Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Hebrews 13:12-25 - Final Words in the Book of Hebrews

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Hebrews 13:12-25 - Final Words in the Book of Hebrews · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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  Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, Hello and good morning, faithful listeners, and
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  Speaker 1: welcome to the Bible Explain podcast on this absolutely gorgeous morning.
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  Speaker 1: I hope you guys are ready to share a delicious
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  Speaker 1: cup of coffee with me, because we are finishing out
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  Speaker 1: the Book of Hebrews today, and I'm not going to lie.
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  Speaker 1: I'm kind of depressed to end the Book of Hebrews,
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  Speaker 1: kind of like how you know when you finish a
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  Speaker 1: good book, or you finish a series on TV that
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  Speaker 1: you really liked or something. That's how I'm feeling about
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  Speaker 1: the Book of Hebrews, and I have not felt that
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  Speaker 1: way in quite a while. So, yeah, the Book of
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  Speaker 1: Hebrews has really impacted me. Just studying it in depth,
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  Speaker 1: I almost feel like it's an end of an era.
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  Speaker 1: So I think that the Book of Hebrews has jumped
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  Speaker 1: up on my list of like top two favorite books
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  Speaker 1: of the New Testament. The only one that might compete
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  Speaker 1: with it is the Gospel of John. But otherwise I've
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  Speaker 1: been loving the Book of Hebrews, and I hope you
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  Speaker 1: guys have as well. Well. Well, we're going to be talking
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  Speaker 1: about some good topics though in Hebrews thirteen, specifically the
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  Speaker 1: difference between praise and worship and also obeying the church leaders.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so we're gonna get into some interesting and
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  Speaker 1: kind of spicy topics today. But of course, before I
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  Speaker 1: do that, you guys know that I'm going to move
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  Speaker 1: to an advertisement to break and I'll be back right
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  Speaker 1: after that to read Hebrews thirteen with you. Okay, So
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  Speaker 1: hopefully during that sponsored advertisement you were able to settle
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  Speaker 1: in and grab your delicious hot beverage, whether it's coffee
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  Speaker 1: or tea for you crazy tea drinkers, and also the
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  Speaker 1: version of the Bible that you prefer. But as always,
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  Speaker 1: I will be reading from the web this morning or
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  Speaker 1: the World English Bible. Let's read Hebrews thirteen twelve through
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  Speaker 1: twenty five together. Therefore, Jesus also that he might sanctify
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  Speaker 1: the people through his own blood suffered outside of the gate.
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  Speaker 1: Let's therefore go out to him outside of the gate,
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  Speaker 1: bearing his reproach. For we don't have here an enduring city,
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  Speaker 1: but we seek that which is to come through him.
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  Speaker 1: Then let's offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually.
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  Speaker 1: That is the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to
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  Speaker 1: his name. But don't forget to be doing good and sharing,
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  Speaker 1: For with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey your
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  Speaker 1: leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf
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  Speaker 1: of your souls as those who will give an account.
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  Speaker 1: That they may do this with joy and not with groaning,
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  Speaker 1: for that would be unprofitable. For you. Pray for us,
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  Speaker 1: for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience,
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  Speaker 1: desiring to live honorably in all things. I strongly urge
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  Speaker 1: you to do this, that I may be restored to
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  Speaker 1: you sooner. Now, may the God of Peace who brought
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  Speaker 1: you again from the dead, the great Shepherd of the sheep,
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  Speaker 1: with the blood of an eternal covenant. Our Lord Jesus
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  Speaker 1: make you complete in every good work, to do His will,
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  Speaker 1: working in you that which is well pleasing in His
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  Speaker 1: sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever
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  Speaker 1: and ever. Amen. But I exhort you, brothers, endure the
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  Speaker 1: word of exhortation. For I've written to you in few words.
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  Speaker 1: Know that our brother Timothy has been freed with whom
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  Speaker 1: if he comes shortly, I will see you. Greet all
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  Speaker 1: of your leaders and all of the saints. The Italians
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  Speaker 1: greet you grace be with you all. Amen. Now, on Tuesday,
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  Speaker 1: we talked a little bit about Verses twelve through fourteen.
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  Speaker 1: It says, therefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the
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  Speaker 1: people through his own blood suffered outside of the gate.
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  Speaker 1: Let's therefore go out to him outside of the camp,
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  Speaker 1: bearing his reproach, for we don't have here an enduring city,
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  Speaker 1: but we seek that which is to come. So that
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  Speaker 1: is talking about how Jesus was the ultimate sin sacrifice.
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  Speaker 1: The holiest sin sacrifices were actually burned outside of the camp.
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  Speaker 1: They were to be set apart completely. And Jesus, with
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  Speaker 1: his sacrifice emulated the most holy sacrifice that the Jews
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  Speaker 1: used to do. And so Jesus, of course didn't die
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  Speaker 1: inside of Jerusalem. He died outside of Jerusalem, proving that
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  Speaker 1: he was the most holy sacrifice. And since Jesus was
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  Speaker 1: the most holy, you and I as Christians, are called
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  Speaker 1: to be holy as well. The word Christian in and
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  Speaker 1: of itself actually just means a little christ and it
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  Speaker 1: actually started as an insult in the days of Paul.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, the word Christian, I believe, is only mentioned
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  Speaker 1: three times in the New Testament, and at least one
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  Speaker 1: of those times that I know of, it was an
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  Speaker 1: insult to Paul, calling him like a Christian, like oh
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  Speaker 1: you little Christ. But even though it started as an insult,
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  Speaker 1: it became the name for Christianity, the name for Christians.
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  Speaker 1: So as Christians, as the name implies, we are supposed
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  Speaker 1: to emulate Christ. We are supposed to be like a
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  Speaker 1: little Christ. If Jesus suffered outside of the camp and
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  Speaker 1: separated himself by being the most holy, then we should
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  Speaker 1: emulate that by meeting Jesus outside of the camp. And
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  Speaker 1: so what I talked about on Tuesday, you do this
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  Speaker 1: by separating yourself from the world. Specifically, the church is
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  Speaker 1: supposed to separate themselves from the world, because if the
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  Speaker 1: church is too much like the world, then what's the
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  Speaker 1: point of anybody even going to church. You can just
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  Speaker 1: go to your local library and get the same exact
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  Speaker 1: thing that you could at your church, or you could
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  Speaker 1: go to a concert and get the exact same thing
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  Speaker 1: there that you could at church. Now that the church
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  Speaker 1: is supposed to be different from the world, and ideally
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  Speaker 1: that would attract non Christians who are looking at the
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  Speaker 1: Christian lifestyle being like, why do they do that? What
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  Speaker 1: is the benefit of them being so different and not
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  Speaker 1: doing these things that everybody else is doing, like why
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  Speaker 1: are they doing all of this? So actually being very different,
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  Speaker 1: being wholly and separated, is something that attracts people to
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  Speaker 1: the church, not detracts them. A lot of times many
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  Speaker 1: churches don't understand that they try to be seek or
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  Speaker 1: sensitive by being very similar to the rest of the world.
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  Speaker 1: But that's not the reason people are coming to church.
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  Speaker 1: They're coming to church because they are broken individuals, because
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  Speaker 1: they need community, because they want to know what Christianity is.
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  Speaker 1: So ultimately the reason somebody is coming to your church,
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  Speaker 1: hopefully is to find a sense of purpose. The church
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  Speaker 1: is supposed to be different by separating ourselves from the
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  Speaker 1: rest of the world and being different like Jesus was,
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  Speaker 1: who was separated from Jerusalem when he died becoming the
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  Speaker 1: most holy sacrifice. And it says in verse fourteen, we
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  Speaker 1: don't have here an enduring city, but we seek that
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  Speaker 1: which is to come. Everything is going to pass away
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  Speaker 1: here on earth, which is why we should be focused
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  Speaker 1: on Jesus and the eternal because if we're focused too
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  Speaker 1: much on the world and what the world is doing
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  Speaker 1: and making our churches like the world. All that stuff
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  Speaker 1: is going to pass away. So what is the point
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  Speaker 1: in making our churches like the world. When we have
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  Speaker 1: something eternal that lasts forever, we should make the church
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  Speaker 1: emulate that. We might as well start right here and
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  Speaker 1: now doing it the way it's going to be done
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  Speaker 1: in eternity, it says in verse fifteen, right here through him,
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  Speaker 1: then let's offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually.
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  Speaker 1: That is the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to
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  Speaker 1: his name. So that makes it clear right here that
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  Speaker 1: praise is a sacrifice. There's a website that I usually
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  Speaker 1: really like. It's called got questions dot org, and it
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  Speaker 1: basically just answers a whole bunch of biblical questions that
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  Speaker 1: you have. And I've never had a problem with it
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  Speaker 1: until the other day when I researched what is the
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  Speaker 1: difference between praise and worship? Because ironically, we actually talked
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  Speaker 1: about that very subject with the members on Friday's episode,
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  Speaker 1: so I was researching this ahead of time, and Got
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  Speaker 1: Questions said that praise does not cost us anything. It's
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  Speaker 1: just something that you do enjoy. You are singing to God,
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  Speaker 1: you know, praising him with your mouth just giving him
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  Speaker 1: adoration essentially, and it doesn't cost you anything. And they
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  Speaker 1: said worship is what costs you. But I one hundred
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  Speaker 1: percent disagree. And I actually disagreed on Friday when I
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  Speaker 1: first read it, even though I didn't even read this
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  Speaker 1: passage in Hebrews yet that says that praise is a sacrifice.
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  Speaker 1: I disagreed back then because praise really is a sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: if you think about it, because it can be really
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  Speaker 1: embarrassing to publicly praise God. Yes, in the comfort of
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  Speaker 1: your own home when nobody is around, you can sing
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  Speaker 1: and dance like no one is watching you and you're
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  Speaker 1: not going to be embarrassed, at least not as bad
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  Speaker 1: if you're doing that in public. That is certainly embarrassing
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  Speaker 1: a lot of times. And it really is a sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: to do that publicly for God. So praise is certainly
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  Speaker 1: a sacrifice, and that is what it says right here
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  Speaker 1: through Him, Let's offer up a sacrifice of praise to
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  Speaker 1: God continually. So what is the difference between praise and worship,
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  Speaker 1: Because a lot of times they are intertwined in scripture,
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  Speaker 1: but they do mean different things. Praise is a form
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  Speaker 1: of worship, but worship is not always praise, if that
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  Speaker 1: makes sense. Praise means using your mouth or your actions
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  Speaker 1: to give adoration to God. A lot of times this
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  Speaker 1: is in the form of music. You know, you're singing
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  Speaker 1: praises to God or you're playing the piano beautifully to God.
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  Speaker 1: Those two things are an act of praise, and they're
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  Speaker 1: also an act of worship. You are worshiping God through
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  Speaker 1: music and through songs. Now it doesn't always have to
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  Speaker 1: be through music. You can just publicly state to somebody
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  Speaker 1: your testimony how God was good to you. You can
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  Speaker 1: tell people about the attributes of God, or maybe do
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  Speaker 1: an art form that gives praise to God. Those things
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  Speaker 1: are all praise, and they're also an act of worship.
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  Speaker 1: But worship goes a little bit deeper than praise does.
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  Speaker 1: Worship specifically is when your heart humbly recognizes that God
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  Speaker 1: is greater than you are. And you can do this
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  Speaker 1: with any single avenue in your life. You can do
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  Speaker 1: this through prayer. You can do this by being kind
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  Speaker 1: to somebody who cuts you off in traffic. You can
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  Speaker 1: do this by texting somebody who is sick and encouraging them.
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  Speaker 1: You can do this through your finances, through your giving,
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  Speaker 1: just being nice to somebody, doing a chore for somebody,
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  Speaker 1: doing your job well when your boss isn't even looking
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  Speaker 1: at you, or maybe you do dishes for your spouse
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  Speaker 1: knowing that they're not feeling good. You know, it could
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  Speaker 1: be anything, really as an act of worship, just living
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  Speaker 1: the Christian lifestyle, recognizing that God sees you with everything
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  Speaker 1: that you are doing, recognizing that God is greater than you,
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  Speaker 1: and that you want to be humble in front of God.
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  Speaker 1: So worship is an act of humility understanding that God
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  Speaker 1: is greater than you. Praise specifically is adoring God with
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  Speaker 1: your words, your actions, your song, whatever it might be,
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  Speaker 1: whereas worship is a posture of humility, if that makes sense.
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  Speaker 1: And praise again can be an act of worship and
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  Speaker 1: should be an act of worship. If you're publicly praising
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  Speaker 1: God but you have no worship in your heart, then
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  Speaker 1: that's not really praise, and that's certainly not worship. I've
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  Speaker 1: done that before in the past, because you guys know,
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  Speaker 1: I've been involved in music in my church for a
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  Speaker 1: long time, and there have been certainly times where I'm
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  Speaker 1: up there on stage not even thinking about the words
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  Speaker 1: that I'm singing. More so putting on a show in
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  Speaker 1: my own heart or stressed about how the music is sounding,
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  Speaker 1: and so I'm not really praising or worshiping in that case.
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  Speaker 1: But that's beside the point. If you're doing praise the
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  Speaker 1: right way, it says that it is a it's a
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  Speaker 1: sacrifice and one that we should give to God continually.
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  Speaker 1: That is the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to
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  Speaker 1: his name. Publicly declaring that Jesus is our lord. That
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  Speaker 1: is a sacrifice. Because what are people going to think
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  Speaker 1: of you when you tell them publicly that you are
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  Speaker 1: a Christian, that you love Jesus, that hey, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: going to go, you know, do these things with you
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  Speaker 1: anymore because God has changed me and because I don't
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  Speaker 1: want to do those things anymore. You're going to get
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  Speaker 1: taunts and persecution from people who don't understand. And that
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  Speaker 1: is why praise is a sacrifice. But you got to
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  Speaker 1: think about it this way. We're not sacrificing for nothing.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice for us when he went
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  Speaker 1: outside the camp and gave his life in a brutal
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  Speaker 1: way for all of our sins. So publicly declaring Jesus's
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  Speaker 1: name is a very small sacrifice compared to what Jesus
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  Speaker 1: did for all of us, And we have to think
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  Speaker 1: about it that way. If Jesus sacrificed, then certainly we
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  Speaker 1: can sacrifice something for him as well. So we sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: by praising God continually, and also by doing good and
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  Speaker 1: sharing in verse sixteen, for with such sacrifices God is
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  Speaker 1: well pleased. Doing good to people is certainly a sacrifice.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure you guys have felt this before, because people
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  Speaker 1: suck sometimes, even Christians sometimes are very mean, and it's
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  Speaker 1: hard not to let bitterness come in when those Christians
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  Speaker 1: are being mean to you, because you expect them to
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  Speaker 1: be different than the world, and a lot of times
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  Speaker 1: they are not. A lot of times they act sometimes
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  Speaker 1: even worse than people out in the world. That's what
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  Speaker 1: Jesus says. He says, the Pharisees go and make a
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  Speaker 1: new convert and then turn that convert into twice the
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  Speaker 1: son of Hell that he was before. So sometimes Christians
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  Speaker 1: don't act very well, or people that claim to be
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  Speaker 1: Christian do not act like Christians. It's hard not to
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  Speaker 1: let bitterness come in. But being kind and good to
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  Speaker 1: people who are not kind or good to you that
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  Speaker 1: is a sacrifice that God is well pleased with, as
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  Speaker 1: well as sharing. That is another sacrifice, and that really
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  Speaker 1: is a sacrifice people have a very hard time with giving.
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  Speaker 1: Some of the episodes where I get the most pushback
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  Speaker 1: where people contact me and they say, Jen, I don't
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  Speaker 1: like what you said, or they yell at me, or
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  Speaker 1: they just have a big problem with me, is when
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  Speaker 1: I talk about financial giving. People have a really, really
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  Speaker 1: hard time with that topic. And I can completely understand why,
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  Speaker 1: because when you earn something, you feel like it's yours
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  Speaker 1: and you don't want anybody, whether it's a Christian or
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  Speaker 1: a non Christian, telling you what to do with that money.
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  Speaker 1: So people get defensive when I tell them it is
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  Speaker 1: actually very biblical to give of your finances to other people.
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  Speaker 1: Scripture on multiple occasions calls this sharing what God shared
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  Speaker 1: with you, you must share with other people, and again that
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  Speaker 1: same kind of phraseology is used here in verse sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: Sharing is a sacrifice with which God is well pleased,
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  Speaker 1: and he really is. He is pleased with financial giving.
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  Speaker 1: That is the one issue in Scripture where God actually
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  Speaker 1: tells people to test him in that. He says, test
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  Speaker 1: me in your giving and see if I will not
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  Speaker 1: pour out the storerooms of Heaven on you when you give.
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  Speaker 1: That's like the one time that God tells people to
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  Speaker 1: test him. God does care about our finances and he
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  Speaker 1: gives them to us. And ultimately everything that we own
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  Speaker 1: was from God to begin with. Because God made the
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  Speaker 1: entire earth, everything on it is actually his. The money
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  Speaker 1: that you own, however much or little it is, belongs
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  Speaker 1: to God and He gave it to you. And He
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  Speaker 1: commands us multiple times in scripture to give to others
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  Speaker 1: who also have need. Now we shouldn't do it out
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  Speaker 1: of guilt or because somebody is forcing us to give it.
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  Speaker 1: We should do it with a cheerful heart. Says in
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  Speaker 1: scripture that God loves the cheerful giver. And also right here,
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  Speaker 1: giving is a sacrifice with which God is well pleased.
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  Speaker 1: And again, if Jesus can sacrifice his entire life for
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  Speaker 1: us at the hands of just the worst evil that
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  Speaker 1: could have existed, and the brutality that Jesus endured up
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  Speaker 1: on that cross, you know he was human. He felt
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  Speaker 1: every single thing that happened to him on that cross,
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  Speaker 1: the pain, the shame of being publicly naked in front
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  Speaker 1: of everybody, like hanging up publicly naked, the embarrassment, the
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  Speaker 1: sadness of being betrayed by your best friends, having nobody
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  Speaker 1: at your side, the loneliness. He experienced all of that
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  Speaker 1: because he was a human being, the same as you.
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  Speaker 1: And yet he willingly went to that cross. God the
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  Speaker 1: Father did not force him to go there. He willingly went.
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  Speaker 1: And if he could sacrifice like that for us, then
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  Speaker 1: certainly we can give a little bit of our finances
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  Speaker 1: to people, or we can be kind to somebody who
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  Speaker 1: is being unkind to us, or we can offer up
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  Speaker 1: praise in front of somebody that doesn't believe in Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: These are sacrifices that we can do for Jesus that
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  Speaker 1: are much smaller than what He did for us. So
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  Speaker 1: it says in verse seventeen, obey your leaders and submit
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  Speaker 1: to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls,
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  Speaker 1: as well as those who will give account. That they
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  Speaker 1: may do this with joy and not with groaning, for
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  Speaker 1: that would be unprofitable for you. Now this is something
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  Speaker 1: I can relate to actually, as being a youth leader.
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  Speaker 1: I absolutely love all of the students that we have,
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  Speaker 1: but every once in a while we get a student
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  Speaker 1: that is very defiant, and it makes the night just
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  Speaker 1: no fun because that student just like will not play
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  Speaker 1: along with the other kids or they want to defy
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  Speaker 1: me or my husband Garrett. That makes the night so
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  Speaker 1: miserable for the leaders when certain kids just refer us
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  Speaker 1: to submit. It is just so much nicer when the
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  Speaker 1: kids are just like all getting along with each other
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  Speaker 1: and getting along with the leaders and not being confrontational
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  Speaker 1: or rude with each other or with us. It just
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  Speaker 1: makes the night so fun. And I love doing youth ministry.
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  Speaker 1: And that's what it says right here, Obey your leaders.
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  Speaker 1: I believe this is talking specifically about the church leaders
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  Speaker 1: and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of
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  Speaker 1: your souls as those who will give an account that
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  Speaker 1: they can do this with joy and not with groaning,
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  Speaker 1: because that would be unprofitable for you. So yeah, it's
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  Speaker 1: just not pleasant to have somebody in the church that
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  Speaker 1: is always confrontational, always nitpicking, always looking for every little
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  Speaker 1: thing to be offended about or upset about. Those types
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  Speaker 1: of people make church ministry just an absolute drag. And
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  Speaker 1: I bet you that some of you faithful listeners know
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  Speaker 1: somebody like that and you're just like, oh yeah, I
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: can think of Betty over in PW number two, who
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: gets me about everything. Everybody has at least one of
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: those people, unfortunately in their church. But in all honesty,
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: we have to reflect on ourselves right and make sure
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: we're not being that type of person. Are we constantly
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: nitpicking over things that just don't matter? You know, upset
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: over the fact that the color of the carpet changed,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: or that we switched from hymnals to you know, a
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: projector screen, or that the cross was moved to the
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: other side of the stage instead of in the middle
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: or whatever. You know. It's things like that where people
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: really do get very, very upset. And this is how
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: you can evaluate yourself in this Is this my personal
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: preference or is this a theology issue? Or is somebody
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: being mistreated? That is how you can differentiate between whether
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: it matters or whether it doesn't matter. Because if it's
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: just a preference that you have, like say you just
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: don't like the style of worship music that your church
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: is doing. But say the music is God honoring and
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: the lyrics are all good, but you just don't like
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: the way sounds, Well, that's just a preference on your part.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: It doesn't really matter what style of music is being
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: played as long as the lyrics are God honoring and
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: the people are praising through that music. So whether you
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: prefer country or modern Christian music, that's just a preference
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: on your part, not something to be so upset about.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: If your church switches a style of music or disbands
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: the choir for some other style of music, that kind
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: of stuff doesn't matter. But if people are genuinely being hurt,
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: and I'm not saying like somebody is like their feelings
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: are hurt necessarily, because sometimes you have to hurt feelings,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: especially if somebody is doing something wrong or sinning, then yes,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: their feelings are going to be hurt when you come
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: up to them and say, hey, you're sinning. So it
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: has nothing to do necessarily with hurt feelings. But more so,
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: if somebody is being abused or genuinely mistreated in the church,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: then that's when you should step in and say no,
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: this is wrong. You should go and talk to your
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: pastor your elder board, whatever the situation is in your church,
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: and be like, why was this person and treated like this?
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: Or why was I treated like this? When I gave
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: my all to this ministry and this person abused me.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: Why did this happen because Paul commands us to do this.
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: We are not supposed to just follow every single thing
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: that happens in the church and just sweep it under
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: the rug. Absolutely not. We are to as the church,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: be different from the world, and that means not allowing
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: church a leaders to abuse those that are under them.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: That happens out in the business world, we don't want
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: that happening in the churches. So there does come a
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: time when you can't be submissive or obedient to church
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: leaders anymore. But in the general sense, if it's just preference,
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: if it's something that doesn't matter, if it's not a
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: theology issue, if somebody is not being hurt, then honestly
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: it is not a big deal, and you should obey
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: your leaders and submit to them for things like that
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: because it ultimately doesn't matter. And if they are God
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: honoring leaders, then they're doing the best that they possibly can.
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: And somebody going up to them and nitpicking and being
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: offended over every little thing, it's just gonna make their
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: lives absolutely miserable as pastors and elders because they deal
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: with enough confrontation as it is so now in verse eighteen,
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: the author begins to conclude, and he says, pray for us,
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: desiring to live honorably in all things. I really like
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: how the author here words this. He says, we are
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: honorably in all things. But in spite of this, still
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: pray for us. Because the author knows, even though he
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: has the desire to live well, temptation and sin can
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: always creep up. So he asks the church pray for
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: us so that we continue to have a good conscience
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: and continue to live honorably in all things, because we
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: always have the ability to fall. He says in verse nineteen,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: I strongly urge you to do this, to pray for
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: me that I may be restored to you sooner. So
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: it sounds like whoever author the Book of Hebrews, which
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: we do not know who it was. Most people attribute
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: it to Paul, but there's a lot of problems with that,
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: which I've talked about at the beginning of the Book
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: of Hebrews. I personally believe that the author of Hebrews
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: was Luke kind of quoting some of the things that
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: Paul said, and maybe even some other preachers at the time,
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: because Luke was an author and he would write down
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: the things that were happening around him. So I think
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: it was Luke, but it does not say who authored
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: the Book of Hebrews, and we do not know. But
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: whoever it was, clearly was in prison, probably for being
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: a Christian, which is why he asks the church to
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: pray for him so that he can be restored to
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: them sooner. Or maybe he's not in prison, maybe he's sick.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: We don't know what the situation is here, but he's
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: asking for prayers. And now in verse twenty, he says,
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: may the God of Peace, who brought you again from
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: the dead, the great shepherd of the sheep, with the
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: blood of an eternal covenant, Our Lord Jesus, make you
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: complete in every good work, to do His will, working
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: in you that which is pleasing in His sight through
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Christ Jesus, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: So the author finishes by praying for the church that
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: they will look to Jesus in everything, that they will
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: be made complete in good works, and also that they
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: will please Jesus and that's a really nice prayer. And
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: now to conclude, in verses twenty two through twenty five,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: he says, I exhort you, brothers, to endure the word
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: of exhortation. I think he's talking about this Book of Hebrews,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: for I've written to you in few words. So he's like,
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: endure it. Do not get offended. It is for your
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: own good. Know that our brother Timothy has been freed,
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: with whom if he comes shortly, I will see you.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: So at some point in time Timothy was in prison.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: It sounds like, and now he has been freed. And
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: that says, greet all your leaders and all the saints,
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: the Italians, greet you. Grace be with you all. Amen.
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: So this was a nice conclusion to the Book of Hebrews.
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: And I am just absolutely astounded that we are done
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: with the Book of Hebrews. In some ways, I was
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: dreading beginning the Book of Hebrews because it is such
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: a in depth book. I was having like imposter syndrome
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: at the beginning. Going through all of this. I also
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: had that same feeling in Romans, because I was like,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: oh my gosh, this book is so deep and so heavy.
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: How am I going to get through it, but man,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: it's amazing how God just reveals things to you. And
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: I ended up just absolutely having a blast through the
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: Book of Hebrews, and I hope that all of you wonderful,
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: faithful listeners did as well. Now, before I end out
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: today's episode, I want to thank all of you for
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: finishing out the Book of Hebrews with me and finishing
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: through the rest of this episode. And I'm going to
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: move to an advertisement break here in just a moment,
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: and I'll be back right after that to say goodbye
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: to all of you faithful listeners. Okay, so the exciting
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: thing is that on Tuesday, we're going to be in
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the Book of James. And if you think that Paul's
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: letters are blunt, just wait till we get to James.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: I am pretty sure there is not a blunter author
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: in the entire Bible. James is so incredibly blunt, and
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: I can kind of understand why. I mean, he was
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: the brother of Jesus, he lived in the same house
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: with Jesus, he had the same mother as Jesus, so
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: I can kind of understand why he's so blunt because
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: he's seeing just so much, you know, irritating things going
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: on after Jesus ascends up into heaven and he wants
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: to correct all of it, I guess. So yeah, we're
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: gonna get into the Book of James on Tuesday, and
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: I hope that all of you guys tune in then
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: six am or whenever you choose to wake up and listen. Now,
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: of course, on Mondays and Wednesdays, I go through the
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: Old Testament and we are in the Book of Nehemiah
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: right now. And the Book of Nehemiah has been absolutely fascinating.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: It is the last book chronologically written in the Old
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Testament talking about the rebuilding of Jerusalem's wall, and yesterday
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: we had just an absolutely fantastic episode in that book.
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: Completely blew my mind to go through all of the
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem gates and see how they correlated to Jesus and
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the Christian Walk. And I hope that you guys go
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: back and listen to that if you haven't already. I
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: have a few related episodes listed in the description if
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: you want more content similar to what we talked about today,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: So check that out, as well as all the other
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: things that I do here on the podcast. They are
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: all listed in the description. Now tomorrow is for the members.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: As you guys know, if you would like to upgrade
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: from being a Faithful listener to a Faithful Member, then
• 27:31
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• 27:34
  Speaker 1: when you sign up to be a Coffee Tier member,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: you will gain access to the private Friday podcast that
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: I do with everybody and also gain access to this
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: podcast ad free, So make sure to do that if
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: you are interested in more content from the Bible Explained.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: Faithful Listeners have a fantastic and wonderful weekend. I'll see
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: you guys on Monday for an episode from Nehemiah or
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: on Tuesday for the first episode of James Till then,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: happy listening and God bless you all. I just want
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: to take a second to thank the team at Life
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Audio for their partnership with me on the Bible Explain podcast.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: In fact, if you go to lifeaudio dot com you
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: will find dozens of other faith centered podcasts in their network.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: They've got shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.