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Voddie Baucham - There Are ONLY Two Paths · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Not only are there two instances, there's two paths. But
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  Speaker 1: what do we see there with the two paths? The
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  Speaker 1: Christian life must be lived purposefully. The Christian life must
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  Speaker 1: be lived purposefully. Again, there are those who try to
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  Speaker 1: separate justification and sanctification in such a way that we
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  Speaker 1: actually believe that a person can be saved and not
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  Speaker 1: have their life affected at all. Jesus says there's not
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  Speaker 1: only a gate, there's a path involved here. There's a
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  Speaker 1: way involved here. There's a lifestyle involved here. See, here's
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  Speaker 1: the other problem with the way the gospel is presented
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  Speaker 1: in our current culture. The problem is, you know, you
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  Speaker 1: manipulate people. Half the time, don't even preach the gospel.
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  Speaker 2: I'm at a church.
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  Speaker 1: This is not long ago. I'm at a church. There's
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  Speaker 1: a conference being held at the church. It was actually
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  Speaker 1: a conference of our convention. I'll just go ahead and
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  Speaker 1: say that and put it out there. It was a big,
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  Speaker 1: huge Southern Baptist meeting with a bunch of Southern Baptist pastors.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to get together, and I got there a
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  Speaker 1: little early, so I went to the host church. Ginormous church,
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  Speaker 1: just big for no reason at all. Big, huge, just big, okay?
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  Speaker 1: Like 5,000 seats in the place or something like that.
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  Speaker 1: And I go in, and that night the guy's preaching,
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  Speaker 1: and he's actually preaching on tithing. Because the building was new.
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  Speaker 1: Really needed to be paid for. And so he was
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  Speaker 1: preaching on tithing. I mean just preaching hard. He's thundering
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  Speaker 1: away on tithing. And after he finishes thundering away on tithing,
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  Speaker 1: they come to the end of the service. And you're
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  Speaker 1: not a good Baptist unless at the end of the
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  Speaker 1: service you do a manipulative arm-twisting altar call. So he's
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  Speaker 1: preached on tithing. Hadn't mentioned Christ. Not one time in
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  Speaker 1: his whole sermon, but he gets to the end of
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  Speaker 1: the message and they start to play the soft music
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  Speaker 1: and he looks out and he says, there are any
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  Speaker 1: of you out there and you've never come to God
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  Speaker 1: through faith in his son, Jesus Christ. You just need
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  Speaker 1: to repeat this prayer after me. And it was something
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  Speaker 1: very similar to this. I almost got whiplash. Where did
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  Speaker 1: that come from? Where did we get that? And here's
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  Speaker 1: the other thing. People start walking to the front. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm going, where are they going and why? There's been
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  Speaker 1: no gospel preached. There's been nothing about Jesus, nothing about sin,
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  Speaker 1: nothing about repentance, nothing about what they feel guilty because
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  Speaker 1: they haven't been giving, and now they want to come
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  Speaker 1: to the cross? What are they coming to? They come
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  Speaker 1: to the front. They're led in the sinner's prayer that
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  Speaker 1: you will find nowhere in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: Nowhere in the Bible. And right afterwards, that statement is made.
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  Speaker 1: Welcome to the family of God. If you prayed that
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  Speaker 1: prayer and you meant it, you're saved. I've even heard
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  Speaker 1: it done this way. Right here, right now. If you've
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  Speaker 1: got your Bible with you, take out a pen. You
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  Speaker 1: write your name down on the front cover and you
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  Speaker 1: write down this date because this is the date when
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  Speaker 1: your name was sealed in the Lamb's Book of Life. Really?
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  Speaker 2: Really? Really? Because you repeated somebody else's words. Oh, but wait, wait, wait.
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  Speaker 2: The caveat. And meant it. Really?
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  Speaker 1: Really. Because I know a whole lot of people who
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  Speaker 1: prayed that prayer and meant it. And the fruit of
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  Speaker 1: their life, which we're going to talk about later, the
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  Speaker 1: fruit of their life says they lied.
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  Speaker 2: Did they mean it? Yes, but what is it?
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  Speaker 1: Well, I don't know if somebody says, basically, you can
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  Speaker 1: die and go to hell or you can pray this
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  Speaker 1: prayer after me.
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  Speaker 2: If you really don't want to go to hell. Will
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  Speaker 2: you pray that and mean it? Sure. If you don't
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  Speaker 2: want to go to a fiery place, absolutely. I'll pray
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  Speaker 2: the prayer and I'll mean it. Jesus, I'm sorry. Jesus,
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  Speaker 2: I'm sorry. Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, I
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  Speaker 2: invite you into my heart. Jesus, I invite you into
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  Speaker 2: my heart. Did you pray that prayer? Yep. Did you
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  Speaker 2: mean it?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I meant it. A few more questions. Do you
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  Speaker 1: know who the Jesus is to whom you just prayed?
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  Speaker 1: Because you can mean it and not know who Jesus is.
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  Speaker 1: Did you mean it because you're really scared right now?
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  Speaker 1: Or because you've been born again and brought to a
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  Speaker 1: place of conviction and brokenness over your sin? You can
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  Speaker 1: mean it for a lot of reasons, folks. One of
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  Speaker 1: the things that you're not going to find here, one
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  Speaker 1: of the things that we're not going to do here,
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  Speaker 1: is ever tell you that because you did this, you're
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  Speaker 1: a member of the kingdom of God. No, the Bible says,
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  Speaker 1: test yourselves to see if you be in the faith.
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  Speaker 1: Test yourself. There's not just an entrance. There's also a way.
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  Speaker 1: There is a road. There is a life to be lived.
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  Speaker 1: There's a couple of things here that we find.
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  Speaker 2: Here's one.
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  Speaker 1: It's very interesting. There are two different words that are
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  Speaker 1: used for the narrow gate. And rather than do Greek
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  Speaker 1: lessons here, let me just share this with you. Both
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  Speaker 1: of the words can be translated narrow. One, he translates
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  Speaker 1: as hard.
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  Speaker 2: Excuse me.
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  Speaker 1: Not both of them can be translated narrow. But the
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  Speaker 1: one that's translated hard, the way it's hard, There are
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  Speaker 1: a couple of ways that you can translate that. You
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  Speaker 1: can translate it as a way that's hard, or you
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  Speaker 1: can also translate it as a way that is compressed.
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  Speaker 1: But it's hard to understand what's meant there when you
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  Speaker 1: say that it's compressed or pressed in or harassed.
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  Speaker 2: But the word.
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  Speaker 1: That this word is derived from, where you get narrow
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  Speaker 1: is the gate and hard is the way, The word
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  Speaker 1: that that word heart is derived from in the Greek
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  Speaker 1: is almost always a word that's translated to mean persecution.
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  Speaker 2: So in essence, here's what Jesus says.
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  Speaker 1: Those who enter into my kingdom enter a gate that
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  Speaker 1: is narrow and a life that is filled with hardship
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  Speaker 1: and persecution. How about that? What does the gospel of
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  Speaker 1: our day say? The gospel of our day says, if
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  Speaker 1: your life is hard and there's persecution in your life,
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  Speaker 1: you need Jesus so that your life won't be hard
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  Speaker 1: and that you won't have persecution in your life. While
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  Speaker 1: Paul says in 2 Timothy 3.12, all those who desire
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  Speaker 1: to live a godly life in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted.
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  Speaker 1: Not only that, but look at these other passages in Matthew. Look,
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  Speaker 1: for example, in Matthew 5, 10 through 12. Let's look
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  Speaker 1: at a couple of these. Because this is a theme,
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  Speaker 1: not only in the Sermon on the Mount, but it's
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  Speaker 1: a theme in the book of Matthew. 10 through 12
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  Speaker 1: in chapter 5. Blessed are those who are persecuted for
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  Speaker 1: righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Here's
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  Speaker 1: what's interesting. He says, you're blessed if you're persecuted for
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  Speaker 1: righteousness' sake.
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  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because that's evidence that yours is the kingdom of heaven.
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  Speaker 1: How is that evidence that yours is the kingdom of heaven?
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  Speaker 2: Newsflash.
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 7, at the close of the sermon, this
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  Speaker 1: is the beginning of the sermon. Beginning of the sermon,
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  Speaker 1: he says, you're blessed if you're persecuted for righteousness' sake, because.
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  Speaker 2: Yours is the kingdom of heaven.
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  Speaker 1: At the end of the sermon, he says, enter the
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  Speaker 1: narrow gate... The gate that is filled with persecution and hardship.
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  Speaker 2: Why? Because the end of that one is life or
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  Speaker 2: the kingdom of, you got it folks, heaven.
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  Speaker 1: He's restating what was already communicated in the first part
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  Speaker 1: of his sermon. He comes to the close of the
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  Speaker 1: sermon and brings you all the way back to the beginning.
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  Speaker 1: Into the narrow gate. Into the hard life. The life
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  Speaker 1: filled with persecution and suffering. Persecution and suffering, why? Look
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  Speaker 1: at what it says. Verse 11. Blessed are you when
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  Speaker 1: others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds
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  Speaker 1: of evil against you falsely on my account. Not just
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  Speaker 1: because you're a nasty person who deserves it. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: couldn't you put that footnote there? If you're a nasty
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  Speaker 1: person who deserves bad things to be said about you,
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  Speaker 1: don't turn that around as evidence that you're on the
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  Speaker 1: right road.
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  Speaker 2: We... Okay, all right.
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  Speaker 1: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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  Speaker 1: Look at chapter 5 and verse 44, if you will.
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  Speaker 1: But I say to you, love your enemies and pray
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  Speaker 1: for those who persecute you. Look at chapter 10 and
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  Speaker 1: verses 16 through 23. Behold, I'm sending you out as
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  Speaker 1: sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as
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  Speaker 1: serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they
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  Speaker 1: will deliver you over to courts and flog you in
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  Speaker 1: their synagogues. And you will be dragged before the governors
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  Speaker 1: and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them
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  Speaker 1: and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not
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  Speaker 1: be anxious how you are to speak or what you
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  Speaker 1: are to say.
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  Speaker 2: For what are you... Excuse me. For.
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  Speaker 1: What you are to say will be given to you
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  Speaker 1: in that hour. For it is not you who speak,
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  Speaker 1: but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brothers
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  Speaker 1: will deliver brother over to death. The father, his child,
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  Speaker 1: the children will rise up against parents and have them
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  Speaker 1: put to death. And you will be hated by all
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  Speaker 1: for my namesake. But the one who endures to the
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  Speaker 1: end will be saved.
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  Speaker 2: Here's the other.
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  Speaker 1: The one who endures to the end will be saved.
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  Speaker 1: Not the one who prays the sinner's prayer. The one
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  Speaker 1: who endures to the end. How many times do you
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  Speaker 1: run into people who are absolutely not enduring?
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  Speaker 2: Are you a Christian? Of course I'm a Christian. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because I prayed that prayer at the front of the
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  Speaker 1: aisle one day, and they told me on that day
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  Speaker 1: that I entered into the kingdom of God. I wrote
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  Speaker 1: down on my Bible my name and that date when
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  Speaker 1: my name was sealed in the Lamb's book of life. No,
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  Speaker 1: I'm not living like a Christian. No, I don't care
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  Speaker 1: anything for Christ or for his kingdom. But I said
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  Speaker 1: the words. They're legally binding.
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  Speaker 2: I'm his.
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  Speaker 1: No, Jesus says, the one who endures to the end.
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  Speaker 1: John says they went out from us. Why? Because they
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  Speaker 1: were not all of us. That's why they went out.
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  Speaker 1: Because they were not all of us. If they had
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  Speaker 1: all been of us, they would have remained. That's an
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  Speaker 1: evidence of salvation. Remaining is an evidence of salvation. Staying
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  Speaker 1: in the way, staying on the path is evidence of salvation.
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  Speaker 1: We've already read that today. In our confession, it's amazing
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  Speaker 1: how many times this sort of works itself out. We've
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  Speaker 1: already read today that believers can fall into sin. It
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  Speaker 1: can happen for a season. Amen. But if you belong
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  Speaker 1: to Him. I love Revelation 3.19. Jesus says, Those whom
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  Speaker 1: I love, I reprove and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
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  Speaker 1: He's talking about believers. It's talking about believers. Look at
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  Speaker 1: chapter 24 of Matthew for another example of this. Chapter 24.
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  Speaker 1: Beginning of verse 9. Then they will deliver you up
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  Speaker 1: to tribulation and put you to death and you will
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  Speaker 1: be hated by all nations for my namesake. Then many
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  Speaker 1: will fall away Betray one another and hate one another
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  Speaker 1: and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray
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  Speaker 1: Because lawlessness will be increased the love of many will
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  Speaker 1: grow cold But the one who endures to the end
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  Speaker 1: will be saved does that sound familiar? Into the road
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  Speaker 1: that is marked with persecution and suffering does that mean
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  Speaker 1: that there will never be good days No, it's not
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  Speaker 1: what that means at all It's not what that means
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  Speaker 1: at all. But in fact, you'll understand it better when
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  Speaker 1: you look at the next one. Remember, we have the entrance,
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  Speaker 1: we have the path, and then we have the crowd.