Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #20231015 - Three Hindrances to Following Jesus - Luke 9:57-62

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#20231015 - Three Hindrances to Following Jesus - Luke 9:57-62 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the Study of God's Word, recorded live at Calvary
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Church in Aurora, Co To learn more about the many resources
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available through Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our
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live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
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or download our free Calvary Church app.
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Now let's open our Bibles and study God's Word.
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And I'd like you to turn this morning to the Gospel of Luke,
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Chapter 9, The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 9.
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Before we launch into this, there's a couple things I want
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to mention. I did write a book a few years
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ago on based on 1st Corinthians 13, The Attributes of God's
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Love, and that book is available in the bookstore.
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And there's a few of them left. The basic premise of the book is
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God wants to be your first soulmate because he wants to
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fill your heart, and it takes the pressure off of other
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relationships. Many times we put God off to the
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side and we expect from other people to fill our lives with
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with things only can God, only God can do.
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And so the whole idea of going through the attributes of of
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God's love there in First Corinthians 13 and then seeing
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what that looks like in everyday life.
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And there are some study questions at the end of each
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chapter that you can go further and deeper into the principles
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there of that. So that's available.
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But last Wednesday night I was teaching on the Beatitudes.
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And I gave an illustration about having to teach in the midst of
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a storm on a cruise ship with Pastor Chuck Smith.
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And I was sick. And I did say, and you'll have
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to go and listen to the study to get the full ID on that.
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But I did say it was 1992 and I looked last night discovered it
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wasn't 1992, it was 1999 and so September 1999.
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This is after the study. I don't look that green, but I
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was green for sure. And yes, I did have a mustache
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and I had one for years until my wife said I'm done with that.
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This time that goes off. So since the year 2000 I have
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not had a mustache and I've kept my nose hairs trimmed as well.
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OK, so but we are in Luke Chapter 9 and we're going to be
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looking at. Verses 57 to 62, when you close
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your Bible, all of a sudden you're marked.
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There it is right there. So what I'm going to do as, I'm
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going to read through the text and then we'll start with the
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word of prayer. But I just want you to get
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prepared because a pen. And a paper or on your tablet,
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however you take notes. Very important.
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Just be prepared for what God wants to speak to your heart
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this morning, because we're not here at some kind of convention.
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We are here to hear from the Lord, because He is the only one
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who knows what goes on deep inside of you and me.
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And so, what's on my heart? Is this text and and what I've
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titled this 3 hindrances to fully following Jesus.
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And those 3 hindrances are comfort, convenience and
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compromise. And we're going to see those
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three in these three instances of these disciples who are
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dealing with Jesus in this text. And the Lord is so kind because
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he's not looking to push them away.
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He's looking to draw them in, but there are hindrances for
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them being all in with following him.
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And there can be those same hindrances in our life in the
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21st century, especially in our Western culture, that can just
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so subtly be blocks to his life and purpose in our life.
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So I'll be reading verses 57 to 62, and then we'll start with
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prayer. Now what happened?
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As they journeyed on the road that someone said to him to
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Jesus, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.
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And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air
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have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
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Then he said to another follow me.
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But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father.
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Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go
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and preach the Kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I
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will follow you, but first let me go and bid them farewell, who
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are at my house. And Jesus said to him, No one,
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having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the
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Kingdom of God. So, Father in Heaven, we're
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asking that you would use this text today.
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We want to be open to you. We want you to search our hearts
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and Father, if there's anything in our lives that needs to be
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addressed. Because you love us, you tell us
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the truth not to condemn us, but to free us.
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Because the truth, your truth sets us free.
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So this morning, Lord, we want to hear from you and we thank
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you, Lord, for this time together, you and us.
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In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
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Well, let's look at the first hindrance, the first hindrance
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to a disciple fully following Jesus.
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And that's the word comfort. And that's verses 57 and 58.
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So we see this encounter here. Now what happened?
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As they journey down the road? That someone said to him, Lord,
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I will follow you wherever you go.
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Sounds like a great commitment, doesn't it?
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Now those of you that are new to the Bible, you know that there
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are 4 gospels. And each gospel has a particular
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burden to to reach. Like Matthew is specially
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reaching the Jewish people showing Jesus as their Messiah.
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Gospel of Mark they have concluded really gives an
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insight to the especially to the Romans on the Gospel of Jesus
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Christ. The Gospel of Luke shows Jesus
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as the Son of Man, and the Gospel of John focuses on Jesus
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as the Son of God. And so there are accounts that
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are parallel within the Gospels, and we find a parallel account
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of this particular disciple over in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 8,
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Chapter 8, verses 18 to 22 right there.
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We see that the first two of these three encounters are
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included by Matthew there and when you examine this first
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disciple. You find that Matthew gives a
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description of this man as a certain scribe or a teacher of
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the law. And that's a very important
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truth, because the answer of Jesus connects to this
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individual, especially scribes. We're not familiar with them
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that was way back there in the 1st century.
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But the scribes. Were copyists of the Law of
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Moses, and what they went through their schooling, their
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whole manner of life was so intense, their education was
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intense. From the time that they were
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young, their knowledge of the Jewish law was deep, and they
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had to understand it, interpret it, and apply it correctly.
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They were put into an apprenticeship at a young age
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and then trained in practical ways until they could be on
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their own. And they had this mastery of
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calligraphy that every single movement of the Jewish letter,
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every dot, every title, it had to be perfect, or you threw the
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whole scroll away and started over.
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Man, I would have hated to have that kind of thing at school.
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And because of their deep education, they received a lot
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of accolades. They were in a position of
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responsibility, a position of recognition.
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Everyone looked up to them. And so their position in society
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was was quite privileged. And so now here is this certain
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scribe, as Matthew says, actually coming to Jesus.
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And making this statement, Lord, I will follow you wherever you
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go. And by the way, that scribe
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saying that was a was a huge sacrifice because it could
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jeopardize his reputation. Because this, this group that
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was following this rabbi from Nazareth, they were all ragtime
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disciples. They didn't have any learning or
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or haven't been to special schools, that they're just
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fishermen. They're just people, normal
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people. So maybe this scribe felt like
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he could just add so much to this group, with all the
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privileges and the special knowledge he had and the
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education, he could bring them up a bit.
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Seems like not such a bad idea. At the time that this occurs,
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Jesus ministry was like booming. There were so many people
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following him around. It was amazing.
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Every day was amazing. Hanging around Jesus and his
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disciples. Wherever he would go, there'd be
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this group and it, you know, it kind of reminds me of what it
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looks like. With little kids playing soccer,
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you know, you know, like early elementary, nobody has a
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position wherever the ball is, everybody goes and and they're
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just everywhere. So if you're a coach of these
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little kids playing soccer, you're trying to get them to
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hold the position. But no, it's like a bunch of
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gnats hanging around a light bulb and and it just goes all
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over the field all day long. Well, here in Jesus time there
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was so many people. It was exciting.
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It was adventurous. And describes says, you know
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this, this seems like how I could help.
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I could step in here and be a part of this.
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But Jesus saw in the man what the man couldn't see in himself.
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And by the way, that's still true today.
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Jesus sees in US what we have a blind eye toward in ourselves.
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He sees the truth. He sees what goes on in the
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depth of our hearts. But it's not that he wants to
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push us away. He wants us closer to him.
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But there are hindrances that block that truth, that block
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that movement. And he'll tell us the truth
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because it has to be dealt with. And sometimes we don't want him
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to deal with it. Leave me.
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You know I'm fine. No, no.
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Your whole life you're going to be worked with by the Lord.
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Just be ready for that. I, I I've been serving the Lord
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54 years and it's still every day is fresh.
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OK, let's just start as if hit the reset button.
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Let's. I'm just want to follow you.
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Jesus, keep it simple. I'm getting old enough where I
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don't have enough time to recoup from my mistakes and I just got
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Lord, you know, I just want to know you deeper, because you
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cannot come to the end of knowing who he is, ever.
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Jesus sees right through us to the core of who we are, what our
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motives are, our secret thoughts, things said in
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private. Nothing's hidden from him.
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And he and his love puts his finger on certain things in our
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life and and says, you know, Bob, this you need to deal with,
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not to condemn, but to pull us closer.
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And for this particular scribe, I believe the problem in his
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life was comfort. He liked his comfort.
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Because here's what Jesus says in verse 58.
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Jesus said to him foxes have holes, birds of the air have
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nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.
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Jesus knew the hindrance in this man from fully following him,
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and it had to do with hanging on to all those special
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accomplishments. That made him special in his own
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eyes and comfort. A comfortable life was important
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to him, and Jesus said, you need to understand we're going to be
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living in KO as around the country, we're going to be
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camping out. It's not going to be
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comfortable. I believe that's the first
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thing. That Jesus is trying to
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emphasize when he talks about foxes have holes, birds of the
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air have nests. They have their places of rest
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of comfort and safety. But if you're going to follow
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me, we're going to have times where it's going to be very
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difficult and rough and uncomfortable.
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For this man, Comfort had become an idol that he'd gotten used to
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over the years. And so I want to add Jesus to my
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life, but I want to keep my comfort zone.
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You know that's not going to work, Jesus said in the Gospel
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of Luke, Chapter 9, verse 23. If anyone desires to come after
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me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, which by the
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way, was a shocking statement. And the Jewish people knew what
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that was all about, because the Romans would use that Persian
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method of torturous death and put it all along the sides of
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the roads leading into major, into Jerusalem, into major
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cities, to terrorize those Jews into submission to the Roman
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rule. So here, as Jesus said, take up
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your cross daily. What that's not that's not
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comfortable. This is dangerous.
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It's dangerous to follow you. Let him deny himself, Take up
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his cross every day and follow me.
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For whoever desires to save his life will lose it.
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But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
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For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and
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is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of me and
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my words of him, the Son of Man, will be ashamed when he comes in
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his own glory, and in his Father's and of the holy angels.
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And these This leads us to a truth.
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Faith does not need comfort to be a proof of something that's
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God's will. Sometimes we think, well Lord,
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if that's really of you, then it should be nice and easy and
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comfortable. Where do you get that?
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Well, after all, isn't God's grace going to be there if it's
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God's will? Well, yes, it will.
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But remember that when Paul the Apostle pleaded 3 times with the
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Lord to remove the stake in his flesh, this thorn in the flesh
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that was so killing him as it were, the Lord said, My grace is
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sufficient for you, because my strength will be brought to
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maturity in your weakness. You see, His grace doesn't
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always remove the difficulties, but he stands with you in the
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difficulty because it's in the difficulty where you find out
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things about him that you could have never learned any other
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way. And some of you right now are
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going through difficult, difficult seasons.
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It could be your health, it could be your relationships,
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your family. Your loss of finances, Your loss
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of work, Where's God? I thought asking.
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You shall receive. Well, put it in context.
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He stands with you in the fire and in the flood.
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And the question needs to be, Lord, what do I need to learn in
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this season? And it is indeed only for a
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season. Because if you get bailed out of
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it all the time, you'll never learn the sufficiency of God in
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difficult times. You understand that the second
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thing about Jesus answer here is that he used the term the Son of
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Man, and because this scribe was deeply familiar with the
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prophecies of the book of Daniel.
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Here's what it says in Daniel. Daniel was the 1st place where
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the term Son of Man is used prophetically of the Messiah.
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Daniel Chapter 7 verse 13. Daniel writes I was watching in
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the night visions and behold one like the Son of Man coming with
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the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days
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and they brought him near before him.
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Then to him the Son of Man was given dominion and glory and a
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Kingdom. That all peoples, nations, and
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languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
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dominion which shall not pass away in his Kingdom, the one
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which shall not be destroyed. So this scribe may have thought
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Jesus was one of the current prophets of Israel.
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But now he had to say, if you're going to follow me, you're going
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to need to acknowledge me as the Messiah.
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Whoa, That's not comfortable. That might risk losing all that
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I've gained in my life. Comfort.
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Ease, reputation. Sometimes in our life we have
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such a desire for comfort. That it holds us back from
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really fully following the Lord and only the Lord can can touch
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your heart about that. I can't judge your outward
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lifestyle and all that and and say well you can't be doing
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this, can't be doing that. I mean the scriptures clear.
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There are certain things that are clearly sin and you can't be
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doing those, but yet you know how you go about doing things in
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the car you drive and all all that kind of stuff.
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You know that's between you and the Lord.
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But be careful that comfort doesn't become an idol in your
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life and you will only serve the Lord when it's comfortable.
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Let's go on. The next category is
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convenience, and that's verses 59 to 60.
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And here Jesus initiates a call, He says in verse 59.
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Then he said to another follow me, but he said, Lord, let me
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first go and bury my father. In the second instance, Jesus
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came up to a man in the larger group that was following him and
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his disciples. And this out of this larger
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group you'll see in the next chapter Jesus appointed 70 and
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he gave them power to cast out demons and to heal the sick and
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to go preach the gospel everywhere that he was going to
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go in Galilee. And so all of a sudden there was
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a definite call upon this disciples saying you, you you
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follow me a command not a suggestion but with the command
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it touched something in that disciples life that was a
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hindrance and it's called convenience I believe because
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Jesus commands can do that. I remember in Phoenix this one
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couple that usually sat toward the front and and we came across
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the passage in First Thessalonians that said that
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basically living together outside of marriage with sin and
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having sexual relationships outside of marriage with sin.
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And they came to me afterwards and said, you mean to say that
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it's not OK with God, I'm going, well, let's read this again
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actually. And so we read it and they say,
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well, we've been doing this for years, so, So what do we do?
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I'm going. Well, you stop.
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Start there. And are you committed?
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I mean, would you need to be married?
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Is is that something you thought about?
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I mean, you need to be married under a marriage covenant.
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That sexual relationship is blessed by God, but right now he
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counts it as sin. And so they looked at each other
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and go, well, yeah, I think we should get married.
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I'm going, OK, well, you know, let's just go in the office and
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get that taken care of. You know, you have to get your
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license. You got to do all that.
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But but let's honor God with your life according to what he
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says. Don't let convenience rule your
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life. Let obedience rule your life.
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Because obedience Trump's convenience.
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So follow me. Sometimes Jesus commands can can
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bring out things that need to be changed.
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His his response in verse 59 says, Lord, let me first go and
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bury my father. Now that sounds honourable.
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I mean that's what you need to do, take care of your family.
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But most Bible commentators believe that the sins here was
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this. Let me wait until my father dies
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and I give him a decent burial and get the inheritance settled.
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And then I'll be ready to follow you.
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It's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
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wait. You know, I've.
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I've got things to take care of. I'll follow you.
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But you know, I I need to take care of some things.
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Let me wait until all the kids are out of the house and then
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I'll really follow you. Let me wait until I win the
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lottery and then I'll follow you.
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Gee, I'll I'll just bless you with all that.
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And I'll tithe so often convenience becomes the rule to
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go deeper with Jesus. And convenience is not the rule.
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Obedience is the rule. When God is working on your
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heart or showing you clearly in the word things that you should
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or should not be doing, convenience becomes such an
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anchor that can hold us back from obeying the word of God.
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Because let me tell you something.
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Jesus knows that when you choose to live godly in Christ Jesus,
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you will suffer persecution eventually.
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And it's not going to be convenient.
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It can come in subtle ways and it can come in drastic ways.
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So many times in the gospel accounts we find that life was
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not convenient for the disciples because Jesus was obeying the
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Father and was going to do what the Father said.
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There was a time that Jesus told the disciples, you know, come
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come apart and rest a while. So they went up to this area and
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all these people found out he was there and rushed up there.
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And what did Jesus say? Get away.
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Sonya bother me. No, he doesn't say that.
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He looked upon him with compassion and ministered to
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their needs and then made the disciples give up their lunch.
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And that was the beating of the 5000.
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And they were dog tired. And yet it wasn't convenient,
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but it was obedience. And there was blessing, man.
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They had 12 baskets full. At the end.
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It was all finger food because everybody fingered it, but it
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was food. Jesus said to him, Verse 60 let
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the dead bury their own dead. But you go and preach the
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Kingdom of God. Sounds like a radical statement,
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but Jesus is saying basically here let the spiritually dead
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who have no interest in following me, take care of those
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natural obligations. But you there isn't a there is a
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calling on your life and I'm calling you to step into the
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urgency of the moment and get the gospel out.
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Preach the Kingdom of God. What conveniences have risen in
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our in our lives to the place where they hinder us from being
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all in and following Jesus? It's not that conveniences are
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wrong, but yet they can. They can become a hindrance to
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us. Really taking steps of faith.
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By the way, living by faith includes risk.
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There's always this element of risk when you choose to live by
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faith and yet you want all your ducks in a row.
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And then they keep flying off, you know, and you go.
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I don't get this. Come on.
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I like my life. Easy.
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Comfortable. Oh, really?
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Well, yeah. I think you need to read the
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Gospels again, because following Jesus can become a bit awkward
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and inconvenient and uncomfortable, and So what
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hinders us from being all in right now and following our Lord
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convenience can be such a hindrance, and only the Lord can
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be the one to point that out in your life.
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Maybe that's not true for you, and that's fine, but it might be
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true for some others. Some of you watching online,
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you're you're getting uncomfortable now and you just
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mightn't got another cup of coffee because you didn't want
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to hear me talk. And so, you know, just, you
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know, come back, come on, you know, we're just going to reason
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together. All right, let's go to the third
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one. Compromise verses 61 to 62 in
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this third instance. It's unique to the Gospel of
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Luke. Matthew doesn't cover this one
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and as I look at this and studied it, I see the word
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compromise coming out and I'll explain it here in verse 61.
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Another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go
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and bid them farewell who are at my house.
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Sounds like a reasonable request in request in the person's
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response. Actually, he was kind of using a
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scripture to sound spiritual, but there was a problem in his
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heart. He had a divided heart.
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A divided heart. What was he saying here?
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Well, actually it's very likely he was quoting from what Elijah
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said to Elijah back in First Kings 19.
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Let me read that to you. Elijah departed from there from
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the Mount Sinai, and then he went and found Elijah, the son
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of Shaphat who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him and
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he was with the 12. That's important to know because
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it ties in with Jesus answer. Then Elijah passed by him and
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threw his mantle on him. And Elijah left the oxen and ran
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after Elijah and said, please let me kiss my father and my
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mother and then I will follow you.
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And Elijah said to him, go back again, for what have I done to
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you in that situation? Elijah says, yeah, take care of
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your business and then come and follow me.
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So now this disciple says, hey Lord I'll follow you but let let
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let me go back to my house and bid them goodbye.
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But Jesus knew what was going on deep in this disciple because
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the corrective answer to him in verse 62 revealed something much
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deeper going on in the disciples heart.
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And I believe the problem was he was double minded, had a divided
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heart. He had his interest in two
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worlds at the same time, and that's called compromise.
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Verse 62. But Jesus said to him no one
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having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the
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Kingdom of God. Putting your hand to the plow
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and looking back makes you go off track because you're not
31:19
keeping your focus. There's a reason that the
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rearview mirror is small in your car.
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Your windshield is big because you're supposed to be looking
31:32
straight ahead. Have you ever been?
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Have you ever ridden with someone who talks and they don't
31:38
look ahead while they talk to you and they're driving?
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It's like all of a sudden you get a bit nervous because, you
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know, all of a sudden you're OK, Well, OK, OK OK Look ahead, look
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ahead. You know, keep your focus, keep
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your focus. But what takes our focus off the
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Lord? There are things that actually
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that do you realize that there are things that are neutral,
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that can become such an idol in our life that they pull us away
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from our focus on Jesus, pull us away from following Jesus, pull
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pull us away from serving the Lord.
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Because after all, it's ski season and I've just got to get
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up there because the snow is so powdery.
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Oh my goodness, it's the best. Well, it's been happening every
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single week and you and you haven't been going to church at
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all. Yeah, but the snow, OK And I've
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got all this equipment that was very expensive and I bought a
32:41
whole lift ticket for the whole year.
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And and so you've got all these reasons what your feet are kind
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of in two worlds and it keeps you from following the Lord.
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It's not wrong in and of itself, but when it captivates your
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life, then it becomes a problem. In First Corinthians, Paul says
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all things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful.
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All things are lawful for me, but I will not be bought,
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brought into bondage to any. There are little roads in
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England that are so narrow. Only one car fits the roads, and
33:23
there are hedges that go up about 8-9 feet and they wind
33:30
along the property lines. And do you know that the
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national speed limit applies to those roads?
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The national speed limit is 60 mph.
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Now you may have a right to go 60 miles an hour on those lanes,
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but you also have a right to die because you come around the
33:54
corner and there's a bus that's coming and he's not backing up.
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And they have little things called tip outs where that's
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where you're supposed to go like this because you need you know
34:07
you do drive on the left side of the road over there.
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So you got to if you if you can't find a tip out and a bus
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is coming, you have to put it in reverse and back up until you
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can find a tip out. And usually a tip out is not
34:19
very big and so it's like OK there goes my wing there you
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know just right right over or you come around the corner and
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here's this massive tractor that has two shavers on the side
34:32
shaving and and and it's like dude I'm going to saw it in half
34:36
and you're so you're backing up and and trying not to wreck.
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I mean, it's crazy. All things are lawful, but not
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all things are helpful. You may have allowed certain
34:47
things in your life. You think, hey, I'm under the
34:49
grace of God, I'm not under legalism.
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Really. How's that working for you and
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serving the Lord? How is that activity really
34:59
drawing you close to the Lord? Or is it actually so
35:02
captivating? That's all you think about
35:04
during the day? Compromise.
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It's a real deal. Jesus said in Matthew 624 No one
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can serve 2 masters, for you will hate the one and love the
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other. You'll be devoted to one and
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despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
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Matthew 7 verse 21 says. Not everyone who says to me,
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Lord, Lord, shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who
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does the will of my Father in heaven, many will say to me in
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that day. Lord, Lord, have we not
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prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and
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done many wonders in your name? Then I will declare to them, I
35:52
never knew you depart from me. You who practice lawlessness.
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Looking back after putting your hand on the plow means that
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you're you're just going back to do what you want.
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Maybe you want to, like, dabble with the Kingdom of God, but yet
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you've got your foot in another world, in your own world.
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Jesus isn't trying to push this disciple away, He's trying to
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get him to see that he can't have it both ways.
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You're either all in or you're not in.
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And you know, it just reminds me, some of you have
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backslidden. It's just what happened in your
36:48
life. Something took place.
36:50
You got angry at God, You were so on fire at one point, and
36:53
then you just got really angry with God because you didn't
36:57
agree that he. Why?
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How could he allow such a thing? And you got mad at God, put him
37:02
on the stand, and accused him of sin.
37:05
And you're just done with Christianity.
37:07
And you went off and sewed wild orts like you can't believe for
37:11
a period of 1015, even 20 years. And now God, because of all the
37:20
consequences to those years, God has broken you, humbled you, and
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now you're back. But you just feel like God is
37:29
disappointed in you. Kind of like a dad.
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That son never matches up to what his dad wanted.
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When you feel like a second class Christian and you need to
37:41
understand something, the heart of the Father is never to count
37:47
you as a second class Christian. Because here's the truth.
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When he called you, he knew that was going to happen.
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You see, he read your file. When he came to the world's
37:58
orphanage and wanted to adopt you, he read your file and all
38:03
that was in the file, from the first existence to the to the
38:09
end of your life. Here, he knows what's in the
38:11
file. So if he knew you were going to
38:15
backslide, why would he even call you anyway?
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Because he loves you. Because you, he, he wants to
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show himself to you in a way that that changes your life from
38:28
the inside out. And so were you thinking that
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there's this shame over your life, Because, man, I wasted all
38:36
those years. OK, fine, but how does God see
38:39
you right now? He sees you as his.
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You're His. You're back.
38:49
And if you happen to be here or watching online and you're still
38:53
in a backslidden state, God wants you back.
38:57
Because sin destroys your life. He wants you back.
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He knows that you can only be filled with him.
39:06
You're done with a compromise. The parable of the prodigal son
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communicates the heart of the Father, and it says in Luke
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1515. So mark that 1515 Easy to
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remember. When the prodigal came to
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himself after all of his wild living, he was brought to
39:26
nothing and he came to himself. That phrase is so special
39:30
because it's a proof of the Holy Spirit breaking you down so that
39:35
he can build you back up. And what came to the prodigal
39:39
son was how gracious his dad was, and he went humbly back to
39:46
his dad. And when he was a great way off,
39:50
his father saw him, had compassion and ran to him and
39:55
fell on his neck and kissed him. God wants you back.
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You know he loves you. I mean, I know you don't
40:04
understand that. But he loves you deeper than you
40:07
can comprehend. And he wants you back.
40:10
Not only does he want you back, he wants you to fully follow his
40:13
son. What holds you back?
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Comfort. Convenience.
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Compromise. Only you know that.
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And I believe you're here for such a time as this.
40:30
It's not a coincidence, but as we close in prayer right now,
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I'm going to ask you to consider to make a sacrifice to the Lord
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for what he's trying to get you to see.
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Is it comfort? Is it convenience?
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Is that the Is that the block or or compromise?
40:53
Am I trying to live 2 lives? And as we pray together, when I
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close here, as our eyes are closed, I want you to stand
41:05
before the Lord as an act of sacrifice to him.
41:10
And saying God, you've got my attention and I'm not sure what
41:13
to do next. And that's your offering to him,
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your standing, because you're acting upon what's happening in
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your heart. And we're not going to have you
41:24
come up to the front and do all that.
41:26
We just want you to take that initial step, because if God's
41:31
getting your attention, it's time to act on it now.
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So let's close on the word of prayer, and I'm going to give
41:38
you that opportunity to do that. Father in Heaven, we are
41:43
thankful for your word this morning.
41:45
There's so much more that could be brought out, but we believe
41:50
that the Holy Spirit was speaking this morning to address
41:54
things of those watching online, those listening on Grace FM and
41:59
those that are here today and those who will watch even in the
42:03
future. But God, as our eyes are closed
42:10
and our head is bowed, we're asking you to stir our hearts.
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If you're speaking to us about the issue of how important
42:23
comfort is to us and you're wanting us to make it secondary,
42:29
off to the side, Lord, may we stand and receive your grace or
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Father God, maybe it's convenience.
42:42
We're we're we're so worried about inconvenience that we it
42:47
has hindered us from following you and you're trying to speak
42:51
to us. And so there are those here,
42:53
Lord, that will stand and say you've been speaking to my heart
42:57
about how selfish I've been with my convenience.
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And then Lord having a compromised heart, a divided
43:08
heart, trying to live 2 worlds, and you're calling to be all in.
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And so Lord, those that you're touching right now for that, may
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they stand before you and say God, please be merciful to me
43:27
and see me through this. And so right now, Lord, as a
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congregation, we thank you that you are a God who is
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compassionate, who is merciful, who is gracious, who is
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powerful. And may you do in us what we
43:52
cannot do in ourselves. In Jesus name, Amen.
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We pray that you've been encouraged by this Bible study
44:05
delivered live from the sanctuary of Calvary Church.
44:08
For prayer. Call us at 87730 Grace.
44:13
That's 877. 304-7223 To listen to this message in its entirety
44:20
or to join us for our live stream services, visit us online
44:24
at Calvary, Co dot Church or download our free Calvary Church
44:28
app, Be Blessed as You Worship Jesus this week.