Episode Transcript
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Fear will remain standing. Lets turn
our attention, please do. And let's
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turn our attention to Romans chapter,
Romans Chapter Twelve, Romans twelve, verse
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nine through Verse Twenty One. Pay
attention to God's word. Let's hear it
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and believe it. Romans twelve nine, let love be genuine. Abhor what
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is evil, hold fast to what
is good, love one another with brotherly
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affection. outdue one another in showing
honor. Do not be slothful in zeal,
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be fervent in spirit. Serve the
Lord, rejoice in hope, be
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be patient in tribulation, be constant
in prayer, contribute to the needs of
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the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Bless
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and do not curse them. Rejoice
with those who rejoice, weep with those
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who weep. Live in harmony with
one another. Do not be haughty,
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but associate with the lowly lowly.
Never be wise in your own sight.
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Repay no one evil for evil,
but give thought to do what is honorable
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in the sight of all. If
possible, so far as it depends on
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you, live peaceably withal beloved.
Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to
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the wrath of God, for it
is written vengeance is mine. I will
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replace as the Lord. To the
contrary, if your enemy is hungry,
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feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for
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by doing so you will he burning
coals on his head. Do not be
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overcome by evil, but overcome evil
with good. You may be seated.
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As we continue working through the section
of Romans twelve, we find ourselves this
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morning at Romans twelve, verse twelve. Romans twelve verse twelve. Rejoice in
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hope, be patient in tribulation,
be constant in prayer. Each of these
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words you could meet. This sense
of being in has a sense of with
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regards to so you could say,
with regards to hope, rejoice, or
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with regard to tribulation, be patient, with regard to prayer, be constant.
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And in that the apostle is giving
to us these various realities of the
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Christian life and how we ought to
live in them. And this is true
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of every calling, isn't it every
calling that you find yourself and life has
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particular aspects that are attached to it, realities that always go with it.
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So, for example, if you're
a sailor, you have to learn to
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tie knots. If you're a cook, you have to learn how to time
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your food and season things. If
you are a father, you need to
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protect and provide for your children.
These are the aspects or the realities that
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always go with that particular calling that
you have. But in every calling it
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you can't just say what things are
attached to it. There's also the how
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you do them. So, if
you are a sailor, you just you.
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It's not just that you tie knots, but there are certain kinds of
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knots. You need to know when
to use them, for what purposes those
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kinds of things. If if you're
a cook, you have to know when
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to season things, how to season
things, how to time things, what's
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appropriate. There can be good seasoning, there can be bad seasoning. Merely
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to recognize that there's an aspect attached
to that calling is not really good enough.
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You have to know how to fulfill
that or father's yes, provision is
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a part of your calling, but
that doesn't mean that you have to stop
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there or that you can stop there. What do you provide? How much?
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How do you balance time with your
family versus the money that you need
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to earn for them? They're all
these kinds of questions that go into the
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fulfillment of that calling and the fulfillment
of that particular aspect. So the aspects
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of any calling can be done well
or done poorly, and, of course,
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if they're neglected or rejected all together, you might not be a part
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of that calling at all. So
if you're not dealing with food and ingredients
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and shopping and the oven and all
those things, well, you just might
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not be a cook. If you're
not on boats and tying knots and doing
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that sort of thing, you might
not be a sailor. If you don't
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have children, then you might not
be a father. We're talking about those
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aspects that are essential to that calling
and how we go about fulfilling them.
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Well, all this applies to our
passage because through the apostle, God is
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instructing us about our calling as Christians. He's talking about those things that are
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essential to it, these aspects that
belong to the Christian life necessarily. So
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they're always there. But he doesn't
just say the things that are there.
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He then talks about how we go
about fulfilling them. So in regard to
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hope, well, we rejoice.
In regard to the tribulation that all Christians
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experience, we are to be patient
into in regard to the prayer that all
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Christians have, we are to be
constant. He's talking about the various aspects
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of our we are calling and how
we are to fulfill them. Well,
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in this verse, in Verse Twelve, he's addressing three aspects that deal particularly
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with perseverance, this pushing forward,
this continuing on, hope, tribulation prayer.
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These aspects of the Christian life are
attached very much to these in between
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times, the sort of waiting that
we are doing as we wait for the
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Lord's return. Hope, tribulation in
prayer, three things that are always a
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part of being a Christian, three
things that every Christian experiences in one form
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or another, if indeed you are
a Christian. So let's consider each and
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consider how we are supposed to live
in regards to them, how it is
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we fulfill these these aspects of our
faith, of our Christianity. So first,
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hope. Hope is an essential aspect
of the Christian faith. Now we
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talk about hope in different ways.
Sometimes we talk about it is a feeling
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which we sometimes have or don't have. Another times, the Bible describes it
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as as as something that we possess, not so much a feeling but almost
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like an object, a thing that
we have, and that's the way in
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which it's described here. The hope
that's described here is does it isn't dependent
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on whether or not you feel it. It's it's something that you you have.
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So, for example, I heard
a story this week about a man
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who was flying on one of the
major airlines and they goofed up his flight
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and then as pretty bad. And
then, as a response to that,
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they said here you can have a
free flight anywhere you like in the Caribbean.
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So let's imagine that he gets those
tickets in the mail and he sets
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them on his desk. How might
he feel about that? Well, he
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might feel really happy, or maybe
he'd feel upset that they didn't do enough,
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or maybe he'd feel some other way. But in a sense it really
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doesn't matter. It doesn't change the
fact, in other words, that he
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still has those tickets. They're still
on his desk. He has two,
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or let's say one, one free
ticket to anywhere in the Caribbean that he
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wants to fly. No matter how
he feels about it, that's what he
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has well's Christians. It's kind of
like that. For us. We have
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received this ticket into the Kingdom of
God. It belongs to us, it
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is ours, but of course it's
a lot different in several ways from the
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story I tell, because going to
heaven is not some kind of great vacation.
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Going to heaven and belonging to the
Kingdom of God is not a vacation
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at all. It's the ultimate salvation. Another thing we might add to really
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appreciate what it is that we've been
given the hope that we have in Christ
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is also to recognize that God's giving
us entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.
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It's not a mistake like it was
with the airline. The airline goofed up
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and apologized by saying here, let's
help you out. God did not goof
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up and make a mistake when he
gives us the Kingdom of Heaven. In
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fact, he gives us the Kingdom
of Heaven as a response to our sins,
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our mistakes. To understand how sort
of different that is from the other
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things we experience in this world,
imagine not buying a ticket to an airline.
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Imagine saying hateful things online to the
airline imagine calling them up every day
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and cussing them out and speaking poorly
to them and just being a real pain,
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and then they call you up the
next day and say, guess what,
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Mr Cholpka, we're going to be
sending you a ticket to anywhere you
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like in the Caribbean. It doesn't
make sense. It's not a sort of
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proper response to sin. It's not
a proper response, it's not a just
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response, but that's what it is. As will see, though, it's
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proper not because it's responding to our
sins. It's proper because it's responding to
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God's forgiveness of those sins. It's
the gift he gives us that we didn't
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deserve. To understand the hope that
we have in heaven, we have to
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remember that our sins completely preclude us
from belonging to that sin less heavenly country.
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In fact, our sins don't gain
US entrance into heaven, they consign
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us to judgment in Hell. If
that sounds too harsh, you have to
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consider this question. What does Sin
Deserve? Really? What do your sins
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deserve? The Bible says that the
sin deserves death, that the wages of
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sin are death. That's the proper
payment, that's the proper penalty for our
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sins. They deserve the judgment of
God. And really, how could it
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be otherwise? How could you say
of any of the sins that you have
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committed in your life that you deserve
to be treated well because of what you
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did? To understand your sin properly, you have to really press and become
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sensitive to that sense of justice that
God has given to us. Let me
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tell you about another story I heard
this week. Somebody was telling me,
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someone who goes to one of our
sister churches here in town, was telling
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me about the death of his father. His father had just gotten a new
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motorcycle. He had kind of exchanged
one. was driving from Phoenix to Camp
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Verdi. He was driving at or
under this, I think a little bit
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under the speed limit, and a
lady driving behind him look down at her
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phone, texting, messing around with
it. We don't know. We know,
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though, because there was an ambulance
that was nearby and was filming it.
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There was a witness that said she
was weaving around on the road and
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for six seconds she didn't look up
and she rammed him and he flew over
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her car and he died, this
man lost his father, his wife lost
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her husband, all because this woman
decided to pay more attention to her phone
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for six seconds. Close Your Eyes
and count to six. That's a long
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time to be negligent. So what, after all that pain and after all
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that loss and after that great,
is great and terrible thing that she did,
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she was fined the total of two
hundred dollars, given a ticket.
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That's it, despite the video,
despite the testimony of witnesses, despite what
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it obviously happened. Well, this
sun is now. You obviously tried and
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he pressed and he now belongs to
organizations that work on anti texting laws and
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things like that. All that to
say, I want you to feel that.
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I want you to ask yourself if
I was if someone did this to
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me or to my husband or to
my son or my daughter, would I
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be satisfied? What I feel that
two hundred bucks was a sort of fair
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exchange for that life. Of course
it's not. Now, when we think
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about any of our sins, we
have to be honest in that kind of
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way. Now you may say,
well, I haven't murdered anyone, or
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I haven't been grossly negligent so much
that I've taken another person's life? Well,
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perhaps, but have you ever caused
great pain and loss? Have you
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ever driven someone to despair? Have
you ever said something that was crushing to
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someone, or have you ever done
something that was truly faithless when you were
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required to be faithful? I have. We are all guilty of these things
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and we feel rightly guilty and shamed
as a result. What I'm asking you
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to do when you think about your
sins is to judge yourself rightly, be
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fair, be just. What do
your sins deserve? Put before your mind
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every sinful thought, every sinful word, every sinful deed, if you can
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remember them all, and why have
you forgotten? Now, remember that you
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committed them not only against other people
who were made in the image of God
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and were Pressius precious to him,
but you have committed these sins against God
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himself, who sees all things,
knows all things, the motivations of your
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heart and all that comes with that. The you sinned against a God who
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is perfectly just and, by the
great and awesome goodness of his character,
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is required to be against evil.
He has a great and divine warrior for
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goodness and justice. He cannot simply
let sin go. So you see why
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I say that my sins and your
sins do not grant us entrance into the
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Kingdom of God. They throw the
bars over the Kingdom of Heaven and they
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consign us to the very pits of
hell. So when I say that God
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has given to you a hope in
Jesus Christ, that brings you into the
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Kingdom of God, you see why
I say it's not a vacation, but
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it is the most ultimate salvation that
you could ever imagine. It's beyond our
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imagination. It is a hope that
is amazing, remarkable, marvelous and gracious.
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We Are Christians not because of our
sins, not because of our righteousness.
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We Are Christians because of the forgiveness
of our sins and the righteousness of
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God imputed to us. God didn't
make a mistake like the airline. God
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isn't atoning for his sins. The
Salvation we have, the hope that you
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have, the guarantee of heaven,
is because God atoned for your sins.
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He did this by sending his perfect
son to die a death that you and
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I deserve, deserved, on the
Cross. Jesus Christ bore every sinful thought
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every sinful word, every sinful emotion, every sinful deed. He sacrificed himself
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for us. He bled for us
so that he could forgive us off all
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of our sins, so that he
could wash us and make us pure,
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so that he could give us all
of the heavenly blessings that we never deserved
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but that he loved and wanted to
give to US anyway. The truth about
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our sins is devastating, but the
good news of the Bible is that on
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the Cross, Jesus Christ devastated the
devastation. He put to death death and
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he gave life to a thing called
hope. In the Heidelberg Catechism that we
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recited earlier, if you remember the
question, the very first question, what
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is your only comfort in life and
death? Here the words of the catechism,
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it speaks to the hope that we
have received in Jesus Christ. What
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is your only comfort in life and
death? Answer that I with body and
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soul, both in life and death, and not my own, but belong
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to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ, who, with his precious blood,
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has fully satisfied for all my sins
and delivered me from the power of the
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Devil and so preserves me, that
that with, that without the will of
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my heavenly father, not a hair
can fall from my head. Yay,
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that all things must be subservient to
my salvation. wherefore, by his Holy
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Spirit, he assures me of eternal
life and makes me heartily willing and ready
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henceforth to live undo him. If
you are a Christian, that comfort belongs
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to you. You have it,
it is your hope. If you are
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a Christian, by believing in this
Jesus of your salvation, by believing in
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Jesus your only hope, you have
hope, hope against every sin, hope
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against every injustice, hope that all
the things that you could ever need will
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be richly provided for you forever,
that every tear, every sorrow, every
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terrible thing will be wiped away,
both in you and outside of you.
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In Jesus Christ, God has given
us a guarantee from God himself and in
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God himself, that atonement has been
made, justification has been declared and that
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corresponding justification will come to you as
surely as Jesus Christ himself rose from the
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dead. Of course, if you
are not a Christian, the none of
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this belongs to you and you remain
dead in your trespasses and in your sins.
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But to become a Christian only requires
letting go of those sins by coming
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to Jesus, by clinging to him
and all the things that he offers us
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in his death. So, Beloved, when the Apostle Paul says, rejoice
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and hope, that is the hope
you have. We have been brought from
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death to life, from slavery to
freedom, from falling apart and returning to
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dust to everlasting life. They can
never be taken away because it's given to
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you by God himself. Any sin
that you can throw at it is taken
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up and cleansed by the blood of
Jesus. So now we ask, how
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do you respond to that? How
do you respond to the greatest gift that
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could ever be given anyone? How
do you respond to when God himself says,
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all your sins are taken care of
by my son on the cross.
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Here is eternal salvation. Well,
I think you should rejoice, and that's
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what God thinks to with regards to
hope that you all have. Well,
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rejoice, rejoice, consider the hope
that you have in heaven. Consider the
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forgiveness of your sins. Imagine being
trapped forever in a prison, locked and
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bound and knowing that you are facing
certain death, and then all of a
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sudden, one day the prison guard
comes to the door and says, you
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know what, someone paid for your
sins and we're letting you go. Opens
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the door and you walk out.
You are a choice. Don't you say,
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I can't believe this. How did
this happen? And when you find
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out how it happened, what do
you do? You Go and you thank
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the one who saved you. You
are you rejoice. We face a lot
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of difficulties in this life. Indeed, we will have to die, but
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we still rejoice because we know that
even in our deaths, even in our
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sins, even in our tribulations,
whatever we can imagine, Jesus Christ has
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overcome. I think we're going to
finish with hope to day and get to
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the other two tomorrow or next time. I hope that some of you got
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to know Bruce Baling in our evening
services. His memorial service was yesterday.
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For those of you who didn't know
him, Bruce was a textbook example of
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a Christian who had hope and rejoiced. John Calvin once wrote. I'm going
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to read this to you so I
get it right. John Calvin once wrote
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that there's a maxim we all must
hold to. He says no one has
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progressed in Christ's school except the man
who awaits, enjoy and Gaiety the day
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of death and the final resurrection.
For Saint Paul describes all the faithful by
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this mark, and too it's scripture
habitually recalls US whenever it would set forth
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reason to rejoice. Rejoice, says
the Lord, and raise up your head
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for your redemption. Years when Bruce
found out he had cancer. Before that
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he had suffered all kinds of other
things. When Bruce found out that he
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had months to live, weeks to
live, days to live, he rejoiced.
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If the if the man who makes
progress in the School of Christ and
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awaits and enjoy and gaiety the day
of death and the final resurrection. I
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can't help of thinking of Bruce's sort
of at the top of the class.
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He always rejoiced as his death came
nearer and nearer. You talk to him
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and he'd ask you, are you
loving Jesus? Are you hoping in him?
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How are you doing, Bruce?
Are you worried? Are you scared?
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No, I'm fine, I'm going
to heaven. He always rejoiced,
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he always had hope. It was
ever true gift of God. He had
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it in great measure. For those
of you who knew him or knew people
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like him, I think the Lord
has blessed us with those examples. He's,
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example, given US examples of the
martyrs who have gone to great depths,
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endured great pains because the hope that
was set before them in Christ Jesus,
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and that's what I want to leave
you with today. Let's dwell on
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the Lord, or Jesus Christ,
and all that he is accomplished. Hold
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it tightly to your hearts, hold
fast Christ that, because that is where
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our hope is, that's where our
rejoicing comes from. And for those of
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you have known Bruce, for those
of you have known people like him who,
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when they face dark trials, it's
not just being overly optimistic, it's
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being perfectly realistic because they have their
sights set on heaven. Consider those things,
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consider those examples, consider Jesus Christ. Let go of your sins,
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let go of your worries, let
go of your fears and learn to fix
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your eyes on the bright and heavenly
city which the Lord has given to us.
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Learn how the things of this world
are passing away, learn to hold
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them lightly and let the spirit fill
your heart and mouth with overflowing praise at
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the things that God has done.
Brothers and sisters, rejoice in mercy,
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rejoice in justification, rejoice in the
Cross of Christ, rejoice in hope.
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Let us pray
