Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Adding the Spices Applying the Text │ Msg 58 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Adding the Spices Applying the Text │ Msg 58 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: We have come today to the subject of application. Having
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  Speaker 1: looked at observation and interpretation correlation in the process of
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  Speaker 1: learning how to get into the Word for ourselves, we
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  Speaker 1: come to the crowning part, and that is the application
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  Speaker 1: of God's truth to our lives. And if you have
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  Speaker 1: not done so already, you will find in your worship
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  Speaker 1: folder and outline for today's message which you could use
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  Speaker 1: to follow along with me as we work our way
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  Speaker 1: through this ultra important subject of applying the wisdom of
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures. Please turn to Psalm one hundred and thirty
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  Speaker 1: nine Psalm one thirty nine. I'll read the first several verses,
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  Speaker 1: and then we will turn to the last two verses
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  Speaker 1: of the Psalm as we find the application of what
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  Speaker 1: David writes in the first part of the Psalm. Once
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  Speaker 1: you've located it, please, out of respect for the Word
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  Speaker 1: of God and the God of the Word, stand for
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  Speaker 1: the reading of this word. I'm reading from the New
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  Speaker 1: Living Translation. Oh Lord, you have examined my heart and
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  Speaker 1: know everything about me. You know when I sit down
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  Speaker 1: or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm
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  Speaker 1: far away. You see me when I travel and when
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  Speaker 1: I rest at home. You know everything I do. You
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  Speaker 1: know what I'm going to say, even before I say it. Lord,
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  Speaker 1: you go before me and follow me. You place your
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  Speaker 1: hand blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful
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  Speaker 1: for me, too great for me to wand I can
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  Speaker 1: never escape from your spirit. I can never get away
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  Speaker 1: from your presence. If I go up to heaven, you
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  Speaker 1: are there. If I go down to the grave, you
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  Speaker 1: are there. If I ride the wings of the morning,
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  Speaker 1: if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there, your
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  Speaker 1: hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.
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  Speaker 1: I could ask the darkness to hide me, and the
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  Speaker 1: light around me to become night. But even in darkness
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  Speaker 1: I cannot hide from you. To you, the night shines
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  Speaker 1: as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same
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  Speaker 1: to you. Verse twenty three. Search me, o, God, and
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  Speaker 1: know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead
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  Speaker 1: me along the path of everlasting life. Please be seated.
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  Speaker 1: The entire psalm is obviously a prayer where he calls
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  Speaker 1: on the Lord, his God, who knows him, who is
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  Speaker 1: ever with him, and who watches over him. While thinking
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  Speaker 1: on that, I came across this magnificent statement from Charles Finney,
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  Speaker 1: who was the leading revivalist of the nineteenth century, the
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  Speaker 1: president of Oberlin College during the Civil War and a
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  Speaker 1: year after. Back in those days, he wrote this, if
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  Speaker 1: there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible
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  Speaker 1: for it. If the public press lacks moral discernment, the
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  Speaker 1: pulpit is responsible for it. If the Church is degenerate
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  Speaker 1: and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the
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  Speaker 1: world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible
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  Speaker 1: for it. If Satan rules in the halls of legislation,
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  Speaker 1: the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become
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  Speaker 1: so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are
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  Speaker 1: ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.
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  Speaker 1: I think I get the point, and so do you.
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  Speaker 1: We don't hear about that today. The pulpe it today
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  Speaker 1: has become a place of entertainment. It's not a place
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  Speaker 1: of teaching, of exhortation, of challenge, of reproving and rebuking
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  Speaker 1: and correcting and leading the people of God into righteousness.
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  Speaker 1: And that grieves me greatly, and it has for years,
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  Speaker 1: in my fifty one years in ministry. I have watched
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  Speaker 1: the fading of the strong pulpit. Rare are the churches
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  Speaker 1: where the speaker, the preacher, the one who stands and delivers,
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  Speaker 1: speaks with authority from the Word of God, week after week.
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  Speaker 1: That will be my message. Let's pray we have drifted
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  Speaker 1: along ways, our Father, from the days of our forefathers,
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  Speaker 1: when there were artillery sermons in the Revolutionary War, when
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  Speaker 1: there were sermons of conviction in the Civil War, when
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  Speaker 1: there were days of enlightenment that came from the power
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  Speaker 1: of a pulpit that had the courage to speak without
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  Speaker 1: compromise or fear. Use the words that will be shared
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  Speaker 1: in unique ways to arouse those who have become lethargic
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  Speaker 1: and indifferent, those who have stopped studying and started entertaining.
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  Speaker 1: Show us again and again, our Father, at this church
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  Speaker 1: and others like this one, that it is worth all
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  Speaker 1: of the effort to spend time in preparation and delivery
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  Speaker 1: of your word, which alone can give life. Heaven and
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  Speaker 1: earth will pass away, but your word will never pass away.
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  Speaker 1: The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word
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  Speaker 1: of You, our God, lives forever. How grateful we are
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  Speaker 1: for this one hundred and thirty ninth Psalm, penned not
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  Speaker 1: by a perfect man, but by a caring psalmist who
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  Speaker 1: knew you and walked with you, and loved you and
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  Speaker 1: served your people as their greatest King. Give us insight
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  Speaker 1: into what you have said, into what it means, to
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  Speaker 1: how it relates to life, and what it says to
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  Speaker 1: us personally. We give our gifts at this offering time,
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  Speaker 1: confident that you will use them, each dollar, each penny,
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  Speaker 1: each check, for the purpose of disseminating the good news
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  Speaker 1: of Christ and feeding flocks all around this world, including
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  Speaker 1: this one. In the name of your son, our savior,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who died that we might have live eternal
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  Speaker 1: We pray and everyone said amen. I was a first
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  Speaker 1: year seminary student. The year was nineteen fifty nine and
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  Speaker 1: I was sitting in the class taught by Howard George Hendricks.
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  Speaker 1: The class was titled Bible Study Methods. He began that
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  Speaker 1: particular class with a shocking statement. If you observe and
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  Speaker 1: interpret and correlate the scriptures, but failed to apply the scriptures,
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  Speaker 1: you have committed an abortion. The word stunned me, just
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  Speaker 1: as they shock you. Stop and think about what he
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  Speaker 1: was saying. The abrupt, vivid word picture of his sentence
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  Speaker 1: made us realize as a class what a tragedy it
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  Speaker 1: is to do the hard work of studying the sacred scriptures,
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  Speaker 1: coming to an understanding of what the scriptures are saying
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  Speaker 1: and what they mean, and then failing to apply it
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  Speaker 1: personally without application, you have delivered a stillborn For it
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  Speaker 1: is in the application of the truth we find conviction, direction, correction, encouragement,
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  Speaker 1: and on and on the list would go. I've never
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  Speaker 1: forgotten the words of doctor Hendrix. They haunt me every
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  Speaker 1: time I sit down to prepare a message. I remember
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  Speaker 1: those words and words like them. Study hard, read thoroughly,
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  Speaker 1: and carefully so that you observe what the Bible is saying.
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  Speaker 1: Spend time in the analysis of interpretation, so that your
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  Speaker 1: observations will lead you to an understanding of the meaning
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  Speaker 1: of this passage, at least in the mind of the
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  Speaker 1: writer himself, and then the meaning for us who live
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  Speaker 1: centuries after the text was written. But most of all,
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  Speaker 1: the crowning part of your task is to find ways
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  Speaker 1: in which you see how the truth is applicable for
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  Speaker 1: your life. We cut short something wonderful that was meant
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  Speaker 1: to live on when we fail to apply. So I
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  Speaker 1: will jump in right here and say, if you are
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  Speaker 1: a teacher of an adult fellowship, if you have a
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  Speaker 1: class of any size, or any age or stage in life,
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  Speaker 1: you teach in your neighborhood Bible study, fellowship, a community
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  Speaker 1: Bible study, whatever may be that gathering, make certain that
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  Speaker 1: you don't simply teach each the meaning and the various
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  Speaker 1: verses and what they are saying. You take the time
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  Speaker 1: to spell out how those verses apply. James reminds us.
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  Speaker 1: To him who knows what he ought to do and
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  Speaker 1: doesn't do it, to him, it is sin. So take
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  Speaker 1: that personally. I do I commit a sin if what
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  Speaker 1: I do is simply teach the Bible and leave it
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  Speaker 1: there for you to make your own application, Cynthia, And
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  Speaker 1: I said, under the teaching of a very fine scholar
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  Speaker 1: for a number of years, he could take the text apart.
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  Speaker 1: He could analyze the verses as well as anyone I
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  Speaker 1: have ever heard. But toward the end of his message
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  Speaker 1: he would usually say, and now may the Lord apply
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  Speaker 1: these verses to our lives, and let's pray. And I
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  Speaker 1: would think, no, you help us apply them. You're the
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  Speaker 1: one who helped us understand what they're saying. Help us
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  Speaker 1: know where we're going in our lives with this, show
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  Speaker 1: us spell it out. Get specific. I've observed over the
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  Speaker 1: years that if people do not apply the scriptures, they
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  Speaker 1: will not remember the scriptures, even if our observations are insightful,
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  Speaker 1: even if our interpretations are accurate, even if we correlate
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  Speaker 1: the scriptures one with another and pull them all together
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  Speaker 1: so that we see what the Bible says here and elsewhere,
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  Speaker 1: If it is not applied, it means little to us.
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  Speaker 1: We cut it short. You see, it's what we do
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  Speaker 1: about what we discover that God cares about. God never
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  Speaker 1: gave us his word merely to satisfy idle curiosity or
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  Speaker 1: to fill our heads with biblical facts. He gave us
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  Speaker 1: his word to change our lives, to transform us from
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  Speaker 1: people who continue to sin and carry on our lives
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  Speaker 1: without righteousness, rather than people who understand what the Bible
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  Speaker 1: is saying and how it will lead me into a
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  Speaker 1: journey that doesn't come naturally, and the application of truth
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  Speaker 1: will do that. Let's learn never to go there. So
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  Speaker 1: all of this leads me to the point of analyzing application.
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  Speaker 1: What do we mean When we talk about applying the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: very simple, it means taking God's word personally. It's making
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  Speaker 1: sure we allow its truths to grip us in personal
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  Speaker 1: areas that need attention and call for action. If I
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  Speaker 1: give the Gospel regarding the Lord Jesus Christ to you today,
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  Speaker 1: and I tell you that Jesus Christ died for our
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  Speaker 1: sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried,
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  Speaker 1: and that he was raised the third day miraculously and
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  Speaker 1: bodily from the grave, and that complete penalty for sin
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  Speaker 1: is your opportunity to have eternal life. And I say
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  Speaker 1: to you, by application, you must receive this message personally.
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  Speaker 1: And you do not do so, you are no closer
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  Speaker 1: to the Lord than if you had never heard the gospel,
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  Speaker 1: because you have not applied the gospel personally. The Gospel
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  Speaker 1: is something we are to believe. The founder of our seminary,
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  Speaker 1: Lewis Ferrychafer, used to say, you have not given the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel until you have given people something to believe. You
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  Speaker 1: believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and when you trust him,
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  Speaker 1: when you lean on him for eternal life, the forgiveness
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  Speaker 1: of sins, you personally have taken into your life the
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  Speaker 1: person of Christ. The Holy Spirit resides within you. You
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  Speaker 1: are declared righteous before God. You at that moment are
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  Speaker 1: given gifts that are to be used in the body
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  Speaker 1: of Christ, and on and on the list goes. None
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  Speaker 1: of that transpires if you fail to apply it personally.
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  Speaker 1: You see, application asks, So what application demands? What do
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  Speaker 1: you plan to do about what you have heard or
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  Speaker 1: what you have learned? Application forces us to remember and
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  Speaker 1: to repeat James four, verse seventeen. To one who knows
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  Speaker 1: the right thing to do and does not do it,
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  Speaker 1: it is sin for you to understand what the Word
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  Speaker 1: of God is teaching and telling you to do, and
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  Speaker 1: for you to shrug your shoulders and go on doing
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  Speaker 1: as you please. Put succinctly, you have committed an act
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  Speaker 1: of sin. Remember it is sin to know what you
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  Speaker 1: ought to do and then not do it. Put succinctly.
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  Speaker 1: Application is obedience in action. Now why is it important?
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  Speaker 1: Let me give you several reasons. First, because we need
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  Speaker 1: to be practicing what we say we believe. The Book
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  Speaker 1: of James really revolves around this theme. If you say
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  Speaker 1: you believe like you should or why do you behave
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  Speaker 1: like you shouldn't? And so James invites us to come
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  Speaker 1: to the mirror of the Word of God and to
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  Speaker 1: see in the mirror the condition of our lives. And
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  Speaker 1: once we see what is there, we take action to
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  Speaker 1: deal with those things because we need to practice what
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  Speaker 1: we say we believe. There's a second because of the
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  Speaker 1: numerous commands and exhortations in both Old and New Testament
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  Speaker 1: regarding being obedient. We need to apply them those commands,
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  Speaker 1: those exhortations so that we become obedient followers of Christ.
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  Speaker 1: We're not blind followers were obedient followers. These directives, these
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  Speaker 1: commands are given for the purpose of our following what
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  Speaker 1: God has said. That makes application important. We take the
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  Speaker 1: truth in, we apply it, and we carry it out.
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  Speaker 1: Here's a third reason. It's important because only through the
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  Speaker 1: application of the scriptures are we able to operate our
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  Speaker 1: lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. As I
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  Speaker 1: apply the truth, the Spirit of God ignites the power
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  Speaker 1: that goes to work within me, and the application fuels
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  Speaker 1: the fire of the Spirit of God at work within me.
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  Speaker 1: Galatians five sixteen through twenty three assures me that application
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  Speaker 1: is really the fuel of the Holy Spirit as he
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  Speaker 1: ignites our lives with action Let's see if I can
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  Speaker 1: illustrate it like this, Since God has given us his word.
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  Speaker 1: Christ gave his word to his disciples, and then he left,
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  Speaker 1: and he said to them, you carry on until I
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  Speaker 1: come back. Let's imagine that I am the CEO of
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  Speaker 1: a corporation where all of us work. You are all
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  Speaker 1: employees of this corporation. My responsibility is to travel, and
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  Speaker 1: I am scheduled to make a six to seven to
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  Speaker 1: eight month tour of other countries. And while I am gone,
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  Speaker 1: I promise you that I'm going to do something that's
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  Speaker 1: very important for you to carry out. So I gathered
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  Speaker 1: together all of us as part of this team, a
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  Speaker 1: part of this corporation, and I say, look, while I
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  Speaker 1: am gone, I'm going to send you at least one
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  Speaker 1: e mail every week. Okay, we all have computers. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to send the message that relates to the corporation
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  Speaker 1: what I want done while I'm gone. I don't need
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  Speaker 1: to be there because you're very able to take it
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  Speaker 1: from there and to carry it out. Got it? Everybody says, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: got it? Understand, Okay, I'm gone. I faithfully write every
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  Speaker 1: week in an email to all of the company what
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  Speaker 1: I expect of you and what you are to do
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  Speaker 1: in my absence. Time passes. When I return, I drive
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  Speaker 1: up and I notice immediately that there is there is
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  Speaker 1: grass growing in the cracks of the parking lot. I
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  Speaker 1: walk in the front door and the receptionist sitting leaning
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  Speaker 1: back in a chair doing her nails, watching an afternoon
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  Speaker 1: TV show on the portable TV she's brought in. I
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  Speaker 1: look back in the area where your office is, and
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  Speaker 1: I notice several of you are playing video games. There
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  Speaker 1: are sandwiches and pizza or the remains of such laying around,
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  Speaker 1: and you're having the greatest time. You're betting on the
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  Speaker 1: football games. You're into fantasy football, and you're talking about
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  Speaker 1: which team won last week and which team is probably
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  Speaker 1: gonna win this week, and you're all involved in that.
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  Speaker 1: And I say, hold, holy stup, what's going on here?
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  Speaker 1: Oh welcome back. Oh great to have you back, I said,
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  Speaker 1: didn't you get my email? You know what? We got everyone?
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  Speaker 1: You know what, Chuck, you're a pretty good writer. We
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  Speaker 1: were fascinated by the messages you sent. In fact, we
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  Speaker 1: had email study. We had groups of people that would
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  Speaker 1: meet to study your email. This group studied these, and
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  Speaker 1: this group study those. We were especially interested in your
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  Speaker 1: words regarding the future because we liked future things, So
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  Speaker 1: we had a group that studied there. In fact, we
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  Speaker 1: have a group that's even memorized lines from your email.
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  Speaker 1: We really love what you sent us. Question is what
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  Speaker 1: what did you do about them? And then you've got
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  Speaker 1: this blank look do we didn't do anything about him,
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  Speaker 1: but we were faithful to study and even memorize some
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  Speaker 1: of the things you wrote. Doesn't matter. I left you
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  Speaker 1: these messages so that you could carry on in my absence.
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  Speaker 1: That illustrates exactly what our Lord has done. Now, if
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  Speaker 1: application is overlooked, if we just simply shrug our shoulders
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  Speaker 1: and do what I just illustrated, what's the problem. Well,
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  Speaker 1: let me apply it spiritually. First, doctrine becomes dusty, dry
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  Speaker 1: and lifeless. You learned doctrine, you've got a notebook. You
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  Speaker 1: filled the notebook with information about the doctrines about God
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  Speaker 1: and Christ and the Holy Spirit and Satan and the demons.
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  Speaker 1: You go into the truths regarding future things. You study
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  Speaker 1: the church, You study the doctrines of sin, forgiveness, the cross,
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  Speaker 1: and all that goes with that. But it doesn't make
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  Speaker 1: any difference in how you're living, so the doctrine falls flat.
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  Speaker 1: Without application, you simply analyze the Bible. Oh, and it's fascinating.
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  Speaker 1: There are facts to learn, and there are places to see,
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  Speaker 1: and there are people to meet. There are truths that
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  Speaker 1: are invigorating. There are words to learn and ideas that stimulate.
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  Speaker 1: None of that will receive rewards. We will be rewarded
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  Speaker 1: for what we do about what we hear or what
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  Speaker 1: we have learned. Here's an By not applying the scriptures,
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  Speaker 1: we substitute rationalization for repentance. We hear what the scriptures
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  Speaker 1: are saying, but we've not been called to repentance. We
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  Speaker 1: don't realize that these are words for us to live out,
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  Speaker 1: not simply to study, to memorize, and to share with
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  Speaker 1: one another. We realize it's addressing areas that need attention,
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  Speaker 1: but we shrug our shoulders and walk away saying, well,
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  Speaker 1: nobody's perfect or everybody's doing it. Why would I go
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  Speaker 1: to the trouble of making this personal. Here's a third,
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  Speaker 1: and this one is rampant today. We will think an
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  Speaker 1: emotional experience replaces a volitional decision. We feel a certain way,
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  Speaker 1: we feel badly about this, or we feel sad over
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  Speaker 1: that and that's application. No, no, that's the first step
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  Speaker 1: toward application. When you feel the conviction of the spirit
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  Speaker 1: of God at work within you, then you have the
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  Speaker 1: ammunition to apply it. I can give the gospel until
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  Speaker 1: I'm blue in the face, and you can hear that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ died on the cross to save you from
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  Speaker 1: your sins, and he paid the complete penalty for your
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  Speaker 1: sins when he died in your place. Final words, Father,
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  Speaker 1: forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And he
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  Speaker 1: says to you, I forgive you. If you will simply
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  Speaker 1: come to me and you do nothing with it, you
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  Speaker 1: are no closer to Heaven than if you never heard
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  Speaker 1: the message of the Gospel. No one is born again
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  Speaker 1: who has not applied the truth of the Gospel to
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  Speaker 1: their lives. Even though you feel badly about your sins,
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  Speaker 1: or you may weep over your sins, you are not
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  Speaker 1: any closer to Heaven if you do not take the
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  Speaker 1: truth of the scriptures personally and receive them. What I'm
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  Speaker 1: talking about is self examination. That's what this is all about.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: In fact, hold your place at Psalm one thirty nine
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: and go back quickly to First Corinthians chapter eleven. Let
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: me talk for a few moments about self examination. First
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: Corinthians eleven closes with exhortation regarding observing the Lord's table,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: eating the bread and drinking from the cop that represent
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: the body and blood of our Lord Jesus. But you
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: don't just waltz into church service, sit down and have
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: a little piece of bread and drink a small cup
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: of juice and go on your way. No, no, no, no.
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: You're responsible for preparing yourself. Just as you clean your
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: hands before you eat a meal, you clean your hearts
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: before you come to the table. That's what this passage
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: is teaching. Toward the end, look at verse twenty six,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: chapter eleven of First Corinthians. Every time you eat this
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: bread and drink this cup, you're announcing the Lord's death
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: until he comes again. Maybe you never thought of it,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: but the Lord's table is a public announcement of the
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Savior's death on our behalf. Now he goes on twenty seven.
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: body and blood of the Lord. What does it mean unworthily?
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Next verse That is why you should look closely, examine
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: yourself before eating the bread and before drinking the cup.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: See the word examine. The Greek term is doki modzo
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: Not important that you know the word, but it is
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: important you know the meaning. Doki modzou means this to
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: make a critical examination of something, to determine its genuineness.
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: There you have it. When I examine myself before eating
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: the bread and drinking the cup, I check out what
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: part of my life is hypocritical not genuine? What part
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: of my life is a cover up? What part of
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: my life my mind, my thoughts, my words, my actions?
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: What are are those things going on that reveal a
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: lack of genuineness. The same word appears, by the way
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: in Second Corinthiums thirteen five, where we find again examine
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: yourself to see if you are in the faith, to
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: see if you're faith is genuine. Now, let's read on
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: twenty nine. If you eat the bread or drink the
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: cup without honoring the body of Christ, you're eating and
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: drinking God's judgment upon yourself. Those are serious words. The
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: next sentence is one of the most serious related to
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: worship in all the Bible. That is why many of
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: you are weak and sick, some have even died. Maybe
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: you don't take all that seriously, the importance of cleaning
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: up your life before you take the elements of the
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: Lord's say. But the Lord does. For this reason, there's
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: a sickness that's run through the church at Corinth. But
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: here's the contrast verse thirty one. If we would examine
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: ourselves the same English word, but it's a different Greek word.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: This is the acreno, not documentzo. Di Acreno means to
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: evaluate by paying careful attention to something. Diacreno to evaluate
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: by paying careful attention to something. How do I illustrate that, Well,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: it's what you do every morning. If you've gotten up
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: after a long night's sleep. You walk into the bathroom,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: you click on the light, and you look in the
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: mirror at this monstrosity. Your hair looks like it's gone
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: through a mattress explosion, your face hanging out there, your
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: breath is bad, your teeth are needing brushed, and you
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: got to do something about this. What have you done?
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: You have done the quick examination of just the obvious,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: and you never just turn the light office. I'm just
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: going to go to church like this? You never do
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: that you know what you think, Well, I got to
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: do something about this, and it's going to take a while.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: I got news for you. The older you get, the
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: longer it takes for it to get into good shape. Okay,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: and some of you, I'm just gonna say it. You
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: need all the cosmetics you can put on. Let me
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: put it that way. The old Appreciate used to say,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: if the barn needs painting, paint it all right. Why
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: do you know that because you looked in the mirror.
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: But this isn't about your face in a mirror. This
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: is about your face before the word of God, your heart,
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: your life. In fact, James makes the comment, the one
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: who looks into the mirror does so for the purpose
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: of making changes. In so many words, you look at
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: yourself in the scriptures and you realize this is talking
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: about my life, my person, the way I'm living. Every
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: time we look at the pages of the Bible, think
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: of it as a mirror. Oh oh well, I'm not
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: doing that. Oh my, well, that's convicting. I gotta do
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: something about that. It's called applying what you have just
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: read or observed. You don't do that, You've walked out
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: of church. Are stillborn? There's no change of life. You've
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: just sat, listened, maybe slept a little, and left. But
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: you see, the Bible was never given to satisfy idle curiosity.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: It was given to change our lives. God's desire is
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: that you probe and observe and evaluate, determine what's genuine,
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: to make a careful decision regarding areas that need attention.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: You know what, I might as well say it. That's
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: why some of you still live with a sour attitude.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: That's why you're still hard to live with. You're negative,
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: you're not open. Suggestions are made by your family or
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: some friend at work, and they want to take you
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: to a new level, and you resist it. You resent it.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: You've just not applied the scriptures to your area of attitude.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: And there's no way you can justify a rotten attitude.
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: If you really, really have taken the Bible seriously, it'll
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: change your attitude. It really will. Because God is at
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: work in our lives. He knows us, and he wants
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: us to become like his son. That's the game plan,
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: so that we become like Christ. That's why he's left us.
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you something, and I can make this as
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: a guarantee. If you truly evaluate your life based on
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: what you are applying from the scriptures, you will not
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: be the same from one year to the next. You
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: will change. You will become more like Christ, because that
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: is the purpose of His giving us his word, that
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: we might learn His truth and live out the truth
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: in a way that makes a difference in decisions we make, priorities,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: we choose, friends, we run with, activities were involved in.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: God's word doesn't miss a trick. And as you read
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: through it, as we're going to do in Psalm one
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: thirty nine, now we will see that it is all
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: about the Lord and his work in our lives. Now
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: back to Psalone thirty nine. We come now to occasion
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: when we're going to look at what the scriptures say
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: and discover the application. Look with me, you got a
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: pan or a pencil. You got room in the margin
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: of your Bible or on the edge of your notes.
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: Write down Verses one to six. Verses one to six.
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: God knows me. This is called the doctrine of omniscis.
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: He knows everything, so not surprisingly, he knows me. How
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: can I say that? Did I just pull that out
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: of the air and decide how to apply it here. No, no,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: read what it says. Remember we observe. Oh Lord, now
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: right away. What do you know? It's a prayer. It's
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: a prayer. O Lord appears again and again verse one,
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: verse four, verse twenty one. Oh God appears verse seventeen,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: verse nineteen, verse twenty three, all the way through. Oh Lord,
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: Oh Lord, Oh God, Oh God. The psalmnest David is praying,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: and he's recording this in his journal, if you will,
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: and has found his way into the Psalter, the ancient
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: hymn book of the Jews. O Lord, now, look at
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: how God knows us. You've examined my heart, and you
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: know everything about me. You know when I sit down
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I'm
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: far away. You see me when I travel and when
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: I rest at home. You know everything I do. You
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: know what the doctrine of omniscience means. He knows everything
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: about everyone and everything you will never hear from heaven.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Oh I didn't know that. Look, Gabriel, come here, look
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: at this. What on earth is going on? That's not God?
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Are you kidding? He knows everything. He never learns anything.
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: People go to God as if they're going to inform him. Lord,
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: this is this is Chuck. I live at forty eight
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: fourteen Main Street. You think I'm gonna give him my
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: zip code? And he knows all about me? So I
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: don't need to inform God of anything. He knows all
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: about me. He sees when I travel, when I'm at rest.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: He knows what I'm going to say before I ever
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: say it. Don't you wish you did? How often we
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: say things and we say, oh loard I ever say that.
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: Maybe it was confidential, maybe it was hearsay, Maybe it
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: was ugly offensive. Maybe it was an exaggeration or a lie.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: I have a friend who puts it very well. I
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: never felt sorry for the things I did not say.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: You know what I'm gonna say before I ever say it, Lord,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: you go before me, follow me. You place your hand
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: a blessing on my head. In fact, this is so
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: great Verse six, it boggles my mind. Such knowledge is
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: too wonderful. I can't take it all. In Verses one
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: to six, God knows me. Now, got your pen ready?
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Verses seven to twelve, God is with me. These are
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: stanzas of this four standza him Psalm one thirty nine
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: is in section six verses each one to six. God
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: knows me seven to twelve. Look closely, God is with me.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: I can never escape from your spirit. I can never
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: get away from your presence. You see, I didn't get
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the thought of It's the word for omnipresence, meaning everywhere,
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: at one time and at the same time. He is
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: no more here than he is in Central Asia right now.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: He is no more here than he is right now
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: in the life of someone you love, just as present
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: there as he's present here with you. Now, look at
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: what he says. I can never escape from your spirit.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: I can never get away from your presence. You see,
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: men and women again, I say, the Bible isn't mysterious.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Just let it say what it says. Truth isn't hiding.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: You're not gonna find me. I'm down here, but you
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: can't see me. That's not the way it is. If
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: I go to heaven you the Hebrew simply uses a pronoun.
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: We add you are there to finish the sentence. But
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: if I go to heaven you, if I go down
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: to the grave you. Now look at the next phrase.
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: It's very interesting. If I ride on the wings of
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: the on or the morning. I love that phrase. I
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: love the way that reads so beautiful, beautiful poetry. Even there,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: Your hand will guide me, your straight will support. What
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: does that mean? Well, let's think. What are the wings
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: of the dawn? What are the wings of the morning?
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: How about the rays of the sun. How about the
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: speed of light one hundred and eighty six thousand miles
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: a second? Last time I checked, And if I travel
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: that fast, you're already there. If I find myself on
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: an island in the middle of the sea, you're there
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: waiting for me. It reminds me. You remember when we
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: were doing space exploration and we thought we'd get there first,
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: and the Russians beat us Sputnik. Some of you weren't
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: even born when there was Sputnick. Others of us remember,
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: we remember the Kremlin came out with these words. We
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: made it into space, and we did not see God.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: Wa Chriswell at first Baptist Church had the classic response,
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: if you had stepped out of your spacesuit, you'd have
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: seen God a great lion. Oh he's there, friends and neighbors.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: He made the planets, he made every star, It's all his.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: He's no stranger to space, no matter where I go,
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: no matter where I find myself. The most remote island
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: of the sea where a person hopes to go when
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: he's committed a crime, so they can't catch up with
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: her or with him. God's right there. You dragged a
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: kilty conscience, and when you left, you'll find a guilty
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: conscience you arrived. That's why travel will never bring you peace.
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: If you're at odds with a living God. I can
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: never escape from your spirit. I can never get away
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: from your presence. Look at verse eleven. I could ask
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: the darkness to hide me, and the light around me
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: to become night. Remember when you did that as a kid.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: You were afraid the booger man. Probably ought to call
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: him bogey man, but always call him the booger man,
• 43:25
  Speaker 1: and I'd pull the covers up over my head. I
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: think he can't find me because I'm under the covers.
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: You have any idea how many sinful people do that
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: He can't find me. He won't know me. I'm having
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: this affair, but nobody knows about it. Listen, he knows
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: all about it. There is no secret with a living God.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: Nothing is dark to him. It's all light. Why do
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: you think when we get to heaven, there will be
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: no need for the sun, for the light will shine
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: at all times, no night there. He is all light.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: We're getting to know our God a little better. He
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: knows us. He is with us now thirteen to eighteen.
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: God made us. Put that down. It's called omnipotent. Omnipotent.
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: He is all powerful, he's all knowing Verses one to six.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: He's everywhere at once, seven to twelve. And look at it.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: He made us for you who question when life begins.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: It's only because you haven't really believed Verses thirteen to
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: eighteen of Psalm one thirty nine. You judge for yourself
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: since you don't know the truth, and the Bible is truth.
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: Let's let truth speak. Look at verse thirteen. You made
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: all the delicate inner parts of my body. You knit
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: me so wonderfully complex. Your workmanship is marvelous. How well
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: I know it. You watched me as I was being
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: formed in utter seclusion. We're into the womb now where
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: where no camera can go. In the days of David,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: you watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: Keep reading as I was woven together in the dark
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: of the womb you were making. You saw me before
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: I was born. You saw me before I was born.
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: How precious are your thoughts about me? Oh God, they
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: cannot be numbered. I can't even count them. They outnumber
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: the grains of sand. And when I awake, you are
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: still with me. How powerful is our God? He made
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: you just like he wanted you to be. He gave
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: you that nose, He gave you those eyes, He gave
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: you that face. He gave you your personality. He gave
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: you that temperament. He gave you your stature, the length
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: of your bones. That's why you could be six feet
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: seven inches tall. In middle school, I remember seeing pictures
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: of he was called in lu Al sandor Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: When he was in just out of elementary school. All
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: the kids are right here, there's Abdulmar, and then here
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: all the rest of the kids. He made him exactly
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: like that. It wasn't a freak of nature. It wasn't
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: a biological surprise. God oversaw it. All. You see when
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: you take the scriptures. Seriously, Suddenly you and God are linked.
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: Before you were ever born, he was watching over you,
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: caring for you, protecting you, guarding you. I don't care
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: if you're tall or short. I don't care what your
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: face looks like. You need to care a little less
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: about it. I mean, you need to work on it
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: best you can. But He gave you who you are.
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: That's how we know who you are. That's your identity.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: Don't fuss around with it and worry about it and
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: gripe about it. He made you, He started in the womb.
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: He cares about you. Now his word gets good. Look
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: at verse twenty three. Got it drop down. Suddenly it
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: isn't you, and you're it's me. Search me. This is application.
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: The Psalmist has gone all of this great theology, the omniscions,
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: the omnipresence, the omnipotence of our great God. And now
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: he says, oh Lord, oh I need help, So search
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: me now before I go any further, let me give
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: you some things write down because you need help in
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: this area. This will really help you when you begin
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: to apply. I'm gonna give you some words, and I'm
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: gonna fill in the blank for you first think, think
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: about what is going on in your life when you
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: begin to apply the scriptures. Think about what is going
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: on in your life. You may be worried. Your husband
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: or wife may have recently walked out on you. You
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: may have lost your job. You may be struggling with
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: deep insecurities or depression. You may find it difficult to
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: get along with the individual that you're working closely with
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: or married to, and on and on. I could go
• 49:34
  Speaker 1: that stuff is going on inside your life. Think about
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: it when you begin to think about it. Let me
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: add some other things to think about. Are there secrets
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: you're hiding? Is there some wrong or wrongs that you
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: are embracing? Face up to it. He knows it all. Remember,
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: he knows everything about you or their habits you're forming
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: that are hurting you, or their attitudes you're cultivating that
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: need to be overhauled, or their motives that you're denying.
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: Look ask yourself. I do it every time I prepare
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: a message. Before I ever think about those others who
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: are going to hear the message, I think, oh Lord,
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: you know I got to tell you. These things are
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: happening in my life and I need help here. Or
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: maybe I have to say, I don't know what it is.
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: I got these squigglies down inside, and I'm uneasy. And
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: I ask you to search me, investigate so that it
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: doesn't mean so you will see, because he sees everything.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: Show me what you see about me. Help me know
• 50:44
  Speaker 1: why there is this anxiety? Why can't I sleep? Why
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: do I wake up burdened? Why am I not able
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: to get along with so and so? What are the
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: anchors I'm dragging? Search me, ask think about what's going
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  Speaker 1: on in your life. Now here's the second acknowledge Acknowledge
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  Speaker 1: any intense trouble spot. Acknowledge any intense trouble spot Hebrews twelve,
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: verse two. Who calls this a besetting sin, Let us
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  Speaker 1: lay aside the weight and the sin which so easily
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  Speaker 1: trips us up. These are sins that easily and frequently
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  Speaker 1: trip us up. As you're having the Lord search you
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  Speaker 1: and to know your thoughts and to test you, and
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  Speaker 1: to know your anxious heart, be ready to acknowledge the
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: truth of it. Maybe you need a little help. Pride, greed, selfishness, impatience, procrastination, sloth,
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  Speaker 1: envy or jealousy, an unforgiving spirit, lust, lying, a spirit
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  Speaker 1: of entitlement. For in arrogance, you have caught yourself thinking
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: I've got this coming. They owe it to me. What
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: a sinful thought, How selfish we can be. It's the
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: sin of this generation. Because my parents had it, I've
• 52:39
  Speaker 1: got every right to it. Also, no you don't, No
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: you don't. God will have to show you how you
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: must be broken before he can provide for you the
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  Speaker 1: things that you long to have that will please him.
• 52:57
  Speaker 1: Tozer put it best, doubtful, God can bless any ungreatly
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  Speaker 1: till he's hurt him deeply. That's why it sometime takes
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  Speaker 1: a serious surgery to get the attention of some or
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: a jail sentence or a terrible auto accident. Suddenly we're
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  Speaker 1: made aware of our fallibility. Acknowledge any intense trouble spot
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  Speaker 1: don't hide it, don't act like it's not there. You
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  Speaker 1: need to face it. Search me, God, test me, reveal
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  Speaker 1: to me. Point out whatever is the way of pain
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  Speaker 1: within me, because that pain brings pain to others and
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  Speaker 1: I want to stop it. Here's the third. Ask ask
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  Speaker 1: specific questions as you probe within. The keyword is specific,
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: Ask specific questions. Here are some examples. Is there a
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: life I need to follow that I've just say it about.
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  Speaker 1: Is there a promise I need to claim? Is there
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  Speaker 1: a prayer I need to offer? Is there a sin
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  Speaker 1: I need to confess? Is there a verse I should
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  Speaker 1: memorize as an application of it? Is there a command
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  Speaker 1: I need to obey? Is there a habit I need
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: to break, an addiction that's gotten hold of me and
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  Speaker 1: drags me under. Is there a challenge I need to
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  Speaker 1: face and not run from it. Is there a fear
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: I need to acknowledge? Is there a person I need
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: to forgive or the flip side? Is there someone I
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: need to ask forgiveness? To quote Hendrix again, guard against
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: the slimy oose of indefiniteness. A prayer that says, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: show me what I need to know accomplishes nothing as
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: specifically and by the way, when you're asking for guidance,
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: take away from your vocabulary o Lord, lead guide and
• 55:07
  Speaker 1: direct us. Choose one because they're all the same and
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: you're stuttering. So either lead me or guide me or
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: direct me. Get rid of the cliches. When you began
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: to pray specifically, it's amazing what you discover. And be honest.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, I remember the words of the president
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: of the Navigators. He was ministering on the campus of
• 55:32
  Speaker 1: the Air Force Academy, and the top cadet in the
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: academy was one of the choice of Christians on the campus,
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: and they were meeting as a small group, and this
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: young man was with the president who was leading the
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: group together, and he looked at this student body president
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: and he said to this cadet, tell the guys here today,
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: when you have your time with the Lord, what do
• 56:01
  Speaker 1: you have your quiet time? The cadet blushed, looked down,
• 56:05
  Speaker 1: and then looked in the face of the president of
• 56:07
  Speaker 1: the Naves and his classmates, and he said, Sir, I
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: don't have a quiet time. I've been faking it for years.
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: I don't meet with the Lord. Would you be gutsy
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: enough to say that in front of your peers? Would
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: you be honest enough to say, you know, I'm a
• 56:32
  Speaker 1: helium to live with. I've got a temper that if
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: folks only knew, it's that kind of honesty the Lord loves.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: Is this conflict my own fault? Acknowledge it, ask for
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: help with it. Maybe you take the credit that belongs
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: to someone else. You need to stop doing that when
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: you apply the scriptures, you will you'll realize that life
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  Speaker 1: isn't all about you. Here's the fourth pursue pursue paths
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  Speaker 1: that can lead you to wholeness and help spiritual health.
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: Where do I get that into the poem? Into the psalm?
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: me along the path of everlasting life. I don't want
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: to go over this too quickly. There's something here I
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: don't want you to miss. See that part that says,
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: point out anything in me that offends you. Your Bible
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: may read any wicked way. How was intrigued by that?
• 57:45
  Speaker 1: It's a wicked way. The New American Standard says, see
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: if there is any hurtful way in me. The net
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: Bible says, see if there is any idolatrous tendency in me.
• 58:00
  Speaker 1: Because the Hebrew word that is translated offense or hurt
• 58:06
  Speaker 1: is akin to the word for an idol a that's
• 58:11
  Speaker 1: is the root verb, and the phrase is derek outsev,
• 58:17
  Speaker 1: which means any way that leads to pain or torture.
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: When you have an unforgiving spirit, you're turned over to torturers,
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: and you are asking the Lord to show you the
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: path that has led to that tortury. That's why you
• 58:36
  Speaker 1: don't have peace. And as you apply, you come to
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: terms with it, you find a path that gets you
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: out of that rut. I love it that the Solemnesst
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: does it. At the end, what do I suggest one
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: consider possible ways of changing the direction of your life
• 58:58
  Speaker 1: when you apply the truth? What do I need to do? First?
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  Speaker 1: Who should I go to? Which person? Is this the
• 59:06
  Speaker 1: right time for me to do that? So consider possible
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  Speaker 1: ways of changing direction. Second, become accountable to someone else.
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  Speaker 1: You cannot live a fully mature Christian life in isolation.
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  Speaker 1: We're meant to work alongside others and to grow and
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: mature with others in community. Tell someone else that you
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: trust someone in your accountability team, and I hope you
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: have at least one someone with whom you regularly meet.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: I want you to help me as I'm working on
• 59:43
  Speaker 1: this in my life and help point it out, help
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: me get to a place of wholeness and help. And Third,
• 59:50
  Speaker 1: i'd suggest even keeping a journal. Some of you do that,
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: and I commend you if you've not started this as
• 59:56
  Speaker 1: a wonderful way to apply the truth of the scriptures.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 1: That is a written record of the things the Lord
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: is doing in your life. It's different from a diary.
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 1: A diary just records what you've been doing. A journal
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: is what the Lord is doing and showing you, revealing
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: to you. And we want to follow through on all
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: of this two simple things. Number one, make sure that
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: you have put Christ in the center of your life.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 1: That's first. Earlier I gave you the Gospel, make sure
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: you've acted upon it. Make sure that the one who
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 1: died on that cross is your savior. You can acknowledge
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 1: even in writing in your journal this day, I trust
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: in the Lord Jesus Christ as my own savior. You
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: follow through by making certain that you have Christ in
• 1:00:59
  Speaker 1: the enter enthroned on your life. Second, and finally, start
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: your own study of the scriptures. So far, you've been
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 1: studying with me in this series. It's your move. I'd
• 1:01:21
  Speaker 1: love to hear from a number of you who say
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 1: to me, Chuck, let me tell you what I'm starting
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 1: to study. You may choose the Gospel of John. You
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: may choose the third Chapter of John. You may choose
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: a few proverbs every day. You may choose to start
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 1: in Genesis or Matthew, or one of the letters of Paul.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 1: Take your time, there's no hurry. Observe, interpret, correlate, and apply,
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: and you will not remain the same person. Let me
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: tell you the greatest heartbreak any pastor has to deal with,
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: and that is to minister to the same people in
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: a congregation week after week, month after month, year after year,
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 1: and observe in a number of them. No change. You're
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: still walking in the flesh, You're still seeking your own way,
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: You're still selfish. That tells me you've not applied the
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: truth of God's word. Start there a bow with me, please,
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: we're convicted our father as we hear these things said,
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 1: we need you to guide us in the way we
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 1: should go. We need you to point out anything in
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: us that offends you, any way of pain, any path
• 1:02:59
  Speaker 1: of a family, and then we need you to take
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 1: us from there onto new paths that lead to wholeness
• 1:03:07
  Speaker 1: and health. Maybe not stop on this journey from earth
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: to heaven. And may our life be to you a
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: point of praise, a person of submission and commitment to
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 1: your son Christ. In his name, we pray, everyone said
• 1:03:36
  Speaker 1: the preceding message, adding the spices applying The text, was
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: copyrighted in twenty fourteen, and the sound recording was copyrighted
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: in twenty sixteen by Charles R. Swindall, Inc. All rights
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: are reserved worldwide