Latest / Pastor John Piper's answers / How Much of Christianity Remains a Secret?

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How Much of Christianity Remains a Secret? · Pastor John Piper's answers

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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for listening, and if
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  Speaker 1: you joined us in reading the Bible together this year,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for joining us in that as well. We're
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  Speaker 1: using the Navigator's Bible Reading Plan, which is a schedule
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  Speaker 1: you can find online. You can print it off and
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  Speaker 1: join us anytime. You don't have to start on January first,
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  Speaker 1: so we would love for you to join us. And
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  Speaker 1: as we read our Bible together, a lot of questions emerge,
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  Speaker 1: as you can see in this email from Matt in Concord,
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  Speaker 1: New Hampshire, who writes in based on what he saw
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  Speaker 1: last year in the Bible reading this time of year,
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  Speaker 1: he puts together five texts, five texts, the same five
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  Speaker 1: texts that we're going to encounter over the next three
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  Speaker 1: weeks in our reading. That's going to be your record
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  Speaker 1: five texts. Pastor John, Hello and thank you for the
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  Speaker 1: ABJ podcast. I have a question about how much of
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  Speaker 1: the Christian faith is revealed and how much of it
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  Speaker 1: is hidden and not revealed. Of course, we are told
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  Speaker 1: that the secret things belong to God thinks he does
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  Speaker 1: not reveal, but there are some things he reveals to us.
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  Speaker 1: That's Deuterond Me nine twenty nine. We read the Paul says,
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  Speaker 1: the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of
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  Speaker 1: the sons of God. That's an eager anticipation of a
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  Speaker 1: future revealing in Romans eight nineteen, and Jesus promises us
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  Speaker 1: that we will see the Son of Man seated at
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  Speaker 1: the right hand of power and coming on the clouds
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  Speaker 1: of heaven. That's in Matthew twenty six sixty four, a
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  Speaker 1: revelation of Christ's physical radiance in the future, as I
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  Speaker 1: understand it. But as Paul did ministry, he celebrated the
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  Speaker 1: Gospel as the quote the revelation of the mystery that
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  Speaker 1: was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed,
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  Speaker 1: and through the prophetic writings has been made known to
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  Speaker 1: all nations as Romans sixteen, twenty five and twenty six.
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  Speaker 1: And he talks about imparting quote a secret and hidden
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  Speaker 1: wisdom of God, which God decreed before the age is
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  Speaker 1: for our glory end quote. That's first Corinthians two seven.
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  Speaker 1: That secret wisdom, the secret of the Gospel, long held,
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  Speaker 1: is now out. So how much of the faith is
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  Speaker 1: revealed in how much of it remains a secret unrevealed?
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  Speaker 2: My answer go something like this, our knowledge of God
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  Speaker 2: now in this life is limited, true enough and glorious.
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  Speaker 2: And our knowledge of God in the age to come
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  Speaker 2: will be immediate, eternally inexhaustible, ever increasing, glorious, and all satisfying.
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  Speaker 2: So let me try to show from the Bible why
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  Speaker 2: I describe our knowledge this way. So first the knowledge
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  Speaker 2: we can have now, Jesus prayed in John seventeen twenty four. Father,
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  Speaker 2: I desire that they also whom you have given me,
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  Speaker 2: maybe with me where I am to see my glory.
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  Speaker 2: So Jesus has a glory today in heaven which we
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  Speaker 2: do not see the way we will when he comes.
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  Speaker 2: Our knowledge therefore of his glory is limited. It's real,
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  Speaker 2: but it's limited. Paul says, we walk by faith, not
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  Speaker 2: by sight Second Corinthians five seven, and John says in
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  Speaker 2: one John three to two, Beloved, we are God's children now,
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  Speaker 2: and what we will be has not appeared. But we
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  Speaker 2: know that when he appears, we will be like him,
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  Speaker 2: because we will see him as he is. And Paul
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  Speaker 2: says again in one Crimsonce thirteen twelve. Now we see
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  Speaker 2: in a mirror dimly, then face to face. Now I
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  Speaker 2: know in part then I shall know fully even as
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  Speaker 2: I have been fully known. But even though it's clear
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  Speaker 2: from those passages that our knowledge of God is limited,
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  Speaker 2: now it's true. It's real knowledge if we stay true
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  Speaker 2: to what is in the Bible. Proverbs thirty verse five says,
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  Speaker 2: every word of God proves true. You stay with the word,
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  Speaker 2: you can have true knowledge. And third, it's enough. This
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  Speaker 2: knowledge is limited, it's true, but it is enough. So
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  Speaker 2: enough for what enough for salvation and for leading a
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  Speaker 2: life of obedience pleasing to God. That's really clear from
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  Speaker 2: sewo Corinthians three fifteen to seventeen. The sacred writings are
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  Speaker 2: able to make you wise unto salvation through faith in
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  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. All scripture is breathed out by God and
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  Speaker 2: profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,
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  Speaker 2: so that the man of God may be complete equipped
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  Speaker 2: for and here's the key word, every good work. Now,
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  Speaker 2: that word every means not that you do every conceivable
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  Speaker 2: good work that somebody's doing on the other side of
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  Speaker 2: the world. Every means every good work that God would
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  Speaker 2: expect of you in your situation. You have what you
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  Speaker 2: need in the Bible to equip you to do it.
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  Speaker 2: So for a life fully pleasing to God. It is enough.
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  Speaker 2: And not only is our knowledge limited and true and enough,
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  Speaker 2: it's glorious. The limitations are such that nobody has ever
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  Speaker 2: reached the limit of seeing the glory of what God
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  Speaker 2: has revealed to us already in this life. Nobody has
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  Speaker 2: exhausted the Bible. It would be absolute folly to say, well,
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  Speaker 2: God has restricted what we can know here. So there's
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  Speaker 2: no point in digging into the scriptures to see what
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  Speaker 2: more glorious things there are defined. That would be insane,
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  Speaker 2: that would be crazy, utter foolishness. Paul said in Phesians
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  Speaker 2: three eight, to me, this grace has been given to
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  Speaker 2: preach to the gentiles now the unsearchable riches of Christ.
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  Speaker 2: So the riches of the glory of Jesus Christ are unsearchable,
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  Speaker 2: not meaning they can't be searched, but they can't be
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  Speaker 2: searched to the end because they're inexhaustible. They are being
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  Speaker 2: preached now through the inspired words of Scripture. So even
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  Speaker 2: though in this life we see through a glass dimly,
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  Speaker 2: nevertheless what we are given to see is so glorious
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  Speaker 2: that never in this life will we get to a
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  Speaker 2: point where we can say there's no more to learn
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  Speaker 2: no more to see till we get to heaven. The
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  Speaker 2: Bible is like an ocean without shores and no bottom.
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  Speaker 2: Nobody's come close to seeing everything there is to see
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  Speaker 2: of God and his ways in the Bible. Second, what
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  Speaker 2: about the knowledge we will have in the age to come,
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  Speaker 2: when all of our sin has banished, the hindrances of
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  Speaker 2: our sin anymore, and we inhabit the glory of Christ's presence?
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  Speaker 2: And I said that knowledge will be immediate, eternally inexhaustible,
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  Speaker 2: ever increasing, glorious, and all satisfying. By immediate, I mean
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  Speaker 2: the difference between knowing Christ through his word and knowing
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  Speaker 2: Him face to face, Paul said in Philippins one twenty three,
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  Speaker 2: my desire is to depart, that is, die and be
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  Speaker 2: with Christ, for that is far better. In other words,
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  Speaker 2: our knowledge of Him and our fellowship with Him will
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  Speaker 2: be more immediate after death than it is now. It's
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  Speaker 2: precious now. It is precious now, but Paul says it
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  Speaker 2: will be better when it is immediate. We shall see
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  Speaker 2: Him as he is first John three to two. And
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  Speaker 2: not only will our knowledge in that day be immediate,
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  Speaker 2: it will be eternally inexhaustible. One of the most amazing
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  Speaker 2: promises in the Bible is in Ephesians two seven, or
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  Speaker 2: Paul says, in the Coming Ages. That's a lot of ages,
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  Speaker 2: right like, they're all coming and they last forever. In
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  Speaker 2: the coming Ages, God will show the immeasurable riches of
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  Speaker 2: his grace in kindness to us in Christ Jesus. In
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  Speaker 2: other words, since the riches of God's grace are infinite,
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  Speaker 2: since He's God, Paul calls them immeasurable, you can't measure them.
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  Speaker 2: You never can get to the end of measuring them.
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  Speaker 2: And since we are finite and cannot contain all the
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  Speaker 2: infinite riches of God's grace, it appears that this is
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  Speaker 2: why we will have ages upon ages upon ages of
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  Speaker 2: being shown them eternal life, eternal life. It will take
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  Speaker 2: all of eternity, Paul calls it coming ages, in which
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  Speaker 2: God continually reveals more and more and more of the
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  Speaker 2: riches of his grace forever and ever and ever. That's
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  Speaker 2: what it means for us to be finite and him
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  Speaker 2: to be infinite. The revelation of the glory of His
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  Speaker 2: grace goes on forever, which also implies, thirdly, that we
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  Speaker 2: will be ever increasing in our knowledge God takes us
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  Speaker 2: further and further into the storehouses of his own riches,
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  Speaker 2: which are immeasurable. This increase begins in this life and
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  Speaker 2: then goes on and on forever and ever, because the
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  Speaker 2: love of Christ passes knowledge. Remember that amazing, staggering prayer
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  Speaker 2: in Ephesians three eighteen following or three fourteen following. Now
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  Speaker 2: here's verse eighteen. May you have strength. He's praying to
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  Speaker 2: comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and
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  Speaker 2: length and height and depth? And to know the love
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  Speaker 2: of Christ that Sir, passes knowledge. You can know what
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  Speaker 2: can be known. We will know what surpasses knowledge. I
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  Speaker 2: take to mean that our knowing of the inexhaustible love
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  Speaker 2: of Christ will go on and on forever, ever increasing,
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  Speaker 2: so it remains comprehensively unknowable, and yet we're growing in
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  Speaker 2: the knowledge of it all the time. I love this
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  Speaker 2: picture of our future. It's just it's just the necessary
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  Speaker 2: implications of God being God glorious. And not only will
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  Speaker 2: our knowledge be immediate, eternally inexhaustible, ever increasing, it will
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  Speaker 2: be glorious. Paul said in Romans nine twenty three, God
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  Speaker 2: desired to make known the riches of His glory for
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  Speaker 2: the vessels of mercy. Our knowledge will be the knowledge
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  Speaker 2: of infinite greatness and beauty and worth. That is glory
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  Speaker 2: God has chosen to make known. How great among the
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  Speaker 2: gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery,
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  Speaker 2: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory Colaussians
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  Speaker 2: one twenty seven. And finally, not only will our knowledge
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  Speaker 2: of God be immediate, eternally, inexhaustible, ever increasing and glorious,
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  Speaker 2: it will be all satisfying. You make known to me
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  Speaker 2: the path of life. You make known to me the
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  Speaker 2: path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy.
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  Speaker 2: That's where I get the idea of all satisfying. All
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  Speaker 2: at your right hand are pleasures forevermore, And there I
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  Speaker 2: get the idea of satisfying forever. I think the practical
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  Speaker 2: upshot of all of this is that today, in this life,
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  Speaker 2: right now, God has given to us the revelation of
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  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of
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  Speaker 2: wisdom and knowledge Clustions two three. And he did this.
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  Speaker 2: He gave us this to set us on a quest
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  Speaker 2: starting at our conversion, that will last forever and will
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  Speaker 2: prove to be eternal and all satisfying as we go
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  Speaker 2: further up and further in to the immeasurable riches of
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  Speaker 2: God's Chrice.
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  Speaker 1: That amazing, staggering prayer and Ephesians three eighteen. Yeah, Or
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  Speaker 1: Paul shows us that takes strength to comprehend the love
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  Speaker 1: of Christ. We just looked at that text last year
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  Speaker 1: in an episode that stands out to me. I don't
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  Speaker 1: feel God's love? What can I do? That's APJA nineteen seventy.
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  Speaker 1: I don't feel God's love? What can I do? APJA
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  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy looking at Ephesians three eighteen in depth and
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  Speaker 1: the strength that we need to comprehend Christ's love. Check
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  Speaker 1: that out? Great episode. Think you Pastor John? Find EPJ
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  Speaker 1: nineteen seventy at askpastor John dot com. Full episode transcripts
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  Speaker 1: and audio mat askpastor John dot com. I just type
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  Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy in the search party you'll find it.
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  Speaker 1: Next week we look at authenticity, living the authentic life.
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  Speaker 1: What does a life of genuine affection look like? That's
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  Speaker 1: Thursday in a question from Francisco in Mexico City. But
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  Speaker 1: first a question from Mark, who wants to know how
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  Speaker 1: Jesus could have authentically lived out his life. If his
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: entire life was scripted out, wasn't he just an actor?
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  Speaker 1: Two great questions that have me looking forward to next
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  Speaker 1: week's answers. I'm Tony, Reiki, See you on Monday.