: I could handle it. It's a tough one, isn't it, kiddo?
• 22:39
  S4: It is. It is because we want to have every
• 22:44
  S4: question settled.
• 22:45
  S2: Oh, don't we though? Oh, don't we though?
• 22:49
  S4: But when you think about it, would it be faith?
• 22:53
  S2: Yeah. Would it be faith?
• 22:54
  S4: Would it be faith if if it were possible to
• 22:57
  S4: settle every single possible question.
• 23:01
  S2: Yeah. It's good to let God be God one day.
• 23:07
  S2: Now we know in part. Yeah. Then we will know
• 23:10
  S2: in full.
• 23:12
  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 23:15
  S2: What a treat with us right now, Doctor Jim Coakley.
• 23:18
  S2: All right. My man Colin Smith by the way. He
• 23:22
  S2: is big on first Peter as the first book of
• 23:25
  S2: the Bible to give a brand new disciple of Jesus.
• 23:28
  S2: It's not a bad idea, is it, Jim?
• 23:30
  S8: Oh, not at all. I mean that I think in
• 23:32
  S8: the Epistle of James, they're both short books. They get
• 23:35
  S8: right into it right away. Peter. I love the practicality
• 23:38
  S8: of fisherman. So he loves to be very simple and
• 23:41
  S8: just kind of practical. And he uses a lot of
• 23:43
  S8: great metaphors. And so it's a great book for for
• 23:47
  S8: new believers.
• 23:48
  S2: Are you calling us commercial fisherman, simple minded people? Is
• 23:51
  S2: that what you're saying right now?
• 23:52
  S8: Jim? I guess I am.
• 23:53
  S2: Okay. Well, upon this rock I will build my church.
• 23:59
  S8: Well, if you have if you're anything like Peter, that's
• 24:01
  S8: a good thing.
• 24:02
  S2: No, no, Peter, he's a wild man. Oh my goodness, boy.
• 24:06
  S2: He made strident claims that fell flat on their face.
• 24:09
  S2: I think that's what makes first Peter such a cool book.
• 24:12
  S8: Oh, it sure is. I mean, the idea is he
• 24:15
  S8: uses kind of strange, what we call oxymorons. He talks
• 24:18
  S8: about living stones. Well, that doesn't make any sense. Stones
• 24:21
  S8: are dead. Or in our passage today we'll be looking at.
• 24:24
  S8: He talks about free servants. He said, no, servants aren't free.
• 24:27
  S8: But I just love that the way that he he
• 24:29
  S8: is able to work in and get you thinking, but
• 24:32
  S8: in ways that are really helpful for living for the gospel.
• 24:35
  S2: Okay, quick context here. Nero is emperor of Rome. Now,
• 24:40
  S2: this has a big this is a big factor here
• 24:43
  S2: because this was written somewhere in the late 50s A.D. somewhere,
• 24:47
  S2: but it wasn't written 70 or beyond.
• 24:50
  S8: No, it wasn't.
• 24:51
  S2: Because.
• 24:52
  S8: Yeah.
• 24:53
  S2: We know that when Nero, when Rome burned, Nero blamed Christians.
• 24:58
  S2: And it took what Peter was saying was coming to
• 25:02
  S2: a whole nother level of persecution, which is super fascinating,
• 25:05
  S2: isn't it, Jim?
• 25:06
  S8: Oh, it sure is. And that's why first Peter is
• 25:08
  S8: great because it talks about, again, the true grace of God,
• 25:12
  S8: chapter five, verse 12. stand firm in it. And so
• 25:15
  S8: he starts out his book and we all love about,
• 25:17
  S8: you know, saving grace being saved. But then he now
• 25:20
  S8: switches in chapter two to talking about submitting grace. Uh,
• 25:25
  S8: and then really your sustaining grace to be able to
• 25:27
  S8: live the Christian life. And then he's going to get
• 25:29
  S8: to suffering grace at the end of the book. Yeah.
• 25:32
  S8: And so saving grace, you know, sustaining grace, suffering grace, uh,
• 25:36
  S8: stand firm in it. And I think that's why it's
• 25:38
  S8: such a wonderful book for today.
• 25:40
  S4: Doctor Jim Coakley, professor at Moody Bible Institute, with us
• 25:42
  S4: this morning as we open up to First Peter two.
• 25:46
  S4: We are going to be looking at verses 11 through 17.
• 25:49
  S4: I will read those to you. Beloved, I urge you
• 25:51
  S4: as sojourners and exiles, to abstain from the passions of
• 25:55
  S4: the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your
• 25:58
  S4: conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak
• 26:01
  S4: against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds
• 26:04
  S4: and glorify God on the day of visitation. Be subject
• 26:07
  S4: for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it
• 26:10
  S4: be to the Emperor as supreme, or to governors as
• 26:13
  S4: sent by him to punish those who do evil, and
• 26:15
  S4: to praise those who do good. For this is the
• 26:17
  S4: will of God, that by doing good you should put
• 26:19
  S4: to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people
• 26:23
  S4: who are free, not using your freedom as a cover
• 26:25
  S4: up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone.
• 26:29
  S4: Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the Emperor.
• 26:33
  S2: Powerful passage. Jim.
• 26:34
  S8: Oh, it sure is.
• 26:35
  S2: What do you want to highlight? We could sit here
• 26:37
  S2: for four hours.
• 26:38
  S8: Yeah, I mean, we can we really dive deep into
• 26:41
  S8: this passage. But I love the metaphors that Peter uses.
• 26:44
  S8: And I think those are helpful for us even today
• 26:46
  S8: when we think about when the world is watching us and,
• 26:50
  S8: you know, they're really looking for us to stumble. So
• 26:53
  S8: how can we live? First of all, he says, live
• 26:56
  S8: as alien immigrants. Live like you don't belong to this
• 26:59
  S8: world because you don't. This world is not our home. Uh,
• 27:01
  S8: and so if we live as temporary residents, as alien immigrants,
• 27:06
  S8: as pilgrims in this world, that's really a superpower for
• 27:08
  S8: us to realize that we don't live for this world.
• 27:11
  S8: We live for the next. And so that can help
• 27:13
  S8: us deal with a watching world that's looking for us
• 27:16
  S8: to stumble. But then he says, fight like a soldier.
• 27:19
  S8: You know, again, you have to curb those passions which
• 27:22
  S8: wage war against your flesh. And so these are that's
• 27:26
  S8: we're in a not in peacetime, we're in wartime. And
• 27:29
  S8: so we need to put on the full armor of God.
• 27:31
  S8: We need able to resist those passions that sometimes maybe
• 27:34
  S8: are good passions, but can be things when a good
• 27:38
  S8: thing becomes a God thing, that can become a bad thing.
• 27:40
  S8: And so we have to curb those passions. It's not
• 27:42
  S8: just always sexual lust, it's these other lusts.
• 27:45
  S2: Yeah. I'm reminded I've got to go there really quickly.
• 27:48
  S2: Hebrews 121 and two, you find two things that are
• 27:51
  S2: holding people back in the race of faith. Some are
• 27:53
  S2: overt sin, some are good things that have become God things.
• 27:57
  S2: That's well put, Jim.
• 27:58
  S8: Yeah. And then the third one is live Like an ambassador.
• 28:02
  S8: The idea, it says you are among the pagans, you
• 28:04
  S8: are among the Gentiles. We're not separate. We're not supposed
• 28:07
  S8: to be called out to live in, you know, like
• 28:09
  S8: the survivors out in the wilderness. We are called to
• 28:13
  S8: be among the pagans so that they can watch us.
• 28:16
  S8: And so we are to live as ambassadors. And then
• 28:20
  S8: the last one, that's the hard one for a lot
• 28:21
  S8: of us. Be subject like citizens, be submissive to the
• 28:25
  S8: authorities around. And Paul says the same thing in Romans 13.
• 28:29
  S4: You know, when you think about particularly that submission to government,
• 28:33
  S4: that is a tough sell. And many people don't like
• 28:37
  S4: to hear that. We I mean, one of the foundations
• 28:40
  S4: of our Americanism is our, our, our freedom. And so
• 28:44
  S4: we see a lot of declaration of I have the
• 28:47
  S4: right to I have my individual freedom. Why do we
• 28:51
  S4: have to be careful as we consider this passage as Christians?
• 28:54
  S8: Yeah. Because, yes, we have certain freedoms and rights as U.S. citizens,
• 29:00
  S8: but Christians aren't called for their rights. First, they're called
• 29:04
  S8: to fight for the king's Reputation. And so we are
• 29:07
  S8: here as servants of God. And so that's who we
• 29:10
  S8: really represent. And that's why the passage ends with, again,
• 29:13
  S8: you know, it says honor everyone. And then it says,
• 29:16
  S8: love the brothers and sisters, love the brotherhood. And then
• 29:19
  S8: it says, what fear God? And then it says, honor
• 29:22
  S8: the emperor. And notice really the emperor, the ruler should
• 29:25
  S8: be under the first one of honor, everyone. But it's
• 29:29
  S8: almost like he's just one person that is in the world.
• 29:32
  S8: And so that we honor him. But we fear God
• 29:36
  S8: and we love the brothers. And so these are the
• 29:39
  S8: the stipulations that we have in here. But notice it
• 29:42
  S8: says we are to be subject to these governing authorities
• 29:46
  S8: for the Lord's sake. Yeah. So it's not for Nero,
• 29:49
  S8: it's not for politics. It's because of the Lord. And
• 29:53
  S8: this passage is really hits home. It says, this is
• 29:56
  S8: the will of God. Yes. And so clearly, this is
• 29:59
  S8: something that is really important for us as believers.
• 30:02
  S2: Couple of observations. One, the tail end of verse 17 says,
• 30:05
  S2: Fear God, honor the emperor. Which is interesting verbiage there.
• 30:10
  S2: That is that is fascinating. We got to keep those
• 30:13
  S2: in order. Um, Ali brings up a good point. This,
• 30:16
  S2: this brings a bit of an ethical challenge. It's like, okay, well,
• 30:20
  S2: when do you get on the bus with your government?
• 30:23
  S2: When do you get off the bus? There is hierarchical law.
• 30:26
  S2: Let me bounce this one off you, Jim. This is
• 30:27
  S2: what Wayne Grudem said about this very passage. Christians should
• 30:31
  S2: obey every law of human government unless obedience to that
• 30:36
  S2: law would involve disobedience to God. I thought that was
• 30:40
  S2: well put. What do you think?
• 30:41
  S8: Oh, I think it is too, because remember, Peter, in
• 30:44
  S8: the book of Acts, remember when he was forbidden to
• 30:48
  S8: speak the name of Jesus and he said, no, we
• 30:50
  S8: got to obey God rather than men. He said, well,
• 30:52
  S8: wait a second. Here in first Peter, he says, be
• 30:54
  S8: subject to all governments. No, you know, there is a
• 30:58
  S8: hierarchy there. And so we have to again have God
• 31:00
  S8: as supreme. That's why we fear God. We honor the emperor.
• 31:04
  S8: And so there is that kind of continuum that we
• 31:06
  S8: have to kind of wrestle with. And that's where I
• 31:09
  S8: love the book of First Peter, because it talks about
• 31:11
  S8: sustaining grace. Suffering, grace, being subjected to the authorities grace.
• 31:16
  S8: And so how can we do this? We need grace
• 31:19
  S8: to be able to do that because we don't often know,
• 31:20
  S8: because we can be at different points on the continuum sometimes.
• 31:24
  S4: You know, when you look at verse 15, by doing good,
• 31:27
  S4: for this is the will of God, that by doing
• 31:29
  S4: good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
• 31:32
  S4: Being silent in the face of of foolish people and
• 31:36
  S4: not reacting goes also against every fiber of our of
• 31:42
  S4: our flesh, but also kind of our American determinism that says, no,
• 31:46
  S4: I fight for what's mine.
• 31:47
  S8: Yeah. I mean, I was just I'm getting hearing aids.
• 31:50
  S8: And so I was at Costco yesterday to get those fitted.
• 31:53
  S8: And there was a delay. I had an appointment time
• 31:57
  S8: and some the person that was supposed to take care
• 31:59
  S8: of me was on the phone and I could just feel.
• 32:01
  S8: Getting all kind of worked up. And my wife, I
• 32:04
  S8: love her. She just said, you know, chill. Chill. And
• 32:07
  S8: so the idea is, you know. I want my rights.
• 32:09
  S8: I had, I had this time slot, you know, scheduled
• 32:12
  S8: for me. And so yeah, we faced these things all
• 32:15
  S8: the time. And so it's the idea that we need
• 32:18
  S8: grace in the moment. And that's why first Peter is
• 32:20
  S8: a wonderful book.
• 32:21
  S2: You know, I've been wrestling with this very passage here
• 32:25
  S2: as of late, and I've come to the conclusion based
• 32:28
  S2: on this text alone, that we can have all kinds
• 32:34
  S2: of political opinions, right? All kinds of political opinions. And
• 32:38
  S2: I do have some threshold issues that are like nonstarters
• 32:43
  S2: for me, I feel like if someone doesn't understand life
• 32:46
  S2: in the womb, if you don't get Genesis one, if
• 32:49
  S2: you don't understand that God created man and woman, I
• 32:53
  S2: don't trust you to walk my dog, I don't. And
• 32:57
  S2: it's because if you get that wrong, the rest of
• 33:00
  S2: the text is going to be distorted. That's my humble
• 33:02
  S2: opinion on that thing. But beyond that, there's a lot
• 33:07
  S2: of things that, as Ali said, we're going to the
• 33:09
  S2: wall for on, frankly, both sides of the aisle. That,
• 33:13
  S2: from a Christian worldview are crazy. We're aliens and strangers, Jim.
• 33:18
  S2: We've got to rise above the fray and get on
• 33:20
  S2: the high ridge, don't we?
• 33:21
  S8: Yeah, we sure do. We can't buy the lie that
• 33:24
  S8: what's going to change this world is politics, economics, social programs. No,
• 33:28
  S8: they can help. We're not denying that. But for us
• 33:31
  S8: as believers, the world is watching us and we are
• 33:34
  S8: living for the king. We are his ambassadors, we are
• 33:37
  S8: his children. And they're watching. And so we can do
• 33:40
  S8: good and we can silence them. It's the same word
• 33:44
  S8: that's used when when Jesus hushed the sea storm on
• 33:48
  S8: the Sea of Galilee, or when the Pharisees were trying
• 33:50
  S8: to trip him up. And it's what's amazing is that
• 33:53
  S8: Jesus lived every one of these metaphors that I just
• 33:56
  S8: talked about. He didn't even have a home. He said,
• 33:59
  S8: foxes have holes, birds have nests. But the Son of
• 34:01
  S8: Man has no place to lay his head. He lived
• 34:03
  S8: as though he was a pilgrim in this world because
• 34:05
  S8: he was. But then also, too, he was able to
• 34:08
  S8: submit like a citizen. He paid the tax. Remember when
• 34:12
  S8: they tried to trip him up? The Pharisees were trying
• 34:14
  S8: to trip him up and he said, should we pay
• 34:16
  S8: taxes to Caesar? And he said, well, show up a coin.
• 34:18
  S8: And he said, whose image is on this? Well, render
• 34:21
  S8: to Caesar that which is Caesar. So yes, he even
• 34:23
  S8: paid taxes to the pagan Roman government. And so this
• 34:27
  S8: is then the thing that we have to realize is
• 34:29
  S8: that Jesus modeled every one of these steps by himself.
• 34:33
  S2: So I've said this before, boom crew. But, uh, there's
• 34:37
  S2: one reviewer of this book that Jim wrote that didn't, uh,
• 34:42
  S2: didn't make it into print, but boy, she shouts it
• 34:45
  S2: from the mountaintops. The book that has most impacted my
• 34:49
  S2: bride's ability to read the Bible with eyes wide open
• 34:53
  S2: is Jim's book. How cool is that? Ali?
• 34:56
  S4: Yeah, it's 14 Fresh Ways to enjoy the Bible. And
• 35:00
  S4: it is just, it is a gem in terms of
• 35:02
  S4: just giving you a new way to look at things.
• 35:05
  S4: Even if you've been reading the Bible for a long time,
• 35:07
  S4: I think you're also going to enjoy it if you're
• 35:09
  S4: brand new. So we have a resource for you. Just
• 35:12
  S4: text the word fresh to 800 555 7898. Just text
• 35:18
  S4: fresh to 800 555 7898. Get this link. And you're
• 35:24
  S4: also going to get some study guidelines, a little freebie
• 35:27
  S4: that's included there. So just text fresh to 805 557898.
• 35:32
  S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
• 35:36
  S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
• 35:40
  S1: Moody radio.
• 35:42
  S2: You know, it's important to understand what we're reading. When
• 35:45
  S2: you read a letter like first Peter, it's easy to say, yeah, well,
• 35:50
  S2: Peter wrote it. Well, hold time out now. That's good.
• 35:54
  S2: But who was it written to? Now, who was written to.
• 35:58
  S2: Was the dispersion in what the dispersion is? There's persecution
• 36:02
  S2: going on. And you know, when it was penned, this
• 36:06
  S2: was penned during the reign of Nero. Now we know
• 36:10
  S2: it was penned probably right before the sacking and the
• 36:13
  S2: burning of Rome, because Nero in AD 70 saw that
• 36:17
  S2: burning of Rome. You know what he did? He blamed
• 36:19
  S2: it on Christians. So the persecution that we find in
• 36:23
  S2: first Peter that's already spoken of just becomes exponential after this.
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  S2: So imagine how timely this letter was. Ali.
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  S4: Wow.
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  S2: That's I mean, we're talking three years. Maybe that's it.
• 36:34
  S4: So we want to bring in a special guest. As
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  S4: we focus on these little shorter segments, we're going to
• 36:39
  S4: bring in Doctor Eric Redman, who is professor of Bible
• 36:42
  S4: here at Moody Bible Institute, also executive director of Moody's
• 36:45
  S4: Theological Seminary Center for Compelling Biblical Preaching. That is a mouthful.
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  S4: Doctor Redmond is going to focus on First Peter 113
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  S4: through 16, which I'm going to read for you. It says, therefore,
• 36:57
  S4: preparing your minds for action and being sober minded. Set
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  S4: your hope fully on the grace that will be brought
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  S4: to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children,
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  S4: do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.
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  S4: But as he who called you is holy, you also
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  S4: be holy in all your conduct. Since it is written,
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  S4: you shall be holy, for I am holy. There's a
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  S4: lot in just those couple verses. I'm going to hand
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  S4: the ball to you, Doctor Eric Redman. What jumped out
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  S4: to you first as you reviewed and rereviewed this passage
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  S4: for today?
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  S9: I am so glad you all set this up by
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  S9: talking about the persecution under Nero, because this section seems
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  S9: to be telling us how to engage this world with
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  S9: a transformed life and not just give in to the
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  S9: persecution and say, oh, I'm going to live this subpar
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  S9: Christian life because Peter is saying, you know, look at
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  S9: what Jesus has done for you. I need you to
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  S9: act like children in here, and I need you to
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  S9: dial in to holiness. He's telling us there is a
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  S9: life that should be lived that's distinctly Christian, even when
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  S9: we're being persecuted.
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  S2: You know what's interesting here? This need to here we
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  S2: find again, like we find in Romans 12, it all
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  S2: revolves around the mind. So it's preparing your mind for
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  S2: action and being sober minded. My goodness. This is the
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  S2: epicenter of where we really get perspective on what's going
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  S2: on around us. Right, Eric?
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  S9: Well, so much of the Christian life is about having
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  S9: clear thinking about what has been offered to us. Peter
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  S9: has just gone through all the great things that are
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  S9: going to be revealed in Jesus Christ for us. And
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  S9: we just whizzed by that, not thinking about, oh my goodness,
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  S9: for all eternity I am going to have this imperishable hope.
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  S9: And he says, yeah, I need you to sit in
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  S9: that and think clearly about that as you're looking at
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  S9: the persecution. So you don't get deterred by by what's
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  S9: going on around you.
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  S2: Okay, so walk us through this, Erik, because this is
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  S2: more than a doctrinal statement. This is more than a
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  S2: positional statement. This is far more than that. It's I
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  S2: think oftentimes I see very senior saints, some of whom
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  S2: are anchored and ruminating on these truths. Others know them,
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  S2: some live them. How do we do the living portion
• 39:22
  S2: of these truths?
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  S9: Part of it is that we're living fast paced all
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  S9: the time. And what Peter is inviting the Diaspora Christians
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  S9: to do is say, guys, I just told you that
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  S9: the prophets spent their time looking at this stuff, and
• 39:38
  S9: I just told you that the angels in heaven are
• 39:41
  S9: trying to look into this and you guys just check
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  S9: the box and said, okay, what's the next thing we
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  S9: want to talk about? I need us to go back
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  S9: and say, you know, really what? Peter needs us to
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  S9: go back and say, no, really, what is going to
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  S9: happen when Jesus Christ comes back for us? And we
• 39:58
  S9: have all eternity looking in his face here. I again,
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  S9: I think that part of it is we have devotions
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  S9: and we check instead of saying, maybe God wants me
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  S9: to sit and meditate on this a few days.
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  S4: Now this second part of verse 13, set your hope fully.
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  S4: Any time there's a word like fully or whole or completely,
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  S4: it's a description that almost always implies that there's at
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  S4: least a temptation to do less than that to good.
• 40:30
  S4: So how do we set our hope fully on the
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  S4: grace that will be brought to us?
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  S9: I think part of it is we need to talk
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  S9: to ourselves and we need to say, okay, this success
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  S9: is good, but this success is going to give way
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  S9: to something much greater. Yes, my child has done well
• 40:48
  S9: and gotten a 4.0, but that's only achievement I want.
• 40:51
  S9: Right now they got the gold medal. Now something much
• 40:55
  S9: greater is coming. And that way, if something happens to
• 40:58
  S9: the child, we don't say, oh, all my hope was
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  S9: in my child getting into the University of Chicago. All
• 41:03
  S9: my hope was in the child getting a full scholarship
• 41:06
  S9: or my child even B being. My hope is far
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  S9: beyond this. These things are just temporary things. So we
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  S9: need to talk to ourselves and say, yes, great. But
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  S9: more is coming.
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  S2: I love it, I love it. Doctor Eric Redman, our
• 41:21
  S2: guest right now. I love this man of God. I
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  S2: was sitting here just thinking I would do anything to
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  S2: be in a weekly roundtable with you, my man, you,
• 41:30
  S2: me and a couple other crazy for Jesus. Anyhow, more
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  S2: on that later. You know, it's interesting. Sometimes I'm going
• 41:37
  S2: to take you to the stickiest verse, maybe in the
• 41:39
  S2: New Testament here, but it's a hearkening back to Leviticus 1144,
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  S2: I believe that's right. And it's you shall be holy,
• 41:48
  S2: for I am holy. I think most people want to
• 41:51
  S2: throw up their arms and go, all right, that's great
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  S2: for Ali, but not for me and Eric, that's for sure.
• 41:59
  S2: What do you say to that?
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  S9: Yeah. I think holiness is for everyone. Or else both
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  S9: the Old Testament and the New Testament would not expect
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  S9: it of us, nor would they hold it out as
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  S9: our hope. All of our pictures that we have in
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  S9: both the Old and New Testament are that we're going
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  S9: to a God who is absolutely pure and righteous in
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  S9: all his ways, totally distinct from every other being in
• 42:20
  S9: his creation. And he calls us to be distinct, to
• 42:24
  S9: separate ourselves in that way. But the great thing that
• 42:27
  S9: the New Testament also teaches is that he is the
• 42:30
  S9: one that works in us, to give us the power
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  S9: to be holy and to bring us to holiness, to
• 42:36
  S9: bring us to the place where there will be no spot,
• 42:38
  S9: no blemish, no wrinkle. Paul says it in Thessalonians he
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  S9: who called you is faithful. He will do it. And
• 42:46
  S9: so we're yielding ourselves and saying, God, do everything to
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  S9: make me holy.
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  S2: Yes.
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  S4: Wow. You know, it's it's kind of that both. And right.
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  S4: Because we know that positionally we are we stand in
• 42:59
  S4: the righteousness of Christ and we are made holy. But
• 43:02
  S4: then there's also the pursuit. We're called to be holy
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  S4: in our conduct, which by the power of the Holy Spirit,
• 43:09
  S4: means that this is something that we are to do.
• 43:12
  S9: I think it's both. I think we should cry out
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  S9: to God every day. God, today, conform me to the
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  S9: image of the son who is holy. Make me holy
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  S9: in my speech and my thoughts. God in the meditations
• 43:23
  S9: of my heart and my responses to people who mistreat me.
• 43:27
  S9: But then we need to review ourselves regularly. Is my
• 43:31
  S9: life fully? Would someone looking into my life from the
• 43:34
  S9: outside describe me as being set apart from the world?
• 43:37
  S9: Can I think of people who are foaming at the
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  S9: mouth of my life after. We need to ask that
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  S9: and keep pursuing it.
• 43:43
  S2: Yeah. This is a such a vital discussion here. You know, doc,
• 43:49
  S2: I want to ask you, we've already touched on this,
• 43:53
  S2: but you're a theological animal. But how do you prevent
• 43:58
  S2: yourself from becoming just theologically? Uh, I'm going to go
• 44:04
  S2: with it. Puffed up versus experience lived out. How does
• 44:10
  S2: that work for you on a day to day basis?
• 44:13
  S2: How do these deep truths that we're hitting right here,
• 44:16
  S2: how do these work their way out in you?
• 44:18
  S9: Okay, so part of it is living in a healthy
• 44:22
  S9: biblical community, a healthy church, and making myself accountable to
• 44:27
  S9: people in small group and to, for me, those who
• 44:30
  S9: are on staff with me and my pastors and elders
• 44:33
  S9: so that they can examine my life and really challenge
• 44:35
  S9: me and me not make excuses or push back, but
• 44:38
  S9: say no. Please tell me. Please tell me where I'm
• 44:41
  S9: not honoring Jesus because that's the issue, not whether or
• 44:44
  S9: not I am looking good in your eyes. Tell me
• 44:47
  S9: where I am not honoring the Lord. I'm going to
• 44:49
  S9: give you an example here. I have a very witty tongue.
• 44:53
  S9: We can examine that for another time. But I tried
• 44:56
  S9: to pull that under the power of Jesus so that
• 45:02
  S9: rather than when someone attacks me and I can use
• 45:04
  S9: my tongue and my wit to make them wallow around
• 45:07
  S9: in their their own blood, I want to get away
• 45:10
  S9: from even having glee about that thought here. And so
• 45:13
  S9: I have to ask, Lord, could you please put in
• 45:16
  S9: my life people that will challenge me to tone down
• 45:20
  S9: the wit and submit my words to Jesus? We have
• 45:25
  S9: to ask God to do that for us.
• 45:27
  S4: That's such a good practical awareness because we have to become.
• 45:32
  S2: Tremendous.
• 45:33
  S4: Aware by the Holy Spirit of where we are most
• 45:36
  S4: likely to be unholy, right to where our conduct is most,
• 45:41
  S4: because we're all going to have tendencies where we're going
• 45:44
  S4: to be more tempted to go astray, or to sin
• 45:47
  S4: against the Lord in one area than another. Right? And
• 45:50
  S4: that's just how it is we are.
• 45:53
  S9: And I asked the students, when they say they want accountability,
• 45:56
  S9: do you are you saying you really want me to
• 45:59
  S9: ask you about the things where you struggle? Or are
• 46:01
  S9: you just coming to stop into my office, say hi
• 46:04
  S9: and hello? If you really want accountability, I'm going to
• 46:07
  S9: ask you about the areas where you're struggling most and
• 46:10
  S9: how we're bringing those areas into places where we honor Jesus.
• 46:15
  S4: Doctor Eric Redman this is good stuff. I had mentioned
• 46:17
  S4: that he is the executive director of Moody's Center for
• 46:21
  S4: Compelling Biblical Preaching. If you want more information on this,
• 46:24
  S4: just text center to 805 557898, text center to 805 557898.