Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #14817 - You’ve Been Called to Freedom - Galatians 5:7-15

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#14817 - You’ve Been Called to Freedom - Galatians 5:7-15 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to Galatians
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chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5.
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We're going to pick up where we left off last time in our verse
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by verse study. We're in verse 7.
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We started out the chapter this practical part of the book of
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Galatians. Paul has turned a corner and now
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he's going to give us the application of everything he's
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taught us in relationship to grace and legalism and the
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importance of that we live in the simplicity of faith that we
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have in Jesus Christ and not let anyone RIP us off.
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We started in chapter 5 with this strong word to stand fast.
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Notice with me chapter 5, verse one.
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Stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free
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and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
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So stand fast in the freedom that Jesus has given you the
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grace of God, the liberty. Take your stand, church,
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especially in a world that's very hostile to the gospel, very
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hostile to Jesus Christ, very hostile to our families and our
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children. It's a very difficult world to
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navigate in, filled with not only hostility but false
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teaching and so many confusing things.
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It's a good word for us today. Stand fast, don't move.
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Brace yourself. It's the word of God to them
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then, and it's also God's word to us now.
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You can put it a different way. You want to look on the other
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side of this. Here's another way of thinking
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of it. Your simple faith in Jesus is
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enough to get you through. You don't need anything added to
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it. You don't want anything added to
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it because as we have learned in previous studies, if you add
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anything to the gospel, it is no longer the gospel.
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The good news that Jesus Christ has died for your sins and that
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he rose again from the dead. That's the good news today.
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Your sins can be forgiven. Stand your ground.
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Don't let anyone move you from the freedom and liberty that God
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has given to you. He says it there in verse one
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Christ has made us free. No church has made you free.
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No pastors made you free. No religious organization has
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made you free. Jesus himself died for your sins
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and because he set us free and because Jesus has set us free,
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we should rest in his finished work on the cross.
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It's done, completed and you can rest in Christ.
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We read chapter 5 verse one in the new King James what I'm
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teaching from, but let me read it to you from the NLT.
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I love the how the NLT handled this verse.
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It says so Christ has truly set us free.
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Now make sure that you stay free.
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I love that. Stand fast, but make sure that
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you stay free and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.
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Pick up now in verse 7. With all that in mind, Paul
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writes, you ran well. Who hindered you from obeying
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the truth? They're all caught up in
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legalism. They're caught up with going
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back to the law. And Paul pauses and uses this
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illustration from sports, as he has often does.
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He uses a sports illustration from the ancient Olympic races.
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And it's an easy one to understand.
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You've been running a race. You've been running in your
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lane. You're enjoying all that you
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have in Christ. You're enjoying your faith, your
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release from sin. I mean, they were really Acts
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240, two Christians. They were living out Acts
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chapter 2, verse 42. They were continuing steadfastly
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in the apostles doctrine, in prayer, in fellowship, in the
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breaking of bread. They were celebrating the
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forgiveness of sin. They were celebrating the hope
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they have in Christ. They were thinking about the
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future. They were untangled from the
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past. God was rescuing their
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marriages, rescuing their families.
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They started caring about their community, sharing the gospel,
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evangelizing. Who hindered you?
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He said what happened to you? This isn't the first time he
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asked that question. Earlier, he actually asked it in
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a stronger way. He said who has bewitched you?
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But here he uses a different picture.
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What happened to you guys? What happened?
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Who hindered you? He's not asking the question
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looking for a name. These are rhetorical questions.
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He's asking these questions in order for them to process the
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answer so they could see their life like someone else sees it.
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What happened? We know what happened, but they
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need to remember that there was joy in their life.
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You know, when you leave the grace of God, you don't leave
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God's freedom. I, I mean you, you still have
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God's freedom. You just don't enjoy it anymore.
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You just, it's still yours by faith, it's all available to
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you. But when you walk away from the
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freedom that's yours in Christ, you don't get to enjoy it
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anymore. It's there.
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It's available to you the moment you turn back to him.
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But walking away in a legalistic way, or maybe even in a
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licentious way, you know, thinking grace is permission to
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sin or thinking that you have to have these rules and regulations
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where you earn and prove yourself to God, you miss out on
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the joy that's yours. You have been hindered.
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If you like to write in your Bibles circle, that word
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hindered. It literally means to be pushed
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back. Push back.
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The the picture from the Greek language is like a storm winds
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pushing upon a ship, pushing it back, not allowing it to go
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forward. So this was more than you know,
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if you get the idea of running a race and running maybe around a
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track, this is more than just stumbling.
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This is more than just being tripped up.
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It's the it's the picture of somebody jumping on the track
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and pushing you down and you're not in the race anymore.
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You're you. You were running so well,
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enjoying life, but who has pushed you back?
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You were going the right way and now you're not.
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And you can't run. When you believe something
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that's false, you're no longer running.
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Your growth is stunted. Your progress is stunted,
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especially when it comes to the false teaching of legalism.
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Verse 8. Now he says you ran well.
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Who hindered you? This persuasion does not come
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from him who calls you. Do you hear the theme?
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So far, the calling Jesus has given you and made you free.
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And now there's this sense of this calling, and you've been
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called to freedom. You've been called to freedom.
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This persuasion, this teaching, Paul says, did not come from
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God. This is not from God.
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This is so important. I want you to grasp this.
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We're going to pause a moment here so that we can grasp this
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truth. It's very important for you to
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understand this, that there are teachings that do not come from
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God. Now, how can Paul say that with
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absolute certainty? I mean, that's a pretty strong
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statement. Hey, this what you guys are
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following right now. That did not come from God.
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Well, let's Fast forward to the 21st century.
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When I stand before you and I tell you that a teaching is not
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true, how can I stand there with absolute confidence and tell
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you, hey, you know, how can you say that, Ed?
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How can you be so confident that that, that, that teaching is not
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true? And let me tell you, if you're
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taking notes, let me tell you exactly how I can do that.
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I can say that a teaching is untrue because it's not in the
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Bible. It's not in the Bible.
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You can do the same thing. If you know your Bible, you will
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be able to tell what teaching is true and what teaching is false.
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It's not in the Bible. You and I, we need to know the
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Bible. This is the source of sound
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doctrine. It comes before you ever hear a
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pastor teach, before anyone ever opens the Bible to you.
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You and I need to be men and women of the Word.
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Can I get an Amen on that? This is so important.
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You will be able to stand on truth because you know the word.
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Now for me, I'm a book lover. I love reading.
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I always have my entire life, but especially after I became a
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Christian, I just wanted to learn, learn, learn, learn,
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learn, learn. And so I read like you wouldn't
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believe. I over read probably in some
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ways and I was I as a new believer, I was reading so many
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books. I read books about the Bible.
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I read books on the Bible. I read books explaining the
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Bible. I read books commenting on the
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Bible. But there was a problem.
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All my reading didn't leave me much time to read the Bible.
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And as you can imagine, it got me in a lot of trouble because I
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knew what people said about the Bible more than I knew the Bible
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itself. And it got me in trouble because
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how would I ever know that some commentary or some word on the
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Bible is actually true unless I knew the word?
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And I found myself getting involved in all sorts of things
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about the Bible, but never really focused in the Bible.
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So you happen to be, as you won't know in a church that I
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hope I say it every week, if not every week, almost every week
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that the best thing you can do as a believer is read your Bible
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and pray every day. If you will just take me up on
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that direction in your life. If you will just take me up on
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on and here's what you'd be. Here's what you'd be doing if
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you read your Bible and pray every day and within a month
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you're going to notice a difference.
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Maybe even within a week, maybe even within a day because you
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just don't read your Bible and God just speaks to you.
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Open it up. And it's like, this is amazing.
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I can't believe this so encouraging or so convicting or
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so helpful or man, this scripture, it speaks to my
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heart. This is an area I've been
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dealing on and on the list goes, not only will you be learning
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sound doctrine, but there's actually something even more
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important. You're going to learn from the
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Bible and you're going to learn who God is.
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You're going to learn who he is and his love for you.
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You, you read the Bible, you're going to fall in love with the
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author as you hear God speaking to you and ministering to you,
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and even as you hear the planes. Right now, we thank God for the
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military in our city. We thank God that there are
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those that are taking care of our city today.
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Amen. Thank you guys for serving.
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Some of you are up at Buckley for a while, and they only
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choose service times to do that. And so we thank you very much,
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but we greatly appreciate it. It's a reminder of the
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significance of guarding and protecting.
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And it's important that you guard and protect your time in
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God's Word. It's not enough just to hear
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Bible study after Bible study after Bible study if you don't
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read the Bible. It's no good to hear Christian
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music, Christian music, Christian music if you're not
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reading the Bible. It's not enough just to be a
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church attender. If the Bible isn't being lived
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out in your life, how can you take a stand for something?
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You can very simply say this persuasion, just like Paul says,
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does not come from him. When you read the Bible, listen,
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you learn the voice of God. There'll be many times when I'm
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approached by someone about something and as I'm listening
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to them, I may not understand everything that's going on.
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I don't know what they're, but I can listen.
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And as I'm listening, I come inside the Holy Spirit going,
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this doesn't sound like me. This doesn't sound like God.
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So go, how can you do that? Well, I can just say I could
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tell you from the word of God what they're saying right now
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doesn't sound like God. Like for example, somebody
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comes, I'm so, so bitter. I'm so bitter.
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I can be. No, that doesn't sound like God.
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God's not bitter. Yeah, but God gave me permission
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to get be bitter. No, no, he didn't.
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Very simply, we can see on a very simple level, you can hear
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the voice of God and train yourself.
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You can say with confidence. And sometimes we have to say
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with confidence, hey, what you that doctrine that did come from
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God. Oh, yeah, it did.
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No, no, it didn't. It's not at all.
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Did it? It?
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Absolutely. If you read the Bible, you would
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not come to that conclusion. You have to get it somewhere
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else. And that is the methodology of
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false teachers and cults. The Bible is not enough for
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them. In order to understand them, you
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have to read their pamphlets. In order to understand them.
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You have to listen to their teacher, their guru, their
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organization. You have to come to their little
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group and then you might be able to understand the deeper things
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or the secret things or, or what they believe is the truth.
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You, you can't, I, I can't think of one false teacher or one cult
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that could ever just look you in the eye and tell you, you just
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just read the Bible. It's always something else.
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Like by a matter of fact, let me tell you right now, let me tell
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you as our church family, you can just read the Bible.
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Just look at the person next to you and tell them you can just
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read the Bible. Go ahead all throughout the
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room, just look at them. You can just read the Bible.
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You can just read the Bible that that's what you want to grow.
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Read the Bible. You want to be joyful, read the
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Bible. You want to learn about God,
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read the Bible. You can just read the Bible, but
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cults aren't like that and false teachers aren't like that.
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They they don't say you can just read the Bible because if you
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just read the Bible, you wouldn't listen to them.
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You wouldn't receive from them. It's like this stuff is not in
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the Bible. Well, you know, but it's here's
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this, you know, we stand on the corner.
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We have our pamphlets and, and because we have this nicety
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about us, you don't reject that stuff and you take the little
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pamphlet. I'll throw it away, but you end
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up not throwing away. And then you open it up and what
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happens? You start reading it and it
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confuses you. You've opened yourself up to
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confusion when you should have just said, no, I don't need
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that. I can just read my Bible.
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Just put that in your head. I can just read my Bible.
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I don't need that pamphlet. I don't need your little
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gathering. I, I don't need to sit down with
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you. I can just read my Bible.
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I, I don't have to listen to your guru.
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I don't need to go to. I can just read my Bible because
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God has given me his word for everything I need in life.
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And when you come across a false teacher, it's always the gospel
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and Jesus and and that's simply not the truth.
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I want you to take this into heart.
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Paul was able to say this persuasion did not come from him
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who calls you. You can just church.
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Did I say it already? You can just read your Bible and
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God will give you his truth. Is there place for teaching?
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Of course there is. Is there place for questions?
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Yes, of course you can read your Bible and ask solid questions.
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But somebody comes along and says, Oh no, here, I got this.
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I got this new little thing I want to give you.
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I got another testament. I got this.
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No, you don't need any of that. Reject it so that the Lord will
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give you clarity. Notice, notice what he says in
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verse 10 or excuse me, verse 9. A little leaven leavens the
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whole lump, which is an interesting statement, isn't it?
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Some of you that read ahead, you came to this verse and go, what
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does this mean? What is he talking about?
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First he's talking about racing and now he's changing the
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analogy, He's changing the picture.
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He's taking us from the Olympic Games to the kitchen and he's
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given us a lesson from the kitchen.
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And some of you know this very well.
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I looked it up and I studied it. I'm not a real, I'm not a Baker,
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Oregon, a Candlestick maker. But I did look this up.
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And 11 is that agent which is put into a batch of dough that
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causes it to rise by putrefying the whole lump.
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That's how bread rises. So they say, not like I would
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know personally, but that's what they say.
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Leaven gets in and fills the whole lump and not fills the
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whole dough. And then that's how it rises
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when it bakes, which is a great picture, isn't it?
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Throughout the Bible, leaven is used as a picture of evil and
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sin. So you think of that leaven, a
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little leaven, a little evil, a little false teaching is going
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to ruin it all. You can't just have a little
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because a little is going to ruin it all.
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This evil, if you allow some type of false teaching you
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invited in, it's going to leaven.
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It's going to ruin it all. Jesus used this word.
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It's used throughout the Scriptures, but Jesus used this
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word when he said that beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.
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And then he described it for them, which is hypocrisy.
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We studied that in depth. We're looking at the Pharisees
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and the Sadducees. Beware of their evil.
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They're hypocrites. Be aware of them.
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If you follow them, you're going to go into a ditch.
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They're blind. They fall into a ditch, you're
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going to be following them. And here it is with the spread
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of false doctrine, false teaching, false beliefs, Just a
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little bit is going to lead and ruin it all.
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Just a little bit. Isn't that true for anything
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that's bad? Just a little bit I can think of
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how many people that have been through this church over the
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years. Some of them I can think right
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now in my mind, their faces, even as we pray for them, they
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are not walking with the Lord anymore.
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And they were here serving. They were here serving the
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flock, loving God, hands, worship, singing, leading, and
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they're not even walking with the Lord anymore.
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And I, I, I, I'm certain that if you help them and psych, I talk
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to them and said, how did this all start when it started?
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They didn't believe this is where they'd end up because it
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was so small. Just a little decision, just a
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little thing. It was just so small.
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I'll get over it. It's no big deal.
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I got over it before and you know, because God didn't bring
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about an immediate judgement. I got, I thought I got away with
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it. You didn't, because a little
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leaven leavens the whole lump just a little bit.
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I don't want you to minimize these little choices.
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We often prepare ourselves for the big choices, the big steps
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of faith, the big temptations, as we should.
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But this is how you train for the big temptations.
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You take care of the little ones, just the little ones, the
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ones that nobody knows about, the daily things, the things
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where you could but you won't because of your love for God.
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You could and maybe nobody would know, but God would know why?
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Because a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
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I want you to think about back to the let's take both of these
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illustrations. Now I want you to think back to
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the racing. If you're in your lane, get your
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picture, you're in your lane, you're moving forward and you
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decide that the lane is not for you don't want to go straight
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anymore. You just want to move just a
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little bit to the right or for you guys, just a little bit to
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the left. Now, if you do just a little
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bit, if you move just a little bit, I mean just a little, not
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even all that I was here and I mean just a couple inches.
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That's it. Just a couple inches.
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You understand what's going to happen, right?
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If I move just a couple inches, every other step I take will be
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farther and farther away from the lane.
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Do you guys, are you guys with me so far?
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Stay with me because this is so important.
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A little 1111's, the whole lump, just a little bit.
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If you move just a little bit, then everything you're far.
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The longer you go, the farther away you get.
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And it's especially important clinging to the truth.
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Don't even move. Don't even move an inch.
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What is, what does Paul say? Stand fast, stand firm.
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Don't let anyone move you. It's that important, Paul tells
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us. It starts out so small.
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Let's come back to legalism for a moment.
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It starts so small. It start legalism starts so
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small because you, you, you come to a place where you can say, I
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want to be a better believer. I want to honor God in my life.
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I want to get rid of this addiction.
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I want to and you name it. And so you sit down and, and you
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think, OK, I think if in, in order to really get over this, I
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need to set up some rules. And if I just follow the rules,
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then I'll stay sober. I'll stay strong, whatever the
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issue might be. But the problem with that is, is
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that you haven't gone to God as your sole source of strength.
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You you may have prayer life, but then you have a list.
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And then before you know it, you start keeping the list, but you
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don't really keep the list. So now the list has not made you
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honest. It's made you dishonest because
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you don't want to tell anybody that you didn't keep the whole
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list. And then before you know it, you
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got to deal with that inward tension.
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So now the list isn't even for you anymore.
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It's for someone you met, say, hey, brother, why aren't you
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doing this? And hey, brother, why aren't you
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doing that? And you're like, and then the
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brothers like, what do you what, what's, why are you doing this?
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I thought we were buddies. Like I thought, why, why are you
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imposing all your rules on? And it just starts out so small
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with this desire. But see, God, God has already
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given you the freedom. God has already given you, I
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think of accountability partners.
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That's a big one. Accountability partners, like
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you're struggling with something.
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So your solution is I need an accountability partner.
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OK. I mean, I think it's great to
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have a brother in your life, a sister in your life that you can
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walk together and you can hold each other accountable.
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That's great. But if you think that is going
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to keep you from sin, you, you have greatly mistaken an
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accountability partner. That's just another rule.
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And then before you know it, the accountability partner.
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What happens when he doesn't call on Tuesday?
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I can't believe what's your problem.
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Mind you guys send on Tuesday. Well, why'd you send?
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Because you didn't call me. Nah, bro, that's not how it
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works. I was in the hospital, by the
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way, so I couldn't call you. But that's not how it works.
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You didn't sin against me or because I didn't call you.
21:56
You sinned against God because you thought a phone call on
21:59
Tuesday morning would keep you from sin and your faith got
22:03
shifted. Here's how accountability works.
22:07
You respond to the inward prompting of the Holy Spirit.
22:10
You resist temptation. And then your accountability
22:14
partner calls and you go, hey man, I'm so glad you called
22:16
because I just had a victory. It's like, let's celebrate the
22:20
victory together. I think it's very important that
22:23
we walk through life together, but to impose your behavior and
22:28
my behavior on another person or an external list of rules and
22:32
regulations in order to be right with God.
22:35
Let's just say that same scenario, you never talk to an
22:39
accountability partner and you send.
22:41
Do you think God still loves you?
22:42
Of course he does. Of course he does.
22:47
You don't need to work to get yourself out of that hole.
22:50
Just repent. Just leave it behind.
22:55
Be in such a way where you are standing fast in the grace of
22:58
God. It starts out so simple and so
23:01
pure in many ways, so genuine. But if you and I, if any of us
23:06
choose to draw on resources apart from Jesus Christ, we are
23:12
doomed to fail. Why?
23:15
Because a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
23:21
We have to keep our eyes on the Lord so that we're not making up
23:25
these rules or these regulations or these rituals, but rather
23:30
we're enjoying our freedom in Christ.
23:32
Verse 10, come back now. Paul turns the corner and he
23:37
says, I have confidence in you in the Lord, that you have no
23:42
other mind. But he who troubles you shall
23:45
bear his judgement, whoever he is.
23:48
Paul turns the corner and says, I'm confident in you, in the
23:50
Lords. He's saying some hard things,
23:52
but now he's going to encourage them.
23:54
I know you guys. I know your heart for the I know
23:57
you. I'm confident in you in the
23:58
Lord, and I'm confident that you will get back to the right
24:02
thing. Notice what he says, that you
24:04
will have no other mind. This is important because the
24:08
spiritual warfare for your life and mine is right here between
24:13
our eyes and between our ears. And that's our minds.
24:17
What we believe dictates how we behave.
24:21
And the battle is in your mind. And he's calling them back to
24:24
what? Unity.
24:25
Unity. Not a unity like a fake unity
24:29
where we're we're trying to pretend we all agree, but a real
24:33
unity that is the mind of Christ.
24:36
That's where we all are in unity.
24:37
When we share the mind of Christ, his heart, his desire
24:42
for our lives says, I don't want you guys to have any other mind.
24:46
Amos, I think it's Tutu says how can two walk together unless
24:51
they are agreed? This is the this is the beauty
24:55
of unity as it brings progress. This is not a unity at the
25:00
dismissal of doctrine or sound teaching.
25:02
It's a unity where we find our strength in the Lord and not in
25:07
our own understanding. I have confidence in you guys.
25:09
Don't have any other mind. And then he says, but he who
25:12
troubles you shall bear his judgement.
25:17
He who troubles you shall bear his judgement, whoever he is.
25:21
Now, Paul knows who he is. This is a rhetorical question.
25:25
He, he knows the answer to this. And when you use rhetorical
25:28
questions, it's not because you don't know the answer.
25:30
It's because you want the person to think through and come to
25:33
that conclusion themselves. They know the answer, so just by
25:36
asking the question, it's causing them to rethink who
25:39
hindered them. How did this all start?
25:42
They have to look where they are now and where they were and
25:44
there was something that happened.
25:46
It was a person with false teaching.
25:48
It was actually a group of people.
25:49
We've learned that they're the Judaizers that came with a false
25:52
gospel and tried to undermine the faith of many.
25:57
Now I want to pause here for a second.
25:59
It's super important we grasp this at the end of verse 10.
26:02
At the end of verse 10, it says he who troubles you shall bear
26:06
his judgement. Like wow, there is a great
26:11
judgement for false teachers, a great judgement for false
26:16
teachers, and each false teacher will bear their own judgement.
26:22
Now it reminded me of a New Testament scripture later on in
26:25
the Bible. You can just draw it down.
26:27
In James chapter 3 and verse one, it says, my brethren, let
26:31
not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive
26:36
the stricter judgment. That Scripture has always been a
26:42
part of my mind from early on when I sensed that the Lord was
26:47
calling me into a teaching ministry.
26:48
That's a heavy Scripture to consider stricter judgment.
26:52
What is the stricter judgment? I don't know.
26:57
It's always concerned me personally that there will be a
27:01
stricter judgment in my life on how I choose to teach and what I
27:05
teach and all of the things surrounding teaching, especially
27:09
teaching the Word of God. There is going to be a stricter
27:12
judgment. One way to help me understand
27:14
that was to flip it around and think of it this way.
27:17
There is a great responsibility that has been handed to me to
27:20
handle the Word of God well and to teach it so it can be
27:24
understood, to teach it in such a way where I'm honoring the
27:28
character and the nature of God and there is somehow some
27:32
heavier judgement on me when it comes to teaching the Word of
27:36
God. Then there is on you because of
27:37
my role as a teacher. There is a great responsibility
27:41
in teaching God's truth and all of us that are involved in
27:45
teaching must approach our assignment soberly, studiously
27:51
and prayerfully. And many pastors will tell you
27:54
that it's a very time consuming task to present a Bible study
27:58
because you do come to church a couple times a week and you're
28:01
up here and you go, what does that guy do all week?
28:03
What does he really do? Like all he does is talk for 45
28:06
minutes. Is he golfing all week?
28:07
Is he playing video games all week?
28:09
What is that guy doing? And if that guy you apply to me,
28:13
but if that guy anywhere is doing what they're supposed to
28:16
be doing, they're studying the word of God and praying in
28:20
preparation. And for someone like me, I have
28:22
two Bible studies a week. It's a very time consuming
28:25
process, not only to understand the text and get that right,
28:29
that's super important, but then also to be sensitive to the Holy
28:33
Spirit in how it applies to us today.
28:36
Just our church family. What is it God's doing in our
28:39
church? What's God doing in your life?
28:42
What's God doing in your home? How's the word of how does he
28:44
want the Word of God delivered in such a way where it hits the
28:48
hearts of the people he loves the most?
28:50
And it's a lot of time. It's so important that the Bible
28:52
teaches us in the book of Acts, the early apostles, the church
28:56
work was getting so large and increasing in number that they
29:01
said it's not wise for us to leave prayer in the study of
29:05
God's Word to take care of these things, but rather we're going
29:09
to focus and you raise up people to take care of these other
29:12
things. So together we serve the church
29:14
and there's a focus, commitment to studying the Word of God and
29:18
teaching it. And there's great
29:20
responsibility. I, I want you to know that
29:22
there's responsibility in your life as well.
29:25
As you open the Bible with anyone, you have a
29:27
responsibility to take care of that person in front of you.
29:32
There is some type of stricter judgement on any of us as
29:35
believers that would help somebody along the path using
29:39
the Bible because that's a form of teaching too.
29:41
I mean, I want you to think about this.
29:42
Somebody calls you and they're you're their friend.
29:45
You met them and they go, I really want to meet with you
29:47
because things are really upside down in my life and I want to
29:50
meet you at the coffee shop and I've got 1/2 hour.
29:53
You're going to be held accountable more for that half
29:55
hour than you are the half hour it took you to drive there.
29:58
Why? Because you're going to open the
29:59
Word of God and help somebody with His word.
30:01
And let me just say, the last thing that person needs from you
30:05
is your opinion. It's like, oh, you know, well
30:07
this is what I think. Nobody cares what you think.
30:09
Now maybe you care about what you think and other people say
30:12
they care, but nobody cares in a crisis.
30:15
We didn't know what God's opinion is.
30:18
You're going to be held accountable for that.
30:20
Just think of that half hour. You know, they're sharing with
30:22
you some difficulty in their marriage.
30:23
And what do you do? Well, you know, I got a bad
30:24
marriage too. And then the whole half hour,
30:26
Yeah. Your husband did this.
30:27
My husband did twice that. And I'd say, and I grew up and
30:30
before you know it, 1/2 hour is burned.
30:32
And you had a chance because God invited you into their life and
30:36
you just got caught up in all the emotion of it.
30:38
And you got caught up and just you, you did not give them what
30:42
they needed. You gave them what you wanted.
30:44
You emoted you, whatever, and we have to be careful because God's
30:47
going to hold us accountable. We don't be going around.
30:50
Well, this is what I think and it's what I think what I think.
30:52
Nobody cares what you think or what your opinion is unless what
30:55
you think in your opinion has been formed by the Holy Spirit
31:00
and is rooted in the Word of God.
31:01
There's a lot of people burning their lives right now, burning
31:04
their years like burning daylight, telling everybody what
31:07
their opinion is and doing absolutely nothing for the
31:09
gospel. I don't know what you think
31:12
that's going to happen in eternity.
31:13
Even pastors do not burning a lot of daylight in the pulpit
31:16
and never really giving God's word.
31:17
I don't know what they think is going to happen.
31:19
But I'll tell you this, I know this.
31:21
A little leaven leavens a whole lump.
31:23
I know where it's going to end. It's going to be disastrous.
31:27
And if in that person that called you, because we have so
31:29
many friendships and connections, we may not even
31:31
value somebody calling us. Oh, it happens all the time.
31:34
I'm always having coffee. But, but no, no, no, no, that's
31:37
not how it is. God, by His Holy Spirit has
31:40
arranged you to connect with someone.
31:41
I don't care if you do it all the time.
31:43
The reason you do it all the time is because you're good at
31:45
it, because people trust you. Where do you think that came
31:48
from? Not just your personality, but
31:49
as a believer. God has made you trustworthy.
31:52
People trust you. They want to hear what you have
31:55
to say because they view you as a person that walks with the
31:57
Lord. And even if they view you, maybe
32:00
your whole life has been gossip and slander and everything, and
32:02
that's how some of these connections are.
32:04
But now you're different. So they're calling you because
32:07
they want to go to the coffee shop and gossip with you.
32:09
But you show up understanding your responsibility, and then
32:14
you change it all. And it's like, hey man, you're
32:16
different. I know because God has given me
32:20
his wisdom. And sister, this is what you
32:22
need to do. We need to pray for your
32:24
husband. I want to pray for him.
32:25
I want to leave him. No, no, no.
32:28
We need to pray right now. And every Tuesday I'll be here.
32:32
I'll be your accountability partner.
32:34
I'll come alongside of you and I'll hold you accountable to
32:36
this. And I'll pray for the Holy
32:38
Spirit that that's a different meaning, isn't it?
32:41
Stricter responsibility, stricter judgment, Bible
32:45
teachers, believers, it's so important we get this.
32:49
Notice verse 11. And I, brethren, now it seems
32:52
like he turns, he's going all kinds of little twists and turns
32:55
here at the end of his letter. But he says, and I, brethren, if
32:58
I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution?
33:02
Then the offense of the cross has ceased.
33:06
So sometimes somehow people, apparently people were accusing
33:09
him of still preaching circumcision.
33:12
And Paul just answers logically, like if I still preach
33:15
circumcision, I would agree with these guys.
33:18
I would have never written this letter.
33:20
And on top of that, if I agreed with them, then the offense of
33:23
the cross has ceased. You know, don't you, that the
33:28
cross is a very offensive message, that God so loving the
33:34
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
33:36
would believe on him would not perish, but have everlasting
33:40
life. For those of us on this side of
33:42
that verse, it's super encouraging, yes, Amen.
33:46
But for those on the other side, it's very offensive.
33:49
You call me a Sinner and then you have to work around that.
33:53
You think I'm not good enough? You have to work around that.
33:55
You think you're the only religion?
33:57
You have to work around that because it's very offensive to
34:00
be able to have a place where you go.
34:01
This is your only hope. This is what God has for you.
34:06
This is how you'll be made right in a relationship with God.
34:12
And it's offensive. The way to get around the
34:15
offense is right here. You know, hey, we'll just agree
34:17
with the false teachers and we'll just agree with and I'm
34:20
teaching the same old message. But obviously Paul was not
34:23
teaching the same old message and the offense of the cross
34:26
hadn't ceased. And then in verse 12, he says, I
34:29
could wish that those who trouble you would even cut
34:32
themselves off. And if you read this before you
34:36
like, yes, it means exactly what you think it does, Says if
34:39
that's what they want and they're going to be teaching
34:41
circumcision, then just let them become eunuchs and go all the
34:45
way. But they're not willing.
34:47
And Paul was, you know, he's a little feisty there.
34:49
Verse 12 you can write in your Bibles, feisty Paul right there.
34:53
But you know, sometimes you get that when you're always, you
34:55
know, defending yourself from false accusations and people are
34:58
trying to lie about you. I mean, it gets to you.
35:00
If you ever had anyone lie to you or make accusations against
35:03
you that are completely false, it gets to you.
35:06
And so you might be a little feisty at times.
35:07
So just get back to the Lord like he does here.
35:09
Verse 13 for you, brethren have been called to liberty.
35:14
That's your calling. Did you hear that, brethren
35:17
cistern? You've been called to liberty
35:19
and freedom, but don't use, he says.
35:22
Only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but
35:27
through love. Serve one another for all the
35:30
laws fulfilled in one word, even in this you shall love your
35:36
neighbor as yourself. Legalism has wrecked the
35:40
believers and made them very unlovely toward one another.
35:46
It has also brought them to a place where the accusation was,
35:50
well, if you believe in grace, then you're just going to go and
35:54
do whatever you want and send recklessly.
35:56
And Paul says, no, no, don't forget who have been, who's
35:59
called you to grace. And then remember, there are two
36:02
extremes. There are two extremes with
36:05
grace. If you're taking notes, it's
36:06
important to know we have been spending a lot of time in
36:09
Galatians talking about 1 extreme and that's legalism, a
36:13
list of rules and regulations man made religious systems that
36:17
you follow the system in order to earn God's favor or gain
36:21
favor, which really just trying to please man.
36:24
But you live in such a way. I got to do the whole system
36:26
right and that's how I'll be right with God.
36:28
That is an extreme on one side where you're living in such a
36:33
way where it's no longer relational.
36:35
You're not living as a son or a daughter, but you're trying to
36:38
prove yourself and earn your merit and think and say, I'm
36:42
going to work really hard and then God will be accepted.
36:45
I'll be accepted in God's sight. When we learned you're adopted
36:48
as a kid, you're immediately, his kid, immediately born again,
36:51
child of God, legalism. So we spent a lot of time on
36:54
that. But here on the other side, if
36:55
you like, look at a pendulum and it swings all the way to the
36:58
other side. Here's the other extreme when it
37:01
comes to grace, and that is license or licentiousness
37:05
license. And here's the picture.
37:07
The extreme is this, well, because God has forgiven me of
37:10
all my sins and the work of the cross is finished and he's going
37:14
to forgive me past, present and future.
37:16
And I I can confess my sins and he's faithful and just to
37:19
forgive me all my sins, then grace means I can sin all I
37:22
want. And Paul says it here.
37:26
No you can't. Grace does not give us
37:28
permission to sin. God doesn't give you permission
37:32
to sin. For those of you that are
37:33
planning sin right now, and some are they come to church, they're
37:36
kind of planning sin this week, planning something going on at
37:38
work or you got something like you're, you're in your mind,
37:40
you're thinking about how can I get away with it?
37:42
How can I hide it? Whatever those of you like, God
37:45
does not give you permission to sin ever.
37:47
Never. It's like, you know, your kids
37:50
are fighting in the in the room and they're fighting and one of
37:53
your kids gets a good one and they come to you and ask for
37:58
permit. And and so the one that hit kid
38:01
A, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.
38:02
Kid B says, mom, you know what happened and you know how these
38:07
things work. Can I have permission to punch
38:10
him in the face? Mom says sure, see you later and
38:15
walks away. No, no, mom does that.
38:18
It's a teaching moment, isn't it?
38:20
It's an opportunity. No, no, you were wronged.
38:23
It wasn't right, but you don't have permission to punch him
38:27
back, which the one that got punched gets all frustrated
38:30
because it's a DJ moment. Well, I'll just punch him when
38:33
you don't see, all right. But I didn't give you permission
38:36
to do that. And you'll suffer the
38:38
consequences of that decision. That's how that works.
38:42
I often will share this. There's a phrase I've developed
38:45
over the years that I've learned in ministry, especially when
38:48
you've been wronged. I know there's a lot of wrong in
38:51
the room. A person is wrong to you.
38:55
Person just hurt you. You've been deeply traumatized
38:59
and you carry pain. And I mean, we're to cock and
39:02
deep pain. Not just slights and minor
39:04
offenses, but deep, deep stuff I know is in the room and is on
39:08
the radio and online. I know.
39:11
And as you're praying, trying to work through it, part of your
39:14
response is I just want them to hurt like I hurt.
39:17
That's a natural response, not a spiritual response.
39:21
There might even be a sense of revenge.
39:22
I want revenge. I want to avenge this hurt.
39:26
I want to make it. I want to even the score.
39:29
You might even pray very biblically and going through the
39:32
Psalms and you're like, Oh yeah, I remember that.
39:34
I'm going to pray like David did.
39:36
Father, I love you in heaven. You're so wonderful.
39:38
Break their teeth. And that's a real feeling.
39:44
It's not a good feeling, but it's real.
39:47
But I mean, what's their broken teeth going to do to solve the
39:50
problem? And it'll alleviate your pain.
39:53
Well, it's going to make me feel good.
39:56
Really. Now your pain has changed you to
40:00
feel good when someone else hurts.
40:02
And it might give this momentary, I feel good, so good,
40:09
but then it's going to pass. I was thinking of Moses.
40:12
Remember when he chose When Moses chose to leave Egypt, the
40:15
Bible says that he chose to forsake the passing pleasures of
40:19
sin. So there might be just a little
40:21
bit of, oh, I feel good or, but it's going to pass.
40:25
And then what? I'll tell you what, after that
40:28
feeling passes, you know what comes next?
40:30
You're going to have to deal with your own sin and the
40:33
consequences. Now it's no longer that hurt,
40:36
although it's still there. You have a new problem and
40:39
that's your sin today. And then you live a life like
40:42
that for a year, five years, 10 years.
40:48
No wonder bitterness gets a root in people's lives.
40:51
No wonder it beats us up. We give permission to it.
40:55
We invited in. He says, no, you don't have
40:58
permission to send. You know, especially with
41:01
couples that that I have a chance to speak with and
41:04
minister to like that there's great sin in the marriage.
41:09
And one of the spouses, well, I just want to and I say, no, no,
41:12
no. Someone sin against you does not
41:15
give you permission to sin against them.
41:17
Ever. Someone sin against you does not
41:22
give you permission. God will know where.
41:25
That's why reading the Bible, you'll learn God doesn't give
41:27
permission to sin. Emotions might do that, but even
41:31
emotions leave and they die down.
41:35
Other people's advice might lead you to that, but not God.
41:39
God leads us to other, better avenues to deal with our hurt
41:43
and our pain. God reminds us of the cross and
41:46
the ultimate injustice that has ever happened on the planet
41:51
earth. And that will ever happen on the
41:53
planet earth. Was innocent Jesus dying for
41:56
your sins and mine? Hey, brethren, liberty is not an
42:05
opportunity for the flesh. It's not an opportunity to get
42:10
even the score. It's not an opportunity for you
42:13
to work out. And we'll see later some of the
42:16
things that is described. You should read ahead.
42:18
We'll get there soon enough of what the flesh really is, how it
42:22
manifests itself in our lives, these works of the flesh.
42:26
That's an extreme. You don't want to go so far that
42:29
you want to create lists to try to earn God's favor, but you
42:31
also don't want to go so far away from the Lord that you're
42:34
just thinking you can do whatever you want when whenever
42:37
you want. The best place is to stay right
42:40
in Christ. Because sin of any kind is like
42:45
leaven. And we've already learned
42:47
multiple times today, a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
42:53
And so sin will destroy a great marriage, and sin will capsize
42:58
the strongest friendships. A little sin will overthrow the
43:02
greatest of Saints. The greatest of Saints.
43:06
It all started with something small.
43:09
It all started something imperceptible, small in their
43:13
lives. Paul said it a different way to
43:16
the believers in Rome when he wrote you can just jot it down
43:19
in Romans 6 verse one. What shall we say then?
43:22
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
43:25
Certainly not. How shall we who died to sin
43:30
live any longer in it? And what are we To live in love.
43:36
That's what we owe each other, isn't it?
43:39
It's to love our neighbor, to care for one another.
43:43
There's no law to follow in love.
43:45
You just love. You just care.
43:49
You begin to think of others more highly than yourself.
43:53
There's no law against love. It just flows through a life
43:56
that's yielded and surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
43:59
Some of you experienced this testimony.
44:00
I know I have. Some of you experienced this
44:02
testimony where God's love is just an amazing thing that you
44:05
never had before you got saved. It's unbelievable.
44:09
It's like, how did I miss this my whole life?
44:13
To not only receive love, but to give love, to learn this
44:16
principle. It's always greater to give than
44:21
to receive. How?
44:23
How does that even happen? It's the love of God.
44:27
We love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and we love our
44:31
neighbors ourselves. You've been called to this.
44:33
You see that in verse 13. You have been called to liberty.
44:37
When I was younger, we were allowed to play all over the
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neighborhood. Maybe that wasn't a wise
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decision, but nonetheless, we were able to pray, play, leave
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in the morning on a Saturday, and I'll tell you when we had to
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come home, you know, when we had to come home.
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No cell phone, no text, nobody even drive in the neighborhood.
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When the street lights went on, it was time to go home.
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That was what was required. So wherever we were around the
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city, when we saw the streetlights, we started heading
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home. And you know what happened for
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me, I was a little late most of the time.
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So as I was getting closer to home, you know what?
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I would hear my mom calling me. She'd call me and I'd hear my
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name and that tone of voice. Sometimes she was calling me to
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dinner, sometimes she was calling me to a punishment, to a
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whipping. Who knows but God.
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When you hear the voice of God calling you, it's always to
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liberty. It's always.
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Think about that God today calling you to liberty, to the
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cross, to relationship, to love, a real love where you understand
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how much God loves you and you love God, and then all of a
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sudden you start loving even your enemies, a God love.
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Because if you're not living in the grace of God, here's the
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final warning, verse 15. This is what will happen to any
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church, to any family, to any friendship.
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But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be
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consumed with one another. What an interesting verse.
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I'm going to give you 2 options and then I want you to answer me
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very out loud because people are listening on the radio and
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online. OK, so I want you to, you only
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have two options, believers or unbelievers.
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OK, that's the only two options. Pop quiz.
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Who is Paul riding to? OK, some of you are here.
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Who is Paul riding to? Believers.
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And what does he tell a church like ours if you bite and devour
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one another? This happens far too much in the
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body of Christ. And it happens far too much in
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our church where there is a group of people that leave the
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grace of God and begin to bite and devour one another, begin to
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nitpick and become legalistic or complaining or all sorts of
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behaviors that will lead to being consumed by them.
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Consumed has a couple of different options, doesn't it?
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Consume means to take in and it disappears.
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It also means to take in and like feed on.
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He says be careful because if this is the path you want, if
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you leave grace, you will be in again to devour one another.
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If you leave grace, your brother will become your enemy.
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You'll start gossiping about their walk.
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You're complaining about you'll, you'll complain about things
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that, that, that really aren't that big a deal, but they're not
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a big deal because you've chosen to complain about them.
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And how careful we need to be not to leave Grace.
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It's to the one that, you know, let's put it into some real life
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stuff. So you, you're driving down,
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you're driving down I-25 and you get cut off.
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And what happens to you? You get so angry, you get so
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upset, you start saying things in your car we can't hear
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because the windows are up. But you know what you're saying,
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and you're so angry, and you go to work angry, and before you
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know, you're just so frustrated. Why?
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Because some guy cut you off on I-25.
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It's not that big a deal. As a matter of fact, why don't
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you add this phrase to your vocabulary?
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You ready? I just want you to learn.
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Write it down. Put a tattoo on your arm right
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here. Whatever you need to do.
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But for those things, those irritants in your life, in the
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church, outside of the church, wherever, I want you to add
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this. You ready?
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It's no big deal. You need to learn it's no big
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deal. This is not a big deal guy
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cutting you off. It's not a big deal like you
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just got to go, keep going, get to work, clock in and be a good
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employee. It's not that big a deal what
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happened 5 * 5 times? It's not that big a deal, you
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just got to let it go. Let it roll off your back.
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It'll ruin your day. How do your days get ruined?
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Not by a guy that's cutting you off.
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Your days get ruined by your response to it.
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It's no big deal. I think about so much of my
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life. It's no big deal.
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It's going to pass. I need to learn.
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I think about it in the body of Christ, if it is a big, you
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know, pastor, it's a big deal, OK.
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In the body of Christ, if it's a big deal, if your brother sinned
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against you, you go to him, you and him alone.
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You share the offense. If your brother hears you,
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you've won your brother. That's how you handle big deals.
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Big deals are handled biblically.
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Big deals are handled biblically.
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If again, on I-25, if it was a big deal, you'd have to pull
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over and the police would help you.
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That would be a big deal. They hit you, there's some
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accidents, somebody's hurt. That's a big deal.
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You're right. And there's a way to handle big
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deals right there. There's a way to take care of
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those even in the body of Christ.
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Like if, if it's a big deal, then handle it and be done with
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it. But when you leave, Grace, you
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just continue on biting and devouring one another.
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Believers, churches. I mean, you think about it.
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So I I don't. I don't like that.
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Oh, really? You don't like that?
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Yeah, I just don't like that. I don't know.
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I don't. The lights.
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I don't like these lights. All right?
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Yeah, I just don't like these. I like do what?
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What? What?
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What do you want me to do about it?
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They're here. What do you want me to do?
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Go back and take them out and put them in?
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What do you want me to do? Well, I just.
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I'm just going to complain about them the rest of my life.
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Well, now you're sinning against me because you keep complaining
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to me and there's absolutely nothing I'm going to do about
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it. The lights are lights.
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It's better than holding up our cell phone with all the lights.
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You know, it's better than flashlights.
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It's better like that that that issue you have turned you away
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from. And it's silly, isn't it?
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I don't like the lights. I don't like the bargain.
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I don't like, I don't like. I don't like.
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I don't like, I don't like. Didn't we already talk about
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submitting ourselves to the Lord and developing His opinion?
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Because you know, this little room here, whether we like or
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don't like this little room here is a place where God builds up
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the Saints. I like that, and this little
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room here is where we have graduation ceremonies for Aurora
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Police Department recruits. I like that.
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This little room here is where we have meals, where men and
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women coming together. This little room here, like
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whatever's going on that we may not like.
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God uses everything around us for the sake of the gospel.
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And when you leave grace, you know what happens when you leave
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grace. When you leave grace, you have
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forgotten God's work in your life.
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You've forgotten when you were saved and you met Jesus for the
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first time and you were enjoying him.
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Oh, doesn't that sound like what's happening in the
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Galatians? They forgot.
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They allowed somebody to come in and go.
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Oh, no, no, no. It starts out that way, maybe.
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But here's how you stay saved. You've got to work and you have
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to cut yourself and you have to learn the law and you have to
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keep the feast and you have to and you have to and you have to.
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And Paul just says, if you keep biting and devouring one
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another, which was happening in Galatia, upset with a brother,
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upset with a sister, upset with Paul, upset with this and upset
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with that, then you're going to be consumed because we look at
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the very next thing he says, here's the alternative, verse
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16. I say then walk in the Spirit
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and you won't fulfill the rest of the flesh.
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And we'll get into that in another Bible study.
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Would you turn over to Ephesians chapter 4 And we'll end on the
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Scripture. I want you to see it.
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We'll get to Ephesians soon enough, maybe in a couple years
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when we finish Galatians. We're not going to take a couple
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years. We're almost done.
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This isn't this isn't the book of Acts.
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We got just a few more studies in Galatians.
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But I love this and we'll get into it in depth, but I just
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want it to be the environment as the worship team comes back and
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we sing this final song together.
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I just want you to receive this and leave with this word
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beginning in verse 30, because now Paul gives us another angle
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of of biting and devouring. Not only are we biting and
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devouring one another, but he says don't grieve the Holy
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Spirit of God by whom you were sealed by the day of redemption.
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Don't grieve the Spirit. He says let all bitterness,
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wrath, anger, clamour and evil speaking be put away from you
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with all malice and be kind to one another, tender hearted,
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forgiving one another just as God in Christ also forgave you.
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Christians, we have a tendency to wound each other over the
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most non biblical reasons, needlessly arguing and fighting
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in front of a watching world. All of that is bad enough, but
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now the world's watching us. We've got our stakes down here
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and we got our stakes down there.
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Instead of looking to the cross who has staked our salvation on
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the finished work of Jesus. And may the Lord help us in
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these truths to grow in grace. Amen.
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So, Father, thank you for your word as it speaks directly to
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us. And you know, we don't want to
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get caught up in things that are going to harm us and hurt us.
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So please forgive us for these areas and and just help us to
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walk in newness of life. All this it's a lot of scripture
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to take take in and a lot of things to consider, but you have
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it for us. This is it to stand fast, stay
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strong. And I pray for those that are
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listening to me today that need to give their lives to Jesus for
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the very first time that today would be the day.
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Now would be the time where they turn away from their sins and
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receive you, Jesus as their Savior, choose to follow you as
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their Lord. And if you're here today as the
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church prays, and that's what we do during a time like this, if
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you're here today and you need to give your life to Jesus
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Christ, would you please stand to your feet?
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I want to pray with you and I want to help you obey the Bible.
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This is the persuasion that comes from the Bible that if you
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confess your sins, He is faithful.
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You confess with your heart the Lord Jesus and you believe in
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you confess the Let me read it long day.
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If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and you believe
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in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
55:34
saved. So don't let my little stumble
55:36
stumble you If today you need to receive the Lord Jesus Christ,
55:40
stand to your feet. We want to pray with you that
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today would be the day God bless you right here and God bless
55:46
you. Today's the day somebody's going
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to come alongside of you just to pray with you and encourage you,
55:52
but it's a very important it is worth our time today for you to
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respond to the invitation to follow Jesus.
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Who else would say that's me. You guys downstairs, this is for
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you as well, listening on the radio in a hospital room perhaps
56:09
or a kitchen. I just picture and imagine
56:11
driving down the road. I'm talking about the highway
56:14
and you're on your own highway, but God is just pull over.
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Just pull over and let the Lord minister to you right now.
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If it's a Safeway to do that, God bless you in the back.
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Who else would say that's me? Such a glorious moment of
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salvation, such a glorious time of God moving upon the hearts of
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wanting to change you completely your whole life.
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This persuasion is from God. This is it.
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And so those that have responded, let me let me help
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you with a prayer, standing or sitting.
56:53
It's OK, you can ask God, say God, I ask you to forgive me of
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my sins. I choose to follow you today
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because I believe Jesus, you died for my sins and I believe
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you rose again from the dead. And I want to give you my whole
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heart and my whole life. And I want to leave my sins
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behind. Father, I know anyone anywhere
57:27
that would call upon your name. You won't turn them away.
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You won't cast them away. And I just pray for these men
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and women right now that truly life change is taking place
57:39
right now in our midst. And there are other things God
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going on in this room, other areas of surrender God that
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you're drawing out surrender. And I pray that the men and
57:53
women that know you would surrender that that thought and
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surrender that action and surrender that issue.
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Just surrender God, just give up.
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Some need to come back to the to the God who calls them the God
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who's calling them. Just come to me.
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All you were weary and heavy laden.
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I'll give you rest. Bless your church today and we
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rejoice with those who would turn their lives towards you in
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Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
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encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
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sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
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Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
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To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
58:39
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
58:45
or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.