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Three Nevers We Must Never Forget Msg 921 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: The word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than
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  Speaker 1: a two-edged sword, able to pierce between the soul and
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  Speaker 1: the spirit, between the joints and the marrow. And it
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  Speaker 1: is a criticus. It is a discerner. It is a
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  Speaker 1: critic of the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Think
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  Speaker 1: of it this way. When you open God's word, you
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  Speaker 1: are opening yourself to open heart surgery. But in this case,
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  Speaker 1: it's where no surgeon's scalpel could ever reach. It's right
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  Speaker 1: down into the very soul and spirit. Where you form
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  Speaker 1: the habits of your life, where you make the decisions
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  Speaker 1: of your life, where you come to terms with What
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  Speaker 1: you really, really believe. And what you must live for.
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  Speaker 1: And on occasion, you're willing to die for. It's that
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  Speaker 1: kind of penetrating message. Only in the Holy Scriptures. We're
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  Speaker 1: looking at verses 21 through 26 of the 16th of Matthew.
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  Speaker 1: If you have a Bible, please find the place. Matthew 16,
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  Speaker 1: beginning the reading in verse 21 down through 26. Because
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  Speaker 1: of our respect for the word of God and the
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  Speaker 1: God of the word, we stand for the reading of
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures. From then on, Jesus began to tell his
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  Speaker 1: disciples plainly that it was necessary for him to go
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  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem and that he would suffer many terrible things
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  Speaker 1: at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and
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  Speaker 1: the teachers of religious law, he would be killed. But
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  Speaker 1: on the third day, he would be raised from the dead.
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  Speaker 1: But Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him
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  Speaker 1: for saying such things. Heaven forbid, Lord, this will never
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  Speaker 1: happen to you Jesus turned to Peter and said, get
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  Speaker 1: away from me, Satan. You're a dangerous trap to me.
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  Speaker 1: You are seeing things merely from a human point of view,
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  Speaker 1: not from God's. Then Jesus said to his disciples, if
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  Speaker 1: any of you wants to be my follower, you must
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  Speaker 1: turn from your own selfish ways and Take up your
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  Speaker 1: cross and follow me. If you try to hang on
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  Speaker 1: to your life, you will lose it. But if you
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  Speaker 1: give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
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  Speaker 1: And what do you benefit if you gain the whole
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  Speaker 1: world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more
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  Speaker 1: than your soul. Please be seated. The deepest part of
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  Speaker 1: your being is your soul. There are secrets there. There
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  Speaker 1: is reality there as it relates to your life. There
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  Speaker 1: are no masks. It is that which God sees. And
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  Speaker 1: as he looks within us today and he sees our souls,
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  Speaker 1: can you honestly say this soul belongs to Jesus? I've
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  Speaker 1: given my life to him. I've trusted him. I believe
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  Speaker 1: in him. If not, perfect time to do that. as
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  Speaker 1: we bow for prayer. We began by hearing of your attributes, Father, immortal, invisible,
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  Speaker 1: the only one truly wise, in light and accessible, hid
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  Speaker 1: from our eyes. We acknowledge, Lord, you alone deserve the
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  Speaker 1: word awesome You alone. There is none other. There is
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  Speaker 1: no other God but you. And there is, therefore, no
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  Speaker 1: other Savior but your Son, in whom we have found
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  Speaker 1: a deep sense of satisfaction to the point we can
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  Speaker 1: actually sing over and over, it is well with my soul.
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  Speaker 1: Things are well there. For those who could not say that,
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  Speaker 1: I pray today that you will invade, connect, pierce beyond
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  Speaker 1: all resistance and bring that soul into submission, onto the knees,
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  Speaker 1: bowing in full acceptance of your son's death on our behalf.
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  Speaker 1: And we acknowledge, Lord, that you remain king of kings. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: over all who would call themselves Lord, you, our God, reigns.
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  Speaker 1: And we bow without reluctance or resistance before you. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for the freedom we enjoy for those who fought
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  Speaker 1: for it. And whose remains lie under a white cross
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  Speaker 1: this day. How grateful we are for every family who
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  Speaker 1: suffered through those wars. And every brave woman and man
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  Speaker 1: who wore the uniform. And fought the fight. And did
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  Speaker 1: it well. Now, Father, we acknowledge that every good and
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  Speaker 1: perfect gift is from above. We wouldn't even have breath
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  Speaker 1: in our lungs. If it weren't for your grace. Nor
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  Speaker 1: would we have our occupation. Or a savings account. Or any. Anything.
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  Speaker 1: By way of possessions. But because of your grace. We're
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  Speaker 1: able to say. We're able to give. And we thank
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  Speaker 1: you for the privilege. And we do so now. With
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  Speaker 1: joy and generosity. In the name. Of our savior. Who
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  Speaker 1: brings us nearer. Nearer to God. Nearer we could not be.
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  Speaker 1: For in the person of your son. We are as
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  Speaker 1: near as he. In his name we pray. And in
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  Speaker 1: his name we give. And everyone said.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Living right begins with thinking straight. And in order for
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  Speaker 1: that to happen, we must learn how to think like
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  Speaker 1: God thinks. And as Shakespeare wrote, aye, there's the rub.
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  Speaker 1: We just don't naturally think like God thinks. We weren't
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  Speaker 1: taught to do that. So we haven't learned to do that.
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  Speaker 1: And all of our thinking is, if we're not different
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  Speaker 1: than the majority, it's all horizontal. It's all about stuff
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  Speaker 1: on this earth. None of it is vertical. It even
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  Speaker 1: happened to Samuel when he was on a search for
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  Speaker 1: the new king for Israel. Saul had proven himself unqualified.
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  Speaker 1: He found himself in Bethlehem in the home of Jesse.
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  Speaker 1: And he asked that his sons be brought. And when
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  Speaker 1: Eliab came before Samuel, the prophet, Samuel's first thought as
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  Speaker 1: he looked at this Handsome, tall, young Israeli. Surely the
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  Speaker 1: Lord's anointed is before me. No. God interrupted that thinking.
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  Speaker 1: He said, no, no. I do not look at the
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  Speaker 1: outward appearance. You do that. You see, Samuel, I look
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  Speaker 1: at the heart. I'm looking for the one who has
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  Speaker 1: the right heart. Eliab is not the one. And one
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  Speaker 1: by one, he took one of those sons after another.
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  Speaker 1: None of them had the heart until he found the
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  Speaker 1: one whose heart was like God's heart. David, who had
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  Speaker 1: already begun to think vertically, different from those around him.
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  Speaker 1: No one ever put it better than the prophet Isaiah.
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  Speaker 1: For my thoughts, says God, are not your thoughts, neither
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  Speaker 1: are your ways my ways. For as the heavens are
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  Speaker 1: high above the earth, so are my thoughts above your thought.
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  Speaker 1: and my ways above your ways so if we are
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  Speaker 1: going to live as we should then we must think
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  Speaker 1: as God thinks that's why we need a Bible This
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  Speaker 1: book is full of God thought. It's filled with God's counsel.
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  Speaker 1: It has truth to live by. None of it is
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  Speaker 1: politically correct because that's horizontal thinking. That's thinking about what
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  Speaker 1: will other people think. God cares little about what other
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  Speaker 1: people think. And the better you get to thinking like
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  Speaker 1: God thinks, the less you will care about What others think. Now,
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  Speaker 1: not only are we slow to learn it, so were
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  Speaker 1: those 12 who walked alongside Jesus. Think about that. They
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  Speaker 1: literally lived with him for the better part of three years.
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  Speaker 1: They ate with him. They listened to him teach. They
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  Speaker 1: watched him do his miracles. They slept beside him. They
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  Speaker 1: were in his shadow. standing in the wings. And all
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  Speaker 1: the while, he is doing his best to change them
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  Speaker 1: from the horizontal to the vertical. And it was such
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  Speaker 1: a task. We've seen occasions where that statement, even in
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  Speaker 1: Mark's gospel, it says they gain no insight from the
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  Speaker 1: loaves and the fishes because their heart was hardened. You see,
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  Speaker 1: it's from the heart we begin to think like God thinks.
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  Speaker 1: That's why the heart must be right with God. So
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is now dealing with these 12, and what a
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  Speaker 1: task it is, especially when he reaches the crossroads, literally,
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  Speaker 1: in their training. You see, they have seen him in
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  Speaker 1: a number of different lights, but never where they hear
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  Speaker 1: words before this, like these words. And they will penetrate
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  Speaker 1: right down to the depths of their being. It's interesting
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  Speaker 1: how the passage begins in Matthew 16, verse 21. My
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  Speaker 1: new living translation begins, From then on, Jesus... Yours may
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  Speaker 1: begin another way in verse 21, but the connective is
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  Speaker 1: meant to remind you that there is a context. And
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  Speaker 1: the context happens to be when Peter moved to the
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  Speaker 1: head of the class because he gave such a perfect answer.
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  Speaker 1: As the teacher asked, who do you say that I am?
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  Speaker 1: Peter spoke up and, my, did he have the answer.
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  Speaker 1: You are the Messiah. You are the son of God,
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  Speaker 1: the living one. Not only did he understand who Jesus was,
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  Speaker 1: he realized he had come from the living father. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: told him, you need a new name. Call you Rocky.
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  Speaker 1: You're going to be solid. You're going to be my
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  Speaker 1: spokesman forever. You're going to represent me in places that
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  Speaker 1: I have not even known. You're rock. And on this
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  Speaker 1: rock-like statement, I'm going to build my church. And you
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  Speaker 1: remember we worked through that in our study last time.
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  Speaker 1: From then on, now that they've got that answer straight,
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  Speaker 1: and they understand his identity, Jesus believes it is time
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  Speaker 1: to move into, well, the absolute unexpected. From then on,
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  Speaker 1: he began to tell his disciples plainly that it was
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  Speaker 1: necessary for him to go to Jerusalem. Pause right there.
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  Speaker 1: We have the habit of reading on and on and
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  Speaker 1: on and not letting the words sink in. So far,
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  Speaker 1: so good, huh? He ought to go to Jerusalem. They
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  Speaker 1: must have thought horizontally. He belongs in Jerusalem. That's where
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  Speaker 1: the authorities are. That's where history is made. That's where
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  Speaker 1: information really, in many ways, begins in that country. Go
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  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. He goes further. Look at what he says.
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  Speaker 1: And that I will suffer many terrible things at the
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  Speaker 1: hands of elders and leading priests and the teachers of
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  Speaker 1: religious law. Right. Horizontal thinking. We've seen that before. We've
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  Speaker 1: watched them argue with you. We've seen them criticize you.
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  Speaker 1: You've stood toe to toe as they've assaulted you verbally.
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  Speaker 1: We've watched it all. Of course, when you're in Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: you'll run into those people again. We've seen it. We
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  Speaker 1: can only imagine how tough it will be there. And
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  Speaker 1: then he goes one step further and you can hear
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  Speaker 1: the brakes screech. Look at what it says. And then
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  Speaker 1: I will be killed. You know what I believe? I
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  Speaker 1: believe that is so revolutionary, so unexpected that the rest
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  Speaker 1: was a blur. Just my thinking for whatever it's worth.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not even sure they heard I'll be raised the
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  Speaker 1: third day from the dead. He says it, but they're stuck.
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  Speaker 1: Ever had that happen to you? Of course you have.
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  Speaker 1: Something happens and all of a sudden the world stops
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  Speaker 1: and you sort of reel as you get your balance
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  Speaker 1: in equilibrium and try to stay on your feet because
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  Speaker 1: you're having to deal with something you never ever dreamed
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  Speaker 1: would have been said or done. It's necessary that I
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  Speaker 1: be killed. I feel so deeply about this message today
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  Speaker 1: that I've decided to keep it in simple terms and
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  Speaker 1: give it to you in a way that I hope
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  Speaker 1: at least these three nevers will never be forgotten. I
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  Speaker 1: want you to look at what we just read. Act
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  Speaker 1: as though you don't know the story and you're hearing
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  Speaker 1: it like they did for the first time. Gonna go
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  Speaker 1: to Jerusalem. I'm going to suffer at the hands of
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  Speaker 1: these religious authorities. And I'm going to be killed. In
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  Speaker 1: your horizontal thinking, Messiah doesn't die. Messiah conquers. Messiah doesn't submit.
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  Speaker 1: Messiah rules. And since you're the Messiah, the son of
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  Speaker 1: the living God, thinks Peter, you You missed it on
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  Speaker 1: this one, Jesus. Now, let me say, let's not be
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  Speaker 1: too hard on Peter. Let's just be grateful that God
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  Speaker 1: has stopped writing his word, and your name isn't in
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  Speaker 1: the Bible, where you said something dumb, and you hope
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  Speaker 1: everybody around will forget it as you try your best
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  Speaker 1: to get past it. But in Peter's case, every preacher
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  Speaker 1: down through the centuries has just raked him over the
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  Speaker 1: coals for saying what he said. Now, it wasn't the
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  Speaker 1: right thing to say. As a matter of fact, it
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  Speaker 1: was the ultimate wrong thing to say. But before this,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to observe that Peter took him aside
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  Speaker 1: and began to, I can hardly let those words out
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  Speaker 1: of my mouth, reprimand him. Oh, Peter. I love you, man.
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  Speaker 1: But I got to tell you, you see, when you're
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  Speaker 1: at the head of the class, you begin to think
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  Speaker 1: you're the chair of the Bible department. And so he
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  Speaker 1: now needs to counsel the master and get him back thinking.
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  Speaker 1: I can't even finish it. The master never did anything
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  Speaker 1: but think straight. So Peter's way out of line when Peter,
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  Speaker 1: old Rocky steps on the scene took him aside and
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  Speaker 1: began to reprimand him for saying what he said I
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  Speaker 1: don't know how you were raised but I was raised
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  Speaker 1: never to sass my mother remember the word sass I
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  Speaker 1: don't hear it much anymore but don't you ever sass
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  Speaker 1: your mother I'm cleaning it up from the way my
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  Speaker 1: father said it to me In fact, he even said it,
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  Speaker 1: you drive nails in her coffin when you sass her. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I'm killing my mother because I'm running off at the mouth. Peter,
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  Speaker 1: don't ever run. Jesus. Peter, don't ever do that. And
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  Speaker 1: yet he's already done it, huh? Brings us to the
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  Speaker 1: first never.
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  Speaker 2: Never.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't want you to forget it, so I
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  Speaker 1: even suggest that you write it down somewhere, maybe in
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  Speaker 1: the margin, maybe on the outline. Write it down. You're
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  Speaker 1: going to need it. We must never think that just
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  Speaker 1: because something is unexpected, it's unacceptable. You see, it's unexpected
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  Speaker 1: because we operate from the human viewpoint. As we're going
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  Speaker 1: to read in just a moment. These things happen. And
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: when the human viewpoint kicks in. We resist him. I
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  Speaker 1: think about a marriage that looks like it will go
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  Speaker 1: on for another 35 years. And suddenly the unexpected. He
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  Speaker 1: walks out. Or she doesn't love you anymore and the
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  Speaker 1: marriage fractures. Or you walk away from the MRI and
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  Speaker 1: you're in the doctor's office waiting for the results and
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  Speaker 1: he brings in the oncologist and you hear the totally
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  Speaker 1: unexpected results. Or you have now finally built your dream
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  Speaker 1: home You're settled. Everything is great. You know those around you.
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  Speaker 1: You're a perfect fit for where you're living. Everything is
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  Speaker 1: going well in the company. And wouldn't you know it,
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: you're told that you're going to be transferred. Totally unexpected.
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  Speaker 1: Take it from me, who was transferred from the United
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  Speaker 1: States to an island in the middle of the South Pacific,
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  Speaker 1: and fought it with everything within me only to realize
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  Speaker 1: after the fact, had I not gone there, I doubt
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  Speaker 1: that my life would ever have been turned as it was.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks to a man who mentored me during those 16
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  Speaker 1: months of lonely service in the Marine Corps. The unexpected,
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  Speaker 1: which I did not in any way, shape or form accept,
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  Speaker 1: I would have to go without my wife. I would
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  Speaker 1: have to be there all those months. What good can
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  Speaker 1: come out of Okinawa? My call to the ministry came
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  Speaker 1: out of it. And I look back and I realize, God,
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  Speaker 1: you actually knew what you were doing. I didn't have
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  Speaker 1: a clue. Man, have I learned in these 82 years
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  Speaker 1: the value of keeping my mouth shut and never even
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  Speaker 1: coming close to reprimanding God for surprising me. Peter hasn't
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  Speaker 1: learned that. He's in the process. But look at how
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  Speaker 1: he puts it. You see, Peter's not angry. He's flabbergasted.
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  Speaker 1: One of those great English words, huh? He is a
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  Speaker 1: little put out. He's surprised. And as a result, I
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  Speaker 1: can just see him as he puts his arm around
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  Speaker 1: Jesus' shoulder. Heaven forbid, Lord. Oh, by the way, he
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  Speaker 1: took him aside. That's nice. Pulled him aside. Lord, get
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  Speaker 1: a life. A real life. Don't talk like that. This
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  Speaker 1: will never happen to you. You know what that is?
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  Speaker 1: That's saying, this is what I never want to happen
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  Speaker 1: to you. Horizontal thinking. In fact, Jesus doesn't mince words,
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  Speaker 1: does he? He turned to Peter and said, get away
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  Speaker 1: from me, Satan. Back off. Look at what he called him.
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  Speaker 1: It's a far cry from rock, huh? Oh, Pope Petros
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  Speaker 1: has suddenly become Simple Simon again. The guy with all
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  Speaker 1: the answers has now moved to the back of the class.
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  Speaker 1: Put on that hat that says D. Not for dunce,
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  Speaker 1: but for devil. How dare you speak to me like this?
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  Speaker 1: You sound just like the one who tempted me in
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  Speaker 1: the wilderness. before my ministry even began, offering me all
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  Speaker 1: these things that the world would offer if I would
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  Speaker 1: simply bow down before him, get away from me. You
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  Speaker 1: are seeing things merely from a human point of view,
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  Speaker 1: not from God's. That is what gave me the idea
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  Speaker 1: for my opening line, Thinking straight is the result of
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  Speaker 1: God's working in our hearts so that as a result
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  Speaker 1: of that, we begin to live like we should. Peter
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  Speaker 1: is a far cry from it. He's now either in
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  Speaker 1: the back of the class or standing in the corner.
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  Speaker 1: He doesn't say anything else. He is just terribly embarrassed,
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure. Brings me to the second never. I hope
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  Speaker 1: you will never forget. We must never think that the
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  Speaker 1: Lord should alter his plan to fit our preference. Get
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  Speaker 1: that really clear in your thinking. Because our world is
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  Speaker 1: full of our preferences. It's what I want. It's the
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  Speaker 1: place I want to sit. It's the car I want
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  Speaker 1: to drive. It's the place I want to work. It's
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  Speaker 1: the position I want to hold. I prefer this over that.
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  Speaker 1: I want help, not suffering. I want power, not weakness.
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  Speaker 1: I want to be known, not to be obscured. But
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  Speaker 1: you see, all of those things are horizontal. Get that.
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  Speaker 1: Get it straight. When you do, you'll find you'll turn
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  Speaker 1: toward the vertical without even having to work at it.
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  Speaker 1: Regardless of how long we have walked with the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: it's important. It's important that we acknowledge he has every
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  Speaker 1: right to call every shot. To move us wherever he pleases.
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  Speaker 1: At whatever time is in his plan. One response. It's
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  Speaker 1: not to reprimand him. It's to obey. It's to follow.
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  Speaker 1: And now Jesus moves into that. Notice Peter is silent.
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  Speaker 1: So he turns and says to the other disciples at
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  Speaker 1: verse 24. 24. Jesus said to his disciples, if any
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  Speaker 1: of you will, if any of you wants to be
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  Speaker 1: my follower, I do. I think if I ask you
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  Speaker 1: to raise your hands, most hands would go up. You're
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  Speaker 1: not here because it's convenient. You're not here because you
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  Speaker 1: didn't have anything else you could have been doing. You're
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  Speaker 1: here because you want to learn what it means to
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: be a follower. Here it is. Straight talk. Plainly said.
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: You want to be a follower of mine? You must
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: take up your own cross. Peter rebuked me, reprimanded me
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: for telling you of the cross I will be bearing.
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you it's yours as well. I don't know
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: that you can go much further in vertical thinking than that.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: But living for Christ is really explained in one word,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: and that's dying. The best servants are those who have
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: died to themselves. The fight is over. The resistance is finished.
• 29:23
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you that you must bear your own cross.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: You know, we've turned the cross into something very attractive.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: There are beautiful necklaces I've seen. There are symbols on
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: Bible covers. There are chrome crosses that go on cars.
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: I even have seen crosses on lapels. They're not decorative
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: pieces of jewelry. They're places of death. I've never seen
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: an electric chair on a on a lapel. I've never
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: seen a hypodermic needle full of lethal solution. Never seen
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: a rifle for a firing squad. Never. I've seen crosses
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: as if this is a fun thing to wear. Nothing
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: fun about it. You take up your cross, you are saying,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: I die willingly. To his plan for me. To his
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: will for my life. I take up my cross. Look
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: at this. Look at this. Turning from my selfish ways.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: I take up my cross. And I follow him. I
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: follow him. I never lead him. I never even hint
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: on the way he should be leading me. I listen
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: real closely. I come to terms with what he's saying.
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: Then I adapt accordingly. How unlike any of us. In fact,
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: he says this, look, if you're going to hang on
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: to something, you're going to lose it. And if you really,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: really want to save something, you give it up. Nobody
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: ever said it better than the martyred missionary, Jim Elliott.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: to gain. what he cannot lose. It isn't just nice
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: little bit of poetic verse. It's true. The fools are
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: those who hang on. The one who adds to his
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: license plate the frame, the one who dies with the
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: most toys wins. When I see that, I always want
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: to paint a little thing at the bottom that says,
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: you fool. In fact, you, by giving up your life,
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: you take on the real, real life. Third thing never
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: to forget. We must never think that being a close
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: follower of Jesus can happen without self-denial. Yeah, that's right.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: There's that big word, self-denial. Self-denial. I've waited all this
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: time to use the word because it's everywhere, and I'm
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: up to here with it. Narcissism. Another way of putting it, entitlement.
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: And I'm telling you, it's not just among millennials. It's
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: not just among the kids growing up. It's among middle-aged.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: It's among older people. who want my way, don't get
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: in the way of that. It's all about me. Me.
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: I smiled when I read Hugh Gallagher's answer to question
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: 3A on his college application to get into New York University.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: The question 3A is an essay question meaning take time
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: and answer it, spell it out. Here it is. In
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: order for the administrative staff of New York University to
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: get to know you, the applicant, better, we ask that
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: you answer the following question. Are there any significant experiences
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: you have had or accomplishments you have realized that have
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: helped you to define you as a person. Everybody got
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: the question? We got it. Help us know who you
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: really are.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: Whoa.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: Hang on. This is an answer like I've never read
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: in my life. I would love to have been a
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: member of the admissions committee that read his answer. Hang on.
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: I'm a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: I've been known to remodel train stations on my lunch breaks,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: making things more heat efficient. I translate for Cuban refugees.
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: I write award-winning operas. I manage time efficiently. Occasionally, I
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: tread water for three days in a row. I cook
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: 30-minute brownies in 20 minutes. I'm an expert in stucco.
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: I'm a veteran in love and an outlaw in Peru.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: I play bluegrass cello. I was scouted by the Mets.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: I am the subject of numerous documentaries. When I'm bored,
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: I build large suspension bridges. I am an abstract artist,
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. I don't perspire. Children,
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: trust me. I can hurl tennis rackets at small moving
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: objects with deadly accuracy. I once read Paradise Lost, Moby Dick,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: and David Copperfield in one day, and still had time
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: to refurbish an entire dining room that evening. I know
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: the exact location of every food item in the supermarket.
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: I sleep once a week. When I do sleep, I
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: sleep in a chair. While on vacation in Canada, I
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: successfully negotiated with a group of terrorists who had seized
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: a small bakery. The laws of physics do not apply
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: to me. Page two. I balance, I weave, I dodge,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: I frolic, and all of my bills are paid. I
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: have won bullfights in San Juan. done cliff diving competitions
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: in Sri Lanka and spelling bees at the Kremlin. I
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: played Hamlet. I performed open heart surgery and I've spoken
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: with Elvis. But I've not yet gone to college. Really? Um,
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: What would have been your answer? Would you have dared said,
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: I'm learning to die every day. I've learned the value
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: of giving up my will. I've learned how important it
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: is to say no to what I want and yes
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: to what my master wants. As a matter of fact,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I I'm in the process of losing my life. I'd
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: walked life's way with an easy tread. I'd traveled where
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: pleasures and comfort led. Until one day in a quiet place,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: I met the master face to face. My towers were
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: built to the blue of the sky. I'd entered to
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: win with a life's entered to win this life's mad
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: race when I met the master face to face. I
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: met him and knew him, and I blushed to see
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: his eyes full of sorrow were fixed upon me. I
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: faltered and fell at his feet that day while my
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: castles melted and vanished away, melted and vanished in their place.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Nothing else could I see but my master's face. My
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: thoughts are now for the souls of men. I've lost
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: my life. To find it again. Ever since that day
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: in a quiet place. When I met the master face.
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: Three nevers I hope you never forget. Never think that
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: just because something is unexpected it's unacceptable. Never think that
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: the Lord should alter his plan to fit our or
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: your preference. It isn't about you. And never think that
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: being a close follower of Jesus can happen without self-denial.
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: And by the way, would you teach your children that?
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: And if you missed, would you teach your grandkids that?
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: Freeman concludes his great book on Robert E. Lee with
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: a moving story that I've always loved. I've sometimes turned
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: to it again just to be sure I read it correctly.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: The great Confederate general had come to the end, still
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: beloved by those in the South. A mother of a
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: little baby stepped out of her house that had been
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: pretty much destroyed by the Union. Trees burned, crops burned.
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: walking out toward the general who had come to grieve
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: with her over the loss of her two sons, or
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: as I recall, a son and a husband. Holding the
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: baby in her arms with tears, she held the baby
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: out to the general and Lee took the child. I
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: love this. looked into his face and said simply, teach
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: him that he must deny himself. Teach him that. Let's
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: bow our heads. Teach him that he must deny himself.
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: These are not popular words to hear in our day.
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: Where the narcissist gets to the front of the line
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: and the one who lives for what he is going
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: to get or she is going to get often gets.
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: Jesus is telling us not how to be popular but
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: how to be a follower of his. If you've never
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: submitted to the cross, before you think of bearing your
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: own cross, I suggest you come to the cross and
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: release your will to his. His will is that you
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: take the Son of God as your own personal Lord
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: and Savior. That you trust in him now. Put that
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: off no longer. Remember the unexpected? You may not be
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: alive a week from now. Or you would hear this again.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: Do it now. And if you have met the Lord
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: and you're still strutting. Still fighting for your way. Still
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: looking for your name in the lights. Still expecting to
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: be seen or pleased. You're next. May God teach you
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: to deny yourself. Whatever it takes. And by the way,
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: he never runs out of ways to do that. If
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: we can help you in any way, we exist for
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: that reason. Thank you, Father, for connecting with us. Because given...
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: our own way, we'd never live right. We'd never think straight.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: We'd be so busy filling out application forms to impress others.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: We'd even lie to look good. So I pray that
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: you will deliver us from looking good or desiring to
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: be seen or heard or quoted May we find great,
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: great joy in following your son, Jesus, to wherever he leads, wherever, whenever.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: Now to him who is able to guard you from
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: stumbling and present you faultless before the presence of his
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: glory with exceeding great joy. To the only wise God,
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: our Savior, be glory, majesty, dominion, power forever and ever.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: And ever and ever and ever and ever. And all
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: God's people said. Amen. Amen.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: The preceding message. Three Nevers we must never forget. Was
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2016 and 2021. And the sound recording was
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2021. By Charles R.
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc.
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: commercial use is strictly prohibited.