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Be Prepared - Don't Be Surprised (2 Timothy 3) · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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Have you ever wondered what the Bible means when
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it says we're living in the last days and what
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to expect? Today we'll answer that question.
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Stay with me. When things fall apart, when violence
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rises, trust erodes, and people close to you
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seem to be drifting, how do you stay grounded?
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Paul had a very specific answer for Timothy.
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And today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram
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helps us realize that answer for ourselves as
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he turns to 2 Timothy. I'm Dave Drewy, and we're
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in a series called You Can Make Disciples, Personal
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Coaching from the Apostle Paul. If you have your
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Bible handy, go ahead and turn to 2 Timothy chapter
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3, starting in verse 1. Now here's Chip with
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today's message titled, Be Prepared, Don't Be
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Surprised. When we are surprised, we react. When
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we are prepared, we respond. When we are surprised
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by things, we react. When we are prepared, we
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respond. And I thought about how when you're
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surprised, and when you're surprised by evil,
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it's disorienting. I think the last few years
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have been very disorienting, haven't they been?
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I mean, it's just, it's like violence and evil
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and it's grown and grown and grown, but then
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it kind of got like, it went nuts. It was similar
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to... is a fellow that I knew. I did know him
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real well. He actually had gone to seminary.
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He visited our church quite a bit. He was in
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the area. And I got a phone call from his wife,
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said, this is absolutely crazy. Will you please
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help my husband? And he's in jail right now.
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I said, he's what? Yes, he's in jail. They've
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accused him of sexual molestation. So I got to
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find out what's going on. And he's in jail and
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I call him in jail and what's going on. And huge
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misunderstanding. And I have no idea what's going
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on here. You know, maybe someone's made accusations.
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And so I jump into it and I happen to know the
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DA pretty well and got on the inside to find
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out, you know, I think there's a tremendous injustice.
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I mean, this guy went to this seminary and he's
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this person in the community. And, you know,
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I'm trying to help his wife and just thinking,
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oh my gosh. And DA says, Chip, can we talk? I
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said, yeah. He said, well, this. There's been
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this allegation, yeah. He said, but the reason
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he is where he is is that we have a number of
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others who aren't willing at this point yet to
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testify publicly, but we have a string of these.
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I said, what? You know what? It's true. It's
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true. When evil... surprises you when things
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start happening that are almost hard to digest.
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It's very disorienting. And my first thought
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was, well, do I not have any discernment anymore?
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I mean, how could I never see anything? Or what's
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happening to the world? And then thoughts like,
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well, who can I really trust? And can we believe
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in people, right? And then you see, and then
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now it's happened all across the culture. And
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not just here. Horrendous things around the world.
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And I know we have more access and we have satellites
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and everyone can take pictures with cell phones.
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So I know we're more aware than ever before.
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But it's not just that. There's more evil than
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there was. There's more violence than there used
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to be. There used to be a right and a wrong.
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The foundations have eroded. And things are happening
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that just seem unthinkable to us. People casually
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just shoot other people? What is it? One out
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of every four girls in America by the time she's
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21 will be sexually assaulted by someone? 85
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or 90 % of people in prisons are without a father
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or a father figure. I mean, the family's breaking
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down. I mean, there's a point where you can go,
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hey God, where are you? Has anybody felt that
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other than me? Here's what the Apostle Paul is
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going to teach us and he taught Timothy. And
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I state it this way, don't allow current and
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future events to undermine your confidence in
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God's purposes and promises for you and the world.
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You know, we can't just casually say, oh, God's
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sovereign. We know he is, but some current or
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maybe some events that are coming, can undermine
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your confidence in God's purposes. Like at some
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point, you know, maybe real privately, is this
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true or not? How could a good God let this happen?
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How could it be this bad? Where is he? Those
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are thoughts I've had on a bad day. And so Paul
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warns of an increase in wickedness in the last
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days, and we'll talk about the last days. Let
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me just read verses one through about five. But
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realize this, okay? Context, context, people.
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We always gotta remember, Timothy, right? Don't
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be ashamed. Timothy, don't give up. Don't give
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in. You need to be strong. You need to be bold
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in this chaotic culture. But realize this, Timothy,
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that in the last days, difficult times will come.
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That word difficult can also mean dangerous,
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challenging. For people will be lovers of self
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and lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanders,
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disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving,
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irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self
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-control. brutal, haters of good, treacherous,
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reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather
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than the lovers of God, holding, notice the context
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of this, holding to a form of godliness although
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they've denied its power. Command, avoid such
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people as these. So let's ask and answer two
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questions and then let's dig in and talk about
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what are the implications? Question number one
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should be, are we in the last days, right? Hebrews
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chapter one, God, after he spoke long ago to
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the fathers and the prophets and in many portions
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and many ways in these last days has spoken to
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us through his son, whom he appointed heir of
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all things through whom he also made the world.
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Now, I understand that we live in a day where
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there's been multiple groups historically. These
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are the last days. I actually, I have a little
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file. I have a little pamphlet from one particular
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group that I forget the date. It was about 10
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years ago, and Jesus will be coming back on September
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something on this date. So I keep that kind of
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stuff. It's always humorous looking backwards.
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And whoops, you know, and then they say, well,
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he came in the spirit. We were just a little
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off. And then he's gonna come later. And when
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Jesus came and revealed himself as the son of
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God and the Messiah and the savior of the world,
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biblically speaking, that's when the last days
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begin. We are in the last days because this is
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the last installment. There isn't something else
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coming later. This is, This is the era of the
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church, of God's appeal, of salvation, and depending
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on your theology, turning the end times, the
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church will be raptured, the Lord will return,
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he'll set up his kingdom, and on we go. We are
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in the last days. Now what we need to understand
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is that we're a couple thousand years from when
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the last days began, and so I think it's fair
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to say Like, how long are these last days? Well,
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after a few decades of the church, some early
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Christians were saying, hey, you know, what's
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the deal with the last days? And so in 1 Peter
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3, Peter explains, know this first of all, that
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in the last days, mockers will come with their
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mocking, following after their own desires and
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saying, where's the promise of his coming? For
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since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
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just as they were from the beginning of creation.
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For when they maintain this, it escapes their
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notice that by the word of God, the heavens existed
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long ago and the earth was formed out of the
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water by the water through which the world at
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that time was destroyed by being flooded with
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water. But by his word, the present heavens and
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earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the
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day of judgment, destruction of the ungodly people.
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Do not let this one fast escape you. Notice,
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beloved, that with the Lord, one day is like
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a thousand years and a thousand years like one
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day. The Lord is not slow about his promise,
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as some count slowness, but is patient toward
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you, not willing for any to perish. but for all
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to come to repentance. And so I think when you
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open this chapter and he says, mark this, Timothy,
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in the last days, evil things are going to come.
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And then he starts to lay them out. He's saying,
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in the last days, beginning now, these are the
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kind of things you're gonna see. And the inference
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here is as we get closer and closer, these kind
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of things will intensify and become more and
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more the norm instead of the exception. Does
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that make sense? By the way, we always have to
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keep remembering as challenging as it is for
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us, it's not new. Isaiah 5, verse 10, woe to
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you, what? Anybody know this passage? Woe to
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you when evil is called good and good is called
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evil. When light is called darkness and darkness
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is called light. We are living in a day, we had
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this little, you know, plus or minus 200 year
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experiment. where people founded this country.
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And regardless of your view of all the government,
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there was a Judeo -Christian worldview that is
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the basis of our American legal system and the
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basis of our values, family, freedom of religion,
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all the kind of things. And there was a very
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clear right and a very clear wrong. And by the
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way, if you've ever read much of the Puritans,
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they really get a bad name. They had this overwhelming
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sense of the love of God and of great doctrine
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and great care. That whole concept of puritanical,
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yes, they were very pious and living a holy life,
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but there's a real float out of an overwhelming
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sense of God's love. And so what we've had is
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a couple hundred years of this is right, this
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is wrong, these things matter. The dignity of
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every human being, regardless of background,
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color, religion, why? Because they're made in
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the image of God. See, that was completely new.
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You can go back to the early Greeks in Philo,
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Aristotle, Plato, some of those, their writings
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will say, it is self -evident that men were born,
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some to rule and some to be ruled. It's just
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self -evident. The world's always been that way.
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All I want you to get is that, The world historically
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has been far different from the window that many
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of us have gotten to experience. And what we're
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now seeing in America as you abandon, and I'm
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not talking about political issues. I'm talking
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about values. I'm talking about worldview. I'm
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talking about reverence for God. You know, I
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don't know if you've been reading the Old Testament
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lately and like Isaiah, Jeremiah. I don't know
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about you, but it just kind of, and now here's
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the judgment on Edom. And now here's the judgment
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on the Philistines. And now here's the judgment.
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So God judges nations. And then you get over
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there to Revelation and Jesus talking about it's
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more tolerable. It's going to be more tolerable
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for Sodom and Gomorrah. It's going to be more
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tolerable for this country than you, Bethesda,
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and you, Capernaum, because of the miracle. It's
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almost like the Bible talks about that God actually
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does judgment for nations. Oh, wow. Huh. Wonder
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if he's still doing that today. You know, sometimes
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we have a picture of God's judgment as like lightning
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bolts coming down at people. But Romans 1 is
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a picture of passive judgment. When you sow to
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the flesh, you reap corruption. And what God
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in his mercy will say, if you want to do it your
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own way, With these consequences, you can. And
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then at some point, when it's rebellion, rebellion,
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rebellion, and a lot of people, they don't know
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they're rebelling. He says, okay, I'm just gonna,
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I'm gonna give you over. That's the word in Romans
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1. He says, I'm gonna give you over. I'm gonna
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give you over. I'm gonna give you over to fully
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do whatever you wanna do in the areas of finance.
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in the areas of sexuality, in the areas of family.
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But what happens when that happens is you get
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the consequences that you see in America today.
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And unfortunately, so we can be fair, inside
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the church of which I... I'm a pastor, so I have
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to own my part of this, is that it's easy to
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point to the sins that we aren't most guilty
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of and say how terrible they are. But when was
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it, what happened in the church when it was okay
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to get a divorce for any reason? There was a
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biblical divorces, right? Grounds of immorality,
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abandonment by an unbeliever. So when that went
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by the way, and then, well, all I'm saying is,
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we have... Inch by inch inside the church, we
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have mortgaged our own moral standings. I just
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read a conversation just the other day of parents
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that were talking about, you know, their daughter
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and her lesbian lover and, you know, how can
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you do this? And you were raised in the church,
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et cetera, et cetera. And her words were, well,
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Uncle Fred left his wife. He didn't have biblical
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divorce. And then he got remarried to someone
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else that didn't have biblical divorce. And it
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was all thumbs up and, you know, praising God
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for the church wedding with Uncle Fred. So what
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happened, Mom and Dad? Can you see? That's one
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of many. And so all I want you to know is what
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the Apostle Paul is saying here is when these
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things happen with greater and greater intensity,
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are you ready? Just don't be surprised. Don't
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go, oh, don't be like me. There's no way. There's
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no, the sky is falling. This guy could have never
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done that. Fact of the matter is, he did. Fact
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of the matter is, we're going to see these things
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happen with ever -growing intensity, and it does
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not tell us that the world is out of control,
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that God's plan is not on track. Anybody wonder,
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why do you think he wrote this to Timothy? What
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Timothy needed to know was the things that he
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was seeing that was so overwhelming and so wicked.
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were what Jesus said would happen. What characterizes
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the increase of wickedness is primarily self
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-love, love of money, love of pleasure, and then
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the dominoes. How about this? Lean back. Amplify
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Bible. But understand this, that in the last
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days, dangerous times of great stress and trouble
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will come. Difficult days that will be hard to
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bear. For people will be lovers of self, narcissistic,
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self -focused, lovers of money, impelled by greed,
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boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to
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parents, ungrateful, unholy, and profane. And
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they will be unloving. They'll be devoid of natural
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human affection. They'll be calloused and inhumane,
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irreconcilable. They'll gossip maliciously. They'll
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be devoid of any self -control, intemperate and
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immoral. They'll be brutal, haters of good, traitors
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in relationships, reckless and conceited, lovers
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of sensual pleasure rather than lovers of God,
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holding to a form of outward godliness, religion,
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although they have denied its power, for their
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conduct nullifies their claim of faith. Avoid
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such people and keep far away from them. And
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then he's going to give a couple of examples
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so that Timothy realizes, hey, this has happened
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in the past. And so the question I put here is,
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how are we tempted to interpret these developments?
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When you've seen all this wickedness and all
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this violence and stuff happening, down deep,
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what are your feelings? What have you done? Where
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are your fears? And you know what we would hear?
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Just feels like the world's out of control. Feels
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hopeless. I'm scared to death for those of you
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that are grandparents or for those of you parents.
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What kind of world are my kids gonna come into?
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Is it even gonna be safe to walk in the streets
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in the future, right? These are the kind of things
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that create incredible angst, anxiety, depression.
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Division. When things are really getting crazy,
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what do we do? We're all human, right? Remember
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when we were little kids and things got really
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hard, you blame your brother, you blame your
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sister. Well, when they get really hard in a
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society, you find some other people to blame
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and it's them and the problems out there and
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we get more and more and more divided and we
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create this. petri dish culturally of anger and
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blame and hurt and suspicion and lack of trust
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and fear. And that's the temptation that we have.
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And in the midst of that, there's this supernatural
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community, this group of people that is what's
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called the body of Jesus. his hands, his feet,
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his eyes, people that live above all that fray,
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people who understand the fallenness of mankind,
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people who recognize the things that they have
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done and been forgiven of, people who grasp that
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this is our opportunity in the midst of all this
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pain and blame and violence. This is the opportunity
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to love and to heal and to respond and to set
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an example. And what Paul is saying to Timothy
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is, This is going to be the normal thing, but
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you got to understand this is how people react.
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For some people, you isolate. For some people,
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they begin to doubt. You know, I don't believe
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anymore that God's sovereign. If he was, we wouldn't
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be having this. This isn't the life. I've gone
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to church. I tithe. I read my Bible regularly.
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And look at what happened. Look what happened
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in my world. Look what happened in our company.
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Look what happened in our nation, right? Do you
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understand where this goes? That's why he's writing
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to Timothy and that's why we're reading it today.
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We're tempted to feel hopeless and helpless and
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blame and question God's purposes. How are we
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to respond to these developments? Look at verse
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six. He says, avoid, turn away from such people
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and their behavior. The two temptations. are
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to one, compromise or to isolate. It's like,
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you know what? It's so crazy out there. I'm just
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going to kind of watch it on TV and hope it doesn't
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get too close to me. And you know, my little
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world, the problem is your little world keeps
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shrinking, right? The flip side is We've all
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heard that illustration where you put the frog
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in water and you do the temperature very, very,
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very slowly. I think as it erodes more and more
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in the culture, you're going to see more and
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more things that even five years ago, Christians
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would never do this that will become commonplace
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because people will compromise. I was counseling
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with a person a year or so ago. godly person,
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great family, and a couple of his godly friends
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and one was going through a tough time and he
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kind of tried to help his buddy and eventually,
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you know, they got a divorce. Then it happened
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to another close friend and so his couple closest
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friends are going through these things and then,
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you know, they entered a new world. Now they're
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wounded, now they're hurt, now they're sort of
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back in it. Well, now they're sleeping around.
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And I said, you know, what do you, what do you
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think about all that? Well, I'm really trying
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to help. I'm really trying to help them. And
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I said, are they willfully just kind of living
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that out? Yeah, but you know, we're talking and
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I, you know how pastors are, I pulled out the
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Bible. And so I said, you know, I know you want
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to help them, but. This passage says when a so
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-called brother or sister is living in willful
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sin and you talk to them and they don't respond
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at all, don't even eat with them. Don't keep
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providing the spiritual and relational support
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that facilitates the benefits of being in the
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body of Christ instead of allowing the consequences
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of their actions to be, remember what Paul said,
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I turn this one over to Satan to buffet him.
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The goal wasn't to hurt him. It was to restore
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that person that was involved in immorality in
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the Corinthian church. And I'll never forget,
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he said, well, you know, I could never do that.
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Which was followed sometime later by a moral
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failure in his life. 1 Corinthians 15, 33. Bad
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company crept good morals every time. And none
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of us are immune. It's happening so subtly. And
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it's not just in the sexual area. Ask yourself,
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how are people viewing money? How are people
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viewing priorities? How are people viewing sort
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of what's acceptable or not acceptable? And I
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don't mean culturally, I mean from what the scripture
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says. And so notice how he picks it up. He talks
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about the specific ways these people live it
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out. For among them are those who slip into households
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and captivate weak women, weighed down with sins,
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led on by various impulses. Always learning,
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never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
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So he says, Timothy, this is a current example
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of how these things, not just in the last days,
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some days, some way, but these things are playing
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out right now. You just need to be aware. And
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then he gives him a historic example. And then
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he goes on to say, just as Janus and Jambres
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opposed Moses, so these men also opposed the
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truth. Men of depraved minds, worthless. in regard
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to the faith. By tradition, those were two of
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the magicians who, when Moses did, remember all
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those supernatural things, they could copy it,
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copy it, copy it, until he did some things that
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required the creation of life. And he goes, you
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know, it's happening today. It happened back
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in Moses' days. And then notice, but he says,
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look at the outcome. Look at the outcome. But
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they will not make further progress, for their
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foolishness will be obvious to all, just as it
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was also of Janus and Jambres. So you're Timothy,
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you know your Old Testament, and you're thinking
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of the challenge and the bondage and what they
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went through. And Moses, who was bold, and before
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being bold, what he got? He got knocked by Pharaoh
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and he got knocked by his own people. Do you
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see the picture he's trying to see? And so Moses
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gave up and said, I guess it's not worth it.
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Oh, no, that's not how the story goes. So Moses
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hung in there. And Moses had challenges and doubts
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and struggles. And the Lord was with him. And
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he's saying, Timothy, this is how life goes.
25:51
And now he wants to sort of help him get on the
25:55
positive side of things. You'll notice. In the
25:58
next section, I just entitled this, Don't Be
26:01
Afraid, Keep Pressing Ahead, verses 10 through
26:03
17. Don't be afraid. We can't live our life out
26:09
of the lens of fear. You have to live your life
26:13
out of a lens of faith. But this kind of evil
26:17
causes us to question that. That kind of evil
26:20
causes us to wonder, can we trust God? Can we
26:24
trust his promises? And what Paul's trying to
26:27
help him see is, okay, Timothy, so notice this.
26:31
Let's remember some of your past progress. Verse
26:35
10, now you, he's contrasting him with these
26:39
people that are going down very bad paths. Now
26:44
you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith,
26:50
patience, love, perseverance. persecutions and
26:56
suffering such as happened to me in Antioch,
27:00
at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions
27:04
I endured and out of them all, what's the punchline?
27:09
The Lord rescued me. I would encourage you to
27:17
remember past progress, to literally kind of
27:22
look in the rear view mirror, not maybe a year
27:25
or two, but to try and even if you need to sit
27:29
quietly and ask God or especially with family
27:31
members, where has God shown up in the most challenging
27:36
and difficult times in our life? And you would
27:40
start to tell stories about taking one of your
27:42
kids to the ICU. You'd start telling stories
27:45
about a time where you thought there's no way
27:48
your marriage is going to work. You'd start talking
27:51
about time when you got laid off or a company
27:53
shut down and you had literally no money, no
27:56
groceries. You'd talk about a time in some of
28:00
our cases when one of you had cancer and it was
28:04
very questionable whether you're going to make
28:07
it. And you start looking back, looking back,
28:10
looking back, looking back, and you would have
28:13
a story that God has rescued you out of things
28:17
in the past. He's not idle. And by the way, you
28:24
know, I know I'm a broken record. If you keep
28:28
watching a lot of news, you will live in fear
28:31
because the news is made and geared to be sensational.
28:36
It's to get your attention and to keep you watching.
28:40
And when you keep watching, since you're a product
28:42
of your thought life, you will assume that things
28:45
that are happening on the news are going to happen
28:47
to you. And the lens in which you will look at
28:50
the world is it's negative, it's violent, it's
28:53
terrible, it's bad, and it's not gonna get better.
28:56
And so your only two choices are one is to isolate
28:59
or to compromise or medicate yourself in some
29:03
way. And you can do it with drugs, you can do
29:06
it with alcohol, you can do it with work, you
29:07
can do it with escape. And so, you know, you
29:11
need to kind of be aware of what's going on.
29:15
But if you get on and watch your news feeds and
29:18
you scroll and every time that thing goes off,
29:20
oh, can you hear it? There's another shooting.
29:22
And what about this? And what about that? When's
29:25
the last time someone said, I'd just like to
29:27
declare that in the last 10 minutes there were
29:29
about 27 .5 million acts of kindness of people
29:33
who cared for one another. I got an email from
29:36
a friend who works in the Global South, and he
29:38
gave the statistics of the number of people in
29:41
the last two or three years that have come to
29:43
Christ in the Global South. It's more of all
29:45
the people that have come to Christ in all of
29:48
church history. God's working in power. You don't
29:50
get any good news. God's working in amazing ways
29:53
here and all around the world. There's young
29:56
people that are on fire for God. They're not
29:58
all just a bunch of slackers. But you know what?
30:00
It's not going to make the news. And we have
30:05
by and large a church that is living out of fear.
30:11
And perfect love casts out fear, according to
30:16
the Bible. And the second thing, he says, look,
30:20
persecution is normal. Look at verse 12. Indeed,
30:26
all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
30:29
will be persecuted. Contrast, but evil people
30:32
and imposters will proceed from bad to worse.
30:37
Deceiving, and here's what to remember, and being
30:40
deceived. You understand that some of the most
30:46
terrible things that are happening in our world
30:49
are happening by people who absolutely believe
30:53
with all their heart they're bringing good and
30:56
making things better. And if you don't get that,
31:01
you'll either think they're stupid, bigoted,
31:04
anti -intellectual like they think we are. And
31:07
you'll never get to know them or listen to where
31:09
they're coming from. But does anybody remember
31:11
a guy named Saul? Just, you know, remember him?
31:17
Remember his testimony? He says, God was gracious
31:22
to me because out of ignorance, Saul was absolutely
31:26
committed. knew the Bible inside and out, was
31:31
actually committed to crushing this movement
31:34
called The Way. Christians. Why? To honor God.
31:41
The most dangerous people in the world are people
31:44
with religious zeal believing they're doing what
31:47
they're doing for God. We had a... A pastor was
31:53
with us a couple weeks ago, and this is so fresh.
31:55
And we heard his testimony. In fact, we got it
31:59
on film. He's with ISIS and was being trained
32:05
as an assassin. And he finished his training
32:09
and got his target and was on his way to finish
32:13
the job. And he had a, I can't even describe
32:17
it, but he had this intervention moment where
32:19
God spoke to him. And it's too long a story to
32:23
tell, but in that moment, he responded to that,
32:26
which resulted in him coming to Christ. And how
32:29
many people personally has he led to the Lord?
32:32
Thousands. I mean, and it was like 19 ,000 and
32:36
something. And someone said, well, how do you
32:37
know? He said, because I was the one who baptized
32:39
them. Don't be ashamed. Be bold. Be strong. Be
32:47
strong in what? Be strong in grace. And. There's
32:50
a connection. And the things that you have heard
32:53
entrust to faithful men, faithful women, faithful
32:58
children, faithful grandchildren, neighbors,
33:01
friends, people at church. Don't just keep going
33:03
to meetings. Where do we want to go? Let's be
33:06
intentional. Let's walk through this together.
33:09
Let's be difference makers in our little sphere.
33:13
That's all you have to do. You don't have to
33:15
be famous. You don't have to be big. You don't
33:17
have to be smarter. You don't have to be more
33:19
educated. You just have to be willing. And he's
33:22
going to get to the end and he's going to show
33:24
you and me how it actually happens. And so he
33:26
says to Timothy, giving a little more encouragement
33:28
here, he says, verse 14, you, however, I love
33:33
that. Continue in the things that you have learned
33:36
and become convinced of knowing from whom you've
33:39
learned them. And from childhood, you've known
33:42
the what? Sacred writings which are able to give
33:45
you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith,
33:48
which is in Christ Jesus. And then this classic
33:51
verse, all scripture is inspired or God -breathed.
33:58
And it's beneficial for teaching what's true
34:02
and what's right. For rebuking, correcting when
34:06
things are wrong. For correction, not only it's
34:10
wrong, but how to get back on track. And for
34:12
training in righteousness, how to make it habitually
34:16
a part of your life. Why? So that the man or
34:19
woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for
34:24
every good work. You know, it's powerful. It's
34:33
powerful. God's word is powerful. We have done
34:39
some research at Living on the Edge and we partnered
34:42
and got some information from the American Bible
34:44
Society. And you might be shocked, but can I
34:47
tell you, the average Christian does not read
34:49
the Bible. It gets worse. We commissioned a study
34:54
because we were ministering to pastors, all evangelicals,
34:58
but from about 45 or 50 different. backgrounds
35:01
or denominations. And in our survey, only 21
35:07
% of pastors ever open their Bible except for
35:12
sermon preparation. The reason we're investing
35:17
so much in pastors, anemic pastors produce sick
35:22
sheep. You know what Paul knew? There's a lot
35:28
of pressure for a pastor like Timothy. There's
35:30
a lot of pressure for pastors today all over
35:32
the world and here. There's a lot of pressure
35:35
for people like you who have a lot on your plate.
35:38
I want to tell you a story, and if you identify
35:42
with it, it was the last church I pastored, and
35:45
one of my jobs always was, what's the next pipeline
35:48
for the next elders? And I had a process where...
35:52
They didn't know I was doing this, but I went
35:55
to the staff and I went to our present elders
35:57
and just tell me, who are people that are actually
35:59
leading? They're real leaders in our church.
36:01
And then I would just call them privately or
36:03
stop them in the hall and say, hey, I wonder
36:07
if you'd be willing to... kind of meet with me
36:10
every other week for about three months. I'm
36:12
just pulling a group of guys together. I've been
36:15
told that you're one of our leaders. You're doing
36:17
this and this and these ministries. And, you
36:19
know, the elders told me, the staff, and I'd
36:21
just like to get to know you. And if there's
36:24
any way I could be helping your life, that'd
36:25
be wonderful. And usually they all said yes.
36:29
And so I always started it the same way. And
36:32
I had a... sort of techniques behind why I was
36:35
doing what I was doing, I told, we'll start at
36:38
four, we'll be done at 5 .30. And the moment
36:41
four started, I said, okay, guys, tell you what
36:43
I'd like to do is whatever's on your heart, I'd
36:46
like you to first, let's thank God, and then
36:48
any issues that are going on in your life you'd
36:51
like to pray about. And they don't know each
36:52
other. I said, are you ready? And they're looking
36:53
at me, yeah, let's pray. And I said, you know,
36:56
rather than, you know, that how everyone prays
36:57
maybe once and then we move on, I'm gonna set
37:00
my phone for 15 minutes. So you can pray once,
37:04
twice. You can pray conversationally. It's on
37:09
the dot, four o 'clock. We start praying. Guess
37:13
what happens if you're late? You're walking into
37:15
a room with a bunch of people praying and you
37:17
go, oh my gosh. And then, you know, the first
37:20
round of praying is like, oh Lord, you know,
37:22
normal. And then it gets a little bit more honest,
37:25
a little bit more honest. And then I have a thing
37:27
that I take them through and my first question
37:30
is, tell me, just tell me a little. Your story,
37:33
just give me a sense of you, your life, your
37:35
journey, family, where you work. And they go
37:38
around and we're getting to know each other.
37:40
And then I ask this question, tell me your relationship
37:43
with God's word. What? Yeah, tell me your relationship
37:46
with God's word. Because according to Jesus in
37:50
the parable of the soils, your relationship to
37:52
the word reveals and determines your relationship
37:56
with the Lord. No exceptions. The parable of
38:01
the soils was the kingdom, the secrets and mysteries
38:03
of the kingdom. And God's truth goes forth and
38:07
it lands on four kinds of hearts and there's
38:09
four different responses. Only one produces fruit.
38:12
But if there's no even truth going in. And so,
38:14
I mean, these are leaders. So the first one is
38:16
a doctor. He says, well, I pulls out his phone.
38:21
He goes, my life's really busy and I got three
38:24
kids and the practice is really heavy. And so
38:26
I open you version and I read the verse of the
38:29
day. That's it. I mean, I had to sort of, you
38:34
know, I don't want to be judgmental. So it's
38:35
like, you know, very calm. Oh, okay. And I try
38:39
and think about that verse. Okay, great. Next.
38:44
You know, I'm really running a really big company
38:46
and it's really important. I usually leave a
38:49
little bit before six and I work out. And sometimes,
38:53
you know, I try to listen a little bit to the
38:55
Bible maybe when I'm a thing, but I'm not very
38:57
disciplined at that. But, I mean, it's the Silicon
39:00
Valley, man. You can't imagine the pressure.
39:02
And then I get home about 8 .30, and I try to
39:05
at least tuck my kids in bed. Okay, next. You
39:12
know, I don't know exactly why you asked me,
39:14
but I'm not only not reading the Bible, my marriage
39:16
is in trouble, and I'm not sure it's going to
39:18
make it. And so he talks for a while and next.
39:22
And so we got near the end of that one and they
39:26
know me and I knew of them so they know I'm very
39:29
direct. And so I'd ask them a question about
39:32
your dreams and your future and your kids and
39:34
et cetera like this. And I said as calmly as
39:36
I could, I said, man, it's a real privilege and
39:39
I appreciate what you're doing and serving in
39:41
the church. I wanna make a comment and this is
39:43
gonna be very, very important. Because I talk
39:46
a different way with people out like this than
39:48
I do with leaders. I said, I want each one of
39:52
you to know that the dreams and the hopes that
39:55
you shared, your current trajectory, I will tell
39:57
you for certain, they will not happen in your
40:00
life. And you will have heartache and pain and
40:03
family breakup and a life that is not what you
40:05
expect. And I can guarantee that. Because none
40:09
of you are in the scriptures. I came home and
40:13
I said, Teresa, I'm shutting the group down.
40:16
I'm not going back. And he said, why? I said,
40:20
these are our leaders. I'm the pastor of the
40:23
church. I actually know who's teaching most of
40:25
the time. And this is what we're producing? There
40:29
is no life too busy. Man can't live by bread
40:32
alone, but only by the word of God. The word
40:35
of God is living and active and sharper than
40:37
a two -edged sword and pierces to the division
40:39
of soul and spirit and joint and marrow. and
40:43
reveals the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
40:45
Thy word was found and I ate and it came for
40:48
me, the joy and the delight of my soul. All scripture
40:52
is inspired by God and is profitable for. It's
40:55
the equipper. It's the changer. It's the power.
40:58
God takes the written word, makes it the living
41:01
word, develops convictions and transforms your
41:04
life. It's the renewing of your mind. And so
41:07
I thought it was pretty tough on him. And Teresa
41:09
said, don't stop the group, Chip. You're just.
41:12
I said, you're right. So I went back, and I'm
41:15
thinking, this is going to get better. I mean,
41:17
I hit him pretty hard. But my deal is, if you're
41:21
a leader, if you can't take it and hit hard,
41:23
go do something else. Man, this is the kingdom
41:26
of God. These are people's souls. We're not trying
41:29
to run a company. We're not trying to go public.
41:31
This is forever stuff. Take this seriously. You
41:37
know, they all got together. And we had good
41:38
fellowship. By the way, they were all great guys
41:41
and all had great leaderships. So, guys, you
41:44
know, before we get started, you know, we had
41:45
our prayer time. Could you share with me your
41:48
relationship with the Word of God? So, I thought,
41:57
okay. I said, guys, we got, with everybody, I
42:01
said, you know, what, this leadership stuff is
42:04
pointless. And I said, we're going to learn to
42:10
get into the Bible together in a way that you
42:13
can understand it and practice it. And I had
42:16
a couple resources that I felt have always helped
42:19
me. And I got those guys together. And the one
42:24
guy, and I say this because, I mean, he got in
42:27
the Bible and God spoke to him. Pretty soon his
42:31
wife's coming to me, goes, what did you do? I
42:34
said, it's not me. I got a new husband. I mean,
42:38
he comes home. We eat as a family. In fact, okay,
42:42
you got to get this sort of over top. He's having
42:45
a Bible study. He and these other men at nine
42:48
o 'clock, five nights a week. I'm thinking that
42:54
might be a little over the top. The guy that
42:58
used to get up and work out started to get into
43:01
God's word. About six weeks later, he said, you
43:06
know, it's an amazing thing to eat dinner with
43:09
your family. I'm tucking my kids in bed. The
43:15
friction of my marriage is gone. The guy whose
43:18
marriage was falling apart really struggled,
43:22
and these guys got around him. He goes, well,
43:25
he was a football star. finally said, you know,
43:29
are you willing to put in to be the man of God
43:32
that you did to become the football star and
43:34
play in these pro leagues? And then he did. That
43:40
guy is the boldest Christian I think I know.
43:43
Mark my word, we are in the last days and all
43:47
those things that you read in there are going
43:49
to happen more and more and more. And there's
43:53
going to be a group of people that will live
43:55
by faith. And faith comes by hearing and hearing
43:58
by the word of God. And they're going to be promise
44:02
-centered people that God's going to use to do
44:05
the greatest things that have ever happened on
44:07
the face of the earth. Or they'll be problem
44:10
-centered people that will live in fear. and
44:13
anxiety, and they'll find some group to blame
44:16
or some other person, and they'll sit around
44:19
whining in coffee shops talking about how terrible
44:23
everything is and who's wrong and who's bad instead
44:27
of being an instrument of righteousness equipped
44:29
for every good work. So what I want you to know
44:33
is that persecution is normal. Buckle your chin
44:36
strap. Understand this is what happens to warriors
44:40
for Jesus in the midst of a fallen world. The
44:43
world has changed. It's not coming back. The
44:47
morality of the America that you know is not
44:50
coming back. Wow, strangers in exile. Oh my gosh,
44:56
it almost sounds biblical. So live in such a
45:03
way, in such harmony. Never give evil for evil,
45:08
but give good for evil, right? 1 Peter 3. In
45:13
order that the Lord might bless you and prosper
45:16
you and have the kind of life that men and women
45:21
would ask you in this corrupt world about the
45:25
hope that's in you. And you could respond with
45:29
reverence and grace and kindness about Jesus.
45:34
And that's what Paul's telling them. And I don't
45:38
know about you, but I think we're living in a
45:40
day that is more and more parallel to that day
45:43
than it was the last century. And so what we
45:46
got to do is we got to, you know, we got to delete
45:50
the old software. We need to delete the old expectations.
45:53
We need to just get in the computer of our mind
45:55
and it ought to be this way and this and this
45:57
and that and delete and delete. And we need to
45:59
reprogram. Power is God's word. It's a very evil
46:04
world. God is going to equip me. God's going
46:06
to protect me. He wants to use me right where
46:09
I am, in my network, with my family, and I'm
46:13
going to sow righteousness. Because if you sow
46:16
to the flesh, corruption. When you sow to the
46:19
Spirit, righteousness, life, grace. You're listening
46:27
to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram and a
46:30
message titled Be Prepared, Don't Be Surprised.
46:33
We're nearing the end of a study called You Can
46:35
Make Disciples. There's more from Chip coming
46:38
up in a moment. Missed any part of this series?
46:40
Catch up anytime on the Living on the Edge podcast.
46:44
Every episode is there, ready when you are. And
46:47
for Chip's complete unedited messages, the Chip
46:50
Ingram Sermon Podcast has every sermon in full
46:53
wherever you listen. Chip's story about those
46:56
church leaders and their relationship with God's
46:58
Word is the kind of thing that's hard to shake.
47:00
The antidote Paul gives in 2 Timothy isn't complicated.
47:04
It's the Word doing what only the Word can do.
47:08
Chip's book, Yes, You Really Can Change, gives
47:11
you the clear breakdown of how Scripture actually
47:14
reshapes a life, not behavior management, but
47:17
the real thing. And because this series is all
47:19
about discipleship, every purchase comes with
47:22
an extra copy to hand to someone you know, someone
47:25
to share it with. We want to equip you to invest
47:27
in the people around you. Just go to livingontheedge
47:31
.org and look for the book, Yes, You Really Can
47:35
Change. Everything you hear on this program is
47:38
made possible by the faithful support of listeners.
47:41
If this ministry has been a voice of truth in
47:44
your life, we'd be grateful for your partnership.
47:47
Give at livingontheedge .org, call our team at
47:50
888 -333 -6003, or donate through the mail at
47:55
Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta,
47:59
Georgia, 30024. Well, now here's Chip with some
48:03
closing thoughts. Thanks, Dave. As we close today's
48:07
program, could I encourage you to get your Bible
48:09
and read 2 Timothy 3. I mean, read it very, very
48:14
quickly. And you'll read 20 different things
48:16
that the Apostle Paul will say. Don't be surprised.
48:19
We are living in the last days now. In fact,
48:22
the last days started when Jesus came. And then
48:25
notice at the very end of the chapter, the antidote
48:27
to all the things that are happening for you
48:30
as a follower of Jesus Christ is the power of
48:34
God's Word that's breathed out, that is profitable
48:37
for teaching, training, redirecting your life,
48:41
and empowering you to do all that God wants you
48:43
to do. Here's my question for you today. What
48:47
is your relationship with the Word of God? Is
48:50
it precious? Are you in it daily? Are you listening
48:54
to it? Are you reading it? And most importantly,
48:57
when God prompts through His Word, do you obey
49:00
it? If you will obey quickly, you will begin
49:03
to experience God in a new and powerful way.
49:06
The world certainly is a challenge, but God has
49:09
given us all we need through His Word and His
49:12
people to live it out faithfully. Keep pressing
49:15
ahead. Don't get discouraged. I'm your host,
49:18
Dave Drewy. The Apostle Paul's final charge to
49:21
Timothy is one of the most direct passages in
49:23
Scripture. Next time, Chip Ingram opens 2 Timothy
49:26
4 and asks, What does it actually cost to stay
49:30
faithful? Don't miss it here on Living on the
49:33
Edge. Today's program is produced and sponsored
49:39
by Living on the Edge.