Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Straight Talk about Responsibility │ Msg 2544

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Straight Talk about Responsibility │ Msg 2544 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: In my reading this summer, I came across a wonderful
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Speaker 1: book that offered a simple prayer that can be taken
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Speaker 1: to the Lord at any time, day or night. If
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Speaker 1: you're troubled through the night, it is a prayer that
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Speaker 1: can be offered to him, easily remembered, and I might add, effective.
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Speaker 1: And today I want to teach you that prayer. I
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Speaker 1: want you to use it. The author said that There
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Speaker 1: were times in his own life when he would pray
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Speaker 1: that prayer up to 200 times in one day. It's
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Speaker 1: a simple sentence. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
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Speaker 1: One of my profs used to say that mercy is
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Speaker 1: God's ministry to the miserable. There are times we all
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Speaker 1: feel feelings of misery. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
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Speaker 1: Say that with me. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
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Speaker 1: Once again. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. One
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Speaker 1: of the things I loved about that American hymn we
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Speaker 1: just sang is that he will embrace me. Isn't that good?
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Speaker 1: You'll not be pushed away. You'll not be put on pardon.
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Speaker 1: Set aside until you have earned your way back. When
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Speaker 1: you come, he will embrace you. We come from all
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Speaker 1: walks of life. If you knew the story, the person
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Speaker 1: sitting near you or just a little ways from you,
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Speaker 1: your mouth would probably drop open. We're all in great need.
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Speaker 1: Not one of us deserves the favor he's shown us.
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Speaker 1: And yet here we are basking in the goodness of
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Speaker 1: his care and mercy. That psalm that the choir sang
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Speaker 1: is from the penitent psalm written by David after he
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Speaker 1: finally came to terms with the wrong in his adultery
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Speaker 1: with Bathsheba. And Nathan faces him and David confesses. And
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Speaker 1: then for the first time, the stylus begins to flow
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Speaker 1: with ink on ancient parchment. as he writes Psalm 51.
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Speaker 1: And he speaks of a contrite heart that God wants.
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Speaker 1: I've learned over the years that a contrite heart is
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Speaker 1: revealed by having no agenda, no expectations, making no demands
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Speaker 1: on others, holding no grudges, finding no fault, just coming
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Speaker 1: and saying, Lord Jesus Christ, Just have mercy on me.
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Speaker 1: Use that this week, will you? Turn to that. We're
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Speaker 1: reading excerpts from Romans chapter 10. In our study through
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Speaker 1: the New Testament, we have come to this, let's call
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Speaker 1: it a counterbalancing chapter with chapter 9 that emphasizes the
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Speaker 1: sovereignty of God This talks about the responsibility of humanity.
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Speaker 1: Referring to the Jews, Paul writes, Brethren, my heart's desire,
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Speaker 1: my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.
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Speaker 1: For I testify about them that they have a zeal
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Speaker 1: for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not
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Speaker 1: knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own,
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Speaker 1: They did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
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Speaker 1: For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
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Speaker 1: to everyone who believes. Moses writes that the man who
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Speaker 1: practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live
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Speaker 1: by that righteousness. Verse 8. But what does it say?
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Speaker 1: The word is near you. It is in your mouth
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Speaker 1: and in your heart that is the word of faith
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Speaker 1: which we are preaching. That if you confess with your
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Speaker 1: mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that
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Speaker 1: God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
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Speaker 1: For with the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness
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Speaker 1: and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation. Scripture says,
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Speaker 1: whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. There's no
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Speaker 1: distinction between law, between Jew and Greek, for the same
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Speaker 1: Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all
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Speaker 1: who call on him. For whoever will call on the
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Speaker 1: name of the Lord will be saved. Isn't that Lord
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. Let's pray. Take our thoughts,
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Speaker 1: our Father, and turn them to you. Take our fears
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Speaker 1: and remove them from us. Our fears for those who
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Speaker 1: fight for us right now. Our fears... For loved ones
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Speaker 1: who are in dangerous places. Doing a hard thing. Take
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Speaker 1: our minds Lord. And change them from preoccupation with the
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Speaker 1: stuff of life. The cares of this old age. And
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Speaker 1: the deceitfulness brought on by a lot of riches. Take
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Speaker 1: our minds. And open them to yourself. Our hearts, Lord,
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Speaker 1: take them also. Cluttered and encumbered by all kinds of
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Speaker 1: emotions that race through us in a week. Some of
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Speaker 1: them healthy, most of them unhealthy. Perhaps emotions full of
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Speaker 1: blame and resentment. Take those. Take our silver and our gold.
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Speaker 1: And in taking them, Lord, to give us in return
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Speaker 1: just a burst of joy and generosity. Lord Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 1: have mercy on us. Take our lives. Let them be consecrated,
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Speaker 1: set apart for you. In the name of Jesus. Everybody said.
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Speaker 1: Last time we were together, we talked about the sovereign
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Speaker 1: hand of God as he controls the affairs of this earth.
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Speaker 1: We even got into the subject of predestination and you
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Speaker 1: who were still awake at that time will remember that
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Speaker 1: God from his perspective reaches down into the ranks of humanity.
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Speaker 1: And as he causes the affairs of life to happen,
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Speaker 1: he selects those for his own. Now, it would be
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Speaker 1: easy if that's all you heard to think that it
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Speaker 1: is all about God and we have nothing to do.
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Speaker 1: We simply are robots standing there waiting for lightning to strike.
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Speaker 1: And when it does, boom, we are born into the
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Speaker 1: family of God. No, there's chapter 10 of Romans to
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Speaker 1: help us not think like that. Chapter 10 of Romans
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Speaker 1: says that we are responsible. As God reveals the truth
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Speaker 1: to us, we are responsible to respond to what he
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Speaker 1: has revealed. You see, there's every temptation in our day
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Speaker 1: to fall into the trap of blaming someone else for
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Speaker 1: what isn't working for us. You noticed? I mean, today,
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Speaker 1: often it isn't uncommon for the arresting officer to wind
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Speaker 1: up on trial rather than the one who broke the law. Nowadays,
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Speaker 1: it's often the school or the parent who has to
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Speaker 1: stand in defense, whereas it's really the problem with a
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Speaker 1: rebellious kid or a kid that won't do what he
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Speaker 1: ought to do in school. Back in the 60s, this
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Speaker 1: sort of reached its peak, and songs were written that
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Speaker 1: revealed how we tend to blame others for our own
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Speaker 1: faults and our own responsibilities. Anna Russell wrote one of
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Speaker 1: those songs. It went like this. I went to my
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Speaker 1: psychiatrist to be psychoanalyzed, to find out why I killed
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Speaker 1: the cat and blackened my husband's eyes. He laid me
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Speaker 1: on a downy couch to see what he could find,
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Speaker 1: and this is what he dredged up from my subconscious mind.
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Speaker 1: When I was one, my mommy hid my dolly in
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Speaker 1: the trunk, so it follows naturally that I am always drunk.
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Speaker 1: When I was two, I saw my father kiss the
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Speaker 1: maid one day, and that's why I suffer now from kleptomaniae.
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Speaker 1: When I was three, I felt ambivalence toward my brothers,
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Speaker 1: and so it follows naturally I poison all my lovers.
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Speaker 1: But now I'm happy, now that I've learned the lesson
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Speaker 1: this has taught, that everything I do that's wrong is
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Speaker 1: someone else's fault. Of course, you're not guilty of that,
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Speaker 1: I realize. That's somebody else's problem, huh? No, actually, we're
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Speaker 1: all there. We're all very good at it. Even Adam
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Speaker 1: was good at it. When the Lord says, Adam, why
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Speaker 1: are you there? He said, the woman which you gave
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Speaker 1: to be with me, she caused me to sin. And
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Speaker 1: he turned to the woman and the woman said, it
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Speaker 1: was the snake. The serpent came, he offered, he deceived me.
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Speaker 1: Matter of fact, it's sometimes downright hilarious. I came across
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Speaker 1: some old actual quotes taken from insurance or accident forms
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Speaker 1: turned in by people who were rationalizing around the trouble
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Speaker 1: they had caused. Listen to some of these actual reports.
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Speaker 1: The other car collided with mine without giving warning of
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Speaker 1: its intentions. A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.
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Speaker 1: The guy was all over the road. I had to
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Speaker 1: swerve a number of times before I hit him. I
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Speaker 1: was on my way to the doctor's with rear-end trouble.
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Speaker 1: when my universal joint gave way, causing me to have
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Speaker 1: an accident. I like that one. An invisible car came
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Speaker 1: out of nowhere, struck my vehicle, and vanished. The pedestrian
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Speaker 1: had no idea which direction to go, so I ran
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Speaker 1: over him. I saw the slow-moving, sad-faced old gentleman as
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Speaker 1: he bounced off the hood of my car. The indirect
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Speaker 1: cause of this accident was a little guy in a
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Speaker 1: small car with a big mouth. Ain't that good? I
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Speaker 1: think I turned in that one, as I recall. The
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Speaker 1: telephone pole was approaching fast. I attempted to swerve out
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Speaker 1: of its path, but it struck my front end. There's
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Speaker 1: one more here I didn't want to miss. I like
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Speaker 1: this one a lot. I'd been shopping for plants all
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Speaker 1: day and was on my way home. As I reached
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Speaker 1: an intersection, a hedge sprang up, obscuring my vision. I
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Speaker 1: didn't see the other car. I was sure the old
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Speaker 1: fellow would never make it to the other side of
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Speaker 1: the road when I struck him. We may be the clay.
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Speaker 1: God may be the potter. But that doesn't excuse us
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Speaker 1: to blame him for our wrongs. Let me just sort
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Speaker 1: of set the record straight. You do what's wrong. It's
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Speaker 1: your fault. Out of shrink, tell me in the first
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Speaker 1: service that he spends a lot of his time dealing
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Speaker 1: with his patients who are convinced it's always someone else's problem.
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Speaker 1: And this guy had become so good at it, one
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Speaker 1: of his patients had become so good, he had all
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Speaker 1: the way back to potty training, all the way back
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Speaker 1: to mama did this, daddy did that, my teacher did this.
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Speaker 1: Somebody did that. I had a coach that did this.
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Speaker 1: And he said, after really working with him for weeks,
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Speaker 1: I finally got everybody else out of his sights and
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Speaker 1: we've begun to make headway as we deal with him.
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Speaker 1: Your decisions, friend, are your decisions. You make your choices.
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Speaker 1: As a result of when you choose what's right, there
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Speaker 1: are rewards and blessings. When you choose what is wrong,
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Speaker 1: there are consequences and you often pay for them dearly.
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Speaker 1: The worst of which is turning away from Christ. You
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Speaker 1: choose to die like that. You will not get prayed
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Speaker 1: out of it or removed from the consequences. You're sunk. Literally,
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Speaker 1: all hell will break loose. Now, when you look at
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Speaker 1: chapter 9 alongside chapter 10, you can see the difference.
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Speaker 1: If you take only one and not the other, you'll
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Speaker 1: have a misperception in your theological understanding. Chapter 9, God
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Speaker 1: is sovereign. Chapter 9, God sovereignly chose the Jews. Just
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Speaker 1: as he chose Isaac. Just as he chose Jacob. Just
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Speaker 1: as he chose Moses. Just as he chose you and
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Speaker 1: me who were in his family. Chapter 9 is all
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Speaker 1: about that. We are the clay, he is the potter.
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Speaker 1: How grateful we are that God is doing his great work.
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Speaker 1: That's the vertical side of things. When you get to
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Speaker 1: chapter 10, you turn to the horizontals. Because in chapter 10,
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Speaker 1: you realize each one of us is responsible for the
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Speaker 1: truth we hear. We are free to accept it or
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Speaker 1: we are free to reject it. And so the Jews
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Speaker 1: are now responsible for their action. If they reject the
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Speaker 1: Messiah waiting for one yet to come, there are consequences.
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Speaker 1: And one of them is the Jew is set aside
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Speaker 1: And by the grace of God, Gentiles, like most of us,
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Speaker 1: have the privilege of hearing and responding to the gospel
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Speaker 1: of Christ. How great is that? In fact, if I
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Speaker 1: were to give a one-sentence statement to describe the 10th chapter,
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Speaker 1: it would be this. God has now rejected Israel because
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Speaker 1: Israel has rejected the Messiah. That may not sound very diplomatic.
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Speaker 1: It certainly is not politically correct, which makes me like
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Speaker 1: it all the more. But the fact is, God has
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Speaker 1: now set aside Israel because the people of Israel set
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Speaker 1: aside the Messiah. It doesn't mean that he keeps his
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Speaker 1: message out of their reach. Matter of fact, there are
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Speaker 1: four Four statements that I would like to give you
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Speaker 1: that emerge out of this chapter. Sort of randomly picking
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Speaker 1: the verses. Look for example at verse 8. Verse 8.
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Speaker 1: What does it say? The word is near you. It's
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Speaker 1: in your mouth and in your heart. That is the
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Speaker 1: word of faith which we are preaching. So the first
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Speaker 1: statement is the gospel is within reach of all. Everyone
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Speaker 1: sitting here today finds the gospel within reach. Christ died
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Speaker 1: for sinners and was buried proving that he had died.
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Speaker 1: Christ was raised from the dead and was seen by
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Speaker 1: hundreds proving that he is alive. You believe in his
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Speaker 1: death and resurrection. You turn your life over to Christ.
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Speaker 1: He comes into your life and you are in his family.
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Speaker 1: You don't work hard at it. You don't promise to
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Speaker 1: be sincere. You don't try to give up your sins.
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Speaker 1: You don't labor and keep a tally of how often
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Speaker 1: you're in church or how many sins you give up
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Speaker 1: or how sincere you are. You simply come to faith
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Speaker 1: in Christ who died for you and rose again. You
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Speaker 1: are in the family of God. You were called, in
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Speaker 1: the scriptures term, saved. Now that gospel has come within
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Speaker 1: reach of you. No Jew can say, I really have
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Speaker 1: not heard about this. Paul says, I'm spending my life
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Speaker 1: telling you. I've written the letter that lets you know it.
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Speaker 1: All of you can read it for yourselves. It's like
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Speaker 1: a family whose dad is the owner of a grocery
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Speaker 1: store saying, we don't have a thing to eat, dad.
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Speaker 1: We're starving. Oh, you've got a whole store full of stuff.
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Speaker 1: Or a guy that owns a car dealership saying to
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Speaker 1: his wife that afternoon, I got to walk home tonight.
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Speaker 1: I don't have anything to drive. You've got a whole
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Speaker 1: lot full of them. We are walking waist deep in
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Speaker 1: the gospel. It has come within reach of us. Israel included.
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Speaker 1: The word is near you. Remember, Israel, it was from
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Speaker 1: you the prophets came. It was to you Messiah was given.
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Speaker 1: From your loins Messiah came. But you've rejected him. There
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Speaker 1: are consequences to that. The second fact is in verses
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Speaker 1: 11 and 13. Turn there. Scripture says whoever believes in
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Speaker 1: him will not be disappointed. Verse 13, whoever will call
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Speaker 1: on the name of the Lord will be saved. The gospel,
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Speaker 1: here's the statement, the gospel is offered to all. Now
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Speaker 1: let me go a little deeper and have you put
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Speaker 1: your thinking caps on. This is called the doctrine of
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Speaker 1: unlimited redemption. Unlimited redemption. The five-point Calvinist teaches that Jesus
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Speaker 1: died for the elect. That's called limited redemption or limited atonement.
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Speaker 1: His death was limited to those who are the elect.
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Speaker 1: Taking chapter 9 and making it walk on all fours,
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Speaker 1: they declare that the Lord Jesus' death was effective only
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Speaker 1: for the elect. I'm convinced from my study of the
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Speaker 1: scriptures that whoever believes, whoever calls, that's what it says
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Speaker 1: doesn't it doesn't say whoever among the elect or whoever
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Speaker 1: among the called it says whoever in fact i love
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Speaker 1: the word all in in uh in this same section
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Speaker 1: all who call on the name verse 16 all heed
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Speaker 1: the good news they did not all eat it though
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Speaker 1: all received it In fact, there's a verse of scripture
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Speaker 1: I want you to look at. Hold your place here.
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Speaker 1: Just for the sake of clarification, go to 2 Peter 2.1.
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Speaker 1: Every once in a while, we'll have a group of
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Speaker 1: individuals who are led by God to enter the ministry.
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Speaker 1: So we go through a process called ordination, which is
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Speaker 1: an official endorsement of a local church on the lives
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Speaker 1: of these young men going into the pastorate or going
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Speaker 1: into evangelism or whatever may be the calling. And so
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Speaker 1: we will interview them and we will question them regarding
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Speaker 1: their faith. One of my favorite ones has to do
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Speaker 1: with the subject of theology. Every once in a while,
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Speaker 1: we'll come across a person who says, I believe Christ
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Speaker 1: died for the elect. Didn't die for everyone, but just
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Speaker 1: that he's a limited atonementist. And I have fun asking,
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Speaker 1: not fun. No, I do. I have fun asking 2
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Speaker 1: Peter 2.1, will you tell me what this means? I
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Speaker 1: have yet to get a good answer from a limited atonementist.
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Speaker 1: False prophets also arose among the people, just as there
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Speaker 1: also will be false teachers. So these are unsaved people,
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Speaker 1: false teachers, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying
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Speaker 1: the master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
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Speaker 1: Isn't that great? He died even for those false prophets
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Speaker 1: and those false teachers. even for those who reject him
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Speaker 1: and spread the message against him. He died for them.
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Speaker 1: He bought them too. So the second statement back into
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Speaker 1: Romans 10 is the gospel is offered to all. The
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Speaker 1: third is in verse 16. However, they did not all
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Speaker 1: heed the good news. The gospel is not accepted by all.
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Speaker 1: This isn't rocket science. If you're faithful to share the
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Speaker 1: message of Christ, as I'm confident many of us are,
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Speaker 1: you are reaching out to people who do not reach back.
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Speaker 1: This verse says, however, they did not all heed the
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Speaker 1: good news. Even Isaiah, centuries ago, said, Lord, who has
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Speaker 1: believed our report? I remember sitting down with a physician.
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Speaker 1: We had developed a relationship over a period of months,
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Speaker 1: and I thought this might be a great time for
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Speaker 1: me to talk with him about Christ. Our relationship was
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Speaker 1: fairly warm, fairly close. I was having lunch with him,
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Speaker 1: and I said to him one day, Doc, I'd like
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Speaker 1: to talk with you about something that's very personal, if
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Speaker 1: you don't mind. He said, sure, Chuck, whatever. Brilliant man,
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Speaker 1: Harvard grad, Harvard Medical School, Mayo for his work, and
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Speaker 1: just had all the credentials and had an excellent practice.
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Speaker 1: And I said, I want to show you a simple
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Speaker 1: little diagram. So I drew what has come to be
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Speaker 1: known as the bridge illustration. Show people on one side
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Speaker 1: and you show them on the other side. And on
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Speaker 1: the one side are those who were lost. On the
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Speaker 1: other side, those who have been born again. And in
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Speaker 1: the middle, to bridge the gap, the chasm is a
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Speaker 1: cross where we walk across by faith. And I very
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Speaker 1: carefully described, he never interrupted. He blinked about a hundred
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Speaker 1: times and he stared at me through those thick glasses
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Speaker 1: and he listened and he frowned. And he said, when
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Speaker 1: I finished, He took the snap and he goes, not
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Speaker 1: in a hundred years would I ever believe that, Chuck.
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Speaker 1: And he smiled. And I said, well, that's fair. You're wrong,
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Speaker 1: but that's fair. We had a little laugh about it.
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Speaker 1: I've learned, by the way, when they reject that pushing
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Speaker 1: harder doesn't encourage them to say yes. Insulting them doesn't
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Speaker 1: work either. I've never heard a testimony saying I was
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Speaker 1: insulted in public and was just drawn to Christ. It doesn't.
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Speaker 1: I just love Jesus as a result of being embarrassed
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Speaker 1: by this preacher in this restaurant. I thanked him. I
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Speaker 1: shook his hand and I said, I just want to
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Speaker 1: thank you for listening. You know what I was also
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Speaker 1: grateful for? He heard the truth and he's left with it.
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Speaker 1: But he doesn't receive it. And we'll say more about
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Speaker 1: this later on. But some of you need a little
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Speaker 1: coaching in not pushing too hard. Don't answer back, but
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Speaker 1: don't you? Your wife will answer if you don't, or
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Speaker 1: your husband will answer, so don't anybody answer. The fact is,
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Speaker 1: the gospel is not accepted by all. The majority will
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Speaker 1: never believe the truth. Truth will always be embraced by
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Speaker 1: a remnant. Never forget that. Those believing the truth will
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Speaker 1: always be in the minority. Now there's a fourth statement,
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Speaker 1: verse 21. the gospel continues to be offered to all.
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Speaker 1: That's grace. As for Israel, he says, all the day
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Speaker 1: long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient
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Speaker 1: and obstinate people. I love Paul's heart. He's actually quoting
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Speaker 1: there from Isaiah 65. I wish I had the time
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Speaker 1: to turn to it. It's a magnificent section as the
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Speaker 1: prophet describes the obstinate, disobedient people. And the world's full
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Speaker 1: of them. The person you work with may be obstinate
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Speaker 1: and disobedient. The people that you live alongside of may
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Speaker 1: be obstinate and disobedient. You know what? You're responsible for you.
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Speaker 1: They're responsible for them. The bridge will be a communication bridge.
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Speaker 1: It will be a love bridge. It will be an
25:47
Speaker 1: acceptance and compassion bridge. But please don't push them. Please
25:53
Speaker 1: don't try to force them. A brother offended is harder
25:56
Speaker 1: to be won than a strong city, and their contentions
25:59
Speaker 1: are like the bars of a castle, wrote Solomon. Don't
26:04
Speaker 1: thicken the bars in the castle of the offended. Be gracious.
26:10
Speaker 1: Be understanding. And while I'm at it, don't try to
26:13
Speaker 1: change their lifestyle. Don't try to clean up their lives
26:17
Speaker 1: so they'll be ready for Jesus. Jesus is not looking
26:21
Speaker 1: for people cleaned up. It's like an emergency room saying
26:25
Speaker 1: to a guy that dragged in with blood, how come
26:27
Speaker 1: you didn't clean yourself up before you came in here?
26:29
Speaker 1: You expect me to work on this bloody body? What's
26:31
Speaker 1: wrong with you guys? You take them just like they
26:34
Speaker 1: are and they work with them. That's what Jesus does.
26:37
Speaker 1: You made a mess of your life? Hey, I'll embrace you.
26:40
Speaker 1: I'll accept you. I take messes and I clean people up.
26:44
Speaker 1: I love J. Vernon McGee's line. He being dead still speaks.
26:49
Speaker 1: He says, God didn't call me to clean up the fishbowl.
26:52
Speaker 1: He called me to Fish. Ever seen a pro, bass pro,
26:57
Speaker 1: go out and say, I'm not fishing this lake. It's dirty. No,
27:01
Speaker 1: they go out and they go right over there. Then
27:05
Speaker 1: they do what I never do. They catch a big
27:07
Speaker 1: bass and they bring it in. They're not cleaning up
27:10
Speaker 1: the lake. They're fishing. Why? Because there are fish there
27:13
Speaker 1: and they love it dirty. They like it slimy. They
27:18
Speaker 1: love it like that. Don't you ever wonder why? But
27:20
Speaker 1: that's another subject. Back to chapter 10. Chapter 10 is
27:24
Speaker 1: an analysis of human responsibility. Look at Paul's heart. Brothers, sisters,
27:29
Speaker 1: my heart's desire, my prayer to God for them is
27:35
Speaker 1: for their salvation. You think he was mad because his
27:38
Speaker 1: Jewish friends hadn't come to Christ? Not in your life.
27:41
Speaker 1: He's heartbroken. He remembers the buddies he traveled with and
27:45
Speaker 1: studied with when he came out of Tarsus and went
27:47
Speaker 1: to Jerusalem and studied under Gamaliel and and other rabbis.
27:52
Speaker 1: He remembers those lost friends that were classmates. He remembers
27:55
Speaker 1: fellow Pharisees when he was a member of that sect.
27:59
Speaker 1: He remembers how maybe not all, but most of them
28:02
Speaker 1: still are lost. That haunted him at night. My heart's breaking,
28:09
Speaker 1: broken over the fact that so many still reject the Savior.
28:15
Speaker 1: You see, just knowing they're lost doesn't mean you stop praying.
28:18
Speaker 1: It means you start praying It means you reach out
28:22
Speaker 1: very diligently in prayer for them. That's what he's doing
28:25
Speaker 1: in verse 1. May I give you a little extra
28:29
Speaker 1: word of caution here? Guard against anti-Semitism. Okay? Don't go there.
28:36
Speaker 1: It's ugly. It's not a godly response. Just because they
28:42
Speaker 1: don't believe in your messiah doesn't mean that you turn
28:46
Speaker 1: against them. Because of them, we've got the messiah. Because
28:51
Speaker 1: of them, we have the scriptures. Because of the Jews,
28:54
Speaker 1: we have a respect for the scriptures, the Old Testament
28:57
Speaker 1: to this day. One wag put it this way. How
29:02
Speaker 1: odd of God to choose the Jew, but not so
29:07
Speaker 1: odd as those who choose the Jewish God and hate
29:10
Speaker 1: the Jew. You go, what? So let me do that again.
29:15
Speaker 1: Now this time think. How odd of God to choose
29:20
Speaker 1: the Jew, but not so odd as those who choose
29:24
Speaker 1: the Jewish God and that hate the Jew. Stop the hate.
29:33
Speaker 1: Stop the vengeance. Let your heart break over the lost Jew.
29:41
Speaker 1: Be grateful that in grace, the Lord set them aside
29:46
Speaker 1: and reached out to pagans like us who have nothing
29:52
Speaker 1: righteous in our background. We didn't have to stumble over
29:56
Speaker 1: righteousness when you come out of filth. There's nothing to
29:59
Speaker 1: stumble over. But when you come out of self-righteousness like
30:03
Speaker 1: the Jews, you've got to fight through the pride. That's
30:07
Speaker 1: what verse 2 is saying. I testify about them that
30:10
Speaker 1: they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
30:14
Speaker 1: You don't think they are zealous for God? You visit
30:16
Speaker 1: the wailing wall. You stand at a distance and you
30:20
Speaker 1: watch as they, through the day, with exhaustion, bow and pray.
30:29
Speaker 1: Again and again and again and again and again and again.
30:34
Speaker 1: Pushing those little prayers in the stone of the wall. Zeal.
30:40
Speaker 1: You visit their areas in Jerusalem and you see how
30:44
Speaker 1: they dress and you see how they look and you
30:46
Speaker 1: see how they're following it to the letter as they
30:49
Speaker 1: see it. Even the little curls for their sideburns and
30:54
Speaker 1: the beards and the hats and the black garments and
30:58
Speaker 1: the All of it full of zeal. You live in
31:01
Speaker 1: a community where there's a synagogue, you'll see greater zeal
31:04
Speaker 1: for the synagogue than you'll see in most Christians for
31:07
Speaker 1: the church. They prepare their food on Friday and they
31:11
Speaker 1: don't touch that kitchen except to serve it through the days,
31:16
Speaker 1: through the day that follows. Zeal, but no knowledge of Christ.
31:21
Speaker 1: Verse 3, not knowing about God's righteousness. and seeking to
31:28
Speaker 1: establish their own righteousness, they did not subject themselves to
31:34
Speaker 1: the righteousness of God. See, the key word is subject.
31:40
Speaker 1: When you realize it's not your righteousness and you realize
31:43
Speaker 1: that the righteousness comes from another, you are bowing in
31:47
Speaker 1: gratitude for the righteousness that he places in your account.
31:52
Speaker 1: That's what we Gentiles do. We have no righteousness. Hardest
31:57
Speaker 1: people on earth to talk to about Christ are the proud,
32:01
Speaker 1: the self-righteous. Try to convince a truly religious person of
32:06
Speaker 1: the need for Jesus, especially one who works hard in
32:10
Speaker 1: his religion or her religion. They're so proud of their
32:14
Speaker 1: own righteousness. Most of us came out of nothing like that.
32:23
Speaker 1: We just, by the grace of God, heard the message.
32:27
Speaker 1: And came to Jesus. And he sovereignly. Credited to our account.
32:34
Speaker 1: The righteousness of God. In place of our unrighteousness. The
32:40
Speaker 1: Jew has to climb through all of this self-made righteousness.
32:45
Speaker 1: All of the works. All the stuff. Verse 4. Don't
32:51
Speaker 1: you love it? Christ is the end of the law
32:54
Speaker 1: for righteousness. To everyone who. Works real hard. No. To
32:59
Speaker 1: everyone who sincerely stays in his religion. No. Everyone who what? Believes.
33:08
Speaker 1: Get that clearly settled in your mind. Get it fixed
33:14
Speaker 1: in your mind. Elvina Hall, 19th century hymn writer, put
33:23
Speaker 1: it this way. Jesus paid it all. All to him
33:27
Speaker 1: I owe. Sin left a crimson stain. He washed it
33:31
Speaker 1: white as snow. He paid it all. He picked up
33:38
Speaker 1: the tab. He took care of everything. And you and
33:45
Speaker 1: I stepped in and said, thank you. Thank you. Now
33:53
Speaker 1: his focus turns from the Jew to all lost people
33:56
Speaker 1: beginning down at verse 8. I want to suggest there
34:00
Speaker 1: are four statements that will help unclutter the passage in
34:05
Speaker 1: case it's a little unclear to you. The first is
34:09
Speaker 1: in verses 8 through 10. Because the gospel is available,
34:13
Speaker 1: people are responsible. Verses 8 through 10, because the gospel
34:16
Speaker 1: is available, we're all responsible. Jew and Gentile alike. What
34:21
Speaker 1: does it say? The word is near you. It's in
34:23
Speaker 1: your mouth, in your heart. That is the word of
34:26
Speaker 1: faith which we are preaching. So the gospel begins by
34:29
Speaker 1: being preached. So there's the declaration. You may have heard
34:33
Speaker 1: the gospel through a printed page. You may have heard
34:36
Speaker 1: the gospel through a song. You may have seen the
34:38
Speaker 1: gospel lived out in someone's life, which led you to
34:42
Speaker 1: information about the gospel. You may have heard the gospel
34:46
Speaker 1: at a crusade that you attended. You may have heard
34:49
Speaker 1: the gospel from the person you married or the one
34:52
Speaker 1: who is your friend or a roommate at school or
34:55
Speaker 1: a fellow athlete. On the team. But someone declared to you.
35:00
Speaker 1: The message. Of eternal life. The word of faith was
35:05
Speaker 1: declared to you. So that's declaration. Look at verse 9.
35:09
Speaker 1: Here's appropriation. That if you confess with your mouth. Jesus
35:13
Speaker 1: as Lord. If you believe in your heart. God raised
35:17
Speaker 1: him from the dead. Look at the next four words.
35:21
Speaker 1: Don't muddle them. Don't stutter. Don't. Don't misunderstand them. Don't
35:26
Speaker 1: put them in a fog. You will be saved. There
35:32
Speaker 1: it is. That's it. You say, well, Chuck, that's easy believism. Well,
35:40
Speaker 1: I'd like to know what hard believism is. I've never
35:44
Speaker 1: seen hard believism. You know where the hard is? It's Christ.
35:50
Speaker 1: He did the hard thing. He paid the complete penalty
35:54
Speaker 1: for the sins of the world. He who knew no
35:57
Speaker 1: sin was sin on our behalf, that we might be
36:00
Speaker 1: made the righteousness of God in him and because of him.
36:03
Speaker 1: That's the hard thing. Having done it all for us,
36:08
Speaker 1: we take it as a gift. Never make a gift
36:13
Speaker 1: a wage. It's a gift. It's a gift. So the
36:19
Speaker 1: appropriation is we confess with our mouth, we believe in
36:23
Speaker 1: our hearts. And so the result is, look closely, verse 10.
36:27
Speaker 1: With the heart, a person believes, resulting in what? Righteousness.
36:34
Speaker 1: The sovereign act of God, whereby he declares righteous the
36:38
Speaker 1: believing sinner while we are still in a sinning state.
36:41
Speaker 1: It's called the doctrine of justifications. Doesn't make us righteous.
36:46
Speaker 1: We still struggle with sinful problems through our lives. But
36:49
Speaker 1: he declares us righteous in God's eyes. Before the cross,
36:53
Speaker 1: we are all unrighteous. After the cross, we are all
36:56
Speaker 1: positionally righteous. Before the cross, we are full of ourselves.
37:00
Speaker 1: After the cross, Christ has invaded and taken up the
37:04
Speaker 1: throne of our lives. As a result of believing in Jesus,
37:07
Speaker 1: a righteousness we never had is credited to our account.
37:11
Speaker 1: How marvelous is that? It's a financial term for the record.
37:17
Speaker 1: In this case, it's the spiritual record. It's taking us
37:21
Speaker 1: in our bankrupt state and filling that record, filling that
37:26
Speaker 1: account with righteousness. Whereas it was once empty. No righteousness.
37:33
Speaker 1: And so as a result of that righteousness being transferred,
37:37
Speaker 1: we are justified. Whoever believes in him... will not be disappointed. Now,
37:44
Speaker 1: here's the third fact. Got them? Or the second. Because
37:47
Speaker 1: the offer is universal, everyone is responsible. Because the offer
37:52
Speaker 1: is universal, whoever, everyone is responsible. To whom is it offered? Everyone.
38:00
Speaker 1: Our culture and other cultures, Jew and Gentile, young and old, male, female, educated, uneducated,
38:08
Speaker 1: whatever color, whatever race, Don't miss, whoever, all, all, whoever,
38:14
Speaker 1: verses 11, 12, 13. There's no distinction between Jew and Greek.
38:20
Speaker 1: Because the offer is universal, everyone is responsible. Let me
38:24
Speaker 1: make this real clear so nobody misunderstands. Staying real close
38:29
Speaker 1: to a Christian will not make you almost a Christian.
38:34
Speaker 1: Staying real close to your car overnight in your garage
38:38
Speaker 1: will not turn you into a car. You'll still be
38:40
Speaker 1: who you are. Hanging around a church a whole lot
38:44
Speaker 1: and listening to even learning the Psalms will not get
38:46
Speaker 1: you a little closer. You are either in or you
38:49
Speaker 1: are out. You are either a believer or not a believer.
38:54
Speaker 1: This brings us to the third fact. Because rejection is predictable,
38:59
Speaker 1: the unsaved are responsible. 16 to 20. Because rejection is predictable,
39:05
Speaker 1: the unsaved are responsible. Look at 16. However, they did
39:10
Speaker 1: not all heed the good news. Isaiah says, Lord, who
39:15
Speaker 1: has believed our report? Look closely. Faith comes from hearing
39:23
Speaker 1: and hearing by the word of Christ. Be careful. You
39:28
Speaker 1: could think that means by just reading the bible you
39:31
Speaker 1: are going to become a christian but this is a
39:33
Speaker 1: word concerning christ crema is a spoken word translated here
39:38
Speaker 1: word christ is the subject that is being declared one
39:43
Speaker 1: person rendered it this way so then faith comes out
39:47
Speaker 1: from what is heard and And what is heard comes
39:50
Speaker 1: through a word concerning Christ. You heard of Christ in
39:56
Speaker 1: some particular way that was not the way I heard
39:59
Speaker 1: of Christ. I heard of Christ through my mother. My
40:02
Speaker 1: mother led me to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. We
40:06
Speaker 1: had a pastor who preached the gospel and through my
40:09
Speaker 1: mother's words to me about Christ and through the pastor's
40:13
Speaker 1: speaking of Christ, I realized that as a little boy,
40:17
Speaker 1: I needed Christ as my savior. And I trusted him
40:20
Speaker 1: and I've never had to trust him again for salvation.
40:23
Speaker 1: That was settled. I have a very good friend of
40:26
Speaker 1: the navigators who had a buddy of his who just
40:29
Speaker 1: couldn't accept the fact that once he trusted Christ, he
40:33
Speaker 1: really was forever in the family of God. And he
40:36
Speaker 1: would call my friend in the middle of the night.
40:38
Speaker 1: He'd say, Bob, you know, I'm really uneasy. Bob would say,
40:42
Speaker 1: let's turn to John chapter three, verse 16. He said, Bob,
40:47
Speaker 1: we did this yesterday. turn again to john three let's
40:51
Speaker 1: see if it's gone let's look and see if it's
40:53
Speaker 1: gone so that turned on the phone he got two
40:56
Speaker 1: in the morning for god so loved the world that
40:59
Speaker 1: i wish you'd stop calling no no he gave his
41:02
Speaker 1: only and so he'd read them he said is it
41:04
Speaker 1: still there he said yes then you're still in his
41:08
Speaker 1: family why because you believe in him didn't you yes
41:12
Speaker 1: okay thanks bob Two days later, ring Bob. I just
41:17
Speaker 1: don't feel like I'm still in the family. Okay, John 3, 6. Bob,
41:21
Speaker 1: we've done this five times already. How many times do
41:24
Speaker 1: we have to read it until you're convinced? Why? Because
41:28
Speaker 1: it doesn't make logical sense. Everything else you work hard for.
41:32
Speaker 1: Everything else you have to keep up. Everything else you've
41:36
Speaker 1: got to keep earning, right? I mean, you didn't move
41:38
Speaker 1: into your new home and go, well, everything else is
41:40
Speaker 1: taken care of, did you? It's funny, once a month
41:43
Speaker 1: you get a little reminder. You've been using the electricity.
41:48
Speaker 1: Guess what? You've got to pay. You've got to write
41:51
Speaker 1: the check. Or somehow you've got to get the money
41:54
Speaker 1: back to them. Or guess what? You're in a home
41:56
Speaker 1: that's dark. And before long there's no water to take
42:00
Speaker 1: a shower in. Why? Because you didn't pay the water bill.
42:02
Speaker 1: Because that's the way it works in life. Except in salvation,
42:06
Speaker 1: you don't pay anything. You go, what? And every time
42:11
Speaker 1: you go, what? You're denying what he said. Believe on
42:16
Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You
42:19
Speaker 1: will be saved. You will be saved. You will be saved.
42:22
Speaker 1: You won't feel saved. You will be saved. You won't
42:25
Speaker 1: always act like you're saved. You will be saved. And
42:29
Speaker 1: some of you look at me like, what? It's true.
42:33
Speaker 1: It's called the doctrine of eternal security. You're in. You're safe.
42:37
Speaker 1: You're saved. You're there. But the amazing thing is most
42:43
Speaker 1: don't accept it. Oh, I've worked for everything in my life.
42:46
Speaker 1: I'm going to work for this one. I'm going to
42:48
Speaker 1: help you buy the new building. Please. Please. Nothing in
42:56
Speaker 1: my hands I bring. Simply to the cross I cling.
43:02
Speaker 1: You're responsible just as the Jews are responsible to take
43:06
Speaker 1: the message and believe it. Verse 21. Because the God
43:12
Speaker 1: is faithful, all humanity is continually responsible. As for Israel,
43:21
Speaker 1: he says, all the day long I've stretched out my
43:24
Speaker 1: hands to a disobedient, obstinate people. It's true. You continue
43:33
Speaker 1: to give the gospel and you continue to run into
43:35
Speaker 1: the disobedient and obstinate and you continue to give the gospel.
43:39
Speaker 1: And you continue to run into the disobedient and obstinate. Well,
43:43
Speaker 1: I could just never believe that. Well, I'm sorry, but
43:45
Speaker 1: I just have to keep telling you because it's the truth.
43:48
Speaker 1: It's the truth. Accept it. Believe it. God continues to
43:52
Speaker 1: reach out. It was a great day in my life
43:57
Speaker 1: when I began to rest easy knowing that I'm not
43:59
Speaker 1: responsible for what happens in your barn. We've learned from
44:04
Speaker 1: one of our adult children about barns. You have your barn.
44:10
Speaker 1: I have my barn. Each barn has a fence around it.
44:15
Speaker 1: We can talk at the fence, but there's no reason
44:18
Speaker 1: for you to climb over the fence and get in
44:20
Speaker 1: my barn and start doing my stuff. And there's no
44:22
Speaker 1: reason for me to climb over and get in. It
44:24
Speaker 1: sounds like what an adult child would say to a parent,
44:26
Speaker 1: doesn't it? Guess why they'd say that? Anyway, they'd climb
44:28
Speaker 1: back over and come over here and do my stuff. No,
44:30
Speaker 1: let's stay out of each other's barns. Why? Because your
44:33
Speaker 1: barn is your business. My barn is mine. I will
44:37
Speaker 1: never climb over the fence into your barn. I promise you.
44:42
Speaker 1: If to the last day of your life you choose
44:45
Speaker 1: to reject Christ, I'll never invade your barn. Why? Because
44:49
Speaker 1: I can't change things in your barn. Your barn is
44:52
Speaker 1: your business. What goes on there is your decision. Boy,
44:57
Speaker 1: do I rest easy at night. You say, well, that's
45:00
Speaker 1: pretty irresponsible, Chuck. Really? You want me in your barn?
45:06
Speaker 1: Talk to Cynthia. It's bad enough just doing our own barn.
45:10
Speaker 1: But to get into yours, I don't know enough to
45:13
Speaker 1: tell you how to do your barn. I don't know
45:15
Speaker 1: what's keeping you out of the family of God. It's
45:18
Speaker 1: really none of my business. My job is to tell
45:21
Speaker 1: you there's bread to eat. There's water to drink. You
45:27
Speaker 1: don't have to starve over there. It's available. So that
45:32
Speaker 1: brings us back to responsibility. The Christian. The Christian's responsibility
45:38
Speaker 1: is to share and care and pray. Stop. That's it.
45:45
Speaker 1: The Christian's responsibility is to share and to care and
45:49
Speaker 1: to pray. Obviously, we're to live a life and we're
45:51
Speaker 1: to be an example, but shaping people's relationship to Christ,
45:56
Speaker 1: you tell them about Christ, you care about their situation,
45:59
Speaker 1: and you pray. That's it. You trust God. You trust God.
46:09
Speaker 1: most amazing things happen. I had a guy tell me
46:12
Speaker 1: just a couple of weeks ago, he said, Chuck, I
46:14
Speaker 1: want you to know that years ago I was listening
46:17
Speaker 1: to you on the radio, had no idea what you
46:19
Speaker 1: looked like, had no idea where you were, didn't know
46:22
Speaker 1: you're from Adam. I listened to your message and I thought, well,
46:26
Speaker 1: that sort of makes sense. And it was completely different
46:29
Speaker 1: from what I'd ever believed. And he said, I listened
46:31
Speaker 1: a little further, tuned you in the next day, listened
46:33
Speaker 1: a little further, tuned you in the next day. And
46:35
Speaker 1: he said, you know what? Come here. You're my spiritual father.
46:41
Speaker 1: And he hugged me. And I thought, let go. Why
46:46
Speaker 1: are we so happy? Because I just shared and cared
46:53
Speaker 1: and prayed. I don't even know him. He's born again
46:57
Speaker 1: as I am. Or as you may be. You need
47:03
Speaker 1: to share. Keep caring. And pray. Now, The non-Christian's job
47:10
Speaker 1: is to face the truth and come to terms with it.
47:16
Speaker 1: You hear it. You receive it. You check it out.
47:22
Speaker 1: And then you come to terms with it. You're going
47:25
Speaker 1: to believe it or you're going to reject it. I
47:30
Speaker 1: cannot do that for you. That's your barn. That stuff
47:34
Speaker 1: goes on behind your fence. I'll come to the edge
47:37
Speaker 1: and talk to you about it. Hopefully I won't insult
47:40
Speaker 1: you or make you feel uneasy, but I will at
47:43
Speaker 1: least come to the edge and say, I care. I
47:47
Speaker 1: care about it. But you could die there not believing
47:53
Speaker 1: that's your choice. Don't ever blame anyone for your choice.
47:58
Speaker 1: I love Abraham Lincoln's words. Every man is responsible for
48:02
Speaker 1: his own face after age 40. I like that. You're
48:07
Speaker 1: responsible for your own soul At the time of death.
48:12
Speaker 1: Don't ever blame another preacher. You're responsible. You're on your own.
48:18
Speaker 1: You and the Lord. Which is the third. The Lord's
48:21
Speaker 1: responsibility is to save whoever comes to him. Trust me.
48:25
Speaker 1: He will. He will. He won't ask you to clean
48:30
Speaker 1: up your life. He won't ask you to get sincere.
48:32
Speaker 1: He won't say that until you come to church for
48:34
Speaker 1: the next two months to prove that you really mean business.
48:37
Speaker 1: He won't say to you, until you stop smoking, I'm
48:39
Speaker 1: not going to talk to you. Until you stop drinking,
48:42
Speaker 1: I am not going to talk to you. I'm not
48:43
Speaker 1: going to listen to you. I'm not going to believe you.
48:45
Speaker 1: Until you get rid of your drugs, I'm not going to...
48:47
Speaker 1: Stop it! None of that is in Romans 10. And
48:52
Speaker 1: they had all those things back then. Trust in the
48:56
Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, and it's amazing what he can do
48:59
Speaker 1: to your fishbowl. Amazing what he can do to your barn.
49:03
Speaker 1: You see, he has the right to all barns. With him,
49:07
Speaker 1: there are no fences. See the sign over that door there?
49:12
Speaker 1: It says prayer room. Inside that room are people who
49:17
Speaker 1: are trained to talk to anyone who'd like to trust Christ.
49:21
Speaker 1: You don't feel like you could or should do it
49:23
Speaker 1: on your own? That's the place to go. This is
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Speaker 1: an invitation. I say that because people write me all
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Speaker 1: the time saying, you just don't give an invitation. No,
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Speaker 1: I don't do it like your Southern Baptist Church does it.
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Speaker 1: I do it like I believe I ought to do it.
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Speaker 1: This is Stonebriar Community Church. We deal with those things
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Speaker 1: in a prayer room. They may have to stay till 1.30
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Speaker 1: or 2 o'clock. You may have issues that can't be
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Speaker 1: handled down front and by people who are better qualified
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Speaker 1: to talk than I am. I've told you all I know,
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Speaker 1: even some stuff I don't know, but I know it
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Speaker 1: to be true. But these people will help you with
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Speaker 1: your decision. Let's pray. Forgive us, our Father, for messing
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Speaker 1: up the beautiful simplicity of the gospel. Forgive us for
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Speaker 1: being indifferent about it, turning it into a system of
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Speaker 1: legalistic works, for demanding of people things that not even
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Speaker 1: we could have done when we were lost. Forgive us,
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Speaker 1: forgive us, forgive us. Help us to live a life
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Speaker 1: in such a way that people are drawn to you.
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Speaker 1: May our faith be contagious. May our joy be irresistible.
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Speaker 1: May our understanding of people in their great need be deep,
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Speaker 1: free of judgment. And may your son have his way
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Speaker 1: in and among us and even in spite of us. Now, Lord,
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Speaker 1: we commit to you the week and the opportunities to share.
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Speaker 1: May we be gracious, faithful, consistent, caring, courteous. And Lord,
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Speaker 1: may your spirit work once we have shared and begin
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Speaker 1: to pray. Commit to you all who have never trusted
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Speaker 1: Christ that you would make them uneasy, restless, even sleepless
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Speaker 1: till they find that rest in you. In the Savior's
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Speaker 1: name we pray. Everybody said, Amen. Duplication of copyrighted material
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Speaker 1: for commercial use is strictly prohibited.