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Resolutions · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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A completely unobvious or obvious statement, not unobvious.
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Obvious statement is we have no idea what 2012 is going to bring us.
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! 2012 might bring movies that change the way we think.
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It might bring music that will question or challenge what we believe.
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It might bring loss in our lives that will question our convictions.
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And it might bring gain that will challenge our fortitude and our faith.
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Do we believe, do we need God, in other words?
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2012 could also be a year where we find contentment no matter our situation.
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It could be a year where we have victory over a specific sin that has haunted us
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and we've struggled with so much for such a long time.
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It could be a year where we find strength in our weakest moments.
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It could be a year where we gain complete trust in our Savior alone.
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We don't know what 2012 will bring.
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We don't know what God has planned within this year.
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It would be futile and pointless to say we do.
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To say we know who's going to win the World Series.
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To say we know what God's going to do.
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To say any of these things.
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But, we know God's Word.
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We know what He's promised.
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We know what we are to do through the year.
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And that's kind of where I want to take us this morning.
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The typical version of New Year's resolutions are doomed to fail from the beginning.
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And all of us have experienced some resolution where it didn't last a week, maybe a day, maybe a couple hours, whatever it is.
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I know what mine would be.
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If I resolved to not eat sugar, it would last maybe 20 minutes.
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That's a magnetic hole for me, two sugar.
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But, they tend to not work.
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They're pretty much doomed to fail because they're all about ourselves.
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They're all rooted in what we want, what we think we need, our abilities.
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And the problem is that we're going to fail.
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There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
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We are going to fail.
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We are fallible.
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And the outcome is going to be we're going to fall short.
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Now, of course, there's some resolutions and some people who are strong-willed and can just fight through that.
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And, you know, as we say a lot, illustrations fall short somewhere.
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So, I understand that.
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However, most of the things aren't going to work.
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Besides being rooted in ourselves, there are also surface level.
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For example, I want to lose weight so that I look better.
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It's very surface level.
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There's no meat to that.
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I want to read more so that I know more.
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Again, that's a good thing, but it's just surface level.
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I want to talk to people so that I can then become more popular.
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Again, very surface level.
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Now, of course, not all our motives are surface level.
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But what if our New Year's resolutions, what if we made resolutions that were centered on our relationship with Jesus?
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Were Christ-centered, Christ-focused resolutions?
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What if we made resolutions that were founded in eternal truth?
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If we did that, then the outcome could be health.
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Our outcome could be spiritual health and physical health.
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Our outcome could be knowledge.
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Knowledge of who God is and our Savior.
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Our outcome could be people.
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We could become popular or hated, but we'd have people in our lives.
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We would gain a kingdom view and we would share the gospel with people.
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Of course, I want to be clear.
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I'm not dismissing resolutions, New Year's resolutions or self-examination, because those things can be healthy.
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But the way we've been taught to do them are usually rooted in what we want, what we desire, and they're doomed to fail.
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Jonathan Edwards, seven pages printed out of his resolutions.
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They're ridiculous.
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I was going to read a couple of them, and I just was under conviction not to do that, because they're pretty convicting.
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But he made resolutions.
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He made things that he was going to try to do.
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So there's nothing wrong with that.
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So with all that said, I've come up with three resolutions or encouragements for us for this year, 2012.
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Three things that I think can help us as we move forward as a church, but also individually, mainly individually, as followers of Christ.
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Resolution number one.
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Be the person God has made you into.
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Be the person that God has made you into.
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Turn to Romans chapter 6.
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And resolution number one, I kind of cheated, because if you've been around, you know that I just got finished preaching through Romans chapter 6.
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So it's fresh on my mind.
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Don't hate me.
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All right.
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Romans chapter 6.
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Now we're going to read two verses.
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When I say be the person God has made you into, I'm not saying this mystical, spiritual pep talk thing.
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Go and be that person that you can be.
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I'm not talking about that.
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I'm talking about the person that God has made you as a Christian, who you are before God.
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So resolution number one, be the person God has made you into.
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Romans chapter 6.
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We're going to read verse 6 and 7.
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It says,
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We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing,
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so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
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For one who has died has been set free from sin.
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Let me read verse 8.
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Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we also live with Him.
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The beginning of verse 6.
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We know that our old self, if we've got an old self, then we surely have a new self.
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If we're putting off or if our old self has died, then we're left with something new.
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In 2 Corinthians 5, 16 and 17.
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You guys know 17, I'm sure.
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But verse 16 says,
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From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.
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Or Romans 6, old self.
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But we regard him thus no longer.
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Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
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The old has passed away.
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Behold, the new has come.
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So we are a new creation.
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As Christians, because of the blood of Christ, because of His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead,
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we are no longer in bondage to sin.
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So we're a new creation where sin, verse 6, is brought to nothing.
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Sin has no value, no worth, no ability over us.
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Sin no longer has control over us.
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And I know we've gone over this several times going through Romans chapter 6,
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but we constantly have to be reminded over and over and over that sin has no power over us.
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Christ has defeated sin.
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His resurrection has ended the reign of sin in your life if you are a Christian.
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A new creation.
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A new creation also where we're no longer enslaved to sin.
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We're no longer enslaved to sin.
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We're set free from sin.
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Sin no longer has control or power over you.
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And one of the things I struggled with when we preached in Romans chapter 6 was,
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how can I come up with an illustration that communicates this clearly?
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How can I let you know that we're set free from sin?
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We're no longer in bondage to sin.
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And I still can't do it.
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The truth is, though, that we are free.
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That we are free from the burden of sin and the power of sin in our lives.
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So we can no longer say, and we should no longer say, well, that's just who I am.
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I just struggle with that sin, right?
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That's just, you know, those are the cards I've been dealt and I just, you know, struggle with it.
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Onward I go.
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We can no longer say, I just can't do anymore.
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I've done everything I can.
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You are free from sin because of Jesus.
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And this is who you are.
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This is where you stand.
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Stop wallowing in your sin.
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Stop thinking that you can't do anymore.
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That this is just who you are because that's not the case.
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You and I, if you are a Christian, I'm a Christian.
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We are set free from sin.
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It no longer has control.
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Romans 6.11 says,
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So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin.
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So our old self, dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
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Be dead to sin and alive to God.
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This is who we are.
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This is a good resolution to be the person God has made you into.
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We are at war.
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War.
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The language following in verses 12-15 tell us, use war language.
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We are at war.
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And I'm afraid, I'm afraid that a lot of us are laying down in the front lines.
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We are laying down without our swords, without our guns.
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We are being trampled.
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We are being taken captive.
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We are being tortured.
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And all the while, not fighting.
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Is there a fight in you?
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Are you fighting against sin?
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Is there a fight in you to not give in to the sin that is stronger than you think?
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I'm afraid that there's no fight in a lot of us.
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I'm afraid that there's no fight in you and sometimes in me.
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The question is, though, how can there be no fight?
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If we're reading what we're reading, we have been set free from sin.
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We are no longer a soldier of sin being used by sin, being abused by sin.
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We are soldiers of God to serve God alone.
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Being set free from sin.
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We must fight.
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We must fight against lust.
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Fight against pride.
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Fight against gossip.
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Fight against discontentment.
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Make war against these things.
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Against sin.
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Because if we don't, we're going to be conquered.
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If we don't, we're not going to have a life of joy and a life that is God-honoring.
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Stop laying down and saying, that's just who I am.
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Those are my struggles.
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You have been set free in order to fight.
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And in fighting, bring glory to God.
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This is who we are.
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Be the person God has made you into.
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No longer a slave to sin, but a slave to righteousness.
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This is who you are.
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Resolution number two.
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Be about the Lord's work.
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Be about the Lord's work.
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Turn to 1 Corinthians 15.
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I like to say a lot of obvious statements.
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And of course, this is an obvious statement.
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Be about the Lord's work.
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Well, you're a Christian, so do God's work.
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Of course.
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Yes, I agree.
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So out of who we are then, we have been set free.
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We have been, the chains of sin is broken.
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Sin no longer has control over us.
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We are now slaves to righteousness, which is a good thing, not a bad thing.
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We are now servants of the Lord.
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So out of that, then, we do the Lord's work.
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We are about the Lord's work.
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1 Corinthians chapter 15.
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One of my favorite chapters in all of Scripture.
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Paul starts off the chapter and he makes the case for the resurrection of Christ.
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And he says things like, verse 3,
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For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
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that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
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that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with Scriptures.
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If that's not enough, and that He appeared to Cephas, and then to the twelve,
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and then appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time,
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more of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
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Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
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Last of all, Paul says,
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He also appeared to me, and why I am the most unworthy to be appeared to.
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He makes this case about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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He proves it here just by the witness of these men that he has listed.
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Well, then he goes on to say that if Jesus was not resurrected,
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then we are most to be pitied because we should just go on and live life.
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In fact, he uses, in verse 32,
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What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I thought would be said,
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Ephesus, if the dead are not raised, let us eat, drink, for tomorrow we die.
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Let us just forget about this Christian life and go on.
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If Jesus was not resurrected, if the dead was not resurrected.
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So then we come, and he talks about it later on in the chapter,
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verse 42.
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So is it with the resurrection of the dead, what is sown is perishable,
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what is raised is imperishable?
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Verse 43.
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It is sown in dishonor, and it is raised in glory.
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It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
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It is sown in natural body, it is raised in spiritual body.
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For there is natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
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Jesus is better.
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He's making the case that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important.
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So we come now, and we get to the end, where because of Jesus, we have,
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the end of the chapter, because of Jesus, we have victory over sin, victory over death.
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What we believe is true, because Jesus was resurrected.
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And then where our English language kind of falls short a little bit.
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Verse 56 says,
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The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
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Then verse 57.
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But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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So he closes this up by saying, in our English language,
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But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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And I'm pretty certain that there's a little more intensity to that statement.
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He closes it by saying,
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But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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Verse 58.
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Therefore, my beloved brothers, brothers and sisters,
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Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord,
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knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
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So resolution number two is be about the Lord's work.
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The first here in verse 58,
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It's the main verse I want to look at.
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It says,
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Be steadfast.
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Another meaning for that is to sit,
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or to stay.
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Another one is to soak.
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To be steadfast.
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To not move.
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Now,
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some people would say that Spurgeon is as anointed as some of these other writers.
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He's not.
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Some people quote him as often to think that he's part of Scripture,
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but he's not.
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But he's got a good thing here,
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talking about Scripture and preaching.
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And I want to kind of read it to you,
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because what he says,
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he kind of gives light to some of these words,
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some of these verbs.
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He says,
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One thing more, and it is this.
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Let us, dear brethren,
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try to get saturated with the Gospel,
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to soak in the Gospel.
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I always find that I can preach best
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when I can manage to lie a soak in my text.
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I like to get a text and find out its meaning and bearings and so on.
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And then, after I have bathed in it,
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I delight to lie down in it
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and let it soak into me.
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It softens me,
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or hardens me,
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or does whatever it ought to do to me.
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And then, I can talk about it.
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You need not be very particular about the words and phrases
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if the spirit of the text has filled you.
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Thoughts will leap out and find raiment for themselves.
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Become saturated with spices,
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and you will smell of them.
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A sweet perfume will distill from you
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and spread itself in every direction.
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We call it unction.
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Do you not love to listen to a brother
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who abides in fellowship with the Lord Jesus?
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Even a few minutes of such a man is refreshing.
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For like his master,
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his paths drop fatness.
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Dwell in the truth,
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and let the truth dwell in you.
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Be baptized into its spirit and influence
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that you may impart thereof to others.
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If you do not believe the gospel,
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do not preach it,
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for you lack an essential qualification.
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But even if you do believe it,
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do not preach it until you have taken it up into yourself
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as the wick takes up the oil.
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So only can you be a burning and shining light.
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Soak in the Word of God.
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Now, he's speaking to students.
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This is out of his lectures to my students.
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He's teaching the guys who are going to be preachers.
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But you and me,
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and all of us in this room,
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can take the truth that he says,
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soak in his Word.
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Soak in the Word of God.
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To sit in the Word of God.
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To know the Word of God.
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To stand in the Word of God.
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To stay in the Word of God.
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In 1989,
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I can remember,
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and almost be horrified by the pictures,
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of the protests in Tiananmen Square.
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There was,
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if you go to YouTube,
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there's a lot of videos of this,
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and I don't know why you would watch it,
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but there's,
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one of the famous scenes is,
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is the young Chinese man
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who stands in front of a tank,
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and he will not move.
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And protesters laying in street,
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in the street in front of tanks,
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they will not move,
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because they believe,
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they stay in what they are,
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in what they believe in.
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They're sitting in what they believe in.
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Likewise for us,
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we must sit and stay in the Word of God.
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Know the Word of God.
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Soak in the Word of God.
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Be willing to die for the Word of God
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and the truth of God's teaching.
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We must be steadfast
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in our faith,
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in who Jesus is,
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and who we are because of Jesus.
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We have been set free.
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We cannot waver,
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cannot waver in the Gospel.
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The protester did not waver.
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We must not waver
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for the truth that is greater
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than what he was fighting for.
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The next word it says is,
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immovable.
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Immovable.
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Like the protester who was immovable,
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did not move.
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Firmly persistent.
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When we fight,
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we never give up.
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We never give ground.
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We stay the course.
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We don't give up ground.
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We don't give up an inch.
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We can be undefeatable if we fight.
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We can be undefeatable if we fight with Christ,
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if we stand with Him.
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But we so often just lay down
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and say,
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this is who I am.
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These are the cards I've been dealt.
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This is my situation,
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and this is my struggle,
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and this is,
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some of us use,
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this is my thorn.
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This is the thorn in my side
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that I'm going to struggle with.
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No,
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you can have victory over that sin.
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You can have victory
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over that struggle
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that you think
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has got you.
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We can be,
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we have to be immovable.
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Be about the Lord's work.
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We have to be immovable
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against false teaching.
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Be immovable about it.
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Not give an inch.
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Not say,
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oh, well, you know, maybe.
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No, immovable.
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Immmovable against sin.
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Immmovable against mediocrity in your life
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as a child of God.
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Positive.
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Be immovable in kingdom work.
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Immmovable about the gospel
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and sharing the gospel.
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Immmovable about loving others
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no matter what they look like
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or who they are.
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We must be immovable.
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And then finally,
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in this verse,
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it says,
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always abounding
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in the work of the Lord.
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Our lives should overflow
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in the work of the Lord.
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It's not a,
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it's not, you know,
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you fill your glass up
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and you get to the top
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and you stop.
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Because if we have that mentality,
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then we work
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and we serve the Lord
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until we've done enough
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and then we're done.
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Until that cup is full,
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we're finished.
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No,
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abounding here
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is an overflow.
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You keep pouring into that cup
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and it keeps overflowing
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and overflowing
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and overflowing.
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Abounding in the work
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of the Lord.
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Acquaintances in your life
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should know
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that you're a Christian.
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Friends should know
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where you stand
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in issues.
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See,
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if what is written
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here by Paul
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is true
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and if the scriptures
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are true,
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then there is no other response,
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no other appropriate response
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in our lives
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than to do
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the work
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of the Lord.
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We do the work
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of the Lord
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because
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of the work
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that He's already done
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for us.
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He's already done
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in our lives.
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So,
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resolution number one
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was be the man
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God has made you
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or made you into.
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Resolution number two,
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be about the Lord's work.
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And then resolution number three,
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be the person
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you say you are.
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Be the person
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you say you are.
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Now,
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this came to me
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this week.
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Conviction of the Holy Spirit
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and words from my wife.
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Husbands,
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you probably think
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they're both the same.
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Sometimes I do too,
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but they're not.
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Wives and Holy Spirits
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are a little different.
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I,
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yeah,
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does my life
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away from teaching
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and preaching,
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does my life
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away from being
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in front of people
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line up with what I'm saying?
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Am I the same person?
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Is there consistency?
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You know,
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this,
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this last couple weeks
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has been,
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has been tough
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for,
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for me personally
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and I allowed
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my circumstances
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to affect
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my emotions
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and,
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and how I acted.
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For you,
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does your life,
25:05
does what you communicate
25:06
here on Sunday morning,
25:08
or what you communicate
25:09
to your family,
25:10
or what you communicate
25:11
to friends
25:11
about being a Christian,
25:12
does it line up
25:13
with how you act
25:14
every other moment
25:16
of your day,
25:17
every other moment
25:18
of your week?
25:20
Are you consistent?
25:22
Does your life
25:23
line up?
25:25
Or do you allow
25:26
circumstances
25:27
to affect you?
25:31
Be the person
25:32
you say you are.
25:35
In chapter 15,
25:38
in 1 Corinthians,
25:39
where we are,
25:41
the church at Corinth
25:42
was having,
25:43
was having an identity
25:44
crisis.
25:46
They were,
25:47
they were messing
25:48
everything up.
25:49
Like every truth
25:50
that,
25:51
that Paul had taught
25:52
them,
25:52
they had completely
25:54
messed it up.
25:54
They were,
25:55
they were a messed
25:57
up bunch.
25:58
Messed up enough
25:58
that Paul had to
25:59
write two letters
26:00
to them.
26:01
They didn't get it
26:02
the first time.
26:04
And when,
26:05
what they had done
26:06
was they,
26:06
they had twisted
26:07
truths,
26:08
they had forgotten
26:08
the gospel
26:09
that,
26:09
that,
26:10
that God
26:10
and that Paul
26:11
had taught
26:11
them.
26:14
And so at the
26:14
beginning of,
26:15
of chapter 15,
26:18
after,
26:19
of course,
26:19
Paul wasn't
26:20
writing in
26:20
chapters,
26:21
but he says
26:22
in verse 1,
26:23
Now,
26:25
I would remind you
26:26
brothers,
26:27
of the gospel
26:28
I preach to you,
26:29
which you received,
26:31
in which you stand,
26:33
and by which you
26:33
are being saved,
26:35
if you hold fast
26:36
to the word I
26:37
preach to you,
26:38
unless you believe
26:39
in vain.
26:41
And he goes on
26:41
to,
26:42
as I read earlier,
26:43
to communicate
26:44
the gospel that,
26:45
that Christ died
26:47
for our sins,
26:48
that he was buried,
26:50
that he was
26:50
resurrected,
26:51
all as the
26:52
scriptures had
26:53
said.
26:58
So,
26:58
in verse 1 and 2,
27:00
this is who you
27:01
are in Christ.
27:02
You have received
27:03
the gospel in which
27:04
you stand.
27:06
Because of Christ,
27:08
you are able to
27:08
stand in this
27:09
truth.
27:13
Now,
27:13
stop being
27:14
distracted from
27:15
that truth
27:16
and forgetting
27:18
the gospel.
27:19
He has to remind
27:20
them the gospel.
27:23
For us,
27:24
you know,
27:24
it's one thing
27:25
to have moments
27:26
of disbelief
27:27
or moments
27:28
of inconsistency
27:29
and,
27:29
and of course,
27:31
we repent
27:32
and ask forgiveness
27:33
and we,
27:33
and we,
27:34
um,
27:35
try not to do it
27:36
again.
27:37
But it's a whole
27:38
other thing
27:38
to have a life
27:39
of that unbelief
27:42
and that inconsistency.
27:44
It's another thing
27:46
to,
27:46
to have a life
27:47
that is
27:48
mastered
27:51
by sin.
27:55
We have moments,
27:56
but we cannot
27:57
have a life
27:57
mastered by sin
27:58
and I would
27:59
question the
28:00
salvation of
28:00
anyone who
28:01
has mastered
28:02
by sin
28:04
because you
28:05
have been set
28:06
free from sin.
28:08
You have been
28:08
justified.
28:09
You have been
28:09
made right
28:10
before God
28:11
because of the
28:12
life,
28:14
death,
28:14
and resurrection
28:15
of Jesus Christ.
28:19
You cannot.
28:23
So,
28:24
for you
28:25
and for me,
28:26
are you being
28:27
the person
28:28
you say you are?
28:30
Does your life
28:31
line up with
28:31
what you're teaching?
28:33
Does your life
28:34
line up with
28:34
what you're saying,
28:35
what you're
28:35
communicating?
28:37
Does your life
28:37
line up?
28:39
Does how you
28:40
spend your money
28:41
line up with
28:42
the conviction
28:43
that you say you have?
28:44
does it all
28:45
line up with
28:45
scripture?
28:47
And that's the
28:48
trunk card.
28:52
Be the person
28:53
you say you are
28:54
and ultimately
28:56
be the person
28:57
that scripture
28:57
tells you to be.
29:00
So,
29:01
resolutions then.
29:03
Be,
29:04
or act
29:05
as the person
29:06
that God
29:06
has made you into.
29:08
Be about
29:09
the Lord's work
29:10
and be the person
29:12
you say you are.
29:13
if we do
29:15
these three,
29:17
if we can do
29:18
these three,
29:20
then all the
29:21
other things
29:21
that we can
29:22
think of as
29:22
resolutions
29:23
become secondary
29:24
to these.
29:27
And by God's
29:28
grace,
29:29
those secondary
29:30
things might
29:30
get done as
29:31
well.
29:33
We do things
29:34
to the glory
29:35
and honor of
29:35
God.
29:37
We may eat
29:38
differently.
29:39
We may act
29:40
differently.
29:40
We may speak
29:41
differently.
29:42
We may
29:45
yearn
29:46
and long
29:48
to know God
29:49
more and gain
29:49
that knowledge.
29:52
By God's
29:52
grace,
29:53
we'll share
29:54
the gospel
29:54
and we'll
29:55
learn about
29:56
people and
29:57
get to know
29:57
people.
30:00
We can do
30:01
these three
30:02
and everything
30:04
else is
30:04
secondary.
30:05
our lives
30:07
bring God
30:08
glory when
30:09
we love
30:09
Jesus,
30:10
when we
30:11
worship
30:11
Jesus,
30:12
and when
30:12
we honor
30:13
Jesus.
30:15
And I
30:16
believe that
30:16
these three
30:17
resolutions lead
30:18
us to do
30:18
just that.
30:22
Honor
30:23
Jesus,
30:23
love
30:24
Jesus,
30:25
worship
30:27
Jesus.
30:27
and of
30:29
course,
30:29
all of
30:30
this is
30:30
done
30:30
because of
30:31
Jesus.
30:32
We cannot
30:33
do any
30:33
of this
30:34
apart from
30:34
Christ.
30:36
So as we
30:37
live together,
30:38
as we
30:40
gather
30:41
together on
30:42
Sundays and
30:42
on Wednesdays
30:43
and on Thursday
30:44
nights and on
30:45
any other night
30:45
we get
30:46
together,
30:47
let us
30:48
resolve
30:48
to be the
30:51
person God
30:51
has made us
30:52
into,
30:52
to be about
30:54
the Lord's
30:54
work,
30:56
and to be
30:56
the person
30:57
that we
30:58
say we
30:58
are,
30:59
to be
30:59
consistent,
31:01
to not be
31:02
hypocrites,
31:03
to be lovers
31:04
of Jesus
31:05
with our
31:06
word and
31:07
deed.