Transcript

Truth Set Free Q&A · Crosswalk

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Jesus tells us to take up our cross and follow
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Him. You're listening to Crosswalk with Pastor
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Steve Winnery. Crosswalk is the radio ministry
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of Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities and it is our aim
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to lead you to the cross through the teaching
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of God's Word. Today's crosswalk is pre -recorded
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from True Set Free. Hey you guys, we're a little
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bit late, so we went live directly. So there's
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no countdown. If you're just joining us, welcome.
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This is True Set Free coming to you live from
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Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities Bible Question and
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Answer Show that we do every Wednesday at 3 .30.
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If you have questions for us during the week,
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you can email me crosswalkradio at gmail .com.
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You can also text or voicemail 707 -872 -7677.
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Let me know, Mike, if our mics are having issues.
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If you're looking for a church, check us out.
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We have a Sunday morning service at 8 30 and
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10 30, a Sunday evening service at 6 p .m. and
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a Wednesday at 6 30. PM service. All right, let's
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jump into our first question. This is from Karsten.
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He asked me this a while ago and I've been forgetting
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to ask you, so I threw it on here. He says, can
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you explain what 1 John 5 16 means when it talks
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about a sin not leading to death? What does that
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actually mean? Yeah, we left off on that last
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time. Oh, that's right. I asked you with like
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two minutes left. Right. Now you have all the
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time. And so that's in, let me go back and read
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it. And this is what it says. Verse 16, it says,
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if anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which
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does not lead to death, he will ask and he will
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give him life for those who commit sin not leading
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to death. There is a sin leading to death. I
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do not say that he should pray about that. All
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unrighteousness is sin and there is sin not leading
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to death. And so, You know, obviously, that's
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a pretty intense passage, and it's one that people
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usually, depending on their doctrinal bent, they
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try to explain it away. But obviously, it's a
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warning, and it's a recognition that there are
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situations where people can go too far, as far
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as the rebellion against God, and that that can
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be recognized in actuality. And so, practically
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speaking, there's only really been one time that
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I was praying for a guy and God told me to stop
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praying for him and He was a guy that was pretty
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far gone. He's one of those guys that Claims
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to be following Jesus and just goes around stumbling
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people claim to be a teacher and just a real
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mess caused a bunch of people to stumble I'm
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praying for the guy and It's the one time that
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God told me to knock it off stop praying for
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him I don't know what happened to the guy, but
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whatever, God gets to do that. There's a passage
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in Matthew chapter 12. In that passage, Jesus
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talks about specifically this kind of situation,
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this kind of sin. It starts in verse 31, and
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he says, therefore I say to you, every sin and
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blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
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against the Spirit will not be forgiven men.
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Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man,
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it will be forgiven him. But whoever speaks against
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the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him,
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either in this age or in the age to come. Either
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make the tree good and its fruit good, or else
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make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree
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is known by its fruit. Brute of vipers, how can
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you, being evil, speak good things? For out of
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the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
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Good man out of the good treasure of his heart
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brings forth good things. And an evil man out
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of the evil treasure brings forth evil things
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But I say to you that for every idle word men
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may speak They will give an account of it in
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the day of judgment for by your words You will
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be justified and by your words you will be condemned
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and it's in response Specifically to the Pharisees
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saying that Jesus was casting out demons by the
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power of the devil And so that's the blasphemy
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of the Holy Spirit. Now the question comes up,
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what is that? What's going on there? And what
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Jesus says in the passage is you're speaking
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against the Holy Spirit. So these guys at this
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point are speaking against Jesus, but what they're
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doing is they're taking the things that God is
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doing through Jesus, obviously things that are
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done by the power of the Spirit, and attributing
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them to the devil instead of recognizing them
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as a work of God. And when you look at the ministry
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of the Holy Spirit, and specifically what He's
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sent to do, what He does is He opens people's
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eyes, basically. Jesus talked about the Spirit
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was with the disciples and He was going to be
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in them, and that the Spirit leads you into all
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truth. And the Spirit doesn't speak of Himself.
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He speaks of Christ. And so if you're contradicting
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the Spirit, if you're going against the work
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of the Spirit in your own life, what you're doing
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is you're taking the things of Christ, you're
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attributing them to something else, you're not
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receiving the work of the Spirit, and you end
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up dying in that whole thing. And that's blasphemy
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against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy against the
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Holy Spirit is not saying, I blaspheme you, O
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Holy Spirit. I've had people come up to me and
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they want to give their life to Christ They want
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to repent and they say things like I don't know
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if I can because I have actually Said I blaspheme
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you. Oh, holy spirit One of the points that I
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make to them is that if you really committed
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the blasphemy of the spirit You wouldn't be up
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here talking to me. You would be so hardened
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that you would not be interested in the things
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of God and so ultimately There's only one sin
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that you can't recover from, and that's the ultimate
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and final rejection of Jesus Christ. That's the
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work of the Spirit to bring you into a relationship
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with Jesus Christ. That is most likely, in 1
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John chapter 5, what he's talking about. John
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knew Jesus really well, so he would understand
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what was being spoken about in that passage.
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And so, you got a situation where you've got
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a person who just goes over the top in their
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rejection of Christ, and they end up dying in
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that. That would be blasphemy of the Spirit.
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And so, the passage says, don't pray for that.
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You know, they're on their own at that point.
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You know, it's like that kind of situation. Now,
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having said that, like I said, there's only one
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person that God ever specifically told me to
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stop praying for. And that's just an example
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from my life. And I'm not saying it's even necessarily
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a situation that is that unique, because there's
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lots of people, obviously, who reject Christ.
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And so I'm just saying, as far as my prayer life,
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that's what happened. I did have a situation
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when I was a youth leader and an assistant pastor
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where a girl in my youth group ended up backsliding.
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She walked away from the Lord. just nasty about
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her attitude towards Jesus, her attitude towards
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the things of God. And she was one of those kids
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that I was really involved in her life and she
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was just a sweetie when she was following the
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Lord. But she backslides and does this and then
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she's saying awful things about the Lord, awful
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things about Christians, that kind of stuff.
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And I'm looking at this chick and I'm like, whoa.
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You know, that's a complete turnaround. You know,
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and I back slid. But when I back slid, I recognized
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the problems weren't mine. The problems weren't
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God's. And so I never had that attitude towards
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God. And again, it was just bitter and vile was
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what the things that were coming out of her mouth.
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And I was like, wow, Lord, is this it? Has she
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committed blasphemy against the spirit? And then
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later on she turns around she repents and now
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she's following Jesus Okay has a husband and
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a family and she's in her 50s now and just doing
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really well with the Lord And so it's not even
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a when I look at this passage. I don't have the
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kind of discernment that needs to be put in effect
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to be able to tell person by person who this
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would be. I really think it's a matter of the
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Lord speaking to you about the issue and recognizing
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it from that standpoint. And again, there is
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a sin that can't be repented of and that's an
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ultimate and final rejection of Christ. Once
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you've done that, you're done. And that would
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be blasphemy of the spirit. So Thousand Foot
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View, when it starts out in verse 13, it's writing
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to believers. And his point is, I'm writing to
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you, he says, so that you may know you have eternal
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life. And then he lays out this situation in
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there. And so you're going through Romans, you
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talked about the hardening of Pharaoh's heart.
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And what that shows you is that there is a point
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where God goes, I'm done. I'm done with this
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dude. And they get to harden their heart. And
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so every sin leads to death. But there is a special
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one that this is talking about where it meets
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the hardness of heart, which you already laid
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out as the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Let
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me back you up there. Every sin doesn't lead
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to death. What sin leads to is hardness of heart,
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and hardness of heart leads to death. And when
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you die, you pay for your sin. Right. So the
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separation of God. Right. And so the only sin
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that anybody ever dies for. as far as spiritual
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death goes, is the rejection of Christ. That
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is the only one. And so, I was just watching
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a news show last night. One of the guys was making
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a joke about a famous homosexual guy getting
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in trouble with the law and saying, well, isn't
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it enough that he's going to hell for homosexuality?
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And the first thing that popped into my head
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is, no, he's not. He's going to hell for the
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rejection of Christ. When he gets there, he's
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going to pay for homosexuality. And that's the
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case with everybody. Hell comes on people specifically.
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They are relegated to hell specifically because
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they've rejected the light that was given to
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them. Yeah, so the atonements paid for everything.
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Of course, some people don't hold that view,
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but that doesn't matter. It's the blood of Jesus
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that covers. And so we're born original sin,
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and that's separation from the Lord, but it's
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the ultimate rejection of Christ that sends us
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to hell. Right. Sin in our life. believer or
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unbeliever is that process of hardening our heart,
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where eventually we're in the place where we
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do commit the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. You
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know what I've noticed is that when you see people
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and a lot of times it's because you already made
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the point that the Lord knows their heart, you
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know, you can see this though in the Pharisees
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and different places that you mentioned, but
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when people are trying to distance themselves
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from the Lord, whether they're walking away from
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fellowship, they're walking away from a marriage,
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they're just in that place, What I've seen in
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counseling and other places is all of a sudden
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they turn and they have to, they have to make
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an excuse, harden their heart, figure out a way
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of why they can distance themselves from what
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they know to be true. Especially people who they
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know the verse. A lot of times you'll show them
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the verse and you'll see the look on their face
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and they'll acknowledge that truth and they'll
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go, but I don't want to do that. And then they
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get mad, they get bitter, and they're running
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from the Lord. You can see this in people's lives.
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And you gave the story of that young lady who
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came back to the Lord, but eventually, and this
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is the whole point of my thousand foot view,
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eventually there comes a point where you can
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harden your heart and you ain't coming back.
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That's what he's talking about. That's exactly
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what he's talking about. That's a scary place
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to be. And so, again, the hardness of heart does
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not, you know, you're referencing what we talked
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about in the book of Romans, and it was talking
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about God hardening Pharaoh's heart. But the
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reality there is Pharaoh hardened his heart six
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times before God ever did it. God gave him a
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warning, and then Pharaoh hardened his heart
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again, and then from that point on, he was done.
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God hardened Pharaoh's heart. And then that hardening
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of heart doesn't come from God, it comes from
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sin. Even in the case of Pharaoh, when God admittedly
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hardened his heart, he's just confirming what's
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already there. And Pharaoh took it too far is
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what took place. And so there was no coming back
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from that at that point. And again, I think that's
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what John is talking about in that passage. And
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it's a scary place to go. And so hardening doesn't
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come from God, it comes from sin. And that hardening
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is what leads to the destruction that the Bible
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talks about. There's a few verses that talk about
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this subject, and if you're going to fit them
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all together, this is the cleanest viewpoint
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on those verses that talk about that. There's
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another one that talks about crucifying again.
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The Son of God. The Son of God that bought us.
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And so, it fits into these parameters. Right,
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yeah. So, yeah. The warning after warning in
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the Bible about don't go there. And so, this
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one is about don't pray for people who've gone
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there. At that point there's no point right?
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Yeah, interesting. Yeah Good on that one. Yep.
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All right. My next one's from crystal and very
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simply she just asked What does the Bible have
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to say about children with disabilities? You
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know, there's a number of passages in the Bible.
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There's not anything specific about kids in that
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context but when you go through the Bible first
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off and you're gonna know these references, so
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In Genesis chapter 1, in verse 27, it talks about
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God created the man and the woman, and male and
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female, He created them in the image of God,
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He created them. And you have the passage that
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says, let us create man in our image. And so
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there's an inherent worth in people, and it doesn't
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matter whether or not they're whole. There's
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an inherent worth in them. And so that's something
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that the Bible teaches. And to the point where
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if you kill someone, And this is talking about
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murder. It's excluding the death penalty in situations
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like that, legal and moral situations. But if
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you kill someone you got the death penalty specifically
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because that person was Made in the image of
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God and you have no right to do that Psalm 139
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is one of those famous passages where David goes
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through and he talks about how God formed us
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and he formed us in the secret places and Specifically
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talks about in verses 13 and 14 that he knitted
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us together in our mother's womb And he also
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says that we're fearfully and wonderfully made.
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And so you have the hand of God in the life of
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every human being as far as they're knitting
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together. Here's another one. In John chapter
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nine, Jesus is coming out of the temple. And
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as he's coming out, he's just had this conflict
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with the Pharisees. As he's coming out, there's
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a man sitting there who was born blind. And he's
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begging, and the disciples say, who sinned, this
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man or his parents, that he was born blind. And
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Jesus said, neither this man nor his parents
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sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed
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in him. And at that point, what he does is he
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spits on the ground, makes some clay. anoints
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the eyes of the blind man with the clay and then
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says, go wash in the pool of Siloam. And then
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famously he goes down and washes and there's
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this whole interaction between the blind man
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and the Jews at that point. They're like, who
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healed you? And he goes, well, I don't know.
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I didn't see the guy. It's so funny some of the
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stuff that he does. I know, it's just hilarious.
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Spit a loogie, make mud, put it in his eyes.
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It's like, out of all the things, why that? This
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is one of those passages that, actually, I had
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a world religions class when I was a kid in college.
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And the teacher was teaching, oh, what's that
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called? Oh, karma. He's teaching karma and saying
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that the Bible, that Jesus taught karma. And
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I had just read this passage. I was a relatively
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new Christian at the time. And so I just read
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this passage. And so I raise my hand and I go,
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hey. Jesus said this and I read the passage to
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her and she got all ticked off because Jesus
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didn't teach karma. Karma is the idea that if
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you are born in this life and you are born with
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any kind of defect or any kind of problem it's
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because of a sin in your past life and the Jews
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specifically We're teaching at this time that
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if you had a deformed child or a child with any
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kind of disability, it was because the mother
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or the father sinned in some way after the woman
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was impregnated. And so that's why the child
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came out. They also taught that the child could
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sin in the womb, and that's why a child would
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be born with a defect. And what Jesus says is
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neither. None of that's happening here. And he
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was specifically born so that the work of God
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could be made manifest in him. And so, you see
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that specifically taught in Scripture that a
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debilitating situation, especially when you're
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talking about children, is not something that
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is a punishment for sin at all. And so, again,
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you have that. You have these standards in scripture
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where it talks about in the book of Deuteronomy,
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also in the book of Leviticus, that you don't
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put a stumbling block before a blind man. And
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it's the idea that you don't come along and do
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awful things. You don't curse the deaf or put
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a stumbling block in front of the blind. And
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Proverbs 31 -8 commands believers to speak up
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for those who cannot speak for themselves. And
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just talking about taking care of the rights
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of those who are destitute. And here's another
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thing. Turn over in the book of Luke in chapter
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14. One of the cool things in that passage is...
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Jesus does deal with He's not talking about children
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here, but he's talking about people with disabilities
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and He's just basically talking about basically
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biblical hospitality and In verse 12, he says
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when you give a dinner or a supper Do not ask
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your friends, your brothers, your relatives,
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nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you
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back and you be repaid. But when you give a feast,
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invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind,
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and you will be blessed because they cannot repay
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you, for you shall be repaid at the resurrection
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of the just." And so Jesus in that passage is
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exhorting people to be taken care of, those around
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them who are less valued. as far as the culture
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goes. And so I like it that Jesus talks about
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the lame and the blind and the maimed and in
20:06
those instances. So you can see God's heart in
20:08
this whole thing. And so that's pretty much,
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I mean, it's general exhortations, but that's
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pretty much what the Bible says that we're supposed
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to be doing with those who have disabilities.
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Yeah. Yeah. All right. Moving right along here.
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My next one is in Second Timothy. I'm assuming
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21 through 26. They're asking if you could please
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interpret that. And then they say, I took it
20:30
as distinguishing between the bright shiny Christians
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who have influence over many versus the wooden
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clay Christians who have influence over only
20:38
a few, like maybe just in their own family. The
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honor and dishonor part threw me off a bit. What
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does Timothy really mean? Okay. You got to take
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it in from an earlier context. And when you look
20:52
up at verse 15, Paul is telling Timothy, To be
20:56
diligent, to present yourself, approve to God
20:58
a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly
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dividing the word of truth. And just talking
21:03
about the fact that we need to be giving the
21:06
word out, and it needs to be exactly what it
21:08
says. It needs to fit with the rest of the Bible.
21:11
And you need to be giving correct teaching. He
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goes on, he says, but shun profane and idle babblings,
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for they will increase to more ungodliness. And
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so Jesus might as well have said, shun most of
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what you see on the internet, because most of
21:28
it's profane and idle babblings. And he goes
21:31
on and he says, and their message will spread
21:33
like cancer. And then he names guys, Hymenaeus
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and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed
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concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection
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has already passed and they overthrow the faith
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of some. And then, He gives a little parenthesis
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there about, we've got a sure foundation in Christ,
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and then he goes on with the same subject matter,
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and he says, but in a great house, there are
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not only vessels of gold and silver, but also
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of wood and clay, some for honor and some for
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dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself
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from the latter, and the latter would be the
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vessel for dishonor, and that's Hymenaeus and
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Philetus in this passage. They're examples of
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vessels for dishonor. He will be a vessel for
22:16
honor, sanctified and useful for the master,
22:19
prepared for every good work. And then he goes
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on and says, flee also, and so not just false
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teachers, but youthful lusts, but pursue righteousness,
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faith, love, peace with those, and these again
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are vessels of honor, who call the Lord out of
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a pure heart. And then the passage goes on. And
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so, what he's talking about is the fact that
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we separate ourselves from those who are divisive.
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We separate ourselves from those who are gender
22:44
-driven, from those who are false teachers, that
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kind of thing. And we surround ourselves with
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people who actually love God and respect His
22:53
Word. And so, it's not the bright, shiny people
22:56
out front. It's talking about people that God
22:59
values versus— people that God does not value
23:04
specifically because of their sinful actions,
23:10
attitudes, and teachings, so. Can you impact
23:14
the part where it's, because as a believer, they're
23:16
my objective. I want to lead these people to
23:20
the Lord, but there's a difference. He's talking
23:22
about false teachers here. Okay, so you're so
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specific to guys who are teaching a false gospel.
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Right. Not just sinners. Yeah, we're not talking
23:31
about unbelievers. We're talking about people
23:33
who claim to be Christians and they are false.
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So they're either into false doctrine or, you
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know, as he says in verse 22, they are not those
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who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Right.
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They're phonies. And so when you look at the
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way that Jesus specifically treats groups of
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people. That's all the time we have for today.
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If you have questions for Pastor Steve, please
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email me at crosswalkradio at gmail .com or you
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can leave a voicemail or text message to 707
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-872 -7677. Crosswalk is the radio ministry of
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Calvary Chapel Tri -Cities in Kennewick, Washington.
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If you're wanting to know more about what it
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means to follow Christ, then please contact our
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church office by phone at 509 -736 -2086. You
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can also look us up online at calvary -tricities
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.org. There you will find a wide variety of Steve's
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teachings to listen to or to download for free.
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If you want to join us for church sometime, we're
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located at 10 -611 West Clearwater Avenue in
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Kennewick, Washington. Our Sunday service times
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are 8 .30 and 10 .30 a .m. We also meet at 6
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p .m. Sundays and 6 .30 p .m. Wednesdays in our
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sanctuary. We hope you have been blessed today
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and will join us again next time on Crosswalk.