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The-Cup-That-He-Drank · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: On the cross. He sealed my pardon, paid the debt,
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Speaker 1: and made me free. Isn't it great to be at
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Speaker 1: a place where someone else pays your debts? And as
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Speaker 1: a debt you could not and would not have ever
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Speaker 1: been able to pay for yourself, an eternal debt against
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Speaker 1: you and me because of our sin. That is what
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Speaker 1: makes the cross so significant. We don't worship the cross
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Speaker 1: anymore than we worship the Bible. These are magnificent messages
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Speaker 1: that tell us of the one to worship the cross,
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Speaker 1: for the sacrifice was made on our behalf in the
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Speaker 1: Bible that reveals the truth to us. Whatever was written
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Speaker 1: in earlier times, writes Paul to the Romans, was written
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Speaker 1: for our learning. That we threw patients and comfort from
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Speaker 1: the scriptures might have hope Romans fifteen four. God's word
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Speaker 1: gives us hope. You'll find in your worship folder and outline.
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Speaker 1: On the other side of the outline is a chart.
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Speaker 1: We'll look at both later. Put that at Luke chapter nine.
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Speaker 1: Please just tuck it there in the margin in the
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Speaker 1: crease of your bible at Luke nine, and then turned
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Speaker 1: to John eighteen. John eighteen is a very moving account
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Speaker 1: of the arrest of Jesus in the garden just after
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Speaker 1: the Last Supper and just before the torture related to
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Speaker 1: the cross, followed by, of course, his death as he
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Speaker 1: hung there for us. John eighteen is just in between
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Speaker 1: those two segments in time, maybe stand together for the
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Speaker 1: reading of God's word. When Jesus had spoken these words,
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Speaker 1: he went forth with his disciples over the ravine of
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Speaker 1: the Kidron, where there was a garden into which he
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Speaker 1: himself entered, and his disciples. Now Judas also, who was
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Speaker 1: betraying him, knew the place, for Jesus had often met
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Speaker 1: there with his disciples Verse four. Jesus, therefore, knowing all
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Speaker 1: the things that were coming upon him, went forth and
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Speaker 1: said to them, whom do you seek? They answered him,
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Speaker 1: Jesus the Nazarene. He said to them, I am he.
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Speaker 1: Judas also, who was betraying him, was standing with him.
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Speaker 1: When therefore he said to them, I am he. They
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Speaker 1: drew back and fell to the ground. Therefore he asked
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Speaker 1: him whom do you seek, And they said, Jesus the Nazarene.
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Speaker 1: Jesus answered, I told you that I am he. If
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Speaker 1: therefore you seek me, let these go their way. That
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Speaker 1: the word might be fulfilled which he spoke of those
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Speaker 1: whom thou hast given me, I lost not one simon. Peter, therefore,
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Speaker 1: having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest
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Speaker 1: slave and cut off his right ear. The slave's name
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Speaker 1: was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter, put the sword
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Speaker 1: into the sheath the cup which the Father has given me,
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Speaker 1: Shall I not drink it? Searching question that every disciple
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Speaker 1: must ask herself or himself, you may be seated. Our
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Speaker 1: world is in a world of hurt. Days are dark
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Speaker 1: in places of great importance in the eyes of people.
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Speaker 1: But there's nothing more significant happening today than what is
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Speaker 1: happening in this room, where we meet with the one
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Speaker 1: who has exalted over all, above all, and his plan
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Speaker 1: is working through all. The great temptation in this hour
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Speaker 1: is to panic. Believers in Christ have no need to
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Speaker 1: do such. Nothing is out of control, because whatever happens
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Speaker 1: to us first through the Father's hand. When we doubt
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Speaker 1: that sovereign work of God, panic replaces trust. We pray
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Speaker 1: today so that there might be a renewal and refreshment,
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Speaker 1: a reminder that our times are in his hand. They're
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Speaker 1: not in the hands of the United States government. They're
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Speaker 1: not in the hands of the particular few who make decisions.
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Speaker 1: Are in the hands of our God. And by the way,
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Speaker 1: he loves us. Remember say that with me he loves me.
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Speaker 1: Do it again, he loves me. Father, Thank you for
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Speaker 1: that divine love that pervades and encompasses and envelops us.
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Speaker 1: Thank you that it invaded this earth in the person
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Speaker 1: of your son, and for the first time love was
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Speaker 1: personified in a perfect model of life. Thank you for
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Speaker 1: your son's willingness to leave all the glories of heaven
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Speaker 1: and to set aside temporarily his divine attributes, so that
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Speaker 1: when they were exercised, they were exercised only in obedience
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Speaker 1: to your will and plan. May that mark our lives
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Speaker 1: find in us, Father, that kind of commitment. Hear us,
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Speaker 1: Lord today when we say, whatever the cup, we will
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Speaker 1: drink it, whatever the cross, we will bear it, Whatever
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Speaker 1: your will is, we want to be in it and
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Speaker 1: walk through it. Regardless of the times in which we live,
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Speaker 1: They're all in your hands. And thank you for that
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Speaker 1: reassurance that comes true clearly today, our Father, is we
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Speaker 1: focus our attention on the one who took our place
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Speaker 1: at the most tortuous means of death known to humanity.
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Speaker 1: And he did it for us because he loved us.
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Speaker 1: And we love you, Father, and that's why we are
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Speaker 1: giving you our gifts in Jesus' name. Everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 1: When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes
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Speaker 1: an impossible person and crushes him. You've heard me give
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Speaker 1: you that quotation before. It isn't original with me. It
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Speaker 1: has come from the teaching of the late doctor Alan Redpath.
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Speaker 1: When I was a first year student at Dallas Seminary.
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Speaker 1: Doctor Redpath came from Moody Memorial Church to bring a
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Speaker 1: lectureship at our school. I was first year there in
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Speaker 1: nineteen fifty nine, almost fifty years ago. I'd forgotten much
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Speaker 1: of what doctor Redpath taught, but a few lines like
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Speaker 1: that one I will never forget. Let me repeat it.
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Speaker 1: When God wants to do an impossible task, he takes
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Speaker 1: an impossible person and crushes him. Now, at first, that
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Speaker 1: sounds brutal, if not altogether cruel, until you understand that
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Speaker 1: becoming like Christ is a very painful process. In fact,
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Speaker 1: it takes a long time for many people to get
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Speaker 1: really serious about their walk with Christ, and that lengthy
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Speaker 1: period of time is marked by crushing experiences, which brings
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Speaker 1: me to another line that doctor Redpath gave. The conversion
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Speaker 1: of a soul is the miracle of a moment, but
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Speaker 1: the making of a saint is the task of a lifetime.
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Speaker 1: Think about that. Now, understand the word saint is used
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Speaker 1: in the broad sense, not in the sense of a
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Speaker 1: figure that stands in the wall there that is made
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Speaker 1: out of stone, or someone who's called a saint. We're
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Speaker 1: talking about a disciple of Jesus coming to No Christ
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Speaker 1: is in a point of time a decision made for
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Speaker 1: the Savior. Where we receive the gift of eternal life
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Speaker 1: by faith, because of God's grace, and we come to
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Speaker 1: Christ alone, by faith alone. That's called conversion. It's the
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Speaker 1: miracle of a moment. However, the process of becoming disciples
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Speaker 1: is a journey, as Redpath calls it, it's the task
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Speaker 1: of a lifetime. Turn if you will to Luke chapter
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Speaker 1: nine in your Bibles, and as you do, open your
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Speaker 1: outline to the opposite side, would you just turn it
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Speaker 1: on the reverse side. Sometimes there's a chart that helps
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Speaker 1: us see something a little more clearly, And I hope
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Speaker 1: this simple horizontal chart will do that for you start
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Speaker 1: at the far left and work your way to the right.
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Speaker 1: On the left, you will see an example or illustrations
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Speaker 1: of words used in the scriptures regarding those who do
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Speaker 1: not know Jesus Christ. We are called in Romans two
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Speaker 1: to one people without excuse. We are or we were enemies.
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Speaker 1: Romans five ten tells us we were dead in trespasses
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Speaker 1: and sins, says the first verse of Ephesians two. Furthermore,
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Speaker 1: we are told he who does not have the sun
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Speaker 1: does not have the life section out of First John
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Speaker 1: chapter five. All of this describes those who do not
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Speaker 1: know the Savior. And we were all in that situation
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Speaker 1: at one time in our existence. We were what the
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Speaker 1: scripture calls lost, unsaved, without hope, without a future with God.
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Speaker 1: We were away from God. And then you will notice
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Speaker 1: my grace through faith. And that is all set forth
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Speaker 1: in the New Testament. We come through the Cross of
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Speaker 1: Christ Romans five to eight, where God proves his love
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Speaker 1: to us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ
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Speaker 1: died for us. So we come through the cross to
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Speaker 1: faith in Christ. Notice that is called in today's terms, conversion.
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Speaker 1: That's called being born anew or born from above conversion.
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Speaker 1: This is the miracle of a moment. Now, notice the
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Speaker 1: arrow takes you into the circle that is on your
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Speaker 1: right here, and it's a large circle where we enter
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Speaker 1: into the family of God. We become believers in Christ.
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Speaker 1: That is, in a moment of time, we trust in
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Speaker 1: Jesus and we become believers in Christ. Notice around that
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Speaker 1: circle are words describing that event or that experience, that decision.
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Speaker 1: We are delivered from darkness, we are protected by God's power.
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Speaker 1: We are sealed in Christ. We become children of God,
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Speaker 1: and on and on. That list could go around that
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Speaker 1: major circle. Let me say to all of you who
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Speaker 1: know Christ, you are in that circle. You may not
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Speaker 1: feel like it some days, and truth be told, we
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Speaker 1: may not act like it some days. But we are
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Speaker 1: in Christ. And because of that, we are in the
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Speaker 1: family of God. And that is a sealed and secure
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Speaker 1: position to be. You will never be out of Christ
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Speaker 1: once you have been accepted into the family, just as
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Speaker 1: you will never have someone else's family blood flowing through
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Speaker 1: your system having been born into your family. No matter
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Speaker 1: how you act, no matter how you feel, you will
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Speaker 1: always bear the nature, the blood of your family heritage.
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Speaker 1: The same. In Christ, we are believers. Now look closer
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Speaker 1: into the circle. There is a smaller group. And we
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Speaker 1: put that in dotted lines because it is a process
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Speaker 1: of per It is a period of time we go
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Speaker 1: through as we experience the beginning stages of discipleship, where
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Speaker 1: we trust deeply in our Savior, where we are willing
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Speaker 1: to give up our wills for his will, where we
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Speaker 1: decide that the future is really in God's hands, not
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Speaker 1: our own. Selfishness is thrown out the window, and in
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Speaker 1: its place is a Christ's likeness that becomes the driving
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Speaker 1: force of our lives. Let me add here this is
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Speaker 1: when the crushing takes place. It isn't crushing to come
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Speaker 1: to know Christ. It becomes a crushing experience, a painful
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Speaker 1: journey as you learn, and I learned, to give up
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Speaker 1: our wills for the Father's will. It is called as
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Speaker 1: Jesus put it, taking his cross and following him. Now,
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Speaker 1: let me give you if I may, in simple terms,
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Speaker 1: a definition of being a believer in Christ. A Christian
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Speaker 1: is a person who is rightly related to God through
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Speaker 1: faith in Jesus Christ. If you have come by faith
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Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ, you are a Christian. You have taken
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Speaker 1: the gift of eternal life. You have become a believer
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Speaker 1: in Christ, Acts sixteen, verse thirty one. Believe on the
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Speaker 1: Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. One John
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Speaker 1: five eleven. God has given us eternal life, and this
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Speaker 1: life is in his Son. Listen to this. He who
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Speaker 1: has the Son has the life. He who does not
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Speaker 1: have the Son does not have the life. So we
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Speaker 1: enter into this relationship with God through faith in his Son. However,
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Speaker 1: it doesn't mean we've become automatically a disciple. It doesn't
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Speaker 1: mean that Christ is lord over every phase of our lives,
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Speaker 1: or even many phases of our lives. That's the task
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Speaker 1: of a lifetime. That's a journey that we must take
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Speaker 1: faithfully and painfully as we grow and mature in Christ.
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Speaker 1: I rejected the statement Redpath made when I was a
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Speaker 1: first year student in Dallas Seminary. I'd known very little
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Speaker 1: of crushing, to be frank about it, I thought that
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Speaker 1: sounded very brutal, and then came across Tozer's words, It's
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Speaker 1: doubtful God can use anyone greatly till he's hurt him deeply.
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Speaker 1: Hu rt not hard until he has hurt him deeply. None.
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Speaker 1: I began to be Christ, and for whatever it's worth,
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Speaker 1: you could say the same. I'm sure my crushing continues
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Speaker 1: to go on. The last couple of years of my
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Speaker 1: life and ministry have been some of the most crushing
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Speaker 1: of my entire Christian life. I have a friend who's
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Speaker 1: close to me, and he said, I thought, when you
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Speaker 1: reach your age, the hard times stop and the good
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Speaker 1: times enter. I said, well, I haven't gotten there yet,
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Speaker 1: but I keep hoping. I don't think they ever come,
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Speaker 1: not on this earth. Why because being transformed into the
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Speaker 1: likeness of Christ is a painful journey. Now, what is
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Speaker 1: becoming a disciple mean? It means becoming a close follower
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Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. It's a process. Listen to the process.
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Speaker 1: When I'd denounce all less or loyalties. I become a
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Speaker 1: disciple of Christ. When my love for Christ is greater
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Speaker 1: than my love for my wife and for my children.
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Speaker 1: I become a disciple of Christ when my goal is
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Speaker 1: to please Him more than to please my parents, or
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Speaker 1: my parents' best wishes, or someone else who has high
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Speaker 1: expectations of me. It's the transfer of that drive. It
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Speaker 1: includes the submission of my will to His will. It
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Speaker 1: involves self denial and unwillingness to pursue my own way
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Speaker 1: and to go God's way to please him. Now you
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Speaker 1: have your bible open to Luke nine, I want you
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Speaker 1: to look in verse twenty two down through. We'll go
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Speaker 1: down to verse twenty four. I know of no more
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Speaker 1: clear and concise section of scripture on disciple push in
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Speaker 1: few words than Luke nine twenty two through twenty four.
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Speaker 1: The son of Man must suffer many things, be rejected
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Speaker 1: by the elders, and cheap priests and scribes, be killed,
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Speaker 1: and be raised up on the third day. Look closely,
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Speaker 1: he was saying to them all. Remember last time we
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Speaker 1: were together, I said, context matters. Never never pull verses
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Speaker 1: out of context and make them walk on their own,
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Speaker 1: so to speak. See them in the context. In the context,
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Speaker 1: Jesus is with his own followers. So he says to
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Speaker 1: all of his followers. It's a small man, but he
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Speaker 1: says to all of them verse twenty three. He says
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Speaker 1: to them all, if anyone wishes to come after me,
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Speaker 1: He's now introducing discipleship to people who are already believers.
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Speaker 1: These men believe in him, but they have a long
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Speaker 1: ways to go in becoming close disciples. So he says,
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Speaker 1: if anyone wishes to come after me, there are three,
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Speaker 1: count them three requirements. Number one, let him deny himself.
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Speaker 1: Number two, let him take up his cross daily. And
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Speaker 1: number three you must follow me. Let me go back
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Speaker 1: to that definition of a disciple, and let me get
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Speaker 1: even more specific. A disciple is a believer whose commitment
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Speaker 1: to Christ has grown into a deep desire to obey,
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Speaker 1: regardless of the consequences, sacrifice or cost. In this case,
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Speaker 1: three specifics. Let's break them down. Number one, deny herself
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Speaker 1: or himself. Let him deny himself. The idea is to
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Speaker 1: say no to what you want as you say yes
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Speaker 1: to what Christ wants. It's to refuse. To acknowledge is
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Speaker 1: to disown. If you will, we have the words today
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Speaker 1: to dethrone self and to enthrone Christ, to make Christ
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Speaker 1: the ruling passion of our existence. You say that again,
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Speaker 1: I deny myself when I make Christ the ruling passion
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Speaker 1: of my existence. I want to hear from him. I
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Speaker 1: want to spend time with him. I want to learn
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Speaker 1: what his will is from my life. I want to
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Speaker 1: say yes to it. I want to go where he
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Speaker 1: leads me to go. I want to live where he
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Speaker 1: has guided me to live. I want to serve in
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Speaker 1: areas where He would have me serve. You get the picture.
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Speaker 1: I'm denying what I want, which I lived with for
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Speaker 1: many years of my life, and some of you are
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Speaker 1: still there. Your will, to quote the way my mother
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Speaker 1: used to put it, your will has never been broken.
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Speaker 1: You've never been Christ and God hammers away on that
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Speaker 1: will in all kinds of ways and experiences to teach
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Speaker 1: you the value of denying yourself, giving up your will
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Speaker 1: for his. You deny, you say no to what will
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Speaker 1: please you or necessarily bring you comfort. Here's the second.
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Speaker 1: You must take up your cross daily. Remember our previous
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Speaker 1: study on the cross, where we learned that it was
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Speaker 1: it is a symbol of death, including all the suffering
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Speaker 1: and the pain leading up to it. The cross, spiritually speak,
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Speaker 1: this word cross represents one's deliberate decision to abandon his
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Speaker 1: own preferences and plans and to live with the pain
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Speaker 1: of all that that entails. It means there will be
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Speaker 1: a number of friends you won't please any longer. It
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Speaker 1: doesn't mean you work hard to be obnoxious. It's not
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Speaker 1: like that. It means that you're following Christ is so
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Speaker 1: firm and sure that you no longer care that your
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Speaker 1: friend is not being pleased. You're not trying to be offensive,
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Speaker 1: You're just wanting to be obedient. Because sometimes our friends
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Speaker 1: don't want what is best for us, they want what
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Speaker 1: will make them happy. And so when I take up
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Speaker 1: my cross, I am willing to be to go back
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Speaker 1: to our word to be crushed. Yeah. I could just
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Speaker 1: go on and on in this sort of talk, but
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Speaker 1: I have to pause here, and if necessary, urge you
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Speaker 1: force you to enter into the realm of your own
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Speaker 1: will Right now? Are you still stubborn, strong willed? Are
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Speaker 1: you still determined no matter what, to get your way.
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Speaker 1: You're not a disciple of Christ. You're pleasing yourself. Furthermore,
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Speaker 1: you're making others around you miserable who want to be
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Speaker 1: disciples of Christ. It isn't something to brag about. I've
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Speaker 1: heard people say, Oh, that's just the way I am.
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Speaker 1: That's the problem. That's the problem. It's called depravity. And
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Speaker 1: if we keep living like that, we cause all kinds
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Speaker 1: of problems for ourselves and others. When Christ said I'm
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Speaker 1: going to the cross, can you imagine the shock that
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Speaker 1: those faithful eleven felt at this time, All twelve of
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Speaker 1: them felt. This is I think one of the turning
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Speaker 1: points for Judas, because he was a follower from a distance,
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Speaker 1: thinking someday there'd be a big place for him in
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Speaker 1: the administration of the kingdom. Suddenly he finds out he's
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Speaker 1: going to go to a cross. In fact, Peter on
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Speaker 1: one occasion stood against that thought, and Jesus said to him,
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Speaker 1: you get behind me, Satan. Send it to one of
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Speaker 1: the lead disciples. You get behind me, Satan, I am
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Speaker 1: going to the cross. So we take up our cross.
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Speaker 1: And please don't overlook that word daily. It's a daily decision.
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Speaker 1: Trust me, it'll happen tomorrow. You're going to want your way,
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Speaker 1: and you're going to run up again against his way,
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Speaker 1: and you'll come again to the moment whether you want
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Speaker 1: to be one who takes up his cross. And Third
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Speaker 1: is the word follow me. It means to obey. To
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Speaker 1: emulate includes all the suffering, all the pain leading up
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Speaker 1: to that point. Spiritually speaking, that's what it includes. Remember
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Speaker 1: when you were a kid, you played follow the leader.
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Speaker 1: The kids play follow the leader anymore. I remember years ago,
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Speaker 1: way back, when the Earth's crust was cooling. I was
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Speaker 1: small and I had a lot of buddies around and
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Speaker 1: we were one guy would be the leader, and I
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Speaker 1: mean he would take us into the most unbelievable He
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Speaker 1: jump off places. I'd say, no, wait, God, then you're out.
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Speaker 1: So I had to jump off because I'm a follow
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Speaker 1: the leader. That was back when I was following Klutzes
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Speaker 1: who did all kinds of crazy things. But you could
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Speaker 1: trust him. But you can be sure there'll be risk involved.
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Speaker 1: You can be certain that as your decision to move
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Speaker 1: from the outer circle to the inner circle and become
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Speaker 1: one of those close followers. And by the way, the
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Speaker 1: ranks are still thin, always will be, always will be
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Speaker 1: many more believers than there are close followers, because we
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Speaker 1: don't want to obey anyone else. We want our own way.
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Speaker 1: John R. W. Stott writes this, Jesus gave no encouragement
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Speaker 1: whatever to thoughtless applicants for discipleship. Thousands of men and
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Speaker 1: women every year are still undertaking to follow Christ without
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Speaker 1: ever pausing to reflect on the cost of that enterprise.
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Speaker 1: They have allowed themselves to become somewhat involved, enough to
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Speaker 1: be respectable, but not enough to be uncomfortable. I'll get specific.
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Speaker 1: You have a fine career, you are middle age, you
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Speaker 1: and your family. Let's put you in a situation where
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Speaker 1: you're married and you've got two or three kiddos, and
27:11
Speaker 1: you're on your way to another promotion and yet another promotion.
27:15
Speaker 1: You're moving into the realm of financial security you've thought
27:19
Speaker 1: about and wanted to have, and your dad and certainly
27:22
Speaker 1: your father in law wanted you to have. And as
27:25
Speaker 1: time passed, the future looks brighter. And then you get
27:29
Speaker 1: serious about spiritual things. I am only imagining this, I
27:32
Speaker 1: have no one in mind. So listen closely, but relax.
27:39
Speaker 1: In the process of growing and learning and hurting and discovering,
27:42
Speaker 1: you realize your place is ministry. You're to be in
27:48
Speaker 1: vocational Christian service. You're no longer to be in the
27:53
Speaker 1: realm of those who watch ministry transpire. You realize you
27:58
Speaker 1: really sense a peace peace that you need to be
28:04
Speaker 1: returning to school, get further education, go to seminary and
28:11
Speaker 1: get that graduate degree so that you are then for
28:14
Speaker 1: the rest of your life equipped to help others grow deeply.
28:20
Speaker 1: But what does that mean? Do the math. It means
28:27
Speaker 1: you leave a very secure position. Probably means you move
28:30
Speaker 1: to another part of the country. It means you live
28:33
Speaker 1: in a situation that is not the kind of comfort
28:37
Speaker 1: you have enjoyed before. It means your income is reduced considerably.
28:42
Speaker 1: It means your partner may have to go to work
28:45
Speaker 1: to make that happen. It means you will now enter
28:48
Speaker 1: the ranks of the unfamiliar. You will now be exposed
28:53
Speaker 1: to information you have never heard before or studied, and
28:59
Speaker 1: are following Christ. That happened in my life, It's happened
29:08
Speaker 1: in the lives of a number of people listening right now. Now.
29:13
Speaker 1: Ideally your partner is with you in that journey. One
29:17
Speaker 1: of my favorite questions when I meet brand new seminary
29:19
Speaker 1: students and they come to the church to visit, and
29:23
Speaker 1: they'll say, Hi, we're first year students, and they always
29:25
Speaker 1: have that look about them, little bit bewildered. So invariably
29:30
Speaker 1: we'll look in case this is a man that introduces himself,
29:32
Speaker 1: I'll look at his wife and I'll say, what do
29:35
Speaker 1: you think about that? I get some very interesting answers
29:39
Speaker 1: these days, very interesting. Sometimes it's just like out of
29:45
Speaker 1: the textbook, Oh, this is the fulfillment of our dream.
29:49
Speaker 1: Other times I'll hear I'm not so sure, and that
29:53
Speaker 1: makes for a very difficult process of years. Maybe the
29:59
Speaker 1: man acted too quickly in his decision, and perhaps wisdom
30:02
Speaker 1: would say, let's spend some time working this through with
30:06
Speaker 1: your wife so that she's on board with you. Having
30:13
Speaker 1: partners where one is a disciple and one is not
30:15
Speaker 1: is a pretty difficult way to live. Pretty difficult. That's
30:20
Speaker 1: just one application that comes to mind. You see, God
30:25
Speaker 1: specializes in this sort of thing, as he brings us
30:29
Speaker 1: from the ranks of general believers, those who know Christ.
30:34
Speaker 1: When they die, we're going to go to Heaven. We're
30:37
Speaker 1: sure of that. We know Sunday comes. We want to
30:40
Speaker 1: be a part of the worship service. We understand that.
30:46
Speaker 1: But just don't let it get in my way. When
30:50
Speaker 1: you become a disciple, it gets in your way. Suddenly
30:57
Speaker 1: you move from the ranks of the complacent to the committed.
31:06
Speaker 1: Turn to John chapter eighteen. Will you do that? John eighteen?
31:13
Speaker 1: Just a few thoughts here, and we're on our way.
31:17
Speaker 1: Remember the context. Remember the context. The Last Supper is
31:25
Speaker 1: over all. The teaching in the upper room has passed.
31:30
Speaker 1: The prayer on the way to geth Semone has been
31:33
Speaker 1: asked by Jesus to the Father. He has not yet
31:38
Speaker 1: been arrested, but he's gone through the pain of geth semone,
31:43
Speaker 1: let the cup pass from me. If it's possible, Lord,
31:47
Speaker 1: let it be another way. It's obvious that it was
31:51
Speaker 1: the Father's plan for him to be Christ, and so Jesus,
31:57
Speaker 1: having spoken these words, went forth with his disciple over
32:00
Speaker 1: the ravine. Judas, who was betraying him, knew the place
32:04
Speaker 1: where they went, that had often been there. Judas was
32:07
Speaker 1: now with the Roman cohort and the officers who came
32:10
Speaker 1: with lanterns and torches and weapons verse three. All of
32:14
Speaker 1: this is a threatening setting. To the surprise of the
32:19
Speaker 1: mob who came to arrest him, there was no fight.
32:23
Speaker 1: You know what, Let me use the words I've been using,
32:27
Speaker 1: because they met up with the Ultimate Disciple. They were
32:33
Speaker 1: just they didn't know it, but they were emissaries carrying
32:36
Speaker 1: out the Father's will. So they come ready for a fight,
32:40
Speaker 1: ready to chase him. That's why they brought the torches.
32:44
Speaker 1: And he says to them in verse four, of whom
32:46
Speaker 1: do you seek? Don't you love it? Ever had a
32:50
Speaker 1: thief in your home and you walk up on him,
32:52
Speaker 1: He says, Hey, who are you looking for? It's me?
32:56
Speaker 1: Caught me, Except in this case he's no thief. The
33:00
Speaker 1: only perfect man who ever lived. But they want to
33:02
Speaker 1: kill him, which they don't know it's the Father's plan.
33:05
Speaker 1: It's all jumbled up in their mind. They just think
33:08
Speaker 1: he's he's a phony, he's a fraud. They're going to
33:12
Speaker 1: put an end to it. But he's doing the father's will.
33:16
Speaker 1: So he says, who are you looking for? And they said,
33:18
Speaker 1: Jesus a Nazarene. He said, that's me. I'm he and
33:24
Speaker 1: it blows them away. In fact, the scripture reads so carefully,
33:29
Speaker 1: they drew back and fell to the ground, you know,
33:33
Speaker 1: I mean they were down and out. I couldn't believe it.
33:36
Speaker 1: And so he helps them back up again. Now, who
33:39
Speaker 1: again are you seeking? Jesus a Nazarene told you that
33:42
Speaker 1: I'm the one. Why don't you let these others go?
33:45
Speaker 1: Because you really want me? And he of course did
33:49
Speaker 1: that so the word would be fulfilled. Now look at Simon. Peter,
33:52
Speaker 1: who is not yet a real deep disciple, pulls out
33:58
Speaker 1: a sword. It's a little sword. Let me get him of.
34:07
Speaker 1: Some ear drops off, and Jesus has been working with
34:11
Speaker 1: Peter for years to keep the sword in the sheath.
34:17
Speaker 1: Don't take the sword out, Peter, Peter. But see that's
34:25
Speaker 1: what we do. That's our nature. It's like you know me.
34:28
Speaker 1: The story is about the traffic. Traffic's heavy. You're on
34:32
Speaker 1: the tollway. Somebody wants in. Are you kidding? I was
34:38
Speaker 1: here before you were. Well you think you think, you
34:42
Speaker 1: think you own this road. No, there's no way. And
34:45
Speaker 1: he puts this little bumper up in front. You go with, okay,
34:51
Speaker 1: as soon as you get a chance, you get a
34:52
Speaker 1: round in front of him. Why because you're depraved, You're
34:56
Speaker 1: a rotten center and you want you want your lane.
35:01
Speaker 1: I mean, after all, you owned a road. That's your spot.
35:05
Speaker 1: Ever thought about that that goes on in the traffic.
35:07
Speaker 1: I mean a comedian could go crazy with it. One
35:09
Speaker 1: little space, No way, man, that's my space. I'm leable
35:14
Speaker 1: to be late. How late maybe he split second, I
35:18
Speaker 1: don't know. We spend most of our life taking our
35:23
Speaker 1: sword out of its sheath and slugging somebody with it.
35:28
Speaker 1: Had a man say to me following the first service today,
35:31
Speaker 1: for the first time, and as long as I can remember,
35:33
Speaker 1: I'm putting the sword in the sheath, and he cried.
35:41
Speaker 1: He described his life very briefly, just succinctly, as he
35:44
Speaker 1: described a self willed life is. I'm tired of cutting
35:49
Speaker 1: off ears. Look at Jesus' words. Put the sword in
35:56
Speaker 1: the sheep, the cup and the sheath, the cup which
35:59
Speaker 1: the has given me. Shall I not drink it? The
36:07
Speaker 1: cup the Father's will. It means one thing to one person,
36:14
Speaker 1: something all together different to someone else. For me, it
36:17
Speaker 1: meant where I wound up doing what I'm doing. For you,
36:20
Speaker 1: it means something altogether different, you know what. All the
36:25
Speaker 1: way through our ministry lives, Cynthia and I have had
36:27
Speaker 1: people telling us, as we were getting ready to make
36:30
Speaker 1: a move to go somewhere else, that we shouldn't be
36:32
Speaker 1: doing it. People are just loaded with misinformation and they
36:36
Speaker 1: can be so logical. I remember when we were leaving
36:40
Speaker 1: Irving to move to California, California. I mean, are you
36:46
Speaker 1: ready for that? There are no good families in California.
36:50
Speaker 1: There are no deep roots in California. In fact, the
36:53
Speaker 1: last words we heard the lady put our elbows on
36:56
Speaker 1: the window beside my wife as we're getting ready to
36:59
Speaker 1: back out of our driveway, and she said, you know,
37:01
Speaker 1: the Lord gets blamed for a lot of stuff he
37:03
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with. How's that for a farewell?
37:07
Speaker 1: Have a great ministry. And we got there and we
37:12
Speaker 1: didn't plan it. I went kicking and screaming, that's exactly
37:18
Speaker 1: where we ought to have been for as long as
37:21
Speaker 1: we should have been there. In fact, we were there
37:22
Speaker 1: so long. I was a part of the woodwork. This
37:25
Speaker 1: is great, this is wonderful, this is easy. And once
37:28
Speaker 1: the Lord heard the word easy, the cup. He's good
37:33
Speaker 1: with cups. It's just the right moment. So I got
37:36
Speaker 1: a call from Dallas Seminary, thinking, there's no way, are
37:40
Speaker 1: you kidding? I've been out here so long, man, they're
37:43
Speaker 1: going to name a street after me one of these days. Easy.
37:48
Speaker 1: I don't want you to be easy. I want you
37:50
Speaker 1: to be where I want you to be. I mean
37:53
Speaker 1: back to Dallas. They know me there, but I want
37:58
Speaker 1: to go back to Dallas. You check the weather lately, Lord,
38:03
Speaker 1: So I had people there say, wow, on Earth are
38:05
Speaker 1: you going to live? Really? Tell us what's the real reason?
38:10
Speaker 1: Tell us? Yeah, people do that too. You tell them like,
38:13
Speaker 1: there's somebody with a gun over here to tell me
38:15
Speaker 1: he's getting ready to shoot you. Why are you going
38:17
Speaker 1: to be That's part of doing the Father's will. So
38:23
Speaker 1: I get here and it begins to come clear, come clear, easy,
38:27
Speaker 1: never once. I don't think there's been an easy day, right. Absolutely.
38:35
Speaker 1: People see this and they see the growth and they think, boy, Chuck,
38:38
Speaker 1: you must be so proud. Are you kidding? I am shocked.
38:44
Speaker 1: I am surprised. I don't worry about empty seats. I'm
38:48
Speaker 1: amazed there are filled seats. Why is this isn't about me?
38:55
Speaker 1: You just happen to be witnessing a cup being drunk.
39:02
Speaker 1: You're seeing a disciple live his life. Forgive the personal reference.
39:07
Speaker 1: It's not meant out of pride, and I guarantee you
39:09
Speaker 1: it's not if you could know the whole story. You
39:13
Speaker 1: know what I'm trying to say. I am in the
39:17
Speaker 1: place of his appointment to do what he wishes. And
39:21
Speaker 1: I've learned the hard way that if I fight it,
39:23
Speaker 1: I lose, and I should. But this is again about me.
39:29
Speaker 1: It's about you, you who are fighting it. This message
39:33
Speaker 1: is about drinking the cup the Father has given you.
39:39
Speaker 1: So I got four statements I want you to write down. Okay,
39:42
Speaker 1: get your pen ready, all of you who want to
39:45
Speaker 1: keep your sword in the sheath. Take them in very carefully,
39:50
Speaker 1: write them down, put them where you'll read them later.
39:53
Speaker 1: You'll need them. For every disciple, there is a purpose
39:58
Speaker 1: to be fulfilled. For every disciple, there is a purpose
40:04
Speaker 1: to be fulfilled. That's why he invites you to be
40:07
Speaker 1: a disciple, until then you fight the purpose. When you've
40:13
Speaker 1: broken through and you decide, I disclaim all lesser loyalties.
40:18
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do what my neighbors think I ought
40:20
Speaker 1: to do. I'm not gonna do what my church members
40:24
Speaker 1: are confident I ought to do. I'm not gonna do
40:26
Speaker 1: necessarily what my wife is thinking is the best thing
40:29
Speaker 1: to do. I'm counseling, I'm listening to her, but I
40:32
Speaker 1: gotta do what I believe the Father would have me do.
40:35
Speaker 1: That's a lonely place to be. Why there's a purpose there,
40:39
Speaker 1: there's a purpose. And when you've got a mate in
40:42
Speaker 1: life that sees that she or he doesn't resist it,
40:48
Speaker 1: there's a god given mission. There's a divine plan, there's
40:51
Speaker 1: a mandate, there's a heaven sent assignment. Horatio Bonar put
40:58
Speaker 1: it this way, I dare not choose my lot. I
41:02
Speaker 1: would not if I might choose thou for me, my God.
41:06
Speaker 1: So shall I walk aright? Take now my cup, and
41:11
Speaker 1: it with joy or sorrow fill is best to thee
41:14
Speaker 1: may seem choose now my good or ill, not mine,
41:19
Speaker 1: Not mine the choice in things both great or small.
41:23
Speaker 1: Be thou my guide, my strength, my wisdom, my all.
41:30
Speaker 1: Be that Lord, let your purpose be fulfilled. Second, with
41:35
Speaker 1: every purpose, there is a cup to be drunk. It
41:42
Speaker 1: will be a challenging obstacle. It will be a hindrance
41:47
Speaker 1: along the way. It could be a personal foreign you
41:49
Speaker 1: have to endure. It could be misunderstanding from others. It
41:54
Speaker 1: will require an attitude of acceptance. And with every purpose,
41:58
Speaker 1: there's a cup to be drunk. And that cup will
42:02
Speaker 1: taste bitter to you. It'll taste bitter at the time.
42:09
Speaker 1: It'll be bitter. I'm not saying when you step into
42:16
Speaker 1: his will from then on it's a downhill slide. I'm saying,
42:19
Speaker 1: when you step into his will, that's when the meaning
42:22
Speaker 1: of the cross takes new dimensions. At seminary, we lose
42:30
Speaker 1: a baby. We lose a baby of all things. We
42:37
Speaker 1: have a miscarriage. We wanted that baby. The loss of
42:44
Speaker 1: the baby was a journey that I have never shared
42:48
Speaker 1: with anyone. It's too personal. Five months a long, that
42:54
Speaker 1: little cord wrapped around her neck, stillborn. There's a cup
43:05
Speaker 1: to be drunk. I could have said, why on the
43:06
Speaker 1: earth am I? Here? Is this the thanks I get
43:09
Speaker 1: for obeying? No, it's not like that. It doesn't work
43:12
Speaker 1: like that. It's not your will is his will. Third,
43:19
Speaker 1: in every cup, there is pain to accept and endure.
43:26
Speaker 1: In every cup, there is pain to accept and endure.
43:31
Speaker 1: There's discomfort. There are the hurts, there are the interferences.
43:36
Speaker 1: There is the affliction that disappointment, sometimes disease, sometimes delay.
43:41
Speaker 1: I love v Raymond Edmund's Little Book on the where
43:45
Speaker 1: he mentioned delay, the pain of delayed accomplishments part of
43:51
Speaker 1: the cup, part of the pain. We like instant gratification,
43:57
Speaker 1: like instant results, Disciples, there's nothing instant In every cup.
44:05
Speaker 1: There's pain to accept it. Through every pain, there's victory
44:10
Speaker 1: to claim. Through every pain, there's victory to claim. I
44:22
Speaker 1: close with the writings and life of George Matheson, Please listen. M.
44:28
Speaker 1: A T h E. S O N wrote the hymn
44:31
Speaker 1: O Love that Will Not Let Me Go. Almost blind
44:35
Speaker 1: by the time he finished school, completely blind by the
44:39
Speaker 1: time he entered ministry, and for forty years he ministered
44:42
Speaker 1: totally blind. George Matheson he attracted overflowing crowds who came
44:49
Speaker 1: to hear him preach, and especially to hear him pray.
44:53
Speaker 1: For forty years, other fellow ministers were afraid to hear
44:58
Speaker 1: his sermons because, as they put it, they are so
45:02
Speaker 1: great we are tempted to plagiarism. George Matheson blind not
45:10
Speaker 1: only preacher and a man of prayer, but a writer
45:14
Speaker 1: a song in his wonderful work, thoughts for life's journey.
45:21
Speaker 1: My soul reject not the place of thy prostration. It
45:26
Speaker 1: has ever been the robing room of royalty, a beautiful wording,
45:31
Speaker 1: robing room of royalty. Ask the great ones of the
45:36
Speaker 1: past what has been the spot of their prosperity. They
45:39
Speaker 1: will say it was the cold ground on which I
45:42
Speaker 1: once was lying. Ask Abraham, he will point you to
45:47
Speaker 1: the sacrifice on Mariah. Ask Joseph, he will direct you
45:51
Speaker 1: to his dungeon in Egypt. Ask Moses, he will date
45:55
Speaker 1: his fortune from his danger in the Nile. Ask Ruth,
46:00
Speaker 1: she will bid you build her monument in the field
46:02
Speaker 1: of her toil. Ask David, he will tell you that
46:06
Speaker 1: his songs came in the night. Ask Job he will
46:11
Speaker 1: remind you that God answered him out of the whirlwind
46:15
Speaker 1: of loss. Ask Paul, he will attribute his inspiration to
46:20
Speaker 1: the light that struck him blind. Ask one more, the
46:27
Speaker 1: son of man, He will answer. From the cold ground
46:31
Speaker 1: on which I was lying, getsemone ground, I receive my scepter. There.
46:41
Speaker 1: This is called the fellowship of His sufferings, and there's
46:48
Speaker 1: everything within.
46:49
Speaker 2: Us to resist it.
46:54
Speaker 1: Accept the cup. That's the model. That's why the cross
47:03
Speaker 1: continues to be that symbol for us. About with me,
47:09
Speaker 1: will you please? I know that today I've been speaking
47:14
Speaker 1: to a few impossible people. I know because I once was.
47:22
Speaker 1: I don't know how many times my mother would say
47:24
Speaker 1: to me, son, you are impossible. I don't know how
47:28
Speaker 1: many times my wife said to me early in marriage,
47:32
Speaker 1: you are impossible. The shame of it all is how
47:37
Speaker 1: many times God said to me, you think you're impossible.
47:45
Speaker 1: That I have a cup for you. I don't know
47:50
Speaker 1: what your cup is. It may be physical affliction, maybe
47:53
Speaker 1: a loss of a dream, maybe a broken romance, maybe
47:58
Speaker 1: a life of loneliness, feeling forgotten and obscure, and maybe
48:04
Speaker 1: physical pain, maybe a mental breakdown, some heart breaking something
48:19
Speaker 1: that God would use to deepen your commitment to him.
48:26
Speaker 1: If you've never met the Savior. Now's the time. If
48:29
Speaker 1: you have played around with your faith, now's the time
48:34
Speaker 1: to move into the inner circle playground.
48:38
Speaker 2: Days are over.
48:42
Speaker 1: Lord. I pray that you'll use much of this in
48:46
Speaker 1: a deep and abiding and significant way in all our lives.
48:52
Speaker 1: Forgive us our father for resisting the cup, for running
48:57
Speaker 1: from the cross, for pursu's doing what we wanted and
49:05
Speaker 1: missing altogether what it was you wanted, and then having
49:10
Speaker 1: stopped us in our tracks. I pray that you will
49:12
Speaker 1: give us sensitive spirits to hear what you're saying, and
49:17
Speaker 1: an open willingness to do where you're leading, to go there,
49:24
Speaker 1: to do it, and to rejoice in the victory of it. Now, Lord,
49:33
Speaker 1: dismiss us in this solemn moment, with the realization that
49:36
Speaker 1: you are the one in charge, and if we've learned
49:40
Speaker 1: nothing else, enable us to learn that.
49:45
Speaker 2: From this message. In the name of our submissive, matchless master,
49:53
Speaker 2: we pray everyone said.
49:57
Speaker 1: Amen. The preceding message, The Cup that He Drank, was
50:04
Speaker 1: copyrighted in two thousand eight, and the sound recording was
50:07
Speaker 1: copyrighted in two thousand nine by Charles R. Swindall, Inc.
50:11
Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.