Latest / Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast / Step Down!

Transcript

Step Down! · Chip Ingram Sermon Podcast

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Today on Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.
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I've got a story to tell you today that you've
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got to hear. A great coach gave me a great piece
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of advice at a very critical moment, and you
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won't believe how it came out. Stay with me.
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What would happen if the men and women in the
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church actually prayed? Prayed for their enemies.
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Prayed for leaders they disagree with. Prayed
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for the whole world, not just their tribe. I'm
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Dave Drewy, and today on Living on the Edge,
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Chip Ingram takes us deeper in his study called
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You Can Make Disciples, Personal Coaching from
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the Apostle Paul. Through this study, Chip is
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sharing godly wisdom that the Apostle Paul passed
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on to his protege, Timothy. And today we're discussing
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prayer. Remember, you can always revisit or share
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these lessons anytime by going online to livingontheedge
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.org. Well, now here's Chip Ingram with his message,
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Step Down. It's my senior year. It's our year
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-end tournament. It was NAIA. We were playing
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the number one team in the nation. They were
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in our league. There was a reason why we were
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playing them in the first round. You do the math.
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We had the game of our life. We're down two.
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There's a jump ball, and some guy hacks me. The
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crowd goes silent. The other coach calls timeout
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to ice me. I got the one -on -one, no time, one
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second left on the clock. And it's like, I mean,
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I've just been waiting for this my whole life.
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So I'll never forget, we went through about four
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or five coaches that year. That's why we were
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6 -26. And the AD came in. He goes, look, Ingram,
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Ingram, he was a former Marine. He goes, look,
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look, you're tired. We haven't substituted. You've
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played the whole game. Aim for the back of the
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rim. And I'm thinking, I guess that's what some
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old Marine guy thinks. He doesn't understand.
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Dude, I've been playing for a long time. I'm
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like, I'm 20 years old. And I always drop it
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right over the front. And I remember there's
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about 10 ,000 people and it's a big tournament.
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Didn't went through my regular routine, breath,
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knees, follow through. That's nothing but net
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because I can feel it. And it came up just a
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little short because my legs were tired. I remember
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the next day I was in a little diner and I was
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eating breakfast and of course we were out of
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the tournament and some guy says to another guy,
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pulls out the paper, can you believe that? West
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Liberty State took on the number one team in
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the nation and some idiot couldn't hit a one
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-on -one. And you know, think about that. I know
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it's hard for you to believe that was a lot of
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years ago for me because of how young I look.
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But I remember that because I willfully remember
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thinking, I know better. I'm not going to listen
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to him. And you know, God has things to say to
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all of us. And if you're not really careful,
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the world's pounding at you. There's other people.
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And you can kind of have this. You don't even
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have to stick out your chest. Yeah, I know better.
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And coaches can't help you and God can't help
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us unless we're humble learners. So the Apostle
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Paul is giving counsel to his young son. And
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remember, he said, step up. Are you willing to
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stand for the truth for my church? Because a
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lot on the line. And what's on the line is that
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Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
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And Timothy, if you don't step up, a lot of people
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will never know or ever hear. The context is
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Nero is the emperor, and this is going to be
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really important. I mean, he's persecuting Christians.
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I mean, to step up and be a follower of Christ,
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he wasn't saying like someone might say something
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bad about you on social media. What he was saying
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is there's a good possibility that you're going
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to end up dead. But are you willing to live for
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Christ? Women at this time in world history were
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viewed as a piece of property. I'll give you
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some data on that from an expert a little bit
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later. For example, a Jew who treated women the
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best would get up every day and say a prayer.
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Lord, I thank you that I'm not a Gentile, a slave,
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or a woman. A good rabbi would not say a word
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in public to his wife, his daughter, his sister.
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They were viewed as a piece of property, and
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it was much worse in the Greek and Roman world.
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Cults were flourishing. I mean, there were just
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religions, mystic religions on every corner.
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And the great mystic religions of Corinth with
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Aphrodite and the Temple of Diana in Ephesus,
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they were called priestesses and they were part
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of your worship. They were called temple prostitutes.
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And so it's in that environment that Paul has
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now said, okay, do you remember what he said?
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Fight the good fight. Keep the faith. And now
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in chapter two, He's going to tell him how. Follow
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along as I read as he's going to give him an
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urgent call for prayer. So fight the good fight.
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So what's the first thing you're supposed to
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do? First of all then, okay, here's the game
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plan. This is how we're going to fight. I urge
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that request, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving
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be made in behalf of all people. Circle the world
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all in your Bibles. He uses four different words
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for prayer. Requests. Prayers, general word.
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Intercession. Stand between them and God that
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God would have his way in their life. Give thanks.
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Give thanks for what you do have. Give thanks
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that God will work the difficult out for good.
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And then, now imagine, this is, you're a young
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pastor. In fact, don't imagine. Imagine you live
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in America. Or the Ukraine? Or in Russia? Or
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maybe in China? And you read this and it says,
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I urge you to pray for all people, for kings.
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That would mean Nero. Everyone in charge, pray
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for them. What kind of prayers? Intercession.
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Thanksgiving. Ask God to work. Ask God to move
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in their heart. Ask God to actually bless their
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life. For all in authority, that would be like
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the governors of the provinces. And then notice
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the purpose clause, so that we may lead a tranquil
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and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
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In other words, I want you to pray for the cultural
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chaos and the pressure and the persecution so
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that God would allow peace because more than
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your protection is we want to have the kind of
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lives that would be attractive to the gospel.
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And then notice he goes on. He says, this is
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good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior
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who wants, circle the word again, all people
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to be saved. And I'm thinking, Tim's going, Nero?
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Yeah. Christ died for him. And to come to a knowledge
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of the truth. And then here's the big purpose
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clause. Why? Why? Why should I pray that way?
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I don't want to pray that way. Paul, are you
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crazy? This is not good advice. I don't want
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to take your advice. I'm going to do it my way.
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For there is one God and one mediator. That's
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someone who stands between two groups. Between
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God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus. And what
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did he do? Who gave himself as a ransom. Put
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a box around that word. For, then circle the
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word all again. The testimony given at the proper
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time. A ransom is, right, if you have ever heard
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of someone who's been kidnapped, how do you get
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them back? You pay so much money to get them
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released. Jesus saw all of mankind in the chains
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of sin and to get all of mankind released. He,
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being fully man and fully God, would voluntarily
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hang upon a cross and his blood would be the
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purchase price for all people of all time. The
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scope of his work was for all mankind. However,
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like every great and magnificent gift, the only
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people that benefit are those who receive it.
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John would say, as he would write his gospel
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later, as many as received him, Jesus, To them,
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God gives the power. Literally, the Greek word
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is authority to become children of God, even
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to those that believe in his name. And so all
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I want you to get is sometimes you get advice,
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and I don't know about you, I did not want to
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aim for the back of the rim because in my driveway,
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it was the front of the rim. Problem is, I hadn't
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played 40 minutes in my driveway before I made
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most of those shots. And there's a way to look
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at life right now. that I have a lens and you
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have a lens by your culture and Chinese have
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their culture and Russians have their culture
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and the people in the Ukraine have their culture
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and we all have our own vested entrance and way
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above all of that, just like then and just like
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now, the Apostle Paul is saying to this young
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pastor, I want you to intercede and pray and
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give thanks and I want you to stand between.
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the living God of all time and eternity. And
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I want you to pray for kings and those in authority
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and people that you disagree with. In fact, people
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that you might find even hate in your heart toward.
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Because this is good and pleasing in the sight
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of our God and our Savior. And what he longs
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for us to do is be the kind of people that live
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such winsome lives. Who are so kind and so loving
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and so Christ -like. Do you remember how Jesus
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prayed, Father, can you help me? Forgive them?
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They don't know what they're doing. Jesus understood
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that the enemy wasn't the fallen people. The
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enemy was the evil behind it. Stephen prayed
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as they were stoning him, Father, forgive them.
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Does it mean you agree with people? And I think
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we can pray very strong prayers. I have very
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purposely prayed for, well, I'm praying God would.
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Break down strongholds and world leaders and
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things that are happening. I'm praying for our
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president. I pray for our president when he's
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a blue stater and I pray for our president when
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he's a red stater. Are you starting to get it?
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Because there's something bigger than all those
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secondary things. There is one mediator between
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God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Now look at
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what Paul says. For this purpose, I was appointed
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as a preacher, proclaimant, and a possible one
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who is sent. I am telling the truth and I'm not
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lying as a teacher to help people grow of the
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Gentiles. And then here's our word again, in
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faith and truth. Christian life always boils
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down to, am I willing to trust in what God has
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said? And so that's the context. And now he's
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going to apply it to two groups. And before I
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read the next set of passages, here's what I
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want you to get. We tend to read the Bible out
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of our own world. So when you read the word church
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or worship, what do you think of? You think of
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what you do on Sunday morning. You understand
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the first 300 years of the church, there wasn't
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a cathedral. Church was six or eight people meeting
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who invited some of their friends. Usually they
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shared a meal together. Someone would take a
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scroll that one of the apostles had written.
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The early church for the first years were all
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eyewitnesses of the risen Christ. And these little
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house churches are popping up all over the place.
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And their lives were, they were doing silly,
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crazy things. I could show you ancient Greek
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documents of one person who's investigating Christianity
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during one of the persecutions. And he goes.
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They hide in caves. They give their money to
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one another. They greet one another with a holy
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kiss, and they're taking all the babies that
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we throw out on the dump heaps. We have no idea.
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They're crazy. In fact, we think they might be
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cannibals because they keep talking about drinking
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someone's blood. Completely misunderstood. Gracious,
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loving, counterculture. By the year 313, Experts
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tell us the Roman Empire had about 60 million
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people, of which 33 million were followers of
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Jesus. Rodney Stark, I don't know where he's
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coming from. Theologically, he's a sociologist.
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He tried to answer the question, how do you account
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for this expansive growth of the early church,
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I mean, apart from the Holy Spirit or anything
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supernatural? And what he would say is in that...
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first 150 to 200 years, there were three major
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pandemics that wiped out, I mean, whole huge
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cities of hundreds of thousands of people. The
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rich people and the people with power could go
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to the mountains where it was safe and wait till
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it all died down and come back. And the only
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people that stayed in the cities were Christians.
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So you would come back to huge metropolitan areas
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and the only people were Christians who happened
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to survive and people who were ministered to
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by the Christians. And so he said as people came
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back, they were literally when someone died serving
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those who were dying of pandemics, they were
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actually called martyrs. It was that kind of
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radical Christianity. That's a little bit different
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than I go to church and I'm trying to be a nice
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person. I don't cuss as much as I used to Christianity
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that we've been sort of peddling for the last
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few decades. So now he's going to give an application.
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I don't know about you, but if I was Timothy,
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I would think, you know, Paul, you give me a
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lot of counsel. This is not one I really want
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to take. Notice verse 8, it says, therefore.
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Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray,
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lifting holy hands. It's a picture of purity
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and earnestness. In other words, you're praying
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like you mean it. And then notice, without anger
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and without dispute, or literally arguments and
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contention. I would maybe just shift this for
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our day just a bit. Like, what would happen if
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godly men prayed with holy hands lifted up with
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pure hearts and not just prayed, but that's what
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they posted? They would never attack the people
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they disagree with. They would never be tribal.
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They would be strong in what they believed. agree
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to disagree with those in the body of Christ,
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but people who prayed knowing that people are
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vulnerable during difficult times. And God is
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looking for men, regular, ordinary men who would
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pray about his agenda that's bigger than your
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agenda or my agenda or a Republican agenda or
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a Democrat agenda. Are you ready? Or even an
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American agenda, but a gospel agenda. And that's
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what he prays. I think Timothy, when he gave
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that message, I'm not sure that really went down
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very well in Ephesus, but I think they obeyed.
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He says, this is what I want you to do. And then
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he says, likewise, I want women to adorn themselves.
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In other words, so adornment is the clothes you
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wear, how you come off, what people see. He basically
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says, what I want Christian men to look like
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is those people that lift holy hands, that have
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great convictions, that see the big picture.
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And then he's going to reach into a couple areas
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that were common in the day, one in Greek high
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society and one where women were just pieces
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of property. And this new experience they've
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had with Christ as he liberated women was causing
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them to act in these little house churches in
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ways where as new people were coming into it,
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they're going, oh, wow. They're trying to take
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down the kingdom. They're subversive. They're
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doing wild stuff. See, when you and I read the
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gospels, we forget how powerful the life of Jesus
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was. When we read, oh, the woman at the well
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in John 4, a man would never talk to a woman.
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let alone a Jew to a Samaritan. When the woman
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who washed his feet with her tears and wiped
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it, no Jew, no rabbi would ever let a woman touch
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him in public. Remember the woman with the issue
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of blood, she touches him. Do you remember his
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words to her? Not you thing, daughter, your faith
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has made you well. He elevates women. And so
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now they're realizing that we're co -heirs with
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the grace of God. Let me read before I read the
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text. A fellow named William Barclay, I think,
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spent most of his life doing background. He says
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the second part of this passage, speaking to
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women, cannot be read out of its historical context.
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The Jewish background was a Jewish woman would
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eat in a separate quarters and not with her husband.
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A Jewish woman would not be able to go to the
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synagogue. A Jewish woman was not even allowed
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to teach her own children. A Jewish woman who
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was respectable would never attempt to speak
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to her husband or any man outside. She was to
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be the keeper of the home and she heard her husband
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pray every morning, I thank God I'm not a slave,
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a Gentile, or a woman. How'd that make you feel?
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The Greek background was even doubly difficult.
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The average Greek man, especially in high society,
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if he had any wealth, had three women in your
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life. One was your wife and she was to give you
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children. Second was a slave girl so you could
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have sex when you wanted it. And the third was
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a temple prostitute. In high Greek society, they
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actually had prohibitions in what's called the
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mystery religions because they would adorn themselves
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with braided hair and gold. Pliny is a historian,
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and Pliny writes that one woman in her wedding
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dress was worth, it was written a while ago,
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400, in today's money, 432 ,000 pounds, which
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is way over a half million dollars in U .S. currency.
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That was her wedding dress. And so there's this
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Greek society of, I'm going to impress people
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with my power of how I dress. There's others
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who are going to manipulate through their sexual
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favors because that's the only role they had.
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And now these little house churches are starting
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and the apostle Paul is speaking into them and
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saying, I want the men to adorn themselves with
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prayer without anger and disputing. And then
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notice what he says in that context. Likewise,
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I want women to adorn themselves with proper
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clothing, modesty and discreetly, not with braided
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hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
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speaking of the high society, but rather by means
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of good works as is proper for women making a
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claim to godliness. He says, I don't want you,
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don't come off like those high society ladies.
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A woman. must quietly receive instruction with
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entire submissiveness. That was true in the Greek
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and the Roman culture. But I do not allow a woman
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to teach or exercise authority over a man, but
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to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first
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created and then Eve. And it wasn't Adam who
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was deceived, but the woman who was deceived
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and became a wrongdoer. But the women will be
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preserved through childbirth if they continue,
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here's our phrase, in faith, love, and sanctity
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with moderation. What you need to get here is
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don't read our current world back into this text.
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His instruction to women fundamentally was, you
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can't act in these little house churches in ways
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where the Roman government thinks you're undermining
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a culture. You need to understand that 50 % of
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the Roman Empire was slaves and about 80 % of
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the church were slaves. And so now you have these
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transformational cultural things where a slave
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might be an elder in a church and his master
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might be in the church. And then they got to
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get up on Monday morning and he has to treat
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his master like the owner. And he's saying, you
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know, we have these cultural norms about how
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life and women, he goes, we want to bring about
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change, but the big change has to start with
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the gospel. And, you know, it's interesting.
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But there's multiple translations, opinions about
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this passage. There's only about three legitimate
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ways you can go. One, you can say a woman can
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never talk at any church meeting ever. And gosh,
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see now, Philip, he had daughters that prophesied.
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I guess that one doesn't play out too well, right?
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Or there's... You know, there's no justification
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whatsoever, but Paul makes some of his arguments
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about there is a role between men and women,
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and as Christ is the head, the man is the head,
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so there's a servant leadership here. Here's
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the main point of this passage that we often
21:36
miss. The main point of this passage to men,
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if you wanted to bring about change as a man,
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how do we tend to do it? We power up. I'm going
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to bring about change and this is the way I'm
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going to do it. And what's he tell them to do?
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Pray up. And if you're a woman and you want to
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get your way, there's a couple ways, right? I
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mean, women have been doing it for centuries.
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Is your sexual attraction or your adornment to
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be impressive? And see, underneath both of those,
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the real issue is about power. The real issue
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is about how do you exert power to bring about
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change? And yes, we have rights. Yes, we have
22:19
opinions. And what Paul's really helping Timothy
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do is say, you got to back away and understand
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there's one mediator between mankind and God,
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and it's the man Christ Jesus. Make sure we do
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the number one priority. And if we do that, guess
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what? Over time, slavery gets abolished. Over
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time, women are viewed equally. Jesus was the
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greatest liberator of women in all of human history.
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But what could have taken the entire project
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down was if women were acting or men were acting
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in ways. You go against the Roman government,
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I got news for you. You just die. So he says,
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we want to live these quiet. peaceful lives.
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We don't want to make waves of some of the cultural
23:02
issues that are so systematic yet. What we want
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to do is we want to, from the inside out, be
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light and salt and light and love. And what happened
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over time was we changed the Roman Empire. In
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300 years, the emperor becomes a Christian. And
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it wasn't because of external power. It was because
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of an internal transformation. And I think there's
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probably some pretty big application for us,
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especially in America. Here's the truth. He says,
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this is good and acceptable in the sight of God,
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our Savior, who wants, circle the word again,
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all people to be saved. And could I just, I mean,
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I know I'm pounding on this a bit. All men. Could
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you just bring to mind some people that maybe
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emotionally, you don't really want them saved.
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That you just have anger. That when you talk
23:55
about them, you talk about them like they're
23:56
the devil incarnate. And they voted for so -and
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-so. Or they didn't vote for so -and -so. Or
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can you believe it there? I mean, I'm watching
24:05
Christians and this vitriol coming out of people's
24:09
mouths about secondary issues. That's not exactly
24:13
the agenda. Come to a knowledge of the truth,
24:18
for there is one God. Mediator between God and
24:22
man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as
24:24
a ransom for who? All. That includes the people
24:29
you don't like and I don't like. The people that
24:33
are different colors, different orientations,
24:35
different political views, different countries.
24:41
It's why the gospel transformed the world. Our
24:45
response is, I want men in every place to pray
24:48
lifting holy hands without anger or dispute,
24:51
arguments or quarrels. And so what I would ask
24:55
you, and I kind of know the answer, are you praying
24:59
for all people? I mean, this would be just a
25:03
great application to think about whatever the
25:06
side of the political aisle you are, to start
25:09
praying for the other side. Whoever in your church
25:12
who's super ticking you off, start praying for
25:15
them. So what's really going on? You'll notice
25:19
in your notes, Paul's coaching for us. You know,
25:22
2 Timothy 3, 16, 17 says, all scripture is profitable
25:26
for doctrine, proof, correction, and instruction
25:29
in righteousness that the man of God. The woman
25:32
of God might be fully equipped for every good
25:34
work. And so all I want you to know is that all
25:36
this stuff talking about women and hair and whether
25:40
they speak or don't speak in these first century
25:42
house churches or men, there's application for
25:45
us. The subject here is power, and it's how to
25:48
fight the good fight in a culture of persecution
25:51
and suspicion. And this is for the glorious gospel
25:56
as our number one priority instead of our tribal
25:58
interests, and we all have them. I mean, I live
26:02
in the most highly diverse city in America, more
26:06
than New York City. And it's been one of the
26:08
most wonderful places in the world because we
26:10
all come with our backgrounds. And God has allowed
26:13
me to be there for a lot of years and to recognize
26:16
that, you know what? Everybody from everywhere
26:18
is just in desperate need of Christ. And what
26:21
they need is someone to listen to them and not
26:24
judge them and make assumptions about them. Just
26:27
like I don't want them to make assumptions about
26:30
me. The underlying issue here is love from a
26:34
pure heart. And it's revealed in our conduct
26:36
and our practices that promote the gospel ahead
26:39
of our personal agendas. You never budge on truth.
26:43
But when you move to the middle toward understanding
26:45
and how could we bring about some unity? How
26:49
could we care about one another? How could we
26:51
agree to disagree on seven minor issues but agree
26:54
on this big issue and treat each other in how
26:57
we speak and what we do? I will tell you, you'll
26:59
get blasted from both sides. Just like Jesus
27:02
did. And God will really use your life. The underlying
27:06
question here is, am I willing to follow Jesus'
27:08
example of love and return good for evil to those
27:12
in positions of authority in my life? I mean,
27:16
that's what he was asking those women. Position
27:18
of authority in your life. Are you willing to
27:21
voluntarily do what Jesus did? Jesus said, I
27:24
could have brought down angels. Bam, we can solve
27:28
this in a New York minute. But his power was
27:32
in his surrender to the Father. His power is
27:36
like a grain of wheat falling to the earth and
27:38
dying. And therefore it brought much fruit. The
27:43
action required, you have to step down. You have
27:48
to kneel down. You have to release anger and
27:52
resentment. And you have to refuse to verbally
27:55
attack or disrespect those who oppose you. Post
28:00
about, you have, don't attack anybody. It doesn't
28:06
accomplish anything. We're not called to be American
28:10
Christians, hopefully, to get our way. We're
28:14
called to be followers of Christ. And you do
28:17
understand, I mean, this isn't rocket science.
28:20
You understand the people that were most antagonistic
28:22
toward Jesus were Israelites, powerful religious
28:27
people. Who even after they saw Lazarus risen
28:31
from the dead, many believed and the text says,
28:35
and some of them went to the religious leaders
28:37
to plot to how to kill him. And then these were
28:41
their words, because he's going to take our power
28:44
and our nation. And a lot of what we see in America
28:49
is Christians concerned about your power and
28:52
your nation more than the calling of God for
28:55
the gospel. The unspoken need is to develop humility.
29:02
How do you develop humility? First of all, you
29:05
have to know the truth. I would encourage you,
29:08
Matthew 5, 43 to 48. I want you to listen to
29:13
the words of Jesus. You have heard it said, you
29:16
shall love your neighbors and hate your enemy.
29:18
But I say to you, love your enemies and pray
29:22
for those who persecute you. Well, why would
29:24
you do that? so that you may be sons of your
29:27
father who is in heaven. For he causes his son
29:30
to shine on the evil and the good and sends rain
29:33
on the righteous and the unrighteous. Therefore,
29:36
you are to be perfect. The word is teleos. You're
29:39
to be mature. You're to grow up even as your
29:43
heavenly father is perfect. Have this attitude
29:50
in yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus,
29:53
Philippians. Chapter two, who although he existed
29:58
in the form of God, did not require equality
30:00
with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied
30:03
himself, literally veiled his attributes, taking
30:06
the form of a bond servant and being made in
30:11
likeness of men, being found appearance as a
30:14
man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to
30:18
the point of death, even death on a cross. For
30:22
a long time, I wanted to be humble and I tried
30:24
to be humble and my pride would go out the door
30:27
and then it would come in the window and then
30:29
it would go out the window and come in the attic.
30:30
And I just, I was such an arrogant young man
30:33
and then I was an arrogant middle -aged man and
30:35
then I'm fighting becoming an arrogant older
30:37
man. And I'll never forget a wise mentor said,
30:42
stop trying to be humble. Really? He said, be
30:46
a servant. Just be a servant. Get up and say,
30:49
what's my wife need? Be a servant at work. Be
30:52
the guy that brings coffee and donuts. Be a servant.
30:56
Let someone else go first. Be a servant. Just
31:01
develop a mindset. See, consider others as more
31:05
important than yourself. Just be a servant. And
31:09
you know what? It's this weird kingdom principle
31:11
like so many other things. Give and you receive.
31:13
Need a friend? Be a friend. Be a servant. And
31:18
I don't understand it. It's just the economy
31:20
of God. As you become a servant, God says, I
31:23
will lift you up. I will exalt you. And he'll
31:28
give you a reputation of someone that people
31:31
talk about in coffee shops different than other
31:33
people. You know, he's the kind of guy when everyone
31:38
else is leaving is taking down the chairs. And
31:40
he's the guy that no one knows that secretly
31:42
is, man, that family that couldn't even get in,
31:45
he paid their way. The only reason I know is
31:49
because the little girl behind the desk said,
31:51
I can't believe that man did that. You just become
31:53
a servant. Second is know the truth and then
31:57
live the truth. For even the Son of Man came
32:00
not to be ministered unto, Mark 10, 45, but to
32:05
serve and give his life a ransom for many. The
32:10
Philippians 2, 3 through 5 passage is one I memorized.
32:17
It both haunts me and encourages me. Do nothing
32:21
from selfishness or vainglory as the old translation
32:26
or empty ambition, but consider others as more
32:31
important than yourself. By the way, rather than
32:34
doing that way out there, get up and say, what's
32:37
my wife need? Honey, why are you doing the dishes?
32:43
Being a servant? How come you took the trash
32:46
out I didn't even ask you? How come you actually
32:49
lined up the babysitter and asked if we could
32:51
go on a date? Are you okay? You know? Why did
32:56
you say, you know, I think we need to sit down
32:58
and look at our bills together and think through
33:01
our plans for the future because most wives take
33:04
care of all that stuff. in most marriages. And
33:07
they feel the weight of that instead of a man
33:09
saying, I own the provision and the protection
33:11
and the planning. Now she may be much better
33:14
administratively than most of us, but meeting
33:17
with her every two weeks, I meet with my wife
33:19
and we have a folder and we pay all of our bills
33:21
and then we talk about where our money's going
33:23
and why. And I didn't do that about the first
33:26
three or four years and she felt crushed under
33:28
the weight and the responsibility because she
33:30
saw all the numbers and I didn't. Finally, Let
33:35
me encourage you to practice. With a head, we
33:38
know the truth. With our heart, we live the truth.
33:40
And with our hands, we share the truth. After
33:43
Jesus lived this out in Luke chapter 10, he sent
33:46
them out two by two to do the very thing, to
33:49
heal, to cast out demons. And then in Romans
33:53
12, 14 to 21, perhaps my favorite passage on
33:56
this, bless those who persecute you, bless and
34:00
curse not. Later on, it'll talk, if your enemy's
34:03
hungry, feed him. If he's thirsty, give him a
34:05
drink. Never take your own revenge, beloved,
34:08
but leave room for the wrath of God toward the
34:09
end. Do not be overcome with evil. Overcome evil
34:13
with good. And what we, you know, when evil confronts
34:19
evil, it's like gasoline on the fire. And that's
34:23
what we have in American culture today. And it's
34:26
happening in the church. I understand it out
34:28
there. They're lost. They haven't met the mediator
34:31
yet. Lord, will you forgive us? Please, all of
34:39
us, for being so culturally numbed by our American
34:46
consumeristic mentality that when we don't get
34:51
our way, that we pout and we cast stones. And
34:59
we take our money and leave. And we say evil
35:03
and negative things, even about other brothers
35:05
and sisters in Christ. And friendships of five
35:09
and 10 and 20 and 25 years have been broken over
35:13
secondary things. Will you have mercy on us?
35:18
Would you grant us the grace to seek first to
35:21
understand rather than to be understood? Would
35:25
you give us the grace to Figure out why people
35:28
do what they do when it doesn't make any sense
35:31
to us, but it does make sense to them. God, would
35:35
you help us be bridge builders of reconciliation?
35:41
Your church is in peril. Help us to step up and
35:45
then step down. In Christ's name, amen. You're
35:52
listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram
35:55
and a message titled Step Down from a series
35:58
called You Can Make Disciples, personal coaching
36:00
from the Apostle Paul. Every message in the You
36:04
Can Make Disciples series is on the Living on
36:06
the Edge podcast. Subscribe and take it with
36:09
you all week. And to find Chip's full -length
36:11
sermons, just subscribe to the Chip Ingram Sermon
36:15
Podcast wherever you listen. If you looked up
36:18
the word coach in the dictionary, you might see
36:20
phrases like one who teaches, gives instruction,
36:23
or provides special training. The question is,
36:26
who's coaching you? And who are you coaching?
36:30
Well, in this series based in 1 Timothy, Chip
36:32
dives into one of the most well -known mentor
36:35
-mentee relationships in the Bible and teaches
36:38
us how we can apply Paul's timeless lessons to
36:41
our lives and pass them on to others. And that
36:44
inside -out transformation is exactly what Chip's
36:47
book, Yes, You Really Can Change, walks you through.
36:50
It shows you why change is so hard, where the
36:53
power really comes from, and how to make it last.
36:56
And right now, it's a buy one, give one offer.
36:59
Get a copy for yourself and one to give away.
37:01
Just go online to livingontheedge .org slash
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offers. Another way you can help pass along biblical
37:09
transformation is by simply supporting this Bible
37:12
teaching ministry with a gift of any amount.
37:15
We've made it easy to donate online at livingontheedge
37:18
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37:25
giving through the mail, just write to us at
37:27
Living on the Edge, P .O. Box 3007, Atlanta,
37:31
Georgia 30024. Well, Chip, you mentioned some
37:35
of the negative Christian stereotypes that are
37:37
out there. What does it look like practically
37:40
to start changing that perception in our own
37:42
communities? Well, Dave, we do live in a very
37:45
divisive culture. I don't need to list all the
37:48
things that Christians are accused of or the
37:51
stereotypes. And I think we need to be very honest
37:54
that some of these stereotypes we've brought
37:57
on ourselves by the behavior of some of us as
38:01
followers or some of our leaders and some moral
38:04
failure. But I think if we're going to reach
38:06
people today, we need to change the paradigm
38:09
in our attitude. And what I mean by that is we
38:12
need to ask a lot more questions about where
38:15
people are coming from before we tell them what
38:17
we believe and why we believe it. The title of
38:20
this message was Stepping Down. I think Paul
38:23
is saying to Timothy in a hostile culture, kneel
38:27
and pray. I think he's saying instead of being
38:30
angry and resentful toward this culture that
38:32
doesn't understand you, the fact is they're not
38:35
Christians. They're not going to understand.
38:37
So release your anger and your resentment. Refuse
38:41
to verbally attack or disrespect those who oppose
38:45
you. You know, we're living in this toxic communication
38:49
on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram, and I cringe
38:54
when I see people that I know are believers making
38:58
these comments. And I know they're sincere, and
39:01
I think they think they're standing for Jesus,
39:03
but it's undermining our faith. I think the Apostle
39:07
Paul is teaching Timothy in that day, the number
39:11
one thing is to develop humility. Yes, the truth
39:15
never wavers, but we need to present the truth
39:18
in life, in word, and in attitude with humility.
39:22
And those people that are really reaching the
39:25
next generation or people hostile to the gospel
39:28
are not people yelling and screaming and fighting.
39:31
It's people who lean in and realize. Whatever
39:35
people who are anti -God or anti -Christian,
39:38
they're coming from somewhere and they've had
39:41
some experiences and they have some presuppositions
39:44
or assumptions that it makes sense to them. We
39:48
need to find out what those are and care for
39:50
them as people first. And I think God will give
39:54
us an opportunity then to speak to someone who's
39:56
open to hearing. Well, I'm Dave Drewy. That's
39:59
a wrap on today's program. More practical, life
40:01
-changing Bible teaching from Chip Ingram is
40:03
ahead on Living on the Edge. Today's program
40:09
is produced and sponsored by Living on the Edge.