Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / Hebrews 12:14-24 - Only 1 Way You Can Effectively Approach God

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Hebrews 12:14-24 - Only 1 Way You Can Effectively Approach God · The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal

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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Well, howdy and good morning friends and faithful listeners.
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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being here on the podcast
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Speaker 1: with me, and Hi, my name is Jen If you
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Speaker 1: don't know me, I am the host of this podcast,
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Speaker 1: and I am so thankful that you are here to
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Speaker 1: share a delicious cup of coffee with me, because we're
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Speaker 1: going to be talking about Hebrews Chapter twelve today and
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Speaker 1: discussing the topic is God Approachable? Okay, before we delve
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Speaker 1: into today's passage, I always like to hear from all
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Speaker 1: of you faithful listeners, So you can contact me and
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Speaker 1: tell me how you are, how you found the podcast,
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Speaker 1: what the weather is like where you live, and the
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Speaker 1: most important question, whether you prefer coffee or tea, Because,
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Speaker 1: as you guys know, I am a coffee drinker through
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Speaker 1: and through I will I will sometimes drink a cup
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Speaker 1: of tea if I am desperate for something hot, because
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Speaker 1: I can't just keep drinking coffee all day long otherwise
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Speaker 1: I will never sleep, and I don't sleep very much
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Speaker 1: to be with anyway, so coffee does not help if
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Speaker 1: I am drinking it at like seven o'clock at night.
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Speaker 1: But you can contact me with the email address that
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Speaker 1: is listed in the description of the episode and tell
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Speaker 1: me all about yourself. I would love to hear it. Now,
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Speaker 1: before we begin today's episode and dive into Hebrews twelve,
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Speaker 1: please take a listen to this message from one of
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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and dive into Hebrews twelve today fourteen
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Speaker 1: through twenty nine and this passage, which covers a whole
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Speaker 1: lot of topics. Today we're going to be talking about
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Speaker 1: does God still speak to us? Is God approachable? And
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Speaker 1: how people shouldn't be looking to the Old Testament for
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Speaker 1: salvation because the New Covenant is so much greater than
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Speaker 1: the Old Covenant. So we'll talk about that today as well.
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Speaker 1: So let's go ahead and read Hebrews twelve fourteen through
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Speaker 1: twenty nine together. Follow after peace with all men and
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Speaker 1: the sanctification, without which no man will see the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Looking carefully, lest there be any man who falls short
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Speaker 1: of the grace of God, Lest any root of bitterness
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Speaker 1: springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it.
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Speaker 1: Lest there be any sexually immoral person or profane person
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Speaker 1: like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. For
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Speaker 1: you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit
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Speaker 1: the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place
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Speaker 1: for change of mind, though he sought it diligently with tears.
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Speaker 1: For you have not come to a mountain that might
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Speaker 1: be touched and be burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm,
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Speaker 1: the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words,
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Speaker 1: which those who heard it begged that not one more
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Speaker 1: word should be spoken to them, for they could not
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Speaker 1: stand that which was commanded. Even if an animal touches
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Speaker 1: the mountain, it shall be stoned. So fearful was the
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Speaker 1: appearance that Moses said, I am terrified and trembling. But
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Speaker 1: you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city
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Speaker 1: of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable
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Speaker 1: multitudes of angels, to the festival gathering and the assembly
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Speaker 1: of the firstborn who are enrolled in Heaven, to God
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Speaker 1: the judge of all, to the spirits of just men
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Speaker 1: made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant,
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Speaker 1: and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better than
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Speaker 1: that of able. See that you don't refuse him who speaks.
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Speaker 1: For if they didn't escape when they refused him who
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Speaker 1: warned on earth, how much more will we not escape
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Speaker 1: who turn away from him who warns from heaven, whose
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Speaker 1: voice shook the earth? Then? But now he has promised,
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Speaker 1: saying yet once more, I will shake not only the
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Speaker 1: earth but also the heavens. This phrase yet once more
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Speaker 1: signifies the removing of things that are shaken, as of
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Speaker 1: things that have been made, that those things which are
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Speaker 1: not shaken may remain, therefore receiving a kingdom that can't
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Speaker 1: be shaken. Let's have grace through which we serve God acceptably,
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Speaker 1: with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. Okay,
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Speaker 1: before we begin, I just need to apologize. If you
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Speaker 1: hear my dog snoring. He sleeps under my desk and
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Speaker 1: he's very funny and he's old and so now he
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Speaker 1: snores pretty much every time he sleeps, and so he
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Speaker 1: is sleeping at my feet right now and I can
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Speaker 1: hear him snoring. So it's very possible that you guys
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Speaker 1: can hear it as well. So let's dive into verse fourteen.
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Speaker 1: It says follow after peace with all men and the sanctification,
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Speaker 1: without which no man will see the Lord. So that's
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Speaker 1: pretty self explanatory. Basically, we, as Christians, everybody who believes
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Speaker 1: in Jesus, we are supposed to seek peace with all people.
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Speaker 1: So we aren't supposed to be boisterous or argumentative or volatile.
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Speaker 1: We are supposed to as best as we can seek
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Speaker 1: with everybody. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that Christians are
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Speaker 1: always going to have peace, because sometimes even the most
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Speaker 1: peaceful Christians will get targeted by other people just due
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Speaker 1: to the fact that people don't like Christianity. Now, thankfully,
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Speaker 1: here in America, we don't really have that problem so much,
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Speaker 1: maybe a little bit. You know, everybody is going to
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Speaker 1: experience some form of persecution if you follow Jesus because
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Speaker 1: the world doesn't like it. But this is far more
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Speaker 1: common in other countries. For example, I think of the
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Speaker 1: Middle East, where if you tell somebody you're a Christian,
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Speaker 1: even if you're the friendliest person on the planet, you
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Speaker 1: could get potentially stoned to death or killed or thrown
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Speaker 1: off of a building because you are a Christian. And
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Speaker 1: this is why the apostles often told the church congregations
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Speaker 1: seek peace with everybody, because then when they find out
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Speaker 1: you are a Christian, you're already going to have a
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Speaker 1: good reputation that's going to protect you potentially, and it's
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Speaker 1: also going to shine the light of Jesus far better
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Speaker 1: than if you are constantly argumentative with people. So basically
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Speaker 1: Christians are not supposed to be Karen's. And it also
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Speaker 1: says follow after the sanctification, without which no man will
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Speaker 1: see the Lord. So basically, pursue not just peace, but
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Speaker 1: also holiness. Live your life like Jesus would shine the
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Speaker 1: light of Jesus verse fifteen, looking carefully lest there be
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Speaker 1: any man who falls short of the grace of God,
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Speaker 1: lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and
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Speaker 1: you may be defiled by it. You know, there's often
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Speaker 1: this misconception that Christians are not supposed to judge people,
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Speaker 1: and that is generally true. There are plenty of verses
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Speaker 1: that say, you know, don't judge another man's servant, like
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Speaker 1: who are you, as a servant to judge another one
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Speaker 1: of God's servants. There's also the Sermon on the Mount
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Speaker 1: Matthew chapter seven, where Jesus says, don't judge, lest you
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Speaker 1: also want to be judged. For whatever measure you judge by,
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Speaker 1: you're going to be judged by that same measure. And
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Speaker 1: then there's verses about how Christians aren't supposed to judge
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Speaker 1: unbelievers because that is the job of God. But then
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Speaker 1: there are verses like Hebrews twelve fifteen, where it says
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Speaker 1: look carefully lest there be any man who falls short
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Speaker 1: of the grace of God. A similar verses Jude one
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Speaker 1: twenty three that says, from the NIV version, save others
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Speaker 1: by snatching them from the fire to others show mercy
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Speaker 1: mixed with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
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Speaker 1: So there are verses in scripture that say that Christians
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Speaker 1: are to judge, because if you see somebody going down
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Speaker 1: the wrong path and doing a sin of some sort
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Speaker 1: that is going to hurt their standing as Christian and
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Speaker 1: their fellowship with God, then we are supposed to confront
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Speaker 1: that person. We are supposed to judge them. We are
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Speaker 1: supposed to tell them, you've got to stop doing this
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Speaker 1: because this is bad for you, and it's bad for
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Speaker 1: all of the other people in your life who are
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Speaker 1: seeing you. And it's also bad as a representative of
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Speaker 1: Christ because other people are viewing you. So yes, as Christians,
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Speaker 1: there are certain circumstances where we are supposed to judge people,
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Speaker 1: and of course we're also supposed to be sure that
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Speaker 1: nothing bad comes into the church as well. So even
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Speaker 1: if it is an unbeliever stepping foot into the church
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Speaker 1: and spreading heresy, or being sexually immoral and leading other
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Speaker 1: people astray, or being divisive or popularizing sin, then again,
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Speaker 1: as Christians, we are supposed to get rid of that.
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Speaker 1: We're supposed to nip that in the bud and say no,
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Speaker 1: you cannot do this to our churches. Our church is
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Speaker 1: supposed to be different from the world. It is supposed
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Speaker 1: to be set apart. It is supposed to be holy,
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Speaker 1: and if you are bringing heresy into the church, we
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Speaker 1: are not going to allow that to happen, because then
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Speaker 1: the church is just going to look exactly like the world.
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Speaker 1: And why would anybody go to a church that is
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Speaker 1: exactly like the world. They can go anywhere. They don't
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Speaker 1: have to go to church to experience the world. Churches
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Speaker 1: are supposed to be different. So that's why in Hebrews twelve,
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Speaker 1: verse fifteen, it says, look carefully lest there be any
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Speaker 1: man who falls short of the grace of God, lest
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Speaker 1: any root of bitterness springs up and causes you trouble,
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Speaker 1: and many be defiled by it. So we get rid
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Speaker 1: of anything that might cause us to fall away from
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Speaker 1: God or other Christians to fall away from God. Lest
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Speaker 1: there be any sexually immoral person continuing in verse sixteen,
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Speaker 1: or a profane person like Esau, who sold his birthright
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Speaker 1: for one meal. For you know that even when he
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Speaker 1: afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for
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Speaker 1: he found no place for a change of mind, though
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Speaker 1: he sought it diligently with tears. So basically, don't allow
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Speaker 1: these things to corrupt You don't allow sexual immorality to
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Speaker 1: corrupt you or the church. Don't allow profanity to corrupt
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Speaker 1: you in the church. Don't allow irreverence to affect you
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Speaker 1: or the church. Get rid of these things immediately. So yes,
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Speaker 1: you know, Christians are called to peace and we are
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Speaker 1: called to not judge, but we are also called to love.
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Speaker 1: One of the definitions of love is love never rejoices
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Speaker 1: for unrighteousness, but rejoices when the truth wins out. So
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Speaker 1: as Christians who understand and know the definition of love,
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Speaker 1: we are not supposed to just bring unrighteousness in and
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Speaker 1: rejoice over that. We are supposed to rejoice when truth
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Speaker 1: actually wins. And sometimes, in order to make sure truth
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Speaker 1: wins and the real definition of love wins, we have
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Speaker 1: to judge people. We have to be unpeaceful, we have
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Speaker 1: to confront people and say no, don't do this, because
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Speaker 1: you are causing trouble. And the author of Hebrews gives
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Speaker 1: this example of Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal.
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Speaker 1: So let's go over to Genesis twenty five and read
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Speaker 1: about that. Starting in twenty nine, it says Jacob boiled
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Speaker 1: some stew Esau came in from the field, and he
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Speaker 1: was famished Esau said to Jacob, please feed me with
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Speaker 1: some of that red stew, for I am famished. Therefore
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Speaker 1: his name was called eat them. Jacob said, first, sell
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Speaker 1: me your birthright. Esau said, behold, I am about to die.
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Speaker 1: What good is this birthright to me? Jacob said, swear
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Speaker 1: it to me first. So he swore it to him,
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Speaker 1: and he sold his birthright to Jacob. Jacob gave Esau
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Speaker 1: bread and lentil stew. He ate and drank, rose up
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Speaker 1: and went his way. So Esa despised his birthright. So,
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Speaker 1: if any of you have been listening to me for
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Speaker 1: any length of time, you'll know that the birthright was
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Speaker 1: a very very important position to have in the family.
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Speaker 1: You were the first born male. You were the one
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Speaker 1: who was going to inherit the entire fortune, not to mention,
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Speaker 1: take care of your family as they were getting older,
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Speaker 1: and the birthright would pass from generation to generation. And
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Speaker 1: this was a way to safeguard the family. And it
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Speaker 1: was also something that God himself ordained. It was a
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Speaker 1: God given position and it was a spiritual position as well.
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Speaker 1: Not only were you protecting the family's assets and the
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Speaker 1: family from warring tribes or anybody that would come into
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Speaker 1: the family causing problems. You were also, as the birthright holder,
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Speaker 1: protecting the spiritual health of your family as well, because
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Speaker 1: you were essentially the leader of your home. And so
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Speaker 1: if done correctly, the birthright holder would encourage the worship
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Speaker 1: of Yahweh and get rid of any of the idols
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Speaker 1: that were coming into his home. So that is why
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Speaker 1: the title of birthright holder was so important. And Esau,
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Speaker 1: despising this position given to him by God, went and
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Speaker 1: sold it to his brother Jacob for just a pot
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Speaker 1: of stew. That is it, like one bowl and some bread.
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Speaker 1: That is how little this birthright meant to him. Yes,
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Speaker 1: I'm sure he was hungry, but he wasn't so hungry
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Speaker 1: that he was about to drop dead. Scripture makes that
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Speaker 1: pretty clear. Esau was being very dramatic and in the moment,
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Speaker 1: wanting to have instant gratification, sold his birthright to his brother.
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Speaker 1: So then in Genesis twenty seven, a couple chapters later,
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Speaker 1: Esau was distressed because he realized that he had made
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Speaker 1: a huge mistake because there was no blessing for him
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Speaker 1: any longer. So here's what Genesis twenty seven, verse thirty
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Speaker 1: six says, Esau said, isn't he rightly named Jacob, for
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Speaker 1: he has supplanted me these two times he took away
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Speaker 1: my birthright. See now he has taken away my blessing.
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Speaker 1: And he said, haven't she reserved a blessing for me?
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Speaker 1: And Isaac answered Esau, behold, I have made him your lord,
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Speaker 1: and all his brothers I have given to him for servants.
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Speaker 1: I have sustained him with grain and new wine. What
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Speaker 1: then will I do for you, my son? Esau said
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Speaker 1: to his father, don't you have any blessing? My father,
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Speaker 1: bless me even also me, my father. And Esau lifted
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Speaker 1: up his voice and wept. Esau realized that he made
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Speaker 1: a big mistake, but there was nothing he could do
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Speaker 1: about it. Even though he had weeping, Those tears came
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Speaker 1: far too late. The damage was already done. His foolishness
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Speaker 1: caused this, and now he realized that he was not
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Speaker 1: getting a blessing or the inheritance or the birthright. And
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Speaker 1: that's what the author of Hebrews warns us not to do.
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Speaker 1: He warns us, don't be like Esau, who for instant
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Speaker 1: gratification rejected the future. So for us Christians, we are
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Speaker 1: not supposed to reject the eternal for instant gratification right
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Speaker 1: here and now, because if we do, when we see Jesus,
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Speaker 1: no matter how many tears we have, no matter how
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Speaker 1: much we cry in front of him and say, oh,
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Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, I wish I wouldn't have done that,
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Speaker 1: it's going to be too late. The damage that we
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Speaker 1: caused ourselves is going to be done. If we reject
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Speaker 1: Jesus for instant gratification, then when he comes again, it
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Speaker 1: is too late. So there's nothing we're going to be
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Speaker 1: able to do to change that. So we got to
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Speaker 1: change it now. We got to stop rejecting Jesus for
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Speaker 1: the here and now. We got to think about our future.
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Speaker 1: Think about our eternity is far more important than anything
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Speaker 1: we could ever gain on earth. So now going back
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Speaker 1: to our passage for today, verse eighteen, it says, for
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Speaker 1: you have not come to a mountain that might be touched,
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Speaker 1: and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm,
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Speaker 1: the sound of trumpet and the voice of words, which
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Speaker 1: those who heard it begged that not one more word
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Speaker 1: should be spoken to them, for they couldn't stand that
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Speaker 1: which was commanded. Even if an animal touches the mountain,
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Speaker 1: it shall be stoned. So fearful was the appearance that
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Speaker 1: Moses said, I am terrified and trembling. So that is
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Speaker 1: talking about Exodus nineteen where God tells Moses he is
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Speaker 1: going to appear to his people. This is right after
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Speaker 1: God saved them, rescued them from their slavery in Egypt.
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Speaker 1: So basically, God says to Moses, I am going to
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Speaker 1: prove myself to these people. I am going to prove
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Speaker 1: that I am the one who brought them out of Egypt,
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Speaker 1: that I am living, and that I am nearby. So
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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and read that Exodus nineteen, starting in
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Speaker 1: verse nine. Yeahways said to Moses, behold, I come to
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Speaker 1: you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear
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Speaker 1: when I speak with you and may also believe you forever.
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Speaker 1: Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. Yahways
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Speaker 1: said to Moses, go to the people and sanctify them
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Speaker 1: today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and
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Speaker 1: be ready for the third day. For on the third day,
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Speaker 1: Yahweh will come down in sight of all the people
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Speaker 1: on Mount Sinai. You shall set bounds to the people
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Speaker 1: all around, saying be careful that you don't go up
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Speaker 1: to the mountain or touch its border. Whoever touches the
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Speaker 1: mountain shall surely be put to death. No hand shall
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Speaker 1: touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through.
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Speaker 1: Whether it is an animal or man, he shall not live.
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Speaker 1: When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to
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Speaker 1: the mountain. So Moses went down from the mountain to
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Speaker 1: the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.
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Speaker 1: He said to the people, be ready by the third day,
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Speaker 1: and don't have sexual relations with a woman. On the
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Speaker 1: third day, when it was morning, there were thunders and lightnings,
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Speaker 1: and a thick cloud on the mountain, and the sound
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Speaker 1: of an exceedingly loud trumpet, and all the people who
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Speaker 1: were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out
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Speaker 1: of the camp to meet God, and they stood at
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Speaker 1: the lower part of the mountain. All of Mount Sinai
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Speaker 1: smoked because Yahweh descended on it in fire, and it
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Speaker 1: smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the
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Speaker 1: whole mountain quaked greatly. When the sound of the trumpet
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Speaker 1: grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him
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Speaker 1: by a voice Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai to
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Speaker 1: the top of the mountain. Yahweh called Moses to the
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Speaker 1: top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And that
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Speaker 1: is ending at verse twenty. And the author of Hebrews
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Speaker 1: mentions this story. Why do you think he mentions it? Well,
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Speaker 1: he says, specifically, the people couldn't deal that God commanded
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Speaker 1: them not to touch the mountain or they will die.
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Speaker 1: They will be shot through with arrows. And I bet
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Speaker 1: you that some of you faithful listeners when we were
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Speaker 1: reading that passage through Exis also thought the same thing.
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Speaker 1: They're like, how dare God tell people that they can't
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Speaker 1: touch a mountain or they will die? But here's the
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Speaker 1: reason God commanded that, Because God was showing the people
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Speaker 1: how unworthy they were. I mean, look at this story
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Speaker 1: in Exits, chapter twenty. When God descends on the mountain,
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Speaker 1: the entire mountain is quaking and trembling and is on fire,
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Speaker 1: is what it says. The entire mountain was on fire
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Speaker 1: because God was at the top of this mountain and
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Speaker 1: the people were terrified. So God told the people, don't
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Speaker 1: come up to my mountain because you are unworthy. And
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Speaker 1: when the people saw God's immense power. They understood that
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Speaker 1: they were trembling at the base of the mountain. Nobody
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Speaker 1: at that point in time wanted to touch that mountain
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Speaker 1: because they understood then. And some of us reading this
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Speaker 1: is probably like, how dare God tell us that he
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Speaker 1: is more powerful than we are, or that he is
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Speaker 1: more worthy than we are? But he absolutely is. God
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Speaker 1: is more worthy than us. And if he doesn't want
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Speaker 1: people to touch his mountain or come near his holiness,
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Speaker 1: then he has every right to command that people do
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Speaker 1: not touch the mountain or come near his holiness. And
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Speaker 1: here's the thing. It was such a simple command, don't
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Speaker 1: touch the mountain. That's all God told people to do.
18:25
Speaker 1: And our innate desire is to go against that. Oh
18:29
Speaker 1: you tell me not to touch that mountain. Okay, I'm
18:30
Speaker 1: going to go touch that mountain. So no wonder God
18:35
Speaker 1: puts such a strong consequence in there for anybody that
18:37
Speaker 1: touches that mountain. If you touch the mountain, you're going
18:39
Speaker 1: to be shot through with arrows. And here's the thing.
18:41
Speaker 1: If any other person, like a human, commanded the same thing,
18:45
Speaker 1: like say, a king had this castle, like I'm thinking
18:48
Speaker 1: medieval times right now, a king had a castle and
18:51
Speaker 1: he's got a moat, and he tells his kingdom, if
18:53
Speaker 1: you cross that moat to come over to my side
18:56
Speaker 1: of the palace, my people will shoot you through with arrows.
19:00
Speaker 1: People would fight against that a lot less than they
19:02
Speaker 1: fight against God. People would be like, oh, okay, then
19:05
Speaker 1: I guess we shouldn't cross the moat to go over there.
19:07
Speaker 1: That makes sense because that's the king's property. But when
19:10
Speaker 1: God does the same exact thing saying don't touch my
19:13
Speaker 1: holy mountain or you will die, people are automatically like, well,
19:16
Speaker 1: God is the meanest person on the planet. He is terrible,
19:19
Speaker 1: he's unapproachable, He's this, he's that. God is supreme, and
19:22
Speaker 1: he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords,
19:25
Speaker 1: and he is so holy that people couldn't even bear
19:28
Speaker 1: to be in his presence. Because here's what ended up
19:30
Speaker 1: happening in Exodus twenty. If you go to the next chapter,
19:34
Speaker 1: it says God spoke all these words saying I am Yahweh,
19:37
Speaker 1: or God who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
19:39
Speaker 1: out of the house of bondage. You shall have no
19:42
Speaker 1: other gods before me, And then jumping down to verse eighteen,
19:45
Speaker 1: it says all the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings,
19:48
Speaker 1: the sound of the trumpet, and the mountains smoking. When
19:50
Speaker 1: the people saw it, they trembled and stayed at a distance.
19:54
Speaker 1: They said to Moses, speak with us yourself, and we
19:56
Speaker 1: will listen. But don't let God speak to us, or
19:58
Speaker 1: we will die. Moses said to the people, don't be afraid,
20:01
Speaker 1: for God has come to test you, and that his
20:03
Speaker 1: fear may be before you, that you won't sin. The
20:06
Speaker 1: people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to
20:09
Speaker 1: the thick darkness where God was. And God it actually
20:13
Speaker 1: is revealed in Deuteronomy five that he was saddened by
20:18
Speaker 1: the response of these people because God had just spoken
20:20
Speaker 1: the ten commandments to them, like audibly from the mountain.
20:24
Speaker 1: He was showing them his power, his majesty, and his glory.
20:28
Speaker 1: And the people are like, we want nothing to do
20:30
Speaker 1: with this. We hate this. God is going to consume us.
20:34
Speaker 1: So here's what God says in Deuteronomy five twenty eight.
20:37
Speaker 1: He says, I have heard the voice of the words
20:40
Speaker 1: of this people which they have spoken to you. They
20:42
Speaker 1: have well said all that they have spoken. Oh, that
20:45
Speaker 1: there was such a heart in them that they would
20:46
Speaker 1: fear me and keep all my commandments always that it
20:50
Speaker 1: might be well with them and with their children forever.
20:53
Speaker 1: So God actually has a moment of mourning over how
20:56
Speaker 1: the people treated him, because they say to Moses, we
20:59
Speaker 1: want nothing to do with them, We want nothing to
21:00
Speaker 1: do with God's glory. And God, it seems like, is
21:03
Speaker 1: saddened by this. He says, I just wish these people
21:06
Speaker 1: would fear me and love me and trust me and
21:09
Speaker 1: obey my commandments, because if they did, things would go
21:12
Speaker 1: well for them forever. For some reason, human beings have
21:16
Speaker 1: this desire to go against God, to reject everything he says,
21:21
Speaker 1: and to dismiss his holiness because we want to think
21:24
Speaker 1: that we are on the same level as God. We
21:27
Speaker 1: want to go and we want to touch that mountain,
21:29
Speaker 1: and we want to say we are on the same
21:31
Speaker 1: level as you. God. How dare you tell me not
21:34
Speaker 1: to touch this mountain? But guess what? All of this
21:36
Speaker 1: is such a misguided understanding of God because we look
21:40
Speaker 1: at that story in Exodus and we think that God
21:42
Speaker 1: is mean, he is selfish, he is unapproachable. But then
21:47
Speaker 1: why does Hebrews four verses fourteen through sixteen talk about
21:51
Speaker 1: how approachable God actually is here's what that says. Having
21:55
Speaker 1: been a great high priest who has passed through the
21:57
Speaker 1: heavens Jesus, the Son of God, tightly to our confession.
22:01
Speaker 1: For we don't have a high priest who can't be
22:03
Speaker 1: touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who
22:06
Speaker 1: has been in all points tempted like we are, yet
22:09
Speaker 1: without sin. Let's therefore draw near with boldness to the
22:12
Speaker 1: throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may
22:15
Speaker 1: find grace for help in time of need. So God
22:18
Speaker 1: truly is approachable. And that is something that people just
22:21
Speaker 1: don't understand. Now. In the Old Testament, the people weren't
22:25
Speaker 1: worthy to approach God. There was only one man, actually
22:29
Speaker 1: two that were worthy to come up the mountain. That
22:32
Speaker 1: was Moses and Aaron. And why is that? Because they
22:35
Speaker 1: actually feared God, because God sanctified them and made them holy.
22:39
Speaker 1: And now because we have a high priest, because we
22:41
Speaker 1: have somebody who came to earth on our behalf and
22:45
Speaker 1: made us sanctified and holy, and that person being Jesus,
22:49
Speaker 1: we also can approach God's throne with a boldness. And
22:53
Speaker 1: going back to our passage today, that's what the author says,
22:57
Speaker 1: right here in verses twenty two through twenty four, he says,
23:00
Speaker 1: you have come to Mount Zion, in the city of
23:02
Speaker 1: the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable multitudes of angels,
23:07
Speaker 1: to the festival gathering and the assembly of the firstborn
23:10
Speaker 1: who are enrolled in Heaven, to God, the judge of all,
23:14
Speaker 1: to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus,
23:17
Speaker 1: the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood
23:19
Speaker 1: of sprinkling. That speaks better than that of Abel. I mean,
23:23
Speaker 1: look at this. Because of Jesus, we are able to
23:25
Speaker 1: approach God. And not only are we approaching God, but
23:28
Speaker 1: we're actually in fellowship with Him, enjoying this festival feast
23:32
Speaker 1: with him. It actually mentions this innumerable multitude of angels.
23:36
Speaker 1: So if angels are flying around God's throne room, then
23:39
Speaker 1: that must mean God is approachable. And that's why Jesus
23:43
Speaker 1: came to earth, so that we can actually approach God's
23:46
Speaker 1: throne room with boldness and ask for the things that
23:49
Speaker 1: we need. And this is the future of everybody who
23:51
Speaker 1: trusts in Jesus. Someday we're going to be in complete
23:55
Speaker 1: harmony and peace and bliss for eternity with all of
23:58
Speaker 1: these angels celebrate, rating these feasts in the presence of God.
24:03
Speaker 1: That is the future for those who trust in Jesus.
24:08
Speaker 1: So we did not finish out Hebrews twelve today, but
24:10
Speaker 1: we will on Tuesday. So I hope to see all
24:13
Speaker 1: of you guys. Then. Now, before I end today's podcast
24:16
Speaker 1: with a few more closing notes about today's passage, please
24:19
Speaker 1: listen to this last sponsor for today. So what the
24:24
Speaker 1: passage we read today proves Our dislike and mistrust of
24:27
Speaker 1: God's worthiness is so unfounded because when we actually do
24:32
Speaker 1: trust God and understand how worthy He is and how
24:35
Speaker 1: unworthy we are, when we humble ourselves and say, God,
24:38
Speaker 1: I agree with you, I'm not going to touch that
24:40
Speaker 1: mountain because I'm not worthy to touch that mountain. When
24:43
Speaker 1: we do that, God actually makes us worthy, and then
24:47
Speaker 1: we can approach that mountain. We can go up and
24:50
Speaker 1: meet him. We can boldly approach his throne of grace.
24:54
Speaker 1: All of our fighting against God that we automatically want
24:56
Speaker 1: to do is so misguided because God truly is approachable,
25:00
Speaker 1: but we have to approach Him in the right way,
25:03
Speaker 1: just like that king I mentioned earlier in the episode,
25:05
Speaker 1: If you just crossed his moat and expected entrance into
25:09
Speaker 1: his castle, then the king would break out on you.
25:12
Speaker 1: But if you humbly went to the king and requested
25:14
Speaker 1: entrance and gave him the honor that was due, and
25:18
Speaker 1: assuming he's a good king, then he would be kind
25:21
Speaker 1: to you and allow you to cross that moat and
25:24
Speaker 1: come into his palace. So, yes, God is approachable, but
25:27
Speaker 1: you have to approach him the right way. And there
25:29
Speaker 1: is only one way to approach God the Father, and
25:33
Speaker 1: that way is Jesus. Jesus says, I am the Way,
25:37
Speaker 1: the Truth, and the life. No one comes to the
25:40
Speaker 1: Father except through me. And Jesus also calls himself the Gate.
25:44
Speaker 1: He is the gate, he is the path. He is
25:46
Speaker 1: the way that leads to God the Father, and Jesus
25:49
Speaker 1: is the only way we are approaching the throne of God. So,
25:52
Speaker 1: faithful listeners, I hope you all enjoyed today's episode. If
25:55
Speaker 1: you would like to upgrade to becoming a Faithful Member
25:58
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26:01
Speaker 1: you can click the link in the description that says coffee,
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Speaker 1: and there's also an option for you to upgrade further
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26:11
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26:16
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Speaker 1: learn more about membership. Faithful Listeners, have a fantastic and
26:22
Speaker 1: wonderful rest of your day. If I don't see you
26:24
Speaker 1: tomorrow as a Faithful Member, then I'll see you guys
26:27
Speaker 1: on Monday for the regular scheduled episode. And on Monday
26:30
Speaker 1: it's a special episode because we're starting Me and Maya,
26:32
Speaker 1: So I hope to see all of you guys there,
26:34
Speaker 1: happy listening, happy weekend, and God bless you all. I
26:44
Speaker 1: just want to take a second to thank the team
26:45
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Speaker 1: Bible Explain podcast. In fact, if you go to lifeaudio
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