Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Severe Warnings Everyone Must Remember Msg 1520 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Severe Warnings Everyone Must Remember Msg 1520 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Paul writes in Romans, chapter fifteen, verse four, whatever was
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Speaker 1: written in earlier times was written for our learning, that we,
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Speaker 1: through patience and comfort from the scriptures, might have hope.
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Speaker 1: He was writing specifically of the Old Testament. What was
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Speaker 1: written in earlier times for the New Testament was then
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Speaker 1: being written and in the process ultimately of being compiled.
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Speaker 1: But even in the days of the Old Testament, what
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Speaker 1: was written for it was written for our learning. And
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Speaker 1: then when we come to the New Testament, we have
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Speaker 1: God's final word to all of us, and it begins
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Speaker 1: with the Gospel by Matthew. When we are involved in
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Speaker 1: a verse by verse study of this great book, where
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Speaker 1: at chapter twelve, beginning at verse thirty, and I'll t
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Speaker 1: take us down through verse thirty seven. Today as we
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Speaker 1: consider what will be three severe warnings, we all must
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Speaker 1: remember Matthew chapter twelve. I'll be reading from the New
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Speaker 1: Living Translation. As you find your place to verse thirty.
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Speaker 1: Please stand together for the reading of God's word and
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Speaker 1: remain standing for prayer. Matthew twelve thirty. Anyone who isn't
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Speaker 1: with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with
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Speaker 1: me is actually working against me. So I tell you
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Speaker 1: every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, except blasphemy against
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Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven. Anyone who's
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Speaker 1: against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone
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Speaker 1: who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven,
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Speaker 1: either in this world or in the world to come.
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Speaker 1: A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree
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Speaker 1: is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree
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Speaker 1: is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brood of snakes,
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Speaker 1: How can evil men like you speak what is good
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Speaker 1: and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what
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Speaker 1: you say. A good person produces good things from the
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Speaker 1: treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces
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Speaker 1: evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And
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Speaker 1: I tell you this, you must give an account on
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Speaker 1: Judgment Day for every idle word you speak. The words
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Speaker 1: you say will either I quit you or condemn you.
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Speaker 1: We take your words seriously, our Father, as we stand
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Speaker 1: for its reading, and as we remain in silence, as
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Speaker 1: we place ourselves under its authority. Thank you for preserving it,
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Speaker 1: for our admonition, for our instruction. Guide us. We pray
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Speaker 1: as our thoughts turn to what our Savior was saying.
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Speaker 1: And may we realize anew that those foken in the
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Speaker 1: first century. It has that ring of relevance that applies
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Speaker 1: to the twenty first as well. Deliver us. I pray
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Speaker 1: from a perfunctory attitude when it comes to worship and
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Speaker 1: time spent together in the instruction of your word. May
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Speaker 1: we bow our hearts before you and find them open, Lord,
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Speaker 1: as the seed is sown on the soft soil that
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Speaker 1: has been prepared. May we leave differently than when we came.
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Speaker 1: May what Jesus taught make a difference in how we
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Speaker 1: live and our Father, How grateful we are that you
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Speaker 1: gave him to us to pay the complete payment for
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Speaker 1: our sins. We thank you, our God for Jesus, and
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Speaker 1: we often ask with Wesley, how can it be that thou,
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Speaker 1: my God, shouldst die for me? It's out of that
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Speaker 1: incredible price that was paid that our lives have been changed.
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Speaker 1: And as a result, our money is yours. Everything we
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Speaker 1: have you own, and we give to you, Father, with
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Speaker 1: great delight and generosity, in the name of the one
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Speaker 1: who died for us. We pray and we give, and
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Speaker 1: everyone said, amen, please be seated. One of the most
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Speaker 1: fascinating books in my library is titled Saints correction is
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Speaker 1: titled Snakes in Suits. Little difference between Saints and snakes. Huh.
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Speaker 1: The cover is chilly. It's a man dressed in a
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Speaker 1: tailored suit, ready for business, white shirt, well pressed, sharp looking,
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Speaker 1: but instead of a necktie around his collar, there is
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Speaker 1: a snake coiled around his neck. The subtitle When Psychopaths
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Speaker 1: Go to Work not only interesting, it is intriguing because
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Speaker 1: the book describes and frequently illustrates the ranks of humanity
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Speaker 1: that include those who have that serious personality disorder. A
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Speaker 1: psychopath is known for lying, manipulation, deceit, egocentricity, callousness, and
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Speaker 1: other destructive traits. The book focuses on those in the workplace,
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Speaker 1: but not exclusively, since psychopaths are found in every other
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Speaker 1: realm of life, including the home and the church. Let
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Speaker 1: me dig a little deeper in order to describe this
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Speaker 1: type of person, and I quote, psychopaths are without conscience
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Speaker 1: and incapable of empathy, guilt, or loyalty to anyone but themselves.
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Speaker 1: Some psychopaths live in society and do not technically break
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Speaker 1: the law, although they may come close with behavior that
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Speaker 1: is very unpleasant for those around them. They do not
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Speaker 1: make warm and loving parents or family members. They do
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Speaker 1: not make reliable friends or co workers. You probably know
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Speaker 1: one you could work for, or work with, or be
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Speaker 1: married to. One with a psychopathic personality who causes you
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Speaker 1: so much pain and distress. They are egocentric in the extreme,
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Speaker 1: seemingly unable to experience deep human emotions, especially love and compassion.
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Speaker 1: Jesus dealt with such individuals during his earthly ministry, except
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Speaker 1: they were not snakes in suits. They were snakes in
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Speaker 1: religious robes and influential like most of us could not imagine.
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Speaker 1: You did not question a pharisee, You did not correct
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Speaker 1: a pharisee. You listened and you obeyed if you knew
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Speaker 1: what was good for you, for no one could shame
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Speaker 1: or shun like a pharisee. You might think, as I
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Speaker 1: say this, I'm a little harsh. Actually, I'm simply quoting Jesus,
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Speaker 1: who call them Verse thirty four Matthew twelve brood vipers.
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Speaker 1: Literally the Greek says, offspring of vipers. You came from vipers.
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Speaker 1: They were sons of vipers. You birth vipers hypocrites in
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Speaker 1: religious garb? Is there anything worse? If you think he
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Speaker 1: was being too harsh you've already forgotten that these were
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Speaker 1: the ones who, just earlier, in the same chapter called
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Speaker 1: a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. That's a
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Speaker 1: snake ready to strike at. Robertson writes, they now find
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Speaker 1: out what a powerful opponent Jesus is. By parables, by sarcasm,
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Speaker 1: by merciless logic. He lays bare their hollow insincerity and
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Speaker 1: the futility of their arguments. I failed to mention earlier.
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Speaker 1: They were legalists, all capital letters. Their list was law.
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Speaker 1: Not satisfied with the Ten Commandments, they added hundreds of
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Speaker 1: others that to them carried the same weight. That's what
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Speaker 1: God's finger rokee in stone and passed over to Moses.
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Speaker 1: Jesus when he came, decided enough was enough. The people
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Speaker 1: have lived under this kind of pressure long enough. They
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Speaker 1: need to know the truth, and oh how Pharisees hate
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Speaker 1: the truth. Unintimidated and unswerving in his approach, Jesus took
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Speaker 1: them on with both beryls Blazing, did not back down,
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Speaker 1: except when it came time for others to say he
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Speaker 1: is Messiah, he is the one we should take right
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Speaker 1: onto the kingdom, and he stopped them, Knowing his hour
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Speaker 1: had not yet come, and speaking of that, it would
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Speaker 1: be the Pharisees who would play a major role in
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Speaker 1: his being arrested, tortured, and crucified snakes in religious robs.
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Speaker 1: So we're not surprised that Jesus, in his teachings, especially
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Speaker 1: at this chapter, which is sort of the hinge of
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Speaker 1: the Book of Matthew, thinks change in chapter twelve, where
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Speaker 1: much of Jesus's teaching goes underground because the pressure is
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Speaker 1: mounting for his demise and he's not yet ready to
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Speaker 1: turn himself over to them. He has work to do
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Speaker 1: with his disciples, and his followers need to hear things
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Speaker 1: that would help them as they carry on without him.
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Speaker 1: So Jesus draws a line in the sand. His enemies
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Speaker 1: are on one side, his friends and followers on the other,
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Speaker 1: and he helps them understand who the Pharisees really were.
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Speaker 1: Not only was it true back then, it is true
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Speaker 1: today you will encounter and I will encounter Pharisees. I
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Speaker 1: have a friend I love dearly who has walked with
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Speaker 1: the Lord for a number of years. Happens to be
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Speaker 1: a musician that lives in Nashville, and he said in
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Speaker 1: one of the concerts he gave some time ago for
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Speaker 1: one of our insight for living gatherings. He said, I
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Speaker 1: want all of you to know the truth. I'm a
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Speaker 1: recovering Pharisee. I like the way that sounds. You don't
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Speaker 1: just pull out of it quickly. If you've been a
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Speaker 1: legalist a long time, it takes a long time to
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Speaker 1: pull out of it and understand grace. If you've been
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Speaker 1: judging and condemning others, it takes a long time to
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Speaker 1: learn how to affirm and encourage them as you walk
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Speaker 1: humbly with your God, realizing you more than any other
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Speaker 1: to be examined. That's why Jesus said a person should
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Speaker 1: take care of the log in his own eye before
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Speaker 1: he concerns himself with a splinter in another's eye. So
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Speaker 1: his warnings come in three. Here in the central section
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Speaker 1: of Matthew twelve, there's a warning in verse thirty. There's
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Speaker 1: a second warning in verses thirty one and thirty two,
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Speaker 1: and a third warning in thirty three down through thirty seven.
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Speaker 1: Will take them in that order. The first warning is this,
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Speaker 1: then I'll read the thirtieth verse. It's impossible to remain neutral.
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Speaker 1: It's impossible to remain neutral. Listen to Jesus' words. Anyone
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Speaker 1: who isn't with me opposes me. Anyone who isn't working
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Speaker 1: with me is actually working against me. There's no middle ground,
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Speaker 1: there's no fence you can sit on. You get off
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Speaker 1: on one side or the other. What is it? One
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Speaker 1: man wrote, It is neutrality that curses a man in
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Speaker 1: the hour of decision. It's never more true than the
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Speaker 1: decision regarding Christ. You're either working for him or you
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Speaker 1: are working against him. Let's help you examine your life
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Speaker 1: as I examine mine. We have all been at those
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Speaker 1: awkward moments in our lives when we're attempted to stay christ,
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Speaker 1: to stay quiet as Christ is being worked over the coals,
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Speaker 1: as Christianity is being mocked, or the teachings of Jesus
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Speaker 1: or being attacked. In that awkward moment, Jesus says, you
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Speaker 1: either get off on my side, or you get off
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Speaker 1: on the wrong side. Here's another If you're dealing with
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Speaker 1: an issue that is very important, and you're surrounded by
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Speaker 1: a majority who are politically correct and walking very gingerly
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Speaker 1: through that issue, if you are a Christian, it is
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Speaker 1: easy to hide in the shadows and let the majority
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Speaker 1: have their say, but I urge you, based on what
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Speaker 1: we've just read in verse thirty, take your stand. Do
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Speaker 1: not be afraid. And I say that at this time
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Speaker 1: of the year, when so many high schoolers and collegians
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Speaker 1: and seminarians are graduating, and those in graduate school are
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Speaker 1: pulling out of their final days at school, and you're
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Speaker 1: on your own, you will someday find yourself in the
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Speaker 1: ranks of those who will have nothing to do with Christ,
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Speaker 1: and you'll be tempted to blend in Shan Douglas, Sean
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Speaker 1: O'Connor writes this, with the rise of the scientific worldview,
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Speaker 1: with a rise of pluralism, it is difficult for many
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Speaker 1: to believe that Jesus is the only way to God.
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Speaker 1: We do not live in a religious bubble. Not only
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Speaker 1: can we learn about other religions by reading, traveling, or
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Speaker 1: surfing the web, but also by sitting down at a
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Speaker 1: school cafeteria or a coffee shop and listening to our
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Speaker 1: co workers, our fellow students who come from different parts
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Speaker 1: of the world, representing different worldviews. But as Christians, O'Connor writes,
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Speaker 1: we must not let such information make us intelligently impotent.
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Speaker 1: The claims of Jesus are the claims of Jesus. We
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Speaker 1: either believe them or we don't. What he said is
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Speaker 1: either false or true. Don't call yourself a Christian if
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Speaker 1: you believe only half of the read letters in your Bible.
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Speaker 1: Don't think Jesus didn't die for your sins and rise
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Speaker 1: for your justification if you choose to smear his name.
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Speaker 1: If you think obeying Christ's command is optional, don't call
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Speaker 1: yourself a Christian. If you think there are many ways
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Speaker 1: to God, don't call yourself a Christian. So those who
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Speaker 1: hedge about devotion to Jesus are about the importance of
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Speaker 1: a clear decision for him. Who question Jesus's exclusivity or
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Speaker 1: in trouble, you're either for him or against him. I
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Speaker 1: know that is brutally frank, but that is the truth,
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Speaker 1: and you will perhaps never hear it anywhere, but in
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Speaker 1: a church that stands for the truth. You won't hear
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Speaker 1: it on the evening news. You won't hear it in
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Speaker 1: any form of the media. You will hear it when
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Speaker 1: a Bible is opened and truth is being declared. Jesus says,
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Speaker 1: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No
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Speaker 1: one comes to the Father but through me, there's no neutrality.
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Speaker 1: You either come to God through Christ or you don't
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Speaker 1: come to God when you die. It's that simple. It's
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Speaker 1: impossible to remain neutral. My Christian friends, don't be afraid
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Speaker 1: of that. You and I now more than ever in
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Speaker 1: the history of the world, certainly of the whole world,
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Speaker 1: or living in a day when being known as a
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Speaker 1: Christian is a threatened existence. We're watching it all around us.
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Speaker 1: Who knows how long it will be before it will
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Speaker 1: invade our own shores. I warn us all about trying
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Speaker 1: to remain neutral. We may see the day when it
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Speaker 1: will mean our life. Remember that now, the severity of
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Speaker 1: blasphemy Verses thirty one and thirty two. I would suggest
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Speaker 1: that he looked directly at the Pharisees, because they had
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Speaker 1: just committed this unpardonable sin by attributing to Satan the
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Speaker 1: work of God. We saw that earlier, he says, I
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Speaker 1: tell you every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven. By
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Speaker 1: the way, that's a great relief. We've all sinned, and
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Speaker 1: perhaps some have even blasphemed blasphemy or sin itself can
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Speaker 1: be forgiven, he says, so more than once here except
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Speaker 1: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which would be questioning the
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Speaker 1: one who energizes the person of Christ, calling into question
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Speaker 1: his motive, will never be forgiven. Anyone who speaks against
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Speaker 1: the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who
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Speaker 1: speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either
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Speaker 1: in this world or in the world to come. What
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Speaker 1: is the unpardonable sin. It is attributing to Satan what
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Speaker 1: is accomplished only by the power of God. That's exactly
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Speaker 1: what the Pharisees did. Remember they were the ones who
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Speaker 1: said verse twenty four, No wonder he can cast out demons.
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Speaker 1: He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.
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Speaker 1: So it is a combination of a clear knowledge and
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Speaker 1: intentional rejection of Jesus Christ being fully aware of the
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Speaker 1: light and hating the light in an earnest, persistent, intentional
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Speaker 1: determination to extinguish the light. That is the Pharisees m o.
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Speaker 1: Jesus walked on earth, and all of those days he
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Speaker 1: exposed those around him to truth. He did so through
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Speaker 1: his words and through his works those who understood what
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Speaker 1: he did and what he claimed, but deliberately, persistently and
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Speaker 1: blatantly rejected all of that, continuing to do so to
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Speaker 1: the end found themselves in an unpardonable situation. And again
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Speaker 1: the classic example would be the Pharisees. It's not simply
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Speaker 1: rejecting Jesus, his teachings, or his miracles or his offer
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Speaker 1: of salvation. It is the determination to know all that
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Speaker 1: and attribute the origin of all that to Satan, and
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Speaker 1: to continue in that disbelief. They know they are doing it.
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Speaker 1: They do not care about the outcome. By the way,
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Speaker 1: a little hope for you who fear you may have
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Speaker 1: committed it. If you're concerned about it, you have not
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Speaker 1: committed it. If you have committed it, you're not concerned
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Speaker 1: about it. As the Pharisees, no matter what Jesus said,
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Speaker 1: none of them moved closer to him. Well, few of them,
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Speaker 1: but the great majority of them did not. So here's
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Speaker 1: the warning. It is incorrect to think that you cannot
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Speaker 1: go too far in your rejection of Christ. I happen
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Speaker 1: to believe, based on scripture, that a heart can get
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Speaker 1: so hard that it will not later soften, that it
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Speaker 1: will not repent, no matter how great the evidence that's provided,
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Speaker 1: and ultimately, to use today's colloquialism, its lights out. All
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Speaker 1: hope is lost. So the first is a warning against neutrality,
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Speaker 1: the second is a warning against intentionality. Here's the third.
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Speaker 1: It's about the depraved heart within all of us. Look
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Speaker 1: at how Jesus approaches this again. I believe he was
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Speaker 1: looking directly at the Pharisees because of the words in
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Speaker 1: verse thirty four. Brood of vipers, brude of snakes. We
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Speaker 1: have a saying that you will know their real condition
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Speaker 1: by their fruit. We say, by their fruit you shall
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Speaker 1: know them. And that's right from the scriptures. Jesus goes
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Speaker 1: even deeper and goes to the tree. If you eat
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Speaker 1: an apple, you know you're eating from a tree that
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Speaker 1: produced apples. You're eating a peach. You're eating from a
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Speaker 1: peach tree. Same for a plum, same for an orange
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Speaker 1: or an apriclot. He's not talking about the fruit here.
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Speaker 1: We're talking about the root, the tree itself. Look at it.
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Speaker 1: A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree
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Speaker 1: is good, the fruit will be good. If a tree
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Speaker 1: is bad, its fruit will be bad. You brewed of vipers,
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Speaker 1: you brood of snakes. How could evil men like you
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Speaker 1: speak what is good and right? For whatever is in
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Speaker 1: your heart determines what you say. I often say to people,
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Speaker 1: think of the tongue as a bucket, and think of
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Speaker 1: your heart as a well, a heart beating the inner person,
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Speaker 1: not the organ that pumps blood, but the inner person,
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Speaker 1: the reservoir within you that holds onto places where decisions
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Speaker 1: are made and truths are held are denied down in
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Speaker 1: your heart. The tongue goes to the heart and like
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Speaker 1: a bucket, lifts from what's in the heart and out
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Speaker 1: spill the words. So he says to them, how do
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Speaker 1: you think you can ever speak what is right coming
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Speaker 1: from hearts like yours? If the word spoken or evil,
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Speaker 1: it represents an evil within the heart itself. You know
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Speaker 1: what occurred to me on the side, no extra charge
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Speaker 1: for this. I was thinking about the Pharisees and realizing
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Speaker 1: I don't know of one place in the Bible where
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Speaker 1: they refer to their wives. I don't find a place
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Speaker 1: where they speak admirably of their children. They're not good fathers,
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Speaker 1: They're not thoughtful, compassionate, loving husbands. It's all about them.
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Speaker 1: It's all about them. Jesus nails them. He says, the
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Speaker 1: things that come out of your mouth are evil because
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Speaker 1: you have a heart that is evil. He goes even
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Speaker 1: further unless they miss the point. A good person produces
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Speaker 1: good things from the treasury of a good heart. See
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Speaker 1: the word treasury. You know what the Greek word is fossarus.
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Speaker 1: Of many of us who were word cultures, have on
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Speaker 1: our desk a book called a fassais, a treasury of words.
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Speaker 1: He could render it. A good person produces good things
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Speaker 1: from the fasais of a good heart, and an evil
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Speaker 1: person the same from a fasoris of an evil heart.
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Speaker 1: I'll tell you this. You must given account on judgment.
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Speaker 1: They have every idle word you speak. Oh that's convicting,
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Speaker 1: isn't it. The words you say will either acquit you
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Speaker 1: or condemn you. Here's the warning. It is foolish to
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Speaker 1: forget that whatever your heart, whatever is in your heart,
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Speaker 1: is revealed by your words. It's foolish to forget that.
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Speaker 1: And by the way, we say a lot, all of us.
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Speaker 1: I found this in my research. In my research, it
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Speaker 1: has been estimated that from the first good morning to
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Speaker 1: the last good night, the average person engages in thirty
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Speaker 1: conversations a day. Each day, his or her words could
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Speaker 1: make a book of fifty or sixty pages, the equivalent
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Speaker 1: of more than one hundred books a year. Two hundred
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Speaker 1: pages each. Ooh, that's something we talk too much. Sort
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Speaker 1: of the way I would analyze that lengthy statement. We
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Speaker 1: don't say Mary very much, but we talk too much.
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Speaker 1: You find yourself saying, you know, I really shouldn't say it.
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Speaker 1: Don't say it. It's that simple. That's the spherest way
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Speaker 1: of saying stop or I shouldn't say this about So
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Speaker 1: if you're going to say something about someone, be sure
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Speaker 1: you have checked to make sure those facts are and
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Speaker 1: if it's confidential, it should never be shared. We talk
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Speaker 1: too much, all of us, we say too little. I
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Speaker 1: will sometimes pray before our elder meetings. Lord help us
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Speaker 1: all to be better listeners than we are speakers. The
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Speaker 1: reason is we learn when we listen. We learn nothing
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Speaker 1: when we're talking. So Jesus has us guard against idle words,
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Speaker 1: having the bucket pull up words that can be a
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Speaker 1: waste of time or dangerous. I appreciated Alfred Plumber's words.
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Speaker 1: The carefully spoken words may be a calculated hypocrisy. Think
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Speaker 1: about that. You hear some speakers that are very halting,
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Speaker 1: measuring every word that comes out of their mouths. I
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Speaker 1: think Plumber's right. Carefully spoken words may be a calculated hypocrisy.
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Speaker 1: Let's learn to speak truth, Let's learn to measure our words,
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Speaker 1: and let's remember it's foolish to forget that whatever is
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Speaker 1: in your heart is revealed by what you say before
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Speaker 1: you think, well, the answer for me is just to
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Speaker 1: stay silent the rest of my life. That's not the answer.
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Speaker 1: Some of the most helpful things that happened to us
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Speaker 1: are words shared by someone else. It's called an education.
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Speaker 1: We learn from those professors, those teachers that use words
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Speaker 1: to correct us, to direct us, to fill our minds
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Speaker 1: with information we need. Our mothers and dads begin early
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Speaker 1: in our lives. We learn our language through our parents.
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Speaker 1: It's called our heart language, and we receive their reproofs
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Speaker 1: and then we carry those with us in life. So
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Speaker 1: the answer is not we say nothing. It's that we
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Speaker 1: say something worth listening to. So the first warning is
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Speaker 1: regarding indecisiveness, the secondness is a warning regarding callousness, and
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Speaker 1: the third carelessness. Now let's come back to be hypocrites
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Speaker 1: in a church. Three things I want to say to
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Speaker 1: every one of us, And please notice I use the
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Speaker 1: word us because they apply to me as well. Do
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Speaker 1: you see yourself portrayed in the first scene, verse thirty,
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Speaker 1: does the warning against neutrality convict you? Are you trying
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Speaker 1: to ride the fence of indecision? Are you attempting the
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Speaker 1: impossible remaining neutral? When Jesus himself says you're either for
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Speaker 1: him or against him? Today would be a perfect day
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Speaker 1: for you to step up and say I'm hiding no
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Speaker 1: longer appropriately and when it is the right time, I'm
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Speaker 1: going to make it known where I stand. I'm not
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Speaker 1: going to be afraid. I'm going to say it in
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Speaker 1: a way that makes me look good. I'm going to
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Speaker 1: say it because it's true. I'm going to stand up
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Speaker 1: and be counted. I'm not saying it will always work
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Speaker 1: well for you, but I'm saying you'll sleep better at
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Speaker 1: night knowing that you weren't hiding through the day. So
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Speaker 1: step up and be counted. Here's a second. Would you
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Speaker 1: have to admit that you've gotten callous regarding spiritual things.
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Speaker 1: Hopefully you've not gone too far in your rejection that
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Speaker 1: you're bordering dangerously near a stone cold heart. Today would
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Speaker 1: be a perfect day for you to step back and
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Speaker 1: realize how much you need Christ. It is easy for
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Speaker 1: us who love to be around Christians to think that
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Speaker 1: by being with Christians, how it sort of rubs off.
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Speaker 1: It doesn't. God has no grandchildren, only children. You do
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Speaker 1: not become a Christian because your mother or your dad
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Speaker 1: was a Christian. Become a Christian by you personally trusting
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Speaker 1: in Christ as your own savior. And remember He will
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Speaker 1: forgive all sins, all of them. Here's the third. Maybe
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Speaker 1: you now realize your words are not only too many,
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Speaker 1: but careless as a result of what Jesus taught you
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Speaker 1: realize your bucket is dumping a lot of things that
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Speaker 1: don't even need anyone's attention. It's the perfect day for
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Speaker 1: you to step away from that habit, acknowledge the careless
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Speaker 1: use of your tongue, ask him to cleanse your heart,
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Speaker 1: which will then, of course bring fresh water from your mouth.
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Speaker 1: You see, my main concern is not snakes in suits,
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Speaker 1: that is a real problem these days. But my concern
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Speaker 1: is hypocrites in church. Thankfully, our church has built a
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Speaker 1: good reputation over these few years we've been in existence,
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Speaker 1: but that really isn't built just on a Sunday. It's
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Speaker 1: built through the week. How we live our lives, how
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Speaker 1: we pay our bills, how we treat our families, how
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Speaker 1: we keep our word, how we forgive rather than bear
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Speaker 1: a grudge, how we release others from things that were
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Speaker 1: offensive rather than dragging them with us. I urge you
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Speaker 1: to become, if you are not already, an authentic follower
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Speaker 1: of Christ, since we all must give an account of
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Speaker 1: our lives when we stand before Him, bow with me,
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Speaker 1: will you please? You've listened so well. I commend you.
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Speaker 1: This is not one of those easy messages to deliver.
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Speaker 1: Maybe by the bluntness of it it has gripped your attention.
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Speaker 1: Maybe it's just what the Lord is able to use.
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Speaker 1: I hope so to begin a process of changing you,
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Speaker 1: something most of the Pharisees never went through. And if
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Speaker 1: you've never met the Lord Jesus Christ, it's the most
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Speaker 1: important decision you can ever make in life. I never
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Speaker 1: tire of making this clear. If you have the Son,
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Speaker 1: so n If you have the Son of God, you
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Speaker 1: have eternal life. If you do not, you do not.
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Speaker 1: Don't wait until it's too late. Act now trust in Him.
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Speaker 1: Now help us our father in the journey from Earth
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Speaker 1: to Heaven, to think clearly, to believe what Jesus is
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Speaker 1: taught to have It make a difference in the way
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Speaker 1: we treat others, but most importantly, to make certain that
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Speaker 1: He lives within us and is living out his life
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Speaker 1: through us. As you do that, our Father, we will
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Speaker 1: become the gospel that others read. We will become the
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Speaker 1: message that others will be exposed to. May our message
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Speaker 1: be clear regarding Jesus Christ, our Savior in these threatening days.
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Speaker 1: I pray for courage that we will be willing to
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Speaker 1: stand firm on what we believe regardless. In the name
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Speaker 1: of Jesus, I pray everyone said Amen. The preceding message,
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Speaker 1: Severe Warnings Everyone Must Remember was copyrighted in twenty sixteen
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Speaker 1: and twenty twenty one, and the sound recording was copyrighted
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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one by char Calls Are Swindall, Inc.
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Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
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Speaker 1: commercial use is strictly prohibited