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The 3rd Watch with Gary and Sara:Take a Stand:#11 · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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Speaker 1: And here we are, my friends. Welcome to the Third
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Speaker 1: Watch on Challenges of Faith Radio, hosted by Gary McCants
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Speaker 1: and your co host, that's me, Sarah Jewel. I hope
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Speaker 1: you've had the opportunities to listen to some of our
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Speaker 1: previous podcasts. They've been very interesting. But in case not,
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Speaker 1: we named the series a third Watch because it represents
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Speaker 1: watchers who were stationed on the tower of the community.
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Speaker 1: In biblical times. Men were posted on the town's towers
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Speaker 1: to keep a lookout for possible threats to the town,
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Speaker 1: like thieves or warriors. But they also kept denying on
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Speaker 1: the horizon for runners with important messages, and they even
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Speaker 1: kept their lookout for bad weather. It was their duty
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Speaker 1: to let the townspeople will know of any event that
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Speaker 1: could impact them and hurt the community. And so Gary
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Speaker 1: and I are keeping alert to what we are hearing
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Speaker 1: and seeing. It might be of God's work, and it
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Speaker 1: might be of Satan's work. But the point is to
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Speaker 1: keep you informed and keep ourselves informed and help in
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Speaker 1: our spiritual preparedness, so we'll be ready and alert should
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Speaker 1: Jesus come back soon, or should he decide to take
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Speaker 1: us before that awesome event. Now we don't know the
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Speaker 1: timing or when the trumpet will be blown for living
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Speaker 1: the dead. So now is the time to make some decisions.
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Speaker 1: And what's one of those decisions to stand with God
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Speaker 1: or not to come to Jesus who's willing to redeem
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Speaker 1: us from the punishment of hell caused by our sins
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Speaker 1: and to gather us in his arms for eternal life.
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Speaker 1: Even him, know his words and deeds and understand his
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Speaker 1: work of dying on the cross for our sins so
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Speaker 1: we can rejoice at his resurrection to power at the
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Speaker 1: right hand of the Father. We need to confess our sins.
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Speaker 1: We need to run to salvation and eternal life. We
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Speaker 1: need to bring Jesus into our hearts and into our minds.
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Speaker 1: In the Book of Philippians, Chapter four, verse seven, the
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Speaker 1: apostle Paul writes, and the peace of God which surpasses
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Speaker 1: all understanding, will God your hearts and your mind in
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Speaker 1: Christ Jesus, and so I pray, Father, God, please touch
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Speaker 1: the hearts of our listeners, and touch Gary's and my
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Speaker 1: heart for our discussion today. Give us all strength and
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Speaker 1: wisdom in You, as well as encouragement. We all depend
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Speaker 1: on You so very much. We know that people come
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Speaker 1: and go, family faiths who we know very well. The
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Speaker 1: human body, Wilson dies like a flower. But you, Lord,
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Speaker 1: you're eternal. Please I pray help us to know you,
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Speaker 1: soften our hearts and open our minds and spirit. And
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Speaker 1: I pray this all in Jesus name. Amen. So here's
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Speaker 1: the question, my friends, where do we stand with God
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Speaker 1: in these transitional times? We've discussed a myriad of topics
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Speaker 1: in the Third Watch. We've warned of false prophets, the
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Speaker 1: duplicity of mainstream media. We've talked about what's right and
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Speaker 1: what's wrong, what's true and what's not true. We've questioned
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Speaker 1: if we're paying attention to God's activity, and we even
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Speaker 1: question whether we're paying attention to our own behavior. In words,
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Speaker 1: we've pointed out that in all the turmoil of social media, politics,
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Speaker 1: financial stresses, gender upheavals, questions as to what constitutes the
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Speaker 1: beginning of life, natural disasters, wars, all these things are
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Speaker 1: pushing us toward end times. Now, some people believe it
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Speaker 1: and some people don't. But we're basing our discussion with
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Speaker 1: you that we are indeed approaching end times. And while
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Speaker 1: Jesus might or might not appear in our lifetime. It
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Speaker 1: is our belief it will surely happen. So not knowing
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Speaker 1: the timeline, why take the risk? So where do you
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Speaker 1: stand with God or not? Now, you might say rightfully,
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Speaker 1: so you don't know now about God, particularly Jesus, who's
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Speaker 1: God in the flesh, or you don't understand the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: It can be difficult to take a stand if you
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Speaker 1: don't know a trust God. So to start with, we
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Speaker 1: do know there are numerous books on Christianity available that
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Speaker 1: can answer our questions. But to get a foundation and
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Speaker 1: get direct answers to get to know God, the only
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Speaker 1: way to go is to start with the Bible itself. Now,
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Speaker 1: there are many versions to choose from, and you can
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Speaker 1: research these to find what works for you. Now, let
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Speaker 1: me take a moment to quote from a gentleman called C. S. Lewis,
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Speaker 1: who's no longer with us, and who, by the way,
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Speaker 1: was an atheist but came to be a believer. He
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Speaker 1: said atheism was too easy, that if the whole universe
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Speaker 1: has no meaning, we should never have found out it
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Speaker 1: has no meaning. Who are always looking for a meaning,
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Speaker 1: aren't we? He eventually turned into a formidable Christian theologian
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Speaker 1: but I want to share something else, he said. It's this,
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Speaker 1: there are certain things in Christianity that can be understood
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Speaker 1: from the outside before you become a Christian, but there
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Speaker 1: are a great many things that cannot be understood until
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Speaker 1: after you have gone a certain distance along the Christian road. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: this is so true. We might not understand or get
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Speaker 1: it as we go along the road to Christianity, but
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Speaker 1: in time it does gel. My take on this is
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Speaker 1: that I believe when we come across something we don't
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Speaker 1: fully understand that we're reading or we're studying, we can
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Speaker 1: ask the Holy Spirit to help us and guide us,
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Speaker 1: and inevitably we're pointed to someone or some experience that
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Speaker 1: clarifies our questions or clears our confusion. Granted it might
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Speaker 1: not happen right away, but the requestion is answered, and
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Speaker 1: it's answered in the Spirit's time. Because admittedly, the Bible
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Speaker 1: can be complex hah, the Apostle Paul comes to mind,
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Speaker 1: especially if you read the Book of Romans. But some
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Speaker 1: things are simple too, because it's all about faith. Faith
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Speaker 1: does not have to be complicated. And here is one
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Speaker 1: of the times Paul speaks pretty simply, and he speaks
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Speaker 1: this in the Book of Romans, Chapter twelve, verse three,
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Speaker 1: he says this, for by the grace given me, I
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Speaker 1: say to every one of you, do not think of
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Speaker 1: yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
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Speaker 1: yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God
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Speaker 1: has distributed to each of you. So faith in order
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Speaker 1: to get to know God is what we need, so
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Speaker 1: we can stand with him or not. And in order
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Speaker 1: to do that, we need to start at the beginning
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Speaker 1: the Book of Genesis. Appreciating God's creation of us and
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Speaker 1: the world is about faith in the word of God.
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Speaker 2: We all know.
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Speaker 1: Many scientists shrug and shake their heads over the first
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Speaker 1: book of the Bible, Genesis, but read it. Read it
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Speaker 1: in faith and in awe, and remember God is God
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Speaker 1: and we're not. He can do anything if you have
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Speaker 1: faith as your mind set, and if you approach reading
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Speaker 1: the Bioki with dependence on God, clearing your heart and
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Speaker 1: mind to his word, he will open up an entirely
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Speaker 1: new way of living your life. If you haven't believed
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Speaker 1: in Him. And you know what, even if you do
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Speaker 1: believe in Him, every time you go to his word,
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Speaker 1: he will enlighten you. In the Old Testament, in the
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Speaker 1: Book of Isaiah, chapter fifty five, Verse eleven, God says,
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Speaker 1: so is my word that goes out from my mouth.
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Speaker 1: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish
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Speaker 1: what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I
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Speaker 1: scent it. This verse essentially means that God's word will
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Speaker 1: always achieve his intended purpose and will not return without
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Speaker 1: accomplishing his intended purpose. And so we're impacted by his
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Speaker 1: word because it comes directly to us. He wants to
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Speaker 1: build a relationship with us. When I first got into
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Speaker 1: the Bible, each year I would start at the beginning
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Speaker 1: and go through the Old and New Testament. It really
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Speaker 1: helped me get a flow for God's word, for his
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Speaker 1: thought processes and his actions, his character. Essentially, it helped
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Speaker 1: me understand who God is. Now. Trust me, there were
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Speaker 1: many instances I didn't get certain things, and I'm still
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Speaker 1: learning new things every time I read the Bible or
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Speaker 1: when I go to church and hear my preacher or
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Speaker 1: listen to a Bible teacher. The depths of God's word
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Speaker 1: are amazing. It can be so simple, as I've repeated before,
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Speaker 1: and yet even the simplest verse can have multiple layers.
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Speaker 1: And so we know why go into the Bible is
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Speaker 1: so important because, first of all, it reveals the tribing God,
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Speaker 1: the Father, the Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and
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Speaker 1: they are often referred to as the Trinity. The Trinity
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Speaker 1: is one God. And by reading the Bible, we begin
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Speaker 1: to understand God's character, his love for us, and consequently
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Speaker 1: his plan for our salvation through Jesus. It opens up
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Speaker 1: our minds in our eyes to God's history, the history
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Speaker 1: of his beloved Jewish nation, and his subsequent plan of
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Speaker 1: bringing those into his care to all who believe in him.
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Speaker 1: Because you know what God is love. He opens our
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Speaker 1: eyes to good and evil. Evil is real. And that's why,
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Speaker 1: as Gary and I who watches on the tower, we
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Speaker 1: want to point out this help that the Bible is
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Speaker 1: for your readiness and accepting God through Jesus with the
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Speaker 1: help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us as believers.
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Speaker 1: The Bible radiates the Gospel, both in the Old and
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Speaker 1: New Testaments. And as I've said a few times before, yes,
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Speaker 1: it's complex. It can be almost like a shadow sometimes,
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Speaker 1: and yet it can be as clear as can be.
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Speaker 1: And he has an example in the Book of John
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Speaker 1: three verse sixteen. John writes for God so loved the
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Speaker 1: world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever
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Speaker 1: believes in him should not perish but have ever lasting life. Yes,
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Speaker 1: my friends, God loves us so much that he allowed
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Speaker 1: his only son, Jesus to die a horrific death, a
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Speaker 1: torturous death, so that we could have eternal life through
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Speaker 1: faith in him. As he died for our sins, and
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Speaker 1: as he was raised from the dead. Because Jesus came
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Speaker 1: to save the world, and we all know this, particularly
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Speaker 1: those who are Christians, he came to teach, preach, offer
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Speaker 1: eternal life, that is salvation to all who confess their
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Speaker 1: sins and believe in him and believe in his words,
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Speaker 1: in his work. And so how do you believe in him? Well,
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Speaker 1: I'm a little bit different than most, and that suggests
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Speaker 1: the new believers or even those who do believe, to
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Speaker 1: read or reread the Bible in the Book of Matthew.
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Speaker 1: The Sermon on the Mound is spectacular. Chapter five. In
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Speaker 1: my humble opinion, this is Jesus's finest teaching and shows
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Speaker 1: us how much he loves us, how he wants us
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Speaker 1: to love others. And in his discussion he guides us
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Speaker 1: in a way to understand what is good and write
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Speaker 1: ultimately everything that we need to have an abundant and
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Speaker 1: encouraging life, and to learn discernment, to learn his ways,
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Speaker 1: to learn his character. He covers so much. He starts
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Speaker 1: with blessings, and each blessing has a future reward to
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Speaker 1: a person who is in a particular emotional or spiritual place,
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Speaker 1: or who possesses a certain character quality. It's definitive defined encouragement.
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Speaker 1: Then from there you go. He's onto telling us that
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Speaker 1: we are a fault of the earth and tells us
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Speaker 1: not to lose our flavor, our moral fortitude because he
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Speaker 1: tells us we're the light of the world. He moves
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Speaker 1: on to explain that he is the fulfillment of the law,
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Speaker 1: and he also speaks a variety of sinful behaviors and challenges.
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Speaker 1: You see. The point I want to make is that
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Speaker 1: in deciding if you want to stand with God or not,
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Speaker 1: it's important to know his message, and quite frankly, it
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Speaker 1: can never be compared to a human's message, and he
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Speaker 1: is a perfect example. This is what Jesus said in
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Speaker 1: Chapter five, verses thirty eight through forty two. You've heard
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Speaker 1: that it was said an eye for an eye and
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Speaker 1: a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you do
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Speaker 1: not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on
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Speaker 1: the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.
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Speaker 1: And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt,
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Speaker 1: hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you
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Speaker 1: to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give
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Speaker 1: to the one who asks you, and do not turn
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Speaker 1: away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
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Speaker 1: Do you see the depths of jesus compassion for everyone.
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Speaker 1: His rewords show us his character and his desire to
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Speaker 1: connect to us. He's encouraging us, guiding us, and help
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Speaker 1: us to build a character that's in his form, and
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Speaker 1: in connecting with others we show his character. In the
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Speaker 1: closing of chapter five, Jesus tells us to love not
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Speaker 1: only our neighbors, but our enemies too. Can you imagine
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Speaker 1: anybody in our current times saying, oh, love your neighbor,
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Speaker 1: but also love your enemy as well. This is what
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Speaker 1: Jesus is telling us. Isn't this the Jesus that we
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Speaker 1: want to stand with? And of course another important chapter
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Speaker 1: is Matthew twenty four, and this is about the signs
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Speaker 1: of the end times, which is critical to our os
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Speaker 1: overall discussion of the Third Watch, it's often called the
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Speaker 1: all of It discourse. Jesus teaches his disciples and us
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Speaker 1: what to expect in the future. Jesus tells them that
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Speaker 1: the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem will happen, and
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Speaker 1: he warns his disciples and us of false prophets, of
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Speaker 1: persecution of people turning to their own ways, of wars,
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Speaker 1: of even catastrophic natural events. He impresses upon them and
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Speaker 1: us the need to remain vigilant and faithful until the
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Speaker 1: very end, emphasizing that no one knows the exact day
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Speaker 1: or hour of his return. This, my friends, is going
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Speaker 1: on around us right now. We can list false influences.
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Speaker 1: We know that Christians are persecuted throughout the world and
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Speaker 1: in many cases killed. And as for wars, there are
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Speaker 1: plenty of them. And gosh, we certainly know about the
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Speaker 1: natural horrific of events like hurricanes, droughts, fires, earthquakes, floods,
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Speaker 1: and famines. This is why Gary and I want to
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Speaker 1: alert you to what is going on around you, to
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Speaker 1: see how we must align our character to Jesus in
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Speaker 1: Matthew five, and to see the signs that Jesus spoke
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Speaker 1: of in Matthew chapter twenty four. All of us must
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Speaker 1: remain diligent in keeping our characters strong and to be
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Speaker 1: aware of these signs of end times. Ultimately and hopefully
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Speaker 1: in time, we must take a stand. So here's the question,
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Speaker 1: where do you stand with our God or not with
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Speaker 1: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: Because God will scrutinize our motives. As Proverbs chapter sixteen,
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Speaker 1: verse two says, and this is from the Amplified Bible.
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Speaker 1: All the ways of a man are clean and innocent.
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Speaker 1: In his own eyes, may see nothing wrong with his actions.
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Speaker 1: But the Lord weighs and examines the motives and intense
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Speaker 1: of the heart and knows the truth. It's about God's truth,
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Speaker 1: not ours or news commentators or political parties, or an
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Speaker 1: influencer or a celebrity. Do we stand with the crowd,
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Speaker 1: the trendsetters, the profit, the false prophets, or do we
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Speaker 1: stand with God and his word and his truth. Remember,
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Speaker 1: by discovering His truth, we'll be spiritually prepared, and we'll
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Speaker 1: have spiritual discernment, and we'll have the strength of the
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Speaker 1: Holy Spirit, who will sensitize us. For us to pay
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Speaker 1: attention to the activity around us, it will help us
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Speaker 1: stay alert. A law is going on around us right
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Speaker 1: now in so many different spheres. We can be influenced
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Speaker 1: or frightened in a variety of ways. But if we
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Speaker 1: stand with God and not with man, we will find comfort,
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Speaker 1: peace and direction. So, my friends, that's my part of
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Speaker 1: our Targetay listeners. As always, it's been a pleasure being
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Speaker 1: with you and speaking with you. And Gary, I'm so
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Speaker 1: grateful for your production of Challenges of Faith Radio and
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Speaker 1: you're hosting of the Third Watch. Gary and I will
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Speaker 1: stay on the tower and keep a lookout for all
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Speaker 1: of you. Through the challenges of faith radio and through
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Speaker 1: the challenges of faith radio, we're encouraged to recognize the
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Speaker 1: activity of God, his directions and his promises. So thank
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Speaker 1: you listeners, and now to Gary with great thankfulness.
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Speaker 2: Hey, thank you, my beloved sister in Christ, Sarah author
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Speaker 2: Sa Jewel. It was a great and then depth message
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Speaker 2: on taking a stand like to technoledge God and you
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Speaker 2: for our listeners. You know, while our savior, the Lord
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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, was gentle and kind, you know he was
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Speaker 2: well do you do you in your own life? But
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Speaker 2: do you notice that he also took a stand, you know,
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Speaker 2: kind of like the one that Sarah's been talking about.
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Speaker 2: I know you've been listening. He took a stand, especially
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Speaker 2: when confronting that which was wrong, you know, evil that
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Speaker 2: was dressed all in religion. Remember now, Christianity is not
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Speaker 2: a religion, it's a person Christ. But do you notice
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Speaker 2: how his anger took a lot of people by surprise?
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Speaker 2: Did you while reading his words? Do you notice how
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Speaker 2: he rebuked the religious leaders in Israel but turning their
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Speaker 2: privileged status into an opportunity to gain wealth and power.
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Speaker 2: When you look around the globe today, you know where
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Speaker 2: you live at, and you and you and you and you,
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Speaker 2: irrespective of your zip code, every respective of your skin tone,
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Speaker 2: irrespective of your wealth or lack thereof, you notice all
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Speaker 2: the individuals that's trying to gain wealth and power. When
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Speaker 2: we look at the example of our savior, we learned
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Speaker 2: how to stand to stand up for truth even as
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Speaker 2: we lose, you know, being popular, and we end up
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Speaker 2: suffer persecution for doing what is right. You know, I
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Speaker 2: was on the air a plane recently a couple of
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Speaker 2: days ago, and I praised God for allowing me to
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Speaker 2: meet another person and a person a consultant that examines airplanes,
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Speaker 2: you know, making sure that there are what they should
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Speaker 2: be before heading out, so that while you and I
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Speaker 2: are sitting there, we can be assured as much as
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Speaker 2: human if possible, that everything is right. And I say
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Speaker 2: that because God allowed us during that flight to be
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Speaker 2: in a position to share both of our sojourns, and
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Speaker 2: how we had to stand up for that which we
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Speaker 2: knew to be right against popularity. And when you stand
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Speaker 2: up for that which you know to be right, and
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Speaker 2: believe in laws, not men, not women, not women, not men.
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Speaker 2: But we recognize that we took stands, and there's a
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Speaker 2: cost when you take a stand. Yeah, it's like chair
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Speaker 2: was sharing relative to the third watch sounding the alarm,
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Speaker 2: as Jesus was not afraid to stand for truth. And
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Speaker 2: you can see that in the Master chapter ten, verse
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Speaker 2: thirty four, Luke chapter twelve, verse forty through fifty three.
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Speaker 2: People portrayed our saviors, the meek him out teacher who
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Speaker 2: taught his followers to love others as themselves and to
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Speaker 2: avoid retaliation by turning the other cheek in pursuing peace
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Speaker 2: and avoiding judging others. And when you look at them
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Speaker 2: even though our Savior possessed those qualities and taught those values,
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Speaker 2: You're gonna remember that the picture is not complete because
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Speaker 2: those passages I just shared show that Jesus was more
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Speaker 2: than the fearar that's often portrayed. Not the picture that
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Speaker 2: you have on your wall. The word of God doesn't say,
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Speaker 2: doesn't show what our Savior looked like. So don't you
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Speaker 2: dry it like you know, But if you go back
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Speaker 2: you understand how the human race came about, then you
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Speaker 2: and you, and you and you and me, you too
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Speaker 2: can take pride of finding ourselves in Christ. But I remember,
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Speaker 2: I'm sharing the story. Just yesterday, there was a Christian,
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Speaker 2: there was a crowd gathered around, and the other person,
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Speaker 2: who was a non Christian, a follower Jesus Christ, sucker
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Speaker 2: punched the Christian on the right cheek, knocked him down.
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Speaker 2: Everybody just laugh laugh, laugh at the Christian. Christian got up,
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Speaker 2: the non Christians sucker punched him on the left cheek,
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Speaker 2: knocked him down. Everybody just laughed and laughed and laughed.
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Speaker 2: The Christian got up, and when the Christian got up,
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Speaker 2: the Christians whooping the buttocks of the other person. The
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Speaker 2: non Christian who had knocked him down, and the nine
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Speaker 2: Christians said, wait a minute, him, Wait a minute, I
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Speaker 2: thought you were a Christian, you know, follower of Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: The Christian said, I am. The Christian said, listen. God
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Speaker 2: told me to turn my right cheek. He told me
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Speaker 2: to turn my left cheek, but he didn't tell me
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Speaker 2: what to do after that. The enemies of Jesus Christ
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Speaker 2: cared more about pleasing others than living by the truth.
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Speaker 2: Over in Matthew chapter fifteen, verse one through nine and
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Speaker 2: verse twelve, and Luke chapter nineteen, verse forty five through
24:37
Speaker 2: forty eight, And we look at centuries before the earthly
24:42
Speaker 2: ministry of our Savior. As I grabbed a sip of
24:46
Speaker 2: my water, you see how the Jewish people were conquered
24:50
Speaker 2: by Babylonians and carried off to Babylon as slaves. You
24:56
Speaker 2: see that with their temple destroyed and their home colonized
25:01
Speaker 2: by other cultures. You see how that the Jews look
25:03
Speaker 2: to the Law of Moses to sustain their national identity
25:07
Speaker 2: and to maintain their distinctiveness as God's chosen people. Do
25:11
Speaker 2: you see that? And in order to help them apply
25:15
Speaker 2: the law to everyday life in their new and unfamiliar home.
25:18
Speaker 2: The teachers maybe like you and you and you and you,
25:22
Speaker 2: of the Hebrew scriptures. They wrote very careful, specific construction
25:28
Speaker 2: for the people to follow. But you know what happened.
25:32
Speaker 2: It began as a practical aid for Jews, ended up
25:36
Speaker 2: becoming a sacred tradition. That's it go on a life
25:39
Speaker 2: of its own. Have you had that experience in your
25:42
Speaker 2: own life, at your own place of worship, in your
25:46
Speaker 2: own community, when something is supposed to be a excuse me,
25:50
Speaker 2: practical aid for you, all of a sudden, now it
25:53
Speaker 2: becomes a sacred tradition. And the body of sacred traditions
26:00
Speaker 2: followed by the elders, eventually supplanned the very law that
26:02
Speaker 2: it was intended to uphold. And by the time our savior,
26:05
Speaker 2: failure to observe tradition was regarded as disobedience to the
26:09
Speaker 2: law of God according to those elders, men and women,
26:14
Speaker 2: women and men like today versus. Then, so here you
26:22
Speaker 2: got this human made religion. That's what it came down to. Religiosity.
26:31
Speaker 2: It then became the means by which many Pharisees, you know,
26:35
Speaker 2: self righteous people. That's how they were able to maintain
26:40
Speaker 2: the illusion. Notice the word, the illusion of moral superiority
26:45
Speaker 2: over others. Is that what you're doing in your own life,
26:48
Speaker 2: you got it going on based upon your title, based
26:53
Speaker 2: upon your money, based upon your belief system, based upon
26:58
Speaker 2: your tradition, based upon your titles, based upon your materialism.
27:03
Speaker 2: But here you got their religious zeal. They put them
27:08
Speaker 2: at odds with God, and only were they motivated by
27:13
Speaker 2: the lust for power. You got your traditions that often
27:17
Speaker 2: violated the very law that they supposedly loved. And when
27:22
Speaker 2: you go back during the time of our saviors earthly
27:24
Speaker 2: ministry and the worship in the Jerusalem temper, do you
27:30
Speaker 2: notice how it become big business for religious leaders. Notice
27:35
Speaker 2: that for religious leaders money love of money. The chief
27:40
Speaker 2: priest resumes to accept any currency except secos minute in Israel.
27:49
Speaker 2: So here you had the money changes within the temple.
27:51
Speaker 2: Priest thinks gladly exchanged any currency for Jewish secors at
27:56
Speaker 2: an inflated rate, and then you know what happened, Then
28:00
Speaker 2: they pocketed. The difference is that you and then furthermore,
28:04
Speaker 2: you had the Lord. Moses has stated that any animal
28:07
Speaker 2: offer to God had to be only the best that
28:10
Speaker 2: would do. So you got the men running the temple,
28:13
Speaker 2: and they would inspect the animals brought the sacrifice to
28:16
Speaker 2: verify that the offerings were worthy. But this was nothing
28:20
Speaker 2: more than a ruse. Why because they rejected animals so
28:24
Speaker 2: that they could offer replacement in exchange. For you got it,
28:27
Speaker 2: love of money, and so the suitable animal offer for
28:32
Speaker 2: exchange had only moments before been the unsuitable sacrifice of
28:37
Speaker 2: another worshiper. Is that you? And at the end of
28:42
Speaker 2: his ministry, our Savior publicly condemned the religious system in
28:48
Speaker 2: Jerusalem and expose the moral bankruptcy of the men who rented.
28:52
Speaker 2: And you can see that in the Matthew chapter twenty three,
28:54
Speaker 2: verse one through thirty three. How about today at your
28:58
Speaker 2: place of worship or yours or yours or yours. But
29:02
Speaker 2: you notice how our Savior punctuated each count of his
29:05
Speaker 2: indictment with a woe. You see how then he addressed
29:09
Speaker 2: the scribes and pharisees directly. Oh remember now those scribes,
29:15
Speaker 2: and we look at the original language. Woe was an
29:18
Speaker 2: interjection that expressed the outrage of the sorrow the speaker
29:21
Speaker 2: upon seeing the suffering of another. And while our Savior
29:25
Speaker 2: had a soft spot in his heart for people like
29:28
Speaker 2: you you do, don't you? You tell about people who
29:32
Speaker 2: have been walked over by the world system. Do you
29:37
Speaker 2: notice how he had little patience for those in religious
29:43
Speaker 2: leadership who neglected or abuse others. You talking about individuals
29:47
Speaker 2: who had direct access to the truth of God, yet
29:51
Speaker 2: they used their position to hoard wealth and power. Look
29:54
Speaker 2: around today in your country. Look around today in your country,
29:58
Speaker 2: your village, your province, your state, your town, your county.
30:04
Speaker 2: Look around leaders, Hi, every way you got that position,
30:10
Speaker 2: hurting the people, misleading the people, deceiving the people. And
30:17
Speaker 2: you know the truth. But they knew what they were doing.
30:22
Speaker 2: And when our saviors boldly exposed every rebelion, you know
30:25
Speaker 2: what happened. They put him on a collision course with evil.
30:28
Speaker 2: Think about it, shining light on that which you know
30:32
Speaker 2: to be wrong. Know that's wrong. And then our savior's case,
30:38
Speaker 2: think about it, Religious people who knew the truth of
30:41
Speaker 2: God had access. So here our Savior is showing how
30:47
Speaker 2: he encountered evil in many different forms. And you notice
30:50
Speaker 2: how he often responded with compassion for the sinner in
30:55
Speaker 2: need of a savior. And even when our Savior took
30:59
Speaker 2: a more a gentle approach. Do you notice how He
31:02
Speaker 2: was always fearless and direct. You notice how God is
31:05
Speaker 2: not impressed by religious fervor or hollow adherence to rules.
31:11
Speaker 2: Our loving God wants you and I to do what
31:13
Speaker 2: is right because it's motivated by love for him. And
31:19
Speaker 2: you notice that's what he wanted for the people of
31:23
Speaker 2: that day. And so as you determine to take your
31:27
Speaker 2: own stand against that, but you know to be wrong evil,
31:32
Speaker 2: remember the example of our Savior as you do, don't,
31:35
Speaker 2: especially as you're giving Entry twenty twenty five. They focused
31:40
Speaker 2: because it's not enough to know what's wrong with the situation.
31:43
Speaker 2: You got to also define what is right. And once
31:46
Speaker 2: you have verified the right way to go, you must
31:48
Speaker 2: then keep your eyes focused even if others discourage or
31:52
Speaker 2: persecute you. You got to understand facing evil requires sword
31:57
Speaker 2: like confrontation, not peacekeeping compromise. I shared a story how
32:04
Speaker 2: that there was an individual I was a Philadelphia and each
32:08
Speaker 2: time he would invite me, I'd just come out of
32:10
Speaker 2: the corporate world, just left New York, and he would
32:13
Speaker 2: invite me to go to local city council meetings and
32:17
Speaker 2: so forth and so forth, and I would go after
32:21
Speaker 2: doing research, of course, and I would go in and
32:27
Speaker 2: I let the individuals that power, leaders of the community,
32:33
Speaker 2: let them know that I'd come in peace. And the
32:36
Speaker 2: individual will always say gear every time you go, you
32:39
Speaker 2: always tell me you come in peace. And then you
32:41
Speaker 2: get to the door before you leave, and you take
32:44
Speaker 2: out a sword and you cut everybody up. Then you
32:47
Speaker 2: get to the door, and then you turn around and say,
32:49
Speaker 2: but I still come in peace. Faithing evil requires sword
32:57
Speaker 2: like confrontation, not peace keeping compromise. Also, stay alert. You
33:05
Speaker 2: know there was an early Christian writer that, like in
33:07
Speaker 2: God's Word to a two age sword able to judge
33:10
Speaker 2: the thoughts and intentions of the heart, like Hebrews chapter four,
33:14
Speaker 2: verse twelve talk about, in other words, God's truth have
33:17
Speaker 2: a way of cutting into the heart of the matter.
33:19
Speaker 2: You already know that. And when a clear issue is
33:23
Speaker 2: at stake, people pleasing compromise is going to tempt you
33:26
Speaker 2: the left side the sword of truth. But you got
33:29
Speaker 2: to remember to keep our sword pointed at the issue.
33:34
Speaker 2: Think about a standing. When there's a principle worth fighting for,
33:38
Speaker 2: is worth the risk, even if it defends and results
33:40
Speaker 2: in misunderstanding. Stay strong. I can tell you if time permit,
33:45
Speaker 2: it doesn't today, maybe in twenty twenty five, Lord willing
33:51
Speaker 2: of the stands that I've had to take against evil
33:57
Speaker 2: individuals too late, individuals not right on the inside, walking
34:03
Speaker 2: around with no titles, walking around with that power. Temporary
34:10
Speaker 2: misunderstanding is the hazard of being in any form of leadership,
34:13
Speaker 2: because you got people that's gonna misunderstand or even deliberately,
34:17
Speaker 2: deliberately misconstrue your intention, which is gonna cut to the
34:20
Speaker 2: heart of yours. Every other person that's will desire to
34:23
Speaker 2: be liked. But the stand you take is gonna be
34:27
Speaker 2: ultimately worth the sacrifice. When I look back while moving forward,
34:33
Speaker 2: I don't regret the stands can look anybody else speaking
34:41
Speaker 2: up for what is right. There's no guarantee you gonna
34:44
Speaker 2: win respect, so you gotta stay realistic. Our Savior took
34:48
Speaker 2: a storm stand against the eve of the religious leaders
34:51
Speaker 2: in Jerusalem, and the storm gathered around him. But he
34:56
Speaker 2: understood the risk. In fact, he knew it would lead
34:58
Speaker 2: to his death, because he said that the disciples on
35:01
Speaker 2: the eve of his arrest, you're ready for it. In
35:04
Speaker 2: John chapter fifteen, verse twenty two through twenty five. If
35:09
Speaker 2: I had not come and told the religious leaders all
35:14
Speaker 2: this in plain language, it wouldn't be so bad as
35:18
Speaker 2: it is. They have no excuse hate me, hate my father.
35:22
Speaker 2: It's all the same. If I had not done what
35:24
Speaker 2: I have done among them works and no one's ever done,
35:28
Speaker 2: they wouldn't be to blame. But they saw the God's
35:31
Speaker 2: sidnes and hated anyway. Both me and my father are interesting.
35:35
Speaker 2: They have verified the truth of their own scriptures where
35:38
Speaker 2: it is written they hated me for no good reason.
35:43
Speaker 2: And sometimes the evil you and I are gonna face
35:48
Speaker 2: is so firmly entrusted you're not gonna see its defeat
35:51
Speaker 2: in your lifetime. In fact, when you really think about,
35:54
Speaker 2: the fight may even require you and I to sacrifice everything,
35:58
Speaker 2: including our line. But the Lord doesn't call us to
36:03
Speaker 2: be successful. He calls us to be faithful, because success
36:07
Speaker 2: or failure is ultimately his responsibility. Ours is to be
36:11
Speaker 2: sure we stand on the right side of the issue.
36:16
Speaker 2: As he prepared to close out twenty twenty four and
36:19
Speaker 2: er again, Lord Willing twenty twenty five, Why do I say, Lord, one?
36:22
Speaker 2: Is the next second promise to you? For me? Look
36:26
Speaker 2: around the globe, irrespective of age, irrespective of zemp code,
36:30
Speaker 2: irrespective of skin tone, irrespective of a title. Every respective
36:34
Speaker 2: of money, every respective of materialism. Look at any obituary,
36:39
Speaker 2: look at the ages. So when faith we're taking a
36:44
Speaker 2: stand for what is right, the greatest temptation you're going
36:49
Speaker 2: to have is to remain neutral. And you got to
36:53
Speaker 2: remember to forfeit that leadership for sake of popularity. That's
37:00
Speaker 2: gonna be the temptation. And when you face it, what
37:05
Speaker 2: are you gonna do? Are you gonna forfeit it just
37:09
Speaker 2: because you want to be popular? And you also got
37:12
Speaker 2: to remember you're gonna choose your battles wise and be
37:14
Speaker 2: sure of your motives before you take a stand, because
37:19
Speaker 2: we cannot allow the approval of others to outweigh faithfulness
37:23
Speaker 2: to God and the truth. Remember, he loves us so
37:27
Speaker 2: much like our savior. We got to stand up for
37:30
Speaker 2: the truth, even if we lose popularity and suffer persecution
37:35
Speaker 2: for doing what is right. Are you ready for it?
37:40
Speaker 2: You sure not. Sarah has already laid out taking a
37:45
Speaker 2: stand and standing up for that which you know to
37:48
Speaker 2: be right. But the question is will you all right?
37:52
Speaker 2: So from Authur s a Jewel and myself here on
37:57
Speaker 2: Challenges of Faith for radio program after New Year, may
38:01
Speaker 2: you and yours continue to be blessed, especially as we
38:04
Speaker 2: close twenty twenty four with our listeners up. Finally got
38:10
Speaker 2: to fifty percent ladies, fifty percent men. Congratulations men ages
38:17
Speaker 2: seventeen years of age to forty five. And remember you
38:22
Speaker 2: can now cast the challenges of Faith Radio program and
38:25
Speaker 2: the Third Watch on speakers s p R E A
38:30
Speaker 2: k e r S, Talk Shoe and iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Apple, Spotify,
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Speaker 2: good Pods, pod Been Dever, YouTube, and many many more.
38:49
Speaker 2: I know we're going to see you there