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Ephesians 5:15-21 - Operating Under The Influence Of The Spirit · Tabernacle Talk - A Bible Study Podcast with Pastor Bryon Self

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  Welcome to Tabernacle Talk. Tabernacle talk is a Bible study
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  podcast brought from Tabernacle Baptist Church in Essex, MD.
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  I'm your host, Brian Self. We hope this podcast encourages
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  you to know Christ, grow in his word, and show his love to
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  others. Let's dive right in.
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  Welcome back to Tabernacle Talk. I'm so excited for today's
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  episode. These are some of the most
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  meaningful, powerful guiding verses that are in the book of
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  Ephesians. And that's saying something
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  because if you have been paying attention as we've gone through
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  Ephesians 1234 and now most of the way through 5, you know that
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  there's some just great, encouraging, challenging
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  thoughts from the Word of God. And this section here, we're
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  going over today, which is Ephesians 5 versus 15 through
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  21, Ephesians 515 through 21. This is a particularly
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  meaningful portion with a lot of great things for us to, if you
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  will, a lot of great principles for us to live our lives by.
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  And this plays into our day-to-day.
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  It plays into the church and what our purpose is there and
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  what we're called to do. It involves worship and all
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  sorts of different things. So buckle up and we're going to
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  be diving right in. I'm going to try to read through
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  this whole section 1st and then attack it piece by piece.
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  That way you can get the full picture before we go in.
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  He says pay careful attention then to how you walk.
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  Not as unwise people, but as wise, making the most of the
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  time, because the days are evil. So don't be foolish, but
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  understand what the Lord's will is, and don't get drunk with
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  wine which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the
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  Spirit. Speaking to one another in
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  psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
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  Singing and making music with your heart to the Lord.
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  Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in
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  the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.
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  All right, so we're going to look at these verses and we're
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  going to start off with verses 15 and 16 is kind of this first
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  sentence. He says pay careful attention
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  then to how you walk. The King James would phrase that
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  this, see then that you walk circumspectly, that is that you
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  are looking all around you to see what is going on, what the
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  needs are, what the temptations are.
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  You are to walk paying careful attention to everything that is
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  going on around you. Now this is not so that in kind
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  of a conspiracy theory way. This is not so that you can go,
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  oh, I told you so to every iota of culture and of you know,
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  governmental suspicion. That's not what God is intending
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  here for you to pay careful attention to.
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  He wants you to pay careful attention to your life, to the
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  temptations that you will be facing, to your brothers and
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  sisters in the Lord that need someone that will watch out for
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  them, that will love them, that will care for them, that will
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  challenge them to not walk into sin, but to walk with the Lord.
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  So he says pay careful attention.
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  The way that this always stuck in my head when I was a kid.
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  As a teen, I went to a youth activity that was up at a Bible
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  camp. And one of the things that we
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  did at that teen camp was we did dodgeball.
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  And there was a specific version of dodgeball where once a person
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  got hit, they went behind their opposing team and so they would
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  be standing behind the opposing team.
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  And as you know, balls were thrown and, and their team was
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  trying to get out the opposing team.
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  If a ball went past your opponents and it came to you as
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  you were standing behind them, you could whack him in the back
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  with a dodge ball. And so you had to not just pay
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  attention to the people in front of you and to the dodge balls
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  that they were throwing. You also had to pay attention so
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  that there were no dodge balls that were behind you and that no
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  one behind you had grabbed 1 and was going to check it at you.
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  So you had to be circumspect. You had to be paying careful
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  attention on all fronts. Many times as Christians, we can
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  get so focused on one aspect of the Christian life or one aspect
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  of our life that we allow the others to deteriorate down.
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  Sadly, this is something that was very true of many
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  individuals that were involved in like mass evangelism events.
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  So John Wesley, it was either John Wesley or George Whitfield.
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  They were both at kind of that same time period, both in
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  England and in the Americas preaching the gospel, I can't
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  remember which individual it was offhand, that just was so
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  devoted to sharing the gospel and evangelism that they totally
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  neglected their wife and their family and that their ministry,
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  well, lots of other people thought how great they were.
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  They totally destroyed their home life and that first
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  ministry that God called them to.
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  Even as we'll see next episode, the call is to love our wives as
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  Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.
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  And whether it was Wesley or Whitfield, they did not love
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  their wife like Christ loved the church.
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  They loved evangelism, and they wanted to take care of Christ's
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  bride, which is a a worthy goal, but they did so at the expense
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  of their own bride. And so here I think we can pay
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  careful attention, not just to one thing.
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  Don't be so wrapped up in your devotions that you neglect love
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  or care of other people. Don't be so devoted to learning
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  new and deeper and deeper things in the Bible that you forget
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  that you are supposed to evangelize others and make
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  disciples of Jesus. Don't be so enamored with doing
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  good for others and kind of like a charity benevolence type way
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  that you neglect the local church.
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  And the reverse of all of those is also true.
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  The the Christian life is something that we are called to
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  live with our whole being and there are so many good things
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  that we are called to do, but it requires us to pay attention.
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  You will not live the Christian life that God wants you to on
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  autopilot. You won't live the Christian
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  life God wants you to on autopilot.
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  You have to pay attention to what you're doing, when you're
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  doing it, and how you're doing it.
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  So he says, pay you careful attention.
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  Then how you walk. Not as unwise people, but as
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  wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil.
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  I want to look at this word here.
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  This is the Greek word exa garazo.
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  This is to redeem, it is to deliver back to someone.
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  So something has been captured and you are buying it off of the
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  person that has current possession of it, but they
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  shouldn't have it. So this is Julius Caesar being
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  redeemed, liberated, delivered from the pirates that have him
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  held for ransom. So Paul and verse 16 tells us
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  make the most of the time, redeem it by the time back,
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  deliver the time. He says because the days are
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  evil. He says there is not much time
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  that you and I have, especially as Paul is writing this, there's
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  a lot of persecution that was happening.
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  Paul knew this better than almost anyone.
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  And so Paul says, make the most of the time that God has given
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  you. Don't act like, well, I got 30
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  years to, you know, follow the Lord and maybe I'll wait, you
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  know, 10-15 years and then I'll really buckle down.
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  No, no, no, you don't know how long you have.
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  Buckle down right now. Buy back the time because it's
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  valuable. And yes, you might not be able
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  to do as many fun things as you would otherwise do.
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  You might not always get your way like you would want to if
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  you are walking in God's way, buying back the time, redeeming
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  it, using it for what God has called you to because you're
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  paying attention to how you're walking.
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  But that's all right, because that results in an everlasting
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  reward. You are investing, so you're
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  losing some, you know, money, you're losing some currency.
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  But God is good to bring it back to us and to reward us for it.
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  So that's what we read in verses 15 and 16.
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  Then verse 17 he says, so don't be foolish, but understand what
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  the Lord's will is. How do I know the will of the
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  Lord read Scripture? And if as you're reading
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  Scripture, if it isn't clear, maybe if you have some questions
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  on, OK, should I make this choice or this choice?
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  Should I move here or there? Should I take this job or not
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  take this job? Can I tell you the Lord, in
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  addition to His Word and His Holy Spirit, He has given you
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  spiritual leaders who are there to help guide and direct you
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  make full use of that for so many people.
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  It's, well, let me ask, you know, just some random person
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  that'll tell me what I want to hear and I know they'll side
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  with whatever my wishes are. That's not necessarily what we
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  are called to do. Instead, we want to know not
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  just what does human advice say? What does the Lord's advice say?
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  What is the Lord's will hear? And so first and foremost,
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  always go to the word and then listen to the Holy Spirit as he
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  wants to speak to you through the word.
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  If you're like, I can't really tell, talk to other godly
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  people, talk to your pastors, talk to those that maybe are a
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  small group teacher or leader within your church.
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  And as Proverbs says, with the well advised is wisdom.
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  And so or you have the verse that says in the multitude of
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  counselors there is victory or safety.
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  So get a multitude of counsel, especially biblically wise
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  counsel. Then verse #18 and and here he
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  gives this, it becomes a run on sentence.
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  So there are three actions that we're supposed to do flowing out
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  of being filled by the Spirit. But Paul gives the example of
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  what does it mean or what does it look like to be filled by the
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  Holy Spirit? Do you start speaking in another
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  language or kind of a gibberish language?
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  Do you suddenly gain powers to be able to heal everyone around
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  you? What does it look like to be
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  filled by the Spirit? Well, he gives three ways that
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  that looks, but the overall experience he describes, like he
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  says, don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living.
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  Many of you, you have been drunk off either wine or vodka or, you
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  know, beer, whiskey, whatever it is, whatever your thing is, you
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  have been drunk before where you are still in control of your
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  faculties. It's still you.
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  It's not that there's, you know, a bottle or something that's
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  moving your, your body around or making your mouth move, you
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  know, like a puppet or a ventriloquist or something.
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  No, it, it really is still you, but it's you, but different.
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  It's you controlled by something else that what you are partaking
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  in, what you are, the actions you're taking, the words you're
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  saying. It's still you, but you're not
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  necessarily with the one with your hands on the steering
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  wheel. Here Paul actually gives this.
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  Don't get drunk with wine. Get drunk with the spirit.
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  Let the Spirit be the one that is controlling your words and
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  your thoughts and your actions. That if you will, you are
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  driving under the influence not of something that will take away
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  all your inhibitions, but instead He is the Holy Spirit's
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  the one that will take away your sinful inhibitions and will lead
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  you into right action and right language and right words.
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  And here's what he said. So don't get drunk with wine,
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  which leads to reckless living. The result of intoxication is
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  maybe you make bad decisions, maybe you lose friendships.
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  You know, nowadays with cars and stuff like that, you have drunk
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  driving, which can be a terrible scourge.
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  There is just all sorts of devastation that happens with
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  that says, but with the Holy Spirit, it all leads to good
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  things. Wine can lead you to reckless
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  living. You can ask Lot and his
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  daughters about the dangers of wine, but as you look at the
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  Holy Spirit, He is always going to lead you to make good
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  decisions. And though it is still you, you
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  are being controlled, influenced by Him.
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  So what does He lead you to do? Verse #19 speaking to one
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  another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
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  Singing and making music with your heart to the Lord.
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  So there's three actions the Spirit leads us to when we're
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  filled with Him. We sing the praise of God, slash
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  speak the word of God. I'll, I'll go over that one SEC.
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  We give thanks to God and we submit to one another.
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  That's what it looks like to be filled with the Spirit is the
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  word of God comes out of us. The praise and thanks of God is
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  within us, and a submission, a humble submission like God gets
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  extended to those around us. All right, so #1 speaking
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  yourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and
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  making music with your heart to the Lord.
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  All right, some of you are like, listen, I'm not that great at
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  music. This really isn't for me.
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  No, no, no, two things here. Number 1, He, he first says,
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  speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual
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  songs. So there is an element of music
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  here, but the important part of this is that it is the word of
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  Christ that is coming out and across.
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  So Colossians chapter 3 and verse #16 would be kind of the
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  parallel passage to this where Paul says something very similar
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  to the church at Colossae. And he says, let the word of
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  Christ dwell richly among you in all wisdom, teaching and
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  admonishing one another through psalms, hymns and spiritual
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  songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts that it
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  is the word of God that ought to be the songs of the people of
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  God. And we can see this even in the
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  order that he gives here Psalms. This would be the inspired Old
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  Testament Scriptures that would give us the language that we
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  would sing about South. Psalm 23 The Lord is my
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  shepherd. You can think of Psalm one, O 3.
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  I'm going to back up here one quick second.
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  So in the early church, and then especially during the
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  Reformation in the 15 to 1700s, there was a huge importance
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  placed on actually singing the Psalms.
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  So this is God's inspired songbook.
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  This is God's hymnal, and so we ought to sing it.
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  And actually during the Reformation time period, the 15
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  and 1700s, there was a lot of discussion on, well, should we
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  be writing any new music of our own or should we only be singing
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  the Psalms? And so you can encounter
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  different denominations today that will only sing the Psalms.
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  I think because the Psalms tell us 6 times to sing a new song to
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  the Lord, there is an encouragement that we see we
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  receive both from there and then here in Ephesians 5 and in
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  Colossians 3, to sing new songs to the Lord as well that go
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  outside of the Psalms. But it is an important thing to
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  sing through the Psalms. This is something that I am
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  really passionate about. This is something that I LED our
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  church in Washington state to begin singing many Psalms.
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  My my eventual goal for any church that I am a part of is
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  every Sunday we'd at least be singing one Psalm.
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  Actually, this month at Tabernacle in September of 2025,
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  we are learning a Psalm together.
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  Psalm, Oh my goodness, I can't remember Psalm 62.
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  My soul will wait for you written by Sovereign Grace
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  Music. And so we're going to be
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  learning and singing that Psalm together.
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  I'm also really grateful for amazing ones from the past, like
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  sometimes by step by Rich Mullins.
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  Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you.
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  I will seek you in the morning and I will learn to walk in your
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  ways. And step by step you'll lead me,
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  and I will follow you all of my days.
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  I love 10,000 reasons bless the Lord.
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  You're rich in love and you're slow to anger.
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  Your name is great, and your heart is kind.
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  For all your greatness I will keep on singing. 10,000 reasons
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  for my heart to find. Bless the Lord, O my soul and
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  all that is within me. Bless His holy name.
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  You have psalms like that. You can have Psalm 23 either,
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  you know, Phil Wickham has a version of that.
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  There's the old hymn, The King of Love, My Shepherd is you can.
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  I think there's a newer one, I Am Not Alone, that's also
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  written from Psalm 23. You can look at Shane and Shane
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  have written several songs from the Psalms, and if you go back
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  and listen to any of the first four books of Psalms that we've
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  gone through on Tabernacle Talk, anytime that there's a Psalm
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  that I know of that's connected with that, I'll tell you guys,
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  hey, go listen to this. This is because singing the
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  Psalms is important. It's a way that I have learned
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  to learn the word of God through Psalms.
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  So that's really important. The Psalms tell us about Jesus.
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  That's what Christ tells us in the end of the Gospel of Luke
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  that Jesus went through starting at the law and the prophets, and
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  he showed through the law and the prophets and the Psalms that
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  the Messiah was the one spoken about all throughout Scripture.
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  And so the Psalms tell us about Jesus.
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  And so when we were going through the Psalms on Tabernacle
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  talk, that was one of the things that I really wanted to try and
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  point out to you guys is Jesus is the point of this.
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  So we speak to each other in the word of God, starting with the
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  Psalms and then he says hymns. This is any song that is lifted
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  up in praise to God. This isn't how great thou art or
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  when I survey. That's not what God is saying.
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  He says speaking yourselves in Psalms that is inspired Old
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  Testament scripture, the the hymnal of you know David, you
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  have hymns, which is any song that is to or about God and
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  there you have spiritual songs that these are songs many people
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  believe that would be written as a result of the Holy Spirit is
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  working in your life and out of your gratitude to God and your
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  worship of him, you create new music.
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  And so here, psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, if you will,
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  the songs that were written, the songs that have been written,
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  and the songs that will be written.
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  And he says singing and making music with your heart to the
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  Lord. So lifting God up in praise and
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  to one another as well. When there's the music time at a
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  local church, it is not just for you to listen to other people
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  praise. It is actually for you to
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  participate so that the person in the row in front of you would
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  hear someone praising God behind them and that they would see
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  someone praising God in front of them.
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  That they could look over and they could see the little kid
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  singing praise to the Lord. And they can look this other
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  direction and they could see someone that is fighting cancer
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  that is praising the Lord. And all together there is
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  encouragement as we all affirm our faith in Christ together and
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  His work as we sing and declare our belief in the promises of
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  the Word of God that there is encouragement that happens
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  there. How could you do that?
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  It's through the Holy Spirit that He has God's Word becoming
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  out of you, especially in song to be able to encourage other
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  people. Then verse #20 giving thanks
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  always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord
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  Jesus Christ. A Christian is a grateful
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  person, A spirit filled person is a thankful person, a think
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  filled person. And I don't think I have to
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  elaborate much more on that. I think you guys get that if
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  we're grumbling and complaining and whining, that's a great
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  indication that we are not being filled with the Spirit.
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  If you are filled with the Spirit, gratitude will come out
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  of your life and out of your mouth towards other people.
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  So be filled with the Spirit. Have the word of God come out of
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  you, have gratitude to the Lord thanks to him, praise to him
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  come out of you. And then he says, submitting to
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  one another in the fear of Christ, that we're not insistent
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  on our own way, our greatness, our position, our authority,
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  that we are wanting to lay down on our lives however we can for
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  the sake of each other. Not as a result of other
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  people's like greatness over us, but instead because Jesus
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  humbled himself and served us and came for us, died for us,
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  gave his righteousness to us. He has given us our spiritual
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  gifts. He's given us his word, He's
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  given us his Spirit. He's given us eternal life.
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  He's given us his bride, the church that we humble ourselves
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  and we give. We're generous, we're kind to
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  others. So I want to encourage you
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  today. It's been a little bit longer
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  episode. Thanks for sticking around.
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  Pay careful attention to your Christian life.
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  It's not going to happen on autopilot.
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  So choose to follow the Lord. The only way you can follow the
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  Lord is by being filled with the Spirit.
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  You allow him to call the shots that even if it might not be
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  something that you feel comfortable doing, the Spirit
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  will help you to do it. Just like there might be
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  something that you might not normally make that take that
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  action or say those words or or be so blunt with someone, but
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  the wine enables you to do something that you would be
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  hesitant to do on your own. So the Spirit helps us to be
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  able to do what is good, what is right, which is to sing the
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  praise of God, declaring the word of God to one another by
• 23:33
  giving thanks to the Lord always and everything.
• 23:36
  And then laying down our lives for others, submitting to each
• 23:39
  other that we become on the same mission, the same team, and
• 23:44
  we're all rowing the same direction for the Lord in the
• 23:48
  fear of Christ that we recognize because Christ has done this,
• 23:51
  because He's modeled the behavior.
• 23:53
  That is what we are called to as well.
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  Well, thanks for tuning in today and next episode.
• 23:58
  We're talking about marriage and some verses that have been often
• 24:02
  misused, but are deeply under appreciated for the quality of
• 24:08
  Christian life that we are called to, how we ought to view
• 24:12
  the Church of Christ. All of it's included in next
• 24:15
  episode. And so looking forward to that
• 24:17
  time with you. Thanks for tuning in.