Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / You Must Be Born Again (John 3:1-21) - Rev. Trevin Hoot

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You Must Be Born Again (John 3:1-21) - Rev. Trevin Hoot · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

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Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
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a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by
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night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you
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are a teacher come from God, for no one can do
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these signs that you do unless God is with him.
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Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you,
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unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom
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of God. Nicodemus said to him, How can a man
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be born when he is old? Can he enter a second
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time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus
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answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless
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one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot
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enter the kingdom of God. That which is born
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in the flesh is flesh. that which is born of
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the Spirit is Spirit. Do not marvel that I said
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to you, you must be born again. The wind blows
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where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you
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do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
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So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.
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Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be?
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Jesus answered him, are you the teacher of Israel
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and yet you do not understand these things? Truly,
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truly I say to you, we speak of what we know
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and bear witness to what we have seen, but you
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do not receive our testimony. If I have told
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you earthly things and you do not believe, how
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can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
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No one has ascended into heaven except He who
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descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as
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Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
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so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever
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believes in Him may have eternal life. For God
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so loved the world that He gave His only Son,
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that whoever believes in Him should not perish
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but have eternal life. For God did not send his
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Son into the world to condemn the world, but
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in order that the world might be saved through
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him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
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but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
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because he has not believed in the name of the
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only Son of God. And this is the judgment. The
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light has come into the world, and people loved
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the darkness rather than the light, because their
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works were evil. For everyone who does wicked
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things hates the light and does not come to the
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light, lest his work should be exposed. But whoever
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does what is true comes to the light so that
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it may be clearly seen that his works have been
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carried out in God. Let's pray. Father, I thank
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you for this church. I thank you for this opportunity
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to preach your word here in this church. Lord,
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I pray that you would give us your spirit. I
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pray that by your spirit we would be born again
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and that we would see the kingdom of God. that
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we would see who Christ is, that we would understand
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what he has done, what he has come to do for
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us. Lord, I pray that this would drive us to
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deeper faith, to deeper repentance, and that
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we would no longer do wickedness, but that we
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would be people who live in the light and do
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what is good and right and true. Lord, give us
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faith, help us to believe, help us to not ignore
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what the word is saying to us, what the spirit
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is saying to us in the scriptures. And Lord,
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may everyone hear. be born again. We pray these
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things in Jesus' name. Amen. As Pastor Kenny
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said earlier, I'm a pastor of a little church
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in Sofia, Bulgaria. Our church's name is New
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Life. And this morning we will be talking about
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how to have new life in Christ through the spirits.
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And I bring you greetings from the church in
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Bulgaria. As Pastor Kenny said earlier this morning
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when we read the Apostle's Creed, That's the
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same creed that the church has been reciting
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together for thousands of years, and it's a creed
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that we recite together in Sofia, Bulgaria, because
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there is only one church and one faith and one
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spirit. And it's a pleasure to be with you here
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this morning to learn about our one Lord and
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Savior, Jesus Christ. But there is something
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wrong with us. There's something wrong in our
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hearts. There's something wrong. with every human
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being close to the core of who they are as people,
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of what it means to be a person. There's been
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something wrong with humanity almost since the
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beginning of humanity. And we feel it. We see
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it in the news. We see it through tales of war,
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famine, plague. We see it in our daily lives,
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in our families. It shouldn't be the case. that
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mothers tear down their daughters. It shouldn't
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be the case that fathers are cruel to their sons.
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It shouldn't be the case that children disown
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their parents. It shouldn't be the case that
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people lie to each other, cheat each other, steal
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each other. It shouldn't be the case that neighbors
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would fight and feud for years over two inches
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of property. But that's the case. We sin. We
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are sinners. We were made in the image of God,
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but our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled
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against their Lord, chose to do sin instead of
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following the Lord. And we, every human being,
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has since followed suit. We participate in that
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rebellion, so much so that we cannot imagine
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a different reality. We were made in the image
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of God, and we don't act like it. Instead, We
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act like monsters, tearing each other apart and
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blaspheming the Lord, his holy name. And we pretend
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like everything is normal. We might even go to
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church on Sunday morning after screaming at our
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kids. And we open our Bibles and we pray and
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we open our hymnals and sing praises to the Lord,
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even though we... hate people made in his image.
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Brothers and sisters, this should not be the
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case. Is there any hope to this story? Is there
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any way that we monsters could be made into living
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beings again, living humans again? Is there any
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chance for our story to have a happy ending?
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There is a chance, but it would take a miracle.
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But that's exactly the thing that our heavenly
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father sent his son Jesus Christ to do, to bring
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us his Holy Spirit. He came to do more than just
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be a good counselor. He came to do more than
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just be a good teacher. He even came to do more
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than just forgive us for our sins. All these
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things are good and necessary, and we needed
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those things, but we need more than that. We
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need new life. We need new birth. We need the
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Holy Spirit to change us from the inside, to
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make us into new people. And the Son promises
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that for us today. Brothers and sisters, we must.
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be born again. We need to be born again. And
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so this morning from this passage from John 3
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verses 21, 1 through 21, I will be talking about
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three aspects of what it means to be born again.
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Yes, even in Bulgaria, that's another thing that
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unites the church. I preach in three points.
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We must be born again of the Spirit. We must
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be born again to faith. and we must be born again
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to good works. What does it mean to be born again
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of the spirits? John chapter three is one of
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the most famous chapters in the book of John,
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and one of its verses, John chapter three verse
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16, is one of the most famous verses in all of
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scripture. But John chapter three verse 16 is
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in the context of a story of Nicodemus. coming
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to see Jesus in the middle of the night. Nicodemus
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was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews. Now,
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for those of you who have been in church, who
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read the Gospels, we know a little bit about
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the Pharisees. They are always the bad guys.
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They're the ones who are constantly fought and
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bickered with Jesus throughout his ministry.
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They're the ones who conspired with the Sadducees
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to have Jesus crucified. But at this point in
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the story, they don't yet hate Jesus. This is
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still early on in Jesus' ministry. And so, Nicodemus,
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a Pharisee, could be coming to Jesus in the middle
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of the night trying to figure out just who is
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this Jesus fellow, this Jesus of Nazareth. In
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the chapter before, Jesus had gone to the temple.
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And he had cleansed the temple from the tradesmen
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selling things there. And the Pharisees would
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have thought that that would be a pretty good
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thing to do. They had been wanting to do that
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themselves. And so maybe this new teacher, this
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popular teacher, is someone that they can play
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ball with. And so Nicodemus, the Pharisee, flattered
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Jesus. And he says, Rabbi, we know that you are
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a teacher come from God, for no one can do these
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things that you do unless God is with him. He
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was paying Jesus a big compliment. He was coming
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to this young teacher and saying, hey, we'd like
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you to join our team, maybe even to become a
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Pharisee. Do you want Jesus to be on your team?
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Do you want Jesus to be a part of your life?
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Would you be willing to give Jesus a five -star
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review on Google? I remember a few years ago,
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scrolling on Facebook, and you would see these
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pictures of a very sad -looking Jesus. And he
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would say, please like my photo, or please like
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this post. It only takes a second. Why wouldn't
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you just like this post of Jesus? The thing is,
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brothers, Jesus does not need our likes on Facebook.
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Jesus does not need our Google reviews. Jesus
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does not need our approval. Jesus does not care
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about an invitation to join his team or to our
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invitation for him to join our team. Because
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Jesus is Lord and not us. Jesus is the one who
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invites us to be a part of his family, to enter
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into his kingdom. And he will not accept anything
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less than our whole hearts. And so that's why
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when Nicodemus flattered Jesus, Jesus rejected
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his invitation, didn't even answer it, and said,
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You think you've seen, you think you see me?
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You think you know who I am and what I'm about?
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You can see nothing unless you have been born
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again. We have no chance to understand who Jesus
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is and what his ministry is unless we have been
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born again by water and the Spirit. What does
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that mean? How can we be born again by water
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and the Spirit? Nicodemus didn't understand what
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Jesus was talking about either, and Jesus said,
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you should. Don't you know the scriptures? Don't
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you know the promises from Ezekiel, chapter 36,
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verses 25 through 28? I'll read them for us.
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I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall
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be clean from all your uncleannesses. From all
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your idols I will cleanse you, and I will give
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you a new heart. and a new spirit I will put
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within you. And I will remove the heart of stone
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from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
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And I will put my spirit within you and cause
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you to walk in my statutes and be careful to
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obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that
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I give to your fathers and you shall be my people
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and I will be your God." Jesus said to Nicodemus,
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that has to happen to you before you can understand
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who I am and what's going on. or what I'm doing.
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Being baptized with the Holy Spirit is another
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way of saying you must be born again. Jesus said
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to Nicodemus, you, even you, the Pharisee, the
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greatest theologian of your day, the best church
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people of your day, you must be born again. This
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would have been shocking to Nicodemus. Being
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born again, being baptized with the Holy Spirit
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is something that needs to happen to other people.
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I already know the law. I already know the scriptures.
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I already know what the Lord wants from me, and
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I can do it. And Jesus says, no, even you need
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to be cleansed from your idolatry. Even you need
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to be cleansed from your sin. Even you are hard
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-hearted, and even you need to be saved. Being
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born again, being baptized with the Spirit is
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not something that we can do by ourselves. It's
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not something that we can make God do for us.
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It's even not something that we want to happen
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often. As it's written in John chapter 1, verses
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1 through 13, becoming a child of God is not
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something that can be done by the will of flesh
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or by the will of man. It is only done by the
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will of God. It's a miracle. And it's our only
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hope for our salvation. And brothers and sisters,
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in our flesh, we hate this doctrine. We hate
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it. Because we, like the Pharisees, feel like
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we need to contribute to our salvation. That
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we have to participate in order for it to be
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real. And why do we feel like we need to participate
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in order for it to be real? So we can compare
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ourselves. with others, so we can compare ourselves,
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and especially to compare ourselves favorably,
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so that we can claim that we were the wise ones
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who really got it, whereas those who didn't get
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it, they're the fools. We want our good works,
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our theology, our churchiness. We want to use
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these to commend ourselves to the Lord and somehow
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earn our salvation. But the doctrine of new birth
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ought to humble us. Because we, like Nicodemus,
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like the Pharisees, like every Christian throughout
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all of history, throughout all the world, are
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only saved by the grace of God. and there are
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no other options. All Christians are baptized
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by the same spirit into the same church. All
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Christians have only one Lord, one faith, one
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water baptism, and one future hope. All Christians,
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by definition, are baptized by the Holy Spirit.
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All Christians, by definition, have been born
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again. If we have not been born again, we are
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not Christians. We are not saved. There are not
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two levels of Christianity. There is no such
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thing as a carnal Christian who does not have
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the spirit. There are two types of people in
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the world. There are those who have been born
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again and those who have not. And if we aren't
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born again, we aren't saved. There is no two
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levels of Christianity, a normal level where
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most Christians reside, and a future higher level
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that we can reach through being serious, through
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praying hard enough, through constant study.
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It's not that we can access some sort of Christian
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superpowers, that we can somehow through our
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deeper faith have access to miracles, to reach
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a point where we will never be tempted again,
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or to understand the full counsel of the Lord,
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to have these hidden things revealed to us. There's
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only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one
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Holy Spirit, and he is common for all Christians.
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And we cannot, therefore, Lord, our faith and
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our spirituality over other believers. We must
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be born again. So, how do we know if we're born
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again? How can we be born again? This can be
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a difficult question to answer. Jesus says in
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John chapter three, verses eight, that the wind
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blows where it wishes and you hear it sound,
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but you do not know where it comes from or where
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it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of
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the spirit. The spirit's invisible. And his work
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of the inward heart is often invisible. How can
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we see and know that we are born again if we
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cannot see the spirit? We can know from seeing
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the effects of the spirit. I cannot see the wind,
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but I can see the branches of the trees rustling.
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So it is with the Holy Spirit. I'll share my
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personal testimony. I was raised in a Christian
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home. I made a confession of faith when I was
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seven. I was in a Baptist church, so I was baptized
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when I was seven. But I was still doubting whether
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or not I was really saved. I wasn't certain.
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I knew cognitively that the Lord saved sinners,
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those who believe in him. But I wasn't sure that
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I was one of those sinners that the Lord would
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save. And so I was afraid. I was afraid of the
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Lord and His judgment. I was afraid that I would
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die and I would go to hell for all eternity.
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And so at night I would sleep with a baseball
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bat next to my bed so I can ward off any intruders
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that might want to break into my house and kill
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me. It sounds funny, but I was a little kid.
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I was eight years old, and I was terrified of
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death, and I was wondering what prayer can I
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pray to get God to love me? It was a mystery,
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and I didn't know how to get it. And so I would
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constantly go up whenever they had altar calls
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and pray, Lord, if I am not saved, please save
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me. And I never felt. Different. Something was
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wrong. What was it? It was when I was 13. And
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I realized that the Lord doesn't just love sinners
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generally. The Lord loves me. The Lord sent his
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son to live, to die. to rise again to save me.
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And I believe in him. And so now, no matter what,
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I am safe. And after that night, I did not need
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a baseball bat next to my bed, because I knew
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that no matter what, I was safe. So when was
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I born again? It is impossible to answer that
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question. Was I born again after I made my first
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confession of faith? After I was baptized the
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first time? After I made my 10th confession of
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faith? After I finally got it when I was 13,
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when I was baptized again later on? When was
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I born again? It does not matter. What matters
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from my perspective is that I heard the call
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that I was loved by the Lord and that I have
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responded with faith. And so no matter what,
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those who are born again will hear the Lord's
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call and they will respond in faith. And so brothers
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and sisters, if you want to be born again, believe.
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Because you are born again to believe. You are
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born again to have faith. Now, what must we believe?
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John 3 16 is one of the most wonderful verses
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in all of the Bible. It's almost a cliche, but
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it doesn't mean it's any less true and any less
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magnificent. It's a wonderful summary of the
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gospel. And if you know only this verse, you
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have a good start. For God so loved the world
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that he gave his only son that whoever believes
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in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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I want to point something out in this passage,
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in this verse. When did God the Father start
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to love us? When did he start to love his church?
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He didn't start to love us when we believed.
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He didn't even start to love us in our lifetime.
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He didn't send his Son into the world so that
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He could love us. He didn't send His Holy Spirit
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into the world so that He could love us. The
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Father loved His people from all eternity, and
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that's why He sent His Son into the world to
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save us. How beautiful and how terrible is the
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love of God. that he would send his innocent,
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his beautiful, his gorgeous, his magnificent
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son into the world to save monsters like us?
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People who tear each other apart? Sinners like
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us? People who blaspheme his holy name? How dare
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he send his beautiful son to save people like
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us? How could he send his wonderful son into
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the lion's den to save the people who would consume
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him? That's the love of the Holy Father for his
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church, that he would be willing to send his
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son to die for us. How amazing is that grace.
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Don't ever Take that grace for granted. Believe
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it, church. This is the love of the Father that
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He sent His Son to die for us because He loves
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us. There is no gift that we could ever give
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that could repay the Father for this kind of
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love. Even to try would be offensive. What He
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wants us to do In response to that love is only
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believe. To believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And he will save us and he will draw us to himself.
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He will make us his children so we can live with
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him and be blessed with him forever. And so Christian,
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do you believe in the son? That's the point of
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the book of John. The point of the book of John
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according to John chapter 20, is that we would
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believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and
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that we would have life in His name. So do you
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believe? The struggle is that sometimes we mix
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up the fruit of faith with faith. When asking
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do you believe, what we often do is point to
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our good works. Of course I believe. I go to
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church every Sunday. But I'm not asking you,
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do you go to church every Sunday? I'm asking
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you, do you believe? I'm not asking you if you're
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a good father. Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
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I'm not asking you if you're a good businessman.
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Do you believe? I'm not asking you if you're
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moral. Do you believe in Jesus Christ? I'm not
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asking you if you're reformed. Do you believe
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in Jesus Christ? I'm not asking you if you tithe.
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Do you believe in Jesus Christ? I'm not asking
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you if you're a good pastor, a good elder, a
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good deacon, a good missionary. If you can't
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answer yes to the question, do you believe in
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Jesus Christ, none of those things matter and
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you're on the road to hell. Do you believe? If
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you don't believe, none of those things have
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any meaning. But if you do, they carry eternal
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meaning. Don't mix up the fruits of faith with
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faith. But that doesn't mean the fruits of faith
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are useless. Because on the basis of the faith,
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we ought to live in the light. In fact, that's
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the purpose of our being born again. We were
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born again to do good works. We are born again
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to be in the light John chapter 3 verse 17 Continues
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the thought from John chapter 3 16 for God did
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not send his world and son into the world to
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condemn the world But in order that the world
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might be saved through him Why didn't God need
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to send his son into the world to condemn the
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world John continues and answers that question
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Because whoever does not believe is condemned
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already. Whoever does not believe is in the darkness
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because their work is evil and they are condemned
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already. A little while ago, my son Frank, if
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you get our prayer cards, he's the boy, he's
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the one making the silly face. It was 3 a .m.
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in the morning. I was asleep in one room, in
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our room, he was asleep in the next room, and
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I heard a scream in the middle of the night,
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three o 'clock, and I ran into the room, and
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I said, Frank, Frank, what's wrong? And he said,
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there's something scary in my room, on my bed.
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I was thinking, what is it? Is it an intruder?
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Is it a bear? Is it a curtain? Is it this stuffed
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bee from Ikea? And he saw it. And he laughed
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and he said, oh, I thought it was something scary.
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And he fell right to sleep. And my heart was
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still beating. Kids naturally are afraid of the
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darkness. They're afraid of what might be hidden
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there. But as we grow older, we lose our fear
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of the darkness. And in fact, darkness seems
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a little bit appealing. Because in the darkness
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we can hide. In the darkness we can play. you
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start to think that the darkness is a fun place
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to be. Now, as I said earlier, we have no business
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being afraid of the darkness because our Lord
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is the great protector. But there are monsters
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in the darkness. And if we play in the darkness,
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away from the light of God, away from the light
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of truth, we will become the monsters and the
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darkness. Christian do not play in the dark.
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We are called to be people of the light to live
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in the light and those who live in the light
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do what is true so that it may be clearly seen
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that his works have been carried out in God.
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How do we get out of the darkness and into light?
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It happens through repentance. Kenny very conveniently
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defined repentance earlier, but I will read from
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the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 87,
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that defines what is repentance unto life. Repentance
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unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner
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out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension
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of the mercy of God in Christ does with grief
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and hatred of his sin turn from it unto God with
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full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.
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Repentance is more than just saying, I'm sorry.
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Repentance is also more than just confessing
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your sin. I know plenty of people that confess
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their sin and then shamelessly confess their
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sin and continue to do the same thing. They're
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even proud of it. It's more than just a desire
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to change. Repentance means hating our sin. Loving.
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the grace of God offered in Christ, and deciding
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to turn after it in new obedience. To illustrate
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this, for those of you who are parents, it is
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Father's Day after all, you might offer your
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kid a wonderful handmade meal full of delicious
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vegetables, delicious meats, homemade bread,
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And they will say, yucky, I don't want it. But
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give your kid a candy. And they are walking down
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the streets, and they drop the candy in the mud.
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And they think, that's not a problem. And they'll
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bend down and put it right back into their mouth.
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And you think, ugh, that's terrible. Why is it
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that your child thinks that Nasty floor candy
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is appetizing, whereas the thought of us putting
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that in our mouth is the most disgusting thing
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we can think of. I can see the horror on your
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faces. It's because you have repented. When we
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repent, we see that that floor candy is no longer
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delicious. It is something disgusting. And that
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delicious homemade meal is no longer yucky. but
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something delicious. That's what happens when
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we repent of our sin. We decide when we realize
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that something that's yucky, disgusting, lying,
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cheating, stealing, lust, those things which
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used to seem good to us are now abhorrent. And
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those things that used to seem too difficult
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and even foolish to us, being honest, sharing
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the gospel, being faithful, even to our hurt,
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and being generous. Those are the things that
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are beautiful. And as we grow in our repentance,
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sin will seem more and more disgusting to us,
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like floricandy. and righteousness will seem
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more and more beautiful. Now it isn't always,
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it doesn't always happen in an instant, though
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sometimes it does. It doesn't always like turning
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a light on the switch, sometimes it's something
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that we have to fight for. Repentance is a process
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that will take our whole lives and it's not something
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that will be perfected in this life. But brothers
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and sisters, we can't use that as an excuse not
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to try. If we truly believe that righteousness
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is beautiful and that sin is disgusting, then
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that ought to characterize our life and bring
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about real and honest change. If we truly repent,
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we no longer think of ourselves as victims. of
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our personal wants and desires, that they'd be
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impossible to fight. We can no longer justify
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ourselves saying that I had to sin, that I had
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no options. We no longer think of ourselves as
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victims, but we realize what's true. When I sin,
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I'm the criminal. And there might be explanations
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for my actions, but there isn't any justification.
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We take responsibility for what we have done.
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And we realize how we have hurt the people around
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us. How we have hurt those we've said we love.
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How we have hurt our brothers and sisters in
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the church and how we have hurt our neighbors.
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And how we have dishonored the name of our God.
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But it's not all bad news. Because in repentance,
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we realize that we remember the grace of God.
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That because of Jesus, we are truly forgiven.
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That fills us with love. That fills us with joy.
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And that brings us to new, and that causes us
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to live in the light and bear fruits of repentance.
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The Holy Spirit who has given you new birth is
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more powerful than any of our twisted fleshly
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desires. And when we repent and when we actually
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desire to change, we can be changed. There is
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hope for real change. But if we continue to justify
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ourselves, if we continue to harbor bitterness,
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harbor selfish thoughts, if we continue to hide
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our sins, if we continue to think that the Bible
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has no right to tell us how to live our lives
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or the pastor or someone has no right to tell
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us how to live our lives, if we think we have
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reached a certain point of holiness and that's
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it, I don't want anymore. This is fine, I'm fine
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the way I am and I don't really want to change
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anymore. We're not acting like the living, like
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living beings anymore. We're acting like we're
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returning right back to the darkness that we
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thought that we should have escaped from. So
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don't let that happen to you. The Christian life
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is one of repentance. That's why this church
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and our church in Bulgaria practice repentance
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every Sunday. so that it be a constant reminder
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that sin is disgusting and righteousness and
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the grace of God is beautiful. And so let us
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be changed by the Holy Spirit. Let us believe
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in the Son of God. Let us rest in the Father's
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love for us. By these things, know that we are
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born again. That being born again has a look.
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I'm going to read from 2 Corinthians, close out
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with reading from 2 Corinthians 3, verse 16 through
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18. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil
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is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where
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the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
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And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the
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glory of the Lord, are being transformed into
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the same image, from one degree of glory to another.
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For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
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We will be continuing this battle throughout
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our whole lives. The Lord will be changing us
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throughout our whole lives. He will be transforming
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us throughout our whole lives. But one day, by
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the Spirit's power, we will see the Lord, and
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we will be perfected, and we will be glorified,
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and we will shine with a radiance brighter than
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the sun. Keep going, church. We're gonna make
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it. Let's pray.