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A Brief Checklist for Believers Msg 910 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: We're reaching near the end of our time in the
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Speaker 1: little letter to the Colossians as we arrive in this
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Speaker 1: fourth chapter. Speaking of interludes, this verse 2 through verse
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Speaker 1: 6 section is a bit of an interlude. It's quiet.
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Speaker 1: It's before Paul's magnificent conclusion to his letter where he
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Speaker 1: names any number of people And finishes his letter with,
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Speaker 1: remember my chains. May God's grace be with you. Easy
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Speaker 1: to forget, isn't it, that entire letter is written while
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Speaker 1: he is chained to a Roman soldier at his side.
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Speaker 1: He's under house arrest. He has no idea what his
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Speaker 1: future holds. But there is not one word of pity.
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Speaker 1: He doesn't even ask that we pray that, or that
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Speaker 1: they would pray that he would be released. What he
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Speaker 1: prays and asks prayer about is the opportunity that is his.
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Speaker 1: Now he is sitting alongside this one soldier after another,
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Speaker 1: day after day, month after month. So our reading is
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Speaker 1: from verse 2 down through verse 6. Chapter 4 of Colossians.
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Speaker 1: May we stand together for the reading of the scriptures.
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Speaker 1: The version I am using is the New Living Translation.
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Speaker 1: It will be similar to the one you're using. It
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Speaker 1: reads a little bit easier for those who are not
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Speaker 1: familiar with biblical truth. Chapter 4, verse 2. Devote yourselves
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Speaker 1: to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
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Speaker 1: Pray for us, too, that God will give us many
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Speaker 1: opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That
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Speaker 1: is why I am here in chains. Pray that I
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Speaker 1: will proclaim this message as clearly as I should Live
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Speaker 1: wisely among those who are not believers and make the
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Speaker 1: most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and
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Speaker 1: attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
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Speaker 1: Just continue to look at the text for a few moments.
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Speaker 1: Verses 2, 3, and 4 say, are written regarding the insiders,
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Speaker 1: if you will. Paul is on the inside. The people
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Speaker 1: he addresses are on the inside. We pray as insiders
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Speaker 1: for one another and for those on the outside. When
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Speaker 1: you get to verse 5, the direction changes from the
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Speaker 1: vertical to the horizontal. We are to live wisely among,
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Speaker 1: the Greek says, those who are on the outside. The outsiders.
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Speaker 1: As we make the most of every opportunity. We live
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Speaker 1: our lives vertically related to our God, horizontally related to others.
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Speaker 1: And in that vertical relationship, prayer plays a vital part. Horizontally,
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Speaker 1: wisdom plays a vital part. You may be seated. An
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Speaker 1: outline is provided for your use if you wish to
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Speaker 1: use it as a guide to take us through words
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Speaker 1: to the insiders and then the outsiders. Let's pray. Thank you, Father,
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Speaker 1: for privileges like this that bring us to tears. We
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Speaker 1: stand on tiptoe anticipating what you may do through the
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Speaker 1: dissemination of your word in a country that has long
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Speaker 1: since lost its way. Thank you for the kindness of
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Speaker 1: these officials inviting us of all people to bring the
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Speaker 1: message to those whom you love for whom you died.
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Speaker 1: May we be faithful to do it well. May we
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Speaker 1: be accurate and clear and practical. May we get out
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Speaker 1: of the way so that your spirit can lead without
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Speaker 1: any ego or any work of the flesh interfering. May
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Speaker 1: the good news of Jesus travel freely and widely into
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Speaker 1: the mountains and the valleys, across the wall, into regions beyond.
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Speaker 1: We pray that you would give safety in travel and
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Speaker 1: joy in ministry. We thank you as a church for
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Speaker 1: the privilege of putting our arms around those who are
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Speaker 1: taking the message where we will never go, Thank you
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Speaker 1: for each one doing so. Thank you for those who
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Speaker 1: faithfully helped little children this week to know of Jesus
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Speaker 1: and to learn to love him and to walk with him.
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Speaker 1: We pray that our church may continue to be a
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Speaker 1: lighthouse of hope and assurance and mercy and grace and healing.
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Speaker 1: We give our gifts that that message will never, ever stop.
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Speaker 1: In the name of Jesus, we pray and give. Everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 1: Never underestimate the power of small things. Little things. Little
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Speaker 1: in size, but not little in significance. Small words, words
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Speaker 1: we speak that may seem unimportant, but sometimes they have
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Speaker 1: the ability to change the whole course of our lives.
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Speaker 1: Small deeds, actions that we are involved in that gain
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Speaker 1: no applause and often will not even be seen by others.
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Speaker 1: But oh, the difference those actions can make. Sometimes blending
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Speaker 1: the small words with actions that seem insignificant result in
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Speaker 1: phenomenal change. Two lives come to mind that are so different.
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Speaker 1: They lived separate from each other, but a small world,
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Speaker 1: a small word changed everything. Amelia Earhart wanted to be
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Speaker 1: an aviator, but two obstacles stood in her way. Number one,
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Speaker 1: she lived in the 1920s. It was an era when
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Speaker 1: there was great prejudice against women doing much of anything
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Speaker 1: outside the home. They were considered frail and weak and
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Speaker 1: fragile and really not that competent. Secondly, she was a woman.
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Speaker 1: And because of that, she didn't have what some would
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Speaker 1: call the stuff necessary to fly a plane. She couldn't
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Speaker 1: make her living as a pilot and so she She
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Speaker 1: took a job as a social worker. One day, out
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Speaker 1: of the blue, the phone rang and the person on
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Speaker 1: the other end of the line offered an offensive proposition
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Speaker 1: to her. He said to her, we have someone willing
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Speaker 1: to fund the first female transatlantic flight. Our first choice
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Speaker 1: backed out. And so we've come to you. And we've
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Speaker 1: decided to ask if you would do it. But you
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Speaker 1: need to understand the details. You won't actually fly the plane.
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Speaker 1: You'll sort of be along for the ride. Two men
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Speaker 1: will be sent on the flight as your chaperone. They'll
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Speaker 1: fly the plane. We'll pay them a lot of money.
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Speaker 1: We won't pay you anything. She now understood why the
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Speaker 1: first person didn't choose to say yes. Oh, one more
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Speaker 1: thing they added. You very well may die while on
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Speaker 1: the flight. There's a very real possibility the plane will
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Speaker 1: not make it across the Atlantic. Well, guess what? Amelia
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Speaker 1: Earhart said the little word yes. Changed everything. Not in
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Speaker 1: that flight. But in less than five years, she became
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Speaker 1: the first woman to fly solo, nonstop, across the Atlantic.
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Speaker 1: And later became one of the most famous and respected
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Speaker 1: people in the whole world. All because of one little word. Yes.
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Speaker 1: Reuben Hurricane Carter lived in the 1960s. He was a
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Speaker 1: prize fighter at the top of his game, if you will.
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Speaker 1: His career took off in a meteoric way, and he
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Speaker 1: was known all over the country as the best among
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Speaker 1: the boxers in the middleweight class. However, he was wrongly
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Speaker 1: accused of a horrific crime he did not commit. a
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Speaker 1: triple homicide. There was a rush to judgment. He was
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Speaker 1: put on trial in front of a prejudiced judge and
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Speaker 1: prejudiced jury who came up with a bogus verdict that
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Speaker 1: he was guilty. Three life sentences in prison were leveled
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Speaker 1: against him. It was a dizzying sudden fall from the
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Speaker 1: pinnacle of success and fame and fortune he had known
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Speaker 1: and earned. Carter could have accepted his fate with a
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Speaker 1: shrug and spent the rest of his years behind bars.
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Speaker 1: But he decided he would not live the rest of
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Speaker 1: his life as a victim. And he used the little word, no.
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Speaker 1: As the basis of his belief, I am not guilty.
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Speaker 1: I do not deserve this verdict. I won't accept this fate.
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Speaker 1: And he did something about it. He spent his time
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Speaker 1: and energy reading and studying law and history as he
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Speaker 1: planned his own defense. He refused to believe that they
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Speaker 1: had ruined his life. They had merely put him in
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Speaker 1: a place he didn't deserve. And he wouldn't let that
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Speaker 1: ruin his life. He determined he would one day leave
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Speaker 1: the prison, walk out an innocent man, a better man,
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Speaker 1: and an improved man. It took 19 years and two
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Speaker 1: lengthy trials to overturn the verdict. Ultimately, he walked out
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Speaker 1: of that prison and resumed his life, all because... of
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Speaker 1: a little but not insignificant word followed my strong determination,
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Speaker 1: the word, no. I'll repeat my opening line, never underestimate
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Speaker 1: the power of little things. I agree with the American author,
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Speaker 1: Bruce Barton, who later became a Congressman, Sometimes when I
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Speaker 1: consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I'm tempted
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Speaker 1: to think there are no little things. By the time
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Speaker 1: I'm through, I hope you will feel the same way.
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Speaker 1: All of us tend to sell little things short. We
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Speaker 1: think talk is cheap. It's not cheap at all. We
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Speaker 1: think words are often throwaway words. Very few are throwaway words.
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Speaker 1: We're to learn from these lives that our yes should
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Speaker 1: be yes, leading to what may be real possibilities, and
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Speaker 1: our no needs to be followed with strong determination that
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Speaker 1: will result in a very significant set of things. The
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Speaker 1: things we say and the things we do mean a lot.
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Speaker 1: The Apostle Paul would certainly agree with that. In these
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Speaker 1: five simple-sounding verses of Colossians chapter 4, he underscores the
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Speaker 1: importance of the simple word, small but not insignificant, pray,
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Speaker 1: and also the importance of a simple but not insignificant
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Speaker 1: action word, walk. In verses 2, 3, and 4, we
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Speaker 1: look vertically into the Lord's face as we bring to
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Speaker 1: him our prayers. And he spells what that would include.
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Speaker 1: And then in verse 5 and 6, we look around
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Speaker 1: us at those who were on the outside. So if
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Speaker 1: you will, verses 2, 3, and 4 are addressed to
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Speaker 1: the insiders. And one of the most important things we
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Speaker 1: can do, however, our best work in it is not
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Speaker 1: done around anyone else. You don't pray and call attention
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Speaker 1: to yourself. You don't pray using words that are impressive
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Speaker 1: or complicated. But we pray in all sincerity to a
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Speaker 1: God who hears us and we await him for an answer.
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Speaker 1: And then when we walk, we walk in such a
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Speaker 1: way that those on the outside become curious and cannot
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Speaker 1: ignore the fact that we are different people. from the
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Speaker 1: average individual they live around. We'll look first at the vertical, 2, 3,
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Speaker 1: and 4, and we will learn about praying among and
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Speaker 1: for insiders, and then we will look at verses 5
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Speaker 1: and 6, at the way we walk. Look at how
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Speaker 1: Paul writes of this. First, he writes a prayer with
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Speaker 1: a word like devotion. Devote yourselves to prayer. The Greek says,
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Speaker 1: continue watching in it with thanksgiving. There's passion in the statement.
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Speaker 1: Prayer is active, not passive. Prayer is bold, not weak.
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Speaker 1: Remember Hebrews 4? We are to come boldly before the
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Speaker 1: throne of grace, not in weakness, not pleading, not begging,
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Speaker 1: not hoping we're going to be heard, but boldly, walking
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Speaker 1: boldly into the presence of God yet humbly acknowledging that
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Speaker 1: he has the right to answer however he pleases. We
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Speaker 1: are to pray with an alert mind and with a
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Speaker 1: thankful heart. We're not to be dreamy and wandering in
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Speaker 1: our prayers. We are to have a series of thoughts
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Speaker 1: that are expressed devotedly. In today's terms, I would use
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Speaker 1: the words, get with it. When it comes to prayer,
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Speaker 1: get with it. Don't mumble the prayer. Don't come half-heartedly,
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Speaker 1: but come with vigilance, with a mission in mind. Devote
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Speaker 1: yourselves to pray with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
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Speaker 1: I'll be honest with you, I don't know of any
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Speaker 1: harder work than prayer. Devoted prayer. Passionate prayer. Prayer that's
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Speaker 1: uttered behind the scenes with confidence and speaking to someone
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Speaker 1: you cannot see, counting by faith on something you have
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Speaker 1: not felt or heard, and yet it's there. It's claimed
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Speaker 1: by prayer. And he says in this also, not only
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Speaker 1: to be devoted to prayer, but to be visionary. Look
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Speaker 1: at how he puts it. Pray for us too, that
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Speaker 1: God will give us many opportunities to speak about his
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Speaker 1: mysterious plan concerning Christ. I like it that Paul doesn't
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Speaker 1: hesitate when he says, pray for me. I don't know
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Speaker 1: why we're like this, but sometimes we're hesitant to say
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Speaker 1: when someone says, how can I pray? To answer, pray
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Speaker 1: first for me. Pray for me. Let me tell you
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Speaker 1: what my needs are. I will often have thoughtful people
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Speaker 1: ask me, What are two or three things I can
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Speaker 1: pray for you about? I always appreciate that. Paul doesn't
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Speaker 1: wait to be asked. He offers what they can pray for.
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Speaker 1: Pray for us. How do we pray? Look at what
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Speaker 1: it says. That God will give us many opportunities. Literally,
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Speaker 1: that God may open to us a door of the word.
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Speaker 1: Every day we live, we face closed doors. We face obstacles.
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Speaker 1: We stand in front of what appears to be a
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Speaker 1: shut opportunity that we would wish would open. That's what
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Speaker 1: we pray about. Pray that there might be an opening
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Speaker 1: that God can bring. It may seem closed to us,
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Speaker 1: but to God there is no such thing as open
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Speaker 1: or closed. And in his own time and in his
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Speaker 1: own way, he opens the door. When I was a
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Speaker 1: child trying to take the gospel to the land of China,
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Speaker 1: you took your life in your hands. As recently as
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Speaker 1: the early 1970s, I had an attorney friend of mine
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Speaker 1: who was smuggling Bibles into China. Give me a call.
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Speaker 1: He was at the airport getting ready to make that
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Speaker 1: long flight. He said, pray for me. He was a
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Speaker 1: man who has four children, loving wife. He said, I
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Speaker 1: may not come back. If they find these 200 Bibles,
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Speaker 1: I don't know what they'll do with us. That was
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Speaker 1: a closed door back then. Today, listen to me. The
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Speaker 1: door is open. The opportunity is there. Only the Lord
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Speaker 1: could have done that. Now, in the apostles case, he says,
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Speaker 1: pray that God will give us many opportunities to speak
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Speaker 1: about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. Have you stopped to
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Speaker 1: think about where Paul was? He was in a house
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Speaker 1: in Rome, chained at the wrist to a Roman soldier.
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Speaker 1: What a terrific opportunity. I call that a captive audience.
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Speaker 1: He can't get away. He's chained up to me. Pray
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Speaker 1: that I will have the words to use. That I
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Speaker 1: will have the approach that would be appropriate. Pray that
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Speaker 1: I might make inroads into his thinking. Because all of
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Speaker 1: his life he has been a Roman man. He has
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Speaker 1: been taught all the mythology of the Roman world. He
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Speaker 1: has been reared by parents who are pagan. And this
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Speaker 1: soldier sitting by me is an open door opportunity. Pray,
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Speaker 1: as he puts it, that I may make the message clear.
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Speaker 1: Look at how he says it. Verse 4, pray that
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Speaker 1: I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
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Speaker 1: In fact, the sentence before that, that's why I am
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Speaker 1: here in chains. Did the Lord know what he was
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Speaker 1: doing when he put Paul there? Absolutely. If they won't
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Speaker 1: come to Paul, the Lord will make it possible for
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Speaker 1: them to chain themselves to him. And once they are
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Speaker 1: chained to him, he will have the opportunity to make
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Speaker 1: Christ known. Was it effective? Go back to Philippians. One
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Speaker 1: book just before Colossians. Go to Philippians 1. Look at
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Speaker 1: verse 12. Some of you are just staring at me.
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Speaker 1: Turn to Philippians 1, verse 12. Please, you will see
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Speaker 1: in verse 12 a reference to the same situation. This
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Speaker 1: is one of the prison epistles, they're called. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
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Speaker 1: and Philemon, all four of them written under house arrest
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Speaker 1: while Paul is chained. You and I might be there,
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Speaker 1: irked at the fact that we're not able to be
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Speaker 1: out on the streets making Christ known. Paul isn't. He
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Speaker 1: realized God is sovereign. He has me here for a purpose.
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Speaker 1: And so he tells us in Philippians 1.12, I want
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Speaker 1: you to know this, my dear brothers and sisters, that
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Speaker 1: everything that has happened to me here has helped to
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Speaker 1: spread the good news. Read on. For everyone here, including
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Speaker 1: the whole palace guard, knows that I am in chains
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Speaker 1: because of Christ. And because of my imprisonment, most of
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Speaker 1: the believers here have gained confidence and boldly speak God's
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Speaker 1: message without fear. How great is that? Do you think
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Speaker 1: the Praetorian Guard would have ever sent out an invitation
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Speaker 1: and said to Paul, Paul, come in to the palace
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Speaker 1: and let us know about Christ. They wouldn't do that.
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Speaker 1: So the Lord takes one soldier after another and plants
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Speaker 1: him next to Paul. For an extended period of time,
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Speaker 1: the soldiers would rotate. Oh, hi, Rufus. How are you?
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Speaker 1: I haven't met you before. No. Well, let me tell
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Speaker 1: you why I'm here. Yeah, I wonder why you're under arrest. Well,
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Speaker 1: now that we're sitting here, let me tell you. He's chained.
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Speaker 1: He's not going anywhere. It's like witnessing to somebody on
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Speaker 1: a plane. 16 hours. I mean, they've got an opportunity.
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Speaker 1: 16 hours! Can you imagine? Now, how we do it
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Speaker 1: is important. You can turn people off in a half
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Speaker 1: a minute, and they don't want to listen to another word,
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Speaker 1: so you need to know how to do it. That's
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Speaker 1: why Paul says, help me to make it clear. Help
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Speaker 1: me guard against using words that will be offensive or
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Speaker 1: confusing or over their heads. C.S. Lewis writes, Any fool
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Speaker 1: can write learned language. The vernacular is the real test.
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Speaker 1: If you can't turn your faith into it, then you
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Speaker 1: either don't understand it or you don't believe it. I
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Speaker 1: like the way that sounds. If your words are so
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Speaker 1: confusing and so high and mighty, you don't really believe them.
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Speaker 1: You're just mouthing empty words. See, Charles Haddon Spurgeon put
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Speaker 1: it well. Christ said, feed my sheep, feed my lambs.
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Speaker 1: Some preachers, however, put the food so high that neither
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Speaker 1: sheep nor lambs can reach it. They seem to have
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Speaker 1: read the text, feed my giraffes. You're not giraffes. You're sheep.
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Speaker 1: I'm a sheep. So I deliberately keep it at the
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Speaker 1: base level. Not to insult you. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 1: that's a compliment. I don't want you to miss one
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Speaker 1: main word of what we're reading. So that's the reason
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Speaker 1: we break it down to simple words. The only reason
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Speaker 1: I mention the Greek is to add color, not to
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Speaker 1: impress you. On the contrary, it's to help you realize
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Speaker 1: that There's color in these words. There's meaning behind them.
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Speaker 1: And Paul says, because of this opportunity, because of my imprisonment,
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Speaker 1: verse 14, Philippians 1, most of the believers here have
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Speaker 1: gained confidence. So not only did he impact the soldiers
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Speaker 1: who had been lost and were now born again, but
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Speaker 1: the other people around him that had visited were gaining confidence.
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Speaker 1: If Paul could do it and change, my goodness, I
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Speaker 1: ought to be able to do it as a free
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Speaker 1: man or a free woman. Now back to Colossians. Pray
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Speaker 1: that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
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Speaker 1: So what have we learned? What have we learned to
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Speaker 1: those who are on the inside? Look closely. We've learned
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Speaker 1: to pray continually. See how he puts it? Devote yourselves
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Speaker 1: to prayer. Pray continually. We've learned to pray passionately. Not
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Speaker 1: dreamy little dreams. needless words drifting off and on, but
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Speaker 1: pray passionately and to pray specifically. Pray for me. Pray
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Speaker 1: that I will make the most of the opportunity. Pray
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Speaker 1: that I will be clear. That'll revolutionize your prayer life.
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Speaker 1: Let me tell you a quick story on me, because
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Speaker 1: so many prayers are memorized, and I'm a believer in
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Speaker 1: in memorizing. I love to memorize the hymns that we sing.
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Speaker 1: I love to memorize verses of scripture, but I don't
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Speaker 1: memorize prayers. That habit was broken in me by my
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Speaker 1: older brother, who loved the Lord long before I did.
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Speaker 1: And when we were growing up as kids in the
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Speaker 1: Swindoll family, our parents wanted to train us in prayer.
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Speaker 1: And so they would ask different ones of the three
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Speaker 1: of us to pray. I said, why don't you pray?
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Speaker 1: And she would pray. Orville, why don't you pray? And
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Speaker 1: then when they ran out of kids, they asked me.
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Speaker 1: And they said, Charles, why don't you pray? And here
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Speaker 1: was my prayer. God bless this food and make us
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Speaker 1: strong and free that we may use our health and
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Speaker 1: strength and service, Lord, to thee. Amen. And I prayed
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Speaker 1: it just like that. God bless this food and make
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Speaker 1: our bodies strong and free that we may use our
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Speaker 1: health and strength and service, Lord, to thee. Amen. Pass
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Speaker 1: the gravy. Pass the potatoes. Pass the liver or whatever
28:37
Speaker 1: we were having that night. Don't pass the liver. And
28:45
Speaker 1: my brother looked at me one time and he said, Charles,
28:48
Speaker 1: when are you going to learn to pray? I mean,
28:51
Speaker 1: really pray. My first thought was, how quickly can I
28:56
Speaker 1: cut his lips off? Not being very teachable since he
29:00
Speaker 1: was an older brother. But he was right. I don't
29:05
Speaker 1: know how to pray. That wasn't prayer. A memorized prayer
29:12
Speaker 1: is not answered. It doesn't mean a blessed thing, but
29:18
Speaker 1: going through the motions. It's like praying or like painting
29:23
Speaker 1: within the numbers. That's not painting. I wasn't praying. You
29:30
Speaker 1: begin to pray when you use original words, when you
29:35
Speaker 1: do it spontaneously. When you don't care what someone else
29:40
Speaker 1: may be thinking because you're often doing it alone. By
29:44
Speaker 1: the way, you pray when you drive. I remember years
29:48
Speaker 1: ago when I first became acquainted with that, I was
29:51
Speaker 1: involved with a little organization called the Navigators. I was
29:55
Speaker 1: in Okinawa in civilian clothes and with the navigator representative,
30:00
Speaker 1: Bob Newkirk, and he said, why don't we pray as
30:02
Speaker 1: we go back to the base? I said, sure. I
30:04
Speaker 1: started to pray, and he said, dear Father, today, and
30:07
Speaker 1: he's driving, and I'm like, can you do that with
30:10
Speaker 1: your eyes open? He's talking with his eyes open, and
30:15
Speaker 1: he looks at me as he's praying, and he looks ahead,
30:18
Speaker 1: and thankfully, he doesn't close his eyes because he's driving,
30:22
Speaker 1: and it had never dawned on me in my life
30:24
Speaker 1: that you could pray while you're driving with your eyes open.
30:28
Speaker 1: It still works. It works. It's like at a former church,
30:33
Speaker 1: I decided we would no longer sing the doxology before
30:37
Speaker 1: every single worship service. We would do something different. We
30:41
Speaker 1: would try something different. We would maybe sing it at
30:44
Speaker 1: the end. And when the first time we moved it
30:48
Speaker 1: to the end, I had a fellow meet me after
30:50
Speaker 1: the church service. He said, you know, Chuck, you changed things. Yeah,
30:56
Speaker 1: I did. I didn't know it would work at the end. Work?
31:03
Speaker 1: It's a doxology, for goodness sake. Leave it out if
31:07
Speaker 1: you like. Maybe your prayer is, Lord, help. That's enough. Lord,
31:17
Speaker 1: right now I'm on my way to a very difficult situation,
31:20
Speaker 1: and I pray that you will give me just the
31:23
Speaker 1: right words to Help me with my time. I've never
31:26
Speaker 1: rehearsed this, by the way. This is very spontaneous. Help
31:29
Speaker 1: me with my timing. Help me read the situation carefully.
31:34
Speaker 1: Don't let me say too much. Guard me against wrong
31:40
Speaker 1: expressions or things that are insulting. I want to do
31:45
Speaker 1: this well, and without your help, I can't. So help me, Lord.
31:51
Speaker 1: I ask this in Jesus' name. I remember coming home
31:55
Speaker 1: from the hospital after our firstborn had been brought into
31:59
Speaker 1: our home and family. Cynthia was still there, having just
32:03
Speaker 1: born our little boy. And I got home. I was
32:07
Speaker 1: a student at Dallas Seminary, and I knelt down by
32:10
Speaker 1: our bed. I just poured out my heart. I said, Lord,
32:15
Speaker 1: I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm a dad now.
32:22
Speaker 1: And you have given us this precious little boy. I
32:26
Speaker 1: don't know what you're going to do with him. But
32:29
Speaker 1: keep me from fouling it up. Help me be a
32:33
Speaker 1: good dad. Help me know how to do what I
32:37
Speaker 1: ought to do as a daddy. And then a couple
32:42
Speaker 1: years later we have a little girl. And I remember
32:48
Speaker 1: similar prayer. Lord, I've never raised a little girl. I
32:52
Speaker 1: don't I don't know how to be a daddy to
32:55
Speaker 1: a little girl. So help me to know how to
32:58
Speaker 1: be a father to my daughter like I ought to be.
33:04
Speaker 1: Help me know when I ought to talk to her
33:05
Speaker 1: about things that dads ought to say to daughters because
33:09
Speaker 1: I don't know how to do that. And then we
33:14
Speaker 1: went to New England, got pregnant again. It snows a
33:18
Speaker 1: lot up there, and so... So we had another little girl.
33:25
Speaker 1: First prayer was, Lord, stop. You know, it's enough. I
33:30
Speaker 1: thought we already had our full family, Alpha, Omega. That'll work.
33:35
Speaker 1: And then they got another little girl. Then we moved
33:37
Speaker 1: back to Texas, another little boy. And I'm still praying.
33:43
Speaker 1: Father's Day the other day, and I got the sweetest
33:47
Speaker 1: notes from our kids. I don't deserve those notes. But
33:53
Speaker 1: I realized that he had answered my prayer. He'd helped
33:59
Speaker 1: me be a daddy. And thankfully, they're forgiving kids. And
34:04
Speaker 1: so all the stuff I've done wrong, they don't mention
34:07
Speaker 1: in this Father's Day card. Not enough room for one thing.
34:13
Speaker 1: And I realized when I'm reading this, Lord, you get
34:17
Speaker 1: all the credit for this. Because you helped me. Do
34:21
Speaker 1: what I can't do. It was a prayer. It's a
34:26
Speaker 1: continued prayer. Paul is praying that, in this case, that
34:32
Speaker 1: he'd proclaim the message clearly. Listen to me. He doesn't
34:35
Speaker 1: even pray that they'll take the chains off. Isn't that great? Lord,
34:41
Speaker 1: the chain is galling. I've been here for months. Not
34:46
Speaker 1: one prayer. Don't pray about obstacles like that. Pray, Lord,
34:52
Speaker 1: may I make the most of the chains. The things
34:56
Speaker 1: that have hindered me, may they become a way through.
35:02
Speaker 1: May I learn that the obstacles are the way. It's
35:05
Speaker 1: all part of your plan. God could have broken a
35:08
Speaker 1: chain anytime he wanted to. So Paul says, may I
35:11
Speaker 1: make it clear. May I do it well. And he's
35:14
Speaker 1: the theologian. And sometimes that can be your worst enemy
35:19
Speaker 1: when you're connecting with outsiders. You can know too much.
35:25
Speaker 1: Do you realize you hear more and you learn more
35:28
Speaker 1: in one session in our assembly than most people will
35:32
Speaker 1: learn in a lifetime? Do you know that? It's easy
35:38
Speaker 1: when you're around them to dump the truck. You know, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation,
35:47
Speaker 1: and on and on you go. And they're like, when
35:49
Speaker 1: is this guy going to quit? They don't know about propitiation.
35:53
Speaker 1: They don't know about redemption. Stop using those words. Use
35:59
Speaker 1: words that they can get. That's what he's praying about.
36:04
Speaker 1: Pray that I'll make it clear as I should. Now, naturally,
36:09
Speaker 1: he turns to the lost person. In fact, look at
36:12
Speaker 1: verse 5. Walk in wisdom to those who are on
36:19
Speaker 1: the outside. My version reads, live wisely among those who
36:24
Speaker 1: are not believers. He's now talking about our walk. And interestingly,
36:32
Speaker 1: the Greek uses the word those on the outside. Isn't
36:36
Speaker 1: that interesting? Help me walk wisely among those on the outside.
36:44
Speaker 1: Think about outside. They don't hear anything we're doing in here.
36:51
Speaker 1: They don't know any of the hymns we sing in here.
36:56
Speaker 1: Those on the outside may be great people, good people,
37:00
Speaker 1: well-meaning people, but they're lost. They don't know our vocabulary.
37:08
Speaker 1: So have a heart. Had a fellow stop me after
37:13
Speaker 1: the first service, and he says to me, described his
37:17
Speaker 1: particular career, and he said... those around me curse on
37:21
Speaker 1: purpose because they want to see if I'll break. He said,
37:25
Speaker 1: it really gets to me sometime. And he said, I
37:29
Speaker 1: just want to know how far is too far for
37:31
Speaker 1: me to put up with it. I said, and you're
37:34
Speaker 1: with the lost? And he said, yeah. I said, hey,
37:37
Speaker 1: it's like my daddy used to say, when a mule
37:39
Speaker 1: kicks you, consider the source. He's a mule. Mules kick.
37:47
Speaker 1: Lost people cuss. Don't try to clean up their talk.
37:52
Speaker 1: Why am I yelling? Don't try to clean up their talk.
37:58
Speaker 1: Better than that. They're lost, for goodness sake. Now, I
38:03
Speaker 1: know it's irritating that they will use words that you
38:06
Speaker 1: find very offensive, and when they find that you see
38:09
Speaker 1: that they're offensive, they'll use them even more. Hey, I
38:11
Speaker 1: went through the Marine Corps. I know what I'm talking about.
38:14
Speaker 1: I never heard such filthy language in all my life.
38:17
Speaker 1: But you know what I learned? I learned if I
38:19
Speaker 1: look beyond the filthy language, I can reach a filthy heart.
38:22
Speaker 1: Because out of the heart, the mouth speaks. And God's
38:30
Speaker 1: put us in a fishbowl. And we're not supposed to
38:33
Speaker 1: clean up the fishbowl. We're to fish. So don't scrub
38:39
Speaker 1: up the fishbowl. Don't get on people because they cuss.
38:44
Speaker 1: They're supposed to cuss. They've got a cussing heart. They're lost,
38:51
Speaker 1: for goodness sake. They're on the outside. So don't put
38:56
Speaker 1: them down because they don't know what you know. Love them.
39:02
Speaker 1: Put your arms around them. They get cancer, tell them
39:04
Speaker 1: you're sorry. Be there for them. Their wife walks out,
39:10
Speaker 1: tell them you care. Your heart breaks that their home
39:14
Speaker 1: is broken up. I can't believe the homes of any
39:16
Speaker 1: of the lost stay together. So I'm not shocked. We
39:21
Speaker 1: got our own broken homes in the family of God.
39:25
Speaker 1: But if the lost are broken, they're broken. Maybe that
39:30
Speaker 1: avenue the lord will use who knows now look at
39:33
Speaker 1: this that's part of living wisely among those on the
39:39
Speaker 1: outside the greek word interestingly is sophia We have the
39:45
Speaker 1: lady's name, the girl's name, Sophia. You may have named
39:48
Speaker 1: your daughter Sophia. You named her Wisdom. What a great name.
39:54
Speaker 1: The Greek word means, and I quote, the capacity to
39:58
Speaker 1: understand and function accordingly. So you have wisdom when you
40:05
Speaker 1: understand and you put that to use. Someone around you
40:11
Speaker 1: goes through such and such. You understand. You're wise to understand.
40:16
Speaker 1: You don't put them down. You don't preach. You care.
40:23
Speaker 1: You understand. I went to Webster's dictionary. You could do that.
40:27
Speaker 1: I look up the word wisdom. It says, the ability
40:31
Speaker 1: to discern what is right, true, or lasting. Any one
40:40
Speaker 1: of us can understand that. When you do what is right,
40:43
Speaker 1: you're walking in wisdom. When you speak the truth, you're wise.
40:49
Speaker 1: You don't lie to people, so they learn to trust you.
40:53
Speaker 1: That's wisdom. They gave synonyms, or Webster did, insight, good judgment,
41:01
Speaker 1: common sense. Isn't that helpful? Eugene Peterson, in his work,
41:08
Speaker 1: The Message, renders this verse, and I love this, Use
41:13
Speaker 1: your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Isn't
41:18
Speaker 1: that good? Soon as you leave this church, you are
41:22
Speaker 1: moving into the mission field. I've heard of churches that
41:25
Speaker 1: put signs up as you leave the parking lot. It
41:29
Speaker 1: says you're now entering the mission field. Isn't that a
41:32
Speaker 1: good thing to remember? You're now leaving the insiders. You're
41:37
Speaker 1: now moving among the outsiders. So expect road rage. Expect
41:45
Speaker 1: somebody to curse you or to yell out the window
41:48
Speaker 1: of a car. Expect people to speed. Don't be surprised.
41:56
Speaker 1: It's the world of the lost, the lawless. So when
42:01
Speaker 1: you walk in wisdom, you don't forget that. It includes
42:05
Speaker 1: saying what we ought to say and not saying anything more.
42:08
Speaker 1: It's akin to being tactful, insightful. It means we don't
42:13
Speaker 1: come across as opinionated or dogmatic or rude. Walk that way.
42:21
Speaker 1: Conduct your life in such a way that people can't
42:27
Speaker 1: ignore you. You become contagious. Let me give you a tip.
42:33
Speaker 1: I learned this from my good friend Howie Stevenson. Howie
42:37
Speaker 1: used to say, we need to remember that people are
42:40
Speaker 1: charmed into righteousness. Isn't that good? People are charmed into righteousness.
42:51
Speaker 1: You're in a situation wherever people are losing their patience
42:54
Speaker 1: and their temper and you remain calm. They're going to
42:59
Speaker 1: look at you like, how come you're not throwing a fit?
43:01
Speaker 1: How come you're different? You're not letting it get to you.
43:06
Speaker 1: You're walking in wisdom. People need to be charmed into righteousness.
43:12
Speaker 1: You see, wisdom wears well. It's winsome. It's convincing. You
43:19
Speaker 1: know your wise walk can lead to someone's conversion. Warren
43:25
Speaker 1: Wiersbe writes of Dr. Will Houghton, who pastored Calvary Baptist
43:30
Speaker 1: Church in New York City for a number of years,
43:33
Speaker 1: later served as president of the Moody Bible Institute until
43:37
Speaker 1: his death in 1946. Years earlier, when Dr. Houghton became
43:43
Speaker 1: the pastor of the Baptist Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia, a
43:49
Speaker 1: man in that city heard of his coming and hired
43:53
Speaker 1: a detective to follow Dr. Houghton and to report later
43:58
Speaker 1: on his conduct. He wanted to know if he was
44:02
Speaker 1: really the man he appeared to be in the pulpit.
44:06
Speaker 1: The detective reported later that his life matched his preaching.
44:13
Speaker 1: As a result, the man became a Christian. Isn't that
44:18
Speaker 1: a wonderful story? Will Houghton is the one who prayed
44:23
Speaker 1: when he was at Moody Bible Institute, according to one
44:26
Speaker 1: of my mentors who told me this story. Lord, keep
44:30
Speaker 1: me from becoming a cranky old man. Isn't that a
44:34
Speaker 1: great prayer? Try that one on. Some of you white-haired,
44:39
Speaker 1: Some of us white haired. Keep us from becoming a
44:46
Speaker 1: cranky old person that has to rehearse all of our
44:51
Speaker 1: aches and pains. No one cares. Walk in wisdom among
45:01
Speaker 1: those who are not believers. Look at this. Make the
45:05
Speaker 1: most of every opportunity. He goes further Let me talk
45:10
Speaker 1: about your talk. Talk about little things meaning a lot.
45:14
Speaker 1: Look at this. Let your words, let your conversation, watch this,
45:20
Speaker 1: be marked by grace and salted, salted. Let your manner
45:29
Speaker 1: of life, let your words be gracious and full of salt.
45:38
Speaker 1: Salt has a preserving agent, so let your words preserve.
45:43
Speaker 1: Salt also contained the idea of being thoughtful and kind.
45:51
Speaker 1: Salt conveys the idea of being lively and zestful, even
45:56
Speaker 1: humorous and attractive. Those without Christ pay attention to people
46:01
Speaker 1: like that. They expect us to be boring and offensive.
46:08
Speaker 1: And they are amazed that they find us to be
46:11
Speaker 1: nice and kind. It's a good time for me to
46:17
Speaker 1: toss in something for no extra charge. When you eat
46:23
Speaker 1: out and it comes time for a tip, will you
46:27
Speaker 1: please be generous? Everybody? I don't know how many servers
46:34
Speaker 1: have told me they dread Sundays. Because Christians show up
46:38
Speaker 1: and they're the biggest tight wads in the country. They
46:41
Speaker 1: just don't tip. Or they'll leave a tract. The riches
46:46
Speaker 1: of Christ. That's insulting. Leave a big, fat, nice, big,
46:53
Speaker 1: multiple dollar bill and they'll read your tract. Otherwise, keep
46:58
Speaker 1: your tract to yourself. Why? Because you're to tip the servers.
47:06
Speaker 1: And I know they're not perfect. You ever waited tables? Haven't,
47:10
Speaker 1: have you? That's why you tip a little bit. You
47:14
Speaker 1: think there's nothing to it. Those dear people are working
47:17
Speaker 1: with folks like us. They deserve generosity. Okay, I told
47:24
Speaker 1: you it was extra. No extra charge for that, okay?
47:27
Speaker 1: Gracious and attractive so you will have the right response
47:31
Speaker 1: for everyone. One man put it this way. It is
47:36
Speaker 1: all too true that Christianity in the minds of many
47:39
Speaker 1: is connected with a kind of sanctimonious dullness and an
47:45
Speaker 1: outlook in which laughter is almost a heresy. The Christian
47:49
Speaker 1: must commend his or her message with the charm and
47:53
Speaker 1: the wit which were in Jesus himself. Wouldn't you love
48:00
Speaker 1: to have known Christ? Wouldn't you love to have seen
48:04
Speaker 1: him laugh? Wouldn't you love to know an artist that
48:07
Speaker 1: would paint him laughing? They all paint him looking like...
48:16
Speaker 1: Like he's, you know, sitting on a coat hanger or
48:19
Speaker 1: something and he can't get free. Come on! The most winsome, contagious,
48:27
Speaker 1: and attractive person who ever lived is Jesus of Nazareth.
48:32
Speaker 1: And that's why the Pharisees hated him. I mean, this
48:38
Speaker 1: is no laughing matter. This is serious. I know that.
48:45
Speaker 1: But it can be serious. I mean, it's like the
48:50
Speaker 1: Norwegian who's going to be a missionary. The Swede told him,
48:55
Speaker 1: you know, where you're going, it's 110 degrees in the shade.
49:03
Speaker 1: And the Norwegian said, well, we don't always have to
49:05
Speaker 1: stand in the shade, do we? I don't know why.
49:08
Speaker 1: I just think that's a funny line. I just think
49:10
Speaker 1: that's hilarious. Some of us look like you've been standing
49:15
Speaker 1: in the sun all your life. Come on. Relax. Let
49:19
Speaker 1: me wrap it up with... four words of application before
49:23
Speaker 1: everybody walks out, okay? Here we go. One, two, three,
49:27
Speaker 1: and four. Number one, strengthen your commitment to pray. That's
49:33
Speaker 1: the first application, and I get it from verse two.
49:37
Speaker 1: Strengthen your commitment to pray. Remember the words devoted, visionary, specific.
49:46
Speaker 1: That'll keep you from mumbling rehearsed prayers or memorized prayers.
49:50
Speaker 1: Strengthen your commitment to pray. Number two, ask for greater
49:56
Speaker 1: wisdom in your walk. Lord, help me know how to
50:00
Speaker 1: be more charming. In your case, you may say my
50:05
Speaker 1: mother wasn't or my dad wasn't or Christian friends I
50:08
Speaker 1: used to run around with weren't, or the church I
50:10
Speaker 1: used to attend wasn't. Lord, help me to be wise
50:13
Speaker 1: in my walk. We use common sense, cultivate tact, help
50:17
Speaker 1: me to think before I respond, help me to have
50:20
Speaker 1: wisdom in my walk. Number three, pay closer attention to outsiders.
50:25
Speaker 1: When you're with outsiders, don't expect them to be living
50:28
Speaker 1: a good life. Some may be, even if they're not saved.
50:34
Speaker 1: But don't expect them to be living a pure life.
50:36
Speaker 1: Don't be surprised when they have affairs. Lost people have affairs. Unfortunately,
50:41
Speaker 1: some Christians do too. And that's where the shame is.
50:47
Speaker 1: But when lost people live their lives as lost people,
50:52
Speaker 1: don't give them a list to follow. They don't need
50:54
Speaker 1: a list. They need the Savior. By the way, they're
50:58
Speaker 1: watching you and they're listening. So let's do the same.
51:02
Speaker 1: Let's watch them and let's listen. Let's win them. Number four.
51:07
Speaker 1: It's a simple one. Work on becoming more winsome and charming.
51:14
Speaker 1: Work on becoming more winsome and charming. You want to
51:19
Speaker 1: know a place to begin? Very simple. Start with a smile.
51:25
Speaker 1: It works. It's wonderful. A smile. You know, I've never
51:30
Speaker 1: known of anyone respond to the message of the gospel
51:32
Speaker 1: where we begin with You wouldn't want to know Jesus,
51:35
Speaker 1: would you? But rather, you know, something's happened that's just
51:43
Speaker 1: changed everything. You know what? I love my kids. I
51:50
Speaker 1: want to be true to my wife or my husband.
51:53
Speaker 1: You know, my life's been changed. And when that begins,
51:58
Speaker 1: it's amazing how they'll be interested. Speaking of simple. You
52:03
Speaker 1: know how simple it is to know Jesus? Believe in him.
52:09
Speaker 1: Isn't that great? You don't have to push a peanut
52:12
Speaker 1: to Washington, D.C. You don't have to hang from the
52:16
Speaker 1: rafters for three hours. You don't have to pay a
52:19
Speaker 1: lot of money so he'll be impressed. You don't have
52:23
Speaker 1: to do a blessed thing. Just believe in Jesus. Just
52:27
Speaker 1: trust him. It's called grace. It's called grace. How else
52:35
Speaker 1: could any of us have ever become a Christian? Please
52:40
Speaker 1: bow your heads. Thank you Father for the pleasure of
52:45
Speaker 1: your company today. Thank you for being the best listener
52:50
Speaker 1: we've ever known. Thank you for knowing all the ugly
52:55
Speaker 1: bad things about us and not telling anybody else. Thank
53:01
Speaker 1: you for forgiving us Even though we come time and again.
53:06
Speaker 1: With the same sin. Thank you for grace. Thank you
53:13
Speaker 1: for instruction. In Jesus name. We pray. Everybody said. Amen.
53:26
Speaker 2: The preceding message. A brief checklist for believers. Was copyrighted
53:31
Speaker 2: in 2014 and 2022. and the sound recording was copyrighted
53:35
Speaker 2: in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are
53:40
Speaker 2: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
53:45
Speaker 2: strictly prohibited.