Latest / Scripture Unscripted / Matthew chapter 16

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Matthew chapter 16 · Scripture Unscripted

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  Matthew chapter 16. Let us pray, Lord.
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  God, I pray in the name of Jesus that you'll help us.
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  Lord, I pray that today will be the turning point for so many.
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  Lord, I pray that you'll indwell us from on high.
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  Father, I pray healing. God, I pray restoration over
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  marriages. I pray God that the prodigals
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  will come home. Lord, I pray that we'll quit
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  playing games with you, Father, and we'll get serious about
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  following hard after you. Lord, we'll lay down all of our
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  selfishness. God, we'll lay down all of our
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  ideas of how this life should go.
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  And Lord, we'll take up our cross.
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  Lord, we'll lock eyes with you. We'll put our hand to the plow,
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  Father, and we'll press forward. God, we'll charge the hill.
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  Lord, I pray that you'll help us to put on the full armor today.
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  Lord, let us go out to the ends of the earth.
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  Let us go out to our neighborhoods.
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  Let us talk about you with our children and our family and our
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  neighbors. God, in our workplaces.
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  Lord, we laid down down fear of man.
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  God in the name of Jesus help us.
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  Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us today.
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  I get out of the way. Lord, I decrease as you
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  increase. It's all about you King Jesus we
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  love you. Teach us your ways in Jesus name
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  I pray, Amen. Let's start in verse 1.
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  The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came and tempting
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  desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.
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  So this was a despicable request that these Pharisees and
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  Sadducees who had joined forces here you can see that they were
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  two different religious sides of the coin and both of them were
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  wrong. The Pharisees held on to all
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  kinds of traditions and all kinds of legalism.
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  And you can see that the Sadducees had it wrong because
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  they didn't even believe in angels.
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  They didn't believe in the resurrection and they they were
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  more of the nobility. They were the the ones who
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  financially had more ground to stand on and they just liked to
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  sprinkle God into their abundant life.
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  And you can see them joining forces here.
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  These were two diametrically opposed entities and they came
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  together to try to trap Jesus, but they're trying to trap the
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  Son of God. They're trying to trap God
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  himself Incarnate. And here you can see how Jesus
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  treats them. Let's see what he has to say in
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  verse 2. He answered and said unto them,
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  when it is evening, you say it will be fair weather, for the
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  sky is red. So he's going to use the very
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  forces that he created, the wind and the waves and the weather,
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  and he's going to show them just how hypocritical they are. 3 And
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  in the morning, it will be foul weather today, for the sky is
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  red and lowering. Oh, you hypocrites, you can
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  discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of
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  the times. He's saying wake up.
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  He's saying look around. He's saying that heaven has come
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  to earth. He's saying that God is here
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  Incarnate. He's saying that you've been
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  waiting on this moment. You've been waiting on the
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  Messiah and the Messiah is here and you are missing it because
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  you are so completely hard hardened.
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  And I want you to know, friends, it's no different.
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  And our day and our hour. There are so many people who
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  have made a love decision for this world and they like the
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  idea of Jesus, They like the idea of church.
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  They like the idea of religion, but they do not care truly for
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  the words of God and they don't actually digest and they don't
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  actually get into them and they don't actually want to know all
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  about them. They just want to know just
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  enough where they don't have to go to hell.
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  And we've got to get out of this idea that we want to escape
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  hell. We have to get into the idea
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  that we're going to fall in love with Jesus.
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  We're going to fall in love with His words.
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  We're going to fall in love with Him.
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  We're going to seek His face. Daily.
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  I pray in the name of Jesus that you have made a love decision
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  for God, no matter what it cost you, if it costs you your life,
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  if it costs you your job, no matter what it costs you, we
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  have to make a love decision for the Lord God Almighty.
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  He is worth it and you'll never regret it.
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  And they refuse to, for a wicked and adulterous generation seeks
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  after a sign, but there shall no sign be given unto it, but the
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  sign of the prophet Jonah. So Jonah came, and he came for
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  the Gentiles. You saw it whenever he was in
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  Nineveh, and so did Jesus. Jesus not only came for the
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  Jews, but He came for you, friend.
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  He came for me, friend. Praise God that God so loved the
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  world that He gave His only begotten Son.
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  And no sign will be given to it but the three days that Jonah
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  was in the belly of the fish. And we see that for three days
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  the Son of Man was in the belly of the earth, and but he
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  resurrected and he ascended to the right hand of God.
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  Praise God. And he says in five.
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  And when his disciples were come to the other side, they
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  forgotten to take bread. OK, here we are.
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  So whatever happened to all those baskets of bread?
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  Perhaps they were generous along the way.
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  Perhaps they tried to lighten the load.
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  But let's see what Jesus has to say. 6 And Jesus said unto them,
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  Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the
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  Sadducees. So we can see here that Jesus is
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  not talking about literal bread. He's talking about some
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  spiritual things. He's talking about the false
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  teachers, He's talking about the wolves, the ravenous wolves in
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  sheep's clothing. It's no different in our day and
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  our hour, friends. 7 And they reasoned among themselves,
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  saying, It is because we have not taken any bread. 8 Which
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  when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O you of little
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  faith, why do you reason among yourselves?
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  Because you have brought no bread?
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  He's saying, Are you still stuck in the little faith syndrome?
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  Yes, little faith is better than no faith, but we need abundant
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  faith, friends. Faith is the currency that we
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  operate out of. It is not the spirit of mammon,
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  It is not in our finances. We do not please God by how much
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  we give. We please God with faith.
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  It is impossible to please him without faith, friends, and this
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  is what Jesus is saying to his disciples.
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  You need to increase your faith and get your eyes off of all the
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  physical things. And we need to have our minds
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  hyper fixated upon the spiritual that's all around us that is
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  more real than the very bodies that we live in.
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  The spiritual realm is forever and ever and ever.
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  And this is temporal, friends. And Jesus is calling us to
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  increase our faith. 9 Do you not yet understand?
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  Neither remember the five loaves of the 5000, how many baskets
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  you took up? 10 Neither the seven loaves of
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  the 4000, how many baskets you took up?
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  11 How is it that you do not understand that I speak it not
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  to you concerning bread, but that you should be aware of the
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  leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees?
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  So he makes it as plain as humanly possible.
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  He's telling them. He's saying, look friends, there
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  will be many who come who try to say that they represent me, but
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  they are only after your money. They are only after
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  manipulation. They are only after power and
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  greed. And he's saying beware.
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  And it's no different in our day and our our friends.
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  There are many who have intermingled themselves into the
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  church. There are many unbelievers who
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  are only after selfish gain. It's no different and we need to
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  be aware of them them. 12 then understood they how that he bade
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  them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of
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  the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He makes it as plain as
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  possible. He says beware.
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  There is sin that creeps in that looks small in the beginning,
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  but just like yeast, what does it do?
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  It puffs us up. What does it do?
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  It completely moves it its way throughout the whole batch,
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  hidden until it's too late. 13 And when Jesus came unto the
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  coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying,
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  Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, AM?
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  So he's using this very Pagan backdrop to ask his disciples.
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  He's gone into a place where they were practicing idolatry.
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  And he's saying, Who do the people say that?
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  I am 14? And they say, some say that
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  you're John the Baptist, some Elijah, others Jeremiah, one of
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  the prophets. And it's no different in our day
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  and our hour. So many people like to liken
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  Jesus to just a good man who had a lot of good sayings, and they
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  just see him as a prophet along the way.
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  But until we recognize him as God, until we recognize Jesus
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  Christ as God, we're missing the mark.
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  Friends, Jesus is Lord, He is the Godhead in bodily form, and
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  no one can even look upon God, but we can see Jesus with our
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  eyes, and we're indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
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  Praise the Lord. So he's going to ask them. 15 He
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  said unto them, But who do you say that I am?
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  And that is a question we need to ask ourselves, friends.
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  It is not just what does the world say?
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  We cannot just get on what everybody else is doing.
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  We need to have our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ,
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  apart from what Grandma said, apart from what Grandpa said,
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  apart from what preacher says, apart from what the world says.
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  We need to ask ourselves who is Jesus Christ?
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  And the really quick answer is he is the Son of God and we need
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  to know that. 16 Simon Peter answered and said, you are the
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  Christ, the Son of the living God.
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  We've got to get to that revelation, friends.
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  We need to understand that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is God.
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  And until we do, we are just kicking the tires of
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  Christianity trying to figure out if it fits into our own
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  ideas of how we want this life to go. 17 And Jesus answered and
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  said unto him, Bless it, are you, Simon Bard, Jonah, for
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  flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father,
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  which is in heaven. And that is the that is the
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  marker here, friends, that God has to draw you unto himself.
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  God has to reveal to you, but you need to break up the fallow
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  ground. Friends, there is a response
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  ability upon us to make sure that we have not hardened our
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  hearts, to make sure that we are receptive to the voice of God,
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  to make sure that we do not blasphemy the Holy Spirit when
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  He's drawing us unto the Lord God.
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  But we need to make sure that as the Holy Spirit does His work in
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  our lives, that we, friends, are allowing that still small voice
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  to speak unto us and it will reveal to us the eternal truths
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  that Jesus is Lord. And he said, Bless it are you 18
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  And I say unto you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will
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  build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
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  against it. So here is the first mention of
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  ecclesia, the called out ones. Here's the first mention of the
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  church at large. You friend, it's not a building.
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  The church is not somewhere that we just go.
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  The church is the the body of Christ and the gates of hell
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  will never prevail, even if there's a foreclosure sign out
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  on the front of the church. Satan has not won and he will
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  not win and Jesus will crush his head and we will prevail all the
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  way to the end. Friends, the church will remain
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  and the blood of the the martyr is the seed of the gospel and we
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  will go underground and we cannot be stopped.
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  The church is relentless. Whenever you finally make a love
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  decision for Jesus Christ, there is nothing that man can do.
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  Do not fear the one that can take your life away, but fear
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  the one that can take your life and your soul away in hell.
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  And you can see that the church will always rise up.
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  The church will never be able to be stopped.
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  Friends, you can see this special name given unto Simon
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  Barjona. You could see him being called
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  Petra. You can see him called Peter.
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  You could see this what a beautiful verse this is. 19 And
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  I will give unto you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and
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  whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
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  and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
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  heaven. We can see that we have the
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  power that Jesus has given us the power and and by the way,
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  Peter was just a bond servant unto Jesus Christ.
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  Go check his epistles. Go look that he there's nothing
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  special about Peter, friends. Peter was given the special
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  privilege of preaching at Pentecost and thousands being
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  saved, and that was the start there.
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  And here Jesus is just referencing that point and he's
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  showing Peter that he's going to have the privilege of ushering
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  in the church and we'll remember that day.
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  But by and large, Peter does not stand at the gates allowing
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  people in and out. That is heretical.
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  Friends, we need to know that Peter was just a man.
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  And it's a lot like Mary how we try to deify these humans and
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  it's never the intention of God. Peter was a blood bought, born
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  again bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  We can see the power that we have on this earth that when we
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  start praying God's will. That is whenever you see things
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  happen and that is what is referenced to this binding and
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  losing. Whenever we start getting in
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  line with God's will, that's when you see things move.
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  That's when you see the mountains move and the sea part
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  is whenever we get in tune with God's will.
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  Friends 20 And they then charged he, his disciples, that they
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  should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ not yet,
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  because the church had not arrived on the scene yet. 21
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  From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how
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  that he must go unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the
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  elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and
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  raised again on the third day. He could not have made it more
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  plain. Friends, He tells them exactly
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  what is about to happen. And here he just said, Be
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  careful not to tell anybody. And we would do well to study
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  the Scriptures and to completely understand that we have a bird's
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  eye view. Where?
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  Where in the we're over top of the trees.
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  They were down on the trail. And yes, it would look as if,
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  hey guys, how did you miss it? But I wouldn't be surprised if
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  you and I were there at this time, that we would be no
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  different. He tells them exactly what is to
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  happen. 22 Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying,
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  Be it far from you, Lord, this shall not be unto you. 22 What a
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  verse. So here Peter had just got the
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  special privilege of being called Peter and here he says
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  That son of that he's the Son of God that Peter acknowledges
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  Jesus as the Son of God. And here you get to see in the
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  previous verses that Peter is the rock and hit.
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  Jesus was giving him so much of a special name.
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  And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, as Jesus flows in to
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  prophecy of what is to come, Peter is blinded by the devil.
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  And it's no different for us, friends.
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  So many times we receive these spiritual truths and then we
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  walk away from it and we forget what was just said.
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  There's a sin of forgetfulness. And here Peter is being blinded
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  and he takes Jesus. Can you imagine Peter taking
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  Jesus aside and rebuking him? Peter rebuking Jesus?
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  What a thought. And he says this shall not be.
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  Can you imagine Peter trying to tell Jesus, no, what you just
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  said I will not allow to happen? 23 But he turned, and he said to
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  Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for you are an offense
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  unto me. For you savorous not the things
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  that be of God, but those that be of man.
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  He's saying you're not thinking of heavenly things, you're only
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  thinking of earthly things. You're walking in your
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  selfishness of only what you want.
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  You think that you know best, but you're not thinking of the
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  mind of God. You're not thinking of the
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  Scriptures being fulfilled. And he sees this, Satan has
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  blinded him. 24 And then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any
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  man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
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  cross, and follow me. This would have been horrific in
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  the minds of those Jews at that time, that that Jesus would say
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  to take up your cross, you and I.
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  We think of a cross as being on a necklace or being on a
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  steeple, being a sign of of our comfort when we hold it in our
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  hands and we think of Jesus. But during this day, this would
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  have been likened to the gas chamber.
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  This would have been likened to the electric chair.
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  This would have been likened to intravenous killing.
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  And here the they would have got the context way better than you
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  and I. When he says, take up your cross
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  and follow me, it meant certain death. 25 For whosoever will
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  save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life
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  for my sake shall find it. And what a promise that we do
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  not need to try to hold on to our life here, that we need to
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  be able to give up and spill out our life for others.
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  That is the idea here, friends, that love knows no greater love
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  than to lay down your life for a friend.
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  And that is what Jesus is likening here.
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  And when we try to hold on, we're white knuckled, tight
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  fisted onto our life. We lose it because we are so
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  completely distracted and we're so completely depressed and
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  anxious over all the things and we're scared of death and it
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  robs us and it chokes us out. And even if you live a long life
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  in this state, it is. Nothing compared to eternity.
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  So it is better to give your life over for Him and for His
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  sake, and gain eternity, than it is to try to get your little 100
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  years here of pleasure and pleasantries, friends. 26 For
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  what is a man profit if he gains the whole world, but he loses
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  his own soul? Or what shall a man give in
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  exchange for his soul? Think about it, friends.
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  Think about it, think about it. Lock in, think about what the
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  Lord is saying here. What does it even matter, your
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  little 100 years on this earth, if you get everything you've
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  ever wanted, but at the end you're cast into utter darkness
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  of weeping and gnashing of teeth, where the worm never
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  dies. What does it even matter if you
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  are a trillionaire, if you have all the money and power in the
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  world? What does it even matter at the
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  end when you take your last breath?
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  And we need to be hyper fixated upon eternity.
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  We need to be hyper fixated upon the words of Jesus Christ.
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  We do not need to be so worried about this world and this life,
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  for right now, in our security and safety, we need to be sold
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  out. Bondservants lay down lovers of
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  the Lord Jesus Christ, ready to be spilled out at a moment's
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  notice, living open handed, friends, not holding on to
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  anything, not even your own life. 27 For the Son of Man
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  shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then
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  you shall, he shall reward every man according to his works.
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  And we are not saved by works, so that any man should boast,
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  but we are rewarded by works. Don't forget it.
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  It's built in France. It's not a new idea.
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  This is Jesus Christ words. He says he's coming and his
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  rewards are with him. Look up for your redemption is
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  drawing near. And most of what you do is wood,
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  hay and stubble. I cannot say it enough.
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  We are not saved by works, but we are rewarded.
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  And we do not do what we do for the rewards.
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  Because if you're doing what you do for a reward, you've already
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  lost it. Think about it.
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  Simple stuff, friends. We'll end on 28.
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  Truly, I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall
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  not taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his
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  Kingdom. What is he referencing here?
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  Did he get it wrong? Did Jesus get it wrong, by the
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  way, all those disciples that were there with him at that
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  time, dead and gone. Jesus has not come back yet.
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  Did he get it wrong? No.
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  He's referencing the Transfiguration, which we will
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  read about when Moses and Elijah come down on the mountain and
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  Peter sticks his foot in his mouth.
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  He's referencing his transfiguration, where the
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  Kingdom comes to earth for that moment and they get to see it.
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  His three special forces that we could say were very privileged,
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  or we could say that they had a knack for getting into trouble,
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  so Jesus had to take him with him.
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  Either way, it's a beautiful story.
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  This is reality, and what you're reading and what you're
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  digesting and what you're thinking about is eternal.
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  Heaven and earth shall pass away.
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  But not one of His words. What an amazing thought.
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  This word that we hold in our hands, how much power is in it?
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  And we need to be students of His word and we don't need to
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  just be listening to it, but we need to be doing it.
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  We need to be thinking about these things and meditating upon
• 24:45
  these things today. I hope you've been blessed by
• 24:47
  this chapter. I know I sure have.
• 24:52
  And praying for every single one of you.
• 24:56
  I love you and so does God, so does our Lord.
• 25:04
  We'll see you back here tomorrow.
• 25:06
  God bless you.