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Voddie Baucham - The Circumcision of Abraham and Ishmael · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: You know, I have, as some of you know, the
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  Speaker 1: privilege of being one of the judges for the San
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  Speaker 1: Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival that's coming up here in
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  Speaker 1: a little over a week. And as a result, have
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  Speaker 1: had to watch loads and loads and loads of films
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  Speaker 1: over the last several weeks and days until my eyes
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  Speaker 1: would cross just watching films. and then watching some of
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  Speaker 1: them over and all of these sorts of things. And
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  Speaker 1: it is a great privilege, and I enjoy it immensely.
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  Speaker 1: Those of you who know me well know that I'm
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  Speaker 1: a major film buff, and I love certain films in
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  Speaker 1: particular and certain eras and genres of film more than others.
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  Speaker 1: And one of the things I enjoy is I enjoy
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  Speaker 1: earlier films, like your earlier kind of black-and-white films. And
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  Speaker 1: it just struck me a while back. I was watching one.
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  Speaker 1: I don't even remember which movie it was. But in
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  Speaker 1: this movie, there was one character who was making reference
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  Speaker 1: to another character who was actually quite glum. And it
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  Speaker 1: was really unusual for this person to be that glum
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  Speaker 1: because they were usually so gay. And I heard that.
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  Speaker 1: And I was just sort of taken aback. And I
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  Speaker 1: just thought, isn't that interesting? In a movie 50 years ago,
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  Speaker 1: 60 years ago, you hear the word gay, and it
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  Speaker 1: means one thing. If you were to hear that word
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  Speaker 1: in a movie today, it would mean something completely and
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  Speaker 1: utterly different. Amen? And there are words like that, are
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  Speaker 1: there not? There are words in our language that sort
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  Speaker 1: of change and morph in meaning over time. Now, that's
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  Speaker 1: not true. always evil and it's not always problematic, but
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  Speaker 1: sometimes it is quite problematic. One example of that is
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  Speaker 1: the word faith. Faith. And the reason it's problematic is
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  Speaker 1: because when you have words that are biblical terms or
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  Speaker 1: biblical concepts that change to our cultural hearing and understanding,
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  Speaker 1: and then we go back to and read those into
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  Speaker 1: the Scriptures, we can have problems. Another example of that
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  Speaker 1: is the word love. When you hear love, in our culture,
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  Speaker 1: you know, love has a certain meaning. Love is a warm,
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  Speaker 1: fuzzy feeling. Love means you can do no wrong. Love
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  Speaker 1: means I have nothing but good for you, no matter what. Well,
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  Speaker 1: if you go to the Bible and reread the Scriptures,
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  Speaker 1: God is love, now all of a sudden to our culture,
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  Speaker 1: the idea of God's wrath, the idea of hell, the
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  Speaker 1: idea of eternal punishment somehow seems inconsistent and incongruent with
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  Speaker 1: the idea that God is love. Why? Because God has changed? No.
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  Speaker 1: Just because our understanding of the Word has changed. That's
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  Speaker 1: true with the word love. That's also true with the
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  Speaker 1: word faith. Nowadays, if you say a person is a
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  Speaker 1: person of faith, you just mean they hope real hard
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  Speaker 1: and believe real hard. But is that what the Scriptures mean?
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  Speaker 1: And it's important for us to grasp this if we're
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  Speaker 1: going to understand the significance of the end of Genesis
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  Speaker 1: chapter 17, and if we're going to understand more broadly
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  Speaker 1: the significance of the life of Abraham. The life of
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  Speaker 1: Abraham is about justification by faith. That's the life of Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: Abraham is the father of the faithful. Well, if we
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  Speaker 1: don't understand what the word faith means, or if we
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  Speaker 1: redefine what the word faith means, then we don't understand
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  Speaker 1: from a theological perspective the significance of Abraham. What's wrong
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  Speaker 1: with that? Well, From a theological perspective, if you don't
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  Speaker 1: understand that, you don't understand justification. Because Abraham screams to us,
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  Speaker 1: is the most clear picture in all of the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: of justification by faith. Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 4,
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  Speaker 1: Galatians chapter 3, on and on and on and on.
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  Speaker 1: We see the writers of the New Testament screaming, going
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  Speaker 1: back to Abraham in order to demonstrate for us and
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  Speaker 1: to illustrate for us what this faith looks like. This
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  Speaker 1: faith that brings about our justification, what it looks like.
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  Speaker 1: They go back to Abraham every time. So if we
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  Speaker 1: don't understand faith, if we redefine faith, we have an issue.
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  Speaker 1: Let me explain a little further. Here's a definition of
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  Speaker 1: faith from the Encarta World English Dictionary. Listen to this definition.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, there are five of them here and they're
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  Speaker 1: very brief. Belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody
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  Speaker 1: or something, especially without logical proof. Number two, a system
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  Speaker 1: of religious belief or the group of people who adhere
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  Speaker 1: to it. Number three, belief in and devotion to God.
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  Speaker 1: Number four, a strongly held set of beliefs or principles.
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  Speaker 1: Number five, allegiance or loyalty to somebody or something. So
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  Speaker 1: in other words, faith just means hoping real hard. Faith
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  Speaker 1: just means close your eyes and you take a leap.
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  Speaker 1: And so all of a sudden, we sound a lot
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  Speaker 1: like Søren Kierkegaard with this blind leap of faith. And
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  Speaker 1: how do people talk about the scriptures as a result
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  Speaker 1: of that? Well, there are certain things that you just
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  Speaker 1: have to accept by faith. In other words, there's no
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  Speaker 1: evidence for what we believe You just close your eyes
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  Speaker 1: and hope real hard and that is the essence of
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  Speaker 1: true Christianity. Not facts, not evidence, not trusting in anything
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  Speaker 1: in particular, but just being a person who trusts real hard.
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  Speaker 1: That's what it means to have faith. But is that
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  Speaker 1: what the Bible means when it uses the word? Does
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  Speaker 1: it just mean someone who closes their eyes and hopes
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  Speaker 1: real hard or who hopes against hope I have faith.
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  Speaker 1: I'm trusting. I'm believing. Does it matter what you're believing in?
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  Speaker 1: Not according to this definition. Not according to the modern
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  Speaker 1: American understanding or the modern Western world's understanding. And unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: not according to the vast majority of evangelicals in our culture.
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  Speaker 1: We believe that faith is just some sort of nebulous force.
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  Speaker 1: And that if you have enough faith, you can control
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  Speaker 1: your reality. You can control your circumstances. And if you
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  Speaker 1: didn't get what you were after, it's just because your
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  Speaker 1: faith was not significant enough or strong enough. It's a force,
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  Speaker 1: a nebulous force. Let's look at some other definitions though,
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  Speaker 1: shall we? Listen to this definition or these definitions from
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  Speaker 1: Webster's 1828 Dictionary of the English Language. Listen to the
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  Speaker 1: difference between modern English dictionary and this first dictionary of
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  Speaker 1: the American English language as it relates to this word
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  Speaker 1: of faith. Number one, belief. Belief. The ascent of the
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  Speaker 1: mind to the truth of what is declared by another.
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  Speaker 1: Resting on his authority and veracity without other evidence. Not
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  Speaker 1: without any evidence. But it's believing what someone says based
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  Speaker 1: upon their character and veracity without other evidence. It's not
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  Speaker 1: blind at all. The judgment that what another states or
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  Speaker 1: testifies is the truth. Number two, the ascent of the
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  Speaker 1: mind to the truth of a proposition advanced by another.
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  Speaker 1: Belief or probable evidence of any kind. Number three, in theology,
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  Speaker 1: the ascent of the mind or understanding to the truth
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  Speaker 1: of what God has revealed. Don't miss that. It's not blind.
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  Speaker 1: It's not nebulous. Faith is trusting in what God has revealed,
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  Speaker 1: they say. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being
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  Speaker 1: and perfections of God, and of the existence, character, and
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  Speaker 1: doctrines of Christ, founded on the testimony of the sacred writers,
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  Speaker 1: is called historical or speculative faith. Now their final definition.
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  Speaker 1: Did I say this was just, this was a dictionary?
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  Speaker 1: This is not a theological dictionary. This is Webster's dictionary, 1828. Four,
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  Speaker 1: evangelical justifying or saving faith is the ascent of the
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  Speaker 1: mind to the truth of divine revelation on the authority
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  Speaker 1: of God's testimony accompanied with a cordial ascent of the
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  Speaker 1: will or approbation of the heart and entire confidence or
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  Speaker 1: trust in God's character and declarations and in the character
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  Speaker 1: and and doctrine of Christ with an unreserved surrender of
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  Speaker 1: the will to his guidance and dependence on his merit
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  Speaker 1: for salvation. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. But where did
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  Speaker 1: they get something like that? How about this? The Heidelberg Catechism.
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  Speaker 1: We're almost through with the Heidelberg Catechism, but if you'll remember,
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  Speaker 1: question number 21, what is true faith? True faith is
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  Speaker 1: not only a certain knowledge whereby I hold for truth
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  Speaker 1: all that God has revealed to us in his word,
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  Speaker 1: but also and assured confidence which the Holy Ghost works
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  Speaker 1: by the gospel in my heart, that not only to others,
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  Speaker 1: but to me also, remission of sin, everlasting righteousness, and
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  Speaker 1: salvation are freely given by God, merely of grace, only
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  Speaker 1: for the sake of Christ's merits. Why is this so important?
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  Speaker 1: Why was this little excursus so important? Here's why. If
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  Speaker 1: we don't establish this up front, then what we do
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  Speaker 1: is we look at the life of Abraham through our
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  Speaker 1: contemporary lens, having been shaped and formed by a faulty
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  Speaker 1: understanding of what faith is. And now we go to
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  Speaker 1: Abraham and we look at Abraham and he's just set
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  Speaker 1: forth for us because he believed real hard and he
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  Speaker 1: hoped against hope. That's not what is set forth for us.
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  Speaker 1: Faith is not blind. God has never called us to
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  Speaker 1: a faith that is blind. That's why he provided and
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  Speaker 1: preserved and protected for us his revelation of himself in
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  Speaker 1: the Bible. So that we could see him and his
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  Speaker 1: deeds throughout history and trust him as he's revealed himself.
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  Speaker 1: So what is this true faith? Look with me if
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  Speaker 1: you will. Genesis chapter 17. Look at these last few verses,
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  Speaker 1: beginning of verse 22. And let's see this picture as
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  Speaker 1: we go through here with circumcision. And we've heard about
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  Speaker 1: circumcision already, the significance of circumcision, this sign of the covenant.
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  Speaker 1: But we've gone from theory to practice in this last paragraph. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: Verse 22. Verse 22. When he had finished talking with him,
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  Speaker 1: God went up from Abraham. Then Abraham took Ishmael, his son,
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  Speaker 1: and all those born in his house, or bought with
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  Speaker 1: his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house.
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  Speaker 1: And he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin that very day,
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  Speaker 1: as God had said to him. Abraham was 99 years
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  Speaker 1: old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskins.
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  Speaker 1: And Ishmael, his son, was 13 years old when he
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  Speaker 1: was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. That very day,
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  Speaker 1: Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised. And all the
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  Speaker 1: men of his house, those born in the house and
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  Speaker 1: those bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, I want you to see that true
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  Speaker 1: faith is linked inexorably to God's word. True faith is
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  Speaker 1: linked inexorably to God's word. True faith is not just
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  Speaker 1: blind hope or blind belief. That's not true faith. You know,
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  Speaker 1: true faith. There are a lot of people with true
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  Speaker 1: faith who are sitting around saying, oh, I just believe
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  Speaker 1: it's just going to snow for Christmas this year here
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  Speaker 1: in Houston. We're going to get snow, and it's going
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  Speaker 1: to stick. It's going to be on the ground, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm just believing. I'm just hoping. It's not true faith.
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  Speaker 1: That's based in absolutely nothing. That's just blind hope. And unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: that's the way a lot of people think about faith
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  Speaker 1: in God. It's just blind hope. True biblical faith is
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  Speaker 1: inexorably linked to God's word. We have faith in what
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  Speaker 1: God has revealed about himself. Otherwise, I have no reason
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  Speaker 1: to For my faith. None whatsoever. I don't have faith
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  Speaker 1: that God's going to do something that is completely contrary
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  Speaker 1: to what God has revealed in his word. Why should I?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, based upon what? Why should I believe that?
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  Speaker 1: This is what we do. For example, here's an example
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  Speaker 1: of that. This sort of blind faith. When we believe
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  Speaker 1: that in spite of the evidence of somebody's life, They die,
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  Speaker 1: we go to their funeral, and we put them in heaven.
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  Speaker 1: There was nothing in them, around them, or about them
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  Speaker 1: that said they had been born again. Nothing that said
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  Speaker 1: they knew God or walked with God. And we stand
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  Speaker 1: up and say, oh, they're in a better place. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: help us. Based on what? Well, based on a really
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  Speaker 1: sincere hope. Is it possible? It's possible. I mean, anything's possible.
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  Speaker 1: God could encounter that person on the last moment of
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  Speaker 1: their life and they come to faith in Jesus Christ. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's possible. It's possible. But that's not what we're talking about.
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  Speaker 1: You've been to those funerals. I've been to those funerals
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  Speaker 1: where you're just kind of squirming in your seat and
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  Speaker 1: you're sitting there going, wow, I guess they knew No,
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  Speaker 1: they didn't. You know what? I wonder if they're at
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  Speaker 1: the right funeral. That's blind hope. That's blind trust. I'm
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  Speaker 1: claiming my whatever. Claiming my victory. I'm claiming my wealth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm claiming my whatever. I'm just claiming it. Based on what? Oh,
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  Speaker 1: because I want it. And he said he'd give us
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  Speaker 1: the desires of our hearts. Really? Is that what that
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  Speaker 1: text means? What if the desire of your heart is
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  Speaker 1: for God to no longer be sovereign? Is that faith
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  Speaker 1: going to be rewarded? What if you believe it real hard?
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  Speaker 1: I really believe it real hard. I really want God
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  Speaker 1: to not be sovereign. And I have faith that God
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  Speaker 1: will not be sovereign. Is your faith going to remove
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  Speaker 1: God's sovereignty? No. Why? Because true faith is linked inexorably
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  Speaker 1: to God's word. You can't override God's word with your faith. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I just have faith that God will allow people to
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  Speaker 1: be saved by some means other than Jesus Christ. Well,
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  Speaker 1: small problem. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth,
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  Speaker 1: the life, no one. Comes to the Father, except through me.
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  Speaker 1: Is your faith going to change that? Well, he said,
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  Speaker 1: if I just have faith the size of a mustard seed,
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  Speaker 1: I can move mountains. Yeah, but moving mountains, that's easy.
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  Speaker 1: Changing the word of God? That's a whole different deal.
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  Speaker 1: You'd sooner see Mount St. Helens move to another location.
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  Speaker 1: than for a jot or tittle in the Word of
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  Speaker 1: God to be changed. In fact, hang around long enough,
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  Speaker 1: you will see Mount St. Helens moved to another location. Amen?
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  Speaker 1: The grass will wither and the flower will fade, but
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  Speaker 1: the Word of our Lord stands forever. Forever. True faith
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  Speaker 1: is linked inexorably to the Word of God. It's not
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  Speaker 1: just this blind hope that's independent, that exists out there
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  Speaker 1: on its own. And if you just have enough of it,
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  Speaker 1: and if you just hold on to it hard enough,
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  Speaker 1: that is not biblical faith. That is not true faith.
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  Speaker 1: Abraham wasn't being blind here. And look with me, if
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  Speaker 1: you will. Look at verse 23. Then Abraham... Took Ishmael,
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  Speaker 1: his son, and all those who were born in his
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  Speaker 1: house are bought with his money. Every male among the
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  Speaker 1: men of Abraham's house. And he circumcised the flesh of
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  Speaker 1: their foreskin that very day as God had said to him.
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  Speaker 1: Why is he a great man of faith? Because he
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  Speaker 1: believed what God said. That's why. Not just because he believed.
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  Speaker 1: Not just because he had hope that was out there
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  Speaker 1: independent of the word of God. No, because he believed
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  Speaker 1: what God said. By the way, here's, let me just
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  Speaker 1: put a pin in this here for a moment. Here's
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  Speaker 1: where a lot of people go awry when it comes
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  Speaker 1: to their salvation. You have a lot of people who
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  Speaker 1: are upset about their salvation because they don't feel saved.
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  Speaker 1: And so all of a sudden, you don't feel like
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  Speaker 1: you're saved. You don't feel close to God. You don't
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  Speaker 1: feel warm and fuzzy. You don't feel this or that.
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  Speaker 1: You don't see this or that or the other. When
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  Speaker 1: people come to you with that, what do you do?
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  Speaker 1: I'll tell you what I do. People come to me
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  Speaker 1: with whether or not they feel saved. I go to
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  Speaker 1: the word. Well, is this true? Yeah, that's true. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: so that's true. You're a sinner. Yes. You deserve death, hell,
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  Speaker 1: and the grave, and nothing else. Yep. Okay. But, you know,
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  Speaker 1: Christ is our only answer and our only hope for
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  Speaker 1: our sin problem. You believe that? Yeah, I believe that.
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  Speaker 1: Christ died for sin once for all, the just for
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  Speaker 1: the unjust, in order that he might bring us back
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  Speaker 1: to God. Yeah, I believe that. You do. You believe that. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: And you believe that God has made you alive to
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And as a result of that, you came
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  Speaker 1: to him in repentance and faith. Yeah. Yeah. So what's wrong?
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  Speaker 1: I just don't feel saved. Oh, wait a minute. Hold on.
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  Speaker 1: So your feelings trump God's word. Well, no, I would
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  Speaker 1: never say that. Oh, yeah, you just did. We just
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  Speaker 1: went through the word. The word says, here's what salvation is.
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  Speaker 1: You said it has to be this plus me feeling saved.
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  Speaker 1: All the time. If you can't say amen, you ought
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  Speaker 1: to say ouch. Which one is it? Faith is, I
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  Speaker 1: believe what God has said. God says, come to him
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  Speaker 1: through repentance and faith. I come to him through repentance
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  Speaker 1: and faith. The enemy says, yeah, but you know what?
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  Speaker 1: You all messed up. I know what you did. I
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  Speaker 1: know what you thought. And I know how you feel
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  Speaker 1: on the inside. You know, there's that moment in Pilgrim's
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  Speaker 1: Progress where Christian is there before this great demon. And
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  Speaker 1: he's there and Apollyon is just breathing out this venom.
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  Speaker 1: And he just accuses him. You? You think he's going
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  Speaker 1: to save you? You didn't even make it a few
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  Speaker 1: feet on the path and you're getting off the path.
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  Speaker 1: You're in the slew of the spine. You're giving up hope.
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  Speaker 1: You got off the path trying to climb that mountain
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  Speaker 1: over there. And you, he's going to save you. I
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  Speaker 1: love this moment in Pilgrim's Progress where Christian looks at
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  Speaker 1: Apollyon and says, what you say is true and more.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, you could go on. Not only am
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  Speaker 1: I guilty of that, but I'm guilty of a whole
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  Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff that you haven't said. And oh,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, yes, I believe that he's going to
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  Speaker 1: forgive me. Why? Because I take him at his word.
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  Speaker 1: True faith is linked inexorably to the word of God.
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  Speaker 1: It's not blindly hoping against hope that what you really
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  Speaker 1: want will come to pass. It is opening your eyes,
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  Speaker 1: seeing and hearing what God has said and believing it
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  Speaker 1: based upon the fact that God has said it. It
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  Speaker 1: is inexorably linked to that. Faith comes by hearing and
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  Speaker 1: hearing by the word of Christ. You cannot separate the two.
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  Speaker 1: And that's where we get in trouble. When we separate
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  Speaker 1: our faith from the word of God. Abraham did exactly
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  Speaker 1: what God told him to do. Secondly, true faith bears
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  Speaker 1: the fruit of obedience. True faith bears the fruit of obedience.
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  Speaker 1: Look at what he says here. He does it. We
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: read that. And I love this statement. That very day.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: That very day. Now, over a decade ago, Abraham had
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: nearly 400 trained men that he took into battle to
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: go and save Lot. You remember that? Now this is
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: over a decade later. There's hundreds if not thousands of men.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Every last one of them got circumcised that day. That
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: same day. All of them. So first of all think
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: about this massive undertaking. Now they could have spread this
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: out and sort of shared the responsibility here. But regardless
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of how you do that, that day, all of them
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: were circumcised. Here's another thing I want you to bear
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: in mind. I want you to bear in mind that
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: they're responsible for their own defense. You remember Shechem? This
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: is just a couple of generations later. The story with Dinah.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: She's assaulted. Well, now you got to marry our sister. Well,
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: if you're going to marry her, you got to be circumcised.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: You and all the men in the camp. And so
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: they were. And what happened? The brothers came in and
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: slaughtered all of them. And they could not do a thing.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: All of the men are circumcised on this day. That
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: means for several days, Abraham and his family and his
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: household have no defense but God. And he obeyed nonetheless.
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: Listen to what Calvin says about this. Moses now commends
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the obedience of Abraham because he circumcised the whole of
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: his family as he had been commanded. For he must
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: of necessity have been entirely devoted to God since he
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: did not hesitate to inflict upon himself a wound attended
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: with acute pain. Talk about an understatement. And not without
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: danger to life. To this may be added the circumstance
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: of the time, namely, that he does not defer the
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: work to another day, but immediately obeys the divine mandate.
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: He obeyed completely. He obeyed completely. Faith without works surely
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: is dead. And we read that in James. And a
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: lot of people have difficulty with that in James. But
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: here's why we have difficulty with that in James. First
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: of all, remember we start with a faulty definition of faith.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: If you believe that faith is independent of the word
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: of God and independent of your relationship with God, it's
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: just hoping real hard. Makes no sense whatsoever that James
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: would make a statement about faith and works being inexorably linked.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: But listen to this for a moment. I want us
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: to hear what James has said. It's a lengthy passage,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: but I think it's worth reading this morning. James chapter 2,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: verses 14 through 26. James chapter 2, verses 14 through 26.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: And let's listen to what he says. We're so used
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: to that statement, you know, faith without works is dead.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: And then we immediately go to this idea of, you know,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: salvation by works and not salvation by faith. But listen
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: to what's being said here. What good is it, my brothers,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: what good is that? So also, faith by itself, if
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say,
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: you have faith and I have works. Show me your
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: faith apart from your works and I will show you
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: my faith by my works. You believe that God is one.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: You do well. Even the demons believe and shudder. I
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: believe in God. Satan does too. Congratulations. What does that mean?
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: What does that mean? I believe my life is disobedience.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: But my mouth says I believe in God and therefore
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I belong to God. No, Satan believes in God and
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: he's the enemy of God. Where's your obedience? That demonstrates
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: your faith. Look at this. Do you want to be shown,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? No.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: that faith was active along with his works. And faith
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: was completed by his works. And the scripture was fulfilled
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: that says Abraham believed God and it was counted to
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: him as righteousness. and he was called a friend of God.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: You see that a person is justified by works and
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: not by faith alone. And in the same way was
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: received the messenger and sent them out by another way?
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: For as the body apart from the spirit is dead,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: so also faith apart from works is dead. Let me
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: try to explain that in our immediate context. What if
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Abraham did not obey God? What would that have meant?
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: God said, be circumcised. you and all your household. And
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: Abraham goes and he does not circumcise himself, his son,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: and his household. There's three possibilities. Number one, he truly
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: believed what God had said, but he just chose to disobey.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: He truly believed all the promises that God had made,
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: He truly believed that everything that God held out in
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: the covenant, but believing that fully, he just made a choice. God,
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: I believe you, but I'm choosing to disobey you. Is
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: that true faith? Absolutely not. Second possibility. He truly believed
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: what God had said, but he feared his own discomfort
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: more than he feared disobedience to God. God, I believe you.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I believe everything that you say. I believe all of
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: those things that you say are out there for me. However,
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: my own comfort is a lot more important to me
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: than my obedience to you. Is that true faith? Third possibility.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: He did not truly believe what God said. Those are
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: the only possibilities of disobedience is present. But if I believe,
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: my belief is evidenced by my works. Who believes it's
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: really cold outside? The one who takes his coat. Who
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: believes it's going to rain? The one who takes an umbrella.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Do you believe? How do we know that Abraham believed
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: what God had said? We know because he obeyed what
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: God had said. That's how we know. That's how we know.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: It's important to understand that when we talk about faith
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: from a biblical perspective, we are not talking about this nebulous,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: unconnected mental ascent that is completely divorced from real life
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: and completely divorced from our obedience. Jesus makes this clear,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: does he not? Matthew chapter 7. Not everyone who says
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord,
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: did we not prophesy in your name and in your
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: name perform many miracles and cast out many demons? And
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: I'll say, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: don't know you. I don't know you. There you have
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: these works that are completely separated from faith. There's a
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: ditch on both sides of the road. So do we
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: come into these works that are completely void of our
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: faith and trust in God, trusting in our works themselves? No.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: That is not biblical faith. That's not biblical Christianity. Or
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: do we have this mental ascent over here that never,
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: ever manifests itself in obedience to the Word of God? No.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: Both of those are equally ridiculous. Famous passage of Scripture,
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Ephesians chapter 2. verses 8 and 9. One of the
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: things that's dreadful is that we leave off verse 10.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: If we don't leave off verse 10, James doesn't sound
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: like this nut out there writing something that nobody else
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: in the New Testament is writing. Listen to Ephesians chapter 2,
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: verses 8, 9, and 10. For by grace you have
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: been saved through faith. And this not of your own doing.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: It is the gift of God, not as a result
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: of works, so that no one may boast. Aha, there
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: it is. James is wrong. Not as a result of works.
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: Works has nothing to do with it. Yet you're not
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: saved by your works. Verse 10. For we are his workmanship,
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: created in Christ Jesus for good works. which God prepared
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: beforehand that we should think real hard about them. No.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: He prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. True
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: faith leads to true obedience. True obedience. not works that
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: we are trusting in more than we trust in God,
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: and not a so-called trust that never brings about obedience. Thirdly,
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: true faith is trusting and believing God, not testing him.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: True faith is trusting and believing God, not testing him.
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: You know, I used to be a boxing fan. I
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: really did. I used to be a boxing fan. And
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: I don't say used to be in the sense that, oh, well,
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: you know, now I'm saved. And so I just really
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: would never like anything like boxing. No, it's just not
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: as good as it used to be. But I did.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: I used to be a boxing fan. Back in the day,
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: you know, I remember as a boy, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: Ken Norton, all those Larry Holmes. I mean, just all
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: of it. Back when it was something, you know. And
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: then all the great middleweights were fighting each other. And
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: you had Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard and all.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, things began to decline. And
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: the last real big heyday was kind of the, Mike
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: Tyson era when there was a real champion around and
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: there was something going on. And I'll never forget those
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: Tyson-Holyfield fights. Man, something else, weren't they? What's interesting is
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: Holyfield's still out there trying to fight, pushing 40 years old,
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: claiming that God is going to give him the championship again,
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: getting his head beaten in every time he goes into
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: the ring. But believing that God is going to give
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: him the championship again. That's testing God. That's not trusting God. God,
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I'm going to go do this and I'm just going
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: to trust you to give me this because it's what
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: I want. That's not true faith. That's testing God, not
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: trusting God. True faith is linked inexorably to the word
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: of God. What has God said? True faith bears itself
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: out in obedience. And true faith is about trusting God,
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: not testing God. And the problem with our current, with
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: our contemporary understanding of faith in our culture is that
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: it's all about testing God, not trusting God. I want X,
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: therefore I'm believing God for X. And then we take
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: it a step further. We're not just testing God. We're
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: really testing God. Because we use phrases like, God told
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: me that he's going to give me X. And I'm
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: just believing God that I'm going to, really? God told
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: you that? So now our Bibles need to be in
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: a three-ring binder instead of bound by leather? Because there's
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: new revelation that God's given you? What is that? That's
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: testing God. That's not trusting God. That's not true faith.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: True faith is linked inexorably to the word. And when
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: I say linked inexorably to the word, I don't mean
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: ripping texts, kicking and screaming out of context and holding
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: on to them. It's not what I'm talking about. You
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: and I, we're going to touch and agree on this. Why?
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Because he said, whenever two of you touch and agree
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: that it will be done for you. What? What? Yeah,
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Says it right there. Yes, in the context of church
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: discipline in Matthew 18. Not you getting what you want.
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: That's testing God, not trusting God. When you go rip
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: a Bible verse, kicking and screaming out of its context...
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: so that you can twist God's arm behind his back
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: until he says uncle and gives you what it is
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: that you want. We ought to be afraid of that.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: And instead, we flaunt it like it's true piety. Nothing
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: could be further from the truth. What has God said
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: in his word? For sure, what has he said in
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: his word? What has he revealed about himself? That you believe,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: that you trust, that you count on. And never forget
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: that when we pray, Jesus taught us to pray. Thy
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: is in heaven. Not only did he teach us that
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: in the model prayer, he taught us that in the
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: Garden of Gethsemane. If there's any other way, let this
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: bitter cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: your will be done. So he taught us didactively, this
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: is how you pray. And then he taught us by example.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: In the darkest moment of his life, life, that's what
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: he prayed. Not testing God, but trusting God. This is
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: not what I want, but I trust you. Jesus didn't say,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: I'm just claiming by faith that there's going to be
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: another way and I'm going to escape the cross and
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: still be able to save my people. That's not biblical faith.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Please don't believe that lie. Please don't. Finally, true faith
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: is our only hope of salvation. True faith is our
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: only hope of salvation. Listen to this, question number 60
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: in the Heidelberg Catechism. How are you righteous before God?
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: Listen to this. only by a true faith in Jesus Christ.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: So that, though my conscience accuse me that I have
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: grossly transgressed all the commandments of God and kept none
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: of them, and am still inclined to evil, notwithstanding God,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: without any merit of mine, but only of mere grace,
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction of righteousness,
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: and holiness of Christ, even so as if I had
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: never had nor committed any sin, yea, as if I
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: had fully accomplished all that obedience which Christ has accomplished
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: for me, inasmuch as I embrace such benefit with a
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: believing heart. If you don't understand what faith really is,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: you don't understand what salvation is. An example of that,
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: we've talked about this before, those individuals who absolutely pervert
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: the word of God as it relates to who Jesus
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: is on the one hand, but on the other hand,
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: claim to be saved. They redefine the savior and claim
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: to be saved. Jesus, do you believe in Jesus? Yes,
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: I believe in Jesus. But I don't believe that Jesus
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: was God in the flesh. I don't believe that Jesus
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: died for sin or resurrected on the third day. I
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: don't believe that Jesus is seated at the right hand
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: of the Father or that he will return to judge
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: the living and the dead. Nevertheless, I believe I'm saved
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: and I'm going to heaven when I die. How do
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: you get there from here? And by the way, what
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: I just said was almost a direct quote from one
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: of the members of the Jesus Seminar. True faith is
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: linked inexorably to the Word of God. If the Jesus
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: in whom you are believing is not the Jesus of
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: the Scriptures, you do not possess true faith, you do
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: not possess true salvation. So if we buy the lie
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: and redefine this concept of faith and then juxtapose that
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: onto the biblical text... and intertwine it with our understanding
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: of salvation. Folks, are you seeing how dangerous this is?
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Listen to what the word says. Romans 1, 16 and 17.
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, for it is
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: to faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: by faith. And in Romans 3, 21 to 25, we
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: heard it already. Listen to it again. We can't hear
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: it enough. But now the righteousness of God has been
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: manifested apart from the law. Although the law and the
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe, for there
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: of the glory of God and are justified by his
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: grace as a gift through the redemption that is in
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus, whom God put forth as a propitiation in
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: his blood to be received by faith. Without faith, it
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: is impossible to please God. You see, in Abraham, we
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: don't learn what it means to be a man or
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: a woman who just believes real hard. We learn to
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: be a man or a woman who takes God at
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: his word and who, as a result of taking God
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: at his word, obeys and who trusts God, not tempts God,
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: knowing that true faith is our only, only way to salvation.
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: Repentance and faith. That's it. That's it. And if that's
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: the case, we better be real careful how we define faith.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: for your truth. We are so incredibly grateful. Help us
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: to think clearly. Help us to think biblically. Help us
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: to trust you and not empty concepts. Help us to
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: take you at your word and trust you, not tempt you.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: Help us to believe you and obey you. Not to
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: say we have belief when there is no obedience. And
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: not to say that we are obeying when in fact
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: we're trying to earn our salvation. But to walk with
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: you in faith. And to obey you as an outworking
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: of your presence and power in our lives. not as
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: a means of earning it. And thank you for the
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: fruit of obedience that we see, though limited it may be.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: Thank you that those of us who know you can
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: look back in our lives and though we are wholly
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: and completely dissatisfied with who we are at this very moment,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: we can say, thank you, Lord, that we're not what
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: we used to be. And it is by your grace.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: So by faith, we will continue to trust you. We
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: will continue to walk with you as you sanctify us
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: by your grace. As you conform us to the very
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: image of Christ, our Savior. As you make us more
• 46:55
  Speaker 1: like him day by day. Not according to our merit,
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: but in spite of our lack thereof. Father, we lift
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: up those whom we know, some who are very near
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: and dear to us, whose lives have been ensnared by
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: false teaching in the area of faith. They're naming things
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: and claiming things that have nothing to do with your word,
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: nothing to do with your character. They're tempting you and
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: testing you and not trusting you. God, would you help
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: us not to sit in judgment on those individuals, but
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: to pity them, to pray for them, and if perhaps
• 47:42
  Speaker 1: by your grace, to speak truth to them. And for
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: the one on the hamster wheel, under the sound of
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: my voice, who's been trying harder and running harder, going
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: around and around and around God, would you grant them
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: grace today to stop? Remind us all that the righteous
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: live by faith.