Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Crucial Truths, Rarely Understood | Msg 13-24

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Crucial Truths, Rarely Understood | Msg 13-24 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: As I was growing up with an older brother and
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  Speaker 1: an older sister, you can imagine there wasn't much quietness
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  Speaker 1: in our home, and every once in a while there
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  Speaker 1: would be a moment of unusual silence, just kind of
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  Speaker 1: a hush, and my mother would say, stay quiet, children,
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  Speaker 1: there's an angel passing through. I often think of that
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  Speaker 1: when the choir comes to a place.
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  Speaker 2: And then they go on. I think.
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  Speaker 1: I can almost hear the flapping of the wings. Holy, Holy, Holy,
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  Speaker 1: it's what the angels sing. And I expect to make
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  Speaker 1: the courts of having ring. But when I sing redemption story, they.
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  Speaker 2: Will fool their wings. For angels never felt the joy
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  Speaker 2: that myself brings.
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  Speaker 1: Easy to forget, that, isn't it. We can know dimensions
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  Speaker 1: of the Lord that not even the angels can know.
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  Speaker 1: They elect angels, but they're not redeemed. Jesus died to
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  Speaker 1: redeem us sinful people who don't deserve it, and he
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  Speaker 1: gave us his book, his Word. The entrance of his
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  Speaker 1: word gives light where it is a lamp to our
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  Speaker 1: feet and a light.
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  Speaker 2: To our path.
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  Speaker 1: Four verses are tucked away in Matthew five. Ch'all would
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  Speaker 1: like for you to look at and for us to
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  Speaker 1: consider as we think about crucial truths rarely understood. You'll
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  Speaker 1: learn some things today that you do not now know.
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  Speaker 1: And that's one of the exciting things about the teaching
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  Speaker 1: of the scriptures. There's always something new to discover. Today
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  Speaker 1: is no exception. Once you have found Matthew five seventeen.
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  Speaker 1: Please stand with each other for the reading of God's word.
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  Speaker 1: Do not think that I came to abolish the law
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  Speaker 1: or the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but
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  Speaker 1: to fulfill. For truly, I say to you, until heaven
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  Speaker 1: and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke
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  Speaker 1: shall pass from the law, until all is accomplished. Whoever
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  Speaker 1: then knows one of the least of these commandments and
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  Speaker 1: teaches others to do the same, shall be called least
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  Speaker 1: in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them,
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  Speaker 1: he shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.
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  Speaker 1: For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses
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  Speaker 1: that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will not
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  Speaker 1: enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
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  Speaker 2: Searching words words from jesus own.
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  Speaker 1: Lips that meant something remarkable to the people of that day,
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  Speaker 1: and the same to us today.
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  Speaker 2: Please be seated, and now for more silence.
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  Speaker 1: Together, let's enjoy simply the presence of the Lord as
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  Speaker 1: we bow together, just sit before him and worship him.
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  Speaker 2: Our Father.
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  Speaker 1: We do love your son, my Jesus, I love thee
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  Speaker 1: I know Thou art mine and for you, all.
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  Speaker 2: The stupid follies of sin. I resign.
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  Speaker 1: A gracious redeemer, a savior art thou, if ever we
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  Speaker 1: love you.
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  Speaker 2: We love you now now in a world that's running in.
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  Speaker 1: The wrong direction because it's lost its way. We love
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  Speaker 1: you now, surrounded by those who look upon you with
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  Speaker 1: skepticism and doubt.
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  Speaker 2: We love you now with all the unknowns of the.
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  Speaker 1: Future and all of the bad news we hear every evening,
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  Speaker 1: and all of the threats against us as a people,
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  Speaker 1: as a country, as Christians.
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  Speaker 2: We love you now right now.
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  Speaker 1: Deepen our love for you, Fathers, so that nothing, nothing
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  Speaker 1: ever weakens that love, that nothing else captures our love
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  Speaker 1: and makes us wander away from you, that nothing tempts
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  Speaker 1: us to turn away from your love. We love you now,
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  Speaker 1: and may that love make a major difference in the
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  Speaker 1: way we think, in motives behind our actions and opinions,
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  Speaker 1: and thoughts.
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  Speaker 2: Behind our words and the way we treat other people
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  Speaker 2: at the store, on the street, our neighbors, strangers. Thank you,
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  Speaker 2: dear Father, for.
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  Speaker 1: Your sovereign hand on our lives. The prophet rites that
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  Speaker 1: a woman can forget her nursing child, so that she
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  Speaker 1: would walk away from the sun of her womb. But
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  Speaker 1: you will not forget us. You have inscribed us in
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  Speaker 1: the palm of your hands. Our ways are continually before you.
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  Speaker 1: The ways of the couple who spoke to me earlier
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  Speaker 1: today face cancer as the husband doesn't know what the
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  Speaker 1: future holds.
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  Speaker 2: Your ways are greater than their ways. You have a
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  Speaker 2: way through the wilderness the one sitting here today confused, struggling,
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  Speaker 2: feeling abandoned, lost. Our ways are continually before you. You
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  Speaker 2: have a way of taking words from page of scripture
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  Speaker 2: and then drilling them home to our hearts. May that
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  Speaker 2: happen today.
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  Speaker 1: May I prove to be altogether insignificant in the process.
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  Speaker 2: Get me out of the way, so your word.
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  Speaker 1: Can run and have free course. As our hearts absorb
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  Speaker 1: what you have written, May it make a difference in
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  Speaker 1: our wills. Soften our stubbornness, break our pride, arrogance, create
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  Speaker 1: within us, Father, a clean heart, pure of deception, free
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  Speaker 1: of hypocrisy. Place your hand on those in difficult places,
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  Speaker 1: those who represent us on the mission fields around the world,
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  Speaker 1: around the world who serve you, and places will never be,
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  Speaker 1: And speak to those will never meet.
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  Speaker 2: We pray that you'd give them strength to press on.
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  Speaker 1: For those who walk into the face of the enemy,
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  Speaker 1: literally never knowing that the next step will lead to
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  Speaker 1: give them courage, give them hope, Surround their families with
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  Speaker 1: a reassurance that you were there as well as with them.
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  Speaker 2: Bring them safely home.
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  Speaker 1: Now, our Father, we realized we could not earn a
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  Speaker 1: living if it weren't for the strength you give us.
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  Speaker 1: We wouldn't have the brains to carry out our job.
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  Speaker 1: We wouldn't have the discipline to get up in the
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  Speaker 1: morning face what it requires. We wouldn't make the wage
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  Speaker 1: that we make. But we realize all of this work
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  Speaker 1: together that we might have the ability to give to
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  Speaker 1: your work. May our gifts be given with the right heart,
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  Speaker 1: May they be handled with integrity as they are used
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  Speaker 1: for your glory. In the name of Jesus, whom we love.
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  Speaker 2: We pray and we give everyone said amen.
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  Speaker 1: We knew something was missing but we just didn't know
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  Speaker 1: what it was. For the longest time, Cynthia and I
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  Speaker 1: felt there was something we weren't getting from the church
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  Speaker 1: we were attending. I understand that there was a Bible
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  Speaker 1: used every Sunday. We had carried a Bible all our lives.
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  Speaker 2: We were raised in families that.
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  Speaker 1: Love the Lord and believe the Bible, and say for
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  Speaker 1: our grandparents on her side and mine the same for
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  Speaker 1: great grandparents. But in our courtship and then our engagement,
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  Speaker 1: for those eighteen months, we would say to each other
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  Speaker 1: from time to time, there's just something.
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  Speaker 2: It isn't satisfying, something's missing. All our lives we'd been
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  Speaker 2: involved in.
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  Speaker 1: The religious life of that particular denomination, and we went
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  Speaker 1: to the activities, and we knew the preachers, we knew
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  Speaker 1: the evangelists. We would hear them special meetings. We would
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  Speaker 1: hear missionaries or familiar names.
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  Speaker 2: And.
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  Speaker 1: We were aware of that world that was altogether familiar,
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  Speaker 1: a lot of traditions connected with it. This we were
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  Speaker 1: strangers to this book.
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  Speaker 2: This Bible seems funny, doesn't it.
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  Speaker 1: We carried a Bible, we read from it. We heard
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  Speaker 1: one gospel message after another, gospel message after another, gospel message.
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  Speaker 1: We already saved, We already knew the Lord we needed.
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  Speaker 1: We needed truth to live by, not information that would
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  Speaker 1: help us know how to be saved.
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  Speaker 2: So we remained hungry.
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  Speaker 1: We didn't know what to do, We didn't know where
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  Speaker 1: to turn, but we knew something was missing. When you're
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  Speaker 1: in a context like that, you become familiar with that world,
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  Speaker 1: and you hear all kinds of sermons, topical sermons and
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  Speaker 1: devotional sermons and textual sermons, and longhorns, Germans point here
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  Speaker 1: and the point. They're in a lot of bull in between,
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  Speaker 1: and and and you get all that stuff, and you finish,
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  Speaker 1: and you go go to launch or you go home,
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  Speaker 1: and it's like, uh so what. And then, through a
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  Speaker 1: series of circumstances I'll not get into, we were led
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  Speaker 1: to a place where the truth as we had never
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  Speaker 1: heard it was being taught. No denominational tie, no no
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  Speaker 1: long traditional trappings, nothing wrong with tradition, if the traditions
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  Speaker 1: are a part of the truth. And when we were
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  Speaker 1: exposed to that, we realized, this is what we have
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  Speaker 1: been missing. Interesting same Bible, same verses that we had
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  Speaker 1: looked at all through our earlier years, same no different voices,
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  Speaker 1: new voices, voices that were from people who had made
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  Speaker 1: a deep and a consistent study of the scriptures, so
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  Speaker 1: that it made sense, and we found our soul satisfied.
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  Speaker 1: We made a tough decision, the first in our family,
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  Speaker 1: to pull away from the long routes that had been
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  Speaker 1: a part of our lives. And some warned us, some
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  Speaker 1: told us we were moving into trouble.
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  Speaker 2: We certainly were in a new group of people that
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  Speaker 2: we had not known. It was a.
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  Speaker 1: Remarkable change that came over us. We found ourselves excited
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  Speaker 1: about going to classes that the word of God was
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  Speaker 1: taught and hearing different people that would open the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: and help us, help us see what is really there.
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  Speaker 1: And as Howi Hendrix would say, we moved from pablum
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  Speaker 1: to porterhouse. We moved from baby food where we were
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  Speaker 1: spoon fed Sunday after Sunday, Sunday after Sunday, Sunday after Sunday,
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  Speaker 1: where we were offered.
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  Speaker 2: Meat truth to live by.
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  Speaker 1: And suddenly we learned of the doctrines of the scriptures.
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  Speaker 2: We learned of justification and sanctification.
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  Speaker 1: We learned of the prophetic plan of God for the future,
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  Speaker 1: that it isn't all sort of.
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  Speaker 2: Up for grabs so that we'll all wind.
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  Speaker 1: Up the same place at the right time, and we'll
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  Speaker 1: all kind of sing glory. It's not like that at all,
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  Speaker 1: that the world is not going to get better but worse,
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  Speaker 1: because the scriptures teach in the last days, savage times
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  Speaker 1: will come, and that's where we are.
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  Speaker 2: So we weren't disillusioned, we weren't hopeless. God's word was
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  Speaker 2: being fulfilled.
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  Speaker 1: What was happening was the authority of the scriptures took
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  Speaker 1: hold of us, and we wanted that regardless of who
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  Speaker 1: the speaker may be. We have been in churches where
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  Speaker 1: the pastor was sort of the prima donna. You never
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  Speaker 1: questioned the pastor. But we learned in this new setting
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  Speaker 1: that there's no church boss. Pastors aren't the boss of
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  Speaker 1: the church. Corporations are run by bosses, the churches and
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  Speaker 1: the corporation. The church is a family, and God is
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  Speaker 1: the head. Christ is the lord of the church. Christ
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  Speaker 1: is the one we worship, and the pastor is under
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  Speaker 1: the authority of Christ, just as the people are.
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  Speaker 2: And we could rest our case. It was magnificent.
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  Speaker 1: We moved from the opinion of preachers to the authority
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  Speaker 1: of the truth oh, I agreed it was, And all
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  Speaker 1: of a sudden, the truths had a new flavor, had
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  Speaker 1: a great taste.
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  Speaker 2: I have a friend who doesn't enjoy fish, never goes
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  Speaker 2: to a fish restaurant, won't be found in a fish market,
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  Speaker 2: doesn't like even the smell of it. Well, it isn't
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  Speaker 2: that great at smell, but I mean he didn't like
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  Speaker 2: it no matter what.
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  Speaker 1: And then he went with us, and we were with
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  Speaker 1: a group on our Alaska cruise. We went to a
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  Speaker 1: lodge called Taku Lodge where they fixed salmon out on
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  Speaker 1: the grill. And if you can't fight the bears away
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  Speaker 1: along enough, you can get enough salmon together to come
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  Speaker 1: inside and enjoy. Makes my jaws hurt just thinking about
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  Speaker 1: salmon at Taku Lodge. And my friend goes, this is great.
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  Speaker 1: Suddenly he's eating salmon, but not your garden variety salmon.
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  Speaker 1: He's eating salmon like no other place. And we caught
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  Speaker 1: the truth like never before. And you know what, nothing
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  Speaker 1: else satisfies.
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  Speaker 2: Whom ma. We lorded these soul thirst.
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  Speaker 1: To satisfy exhaustless spring. The water's free, all other streams
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  Speaker 1: are dry. Hedy young man, say to me following the
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  Speaker 1: first service today, as he named a particular church he
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  Speaker 1: came out of and and he said, I'm not here
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  Speaker 1: to talk about that, He's I just want to tell
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  Speaker 1: you I went through a similar situation. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: the difference it has made is like night and day.
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  Speaker 2: He just lit up.
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  Speaker 1: He said, I was bored for the first twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: five years of my life. And now that I've gotten
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  Speaker 1: a hold of digging into the word for myself and
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  Speaker 1: seeing that it speaks to me with authority, that I
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  Speaker 1: can't describe the change it's made. Now I've used the
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  Speaker 1: words several times, so we need to define it. What
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  Speaker 1: do I mean by the authority of Holy Scripture? Now
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  Speaker 1: I did just what you can do. So let me
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  Speaker 1: give you a tip. I have no corner on truth.
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  Speaker 1: You can study just as I study. You have Webster's Dictionary,
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  Speaker 1: just like I do. Get your dictionary. Look up authority.
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  Speaker 1: This is the definition you'll find. It's excellent. The right
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  Speaker 1: and power to command to exact obedience, to influence thought, opinion.
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  Speaker 2: Or behavior. That's a great definition.
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  Speaker 1: When the scriptures speak, they have the right to command
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  Speaker 1: to exact obedience from the reader to influence my thought,
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  Speaker 1: my opinion, my behavior, and it's done. The scriptures have
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  Speaker 1: done that for years and years and years. In my life,
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  Speaker 1: I have no corner on the truth. I have eyes
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  Speaker 1: like you have. It's in English, just like you read,
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  Speaker 1: and you and I can read through this. And as
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  Speaker 1: the authority of the.
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  Speaker 2: Scriptures comes over us, we realize that that is where
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  Speaker 2: the power is, not in me, not in us, It's
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  Speaker 2: in the Word.
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  Speaker 1: I love the way John R. W. Stott put it here. Then,
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  Speaker 1: is the preacher's authority. It depends on the closeness of
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  Speaker 1: his adherents to the text he's handling, that is, on
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  Speaker 1: the accuracy with which he has understood it, and on
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  Speaker 1: the forcefulness with which.
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  Speaker 2: It has spoken to his own soul.
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  Speaker 1: In the ideal sermon, it is the Word itself which speaks,
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  Speaker 1: or rather God in and through his word. The less
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  Speaker 1: the preacher comes between the Word and its hearers.
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  Speaker 2: The better he goes on.
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  Speaker 1: Expository preaching is a most exacting discipline.
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  Speaker 2: Perhaps that is why it is so rare.
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  Speaker 1: The systematic preaching of the Word is impossible without the
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  Speaker 1: systematic study of it. Like you, I read it verse
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  Speaker 1: by verse and sometime word by word, and I say
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  Speaker 1: to the Lord, I need insight here, and I don't
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  Speaker 1: have it in myself. Show me what this is saying,
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  Speaker 1: and let me read what you have written for my
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  Speaker 1: life and for those I'll be teaching.
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  Speaker 2: Now, Why is this important? Why am I on the
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  Speaker 2: subject as we're dealing with the sermon on the mouth
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  Speaker 2: in Jesus' words? Here's the reason.
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  Speaker 1: Because without the Holy Scriptures, we have no standard. It's
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  Speaker 1: like building a house with no measuring mark, with no
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  Speaker 1: slide ruler, with no level. The word of God gives
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  Speaker 1: me the measuring marks of my life. Thy word is truth,
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  Speaker 1: and otherwise we do what seems right in our eyes.
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  Speaker 1: You do what your parents told you to do. I
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  Speaker 1: do what my parents told me to do, and a
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  Speaker 1: lot of other things. Beyond no disparage comment about any parents,
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  Speaker 1: but parents are not omniscient. Everything they taught us is
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  Speaker 1: not right. Much of what they taught us is magnificent.
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  Speaker 1: But my parents were wrong in some areas. If I
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  Speaker 1: operated my life according to that, I would operate my
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  Speaker 1: life in contrast to the scriptures. So as I grew up,
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  Speaker 1: I needed my parents less, just like you, and I
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  Speaker 1: needed the truth more so that now my authority rests here.
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  Speaker 1: And if this book says it, I adjust my life
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  Speaker 1: to it. I may have a temper, but when the
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  Speaker 1: scripture says that has no place in the Christian life,
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  Speaker 1: then my rage has to be kept under control. Or
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  Speaker 1: I'm in sin, I'm a lust or I'm a covet
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  Speaker 1: or i may be selfish. And the reason I know
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  Speaker 1: that is because the scriptures teach me that lusting and
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  Speaker 1: covetousness and selfishness are sins. It doesn't matter how I
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  Speaker 1: feel about it. That's what the scripture teaches. And if
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  Speaker 1: that's what scripture teaches, I need to adjust my life
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  Speaker 1: by it.
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  Speaker 2: Now, what does all this have to say to the
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  Speaker 2: sermon them? Mount stop and think?
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  Speaker 1: The people who came and heard Jesus teach that day
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  Speaker 1: had been raised in the church. They called it a synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: and they had listened to the scribes and the Pharisees.
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  Speaker 1: They had listened to their rabbis year after year, year
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  Speaker 1: after year, year after monotonous year, and much of the
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  Speaker 1: teaching was based on tradition, tradition, Like Fiddler on the Roof, tradition, tradition,
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  Speaker 1: it's everything.
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  Speaker 2: No, the tradition of.
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  Speaker 1: Men and women is not authority, but it is impressive,
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  Speaker 1: and it is also on occasion absolutely wrong. So these
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  Speaker 1: people who have been raised in the synagogue sit down
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  Speaker 1: and they listen to someone who speaks not like a
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  Speaker 1: scribe or pharisee, and it's like, huh, what, We'll look
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  Speaker 1: for yourself. Look at the end of the sermon, chapter seven,
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  Speaker 1: verse twenty eight, and verse twenty nine. You'll see it
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  Speaker 1: right here seven twenty eight. When Jesus had finished these words,
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  Speaker 1: that is, he finished his message. We call it the
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  Speaker 1: Sermon on the Mount.
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  Speaker 2: What happened? The crowds were amazed at his teaching.
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  Speaker 1: I remember having that experience when I found he became
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  Speaker 1: exposed to the truth. I sat back and I would
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  Speaker 1: say to Cynthia, that's what we've been missing. Is this
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  Speaker 1: magnificent or what not? Isn't he great? It wasn't about
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  Speaker 1: the preacher. It was about seeing the truth. And these
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  Speaker 1: people heard the truth, and they had never heard anything
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  Speaker 1: like it. They were amazed, for he was teaching them
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  Speaker 1: as one having authority, not.
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  Speaker 2: As the scribes.
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  Speaker 1: He was teaching them as one who was true, and
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  Speaker 1: they had never heard anything like in his Remember the
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  Speaker 1: at the crucifixion Centurion couldn't couldn't think of it. Remember
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: when the centurion reports back. No one ever spoke like
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: this man. He's like none other. He represents something we've
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: never heard before. So when we get into the servant
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: and when we work our way through it, we shouldn't
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: be surprised that there had been critics, even early on
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: in his ministry, who said he's abolishing the law. He
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: stands against the prophets because he took on the scribes
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: and pharisees, and he called a spade a spade. In fact,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: he called them hypocrites, which they were. But like in
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: my younger years, you never criticized the pastor, he's the boss.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: You never criticize the pharisee. He's the art. No no, no, no, wait,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: you've already forgotten. This is the authority. So we place
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: ourselves under the rule of scripture.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: And if I teach something that cannot be backed up
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: in scripture, I am wrong.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: You have no business following that teaching.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: However, if I do base it on the scriptures, after
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: a careful study, you are wise to follow the teachings
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: of scripture. Now that's the group of people Jesus is
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: talking to. They've heard the criticism. So for the first time,
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Jesus changes all the us to I verses one through
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: sixteen of chapter five. It's you, you, including you are
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the salt of the earth. You are the light of
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: the world.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: But when he gets to verse seventeen, he says, do
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: not think that I.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: So he changes from second person plural, we would say,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: here all y'all, y'all ought to do this, y'all ought
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: to do that. But when he gets to verse seventeen,
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: he says, I I came. I did not come to
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: abolish the law. I did not come to abolish it,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: but to fulfill it. See I twice in verse seventeen,
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: look at eighteen. For truly, I say to you verse twenty.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: For I say to you now, he says, let me
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: tell you a little bit about me personally. I'm not
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: here to abolish the truth. I'm here to uphold the truth,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: to fulfill it in every way, personally, ethically, in every
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: possible way. I'm here to fulfill it. That's why the
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: Father sent me. But the fact was they were surrounded
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: by people whose tradition trumped the scriptures, so that what
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: they taught about keeping the Sabbath went further than the
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: law taught. Not only were you to be clean. But
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: they had a way of washing hands that it was
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: meticulous and time consuming. And you washed this hand in
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: a certain way with the fist on the palm, and
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: then you wash that hand a certain way, and then
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: you let the water drip off the elbows, and then
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: you let the water drip off the fingers. None of
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: that is in scripture. It's the tradition of men. But
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: if you did not do that, you're criticized. Just like
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: when we were in that church I mentioned, we were
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: given a list. You don't dance, you don't play cards.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: There's no mixed bathing. I think they meant mixed swimming,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: but there's no mixed swimming a right, And if you
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: do that and Sunday, you don't want the loan on Sunday.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: Where does the scriptures say that that's the Sabbath.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Sabbath is Saturday. And all these people walking around with
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: the rules.
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: For Sunday in the Sabbath Shava mean seventh, the seventh
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: day of the week. All of that took place on
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: the shabab. And they added to the let me show
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: you chapter fifteen. Look over there, right quick, hold your place.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: I'm going to get to chapter five. Nowhere I'll get there,
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: but you got to see it in light of all
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: of this, and then you can understand and appreciate you.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: Look at fifteen.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: I love this passage.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Some Phariseason's cribs came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: why do your disciples break the tradition with the elders?
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: Trying to sound officious.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Why do they do that? For they do not wash
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: their hands when they eat bread. Really, there's nothing in
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: the commandments about washing it. But there is something in
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: their commandments. See, they added hundreds of things to the law,
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: became a part of their books that they taught.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: So why do they do that?
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: And he answered and said, why do you yourselves transgress
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: Now you understand, why.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: Do you give the people this long list of things
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: that they do and do not do when.
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: God's word does not teach that.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: For God said, honor your father and mother, and he
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: who speaks evil of father and mother is to be
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: put to death. But you say, whoever says to his
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: father or mother, whatever whatever I have that would help you,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: has been given to God. It was a way to
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: keep things for themselves and not help their parents as
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: they age. He is not to honor his father. He's
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: one of is what they taught by this, You invalidated
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: Got it? You see it?
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: Now go to the next verse down at verse twelve.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: I love this verse. Then the disciples came to him
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: and said, do you know the Pharisees were offended?
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: Really? Really?
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: You mean when I called him hypocrits, they were hypocrites.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: But nobody had the guts. I'll use the word guts.
• 32:26
  Speaker 2: Nobody had the guts to call them hypocrits.
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: But Jesus could because he understood righteousness.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: Which had nothing to do with external living, all with
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: internal It's not what.
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: Goes into the man that corrupts him, it's what comes
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: out from the inside.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: Now about to chapter five.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: So much more I want to say about that, but
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: I don't want to get through this passage. So Jesus
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: in the Law verses seventeen and eighteen. In case you
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: think he's soft on the law, look at verse eighteen,
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: one of my favorite verses in the Sermon on the Mount.
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: You'll see why truly I say to you, until Heaven
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: and Earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: shall pass from the law until all is accomplished. When
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: you and I were growing up, we carried a King
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: James Bible. Some of you may still that's fine. And
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: in the old King Jay's Bible it called it a
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: jot and a tittle.
• 33:32
  Speaker 2: Remember, every jot and.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: Tittle will be will be fulfilled, will be kept. What's
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: a jot and what's a tittle? I remember quoting the
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: verse years earlier. I never knew what that meant until
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: I became exposed to someone teaching the truth who explained
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: jot and tittle.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: Allow me to do that.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: Turn back to someone nineteen. Let's just do it right.
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: Psalm one nineteen right in the middle of your Bible.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: And it's the longest psalm, and it's an acrostic psalm.
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: Here's what I mean by that. It's in stanzas of
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: eight verses each all the.
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Way through to the end of the psalm.
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: And each of the stanzas begins with the same Hebrew letter,
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: and there are successive letters in the alphabet. Look for
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: yourself if you have a new American Standard Bible, as
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: I'm carrying today, you will see not only the name
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: of the letter, but you'll see the character itself. Look
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: at some one nineteen verse one, and look right above
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: verse one. Your Bible may read alifh.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: What's that?
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: That's the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. If you
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: wonder what it looks like, you have a new American
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: her Bible. Look to the left and you'll see the
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: little alif. Go down to verse nine, second stanza b
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: there's a beeth right there. That's what the b in
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: Hebrew looks like.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: Okay, go to.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: Verse seventeen, eight verses later, next stanza Gimmel.
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: All of the verses in.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: This section seventeen through twenty four start with gimmel, one
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The next letter
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: verse twenty five is Dali. Now I won't keep this
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: all the way through, but I want you to understand.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: This takes you through the Hebrew alphabet.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: I'llt bath gimmel daleth hey, while Zion calf taffy old kappo,
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: I mean name. So I sent Genta all the way
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: to the end. Now let me show you the job.
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: Keep reading. Go over to verse seventy three. I love
• 35:58
  Speaker 2: this kind of teaching. Some of your going what time
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: is he through? So I for you I apologize, But
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: for the rest of you, look, look at yode.
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: It's the word translated jot in the King James Bible.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Yo d h yode you in with your tongue between
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: your teeth.
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: It's not yode. It's yode. Like you would say loathe,
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: say yothe with me.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Yo. You could tell somebody at lunch you learn a
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: little Hebrew over there. Now it looks like an apostrophe.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: That's the smallest Hebrew letter and all the alphabet, not
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: one yode, not even the verse, but not one of
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: the smallest letter.
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: The smallest letter will pass away, not one yode. Now
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: let me show you a tittle. Look at dollith. Go back.
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: We were there earlier ce verse twenty five. Okay, stay
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: with me, hold your place, and go all the way
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: to Rash. All right, that would be like our r
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: Here we go. We're on a search for Rash verse one, p.
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: Fifty three.
• 37:20
  Speaker 2: There you are. Now look at it. See the race,
• 37:27
  Speaker 2: see the dollarth. The race just is a little looks
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: like a right angle, little soft curve. The dollar has
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: a then it goes down. That is the tittle. It's
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: a part of a letter. It distinguishes the dollar from
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: the race. What does this have to say about scripture?
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: How important is it that we take scripture literally? He
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: protects right down to the yode and the tittle.
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: God cares so much about his word that not even
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: the smallest letter of any part of the word, of
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: any verse of scripture, of any book of the Bible
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: will pass away, right down to the very stroke that
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: distinguishes a dollar from a race. Now you're back to
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: Matthew chapter five. Now let me ask you something. Don't
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: answer out loud.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: Did you know that? Probably you didn't, And you know what.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: That's okay, But now that you know it, you're beginning
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: to see what I mean when I say by attending
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: a church that teaches the Bible, not just the Gospel story,
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: but the Bible, you get into the details that begin
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: to make sense. And if a yog and tittle will
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: make sense, think of the difference it will make when
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: you understand the Sermon on the Mount and how it
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: can impact your life.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: Suddenly it's not just a section of scripture you put
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: in a coffee table Bible and say, oh, we believe
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: all of that.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: No, this is truth to live by. Look at verse eighteen.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: I say to you, until heaven and earth passed away,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: law until all is accomplished. Was Jesus soft on the scriptures?
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: Not if I believe verse eighteen. No, not in your life.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: I won't change one thing. I won't remove one part
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: of one letter of one verse. You're surrounded by those
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: who teach otherwise.
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: I will not do that.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: I will lead you into the truth. The Word is
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: truth now the Christian and the Law is nineteen and twenty.
• 39:50
  Speaker 2: Move there. Whoever then annuls one of the least of
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: these commandments and teaches others to do the same, shall
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. Doubt it.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: There are those who do that. There are those who.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: Are in various cults and different kinds of churches that
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: will cause you to question your faith.
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: They will weaken your trust in the scriptures. They spend
• 40:23
  Speaker 2: their time.
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: Picking and choosing at those places that they call contradictions,
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: which are not that at all.
• 40:32
  Speaker 2: But because that.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: Is true, there is a desire to weaken your confidence
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: in the Word. Never doubt it. Every generation. The watershed
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: issue is the Word of God. Have nothing to do
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: with any church or any kind of teaching that diminishes.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: The Word of God.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: Stay away from it, run from it, Move toward the
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: wherever they may be and whoever they may be, who
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: take the scripture literally and teach the scriptures carefully, accurately, clearly, practically,
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: so that when you have finished with the message.
• 41:15
  Speaker 2: You go, I've got something I can take home with me.
• 41:19
  Speaker 2: This makes sense. So look at the next verse.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: For I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom.
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: What does that mean? Now you've got to think about that.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: What does it mean to surpass the righteousness of the
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: scribes and Pharisees.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: Let me give you a little bit of help. Think
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: of the words go beyond, or goes deeper, or comes
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: from within, not without.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: See, the Scribes and Pharisees taught an external righteousness. This
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: is the way Dwight Pentecost describes it. Scribes and Pharisees had
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: interpreted the law of God to apply only to outward acts,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: never to the thoughts that produced the act. They said
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: it was wrong to murder, but they said nothing about
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: the hate that produces murder. They said it was wrong
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: to commit adultery, but nothing about the lust that produces adultery.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: They said it was wrong to steal, but they said
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: nothing about the covetousness which leads to stealing. As long
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: as you were not caught in some act, you were
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: righteous in the sight of the Pharisees. And Jesus says, no, no, no, no,
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: you got to go beyond that. I'm going to talk,
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: and he does as the sermon unfolds. I'm going to
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: talk about the covetousness of your own heart. I'm going
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: to talk about the lust that dwells there that causes
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: you to look at the opposite sex.
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: With adultery in mind, it's not the act.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: Of adultery that leads to the problem, it's the thought
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: that leads to the act.
• 43:12
  Speaker 2: And Jesus goes right back to the thought.
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: That's a righteousness that goes beyond the righteousness of the
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: scribes and the Pharisees. You know how proud those people
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: were of their own traditional teaching. There was a saying
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: among the Jews in the first century, if only two
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: people go to heaven, one will be a scribe and.
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: The other a pharisee. Really, Jesus says neither.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: Why do you think they nailed him to a cross
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: because the majority were led by the traditionalists.
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: Get rid of him.
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: He is exposing the evil of our lives. Those who
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: don't want to be exposed, get rid of the one
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: who does so. Now we've covered only four verses, but
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: I want to apply them because I think they're worth
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: remembering and carrying with us. I've got three thoughts I
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: want to share with you. One is from verses seventeen
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: and eighteen, another from verse nineteen, and the third from
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: verse twenty. Here's the first, based on seventeen through eighteen.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: Our respect for the scriptures must be absolute, not almost.
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: Our respect for the scriptures must be absolute, not.
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: Almost. You say, well, check, that's pretty narrow. I know.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: Let's say you were going into surgery, and just before
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: you were under the influence of the anesthesia. The doctor
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: says to you, I just want you to know that
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: my gloves are almost sterile.
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: I have a feeling go wait, wait, wait, why wait,
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: it's all moved.
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: What if you were really thirsty and I brought you
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: a jog of water full gallon, and I say to you,
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: there's only one drop of poison. Go right ahead, drink up.
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: You wouldn't put that container to your mouth one drop
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: because it's almost pure. Be very careful, men and women
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: about picking and choosing your way.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Through the scriptures.
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: Be very careful before you x out some things that
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: are pretty convicting for you.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: What do you need to x out is the sin
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: in your own life.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: God's word speaks for itself and speaks with absolute authority.
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: And I want to tell you, when I read something
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: here that me I've learned, don't fight.
• 46:02
  Speaker 2: It, address it, deal with it.
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: But the power of the spirit of God, let that
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: be taken care of in your life. So our respect
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: for the scriptures must be absolute Verse nineteen. Here's a second.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: Our obedience to the scriptures should be total, not partial.
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: Before you're tipted to compromise, remember that principle. Our obedience
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: to the scriptures should be total.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: Not partial. I'm going to get downright specific. Okay, scripture says,
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: don't be unequally yoked.
• 46:44
  Speaker 1: And let's say you're not married, and let's say you
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: are attracted to this individual who is not a believer,
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: and the scripture says, don't yoke yourself up with don't
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: marry someone who is an unbeliever. Don't go there. Don't
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: do that. Either you obey that or you're led by
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: your emotions. You fall in love and you marry. You say, well,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: you know, God's a god of grace, you'll understand.
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: Wait wait, hold it.
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: No chieapen grace to apologize for your sinful decision. Grace
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: was never meant to give you a pass through things
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: that are a little bit uncomfortable for you or a
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: little bit exacting. You're going to make your decision that
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: you're going to obey scripture, and obey scripture guard against
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: compromise that leads to corruption.
• 47:40
  Speaker 2: If he cares about the john and tittle, he cares
• 47:42
  Speaker 2: about the details. Here's the third.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: Our commitment to a scriptural lifestyle is to be inward
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: and deep, not external and superficial. Our commitment to a
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: scriptural lifestyle is to be in and deep, not external
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: and superficial. I'm not to conduct myself in a way
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: that I impress you. That's not my goal. My goal
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: is not to tell you what you want to hear.
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: I do that because I want to please people. I've
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: stopped doing that.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: I used to do that, As you've noticed, I don't
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: do that anymore.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: I've decided that's external that's designed to make you think
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: well of me. I'd rather you not like me at
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: all and be reproved by the truth of Scripture than
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: to like me and let me help you compromise.
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: My lifestyle is to be marked by what's on the inside.
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: It's not how I look. It's not even how I sound.
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: It's how I think. It's the hidden motive of my heart.
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: The psalmest in Psalm one point thirty nine, Search me, o, God,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: and know my heart.
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: Try me and know my thoughts. Get that heart, thoughts,
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: see if there be any wicked way in me, and
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: lead me into the way of elasting. Let's do that.
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: Will you bow, please, just for a moment, right there,
• 49:25
  Speaker 1: Just stay right there. I say that the Prophet rights,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: though your sins be a scarlet, they will be white
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: as snow. The beauty of the Cross of Christ is
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: that it's able.
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: To change a dark heart, a heart given to selfishness
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: and arrogance and lust and covetousness. Pride was able to
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: wash it clean through the blood of Christ.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: So if you've never met Christ, this is the promise.
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: Believe in him, you will have eternal life. It's nothing
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: you do that earns your way in. It's what you
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: believe about the death and resurrection of Christ. Something in
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: your life that is displeasing to the Lord.
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: Only you know.
• 50:36
  Speaker 1: But if He's spoken to you today in any special way,
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: this is a great moment to let him search you.
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: And change you.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: May even be a need to apologize for those you've
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: been offending, making things right with those you have done
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: wrong by, And it's a great time to to relieve
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: yourself of any.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: Grudge and to forgive Him. Just forgive them, Lord of
• 51:16
  Speaker 2: these are these are great truths, and I'm not sure
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: I did a great job of explaining them. But I
• 51:24
  Speaker 2: pray that you'll take these halting words and that you
• 51:28
  Speaker 2: will help people unwind them, unravel them so they see
• 51:35
  Speaker 2: the value of your word. Maybe leave impressed with your word.
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: Maybe want to follow Jesus closer, not some preacher. Maybe
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: long for the good word of God, not just an
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: exciting event. Are a few outward actions? Clean us up, Lord,
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: purify our thoughts, and lead us in the right direction.
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: I pray this in the name of Jesus. Everyone said Amen.
• 52:24
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, Crucial Truths Rarely Understood, was copyrighted in
• 52:29
  Speaker 3: twenty fifteen and twenty twenty one, and the sound recording
• 52:33
  Speaker 3: was copyrighted in twenty twenty one by Charles R. Swindaw, Inc.
• 52:38
  Speaker 3: All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for
• 52:42
  Speaker 3: commercial use is strictly prohibited.