Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #14904 - You Are Valuable to the Lord - Ephesians 1:5-10

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#14904 - You Are Valuable to the Lord - Ephesians 1:5-10 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Amen.
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Open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter one in our verse by
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verse study through the book of Ephesians.
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We're going to pick up where we left off last time in verse 5,
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and I've entitled our Bible study.
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You are valuable to the Lord and what I mean is you personally
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listening to me right now are valuable to the Lord and by the
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time we leave here today, you will see a new aspect of just
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how valuable you are to the Lord.
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Paul is writing this letter, Paul the Apostle to a church
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that he planted maybe 2025 years earlier.
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I want you to think of the city of Ephesus again because we get
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the name of the book Ephesians from the city Ephesus.
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You can go with us on our footsteps of Paul trip and the
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ruins of ancient Ephesus are still there.
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What the Bible calls Asia Minor today is known as Turkey and
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Ephesus is there today one of the largest ruins in the whole
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country. Ephesus, during the time of Paul
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was a large city, one of the five largest cities in the Roman
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Empire. And we learned and we could call
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the city of Ephesus Sin City because it was a city filled
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with sin, but not exclusively a Sin City.
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Remember, we asked the question, and when I say Sin City, what
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city do you think of? Almost everyone came out with
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the same city, but that's not exclusively a Sin City, because
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every city is Sin City, because every city is filled with people
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and people are filled with sin. So it makes sense that the
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larger the city, the more sin that exists there.
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Ephesus was one such city, a couple 100,000 people, probably
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pushing 300,000 at the time, which would have been a
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Metroplex of what we would understand today.
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But God put it on the heart of Paul the Apostle to go to the
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city. You know how sometimes you'll
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hear a Christian say, you know, God just put it on my heart.
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What they're trying to describe to you is that while they were
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praying or while they were reading the Bible or just while
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they were driving, they received an impression that they believed
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was from the Lord. They believed that God spoke to
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them, not necessarily audibly, but you know, when you're
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reading the Bible and praying every day, you become very
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sensitive to the voice of God. And so you're driving through
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and you just think I need to reach out to so.
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And so you, you see a face that might pop into your mind.
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It's like I need to see how they're doing.
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And for Paul, as this missionary he was, he really was drawn to
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these larger cities. He wanted to go right in the
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middle of everything that was happening in Ephesus.
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It was a very Pagan city filled with rich witchcraft and
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idolatry, a city that worships sin and sex and was rebellious,
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taking advantage of one another. And Paul, not only did he get an
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impression from God, but he comes into the city of Ephesus
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with nothing. He didn't have a podcast, he
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didn't have a YouTube channel, he didn't have technology.
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He didn't have Bibles to hand out or tracks to give away.
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But what he did have is the same thing you and I have today.
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He had the word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
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That's all you need. He believed the Bible when the
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Bible says to he he wrote this so he believed it and ended up
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writing it in the Bible. He believed it before it was
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written. Romans chapter one, verse 16,
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that the gospel itself is power, that the gospel itself is the
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power of God to change a life. It's the power of God to
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salvation for everyone that believes.
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That's how he came to town. That's the kind of faith you
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want to have in life. He came to town.
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I think God wants to change it. I think God wants to change
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everyone I come in contact with. And Paul comes with the strength
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of the word and it changed the city.
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He actually ended up staying there three years.
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That was uncommon for him. He was able to pastor them for
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three years. For 36 months, he poured his
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life into them, getting to know them, their families, their
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children, their lives that he lived with them.
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As the Bible says. He was shepherding the flock of
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God that was among him and he was giving himself over to them.
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So when he writes to them now years later, it's relationally.
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And you'll notice those of you that were with us when we
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studied through the book of Galatians, Ephesians of God has
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a little bit different tone to it.
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Galatians was kind of like a pastor wrestling and trying to
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convince. Whereas Ephesians is a pastor, a
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little bit softer, less wrestling, more reminding, and
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both are needed. Notice with me verse 5, chapter
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1, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ
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to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to
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the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us
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accepted in the Beloved, this word predestined.
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We covered it in depth last time, but it's enough for us
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today to repeat for you the 9th part of our statement of faith
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#9 on the list. If you've ever wanted to know
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what we believe is a church theologically, we have a
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statement of faith that clearly spells that out.
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And #9 on that list is this We are neither 5 point Calvinists
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nor are we Armenians. We adhere firmly to the biblical
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teaching of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility.
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We avoid any theological systems of belief that go beyond the
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written word and therefore divide the body of Christ.
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We went into this in depth last time.
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If this is a question that you have and you're asking about the
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free will of man and the sovereignty of God, we studied
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that in depth. But when you're reading this, I
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I think it's important for you to stay contextually practical.
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What I mean by that is when you're looking for the
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interpretation of a text, you have to remember who it was
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written to and when it was written.
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Then you look up the words and you understand what did it mean
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to the people listening. If you don't understand what it
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meant to the people that it received, then you're going to
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make something up today. It was written to a 1st century
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group of people in Ephesus. And what did they receive and
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how did they receive it? So when they're reading verse 5,
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having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus
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Christ, I don't believe they left arguing about it.
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I believe they left after the reading and going.
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I can't believe it. I was predestined.
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I was chosen. You remember we used to make
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idols together. Do you remember we used to do
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all that crazy sin together? Do you?
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I can't believe. I think they were in awe of what
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happened in their lives, not creating some theological
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argument as that has become today.
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You need to stay practical with the Bible.
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And here's a practical point. It is God's divine prerogative
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to choose. He can choose, and He does
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choose. But a careful reading of the
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Scripture will reveal to you that whenever the word
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predestined is used, it's always use of salvation.
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It is never used toward hell or damnation.
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It's always used toward salvation.
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Again, we went into this in depth.
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You can pick up the study on the app or the website.
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But it's God's heart according to Second Peter chapter 3, that
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none should perish. God predestined to heaven
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according to his foreknowledge. We learn now when it comes to
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hell, we have to ask the question some of you might be
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even asking. Well, OK, what's the purpose of
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hell? Then turn over to Matthew
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chapter 25. We'll get back to Ephesians in a
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moment, but I do want to spend some time on this.
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I won't develop it fully, but it's important that we talk
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about it. Turn over to Matthew chapter 25.
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Why is there a hell to begin with?
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What is its purpose? Well, you might be surprised to
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find that Hell was not originally created for humans
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according to Matthew chapter 25 and verse 41.
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Jesus is speaking and if you have a Bible, you'll notice if
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you have a red letter Bible, red letters in the in your Bible is
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just merely showing you visually that these are the teachings of
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the words of Jesus. So in my Bible, it's red letters
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verse 41, Jesus is teaching and he says then he will also say to
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those on the left hand, depart from me, you cursed into the
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everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.
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The original intent of hell was for the demonic realm that
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rebelled against God. And yet, because of the sin of
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man, it now also becomes the eternal place of damnation for
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those who reject Jesus. Now, this is important to
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understand, especially in our current cultural context,
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because it's important that you realize that hell is eternal.
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It is not temporary. It was never God's intent to
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allow anyone on earth to spend eternity in hell.
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Let me let me put it differently for you.
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Let me change the phrase God. I want you to consider this for
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a second, just in its simplicity, but it's in its
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power. God has done everything possible
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to prevent you from going to hell.
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He has provided every means available for you and for me to
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avoid eternal judgement by sending His only begotten Son to
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shed His blood on the cross and rise again for you.
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Everything. If a person goes or chooses to
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go to hell now, nobody really chooses to go to hell.
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Nobody really says that. Although sometimes I have a
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testimony in my own life. In the the deep, dark party days
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of my life, I would have people share with me.
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They would see my life as spiraling out of control and
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they'd share the gospel with me. They'd talk to me about hell and
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I would often have a response. I don't care about hell.
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I'm partying now and I'll party in hell.
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Let me just tell you, that is a foolish thing to say.
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There is no party in hell. Eternal separation from God is
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the most miserable condition in life.
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Those apart from Jesus right now are living in misery.
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But it gets worse for all eternity.
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Why is this important? Well recently another popular
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celebrity posted a YouTube video sharing with the whole world his
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wrestling now with the eternality of hell and it has
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stumbled many people. His name is Kirk Cameron.
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God has used him greatly in the body of Christ for many, many,
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many, many years, but all of a sudden now someone or something
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has influenced him where he is now rethinking and actually came
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to a different conclusion about the eternality of hell.
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He was actually espousing something known today as
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annihilationism, the idea that once you die you just cease to
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exist. Now that is a view that's not
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new to him. It's been around for a while.
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It's not new, but it is unorthodox.
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And I have to say with absolute authority, it's also unbiblical.
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I really don't care who holds to it.
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It doesn't square with what the Bible teaches.
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And while we aren't going to go in depth into the doctrine of
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hell today, I do want to touch on the eternality as we see
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already in verse one or excuse me, verse 41 of Matthew 25,
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Jesus uses the word everlasting fire.
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Jump down if you're still there with me to verse 46, Matthew 25,
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verse 46, he says, and these will go away into what does your
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Bible say? Everlasting punishment, but the
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righteous into eternal life. Now the words here are being
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used describe both everlasting and life.
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The word everlasting in its essence also is a word that's
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used to describe God and life with God.
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There is no difference. There should be no confusion on
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this. But let me warn you, when you
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elevate celebrities to some special important status, then
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when they say something weird, it will stumble you.
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And I want to advocate even farther than that, that if you
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also elevate me as a pastor to some weird elevated status, if I
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say something weird, which I hope I never do, but if I say
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something weird, you may just take it.
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And here's what the Bible says. The Bible says to take
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everything you hear and test it by the Word of God.
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Really, the question shouldn't be what did Pastor Ed say?
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And the question really shouldn't be what does some
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celebrities say? Here's what I want you to
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understand. Maybe this is the theme for this
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year, but this is the question you really need to get to.
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You ready. You might want to write it down.
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You might want to get a tattoo right here just so you never
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forget. What does the Bible say?
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You have to measure everything by what the Bible says.
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Sometimes the Bible is abundantly powerful in its
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simplicity. So when Jesus describes
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punishment is everlasting, how long is it everlasting?
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I don't know where else you need to go, and there are many other.
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This is a doctrine that could easily be developed.
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I know it's challenging to think that way.
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I know it's challenging to like question some of the
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circumstances around it, but it is what it is according to the
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Scriptures and it's not what Ed says and it's not what Kirk says
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and it's not it's what the Bible says.
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That's your safest place in Matthew chapter 10.
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If you want to turn there, I'll just read it to you.
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Matthew chapter 10, verse 28. Do not fear those who kill the
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body but cannot kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able
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to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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Now that's interesting because some will come here and go wait
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a minute, destroy that. That sounds a little bit like
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annihilationism. No, no, no, the word is not
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describing the ceasing of something to exist.
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The word here actually would be better translated in the English
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ruin. It's possible to destroy
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something, but it for it to still exist.
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Let me give you an example. You find that perfect dress,
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ladies, or that perfect shirt guys, that you've wanted and
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wanted and want it. You finally order it.
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It gets here after all the delays because it's been so
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popular. You put it on it's date night or
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you're coming to church. You put it on and after church
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at the day you're at the restaurant and as you're eating,
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oil gets spilled all over your dress and over your shirt and it
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is ruined. It's ruined, but it still
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exists. It's just ruined for the
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purpose. You're not going to wear some
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big ol oil stain. You're going to you're going to
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sue Olive Garden. That's what you're going to do.
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Why'd you best put all this oil on me?
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You know, it's like it was ruined, but it still exists.
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That's how it works with your life is ruined apart from
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Christ, but you still exist. My life was ruined apart and
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we'll see. There's more of that in
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Ephesians as we go. But can I just say, please be
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careful just because somebody's got some YouTube following and
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some popular, you know, the problem is, is it's easier to,
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it's easier to believe some popular guy than it is, you
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know, some 32nd, 52nd TikTok clip or whatever, instead of
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studying to show yourself approved and knowing the Bible
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yourself, because you can know the Bible yourself.
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There are challenging passages. And as a pastor, as I teach you,
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I'll do my best to explain them. So they're understandable, but
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they're challenging passages all the time.
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But don't dismiss the easier passages just because there's a
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few that are challenging and the Bible won't contradict itself.
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So when you're, when you're reading and you come across
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something, you just have a little notebook and just write
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it down. Just write it down, write it
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down. You'll get back to it later.
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But take the things you do understand and apply them in
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your lives. So just be careful.
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There's a pastor warning you. The days in which we're headed,
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they're going to get far more challenging.
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You have to really be careful that you don't have itching
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ears. You just have to guard yourself.
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The way things are going, especially with the invention of
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AI, people are going to just stop thinking for themselves.
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They're going to stop speaking for themselves and they're just
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going to put a little line into AI and let AI write the letter
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and let AI write the e-mail when those aren't even your words.
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Do you realize when you're writing an e-mail that's been
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written by AI, those are not your words?
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Just send me your words. Well, Ed, I wrote this.
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I got this e-mail, A5 page e-mail that AI wrote for you
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want just send me the sentence. That's fine.
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I'll just take that. And I'm just so concerned with,
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you know, it's a great tool. I was telling this with the
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pastors. It's a great tool.
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I use the tool myself, but you just got to be careful how you
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use it. You know, if you have a hammer,
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you want to be careful how you use the hammer.
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Amen. Right.
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Or a saw. I was talking to a brother, cut
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his leg, cut his thumb off. Be careful with the saw.
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All right, be careful, but you still get to use it.
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Just be careful how you use it and be careful who's originating
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those thoughts. It may not be AI.
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It might be some YouTube guy. I read a book from that guy.
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What does it mean? Every books going to be legit.
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You got to test everything by the word of God.
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What's the phrase? What does the Bible say?
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And let the Bible teach you. Let's come back to the text.
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Now coming back to this sense of chosen predestined, the question
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also is raised, well, how do I know if I'm chosen?
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And the answer is actually very simple.
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You ready? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
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and you'll know that you're chosen.
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Oh, what if I don't want to believe on the Lord Jesus
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Christ? Then maybe you're not chosen.
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That's it. Just believe on the Lord Jesus
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Christ and you know that You know that God chose you.
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If you stay in a place of rebellion against God today,
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then in this moment you know that you're not chosen well, as
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I mean, forever. I'm just talking about this
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moment right now. Every moment of unbelief is a
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moment where you place yourself in the category of not being
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chosen. Well, I want to be chosen.
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Belief, and that's it. All these things become yours
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when you believe. Someone put it this way.
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I thought this was great. They they describe this
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proverbial door to heaven that you walk through on the on this
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side of the door when you entering in, there's a sign up
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at the top that says something like this on the door.
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It says whoever, whosoever may, whoever, so whosoever will may
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enter here. I am the door.
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Jesus said by me, if any man. So any man, any woman that goes
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through the door of salvation you're walking through, you'll
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find pasture and eternal life. But then once you get through
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the door, you look back up and there's a sign on the backside
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of the door and on the sign on the backside of the door says
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welcome chosen befun before the foundation of the world.
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We haven't seen that side of the sign yet, even though those that
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we've loved that have passed away and gone home to the be in
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the presence of the Lord, they've seen it.
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They've walked through and now they can look back and say, oh,
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we're here worshipping Jesus. You see, the reality of being
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chosen is for those of you that believe.
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And so by the time we leave here today, I'm going to invite you
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to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and express that you
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don't even have to wait for me. You can believe right now.
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He's a watch too. I don't want to wait 15 minutes.
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OK, don't wait then just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
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tonight. Now you can pray in your own
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heart. God forgive me.
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I believe you sent Jesus to die for me.
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I want to follow you my whole life and God will hear your
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heart. He'll respond.
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He has LED you by his Holy Spirit, the whole you know, we
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look at the God's response of receiving us.
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But you know what's really happening is you're responding
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to the Holy Spirit drawing you and he's been drawing you for a
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long time over and over again. Come back to the text.
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Now notice he says we've been predestined to adoption as sons
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and for you ladies as daughters by Jesus Christ to himself
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according to the good pleasure of his will.
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Now he speaks of adoption, adopting in the family of God.
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Actually, we kind of use that word adopted into the family of
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God. But but adoption actually isn't
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what gets you in the family of God.
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You know what gets you in the family of God?
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Regeneration. You have to be born again before
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you're adopted. But when you're born again,
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simultaneously you're adopted. And for those of us in the room
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today, including myself, that were adopted into a physical
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family, you know what this means.
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You were adopted in the I was adopted as a baby.
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My parents adopted me through the adoption system of the day,
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took me home, gave me their name, gave me a place to stay,
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let me eat their food. And let me tell you, my parents
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that adopted me, they got a rotten deal is what they got
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paying their whole life until the end, you know, just pain.
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They just but you know, that wasn't an issue and they never
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said I don't I unadopt you, you know, I'm sending you back.
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You know what's the return policy?
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Never, never, never. They they gave me their name and
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they stuck with me to the to their very last breath.
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Why? Because I was a part of their
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family. We didn't talk about adoption.
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Once we knew we were adopt, that was it.
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It was a done deal, signing on the dotted line, but not just
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paperwork, but life. So when you think of adoption,
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when it comes to God, the same thing happened for you.
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You got a new name, got a new family.
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You can eat the food, you can stay, you can stick around.
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You are adopted into the family of God.
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And what that speaks of is intimacy and closeness.
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You now carry the name of Christ.
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You call yourself a Christian, Yes.
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Then you carry the name of Christ.
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It is yours. You are part of his family to
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notice what it says you've been adopted to him.
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Closeness and intimacy for an adopted son or daughter in a
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family, that adopted son or daughter in the family is just
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as much as a biological child in that family.
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You can ask the parents, they'll tell you just as much.
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When we and I have the privilege of going to the some adoption
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ceremonies here for families in the church and I get to be there
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as a witness. And I always love it because the
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judge is always nice and it's not a criminal thing and it's
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beautiful. I'm not scared of getting caught
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for anything. I'm just kidding.
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So I'm there and and the judge always says, you know, you know,
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he's an heir and you know, he has full rights.
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And you and you just hear and there's such a soft thing and
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the parents are always there. Yes.
24:09
And it's done. We're taking him home.
24:11
He's ours. He's been ours even before this
24:13
court ceremony. But boom, we stamp the approval
24:16
and there you are. And so adoption is beautiful.
24:20
It's beautiful. You you look at your
24:22
relationship with the Lord, how he knew you before the
24:24
foundation of you're part of the family.
24:26
And you're like, yeah, I'm a fart.
24:27
Yeah, that's right. I'm chosen and I'm a joint heir
24:30
with Jesus and and he knew what he was getting when he chose me.
24:35
And yes, he made a great choice, by the way, because we can look
24:39
at this with this, some sort of entitlement.
24:42
You know, the world has placed this on us.
24:44
Like the world owes us everything and then God owes us
24:48
everything. No, no, no, that.
24:50
Don't approach God with such arrogance.
24:55
This is his love for you. Let me show you something.
24:57
This is so good. Turn over to Deuteronomy.
25:00
Let's go back. You've got to see this because
25:02
this is God's word to the nation of Israel.
25:06
And you know throughout the you Bible students, you know in the
25:08
Bible that the nation of Israel, the Jewish people are God's
25:11
chosen people. Very clear.
25:13
They have a promised land, they have an eternal covenant and all
25:17
that is also another popular false teaching today,
25:21
replacement theology that God has done with Israel.
25:24
False, false, false. I have spent so much time.
25:28
We we spent years studying revelation.
25:30
We spent a year studying Daniel. We spent probably 4I I didn't
25:35
even go back and look, maybe 10 to 15 studies in Romans 910 and
25:40
11 verse by verse. And it's very clear that God is
25:43
not done with Israel. Although in this time of the
25:46
Gentiles, God is pouring out His spirit on men and women like you
25:50
and me that are Gentiles. But when the rapture of the
25:53
church takes place and the church is removed, in that
25:56
millisecond, God is going to turn his attention back to the
25:58
nation of Israel and many are going to be saved.
26:02
This is the final seven years of human history.
26:04
You know what the Bible calls that, the great tribulation
26:07
period. You can read about it in
26:08
Revelation and this is where God, so many God is not done
26:13
with the nation of Israel. This is a real people that live
26:16
in a real land that you can visit today.
26:19
And might I just remind you because this is the popular
26:21
topic today. You can believe the Bible.
26:25
You can believe the Bible without agreeing with every
26:28
political decision of any country.
26:30
You know that you know that politicians make do you know
26:34
this by now? Politicians make mistakes, lots
26:38
of them, whether you like them or not, if it's your party,
26:40
their party doesn't matter. Politicians make lots of
26:43
mistakes. That does not negate what the
26:46
Bible clearly teaches. And so you can believe in what
26:49
the Bible says, that there is a people and there is a land and
26:52
not have to agree with every decision politicians make.
26:56
And so it's important that you realize when God is speaking to
26:59
the chosen people, listen to what he says.
27:00
Deuteronomy Chapter 7, verse seven, He says the Lord did not
27:06
set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in
27:10
number than any other people, for you were the least of all
27:14
peoples. You know what God is saying
27:16
here. There's nothing special about
27:17
you guys. Don't think you're all that and
27:20
a bag of chips. I guess that's the saying.
27:22
I don't know. I don't say it, but I've heard
27:24
it before. It's not because of you.
27:28
Well, you know, of all of my family, I'm the one that got
27:32
saved. Look at me.
27:32
No, no, it's not because of you, the nation of Israel, very
27:36
special. You know why the nation of
27:37
Israel is very special? You know why there's an eternal
27:39
covenant with the nation of Israel?
27:41
Because through Israel we have Messiah.
27:45
Jesus is Jewish, you know that, right?
27:48
Hello. You guys know that.
27:50
OK, now you do. He is the fulfillment, the
27:53
Jewish Messiah of a Jewish covenant.
27:56
And today, today we refer to as the new covenant.
28:01
And so here God's telling them, look, I don't think it's because
28:05
of you. And by extension, we could say
28:07
the same thing because listen what he says the very next
28:10
phrase. So it's not because you are
28:12
numbered, because you're the least of all people, but you
28:15
might want to mark this, but because the Lord loves you and
28:21
because he would keep the oath that was swore to your Father's
28:26
God has brought you out with a mighty hand.
28:28
Do you know you can say the same thing in Christ?
28:31
Actually, with Jesus, you could say, how much more does God love
28:36
you through the blood of Jesus? And it's important today for you
28:41
to know just how valuable you are to the Lord, just how much
28:46
he loves you, how precious you are, how important you are.
28:51
You have a loving heavenly Father who loves to lavish his
28:54
blessings on you, and he cares for you.
28:58
And it's not because you're mighty or perfect.
29:01
It's not because you have your act together, or you're a Bible
29:04
theologian and you know the Bible frontward and backward and
29:07
you're a prayer warrior and you have your own war room.
29:10
It's not any of those things. You don't want to know why
29:13
you're in a relationship with God, why your predestined, why
29:16
you're chosen, why you're blessed, because God loves you
29:20
and you're important to him. Don't let this world lie to you
29:24
that you're unimportant. I know at times we may have
29:28
inner interpersonal problems with people that might make us
29:33
feel like we're unwanted. You know, I think of adoption,
29:36
right? There's two sides to that coin
29:39
on on the one hand, I don't know the whole story about my
29:42
adoption actually. But on the one hand, a couple
29:45
had to make a decision. And part of that decision is I
29:48
want, but I can't. Maybe they also made a decision
29:52
that I don't, I don't want this kid.
29:54
It's a boy. I don't want a boy.
29:55
I, I, I don't know, I don't know the story.
29:57
I could dwell on that the rest of my life and be bitter and
30:00
upset and, and, and I choose not to because there's a flip side
30:03
of that coin. You know what the flip side is?
30:05
I'm wanted somebody went in and all the crazy babies there.
30:09
I want the ugly one right here and I'm taking him home and he's
30:13
mine forever. And when you dwell on that, you
30:17
begin to see that even in the difficult times, like I know
30:21
interpersonally, maybe you have some family issues and maybe
30:24
you're on the other end of a divorce or a breakup or all
30:28
sorts of hurts and pains that speak of rejection and speak of
30:32
abandonment. But there's a flip side to that
30:34
coin. And that is God wants you and
30:37
God loves you, and he'll never leave or forsake you.
30:40
And the trajectory of your life will depend on what side of the
30:43
coin you choose to believe and hold on to.
30:47
I know the other side's real, but who's going to get what is
30:51
going to get the most attention? And here we're reminded that
30:56
were predestined and chosen, adopted.
30:59
And notice in verse 5, why? For the good pleasure of His
31:02
will. Verse 6, to the praise of the
31:05
glory of His grace. You know why God chose you to
31:08
show off His grace, Not to show you off, but to show off His
31:13
grace in another place in the Bible.
31:15
It speaks of us as being earthen vessels filled with the glory of
31:19
God. It's not the vessel that's
31:21
important, it's what's in the vessel that's important.
31:25
And we're just crackpots, if you will, just earthen vessels, you
31:28
know, got nothing much to offer. But with the Lord we have
31:32
everything to offer this world to the glory of His grace so
31:37
that your life would reflect who you were, but who you are now
31:43
because of the work of God. Somebody sees you just like, I
31:45
don't believe it. You're chosen, predestined,
31:47
adopted, saved. Notice the next one, he says, he
31:51
says that you've been made, accepted in the beloved.
31:56
They just have people in your life.
31:57
I don't understand why you, why you, why you?
32:00
The answer is I don't know why me, but let me tell you
32:02
something. God's grace is very powerful and
32:05
He saves people like me so that your testimony becomes a
32:10
testimony of His great grace in your life.
32:14
And you know, it's a real testimony when if somebody's
32:16
sharing their story, somebody's sharing with God, you know it's
32:18
a real testimony when it's about his work, when God is the hero,
32:24
that's a real testimony when you're the hero and no
32:28
testimony. But when God is the hero, when
32:32
you're sharing where you came from and what God did in your
32:35
life and where you are now, why would you share?
32:38
Well, because it is a testimony to his grace that even Someone
32:43
Like You and be accepted in the beloved.
32:47
And that's two types of people in here today, by the way.
32:50
There are those that have a pretty good life, live maybe
32:53
raised in a Christian home, avoided a lot of sin, you're
32:56
accepted in the beloved. And then there are those that
32:59
maybe that saved later in life and just had a bunch of junk in
33:02
their life, they repented. You're accepted in the beloved.
33:06
We're all together in the Lord. Nobody's better than anyone
33:09
else. Remember that.
33:11
Well, you know I've overcome 100 sins.
33:13
Good for you. There's a hundred more coming
33:15
and you're going to learn how to get over them too.
33:18
But it doesn't make you any better.
33:20
Well, you know my testimony. Look, don't glory in your past,
33:25
glory in your future, what God wants to do in your life, but
33:28
also don't minimize it because you know why it's going to tell
33:31
people about the grace of God. By the way, notice here, not
33:34
only you accepted this speaks to everyone that feels reject it,
33:38
but notice where we're accepted in the beloved, in Christ, in
33:43
him, in the beloved. I count no less than 35 times
33:47
Paul uses this phrase in Ephesians.
33:49
You might find more. I counted about 35 of them.
33:53
This is the safe place to be in Christ.
33:57
We learned in our series for the new year, didn't we?
34:00
Greater abiding, greater abiding.
34:02
You got to stay put in him. That's the place of blessing.
34:07
That's the place where we enjoy it.
34:09
That's the place of strength of victory is in him because in
34:13
verse 7, he says in him we have redemption circle.
34:18
That word redemption, it means to be purchased.
34:21
It means to be purchased. Notice he says in him we have
34:25
redemption. How?
34:26
Through his blood, His blood is what the forgiveness of sins.
34:33
Just like we sang earlier beautiful song that was chosen.
34:38
It's because of the blood. How many times did we say that?
34:40
How many times did we hear that in the room while we're singing
34:42
that song? It's because of the blood of
34:44
Christ according to the riches of His grace, verse 8, that He
34:49
made to a bound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.
34:54
Jesus said in John 8 verse 34, He said anyone that commits sin
34:59
is a slave of sin. Have you experienced that yet?
35:02
That sin can make is a horrible master.
35:06
Sin is a horrible master. What it does is it entices, it
35:09
tempts you, then you jump into it, and then it entangles you
35:12
and traps you and before you know it you're on the path of
35:15
destruction and you're stuck. So many today are stuck in sin.
35:20
So many today are stuck in sin because that's what they want to
35:23
be stuck in sin is so devastating to us.
35:27
But Jesus comes on the scene and what does it say?
35:30
He redeems us. The word there in the 1st
35:33
century would refer to someone purchasing a slave out of
35:37
slavery and setting them free. And what the Bible is telling us
35:42
today is that you have been purchased by the blood of Jesus
35:45
Christ from ever being a slave to sin.
35:47
And today, in this very moment, you are set free.
35:51
You don't have to sin anymore. You can say no now like earlier
35:57
services didn't get much of a response to that.
36:01
I thought you'd be a little bit happier to know that you are set
36:04
free from your sin. So let me put it a different
36:06
way. What if I told you today that
36:08
you have been set free from ever going back to work again?
36:13
Oh, I see something that you don't want.
36:17
You've got to view. You've got to.
36:19
I'm not saying work is sin, I mean, but like, think about it.
36:22
If I told you, you are set free, you'll never have to work
36:25
another day in your life. Hallelujah.
36:27
Yes, I've been waving answer prayer.
36:32
It's the same thing when it comes to sin.
36:34
You've been set free. You don't have to be stuck.
36:37
You don't have to turn to the bottle.
36:38
You don't have to be angry. You don't have to be bitter.
36:41
You've been set free by the blood of Jesus Christ so that
36:44
his grace would abound in your life, so that you would know
36:48
that you can live a new life. That's different than being a
36:52
slave. You can now be a slave to
36:53
righteousness. You can now desire.
36:55
Sometimes you'll hear me say read the Bible, read the Bible
36:58
and you take the position, I don't want to read the Bible.
37:00
I don't like reading it. It's so hard.
37:02
You just haven't read it with eyes that you've been set free.
37:04
You don't have to do anything if you don't want to do anything.
37:07
But when a set free person enjoys their freedom and one of
37:11
the ways you enjoy your freedom is you read the Bible.
37:13
God, what do you have to savor me.
37:15
This is amazing. I can't believe it.
37:16
I can't believe you're helping me understand what you want in
37:19
my life. You've been set free so that his
37:23
grace has been made verse 8 to a bound toward us by the wayside
37:27
note I know this will go out on the radio soon enough, but this
37:30
is the verse right here. These two verses is where we got
37:33
the name to our radio broadcast abounding grace right here.
37:37
This is what God has done in your life.
37:39
He's made grace abound, overflow because you've been set free,
37:45
you've been bought. You know how when you hear
37:47
you've been bought by the blood of the Lamb, that's what he's
37:50
saying here. You've been set free, you've
37:52
been forgiven. It's only by the blood.
37:55
It will always be by the blood. His blood has cleansed us from
37:58
all sin. If you need along the way to be
38:02
clean and you know to deal with your sin, the Bible says in
38:05
first John 19, if you confess your sins, He's faithful and
38:08
just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
38:12
God's spiritual soap cleansing your life along the way.
38:16
But it was the blood that brought you into relationship.
38:19
There was a saying among Italian sculptors that I found that when
38:23
they were chiseling, when they missed and they hit themselves
38:27
and hit their own hands with a hammer, they would say this.
38:29
And I quote, when the blood flows out, the mastery enters.
38:35
And it was that way with Jesus when the blood flows out.
38:38
His death on Calvary has made him the master of our souls.
38:43
Sin is a horrible master, but Jesus is a good one.
38:48
He's a Good Shepherd who leads us well.
38:51
We'll notice again in verse 9 having made known to us the
38:56
mystery of his will. Now I've overlapped these
38:59
introductory studies because we're going to spend a little
39:02
bit more time on this next time, this word mystery, mysterion,
39:06
and we'll look at it in depth. But notice, he says, having made
39:09
to known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good
39:13
pleasure, which He purposed in Himself, that in the
39:17
dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together
39:21
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven or
39:25
which are on earth in Him. So not only has He forgiven us,
39:32
and not only has He chosen us, not only is He predestined and
39:36
washed and cleansed and elevated us, but He's also revealed His
39:40
grace to us, and He's shown us the future you got to you.
39:45
Everybody wants to know the future.
39:46
God has revealed the future to you in Christ and that is this.
39:50
The big picture of God's work on the earth is God is moving
39:53
everything forward to a time when Jesus Christ will rule over
39:58
all things and all people, heaven and earth, King of Kings
40:03
and Lord of Lords. It's getting narrower and
40:06
narrower, but what happens? We get caught up in this world.
40:09
All the difficulties in this world, the hardships, the hurts,
40:12
the pains, the political decisions, the difficulties,
40:16
the, the, the sin, the lawlessness, everything the
40:18
Bible predicted, it's all clouding our vision of what God
40:22
is really doing. And he's bringing everything to
40:25
a close, which gives us a new urgency, a new urgency in our
40:30
lives not to get caught up in secondary things.
40:33
Remember what Paul told Timothy? Hey, a soldier doesn't get
40:36
caught up in earthly things. Somebody getting ready for the
40:39
Olympics, they're not sitting out the pool.
40:41
I mean, the Olympics are going on right now.
40:42
So these guys did not sit out the pool eating a dozen
40:45
doughnuts with a couple 2 liters of Diet Coke.
40:48
That's not how they got prepared for the Olympics.
40:51
I mean, they dedicated their whole life for.
40:54
I was watching the guys on that slide.
40:56
I don't even know what it was yesterday for a minute and a
40:58
half. Their whole life is hanging on a
41:01
minute and 1/2 and the dude from the US didn't do too well.
41:05
Felt so bad for him. He was so happy, but he lost.
41:09
His whole life. He lost.
41:11
I guess he's happy. He got to participate, but he
41:13
lost. But you and I, we get to finish
41:16
our race well, we get to run all the way to the finish line and
41:19
everyone that makes it through the finish line is a winner.
41:23
You're going to make it. Why?
41:24
Because you're kept by the power of God.
41:27
God is at work in your life, and if you're new to Calvary or
41:31
you've been around for a while, I want to warn you ahead of time
41:33
what kind of church you're in. If you end up sticking around so
41:37
that you're not surprised by it, but you're also not discouraged
41:39
by it either because of we see the big picture according to the
41:43
Scriptures, you're going to learn that our focus here at
41:46
Calvary is on Jesus. That is my effort and energy in
41:51
my life is to get your eyes on Jesus, to accurately represent
41:55
the text in such a way through prayer and study so that when
41:58
it's delivered, your eyes get back on Jesus.
42:01
Maybe that means you're corrected.
42:03
Maybe that means you're rebuked. Maybe that means you're
42:07
instructed in righteousness. Maybe that means you're
42:09
encouraged. Maybe that means you're upset.
42:12
Whatever emotion you want to have in that moment, just do
42:16
this. Would you get your eyes back on
42:17
the Lord? Follow Him.
42:20
That will be the focus. We're not interested in focus
42:23
and elevating men here. We're not interested in focus
42:25
and elevating church movements or anything like that.
42:28
We want to emphasize Jesus and the move of His Holy Spirit in
42:32
your life, in our life. Because look what God is doing.
42:35
He is moving it, gathering together, making everything
42:40
where it's going to end in Christ.
42:43
So you want to practice now? OK, Practice now being in
42:46
Christ. Practice now living in the power
42:48
of the Spirit. Practice now obeying the Lord
42:51
when he gives you an impression. Practice now as you as I teach
42:56
and we learn how to follow Jesus and as I teach and we learn how
43:00
to learn from Jesus. Remember what he said.
43:02
Jesus said come and learn of me. He literally said that.
43:06
Come and learn of me. Not just learn from me, but
43:10
learn of me. You will never waste a second of
43:15
your life that's been invested knowing Jesus, learning of him,
43:20
learning from him. When you learn how to walk like
43:23
Jesus, when you learn how to share like Jesus, you become
43:27
more in line with the will of God upon the earth.
43:31
And that's where your real unity is.
43:33
You know where real unity is, Not by unity rallies, not by
43:36
prayer rallies, not by real unity is in one place in Christ.
43:43
If you're in Christ and I'm in Christ, guess what?
43:46
We're in the same place, but we still have our unique
43:49
identities. We still have our own
43:51
background. We still have our own calling.
43:53
We still have our own place in Christ.
43:54
We still have our own giftings. We still have all those things
43:57
individually. But when we're in Christ, we're
44:00
in the most unity we'll ever, ever, ever experience until He
44:04
returns and all sin is done away with.
44:08
You get your new body when the Lord returns.
44:10
You know that. Are you looking for a new body?
44:12
Anybody, anybody's body making noises this morning just like
44:17
what has happened to me. The Lord is so good to us.
44:23
And remember, Church, you are valuable to the Lord.
44:28
He chose you not because you're some big thing, but because He's
44:32
the big thing and he's showing off His grace through your life.
44:36
Amen. Lord, thank you for Your Word as
44:38
it speaks to us and just really growing us in our understanding
44:42
of who You are. We desire to follow you and to
44:45
know you, and so please God, pour out your Spirit upon us.
44:50
Some just need to know their love today.
44:53
Some just need to know how valuable they are, how important
44:57
they are. Some need to know that there's a
44:59
real heaven and some need to know there's a real hell.
45:04
And I pray God that over and above a real heaven and a real
45:07
hell is a real God who loves us so much that he sent his only
45:13
begotten Son, that whosoever will believe in him will not
45:16
perish, but have everlasting life.
45:19
And as the church is praying, I want to invite you today to a
45:22
decision that today, if you would say, pastor, I need and I
45:27
want to follow Jesus Christ. I want to follow Him with my
45:33
life. I've never done that before.
45:37
Then I want to invite you to do that right where you are.
45:39
Would you just stand to your feet?
45:40
We want to pray with you that today, if you want to confess
45:43
with your mouth the Lord Jesus, the belief you have in your
45:46
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
45:49
God bless you. Who else would say that's me?
45:52
Today is that day. It's not yesterday because we
45:55
don't have that. And it's not tomorrow because if
45:59
tomorrow's not here yet, God bless you.
46:01
It's today. The Bible will even say today is
46:04
the day of salvation. And what's happening for those
46:07
of you that respond is somebody's going to come up
46:09
alongside of you. Don't be startled by them.
46:11
It's our way of following up right away.
46:14
It's our way of saying you're not standing alone.
46:17
It's our way that you don't fall through the cracks here.
46:19
God bless you back there. Who else would say that's me?
46:22
And even if I don't see you, because I know you're downstairs
46:25
or on the radio right now, maybe in Mobile, AL, listening to this
46:32
and God is expressing to you how much he loves you, how much he
46:36
cares, watching online in Louisiana, wherever you may be,
46:40
we're so grateful to be a part of your life.
46:42
But here in the room, here we are.
46:45
Today is the day. Would there be anyone else to
46:48
say, Ed, that's me. We don't want to skip over you.
46:52
There's just this outpouring of God's Spirit.
46:54
God bless you in the back more than we've seen in a long time
46:59
because God's drawing people to himself.
47:02
He's using his word and the leading of his Spirit.
47:05
God bless you there to draw people.
47:09
And I know as a pastor, I'm saying God bless you all over.
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I mean it. I know what a transformative
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moment this really is and can be generational change happening
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right before our eyes. That's a big deal.
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It's no small thing that God would save you, choose you
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predestined from the foundation you're going to.
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You're walking through the door. Jesus is that door walking
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through the door. It's glorious.
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It's glorious and wonderful. There's a sister right here,
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guys, if you want to come up. Anyone else?
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Well, let's pray together. Let me help you.
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Those of you that responded, you can repeat after me, but you're
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not saying it to me. You're talking to God,
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confessing your with your mouth. So that's why we advocate.
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It doesn't have to be, but we advocate out loud so you can
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hear yourself say it. But there's no formula on this.
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So you can just say something like God, I receive your
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forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ who lived for me
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and died for me and I believe he saved my life.
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I turn away from my sin today and choose to follow you all the
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rest of my life. Help me to appreciate your love
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in my life in Jesus name and everyone says Amen, Amen, Amen,
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Amen, Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study, delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church. For prayer, call us at 87730
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Grace that's 877-304-7223. To listen to this message in its
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integrity or to join us for our live stream services, visit us
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online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free Calvary
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Church app. Be blessed as you worship Jesus
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this week.