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Hebrews 10:26-39 - The Scariest Verse for Christians · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello faith listeners, Welcome to the Bible Explained podcast.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, today is going to be a very heavy
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  Speaker 1: and a very good topic. This is from Hebrews chapter ten.
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  Speaker 1: We've actually been covering some very difficult concepts in Hebrews recently,
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  Speaker 1: and this one I think might be the most difficult
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  Speaker 1: one that we've covered so far, because this isn't talking
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  Speaker 1: about deep Christology or the Old Testament laws, or the
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  Speaker 1: history of the Old Testament, or the sin of the Israelites.
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  Speaker 1: This is talking about our own personal sin and how
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  Speaker 1: God is going to judge his own people, meaning the Christians.
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  Speaker 1: He is going to judge you, and he's going to
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  Speaker 1: judge me, and that is what we talk about today
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  Speaker 1: in Hebrews chapter ten. But before we get into that subject,
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  Speaker 1: here's the first sponsor for today. Okay, let's read Hebrews
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  Speaker 1: ten through thirty nine. Will be finishing out this chapter today.
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  Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the web as I usually do.
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  Speaker 1: Grab your cup of Joe or your cup of tea
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  Speaker 1: this morning, and let's go ahead and jump into the
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  Speaker 1: last portion of Hebrews ten. For if we sin willfully,
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  Speaker 1: after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there
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  Speaker 1: remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a certain
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  Speaker 1: fearful expectation of judgment and a fierceness of fire which
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  Speaker 1: will devour the adversaries. A man who disregards Moses's law
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  Speaker 1: dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses,
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  Speaker 1: how much worse punishment do you think he will be
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  Speaker 1: judged worthy of? Who has trodden underfoot the son of God,
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  Speaker 1: and has counted the blood of the Covenant with which
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  Speaker 1: he was sanctified an unholy thing, and has insulted the
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  Speaker 1: spirit of grace. For we know him who said vengeance
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  Speaker 1: belongs to me. I will repay, says the Lord again.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful
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  Speaker 1: thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
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  Speaker 1: But remember the former days in which, after you were enlightened,
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  Speaker 1: you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly being exposed
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  Speaker 1: to both reproaches and oppressions, and partly becoming partakers with
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  Speaker 1: those who are treated so For you both had compassion
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  Speaker 1: on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering
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  Speaker 1: of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a
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  Speaker 1: better possession and an enduring one. In the heavens. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: don't throw away your boldness, which has a great reward,
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  Speaker 1: for you need endurance, so that, having done the will
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  Speaker 1: of God, you may receive the promise in a very
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  Speaker 1: little while. He who comes will come and will not wait.
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  Speaker 1: But the righteous one will live by faith. If he
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  Speaker 1: shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But
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  Speaker 1: we are not of those who shrink back to destruction,
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  Speaker 1: but of those who have faith to the saving of
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  Speaker 1: the soul. So, starting in verse twenty six, this verse
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  Speaker 1: scares a lot of people, and quite honestly, as should.
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  Speaker 1: If we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge
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  Speaker 1: of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,
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  Speaker 1: but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fierceness
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  Speaker 1: of fire which will devour the adversaries. So, first and foremost,
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  Speaker 1: who is the author talking about here, Well, if he's
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  Speaker 1: including himself in this, he's talking to the Christians. If
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  Speaker 1: we willfully sin after we have received the knowledge of
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  Speaker 1: the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins,
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  Speaker 1: but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fierceness
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  Speaker 1: of fire which will devour the adversaries, and you might
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  Speaker 1: be like, oh my gosh, Jen, that's terrifying, because you
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  Speaker 1: know Christians do sin after they become saved. So you're
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  Speaker 1: saying that every single sin that we do after being
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  Speaker 1: saved is not going to be forgiven. Well, actually, no,
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  Speaker 1: that's not true. If we jump over to First John,
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  Speaker 1: chapter one, verse eight through ten, here's what this says.
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  Speaker 1: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
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  Speaker 1: ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we
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  Speaker 1: confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive
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  Speaker 1: us the sins and to cleanse us from all on righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: If we say that we haven't sinned, we make him
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  Speaker 1: a liar and his word is not in us. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: So every single person sins. And the author of First John,
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  Speaker 1: who was John himself, said we if we say that
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  Speaker 1: we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
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  Speaker 1: is not in us. So he is including himself in that.
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  Speaker 1: And obviously John was a saved individual. We know he was.
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  Speaker 1: He says, we are not without sin, even after being saved,
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  Speaker 1: even after believing in Jesus, we have sin. And if
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  Speaker 1: we say that we don't, the truth is not in us.
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  Speaker 1: But if we confess those sins, he is faithful and
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  Speaker 1: righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us
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  Speaker 1: from all on righteousness. So there you go. We have
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  Speaker 1: sin even now as Christians. We do in fact sin.
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  Speaker 1: But if we recognize those sins and we confess them
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  Speaker 1: to Jesus, then He is willing and able and faithful
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  Speaker 1: and righteous to forgive us of the those sins. So
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  Speaker 1: what is Hebrews ten talking about here, then, this wilful sinning.
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  Speaker 1: Let's read it again verse twenty six. For if we
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  Speaker 1: sin willfully, after we've received the knowledge of the truth,
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  Speaker 1: there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, but a
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  Speaker 1: certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fierceness of fire
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  Speaker 1: which will devour the adversaries. I believe the word wilful
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  Speaker 1: here is key, so I looked it up in the Greek.
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  Speaker 1: The word wilful can also mean in English intentional or purposeful.
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  Speaker 1: So this is not necessarily talking about backsliding or sins
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  Speaker 1: that we might do on the day to day, or
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  Speaker 1: in a bad thought that we have about somebody, or
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  Speaker 1: you know, the outburst of anger that we had at
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  Speaker 1: our spouse or our kids, or our pets. Those things
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  Speaker 1: are sins, and we need to confess those sins. But
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  Speaker 1: this is talking about willfully living in sin though you
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  Speaker 1: have the knowledge of the truth. When you willfully live
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  Speaker 1: in sin without abandon knowing that it is wrong, this
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  Speaker 1: is what this is talking about. There remains no more
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  Speaker 1: a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment,
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  Speaker 1: in a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, we're going to stand in front of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus and he is going to make an account of
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  Speaker 1: every single thing that we did. So I don't think
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  Speaker 1: that this is talking about losing salvation. And I also
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  Speaker 1: don't think this is talking to unbelievers. I believe this
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  Speaker 1: is talking to the believers. Let's go over to Second
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  Speaker 1: Corinthians five nine through eleven and talk about the judgment
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  Speaker 1: throne of Jesus. It says, therefore, also we make it
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  Speaker 1: our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well
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  Speaker 1: pleasing to him, For we must all be revealed before
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  Speaker 1: the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive
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  Speaker 1: the things in the body according to what he has done,
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  Speaker 1: whether good or bad. Knowing therefore the fear of the Lord.
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  Speaker 1: We persuade men, but we are revealed to God, and
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  Speaker 1: I hope that we are revealed also in your consciences.
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  Speaker 1: And then we can turn to first Corinthians three eleven
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  Speaker 1: through fifteen and read again about how Jesus is going
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  Speaker 1: to judge every single one of us for the things
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  Speaker 1: that we have done. One Corinthians three, starting in verse eleven.
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  Speaker 1: For no one can lay another foundation other than that
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  Speaker 1: which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ. But if
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  Speaker 1: anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood,
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  Speaker 1: hay or straw, each man's work will be revealed, for
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  Speaker 1: the day will declare it because it is revealed in fire,
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  Speaker 1: and the fire itself will test what sort of work
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  Speaker 1: each man's work is. If any man's work remains, which
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  Speaker 1: he has built on it, he will receive a reward.
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  Speaker 1: But if any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss,
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  Speaker 1: but he himself will be saved. But as through fire,
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  Speaker 1: I believe that that is what Hebrews chapter ten is
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  Speaker 1: talking about this judgment seat of Christ, where every single
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  Speaker 1: person who claims the name of Jesus is going to
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  Speaker 1: have to give an account for everything that they did.
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  Speaker 1: In their life, whether it was a wilful sin or
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  Speaker 1: an unwilful sin, whether it was a good thing that
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  Speaker 1: we did or a bad thing that we did. Everything
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  Speaker 1: is going to be laid out bare in front of Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: and then he will give us a reward for the
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  Speaker 1: good and bad things that we have done. Now, if
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  Speaker 1: we don't do any good things, if we're standing there
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  Speaker 1: and we've got nothing to offer Jesus though we believed
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  Speaker 1: in him, though we were one of these Christians that
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews ten talks about, that we're willfully sinning knowing the truth,
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  Speaker 1: then Jesus isn't going to give us a reward. It
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  Speaker 1: actually says that we will be saved barely, but as
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  Speaker 1: through fire, And that's kind of exactly what Hebrews ten
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  Speaker 1: twenty seven says here. We have a certain fearful expectation
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  Speaker 1: of judgment if we willfully sin, and a fierceness of
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  Speaker 1: fire which will devour the adversaries. And then continuing, the
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  Speaker 1: author makes this point even more clear. A man who
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  Speaker 1: disregards Moses's law dies without compassion on the word of
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  Speaker 1: two or three witnesses, So that of course is talking
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  Speaker 1: about the Old Testament law where if somebody willfully broke
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  Speaker 1: one of them, and the punishment was capital punishment, they
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  Speaker 1: would die. If two witnesses saw them do that thing,
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  Speaker 1: they would die, it says, without compassion. Now, of course,
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  Speaker 1: it would have to be a law broken that was
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  Speaker 1: worthy of capital punishment, for example, raping a woman, murder,
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  Speaker 1: being a false witness against somebody so that they die, adultery,
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  Speaker 1: and it was without compassion. It says that these people
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  Speaker 1: would in fact die. But that was under the obsolete
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  Speaker 1: old Covenant. So how much worse is it going to be?
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  Speaker 1: Verse twenty nine For the one who has troden underfoot
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  Speaker 1: the Son of God, and has counted the blood of
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  Speaker 1: the Covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing,
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  Speaker 1: and has insulted the spirit of grace. The person who
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  Speaker 1: knows the truth, who believes in Jesus but goes on
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  Speaker 1: willfully sinning in spite of their faith. These people, it
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  Speaker 1: actually says, trod underfoot the Son of God. That's old
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  Speaker 1: fashioned English to say that they despise his words, They
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  Speaker 1: despise what he has to say. They don't want to
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  Speaker 1: live the way that Jesus tells them to live. They
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  Speaker 1: don't want to live in obedience. They want to continue
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  Speaker 1: doing what they want to do while using faith and
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  Speaker 1: using Jesus. It says they also count the blood of
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  Speaker 1: the Covenant with which he was sanctified, an unholy thing.
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  Speaker 1: So he was sanctified, as says, by the blood of Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: meaning he was made clean. So I do believe that
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  Speaker 1: this is talking about a saved individual, somebody who truly
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  Speaker 1: does believe in Jesus. But they are acting as if
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  Speaker 1: Jesus's blood is an unholy thing. And how are they
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  Speaker 1: doing that? Well, because they are acting unholy they are
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  Speaker 1: carrying Jesus's name incorrectly. That's actually one of the Ten Commandments.
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  Speaker 1: We just talked about that yesterday actually on the podcast.
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  Speaker 1: It's amazing how things disconnect, you know, the Bible always
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  Speaker 1: connects with itself. One of the ten Commandments says, you
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  Speaker 1: shall not take the name of the Lord your God
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  Speaker 1: God in vain, or misuse his name, or carry his
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  Speaker 1: name incorrectly. That is what these people are doing. They
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  Speaker 1: are carrying Jesus's name incorrectly. And that's the thing, you know,
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  Speaker 1: Christians are supposed to be representatives of Jesus. We are
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  Speaker 1: I mean the word Christian actually means little Christ. We
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  Speaker 1: are to model Jesus. And if somebody is going around
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  Speaker 1: claiming to believe in Jesus, going to church saying that
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  Speaker 1: they're a Christian, but living a lifestyle that is completely
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  Speaker 1: anti biblical, then that person is representing Jesus incorrectly through
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  Speaker 1: his lifestyle. He is saying, Jesus allows me to do this.
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  Speaker 1: You know, I go to church, I am faithful, I
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  Speaker 1: love Jesus so much, and he's he's totally cool with this.
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  Speaker 1: He's cool with my lifestyle because we are representatives of Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: because we are little Christ's. We are called to be
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  Speaker 1: holy like Jesus is holy. Not to act as if
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is unholy and allows us to have on holy lifestyles.
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  Speaker 1: That is a bad representation of Christ. So this person,
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  Speaker 1: he says, is counting the blood of the Covenant with
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  Speaker 1: which he was sanctified an unholy thing, and he has
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  Speaker 1: insulted the spirit of grace. There's a Christian song that
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  Speaker 1: I like. It's called holy Water by We the Kingdom,
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  Speaker 1: and the bridge says, I don't want to abuse your
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  Speaker 1: grace God, I need it every day. We can, in
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  Speaker 1: fact abuse God's grace, and it says right here, it's
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  Speaker 1: the spirit of grace and the word spirit is capitalized,
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  Speaker 1: so that has to do with the Holy Spirit. We
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  Speaker 1: are insulting the Spirit and insulting his grace that he
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  Speaker 1: has given us. I believe there's a verse in Romans
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  Speaker 1: that says, should we sin more because grace abounds? Absolutely
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  Speaker 1: not we should do the opposite. Yes, Jesus is very graceful,
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  Speaker 1: he is very kind, and he's understanding of our sin.
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  Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean we just go on living in sin.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus does not wink at sin, and a lot of
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  Speaker 1: people believe that. These days, a lot of people don't
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  Speaker 1: even talk about sin. Chances are if you go to
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  Speaker 1: a church in your area, they won't mention the word
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  Speaker 1: sin once, not in the music, not in the preaching,
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  Speaker 1: not in the prayers. If they even pray, they're not
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  Speaker 1: gonna mention sin at all. Instead, they're going to say
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  Speaker 1: something like shame or mistakes, or we have walls that
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  Speaker 1: need torn down, something like that. Unfortunately, the word sin
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  Speaker 1: is so avoided because it's almost as if, oh, once
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  Speaker 1: you become saved, yeah, God's grace is good. You know
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  Speaker 1: you are covered by grace. You're good to go. That
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  Speaker 1: is not true. You are not good to go. What
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  Speaker 1: did Jesus say to the woman who was caught in
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  Speaker 1: the sin of adultery? And people misuse this story all
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  Speaker 1: the time. Jesus said to the woman, go and and
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  Speaker 1: sin know more so stop it. Stop what you are doing.
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  Speaker 1: Stop your lifestyle. It is a sin, and I am
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  Speaker 1: not pleased with sin. Yes, Jesus has grace and he
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  Speaker 1: is going to forgive us. But if we willfully keep
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  Speaker 1: on sinning and we just don't confess those sins, if
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  Speaker 1: we act as if Jesus's blood is an unholy thing,
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  Speaker 1: if we disrespect Jesus and disrespect the spirit who gave
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  Speaker 1: us grace, there's not going to be forgiveness for that. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: every single one of us is going to stand in
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  Speaker 1: front of Jesus, not with our spouse, not with our kids,
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  Speaker 1: not with our pastors, not with anybody else. We're going
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  Speaker 1: to be alone in front of Jesus. He is going
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  Speaker 1: to look at our lives and he is going to
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  Speaker 1: judge us for every single thing that we do. And
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  Speaker 1: the churches don't teach that, and it's really starting to
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  Speaker 1: anger me. Actually said that is right here in verse thirty.
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  Speaker 1: For we know him who said vengeance belongs to me,
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  Speaker 1: I will repay, says the Lord again. The Lord will
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  Speaker 1: judge his people. It is a fearful thing verse thirty
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  Speaker 1: one to fall into the hands of the living God.
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  Speaker 1: So just because somebody calls themselves Christian does not mean
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  Speaker 1: that they are just getting off the hook with whatever
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  Speaker 1: terrible thing that they do. Jesus is going to have vengeance.
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  Speaker 1: He will judge his own people, every single one of us.
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  Speaker 1: So it does not matter somebody claims to believe in
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  Speaker 1: Jesus and goes on hurting people. There's a pastor. I've
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  Speaker 1: talked about this guy a handful times on my podcast.
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  Speaker 1: Down the street from me, in the little sticks of
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  Speaker 1: where I live in my great state of Ohio, down
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  Speaker 1: the street from me, did his two young children and
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  Speaker 1: went to jail. It's been three years, okay since that happened,
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  Speaker 1: and he has been trying to get out ever since then, saying, oh,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a changed individual. My daughters they want me back home.
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  Speaker 1: They wrote these nice letters about me. I was sickened
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  Speaker 1: when I saw that in the newspapers. I was absolutely sickened,
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  Speaker 1: because there are there, truly are people who think, oh,
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  Speaker 1: because I'm saved, I'm good. I can just do whatever
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  Speaker 1: I want to do. No Jesus is going to repay,
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  Speaker 1: and it does not matter who it is. If you
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  Speaker 1: are somebody that goes around hurting people willfully or willfully
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  Speaker 1: living in sin, whatever that sin might be, you cannot
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  Speaker 1: just use Jesus as an excuse to say that you
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  Speaker 1: are a good person or that you have grace. You
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  Speaker 1: cannot do that because you're going to stand in front
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus someday and guess what I am too. This
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  Speaker 1: is a warning for me, This is a warning for
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  Speaker 1: all of us. We have to be very diligent to
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  Speaker 1: not go willfully sinning. You know, I'm gonna rant about
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  Speaker 1: the church just a little bit longer. I have been
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  Speaker 1: hurt by non saved individuals, and I have been hurt
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  Speaker 1: by saved individuals. And being betrayed by a saved individual,
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  Speaker 1: by somebody who you believe is a family member, somebody
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  Speaker 1: that you have camaraderie with, that is a far greater
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  Speaker 1: hurt than being betrayed or hurt by somebody who does
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  Speaker 1: not know Jesus. Church hurt hits like nothing else. That
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  Speaker 1: is why people have the hardest time getting over it
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  Speaker 1: because it's a spiritual kind of hurt. That is why
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  Speaker 1: people who are fifty sixty, seventy years old are like, no,
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  Speaker 1: I'm never going back to church because when I was
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  Speaker 1: a little kid, I was hurt by pastor, or I
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  Speaker 1: was hurt by another church individual, or my family was
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  Speaker 1: destroyed because of this church. And it happens all the time.
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  Speaker 1: You would be amazed the amount of church hurt that
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  Speaker 1: happens in this country. And the churches are doing this
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  Speaker 1: because they are acting like these people in Verses twenty
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  Speaker 1: six through thirty one willfully sinning and claiming the name
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus, carrying Jesus's name incorrectly. But just know, if
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  Speaker 1: you are one of these people that has been hurt
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  Speaker 1: by a church, or has been hurt by a pastor
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  Speaker 1: or a priest or anybody else that claimed the name
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus, God is going to repay that he saw.
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  Speaker 1: That vengeance belongs to him, is what it says, and
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  Speaker 1: he will repay, and the Lord will judge his people.
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  Speaker 1: God sees you, and he knows the hurt that you
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  Speaker 1: have experienced. And I am sorry that you've experienced that hurt.
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  Speaker 1: It's hard. There's something that Jesus said. I cannot remember
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  Speaker 1: where it was, but he was complaining about the Pharisees,
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  Speaker 1: and he said to the Pharisees, you know, you travel
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  Speaker 1: across the world to convert somebody to Judaism, and then
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  Speaker 1: once you convert them, you make them twice the sun
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  Speaker 1: of hell that you are. Jesus is sickened by people
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: who religiously mistreat the vulnerable. He's going to repay that.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: So just know that if you've been hurt by a church,
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: and this might be your first time listening to a
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: biblical podcast in a really long time, I understand how
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: you feel. I really do. But moving on to verse
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: thirty two, here's how Christians are actually supposed to act
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: instead of doing all of that willful sinning. Remember the
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: former days in which, after you were enlightened, you endured
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: a great struggle with sufferings, partly being exposed to both
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: reproaches and oppressions, and partly becoming partakers with those who
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: are treated so for you both had compassion on me
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  Speaker 1: in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: an enduring one in the heavens. So instead of willfully sinning,
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Christians are to be bold, they are to be unified,
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: they are to be kind, that's what it says right here.
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: And they are to be patient as well, enduring great
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: struggles and sufferings. Because Christianity truly is the most persecuted
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: religion in the world, partially because of Christians, because they,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: like I said, they act like these people in verses
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: twenty six through thirty one, And I can understand why
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: Christians are persecuted in that sense, but that's not always
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: the case. Many times Christianity is persecuted because people hate God,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: because they hate Jesus, and so they're going to attack
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: Christians because they don't want to hear what God has
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: to say. They don't want to hear that they're living
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: in sin, you know. I mean, I'm sure this podcast
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: episode might have been offensive to some of you listening,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: if you're still with me, because maybe you've never considered
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: the fact that you have sin. Maybe you've never considered
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: the fact that you're not perfect just the way you are.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: But that actually is the message of Christianity, that we
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: are not perfect, that the world is flawed. But Jesus
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: came to someday make everything perfect, to someday live with us.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: And he has done the work of saving grace that
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: we can have right now until He comes again the
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: second time. And until he comes again the second time,
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Christians need to endure oppression and reproaches and become partakers
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: with those who are treated. So we need to become
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: unified as a church instead of disunified. That's another problem
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: with all the churches in the country right now. Like man,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: there's one hundred million denominations, and I can understand why
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: some denominations became denominations, But we're all the body of Christ.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: If you believe in Jesus as your savior, you're just
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: as much an adopted child of God as I am. Says.
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: There is no slaver free, there is no male or female,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: There is no Jew or gentile. We are all united
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: under Christ, and the Church needs to be far more
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: united than it actually is. Our churches are weak in America.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: They are weak for you both had compassion on me
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: in my chains and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions,
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: an enduring one in the heavens. Therefore, don't throw away
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: your boldness, which has a great reward. So boldness for
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: Christ has a great reward. And man, that is scary.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: You know, I am not a naturally bold person. I'm
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: actually very fearful and a doormat, so being bold is
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: not in my nature. You know, I'm so impressed with
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: people like my mom because she is the boldest person
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: you will ever meet. She is not afraid of anything,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: Like she can just talk to anybody about Jesus and
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: she can just outright, flatly say no to people. Boldness
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: for Jesus has a great reward, so don't throw it away,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: is what the author says. For you need endurance so that,
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: having done the will of God, you may receive the promise.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: So Christians need to have endurance in order to receive
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: the promise. In other words, Christianity is not just a fad.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: It's not something that you can just try out or
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: dip your toes into. It's a lifestyle, it's a belief.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: It's something that you have to endure through. It's not
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: going to be easy all the time. It's not easy
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: being a Christian, even in America. There are challenges if
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: you want to follow the Bible the way it says.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: It says in a very little while, he who comes
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: will come and will not wait. But the righteous one
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: has no pleasure in him. There are many Christians, unfortunately,
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: who do shrink back from the faith. They shrink back
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: from being bold. And I hope and pray that I
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: am able to stand when somebody really challenges me. I
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: hope I have enough boldness. And we should be praying
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: for each other for that. Pray for me that I
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: have boldness to say what needs to be said here
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: on the podcast. And I will pray for you, faithful
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: listeners for that as well. You have boldness in your faith.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: And the last verse to conclude, but we are not
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: who have faith to the saving of the soul. So
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: people who are truly saved, they don't shrink back to
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: the destruction. This is another verse that says you can't
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: lose your salvation. We are not of those who shrink
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: back to destruction, but of those who have faith to
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: the saving of the soul. Even the people that stand
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: before Jesus and have literally nothing to offer for him,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: it still says those individuals will be saved. Let's go
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: back to that verse one Corinthians three fifteen. If any
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: man's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: himself will be saved, but as through fire, so it's
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: not going to be a pleasant experience. But you still
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: will be saved if you believe in Jesus. We are
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: not of those who shrink back to destruction, but we
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: are those who have faith to the saving of the soul.
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: So thankfully, if we believe in Jesus, we are saved.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: But that is not where things end. Just because we
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: are saved does not mean we can do whatever we
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: want to do and that Jesus is just going to
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: forgive us. Paul said in the Book of Philippians that
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: you need to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: and right here in Hebrews it says it is a
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God.
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: So this is my call to action for everybody listening
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: to this podcast. Take an inventory of where you are
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: in life, sit down with Jesus, confess the sins that
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: you know about, and then pray this prayer from Psalm
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: one point thirty nine, twenty three and twenty four. Search me, O, God,
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: and know my heart, Try me and know my thoughts.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: See if there is any wicked way in me, and
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: lead me in the everlasting way. Okay, faithul listeners, I've
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: got a few closing points I'd like to say before
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: I end today's episode. But before we do that, here
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: is one last word from a sponsor today. It is
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: really helpful to take inventory of where you are in life.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: And it's also really helpful that if somebody is consistently
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: telling you that you're wrong in something, to actually listen
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: to them. Sometimes God gets through to us through other people,
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: and you know, the pride can come in and we
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: don't want to listen to what those other people have
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: to say. But if we can just swallow our pride
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: and listen to what they have to say, we might
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: actually be able to change something negative about our lives
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: and be more alike the Christian in Hebrews Chapter ten,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: verses thirty two through thirty nine. You know the end part,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the bold and compassionate to Christian that is unified with
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: all the other Christians I know. For me, I don't
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: like criticism or critique very much, but I am so
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: thankful I have people in my life, like my mom
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: and my husband who are so blunt that they can
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: tell me what is wrong with me. We have to
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: be people who are able to listen to stuff like that,
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: and it is hard. It is so hard to be
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: told that there is something wrong with you, that you
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: are a part of some sin, that you are doing
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: something wrong. It is difficult. But as Christians, we are
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: supposed to self analyze. We are supposed to work out
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: our salvation with fear and trembling. So let's do that.
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: If you don't have somebody that is willing to tell
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: you what is wrong with you, then I can say
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: you're probably getting the wrong friends, or that you need
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: a mentor in your life, an accountability partner, somebody that
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: is willing to tell you something's wrong, and I'm not
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: gonna lie. It's going to be hard to find somebody
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: like that because there's very, very few bold Christians left
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: in the world. So find that person who can kindly
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: tell you what is wrong with you, who can encourage
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: you to go down a different path, who can find
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: you Bible readings for what you're struggling with, find an
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: accountability partner if you don't already have one, but also
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: just praying and asking the Holy Spirit where am I
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: going wrong? Praying that prayer that I mentioned at the
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: end of the podcast from Psalm one thirty nine. Search me,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: God and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: See if there is any wicked way in me, and
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: lead me in the everlasting way. The Holy Spirit will
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: lead us in the everlasting way. He will reveal the
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: wicked thoughts in us. He is the ultimate counselor and
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: the ultimate accountability partner. So partner yourself with the Holy
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Spirit today and take some inventory of where you are.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: All right, faith listeners, have a fantastic and wonderful rest
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: of your day. I will see you guys bright and
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: early tomorrow for the Bible Explained on the Old Testament
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: side of stuff. So I'll see you guys then six
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: am or whenever you choose to wake up and listen.
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Happy listening, and God bless I just want to take
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: a second to thank the team at Life Audio for
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: their partnership with me on the Bible Explain podcast. In fact,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: if you go to lifeaudio dot com. You will find
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network. They've
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.