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The Faith of God I wonder… what life would be like without faith.I wonder how believers would stand, how they would rise, How we would walk through trials and tribulations—Without the the Faith of God. But, Isn't it beautiful to have a FatherWho thought of everything,Who set it all in place,So we could walk in it?Isn't it powerful to know that we have the faith of Christ—the God kind of faith? Yet, too often, we let our flesh take the lead.We let doubt whisper louder than truth.We let fear creep in, forgetting—Forgetting that Christ has already overcome the world.Forgetting that with Him, we don't just survive— We overcome, for we operate with the overcomer mentality. Believers, hear me—No matter the storm, No matter the weight of the world pressing against you.We are never at a disadvantage. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 says that “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. So, when life happensWhen trials comeWhen that opportunity passes you byWhen that miracle you prayed for didn't come when you expected itWhen it seems like you are having an avalanche of disappointmentsDon`t be disturbedFor we have the faith of  GodGod`s Faith is what makes the difference.We are never at a disadvantage. Mark 11:22 says, "Have the faith of God."But what does that mean?It means in the midst of your storms, have the faith of God and know that the sun shines after the storm. In the midst of your problems and challanges, have the faith of God and know that a solution is on it's way. It means that no situation ends without me coming out the VictorIt is not about the faith you generate; it is about the faith God in us The faith of God is not about what you believe.It's about what He believes, and He believes in his Word. So, believers, step into what God believes.Because there is no limit to His faith.The only limits that existAre the ones we place on ourselves. But God's faith—God's faith breaks chains.God's faith tears through walls.God's faith speaks light into darkness,Life into dead places.God's faith brings peace in the face of a stormGod's faith brings joy in the middle of bad news For with God, nothing is impossible. Mary didn't argue with the angel.She didn't analyze or hesitate.She simply believed,Because she knew—What was about to happenWasn't based on her faith,But on God's. Hebrews11:11 says Sarah “judged Him faithful who had promised.”God made a promise.And if it was His promise,Then it would take His faith to fulfill it.Not Sarah's. See, as believers, we don't receive faith.We receive Christ.And He—He is the author and finisher of faith. Just like salvation,We didn't receive holiness or righteousness as separate gifts. We received Jesus.And in Him, righteousness became ours.In Him, holiness became ours.In Him, faith is not something we strive for—It's something we walk in. The faith of Christ—It makes man function like God.It moves mountains.It calls things that are not as though they were.It does the impossible. In circumstances that defeat common men, His faith defeats those circumstances Hebrews 11:3 says, “Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God.” Faith comes by the word—The Word being Jesus Christ.Everything God spoke into existence came by faith.Faith is authored by the Word,And the Word is alive in us. So the next time life happens,The next time doubt knocks at your door,The next time the storm rages— Remember this: You don't just have faith.You have the faith of God.God`s faith in you.And what could not defeat Christ—Can never defeat you. So stand tall.Speak bold.Walk in faith.Not your faith, but His. Because with God on your side, Victory is not just a possibility—It's the only outcome.

Were It Not For Jesus Christ, We Would Have Nothing And Be Nothing. Pastor Robert R. McLaughlin. We begin this morning with some of the blessings and accomplishments that our Lord's ascension, descension, and session were about to be mentioned and supplied by our Lord's victories upon the cross. This is a reference to our Lord's ascension into heaven following His resurrection and His position at the right hand of God the Father for when He arrived into Heaven He heard those magical words which were quoted from Psa 110:1; Mat 22:44; Mar 12:36; Luk 20:42; Acts 2:34‑35; Heb 10:12‑14. Psa 110:1; Mat 22:44; Mar 12:36; Luk 20:42; Acts 2:34‑35; Heb 10:12‑14. “Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” This is a passage that describes the Doctrine of the Session which is a doctrine of Christology that pertains to the glorification of our Lord's humanity at the right hand of God the Father. For when our Lord received the title that He did to sit down at the right hand of God, He was beginning to experience the ultimate glory of everything He could ever imagine that was about to happen to Him. Things like 1CO 2:9 "Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him." Or things like 1PE 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven‑‑ things into which angels long to look. This is also a time in 2CO 5:10 when each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. In 1Co 3:14, It will also be a time when winner believers shall receive a reward. The point is that the Doctrine of the Session is that doctrine of Christology pertaining to the glorification of our Lord's humanity at the right hand of the Father. If TLJC remained on earth, He would have a limited glory, but when He went to the third heaven He became superior to all creation, and therefore He received unlimited glory. Look how the apostle Paul put it beginning with COL 3:1 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. So in COL 3:2, he writes Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. It's interesting that the word he used for mind is the present active imperative of the verb phroneo which is a word for loving with affection. Why? Because in COL 3:3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. COL 3:4, and When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. This reveals the fact that upon arrival in the third heaven, our Lord was seated at the right hand of God the Father which is one of the many blessings of the Doctrine of the Session. Then He received His third royal title "King of kings, Lord of lords, the Bright Morning Star." This was this time that the human race was elevated higher than the entire angelic creation; Heb 1:14; Heb 2:7; Psa 8. Then Paul says back in COL 2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea, and for all those who have not personally seen my face, COL 2:2 that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in impersonal unconditional love, and attaining to all the wealth [that is the riches] that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge [or epignosis or metabolized doctrine] of God's mystery, that is, the mystery doctrine of Christ Himself, COL 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. It's interesting that the word for treasure is the Greek noun thesaurus which means a treasure chest of almost anything just like the English word is used to describe anything that can be used or has meaning. COL 2:4 I say this in order that no one may delude you or deceive you with persuasive argument. COL 2:5 For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith or doctrine in Christ. Therefore, in COL 2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord yourselves [as Eph 2:8 says, by grace, through faith; and not of works], so walk in Him, COL 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. Now, according to PSA 8. originally, man was created higher than the animal creation and lower than the angels. PSA 8:1 (For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.) O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth, Who hast displayed Thy splendor above the heavens! PSA 8:2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of Thine adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. PSA 8:3 When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; PSA 8:4 What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? PSA 8:5 Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, And dost crown him with glory and majesty! PSA 8:6 Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, PSA 8:7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, PSA 8:8 The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. PSA 8:9 O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Thy name in all the earth! Now, when our Lord arrived in heaven as a member of the human race, He was rewarded by God the Father for His strategic and tactical victory in the angelic conflict. And. He was also given a brand new title for this strategic victory. That brand title that He did not possess before He became a member of the human race is “The King of kings, the Lord of lords, the bright and morning star. This was His third royal title. His first two titles were the Son of God and His Royal Family was God the Father and God the Holy Spirit so that all three members of His Royal Family were god or deity. His second title was the son of David and His Royal Family was made up of Jews or the Davidic Dynasty the Son of David. However, because His third royal title had no Royal Family, the age of Israel was halted or paused and the Church-age was inserted for the calling out of His third Royal Family called the [ekklesia] or the Royal Family; 1Pe 2:9. 1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for {God's} own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; However, there would be a fantastic change made from David's Psalm in the book of Hebrews. For example, in HEB 2:6 But one has testified somewhere, saying, "What is man, that Thou rememberest him? Or the son of man, that Thou art concerned about him? That's a quotation from PSA 8:4 What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him? Now look at HEB 2:7 "Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, And hast appointed him over the works of Thy hands; HEB 2:8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. That's a quotation from PSA 8:5-6, Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God, And dost crown him with glory and majesty! Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under his feet, However, notice what is added in Heb 2:7, "Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels; Only for a little while. David never said that? Why? Because Old Testament were not elevated higher than angels because they were not in union with Christ like New Testament saints. So, HEB 2:8 says Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. "For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. HEB 2:9 But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. HEB 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. So, because of our union with Christ and because of the ascension and session, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God and you and I are: EPH 2:6 Raised up with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, HEB 1:13 says But to which of the angels has He ever said, "Sit at My right hand, Until I make Thine enemies A footstool for Thy feet"? God the Father never said this to any angel, but only to Jesus Christ. It is very significant that God the Father said this to the humanity of Christ in a resurrection body. This means that although we are now inferior to angels in our human bodies on earth, in the future in resurrection bodies we will be totally superior to angels. Then concerning the elect angels look at HEB 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? Now, all of this is why this doctrine of ascension and session is the missing link between the resurrection of Christ and the Christian way of life. Something new had to be created to accompany this new third royalty of Jesus Christ, a new royal family. His new royalty had to be a new spiritual species, as per 2Co 5:17. 2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. In ROM 6:4, we are given a newness of life; Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. In ROM 7:6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. In GAL 6:15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. In EPH 2:15, we are now called one new man, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, {which is} the Law of commandments {contained} in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, {thus} establishing peace, In EPH 4:24, we are commaned to put on the new self, which in {the likeness of} God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Look at COL 3:9 Do not lie to one another or do not live in the lies of the cosmic system, since you laid aside the old self with its {evil} practices, COL 3:10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him COL 3:11 ‑‑{a renewal} in which there is no {distinction between} Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. In HEB 8:13, we have "A new {covenant}," In 2PE 3:13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. 1JO 2:8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. REV 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer {any} sea. Look at all the new things we are to look for. REV 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." So, these two doctrines of ascension and session combine to form the climax of the strategic victory of Christ in the angelic conflict. While the angels were still talking our Lord was already in the third heaven. He traveled billions and billions of light years in just a few seconds. After His ascension, His session fulfilled the prophecy of Psa 110:1 "The Lord [God the Father] said to my Lord [God the Son], `Sit down at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.'" So, the strategic victory of Jesus Christ in the great power experiment of the Hypostatic Union is related to the award of His third royal title. His first royal title is related to His deity. His title is "Son of God." His royal family is God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. His second royal title is related to His humanity. His title is "Son of David." His royal family is the Davidic dynasty. His third royal title is related to His resurrection and ascension. His entire title is "King of kings, Lord of lords, Bright and Morning Star." His royal family is in the process of being completed, made up of every Church-age believer. You are not simply a child of God; you are a royal child of God. So, the ascension and session is not only related to the Hypostatic Union, but it also to the angelic conflict. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all angelic creatures including fallen angels, are subordinated to Him in His humanity. In His deity, Jesus Christ is the creator of angels. In His humanity, He was made lower than angels, Heb 2:7. But now in His resurrection, He is higher than angels in His humanity. And some day in our resurrection body, we will share that same privilege experientially. Being in union with Christ, we are already positionally higher than angels. But in resurrection bodies, we will be experientially and physically higher than angels. Eph 1:22, "And He [God the Father] has subordinated all [angelic creatures] under His feet. Furthermore, He appointed Him [Jesus Christ] ruler over all things to the Church." After studying the ascension and the decension, we are now ready for and the importance of understanding the Doctrine of the Session. This lead's us to one more major doctrine that is extremely important and that is the Doctrine of what is known THE BIG GENUFLEX. The big Genuflex is the interim event between the Rapture and the Judgment Seat of Christ when every knee will bow before TLJC. Right after the rapture or the resurrection of the church and before the judgment seat of Christ where winners will be rewarded, there is a period of time when TLJC will be worshipped by all believers in their resurrection bodies. Therefore, the big Genuflex is both the glorification of the Father's plan and the recognition of our Lord's victory over sin and Satan which was bestowed on Him at His session. At this time, the entire royal family is present, and they confess to the victory of TLJC over sin and over Satan. This explains passages like PHI 2:9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the title or title which is above every other title. It is also found in PHI 2:10 where the apostle Paul says; that at the title of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth. PHI 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now, we must have a resurrection body as He does because we are His family. And, in resurrection body, the entire royal family will identify the Head of the family, Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father. In our moment of greatest happiness we will be talking and singing about the Lord Jesus Christ. Our greatest moment of happiness will be thinking and talking about our Lord. This also explains the relationship between Rom 14:10-11 and Phi 2:9‑11. Look at Rom 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. ROM 14:11 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God." ROM 14:12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God. Now, the big Genuflex is the moment of maximum +H which is perpetuated forever. It is followed by the Judgment Seat of Christ. And we make that happiness meaningful by receiving our eternal rewards and decorations. However, you won't lose this fantastic happiness at the Judgment Seat of Christ even if you receive no reward, due to your failure in life. We can understand the confession of the royal family immediately following the Rapture based on the concept of Christ's battlefield royalty, for we will be in total awe of Him. This moment will be the fulfillment of all our doctrine, and the realization of the purpose of our new birth and why we lived for Him while on earth. We will each personally praise the strategic victory of the angelic conflict and relate it to our very purpose for living, Rom 14:11. Blessing and rewards which glorify Christ fulfill prophesies in the Old Testament, Isa 53:12b, "Then He will distribute the spoil or the blessings to the great ones or the mature believers." Christ was willing to suffer on the cross that we might share in the plunder or spoil of His victory. So, the big Genuflex, our acknowledgment of Christ in eternity, will be the greatest moment of worship in history, full of great singing. In time, we acknowledge Christ by our daily intake of doctrine. In the eternal state, we will acknowledge Him through our worship. Now, something very interesting is said about our Lord in Phi 2:10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, The phrase that "every knee should bow" is the recognition of the Celebrityship of Christ by both believers and unbelievers. This is a reference to unbelievers who did not do it the easy way. The easy way is through the communication of doctrine by the pastor-teacher to his con­gregation, so that they can reach super-grace and occupation with the Person of Christ, our unique Celebrity. The hard way is described as the unbeliever on his knees at the end of time. He has rejected Jesus Christ. He has used the Name of Christ in profanity and derision. Or he has ridiculed Him or has been passive and indifferent toward Him. But the time will come when the Celebrityship of Christ will be manifest to all creatures in the universe. PHI 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. God the Father had a plan that He made billions and billions of years ago—sometime in eternity past. And the epitome of the expression of God's Plan is the God-Man-Savior. Prin: A per­fect Plan from a perfect Father glorifies a perfect Son. His Plan was that all creatures would come to recognize the Celebrityship of Christ. First of all, by the Gospel, leading a person to Phase One (salvation). Next by reaching super-grace in Phase Two (the believer in time), we are now able to glorify the Lord. Now, where does this leave be­lievers who are ignorant of doctrine and who do not recognize the Celebrityship of Christ? They are completely missing out on the Plan of God for their lives, and thus they are losing out on the greatest and most wonderful blessing life can offer! And this need not be the case in any believer's life. Christ CAN become a reality NOW through doctrine. "Christ is all and in all" (Col. 3:11), or literally, "Christ is all things be­cause He is the source of all things." COL 3:13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. COL 3:14 And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. COL 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. COL 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. COL 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Beginning with doc­trine, He is the grace source of everything we have of value. Were it not for Jesus Christ, we would have nothing and be nothing. Bible doctrine in the soul counteracts the old sin nature, demon influence and every other adverse circumstance in life. It is the basis for reaching the­ capacity to love. And when we have maximum capacity for Category One love under super-grace living, then we have a new focus, a new concentration, a new motivation, a new happiness—in short, we have a fantastic life! As for unbelievers, before they get to the Lake of Fire, they will recognize and finally acknowledge, the hard way, that Jesus Christ is the ONLY CELEBRITY of the universe. Even unbelievers are going to hell on their knees saying "JESUS IS LORD! Prin-There is nothing greater that a believer can do during the course of this life than to live in the sphere of the Celebrityship of Jesus Christ—the highest status in exper­iential Christianity! We also need to note The Necessity for the Humanity of Christ. Why did Christ have to become a human being….eight reasons? Jesus Christ became true humanity to do the will of the Father, Heb 10:5-10. Heb 10:5, Therefore, when He entered the world [at virgin birth], He said [Psa 40:6-8], `You [God the Father] do not desire sacrifice and offering [soteriology of the ritual plan of God for the dispensation of Israel], At that time [virgin birth] I said [from His deity], Behold, I have arrived; (in the scroll of a book it stands written about Me [Old Testament prophecies] to accomplish Your will, O God. After saying the above, `Sacrifices and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You been propitiated by them; (which sacrifices are offered according to the law), then He said, ”Behold, I have arrived to execute Your will, He has abrogated [taken away] the first [the Mosaic Law] that He might establish the second [PPOG for the Church]. By which will [purpose, plan] we [new spiritual species, royal family of God] have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. So, when our Lord says in Heb 10:7, “I have arrived to accomplish Your will, O God, it was spoken from the deity of Christ in Hypostatic Union. It refers to the election of Jesus Christ related to the salvation or the incarnation plan of God. And when verse 9 says; He takes away the first in order to establish the second; it means the PPOG for the Church Age supersedes the ritual plan of God for Israel. The new spiritual species of the Church Age replaces the new racial species of Israel, i.e., until the second Advent, when Israel will again become a client nation to God. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross and resultant efficacious unlimited atonement fulfills and abrogates the ritual authorization of the Mosaic Law. Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be the Savior of the world, Phi 2:7-8; Heb 2:14-15. As God, Jesus Christ could not have anything to do with sin except judge and reject sin. Sovereignty is not subject to death. Eternal life cannot die, and physical death was necessary for our Lord's resurrection. Only humanity could bear our sins. So, Jesus Christ had to become true humanity and perfect humanity in order to receive the imputation and judgment of our sins on the cross, 1Pe 2:24. 1Pe 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be the mediator between God and man, Job 9:2,32-33; 1Ti 2:5-6. He had to be equal with both God and mankind to be a mediator between both parties. Therefore, Jesus Christ had to be both undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever. Job 9:2 In truth I know that this is so but how can a man be in the right before God? JOB 9:3 If one wished to dispute with Him, He could not answer Him once in a thousand times. JOB 9:32 For He is not a man as I am that I may answer Him, that we may go to court together. JOB 9:33 There is no umpire between us, Who may lay his hand upon us both. 1TI 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1TI 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony borne at the proper time. Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be a High priest for the human race. Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be a Priest for the human race. A priest must be a man in order to represent man before God. Jesus Christ became true humanity to be our high priest after the order (or pattern) of Melchizedek, Heb 7:4-5,14, 28; 10:5, 10-14. HEB 7:4 Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the patriarch, gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. HEB 7:5 And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priest's office have commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these are descended from Abraham. In HEB 7:14 For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. In HEB 7:28 For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. In HEB 10:5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering Thou hast not desired, But a body Thou hast prepared for Me; In HEB 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. In HEB 10:11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; HEB 10:12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, HEB 10:13 waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. HEB 10:14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Jesus Christ had to become true humanity to be a king and rule forever. He had to be the son of David to fulfill the Davidic covenant to Israel, 2Sa 7:8-16; Psa 89:20-37. These definitions presume your understanding of the Hypostatic Union and they closely related to and based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1TI 6:16 who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light; whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen. And when He says "He takes away the first in order to establish the second," it means the PPOG for the Church-age supersedes the ritual plan of God for Israel. The new spiritual species of the Church Age replaces the new racial species of Israel, i.e., until the second Advent, when Israel will again become a client nation to God. The substitutionary spiritual death of Christ on the cross and resultant efficacious unlimited atonement fulfills and abrogates the ritual authorization of the Mosaic Law. These definitions all presume your understanding of the Hypostatic Union and they closely related to and based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

In this episode, Pastor Jeff Cranston and Jen Denton discuss one of the least understood passages in the New Testament. They shed light on the unpardonable sin is, what it is, how we know if we have committed it, and so much more! This is a re-broadcasting of one of Kitchen Table Theology's most popular episodes. Stay tuned for a brand new season this May 1st!  [00:01 - 05:59] Opening SegmentJen talks about the topic of today's episode.The Unpardonable SinPastor Jeff talks about the fear and self-doubt of guilty feelingsBreaking down the true meaning and the nature of unpardonable sinMost believers have asked themselves whether they have done something unforgivableThe debate about what unpardonable sin is amongst people[06:00 - 13:54] The Unpardonable SinPastor Jeff breaks down what Jesus said in the scripture about the unpardonable sinThe meaning of the word ‘Amen.'The definition of blasphemyThe hope of forgivenessForgiveness was possible for those who despise Christ [13:55 - 18:34] Blasphemy Against The Holy SpiritWhat is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The historical context of Jesus's opponent Rejecting the witness of words and works of Christ Can sin against the Holy Spirit be committed by Christians? The requirements to commit blasphemy against the Holy SpiritThe Holy Spirit in us would never allow us to commit that sinOvercoming self-condemnation and doubt [18:35 - 20:37] Closing SegmentFinal words from Pastor Jeff and JenTweetable Quotes:“if you worry that you have committed the unpardonable sin that's a pretty reliable sign that you have not committed it.” - Pastor Jeff Cranston.Bible Verses and Other Sources Mentioned:Mark 3Matthew 12:32Luke 12:8Luke 23:34Acts 3:17Matthew 12:24 Join the ConversationWe love your feedback! If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review. If you have any questions or comments on today's episode, email me at pastorjeff@lowcountrycc.orgVisit my website https://www.jeffcranston.com and subscribe to my newsletter. Join me on Sunday mornings at LowCountry Community Church. Check-in with us on Facebook or Instagram @pastorjeffcranstonRemember, the real power of theology is not only knowing it but applying it. Thanks for listening!

Any HABIT you cannot BREAK, or that you REFUSE to BREAK, is a HABIT that has the POWER to BREAK you. Are you DEALING with APPETITE that are OUT of CONTROL? Do you STRUGGLE with COMPULSIONS that bring MOMENTS of PLEASURE followed by DAYS of REMORSE? Do you GO through PERIODS of ABSTINENCE, only to be followed by SEASONS of INDULGENCE that leave you DEFEATED and CONDEMNED? Christ can set you free! The Bible says, 'God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil...' (Acts 10:38 NKJV). It's not WHAT you GO through in LIFE that messes you UP; it's what you KEEP GOING back TO! Are YOU TIRED of saying, 'l am not going to look at it, l am not going to listen to it, l am not going to do it, 'only to go out and REPEAT your OLD PATTERNS over and over? Here is a PRAYER for YOU to PRAY, a prayer God will ANSWER: 'Turn [me] back to You, O Lord, and [l] will be restored.' Ask God to turn your HEART BACK to Him, because the truth is, you CAN'T do it for YOURSELF! You say, 'But my friends have given up on me.' God won't. The Psalmist wrote: Many are they who say of me, '..."There is no help for him in God. "...But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head. l cried to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me"' (Psalm 3:2-4 NKJV). Christ CAN set you FREE, so TURN to Him today. God's servant Rev Alfred Acheampong Prayer Point: Heavenly Father, heal me O Lord and l shall be healed, save me and l shall be saved in Jesus name. Stay Blessed! YearOfSupernaturalSpeed

The Power of Intimacy with Christ | “Can you discern God's voice?” In this episode, I share the necessity to learn how to discern God's voices from all others. Are you struggling with discerning God's voice in your daily interactions, but are keenly aware you need him present in your life activity? We are so busy with life that in many seasons in our lives we struggle to discern God's voice because we are responding to so many other voices that demand our attention. I share with you in this podcast how to discipline your spirit for discerning God's voice in your life. He wants us to be actively engaged with him daily and that we lean on his voice and guidance for living the God-life that is all empowering and deepens our intimacy with him. You will take away some practices and spiritual processes for developing discernment and for inviting God into your mental, social and emotional life. Be blessed as you glean the sensitivity needed to discern God's voice for accessing God's wisdom and power for becoming who God wants you to be in him. Enjoyed the podcast! Give me a shout out by reviewing the podcasts where you download your favorite podcasts. If you and screenshot it and post it to your Instagram feed and tag #sharonmancha.com You will receive 10% discount on one of my books or programs of choice.

Pastor Nathan continues in the study of the Book of Acts.  This week is chapter 21.  Are you on Mission for the Gospel of Christ?  Can you believe that God move towards us and that is what helps us to stay on Mission.  Do you believe that “the Lord’s Will will be done?”   This is […]

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Please ignore any speech-to-text errors) [00:00:04] All right. Well, hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. My name is Penny and we're so glad that you're here with us today for this next session of Get Sellers Calling You. Beatty Carmichael is the CEO of Master Grabber, the creator of Agent Dominator and one of the top marketing experts in the real estate field. Beatty, I'm really excited about our call today. What do you have for us? [00:00:27] Well, I'm excited, too. And for those listening, this a quick disclaimer and heads up, we do two types of calls. One focused on growing a real estate business. By the way, we'll be doing more on that in the commercial sector as well. So you have commercial business. We got some really cool things on that. But the other type of topic we cover is on a spiritual nature. We call it radical faith. And it's where we talk about Jesus talking about Jesus offense. You you don't want to listen. Then you are forewarned and you can turn off this episode and come back to the next one. So that's what we're going to be talking about. [00:01:10] Awesome. I'm so excited. [00:01:12] Yes. Well, I'm kind of excited about this on this call, too, because this is, again, one of those studies I've done that I thought I'm going down this path and I know the answer. And then I start to search scriptures and I go, Huh? That's not the answer I was really expecting. [00:01:31] So kind of as a way of an intro, things are not always as they may seem. Okay, well, let me ask you a question. Jesus is up on the cross. [00:01:44] You remember that. You remember Jesus Christ. Just making sure that Jesus is up on the cross. And the question is, did God forsake him while he was there? [00:01:57] What do you think? No. No. [00:02:04] Yes. Yes. Well, yes, because I know that God turned his back on the thing. He wasn't turning his back on Jesus. [00:02:14] He was turning his back on the sin that was upon Jesus. And Jesus cried out, Why have you forsaken me? [00:02:23] So I could be both of you. You may be right, because a lot of times there's multiple dimensions and God's kingdom. [00:02:37] So it's not always linear and black and white. But for the sake of discussion, just kind of go down this path. [00:02:45] If you had to choose one or the other. Most likely. Did God forsake Jesus while he was on the cross or did God not forsake him? He did not. [00:02:59] Okay, give me your reasoning behind it. Do you have any scripture to back that up? [00:03:06] I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'm basing it on just what I know to be the nature and character of God. [00:03:14] Okay, great. Good God. Good woman. All right. So now Jesus does say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So does that mean that Jesus was wrong? [00:03:30] No. [00:03:32] Jesus was right. [00:03:34] If that's what he was feeling in the moment. We know that Jesus was perfect. So even though sometimes our feelings can lie to us. [00:03:46] That's a good question. That's a good question. [00:03:50] It is because a lot of people say, well, God, obviously for Jesus on the cross because Jesus said he did. You actually have a more accurate answer in reasoning behind it than you may realize. So this is where things are not always as they seem. You have to really look deeper underneath the surface and try to understand what's going on. So let me get you real quickly to turn to Psalm 22. [00:04:22] Let me give you a little background on Psalm 22. This is David in the Spirit, writing about the crucifixion. This is David watching. I'm assuming he's seen it take place or it's a vision, but he is see, he is writing down what the Lord has shown him. Just start reading the beginning of Psalm 22. And I just want to set the stage of what's going on here. [00:04:54] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me so far from my cries of anguish? Oh, my God. Okay. [00:05:06] So Jesus is quoting Psalm 22? Actually, no. David is writing what Jesus says. And so David is actually quoting Jesus as opposed to Jesus quoting David. Does that make sense? Mm hmm. So here we have Jesus saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? As you read through Song 22, you see all the things about the crucifixion. You see them. They take my clothes. They cast lot from my clothes. They split them among I am pierced my my ribs, stand out, all these things that happen in crucifixion. So we know very clearly this is the crucifixion. But down real quickly to verse 24 and tell me. But first, 24 says was 24. [00:05:58] He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help. [00:06:09] So this is talking about God. And it says that he has not hidden his face from him. Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? [00:06:19] And down here, it says that God never forsook and he never hid his face. [00:06:27] What in the world could be going on in this interesting. Fascinating. Thanks are not always as they seem, are they? [00:06:36] No, definitely not. [00:06:37] You got to dig a little bit deeper, especially when you want to really understand what's really going on and how to apply it in your life, how to live in a way that the Lord called us to live and what actually is going on. You've got to dig deeper to tap into a session we just recently did on when bad things happen. Is it God's will? Got some interesting observations there. So let me share it, because this is not the focus of the call. But I thought this was an interesting way to start it. Let me share kind of what's going on. [00:07:10] Have you ever heard the top concept that thin blinds you from the truth? Scene creates a veil over our eyes. And this is the whole idea of the wedding ceremony. The bride wears a veil and the bridegroom takes the veil off. And now she can see clearly as a as a foreshadowing of the spiritual. Ceremony with Jesus. And where the bride takes the veil of sin that blocks our vision. So when Jesus is on the cross, he became sin. And as soon as he became sin, a veil came over his eyes and he could no longer see the father. My God, my God, why do you forsaken me? David is saying, I'm right here. God never first took you sin blocks. Okay. So a lot of times we all believe what we've been told. But sometimes we don't really know why we believe it. Other times we believe a certain way because we read God's word and it says this and someone else reads that word and they get something totally different out of it. And the question is kind of flood what's right. So I want to move into the topic now because it's a bigger topic. Here's a question. [00:08:49] Does everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven? In other words, once you've accepted Christ, can you lose that salvation? [00:09:00] Oh, gosh, that's one of those questions that just gets so there's so much controversy. [00:09:09] Let's go. Let's go back. Let's go back to the root of the question. Does everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven? [00:09:16] Yes. [00:09:18] Why do you believe that? [00:09:23] Because the Bible says. [00:09:28] It says, if you believe in the Lord Jesus, he will be saved. [00:09:34] Is that accepting or believing or are those the same? [00:09:39] Well, maybe that's the translation I learned. [00:09:43] So let me let me ask you. Are you absolutely positive? That everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven. [00:09:56] I have to be honest, I'm not actually positive now that we're doing this call and I'll catch you on a number of things in the past, you're starting to think Beatty may know something. I don't. I'm not going to be quite so positive. Right. Right. Okay. Well, good job. Don't be positive. Okay. Okay. [00:10:19] So the topic of this series that we're going to do, and it's going to be multi part because it's really threw out all scripture, especially New Testament. And that is the question does do all who accept Christ go to heaven? [00:10:35] This call is going to be part number one. We're going to lay the foundation and then we're going to start to dissect it. And this isn't for just simply an intellectual pursuit of just saying, here's what scripture say. But really to try to understand. What is God calling us to do and why? And as I've gone through this myself, here's the net result. I've changed my perspective of what's most important. It's really amazing. Okay, just a quick disclaimer. I don't have all the answers. This is one of those topics that you mentioned. Everyone has all kinds of different opinions. Scripture is constantly, consistently true is the question of what are we and how we interpreting and why. So we don't want to share is is what I believe the Lord is directing me in understanding. So I want to talk about some of the controversial versus real quickly. So this kind of tees up why this is such a difficult topic. So let's go to Matthew ten, verse 22. [00:11:39] Okay. All right. [00:11:43] By the way, this is this is all these things we're going to go through for passages. And they're all Jesus talking. So go ahead, Matthew, 10 22. [00:11:52] You will be hated by everyone because of all. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved, stands firm to the end. [00:12:02] Okay, that's interesting. Let's use also ESV translation on these. Let's now go to Matthew 24 and we're going to read verses 10 and 13, 10 and 13. [00:12:21] 24, verse 10 and 13 percent says and then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And then verse 13 says, But the one who endures to the end will be saved. [00:12:37] And they translates that first verse. And then many will fall away from the face. Okay, here we see. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Let's now go to mark 13. [00:12:53] Martin, 13 versus 12 and 13. Let's see what that says. [00:12:58] All right. Verse twelve. And brother will deliver brother over to death. And the father, his child and the children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. [00:13:17] We see that again. The one who endures to the end. Makes you wonder, well, does that mean not all people who accept Christ? Go to heaven because why would Jesus keep talking about enduring to the end? Let's look at one more loop, 21, 17 through 19. [00:13:42] All right, 17 to 19 says you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish by your endurance. You will gain your lives. [00:13:56] There we have it again. Here's the question. When Jesus teaches that you must endure to the end to be saved. Does that mean that some people don't endure to the end? [00:14:09] Yes, I could see how some people probably give up or decide that I'm done with this. Okay, okay. [00:14:17] But the fact that Jesus is teaching that you had to endure to the end indicates that there are obviously those who don't endure to the end. Does that make sense? Yes. By the way, here's something else interesting. This was so important, apparently, that God put it in. The scriptures four separate times just by Jesus. We're going to say that this concept is pervasive. [00:14:43] But four separate times by Jesus. [00:14:45] If people don't endure to the end, then does that mean that they don't go to heaven? [00:14:53] I'd like to investigate that a little further. [00:14:56] Okay, so let me ask this question. Does being Sayed. [00:15:00] Does that. Men going to heaven. Do you think? [00:15:05] According to what we just read. No. [00:15:09] Okay, can you give me some scripture to back up? We're saved in heaven. Don't necessarily go together. [00:15:18] Well, the ones we just read, Jesus was speaking in reference to being saved and said those who Indore to the end. So three times we read that right. [00:15:30] So those who who endure to the end will be saved. Can we probably transliterate that? Those who endured to the end will make it to heaven. Probably is just kind of lame, the fact that Jesus is talking about being saved. Going to what we talk about going to heaven. Probably one in the same with that. Would you agree with that? [00:15:52] Yes, I would. [00:15:54] Okay. So if Jesus is saying. Or so is Jesus saying that whether or not they endure determines whether or not they are saved? [00:16:11] That's a very deep thought. I think so. I think that would go hand in hand. Okay, one influences the other. [00:16:24] Right. So what we're going to find out as we go through it, it's either a determining factor or an indicative factor. It's either the evidence had been saved or they determine that they are to be saved. So we're going to see what the scripture talks about a little bit more. So when Jesus came to Earth, here's another question. What was the main message that he preached? In other words, why did he come to Earth? [00:16:50] He preached the kingdom of heaven is near. He preached to be safe so that you could go to heaven. That was his message, to believe him to get right there. [00:17:02] So true. So he never really preaches forgiveness. [00:17:07] Have you ever noticed that he didn't have to come to Earth for forgiveness because God gave people all through the Old Testament. [00:17:16] He didn't come to Earth specifically for salvation. You said that on. He came to preach the kingdom of heaven. In fact, this is his common theme. If you can finish the sentence, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near or near here at hand. It's right here in our midst. Okay, so we had this thing called repentance and forgiveness, salvation going to have been saved. All these things are part of the kingdom of God. But what Jesus came to do was much more holistic than just being saved or forgiven. And I think that if we start to then understand what the kingdom of God really means. And understand more about that make more sense. Why? What Jesus talking about enduring to the end really means if we want to understand what Jesus means, the one who endures to the end. We have to go back to his core message that he's always teaching repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. And if we understand the kingdom of God, then we can then figure out what he really means about enduring to the end. Does that hurt? So with that then the question is. When Jesus taught on the kingdom of God, because that's most of what he taught on what was his primary method of teaching about the kingdom of God. [00:18:52] Do you recall the parable parables? Good job. Okay. So if we want to understand the kingdom of God, let's look at some of the parables, because that's what he teaches through which other parables is the most important in understanding. [00:19:11] All of the parables. Do you recall which one? [00:19:15] Oh, gosh. He had so many. The one that's popping out is the seed and the sower. But that might not be the one you're thinking of. [00:19:28] Did many good jobs go to Mark for verse 13? This is a commentary of Jesus on the parable of the seed in the summer. [00:19:41] Okay. [00:19:42] Four, verse 13. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? [00:19:53] So here's something here's something real interesting. The parable of the seat in the Sower, I believe I'm correct, is the only parable in all three of the synoptic gospels. That's the same. And it's the only one where Jesus gives a parable and gives the interpretation. In fact, I think it's the only one that he gives the interpretation on. And he says here that if you don't understand this parable, you cannot understand any of the parables because this parable unlocks all the other parable. So this is a pretty important message on understanding the kingdom of God. Makes sense. Yes. Okay, so now let's read into this. Let's go read the parable of the Sower, and we're going to do this in Matthew. Okay. Okay. So, Matthew, 13 versus three through eight. [00:20:53] All right. And he told them many things in parables saying a sower went out to sow as he sowed some seeds, fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. And immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. Some 100 fold. Some 60, some 30. He who has ears let them hear. [00:21:37] Very good. So now we have the soil where the seed goes out. And now we're going to replay what Jesus says this means. That's going to be verses 18 through 23. [00:21:53] Here, then, the parable of the sower, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away what has been found in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was shown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately received it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecutions persecution arises on account of the word immediately, he falls away. As for what was sown amongst thorns, this is the one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. And it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands that he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold and another 60 in another 30. [00:22:51] All right, great. So now we're going back to the Requestion. Does everyone who accept Christ go to heaven? We say that Jesus says only the one who endures to the end will be saved. [00:23:05] We now go into this parable. He starts to describe it. So now let's get an understanding of this parable as we go in. So there are several parts about this parable that we need to break down first just to really kind of understand a little bit more. The first one is the seed. Okay, this is the seed and the seed is a key part. Here's the question. What is the seed? [00:23:33] The word. [00:23:34] Okay, so, Jesus, the seed is the word, the word of the kingdom. And what is the word Jesus? [00:23:45] Yeah. Okay, John, one one in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. [00:23:52] So the seed is Jesus. Right. Okay. Very interesting. So then we have the next. Let's look at the four soils. Okay. What did the soils represent? [00:24:07] The beginning part where he described it, yes. [00:24:12] When he's throwing when you're trying to sort out what do the soils represent, there are four types of soil. So what what did they representative of? [00:24:21] A person's heart, a person's heart. Okay, so four types of heart, four types of people, right. What separates one heart from another? What separates one group of people versus the other group of people? [00:24:39] The state or the beating of their heart? The state of their heart. [00:24:45] But less and less narrowed a little bit more. Okay. Okay. I'd like to suggest the stewardship of the seed, which is it represents, to say, the heart, but the state of heart is exemplified and evidenced by how its stewards see. Does that make sense? Okay, so what differentiates one soil from another, one type of person from another is stewardship of the seed. And then if the seed is Jesus and the soil represents the different types of people. What does that mean, that all people receive Jesus? [00:25:27] No. [00:25:33] Goes out, the soda goes out and sows the seed. Jesus. Yes. And does the same get sewn on all four soils? [00:25:47] Yes. [00:25:49] All four soils receive the seed sown. [00:25:55] Correct. [00:25:56] Okay. [00:25:58] So let me ask the question again. If they did this soil, it's not a trick question. It's a question that. [00:26:06] We usually don't consider because it doesn't make sense based on what we've been taught. But we have to do is we have to dig deeper than what we've been taught and see what the word says. Because what we've been taught may not be. What the world says, it may be something slightly different. So here's the question at the seat is Jesus and the soul represents people then does that mean that all people receive Jesus? Yes, it does. In fact, Romans, what does it Romans one tells us that everyone has the heart of the law of the Lord written on their hearts already. They see God's law in the skies and in everything. So everyone has received the truth. Jesus says the high priest prayer when he's praying to the Lord of the tables. He says, Die word is truth. God's word is truth. Jesus is the word. Jesus is the seed. And we see truth everywhere in nature that that proclaims God. So everyone has received that seed. But that doesn't mean they've done anything with it. That's the key. So now we've got the seed. We've got the soils. Now we have. Fruit, fruit is really the key message that Jesus is teaching about. And he basically basically says that here's my way of just kind of transliterating a little bit. Only those who produce fruit or are going to be. [00:27:46] Right, that's basically what we can start to see in his message, and I want to unpack that with fruit. [00:27:55] Fruit is the key to this parable. Fruit is only found in one soil. Soil is that good soil, the good soil. Okay, great. [00:28:05] And I want it just for sake of purpose. I'm going to label these soils as soil one, two, three and four soil. One is the path to the rocky soil soil. Three is the thorns and soil for the good soil. And then that way we can just kind of keep keep it simple. [00:28:23] Okay, so what we had to do is understand what is fruit. So if I were to ask you, what is fruit? This is the kid. This is the key to understanding everything is this fruit? What is it? [00:28:40] Fruit is what is produced from the seed. [00:28:47] Very good. [00:28:49] But what is it that's the prize? What can we call it the result? The seed managed and held and cared for properly. [00:29:08] All right. All right. We're gonna get there. Let me back up and just kind of bring us into this, because I think this is kind of fun. So seed one of the times another sessions. I was talking about the Bible has been written by one author. Would you agree with that? Yes. Okay. Now, that author inspired many men to actually pen that one author's thoughts, but it's all one author, which is God himself. Exactly. So anytime you have a book, you have characters in the book and those characters keep coming up and they always are the characters that they were. [00:29:54] In other words, if I'm reading a book and let's say, say, a Tom Clancy novel, I used to read those years back and he introduces a guy named Gosh, I forget the guy, but he introduces a couple of guys up front in the novel. [00:30:13] Then throughout the novel, every time he calls that person up by name. John did this or John did that. [00:30:19] It's always that person that he introduced and described at the beginning. Does that make sense? Yes. So the character goes throughout. So we see that same thing in the scriptures. [00:30:31] We see it with fig trees, olive trees. We see it with light, darkness. We see it with soils. We see it with seed. We see all kinds of thing. So the question is, what does seed represent? What is the character of seed? I like to show you something because this is really cool. [00:30:46] Where does God first introduce his character seed? [00:30:54] In the Garden of Eden, if I'm not mistaken, a little bit before. [00:31:00] Oh, you'll have to tell me. [00:31:05] Let's go to Genesis 111. [00:31:10] During creation, now, Save was obviously present in the Garden of Eden, but he introduces what it is. [00:31:19] During creation, Genesis one 11 with 11 and God said, let the earth sprout vegetation plants yielding seeds and fruit trees bearing fruit and which is their seed, each according to its own kind on the earth. [00:31:36] And it was so seed reproduces after its own time. We used today's technology words that carries all the DNA to reproduce an exact replica of whatever it is, whatever it came from. Does that make sense? Yeah. And then where is seed formed? [00:32:03] Well. See, far and within the fruit. [00:32:08] The fruit is the womb of the seed. Interesting, isn't it? [00:32:15] I mean, we know that it is insane to think of it that way. [00:32:18] Okay, so this makes sense. A seed is planted. It has to die. Once it dies. It's burst again. Into a new plant after its own kind, as that plant matures, it produces fruit. And inside, the fruit seed is created so that the plant through the fruit can reproduce itself again. Does that. Soun. [00:33:00] Similar to something else that we would think about in Christian terms. And that's just what Jesus did. He came as a seed of God. Right. The exact replica. He dies and he's planted into the ground, right into the temple. And then when he dies, he becomes born again into a exact replica. And he produces through. Okay. So we see this this pattern of the seed. And the fruit is the womb that causes that seed to produce fruit is in the process of where seed has been reproduced. Making sense? Yes. Okay, so then why does the characteristic of the seed. What is the characteristic of the fruit? It's kind of an aside, but it kind of ties into this. If I were to say, what is the fruit of? Can you finish that sentence? [00:34:13] What's it called fruit of? Prudent spirit. [00:34:19] So let's look at that real quick. This is Galatians five. 22, 23. But I want you to do it in The Passion translation on this one, because I think this song articulates what it's really saying. [00:34:33] And you said the Galicians five, five, 22 and 23. [00:34:50] All right, here we go. 22 and 23 says the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is Divine Love in all its varied expressions. [00:35:04] Such a perfect moment. [00:35:07] A lot of times people say the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace. [00:35:12] But I think what the term love is, the fruit of the spirit is singular, not plural. There's not multiple fruits. There's one. That's why I love this translation that the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you. Is Divine Love in all its varied expressions. So now we're talking about love. Where else do you recall what the Bible says about love? We're talking about. This is Paul talking about different things and he said about love. [00:35:43] First Corinthians 13, I think. Yeah. The love. We call it the love chapter in our house. [00:35:49] Okay, good. All right. And it says that above all. [00:35:54] First, love is, love is, and in fact, there's here's something else, it says Faith, hope and love abide. But the greatest of these is love. What are you saying? There is that of everything he's been talking about, faith, hope and love. By that means that they are eternal. [00:36:17] They never go away. Gifts go away. But faith, hope and love abide. But of all of those, the greatest of them is love. This is what Jimmy. This is who God is, representative. Mostly by the character. Bye bye, love. That's what this is talking about. The fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is Divine Love in all its varied expressions. Okay, so now I'll let you finish the passage from there. It's now going to define and describe what that Divine Love, how that Divine Love manifests itself. [00:36:55] Okay, joy that overflows peace, that some patience that endures kindness and action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart and strength of spirit never set the law above these qualities. They are meant to be limitless. [00:37:18] All right. So now let's go back. See this Jesus? That's what Jesus says is the word of God, right in the. Fruit is where the seed is formed. And that means really that seed, the fruit, is Jesus being formed in you and producing through you. Does that make sense? Yes. OK. So that's really what I believe the fruit is talking about, is that Jesus has been formed in you. So here's a question. If Jesus is formed in you, would you act like Jesus? We should be informed and you are going to carry the characteristics and the more he's formed and living through, you carry those characteristics. What are some of the things that Jesus did that maybe if he was formed in you, you would likely do to. [00:38:14] Oh, gosh. I mean, just naming things he did heal the sick, raise the dead. He helped all those that were oppressed. He lost. I mean, he loved first. And everything else was just an overflow of the love. [00:38:33] He went preaching the message, the kingdom of God. Okay. Yeah. All this. [00:38:38] All these things. Peace, patience, kindness. [00:38:43] So that is evidence of the fruit. The fruit is Jesus being formed. But evidence of the fruit being formed into you is a manifestation of all these things that Jesus did. Bring a little bit more clarity, right? OK. So here's the big question. If Jesus has never formed Inju, are you born again and go to heaven? [00:39:12] Tom. [00:39:15] According to all this. No. [00:39:21] It's not us that are righteous. It's Jesus, in a sense, righteous, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay. [00:39:29] Romans side, I think, says that the righteous fulfillment of the law, the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled. And you. [00:39:36] And then we can connect the dots because Christ is in you. [00:39:41] Who would it be safe to say that only those in soil number four. Hey, bear fruit. Which has been formed in them are the ones who are truly born again, are saved and go to heaven. Does that make sense, do you say? Yes. So now let's look at the four soils. Real quick. No one is the past. This is verse four, so read that again. Let's talk about that. [00:40:16] And that was go back to that book when we were in Matthew 20. [00:40:26] Excuse me, Matthew, 13, 13. [00:40:33] I'm going to switch translations. I'll go back to that. [00:40:35] I actually actually I got. I think this is versus it's not verse four that I want you to read is going to be verse probably 18 or 19. [00:40:45] Let me go back. Yes. [00:40:47] Okay. 18 and 19. Okay. So 19, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom does not understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. [00:41:02] I know that. [00:41:03] So that's the one that's sown along the path. [00:41:06] Okay, let's see. [00:41:13] So that person has heard the word of the kingdom. And they do not understand it. [00:41:18] Right. So how did they steward the seed? Or did they stay where the stayed at all? [00:41:26] They didn't. They didn't do it because it just says that they did not understand it. And then the evil one came and snatched it away. So that leads me to believe they didn't pursue understanding what had been spoken to them. [00:41:40] Got you. So no wonder the path does not seem see deceit at all. It's rejected. Correct. Since it doesn't stay where the seed. Does the soil accept the seed? So there are two things you've got to accept it and you, Stuart. So did the soil ever accept the seed? [00:42:07] No. [00:42:08] No. Since the seed represents Christ, does that mean that this person did not accept Christ? That's correct. And is this person born again? No. No. And how do we know that? [00:42:26] Because it says. [00:42:29] The evil one snatched it away. What was sewn in their heart? So Jesus was taken out from their heart. They can't be born again. [00:42:38] That's right. Okay, perfect. So now we have soul. No one does not accept the seed, does not therefore steward the seed. The say never forms itself in them through fruit. They are not born again. They don't go to heaven. Okay, so now let's look at soil number two, the rocky ground. This is going to be versus 20 through 21. [00:43:02] As for what was sown on Iraqi ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately received it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself but indoors for a while. And when tribulation or persecution persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately falls away. [00:43:24] So does the soil accept the seed? [00:43:32] A little bit, right? It tries to, but actually I think it's a little bit a little bit deeper. Let's go back to it and look and says yet he has no root in himself. Do you see that? If there is no. [00:43:50] Yes, go ahead. [00:43:51] If there's if there's no route, then did the soil ever accept it? [00:43:58] Go in the soil, right? [00:44:00] Yes. One head down. [00:44:04] Have you ever seen trees or plants grow on the side of a cliff where it's just wrong? Yes. Yes. Is there any. There's no soil, but they can still grow by putting roots down a little bit around the rocks. Does that make sense? So the soil does accept the seed. And we know that because there's no root and with no root, there's no acceptance. How does the soil steward the seed? [00:44:36] Well, it says as soon as he heard it, he received it with joy. Right. But because there's no route. There's nothing to anchor it when the hard things come, he falls away. He gives up. [00:44:52] Notice it says that he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. What are those passages that Jesus says? [00:45:00] What does it say about endurance to endure until the end? [00:45:05] So this guy only endures for a while, but not to the end. [00:45:09] Okay. So the soil doesn't accept the seed. The soil stewards, the seed only poorly. It's enough that it grew up, got excited. But it did not endure to the end. Here's the question. Is this person born again? [00:45:30] Now, how do we know that? [00:45:35] Well, because they had no route. And because they chose to give up almost OK. [00:45:42] So those are part of it. But the ultimate technical answers because there's no fruit. [00:45:50] Because fruit is where Christ is formed in you. And there's no fruit. Therefore, there is no Christ formed in you. And only of Christ is formed. And you are truly born again. Makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So no one. Not a Christian. So, number two, they receive it with joy. A lot of people you share the gospel. They immediately pray the center's prayer type of thing. And you may see some life change. They're all excited, but they don't endure. [00:46:21] That wasn't a what we would call in our Christian, these terms a true salvation. Christ was never formed in them. Now let's look at soil number three. This is the one with the thorns. And this is going to be verse 22. [00:46:35] As for what was done along with thorns, this is the one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word. And it proved unfruitful. [00:46:49] Turn also real quick, I want to show you one other passage on this that it gives a little bit more information. Luke Eighty-seven. It's the same Jesus describing this, but he gives Luke eight, seven, gives one more piece of information. Let's see if you can find that piece of information. [00:47:06] And some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. So this one. Thorns are growing up with the. [00:47:17] Which means the seed is growing. Right. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Okay. So now let's ask our questions, our diagnostic questions on this. Does the soil accept the seed? [00:47:30] Yes. Yes. [00:47:32] Okay. Now, remember, the soil represents people, represents your heart. The seed represents Jesus. So this soil accepts Jesus. [00:47:44] Yes. [00:47:45] Follow me. Okay. Okay, so the soil accepts Jesus because the soil accepts the seed. [00:47:56] How does the soil steward the seed? How well is that seed stewarded? Well, it does it does the soil steward the seat at all. Let's start with their. [00:48:15] No. [00:48:17] Maybe a little bit in the beginning, because it says when the cares of the world and deceitfulness come and you choke it. [00:48:26] Okay, okay. Go back to Luke eight, seven. [00:48:32] And some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up with it. Grew up with a plant that the seed produced but choked it. So this means that. They grew up means that it actually grew into a plant, which means that the soil did steward the seed enough to produce a plant. Okay, so here soil number three, except the seed. If we put this in human terms, someone accepts Jesus. It's two words. [00:49:03] The seed enough that it forms a plant. And that plan looks exactly like the replica of what the seed was reproducing, because it is. But is this person born again? [00:49:22] No, because they do not endure to the end almost. [00:49:27] Not that they don't endure it to the end. There's the key element. What's the defining moment of whether someone's born again? [00:49:37] They don't produce fruit. [00:49:38] It's Christ in you. Right. And the only way to have Christ in you that you have fruit. Where the seed is produced. [00:49:51] You say that it was unfruitful. [00:49:53] That's right. There was no fruit. And now here's a person who accepts Christ. Who manifest Christian type of behavior? Because the fruit grows up. But produces no fruit, which is evidence that Christ was never formed in them. [00:50:17] They did not endure to the end. You had to endure longer for the verb to be formed, that may be one way to describe it. I don't think that's really an accurate statement. But there's something else here. Why was fruit never produced? [00:50:32] Because of the sarin. [00:50:35] What are the odds? Come check it out. What do Soren's come from? [00:50:42] We the ground. [00:50:48] All blind reproduces after its own time. [00:50:51] What is blind going? I'll see. There you go. Okay. [00:50:58] There you go. So here here we have a number three person receives and accepts the seed of the word. But they're also accepting all kinds of other seed and they stoo or the other seed more diligently than they steward the Christ seed. [00:51:19] And by stewarding other seeds, Jesus calls them the cares of the world. There's this staple ness of riches by stewarding those seeds more. This all number three person allows that stewardship to choke out the Christ. That's pretty interesting. Yeah, that's really good. So is it possible to accept Christ? Had the appearance of growing as a Christian. And yet not actually being born again, having Christ formed into you and ultimately going to heaven. Yes, it is. And this is startling and this interesting. [00:52:05] Oh, it's going to get a whole lot better. This is setting the stage. [00:52:12] Now, let's go to soil number four. This is the good soil. This is verse 23. [00:52:19] As for what was done on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands that he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold and another 60 in another 30. [00:52:36] All right, great. So does the soil accept the seed? How is the seed stewarded? Very well, very well. Is this person first off, what happens with the sea? [00:52:55] Cared for. It's your word. It's helped nurture so that it can grow. [00:53:02] All right. Is this person born again? Yes. And how do we know? Because they bear fruit. Okay. In terms of fruit. Some hundred, some 60, some 30. Notice also. It's not the soil that bears fruit. What bears fruit? The seed is the seed that bears the fruit, not the soil. The soil is merely the womb in which the fruit is produced that produces more seed. The seed producing the fruit. In other words, it's not us, it's the Lord. [00:53:52] Now, we've already been to always been taught. It's Christ living through us. There's nothing we can do of our own. The fruit of the spirit is not what we do. It's Christ in us. This is what's going on. It's the sea that reproduces the fruit. [00:54:06] It's not the soil. We're just the container. [00:54:12] So now as we start to wrap up, I wanted to talk on two things. The first one is Convert's versus Disciple's, because I think this is what is this is kind of where where a lot of this starts to focus in on. I want to set the definition first off, let me ask you if I were to ask you to define the difference between a convert and a disciple, what would you tell me? [00:54:40] A disciple to me is one who has a desire and longing for teaching. [00:54:46] And then. [00:54:48] Finding someone else and seeing that same quality in someone else. [00:54:53] Kind of like a leader, a good leader is going to look for someone who also wants to be a leader. And they're going to raise up that leader. [00:55:01] Right. Let me. [00:55:08] Give a simple definition that that I like to include a convert is going to be someone who accepts Christ right. [00:55:21] But a disciple is going to be someone who follows Christ. And I think there's a difference. [00:55:29] Does that make sense? Absolutely. I was watching this great documentary on the underground Iranian church and they had people from the church talking and everything and sharing, and it was really cool. But one of the guys made a really interesting comment, Converts versus Disciple's. Here's what he says. Disciples for the world and cling to Jesus till he comes. [00:55:57] Converts don't. Disciples are not engage in a culture war. Converts are disciples. Cherish, obey and share the word of God. Converts don't. Disciples choose Jesus over anything and everything else. Converts don't. Converts run when the fire comes, disciples don't mean that cool. So can you see a difference between merely accepting Christ, which is a convert, versus following Christ? Can you see that difference in the four soils? [00:56:35] Sure. Absolutely. Okay. [00:56:38] So the obvious question, but which of those soils are the disciples? [00:56:45] The last one. [00:56:46] Number four, which went to their convert's. [00:56:57] I would say probably number two. It could be three or four years. [00:57:06] So technically, I guess you could say was two, three and four. The converse, because they all accept Christ to a degree. They all received the word with joy, but only soil for is the disciple who actually pursues Christ. So back to my original question. Does everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven? No. Okay, so you change your answer now, right? [00:57:35] Okay. So wrapping up. Let me share what this parable I think teaches us. No one's really kind of cool. [00:57:43] I think there shows that to a degree. Now, these aren't exactly accurate. But we can kind of pull some some things out of this parable shows that there are actually two stages of obtaining eternal life, two stages of the kingdom of heaven within us. [00:58:02] First is the seed is sown and the soul has to accept it. But second, after accepting the soul has to steward, it produces Morsey. And without that stewarding and without the production of fruit. [00:58:21] Which is the seed being reformed in you then? Then your you haven't gone that second stage of stewarding it. Let me show you this also turned to Matthew three eight two three eight. This is John the Baptist. He's talking the Pharisees. And if you remember, John the Baptist comes baptizing with water for forgiveness, basically repentance leading toward forgiveness. A little bit different type baptism than baptism as a new believer. But reading Matthew three eight. [00:58:59] Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. [00:59:03] So now we have fruit again. Do you think this fruit might be similar to the fruit that Jesus is talking about? [00:59:09] Yes. [00:59:11] And then you have bear fruit in keeping with what? [00:59:14] Repentance. [00:59:16] And what was the key message that Jesus came preaching or intent for the Kingdom of God is near. [00:59:23] So we see all these all these same characters keep coming back up and cycling around. [00:59:27] Does that make sense? Yeah. So if we have repented. We will bear fruit if we have not repented. We won't bear fruit. Repentance is a key to bearing fruit. I would say repentance is a key to stewarding the sea. [00:59:47] Right. So when I started this study, I was kind of amazing what I found. And as I started to pursue it further, what's really cool is I start to see this pattern throughout all of scripture, but specifically in the New Testament where this is highlighted. So what we're going to do not on today's call is because we're at the end of the time. But as we go through, I want to start to dissect and open up a lot of these not only the parables, but the epistles and some more things that Jesus says and just kind of show this whole picture of what's going on. And here's to value. So the question is, well, what's so important about this? [01:00:28] Well, obviously, it's important if God puts it in there, but how does it change what we do not want to share? Kind of how it changed for me. But first, let me ask you, do you remember there is a section in the Bible that is called the Great Commission. You remember the great commission. Do you remember the first you know where it is? [01:00:48] I feel like it's. Go go to Matthew. 28 a day. [01:00:58] Well, it is the very end, Matthew, in Revelations is the end of God's word. So you could have the end, right. [01:01:06] The great commission, verse sixteen through twenty. [01:01:11] Looks like somewhere in there. Let's begin with all the authority has been. [01:01:20] Jesus came and said to the disciples, all authority and heaven on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I had commanded you. And they hold. I am with you always to the very end of the age. [01:01:41] Great. So where did go out and share the gospel. Is that right? Go out and evangelize. Yeah. Okay. Now that's different than sharing the gospel. [01:01:56] Make disciples go therefore make disciple. [01:01:59] Yeah. Okay. So you're going to heaven. Is not the reason Jesus came. But it's a part of the kingdom of God. Sharing the gospel is not the great commission, but it's part. Of making disciples. You got to share the gospel to make a disciple. Yeah, that's true. So this is the focus. This is the thing that really hit me as I've come through here. Our focus isn't let's go evangelize. That's important. It's not the focus of what the Lord is called us to do is to make disciples. And the reason it's so important is only the disciples are the ones for Christ has formed in them. It's not enough just to go share the gospel. It's not enough just to quote unquote live as a Christian. We've got to help those people that we are around to steward the seed well, and we have to be careful that we steward the seed well as well. And if we're stewarding our say, well, it will produce fruit and fruit will manifest itself by the fruit dropping off a tree, say, going back in the ground and reproducing. So we're going to see more of this. But anyway, we'll stop there. But before we wrap up the call, any thoughts or observations that are hitting you? [01:03:26] Gosh, as always, just eye opening to see scriptures revealed in a way that you don't necessarily ponder and consider on a regular basis. [01:03:39] I thought it was great. I love the just the analogies between the seed and Jesus and the fruit. And it was really good. It was really good. I enjoyed it. Great. All right. Thank you so much for today. Thank you so much for your expertise. The time again that you put into studying and preparing this message for the listeners. Anything else that you want to share with our listeners before we say goodbye? [01:04:09] Just make sure you listen to. If you're not listening to our podcast, but you're just kind of get this on the Web site. Go to depending on which podcast you're on. Get cellar's calling you what we do for real estate or we have get radical faith, which is just the radical faith podcast by himself. Go back. There's a lot of great content there. And the other thing I would really encourage is there's a lot of stuff here. Don't listen to one time and say, I got it. Go back and really absorb it. Take some time. Pull out your Bible, read and see what you can see the words in print as you go through this and you'll get a lot more out of it. [01:04:49] Yes. Such great wisdom. Such great wisdom. Well, thank you. And we thank you to all of you who are listening. And we hope you all have a blessed day. And we'll see you next time. [01:04:59] Thanks, Beatty. Thank you. Be blessed. Thanks. P066 [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Transcription (was completed by automated process. Please ignore any speech-to-text errors)   [00:00:04] All right. Well, hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. My name is Penny and we're so glad that you're here with us today for this next session of Get Sellers Calling You. Beatty Carmichael is the CEO of Master Grabber, the creator of Agent Dominator and one of the top marketing experts in the real estate field. Beatty, I'm really excited about our call today. What do you have for us?   [00:00:27] Well, I'm excited, too. And for those listening, this a quick disclaimer and heads up, we do two types of calls. One focused on growing a real estate business. By the way, we'll be doing more on that in the commercial sector as well. So you have commercial business. We got some really cool things on that. But the other type of topic we cover is on a spiritual nature. We call it radical faith. And it's where we talk about Jesus talking about Jesus offense. You you don't want to listen. Then you are forewarned and you can turn off this episode and come back to the next one. So that's what we're going to be talking about.   [00:01:10] Awesome. I'm so excited.   [00:01:12] Yes. Well, I'm kind of excited about this on this call, too, because this is, again, one of those studies I've done that I thought I'm going down this path and I know the answer. And then I start to search scriptures and I go, Huh? That's not the answer I was really expecting.   [00:01:31] So kind of as a way of an intro, things are not always as they may seem. Okay, well, let me ask you a question. Jesus is up on the cross.   [00:01:44] You remember that. You remember Jesus Christ. Just making sure that Jesus is up on the cross. And the question is, did God forsake him while he was there?   [00:01:57] What do you think? No. No.   [00:02:04] Yes. Yes. Well, yes, because I know that God turned his back on the thing. He wasn't turning his back on Jesus.   [00:02:14] He was turning his back on the sin that was upon Jesus. And Jesus cried out, Why have you forsaken me?   [00:02:23] So I could be both of you. You may be right, because a lot of times there's multiple dimensions and God's kingdom.   [00:02:37] So it's not always linear and black and white. But for the sake of discussion, just kind of go down this path.   [00:02:45] If you had to choose one or the other. Most likely. Did God forsake Jesus while he was on the cross or did God not forsake him? He did not.   [00:02:59] Okay, give me your reasoning behind it. Do you have any scripture to back that up?   [00:03:06] I can't think of any off the top of my head. I'm basing it on just what I know to be the nature and character of God.   [00:03:14] Okay, great. Good God. Good woman. All right. So now Jesus does say, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? So does that mean that Jesus was wrong?   [00:03:30] No.   [00:03:32] Jesus was right.   [00:03:34] If that's what he was feeling in the moment. We know that Jesus was perfect. So even though sometimes our feelings can lie to us.   [00:03:46] That's a good question. That's a good question.   [00:03:50] It is because a lot of people say, well, God, obviously for Jesus on the cross because Jesus said he did. You actually have a more accurate answer in reasoning behind it than you may realize. So this is where things are not always as they seem. You have to really look deeper underneath the surface and try to understand what's going on. So let me get you real quickly to turn to Psalm 22.   [00:04:22] Let me give you a little background on Psalm 22. This is David in the Spirit, writing about the crucifixion. This is David watching. I'm assuming he's seen it take place or it's a vision, but he is see, he is writing down what the Lord has shown him. Just start reading the beginning of Psalm 22. And I just want to set the stage of what's going on here.   [00:04:54] My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me so far from my cries of anguish? Oh, my God. Okay.   [00:05:06] So Jesus is quoting Psalm 22? Actually, no. David is writing what Jesus says. And so David is actually quoting Jesus as opposed to Jesus quoting David. Does that make sense? Mm hmm. So here we have Jesus saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? As you read through Song 22, you see all the things about the crucifixion. You see them. They take my clothes. They cast lot from my clothes. They split them among I am pierced my my ribs, stand out, all these things that happen in crucifixion. So we know very clearly this is the crucifixion. But down real quickly to verse 24 and tell me. But first, 24 says was 24.   [00:05:58] He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one. He has not hidden his face from him, but has listened to his cry for help.   [00:06:09] So this is talking about God. And it says that he has not hidden his face from him. Jesus says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?   [00:06:19] And down here, it says that God never forsook and he never hid his face.   [00:06:27] What in the world could be going on in this interesting. Fascinating. Thanks are not always as they seem, are they?   [00:06:36] No, definitely not.   [00:06:37] You got to dig a little bit deeper, especially when you want to really understand what's really going on and how to apply it in your life, how to live in a way that the Lord called us to live and what actually is going on. You've got to dig deeper to tap into a session we just recently did on when bad things happen. Is it God's will? Got some interesting observations there. So let me share it, because this is not the focus of the call. But I thought this was an interesting way to start it. Let me share kind of what's going on.   [00:07:10] Have you ever heard the top concept that thin blinds you from the truth? Scene creates a veil over our eyes. And this is the whole idea of the wedding ceremony. The bride wears a veil and the bridegroom takes the veil off. And now she can see clearly as a as a foreshadowing of the spiritual. Ceremony with Jesus. And where the bride takes the veil of sin that blocks our vision. So when Jesus is on the cross, he became sin. And as soon as he became sin, a veil came over his eyes and he could no longer see the father. My God, my God, why do you forsaken me? David is saying, I'm right here. God never first took you sin blocks. Okay. So a lot of times we all believe what we've been told. But sometimes we don't really know why we believe it. Other times we believe a certain way because we read God's word and it says this and someone else reads that word and they get something totally different out of it. And the question is kind of flood what's right. So I want to move into the topic now because it's a bigger topic. Here's a question.   [00:08:49] Does everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven? In other words, once you've accepted Christ, can you lose that salvation?   [00:09:00] Oh, gosh, that's one of those questions that just gets so there's so much controversy.   [00:09:09] Let's go. Let's go back. Let's go back to the root of the question. Does everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven?   [00:09:16] Yes.   [00:09:18] Why do you believe that?   [00:09:23] Because the Bible says.   [00:09:28] It says, if you believe in the Lord Jesus, he will be saved.   [00:09:34] Is that accepting or believing or are those the same?   [00:09:39] Well, maybe that's the translation I learned.   [00:09:43] So let me let me ask you. Are you absolutely positive? That everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven.   [00:09:56] I have to be honest, I'm not actually positive now that we're doing this call and I'll catch you on a number of things in the past, you're starting to think Beatty may know something. I don't. I'm not going to be quite so positive. Right. Right. Okay. Well, good job. Don't be positive. Okay. Okay.   [00:10:19] So the topic of this series that we're going to do, and it's going to be multi part because it's really threw out all scripture, especially New Testament. And that is the question does do all who accept Christ go to heaven?   [00:10:35] This call is going to be part number one. We're going to lay the foundation and then we're going to start to dissect it. And this isn't for just simply an intellectual pursuit of just saying, here's what scripture say. But really to try to understand. What is God calling us to do and why? And as I've gone through this myself, here's the net result. I've changed my perspective of what's most important. It's really amazing. Okay, just a quick disclaimer. I don't have all the answers. This is one of those topics that you mentioned. Everyone has all kinds of different opinions. Scripture is constantly, consistently true is the question of what are we and how we interpreting and why. So we don't want to share is is what I believe the Lord is directing me in understanding. So I want to talk about some of the controversial versus real quickly. So this kind of tees up why this is such a difficult topic. So let's go to Matthew ten, verse 22.   [00:11:39] Okay. All right.   [00:11:43] By the way, this is this is all these things we're going to go through for passages. And they're all Jesus talking. So go ahead, Matthew, 10 22.   [00:11:52] You will be hated by everyone because of all. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved, stands firm to the end.   [00:12:02] Okay, that's interesting. Let's use also ESV translation on these. Let's now go to Matthew 24 and we're going to read verses 10 and 13, 10 and 13.   [00:12:21] 24, verse 10 and 13 percent says and then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And then verse 13 says, But the one who endures to the end will be saved.   [00:12:37] And they translates that first verse. And then many will fall away from the face. Okay, here we see. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Let's now go to mark 13.   [00:12:53] Martin, 13 versus 12 and 13. Let's see what that says.   [00:12:58] All right. Verse twelve. And brother will deliver brother over to death. And the father, his child and the children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.   [00:13:17] We see that again. The one who endures to the end. Makes you wonder, well, does that mean not all people who accept Christ? Go to heaven because why would Jesus keep talking about enduring to the end? Let's look at one more loop, 21, 17 through 19.   [00:13:42] All right, 17 to 19 says you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but not a hair of your head will perish by your endurance. You will gain your lives.   [00:13:56] There we have it again. Here's the question. When Jesus teaches that you must endure to the end to be saved. Does that mean that some people don't endure to the end?   [00:14:09] Yes, I could see how some people probably give up or decide that I'm done with this. Okay, okay.   [00:14:17] But the fact that Jesus is teaching that you had to endure to the end indicates that there are obviously those who don't endure to the end. Does that make sense? Yes. By the way, here's something else interesting. This was so important, apparently, that God put it in. The scriptures four separate times just by Jesus. We're going to say that this concept is pervasive.   [00:14:43] But four separate times by Jesus.   [00:14:45] If people don't endure to the end, then does that mean that they don't go to heaven?   [00:14:53] I'd like to investigate that a little further.   [00:14:56] Okay, so let me ask this question. Does being Sayed.   [00:15:00] Does that. Men going to heaven. Do you think?   [00:15:05] According to what we just read. No.   [00:15:09] Okay, can you give me some scripture to back up? We're saved in heaven. Don't necessarily go together.   [00:15:18] Well, the ones we just read, Jesus was speaking in reference to being saved and said those who Indore to the end. So three times we read that right.   [00:15:30] So those who who endure to the end will be saved. Can we probably transliterate that? Those who endured to the end will make it to heaven. Probably is just kind of lame, the fact that Jesus is talking about being saved. Going to what we talk about going to heaven. Probably one in the same with that. Would you agree with that?   [00:15:52] Yes, I would.   [00:15:54] Okay. So if Jesus is saying. Or so is Jesus saying that whether or not they endure determines whether or not they are saved?   [00:16:11] That's a very deep thought. I think so. I think that would go hand in hand. Okay, one influences the other.   [00:16:24] Right. So what we're going to find out as we go through it, it's either a determining factor or an indicative factor. It's either the evidence had been saved or they determine that they are to be saved. So we're going to see what the scripture talks about a little bit more. So when Jesus came to Earth, here's another question. What was the main message that he preached? In other words, why did he come to Earth?   [00:16:50] He preached the kingdom of heaven is near. He preached to be safe so that you could go to heaven. That was his message, to believe him to get right there.   [00:17:02] So true. So he never really preaches forgiveness.   [00:17:07] Have you ever noticed that he didn't have to come to Earth for forgiveness because God gave people all through the Old Testament.   [00:17:16] He didn't come to Earth specifically for salvation. You said that on. He came to preach the kingdom of heaven. In fact, this is his common theme. If you can finish the sentence, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near or near here at hand. It's right here in our midst. Okay, so we had this thing called repentance and forgiveness, salvation going to have been saved. All these things are part of the kingdom of God. But what Jesus came to do was much more holistic than just being saved or forgiven. And I think that if we start to then understand what the kingdom of God really means. And understand more about that make more sense. Why? What Jesus talking about enduring to the end really means if we want to understand what Jesus means, the one who endures to the end. We have to go back to his core message that he's always teaching repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. And if we understand the kingdom of God, then we can then figure out what he really means about enduring to the end. Does that hurt? So with that then the question is. When Jesus taught on the kingdom of God, because that's most of what he taught on what was his primary method of teaching about the kingdom of God.   [00:18:52] Do you recall the parable parables? Good job. Okay. So if we want to understand the kingdom of God, let's look at some of the parables, because that's what he teaches through which other parables is the most important in understanding.   [00:19:11] All of the parables. Do you recall which one?   [00:19:15] Oh, gosh. He had so many. The one that's popping out is the seed and the sower. But that might not be the one you're thinking of.   [00:19:28] Did many good jobs go to Mark for verse 13? This is a commentary of Jesus on the parable of the seed in the summer.   [00:19:41] Okay.   [00:19:42] Four, verse 13. And he said to them, do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?   [00:19:53] So here's something here's something real interesting. The parable of the seat in the Sower, I believe I'm correct, is the only parable in all three of the synoptic gospels. That's the same. And it's the only one where Jesus gives a parable and gives the interpretation. In fact, I think it's the only one that he gives the interpretation on. And he says here that if you don't understand this parable, you cannot understand any of the parables because this parable unlocks all the other parable. So this is a pretty important message on understanding the kingdom of God. Makes sense. Yes. Okay, so now let's read into this. Let's go read the parable of the Sower, and we're going to do this in Matthew. Okay. Okay. So, Matthew, 13 versus three through eight.   [00:20:53] All right. And he told them many things in parables saying a sower went out to sow as he sowed some seeds, fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground where they did not have much soil. And immediately they sprang up since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain. Some 100 fold. Some 60, some 30. He who has ears let them hear.   [00:21:37] Very good. So now we have the soil where the seed goes out. And now we're going to replay what Jesus says this means. That's going to be verses 18 through 23.   [00:21:53] Here, then, the parable of the sower, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away what has been found in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was shown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately received it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation or persecutions persecution arises on account of the word immediately, he falls away. As for what was sown amongst thorns, this is the one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word. And it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands that he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold and another 60 in another 30.   [00:22:51] All right, great. So now we're going back to the Requestion. Does everyone who accept Christ go to heaven? We say that Jesus says only the one who endures to the end will be saved.   [00:23:05] We now go into this parable. He starts to describe it. So now let's get an understanding of this parable as we go in. So there are several parts about this parable that we need to break down first just to really kind of understand a little bit more. The first one is the seed. Okay, this is the seed and the seed is a key part. Here's the question. What is the seed?   [00:23:33] The word.   [00:23:34] Okay, so, Jesus, the seed is the word, the word of the kingdom. And what is the word Jesus?   [00:23:45] Yeah. Okay, John, one one in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.   [00:23:52] So the seed is Jesus. Right. Okay. Very interesting. So then we have the next. Let's look at the four soils. Okay. What did the soils represent?   [00:24:07] The beginning part where he described it, yes.   [00:24:12] When he's throwing when you're trying to sort out what do the soils represent, there are four types of soil. So what what did they representative of?   [00:24:21] A person's heart, a person's heart. Okay, so four types of heart, four types of people, right. What separates one heart from another? What separates one group of people versus the other group of people?   [00:24:39] The state or the beating of their heart? The state of their heart.   [00:24:45] But less and less narrowed a little bit more. Okay. Okay. I'd like to suggest the stewardship of the seed, which is it represents, to say, the heart, but the state of heart is exemplified and evidenced by how its stewards see. Does that make sense? Okay, so what differentiates one soil from another, one type of person from another is stewardship of the seed. And then if the seed is Jesus and the soil represents the different types of people. What does that mean, that all people receive Jesus?   [00:25:27] No.   [00:25:33] Goes out, the soda goes out and sows the seed. Jesus. Yes. And does the same get sewn on all four soils?   [00:25:47] Yes.   [00:25:49] All four soils receive the seed sown.   [00:25:55] Correct.   [00:25:56] Okay.   [00:25:58] So let me ask the question again. If they did this soil, it's not a trick question. It's a question that.   [00:26:06] We usually don't consider because it doesn't make sense based on what we've been taught. But we have to do is we have to dig deeper than what we've been taught and see what the word says. Because what we've been taught may not be. What the world says, it may be something slightly different. So here's the question at the seat is Jesus and the soul represents people then does that mean that all people receive Jesus? Yes, it does. In fact, Romans, what does it Romans one tells us that everyone has the heart of the law of the Lord written on their hearts already. They see God's law in the skies and in everything. So everyone has received the truth. Jesus says the high priest prayer when he's praying to the Lord of the tables. He says, Die word is truth. God's word is truth. Jesus is the word. Jesus is the seed. And we see truth everywhere in nature that that proclaims God. So everyone has received that seed. But that doesn't mean they've done anything with it. That's the key. So now we've got the seed. We've got the soils. Now we have. Fruit, fruit is really the key message that Jesus is teaching about. And he basically basically says that here's my way of just kind of transliterating a little bit. Only those who produce fruit or are going to be.   [00:27:46] Right, that's basically what we can start to see in his message, and I want to unpack that with fruit.   [00:27:55] Fruit is the key to this parable. Fruit is only found in one soil. Soil is that good soil, the good soil. Okay, great.   [00:28:05] And I want it just for sake of purpose. I'm going to label these soils as soil one, two, three and four soil. One is the path to the rocky soil soil. Three is the thorns and soil for the good soil. And then that way we can just kind of keep keep it simple.   [00:28:23] Okay, so what we had to do is understand what is fruit. So if I were to ask you, what is fruit? This is the kid. This is the key to understanding everything is this fruit? What is it?   [00:28:40] Fruit is what is produced from the seed.   [00:28:47] Very good.   [00:28:49] But what is it that's the prize? What can we call it the result? The seed managed and held and cared for properly.   [00:29:08] All right. All right. We're gonna get there. Let me back up and just kind of bring us into this, because I think this is kind of fun. So seed one of the times another sessions. I was talking about the Bible has been written by one author. Would you agree with that? Yes. Okay. Now, that author inspired many men to actually pen that one author's thoughts, but it's all one author, which is God himself. Exactly. So anytime you have a book, you have characters in the book and those characters keep coming up and they always are the characters that they were.   [00:29:54] In other words, if I'm reading a book and let's say, say, a Tom Clancy novel, I used to read those years back and he introduces a guy named Gosh, I forget the guy, but he introduces a couple of guys up front in the novel.   [00:30:13] Then throughout the novel, every time he calls that person up by name. John did this or John did that.   [00:30:19] It's always that person that he introduced and described at the beginning. Does that make sense? Yes. So the character goes throughout. So we see that same thing in the scriptures.   [00:30:31] We see it with fig trees, olive trees. We see it with light, darkness. We see it with soils. We see it with seed. We see all kinds of thing. So the question is, what does seed represent? What is the character of seed? I like to show you something because this is really cool.   [00:30:46] Where does God first introduce his character seed?   [00:30:54] In the Garden of Eden, if I'm not mistaken, a little bit before.   [00:31:00] Oh, you'll have to tell me.   [00:31:05] Let's go to Genesis 111.   [00:31:10] During creation, now, Save was obviously present in the Garden of Eden, but he introduces what it is.   [00:31:19] During creation, Genesis one 11 with 11 and God said, let the earth sprout vegetation plants yielding seeds and fruit trees bearing fruit and which is their seed, each according to its own kind on the earth.   [00:31:36] And it was so seed reproduces after its own time. We used today's technology words that carries all the DNA to reproduce an exact replica of whatever it is, whatever it came from. Does that make sense? Yeah. And then where is seed formed?   [00:32:03] Well. See, far and within the fruit.   [00:32:08] The fruit is the womb of the seed. Interesting, isn't it?   [00:32:15] I mean, we know that it is insane to think of it that way.   [00:32:18] Okay, so this makes sense. A seed is planted. It has to die. Once it dies. It's burst again. Into a new plant after its own kind, as that plant matures, it produces fruit. And inside, the fruit seed is created so that the plant through the fruit can reproduce itself again. Does that. Soun.   [00:33:00] Similar to something else that we would think about in Christian terms. And that's just what Jesus did. He came as a seed of God. Right. The exact replica. He dies and he's planted into the ground, right into the temple. And then when he dies, he becomes born again into a exact replica. And he produces through. Okay. So we see this this pattern of the seed. And the fruit is the womb that causes that seed to produce fruit is in the process of where seed has been reproduced. Making sense? Yes. Okay, so then why does the characteristic of the seed. What is the characteristic of the fruit? It's kind of an aside, but it kind of ties into this. If I were to say, what is the fruit of? Can you finish that sentence?   [00:34:13] What's it called fruit of? Prudent spirit.   [00:34:19] So let's look at that real quick. This is Galatians five. 22, 23. But I want you to do it in The Passion translation on this one, because I think this song articulates what it's really saying.   [00:34:33] And you said the Galicians five, five, 22 and 23.   [00:34:50] All right, here we go. 22 and 23 says the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is Divine Love in all its varied expressions.   [00:35:04] Such a perfect moment.   [00:35:07] A lot of times people say the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace.   [00:35:12] But I think what the term love is, the fruit of the spirit is singular, not plural. There's not multiple fruits. There's one. That's why I love this translation that the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you. Is Divine Love in all its varied expressions. So now we're talking about love. Where else do you recall what the Bible says about love? We're talking about. This is Paul talking about different things and he said about love.   [00:35:43] First Corinthians 13, I think. Yeah. The love. We call it the love chapter in our house.   [00:35:49] Okay, good. All right. And it says that above all.   [00:35:54] First, love is, love is, and in fact, there's here's something else, it says Faith, hope and love abide. But the greatest of these is love. What are you saying? There is that of everything he's been talking about, faith, hope and love. By that means that they are eternal.   [00:36:17] They never go away. Gifts go away. But faith, hope and love abide. But of all of those, the greatest of them is love. This is what Jimmy. This is who God is, representative. Mostly by the character. Bye bye, love. That's what this is talking about. The fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is Divine Love in all its varied expressions. Okay, so now I'll let you finish the passage from there. It's now going to define and describe what that Divine Love, how that Divine Love manifests itself.   [00:36:55] Okay, joy that overflows peace, that some patience that endures kindness and action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart and strength of spirit never set the law above these qualities. They are meant to be limitless.   [00:37:18] All right. So now let's go back. See this Jesus? That's what Jesus says is the word of God, right in the. Fruit is where the seed is formed. And that means really that seed, the fruit, is Jesus being formed in you and producing through you. Does that make sense? Yes. OK. So that's really what I believe the fruit is talking about, is that Jesus has been formed in you. So here's a question. If Jesus is formed in you, would you act like Jesus? We should be informed and you are going to carry the characteristics and the more he's formed and living through, you carry those characteristics. What are some of the things that Jesus did that maybe if he was formed in you, you would likely do to.   [00:38:14] Oh, gosh. I mean, just naming things he did heal the sick, raise the dead. He helped all those that were oppressed. He lost. I mean, he loved first. And everything else was just an overflow of the love.   [00:38:33] He went preaching the message, the kingdom of God. Okay. Yeah. All this.   [00:38:38] All these things. Peace, patience, kindness.   [00:38:43] So that is evidence of the fruit. The fruit is Jesus being formed. But evidence of the fruit being formed into you is a manifestation of all these things that Jesus did. Bring a little bit more clarity, right? OK. So here's the big question. If Jesus has never formed Inju, are you born again and go to heaven?   [00:39:12] Tom.   [00:39:15] According to all this. No.   [00:39:21] It's not us that are righteous. It's Jesus, in a sense, righteous, right? Yeah, yeah. Okay.   [00:39:29] Romans side, I think, says that the righteous fulfillment of the law, the righteous requirement of the law has been fulfilled. And you.   [00:39:36] And then we can connect the dots because Christ is in you.   [00:39:41] Who would it be safe to say that only those in soil number four. Hey, bear fruit. Which has been formed in them are the ones who are truly born again, are saved and go to heaven. Does that make sense, do you say? Yes. So now let's look at the four soils. Real quick. No one is the past. This is verse four, so read that again. Let's talk about that.   [00:40:16] And that was go back to that book when we were in Matthew 20.   [00:40:26] Excuse me, Matthew, 13, 13.   [00:40:33] I'm going to switch translations. I'll go back to that.   [00:40:35] I actually actually I got. I think this is versus it's not verse four that I want you to read is going to be verse probably 18 or 19.   [00:40:45] Let me go back. Yes.   [00:40:47] Okay. 18 and 19. Okay. So 19, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom does not understand it. The evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.   [00:41:02] I know that.   [00:41:03] So that's the one that's sown along the path.   [00:41:06] Okay, let's see.   [00:41:13] So that person has heard the word of the kingdom. And they do not understand it.   [00:41:18] Right. So how did they steward the seed? Or did they stay where the stayed at all?   [00:41:26] They didn't. They didn't do it because it just says that they did not understand it. And then the evil one came and snatched it away. So that leads me to believe they didn't pursue understanding what had been spoken to them.   [00:41:40] Got you. So no wonder the path does not seem see deceit at all. It's rejected. Correct. Since it doesn't stay where the seed. Does the soil accept the seed? So there are two things you've got to accept it and you, Stuart. So did the soil ever accept the seed?   [00:42:07] No.   [00:42:08] No. Since the seed represents Christ, does that mean that this person did not accept Christ? That's correct. And is this person born again? No. No. And how do we know that?   [00:42:26] Because it says.   [00:42:29] The evil one snatched it away. What was sewn in their heart? So Jesus was taken out from their heart. They can't be born again.   [00:42:38] That's right. Okay, perfect. So now we have soul. No one does not accept the seed, does not therefore steward the seed. The say never forms itself in them through fruit. They are not born again. They don't go to heaven. Okay, so now let's look at soil number two, the rocky ground. This is going to be versus 20 through 21.   [00:43:02] As for what was sown on Iraqi ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately received it with joy. Yet he has no root in himself but indoors for a while. And when tribulation or persecution persecution arises on account of the word, he immediately falls away.   [00:43:24] So does the soil accept the seed?   [00:43:32] A little bit, right? It tries to, but actually I think it's a little bit a little bit deeper. Let's go back to it and look and says yet he has no root in himself. Do you see that? If there is no.   [00:43:50] Yes, go ahead.   [00:43:51] If there's if there's no route, then did the soil ever accept it?   [00:43:58] Go in the soil, right?   [00:44:00] Yes. One head down.   [00:44:04] Have you ever seen trees or plants grow on the side of a cliff where it's just wrong? Yes. Yes. Is there any. There's no soil, but they can still grow by putting roots down a little bit around the rocks. Does that make sense? So the soil does accept the seed. And we know that because there's no root and with no root, there's no acceptance. How does the soil steward the seed?   [00:44:36] Well, it says as soon as he heard it, he received it with joy. Right. But because there's no route. There's nothing to anchor it when the hard things come, he falls away. He gives up.   [00:44:52] Notice it says that he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. What are those passages that Jesus says?   [00:45:00] What does it say about endurance to endure until the end?   [00:45:05] So this guy only endures for a while, but not to the end.   [00:45:09] Okay. So the soil doesn't accept the seed. The soil stewards, the seed only poorly. It's enough that it grew up, got excited. But it did not endure to the end. Here's the question. Is this person born again?   [00:45:30] Now, how do we know that?   [00:45:35] Well, because they had no route. And because they chose to give up almost OK.   [00:45:42] So those are part of it. But the ultimate technical answers because there's no fruit.   [00:45:50] Because fruit is where Christ is formed in you. And there's no fruit. Therefore, there is no Christ formed in you. And only of Christ is formed. And you are truly born again. Makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So no one. Not a Christian. So, number two, they receive it with joy. A lot of people you share the gospel. They immediately pray the center's prayer type of thing. And you may see some life change. They're all excited, but they don't endure.   [00:46:21] That wasn't a what we would call in our Christian, these terms a true salvation. Christ was never formed in them. Now let's look at soil number three. This is the one with the thorns. And this is going to be verse 22.   [00:46:35] As for what was done along with thorns, this is the one who hears the word. But the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches choke the word. And it proved unfruitful.   [00:46:49] Turn also real quick, I want to show you one other passage on this that it gives a little bit more information. Luke Eighty-seven. It's the same Jesus describing this, but he gives Luke eight, seven, gives one more piece of information. Let's see if you can find that piece of information.   [00:47:06] And some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. So this one. Thorns are growing up with the.   [00:47:17] Which means the seed is growing. Right. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Okay. So now let's ask our questions, our diagnostic questions on this. Does the soil accept the seed?   [00:47:30] Yes. Yes.   [00:47:32] Okay. Now, remember, the soil represents people, represents your heart. The seed represents Jesus. So this soil accepts Jesus.   [00:47:44] Yes.   [00:47:45] Follow me. Okay. Okay, so the soil accepts Jesus because the soil accepts the seed.   [00:47:56] How does the soil steward the seed? How well is that seed stewarded? Well, it does it does the soil steward the seat at all. Let's start with their.   [00:48:15] No.   [00:48:17] Maybe a little bit in the beginning, because it says when the cares of the world and deceitfulness come and you choke it.   [00:48:26] Okay, okay. Go back to Luke eight, seven.   [00:48:32] And some fell among thorns and the thorns grew up with it. Grew up with a plant that the seed produced but choked it. So this means that. They grew up means that it actually grew into a plant, which means that the soil did steward the seed enough to produce a plant. Okay, so here soil number three, except the seed. If we put this in human terms, someone accepts Jesus. It's two words.   [00:49:03] The seed enough that it forms a plant. And that plan looks exactly like the replica of what the seed was reproducing, because it is. But is this person born again?   [00:49:22] No, because they do not endure to the end almost.   [00:49:27] Not that they don't endure it to the end. There's the key element. What's the defining moment of whether someone's born again?   [00:49:37] They don't produce fruit.   [00:49:38] It's Christ in you. Right. And the only way to have Christ in you that you have fruit. Where the seed is produced.   [00:49:51] You say that it was unfruitful.   [00:49:53] That's right. There was no fruit. And now here's a person who accepts Christ. Who manifest Christian type of behavior? Because the fruit grows up. But produces no fruit, which is evidence that Christ was never formed in them.   [00:50:17] They did not endure to the end. You had to endure longer for the verb to be formed, that may be one way to describe it. I don't think that's really an accurate statement. But there's something else here. Why was fruit never produced?   [00:50:32] Because of the sarin.   [00:50:35] What are the odds? Come check it out. What do Soren's come from?   [00:50:42] We the ground.   [00:50:48] All blind reproduces after its own time.   [00:50:51] What is blind going? I'll see. There you go. Okay.   [00:50:58] There you go. So here here we have a number three person receives and accepts the seed of the word. But they're also accepting all kinds of other seed and they stoo or the other seed more diligently than they steward the Christ seed.   [00:51:19] And by stewarding other seeds, Jesus calls them the cares of the world. There's this staple ness of riches by stewarding those seeds more. This all number three person allows that stewardship to choke out the Christ. That's pretty interesting. Yeah, that's really good. So is it possible to accept Christ? Had the appearance of growing as a Christian. And yet not actually being born again, having Christ formed into you and ultimately going to heaven. Yes, it is. And this is startling and this interesting.   [00:52:05] Oh, it's going to get a whole lot better. This is setting the stage.   [00:52:12] Now, let's go to soil number four. This is the good soil. This is verse 23.   [00:52:19] As for what was done on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands that he indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold and another 60 in another 30.   [00:52:36] All right, great. So does the soil accept the seed? How is the seed stewarded? Very well, very well. Is this person first off, what happens with the sea?   [00:52:55] Cared for. It's your word. It's helped nurture so that it can grow.   [00:53:02] All right. Is this person born again? Yes. And how do we know? Because they bear fruit. Okay. In terms of fruit. Some hundred, some 60, some 30. Notice also. It's not the soil that bears fruit. What bears fruit? The seed is the seed that bears the fruit, not the soil. The soil is merely the womb in which the fruit is produced that produces more seed. The seed producing the fruit. In other words, it's not us, it's the Lord.   [00:53:52] Now, we've already been to always been taught. It's Christ living through us. There's nothing we can do of our own. The fruit of the spirit is not what we do. It's Christ in us. This is what's going on. It's the sea that reproduces the fruit.   [00:54:06] It's not the soil. We're just the container.   [00:54:12] So now as we start to wrap up, I wanted to talk on two things. The first one is Convert's versus Disciple's, because I think this is what is this is kind of where where a lot of this starts to focus in on. I want to set the definition first off, let me ask you if I were to ask you to define the difference between a convert and a disciple, what would you tell me?   [00:54:40] A disciple to me is one who has a desire and longing for teaching.   [00:54:46] And then.   [00:54:48] Finding someone else and seeing that same quality in someone else.   [00:54:53] Kind of like a leader, a good leader is going to look for someone who also wants to be a leader. And they're going to raise up that leader.   [00:55:01] Right. Let me.   [00:55:08] Give a simple definition that that I like to include a convert is going to be someone who accepts Christ right.   [00:55:21] But a disciple is going to be someone who follows Christ. And I think there's a difference.   [00:55:29] Does that make sense? Absolutely. I was watching this great documentary on the underground Iranian church and they had people from the church talking and everything and sharing, and it was really cool. But one of the guys made a really interesting comment, Converts versus Disciple's. Here's what he says. Disciples for the world and cling to Jesus till he comes.   [00:55:57] Converts don't. Disciples are not engage in a culture war. Converts are disciples. Cherish, obey and share the word of God. Converts don't. Disciples choose Jesus over anything and everything else. Converts don't. Converts run when the fire comes, disciples don't mean that cool. So can you see a difference between merely accepting Christ, which is a convert, versus following Christ? Can you see that difference in the four soils?   [00:56:35] Sure. Absolutely. Okay.   [00:56:38] So the obvious question, but which of those soils are the disciples?   [00:56:45] The last one.   [00:56:46] Number four, which went to their convert's.   [00:56:57] I would say probably number two. It could be three or four years.   [00:57:06] So technically, I guess you could say was two, three and four. The converse, because they all accept Christ to a degree. They all received the word with joy, but only soil for is the disciple who actually pursues Christ. So back to my original question. Does everyone who accepts Christ go to heaven? No. Okay, so you change your answer now, right?   [00:57:35] Okay. So wrapping up. Let me share what this parable I think teaches us. No one's really kind of cool.   [00:57:43] I think there shows that to a degree. Now, these aren't exactly accurate. But we can kind of pull some some things out of this parable shows that there are actually two stages of obtaining eternal life, two stages of the kingdom of heaven within us.   [00:58:02] First is the seed is sown and the soul has to accept it. But second, after accepting the soul has to steward, it produces Morsey. And without that stewarding and without the production of fruit.   [00:58:21] Which is the seed being reformed in you then? Then your you haven't gone that second stage of stewarding it. Let me show you this also turned to Matthew three eight two three eight. This is John the Baptist. He's talking the Pharisees. And if you remember, John the Baptist comes baptizing with water for forgiveness, basically repentance leading toward forgiveness. A little bit different type baptism than baptism as a new believer. But reading Matthew three eight.   [00:58:59] Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.   [00:59:03] So now we have fruit again. Do you think this fruit might be similar to the fruit that Jesus is talking about?   [00:59:09] Yes.   [00:59:11] And then you have bear fruit in keeping with what?   [00:59:14] Repentance.   [00:59:16] And what was the key message that Jesus came preaching or intent for the Kingdom of God is near.   [00:59:23] So we see all these all these same characters keep coming back up and cycling around.   [00:59:27] Does that make sense? Yeah. So if we have repented. We will bear fruit if we have not repented. We won't bear fruit. Repentance is a key to bearing fruit. I would say repentance is a key to stewarding the sea.   [00:59:47] Right. So when I started this study, I was kind of amazing what I found. And as I started to pursue it further, what's really cool is I start to see this pattern throughout all of scripture, but specifically in the New Testament where this is highlighted. So what we're going to do not on today's call is because we're at the end of the time. But as we go through, I want to start to dissect and open up a lot of these not only the parables, but the epistles and some more things that Jesus says and just kind of show this whole picture of what's going on. And here's to value. So the question is, well, what's so important about this?   [01:00:28] Well, obviously, it's important if God puts it in there, but how does it change what we do not want to share? Kind of how it changed for me. But first, let me ask you, do you remember there is a section in the Bible that is called the Great Commission. You remember the great commission. Do you remember the first you know where it is?   [01:00:48] I feel like it's. Go go to Matthew. 28 a day.   [01:00:58] Well, it is the very end, Matthew, in Revelations is the end of God's word. So you could have the end, right.   [01:01:06] The great commission, verse sixteen through twenty.   [01:01:11] Looks like somewhere in there. Let's begin with all the authority has been.   [01:01:20] Jesus came and said to the disciples, all authority and heaven on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I had commanded you. And they hold. I am with you always to the very end of the age.   [01:01:41] Great. So where did go out and share the gospel. Is that right? Go out and evangelize. Yeah. Okay. Now that's different than sharing the gospel.   [01:01:56] Make disciples go therefore make disciple.   [01:01:59] Yeah. Okay. So you're going to heaven. Is not the reason Jesus came. But it's a part of the kingdom of God. Sharing the gospel is not the great commission, but it's part. Of making disciples. You got to share the gospel to make a disciple. Yeah, that's true. So this is the focus. This is the thing that really hit me as I've come through here. Our focus isn't let's go evangelize. That's important. It's not the focus of what the Lord is called us to do is to make disciples. And the reason it's so important is only the disciples are the ones for Christ has formed in them. It's not enough just to go share the gospel. It's not enough just to quote unquote live as a Christian. We've got to help those people that we are around to steward the seed well, and we have to be careful that we steward the seed well as well. And if we're stewarding our say, well, it will produce fruit and fruit will manifest itself by the fruit dropping off a tree, say, going back in the ground and reproducing. So we're going to see more of this. But anyway, we'll stop there. But before we wrap up the call, any thoughts or observations that are hitting you?   [01:03:26] Gosh, as always, just eye opening to see scriptures revealed in a way that you don't necessarily ponder and consider on a regular basis.   [01:03:39] I thought it was great. I love the just the analogies between the seed and Jesus and the fruit. And it was really good. It was really good. I enjoyed it. Great. All right. Thank you so much for today. Thank you so much for your expertise. The time again that you put into studying and preparing this message for the listeners. Anything else that you want to share with our listeners before we say goodbye?   [01:04:09] Just make sure you listen to. If you're not listening to our podcast, but you're just kind of get this on the Web site. Go to depending on which podcast you're on. Get cellar's calling you what we do for real estate or we have get radical faith, which is just the radical faith podcast by himself. Go back. There's a lot of great content there. And the other thing I would really encourage is there's a lot of stuff here. Don't listen to one time and say, I got it. Go back and really absorb it. Take some time. Pull out your Bible, read and see what you can see the words in print as you go through this and you'll get a lot more out of it.   [01:04:49] Yes. Such great wisdom. Such great wisdom. Well, thank you. And we thank you to all of you who are listening. And we hope you all have a blessed day. And we'll see you next time.   [01:04:59] Thanks, Beatty. Thank you. Be blessed. Thanks.   P022

To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/207/29 On todays Bible Answer Man broadcast, Hank answers the following questions: Is the proto-Evangelium in Genesis 3:15 describing Jesus coming through the nation of Israel? Will there be a rapture, or will there just be the second coming of Christ? Can you tell me anything about the book Pure Grace by Clark Whitten? I have a friend who claims to be a Christian, but doesnt believe Jesus is God; how can I show him the truth?

Happy Monday, friends. I tried to come up with a better intro situation than that, but my creative brain failed me miserably. My apologies for such a vanilla greeting. You honestly deserve better than that, and I've let you down. It is important to note, however - that I haven't persecuted you by letting you down. Persecution is a different thing entirely, and a discussion about persecution is what today's podcast is about. As far as segues and intros go, I give that one a 3.5 out of 10. Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 24, Ecclesiastes 7, Psalms 31, and 2nd Timothy 3. At some point soon, we are going to do a Big Bible Question from Leviticus - probably all about animal sacrifice, and why that is a thing anyway - but today is not that day. Instead, we are focused on a promise that Paul makes in 2nd Timothy 3 that is quite interesting, and not the kind of promise that you write down on your fridge or bathroom mirror to encourage yourself every morning. 12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2nd Timothy 3:12 How many who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted? 100? 1/4? 1/3rd? 74%? NO - ALL< ALL, ALL. So - what does that mean? Let's go read the passage and come back and discuss persecution. First, let's identify what persecution actually is: The biblical word used here is kind of interesting, and it means in its root forms to make somebody flee, or run away. Persecution used in a biblical context (biblical persecution) does not necessarily have to be physical only. You can most certainly persecute somebody with words or be persecuted with words, as Jesus notes in Matthew 5:11-13 (quoted below.) So persecution can have a physical impact or a verbal impact, and can probably include things like shunning, denying privilege or promotion, etc. Basically biblical persecution is making somebody suffer - in pretty much any significant way - because of their Christian beliefs. I hear Christians throw the word 'persecution' around pretty regularly. Some argue that they are victims of persecution, when it is likely that they are actually suffering for their own bull-headedness, or bad-temper, or misbehavior. Others say that what Christians experience in American and other wealthy nations is nothing at all like persecution. I think the truth of the matter is somewhere between those to polar opposite positions. Here are FIVE things that AREN'T biblical persecution: When you post or say something that is overtly political in nature (defending your favorite politician, saying how they are God's man, or God's choice, or more Godly than the other person, etc.) and you catch flack for such statements - this is not biblical persecution. It may be obnoxious, it may hurt you feelings, it may be uncalled for, but you aren't being persecuted in a biblical sense when you are making some sort of political stance. (Note: standing up for biblical truth is a different story entirely, but standing up for a political party or person is likely going to draw debate and disagreement, maybe even name-calling. This is unpleasant, perhaps unfair, but not biblical persecution) 2. When you express your Christian faith and beliefs in an overly harsh, or angry, or defensive, or attacking way, and people clap-back on your attitude, then you are not being persecuted for your godliness, you are being rebuffed because of your attitude. Consider 1 Peter 2:19-20, "20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God." It is worth noting that attitude and tone matter immensely in the Bible. Sharing truth with a haughty and arrogant tone is not at all Godly, and when people call you out for it, it is likely the haughtiness they are reacting to, not your belief. In sum: If you are being a jerk - even a TRUTHFUL jerk, and you suffer for it - you aren't being persecuted...you're reaping what you sow. Speak the truth in LOVE. 3. If somebody disagrees with you on a doctrinal position (baptism by immersion or by sprinkling, spiritual gifts continue, or have ceased, freewill vs. sovereignty, etc.) as long as it is just a disagreement - this does not constitute persecution. Now, if you are a group of Reformed people who believe in infant baptism and not believer's baptism, and take one who believes in that form of baptism and tie his hands and feet behind his back to a pole, and then drown him in a river for his beliefs, then, yes, absolutely that is persecution, and it is also cold-blooded murder. And it is what Zwingli and the Swiss Reformed did to the Anabaptist Felix Manz during the Protestant Reformation. 4. When the Starbucks barista or greeter at Walmart says 'Happy Holidays' to you, instead of 'Merry Christmas,' this does not constitute persecution. 5. Finally, and I think this might be controversial, but I think in MOST instances, the government not allowing church gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic is NOT persecution. Now - there are some areas where I think it is borderline. There is definitely a Constitutional question that needs to be raised and discussed - can the government even tell churches what to do in this case? But them trying does not seem to be persecution, when the same order applies to all gatherings of people, and not just some. I do question that some liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries count as 'essential businesses,' which they do in California. I would argue that the church is far more essential to mental and spiritual health than alcohol and marijuana. I disagree with the orders in those ways, I just don't believe they measure up to persecution. Bottom line - I think Christians should be prudent, wise and judicious about the use of the word 'persecution.' Not every bit of unpleasantness we endure is because of persecution. Here are 5 facts about biblical persecution: Jesus says that you are BLESSED when people persecute you. Matthew 5:11-13, "11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Persecuted people, in particular, have great shelter and refuge in God. He is near the broken-hearted, so says Psalms 9:9-10 "The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted a refuge in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord." If people are hostile to Jesus and His teachings, they will be hostile to us. If they are open to Jesus, they should be open to us. "Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." A pastor near us in Santa Cruz, Dan Kimball, wrote a very interesting book I read over a decade ago, "They Like Jesus, but not the Church." The premise of the book is that unchurched people really appreciated Jesus, but found a lot of hypocrisy and bad attitudes in the church. The fact is that Christians should track one to one with Jesus in terms of persecution. Persecution, as bad as it is, has no power to separate us from Christ. "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword" Romans 8:35 How are Christians called to respond to persecution? Surprisingly enough - with blessings and goodwill! Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." Let's tag in Dr. Thomas Schreiner - a pastor and seminary professor to help us better understand what exactly persecution is, and how Christians should deal with it: Quite often I hear people say that Christians aren’t being persecuted in the United States. What they mean is that we aren’t suffering physically for our faith, in contrast to so many Christians in other parts of the world. I recognize, of course, that there is a significant difference between what is happening to Christians here and to Christians elsewhere who are sacrificing their lives or being tortured for their faith. Still, it isn’t right to say that Christians in the United States are free from persecution. We should be more precise: We are free from physical persecution. Consider what 1 Peter says about the suffering of believers: In this [salvation in Christ] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6–7) Later he writes: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. (1 Peter 4:1–4) And he goes on to talk about suffering in 1 Peter 3:13–17 and 4:12–16, and we see from these texts that sometimes the suffering was quite intens Peter doesn’t use the word persecution to describe what the readers are experiencing, but they are clearly suffering for their faith, and that is another way of saying they are being persecuted. They are being slandered for being Christians, and they are also maligned for not indulging in the same lifestyle as unbelievers. Peter says they shouldn’t be surprised at the fiery trials they face. But here is the crucial point to see in all these passages: Peter says nothing about physical suffering when he describes the difficulties his readers were experiencing. They were criticized by people in the world; they may have experienced some persecution from governing authorities (1 Peter 2:13–17), and they were certainly out of step with society. But nothing is said about believers being put to death, or flogged, or stoned — in fact, Peter makes no mention of any kind of physical mistreatment. We see something similar in the words of Jesus when he said to his disciples, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (Luke 6:22). Notice how Christians were maligned, criticized, and rejected for not following the societal ethos of their day. In the same way today, many are astonished that we have such a restrictive sexual ethic. Many contemporaries think we are detrimental to society, and many in the Roman world thought the same thing about Christians. They oppose us because we don’t approve the sin that is celebrated in many quarters (as in Romans 1:32). So what did the persecution look like? The maltreatment Peter talks about consists of verbal abuse and presumably included unjust discrimination in everyday life. Even though they weren’t experiencing physical abuse, they were genuinely suffering.... When persecuted we are tempted to threaten and to seek revenge, but we are called to endure suffering as Christ did and to entrust final judgment to God (1 Peter 2:23). We are to love those who hate us and show them kindness and grace, the same kindness and grace our Savior lavished upon us. As Christians in the United States, we also experience suffering since we are maligned for our faith. The persecution may be relatively light; we recognize that our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world face something much more severe than what we are experiencing. But all believers in Christ are persecuted in one way or another (2 Timothy 3:12). Verbal abuse and various forms of discrimination are still suffering according to 1 Peter. None of us knows what the future holds for believers in the United States, but Peter exhorts us in his first letter to be ready for fiery trials, to follow the pattern of our Lord and Savior, and to live by a faith that knows with certainty that eternal glory comes after this moment of suffering. After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10) https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-will-be-persecuted-with-words

Happy Monday, friends. I tried to come up with a better intro situation than that, but my creative brain failed me miserably. My apologies for such a vanilla greeting. You honestly deserve better than that, and I've let you down. It is important to note, however - that I haven't persecuted you by letting you down. Persecution is a different thing entirely, and a discussion about persecution is what today's podcast is about. As far as segues and intros go, I give that one a 3.5 out of 10. Today's Bible readings include Leviticus 24, Ecclesiastes 7, Psalms 31, and 2nd Timothy 3. At some point soon, we are going to do a Big Bible Question from Leviticus - probably all about animal sacrifice, and why that is a thing anyway - but today is not that day. Instead, we are focused on a promise that Paul makes in 2nd Timothy 3 that is quite interesting, and not the kind of promise that you write down on your fridge or bathroom mirror to encourage yourself every morning. 12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 2nd Timothy 3:12 How many who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted? 100? 1/4? 1/3rd? 74%? NO - ALL< ALL, ALL. So - what does that mean? Let's go read the passage and come back and discuss persecution. First, let's identify what persecution actually is: The biblical word used here is kind of interesting, and it means in its root forms to make somebody flee, or run away. Persecution used in a biblical context (biblical persecution) does not necessarily have to be physical only. You can most certainly persecute somebody with words or be persecuted with words, as Jesus notes in Matthew 5:11-13 (quoted below.) So persecution can have a physical impact or a verbal impact, and can probably include things like shunning, denying privilege or promotion, etc. Basically biblical persecution is making somebody suffer - in pretty much any significant way - because of their Christian beliefs. I hear Christians throw the word 'persecution' around pretty regularly. Some argue that they are victims of persecution, when it is likely that they are actually suffering for their own bull-headedness, or bad-temper, or misbehavior. Others say that what Christians experience in American and other wealthy nations is nothing at all like persecution. I think the truth of the matter is somewhere between those to polar opposite positions. Here are FIVE things that AREN'T biblical persecution: When you post or say something that is overtly political in nature (defending your favorite politician, saying how they are God's man, or God's choice, or more Godly than the other person, etc.) and you catch flack for such statements - this is not biblical persecution. It may be obnoxious, it may hurt you feelings, it may be uncalled for, but you aren't being persecuted in a biblical sense when you are making some sort of political stance. (Note: standing up for biblical truth is a different story entirely, but standing up for a political party or person is likely going to draw debate and disagreement, maybe even name-calling. This is unpleasant, perhaps unfair, but not biblical persecution) 2. When you express your Christian faith and beliefs in an overly harsh, or angry, or defensive, or attacking way, and people clap-back on your attitude, then you are not being persecuted for your godliness, you are being rebuffed because of your attitude. Consider 1 Peter 2:19-20, "20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God." It is worth noting that attitude and tone matter immensely in the Bible. Sharing truth with a haughty and arrogant tone is not at all Godly, and when people call you out for it, it is likely the haughtiness they are reacting to, not your belief. In sum: If you are being a jerk - even a TRUTHFUL jerk, and you suffer for it - you aren't being persecuted...you're reaping what you sow. Speak the truth in LOVE. 3. If somebody disagrees with you on a doctrinal position (baptism by immersion or by sprinkling, spiritual gifts continue, or have ceased, freewill vs. sovereignty, etc.) as long as it is just a disagreement - this does not constitute persecution. Now, if you are a group of Reformed people who believe in infant baptism and not believer's baptism, and take one who believes in that form of baptism and tie his hands and feet behind his back to a pole, and then drown him in a river for his beliefs, then, yes, absolutely that is persecution, and it is also cold-blooded murder. And it is what Zwingli and the Swiss Reformed did to the Anabaptist Felix Manz during the Protestant Reformation. 4. When the Starbucks barista or greeter at Walmart says 'Happy Holidays' to you, instead of 'Merry Christmas,' this does not constitute persecution. 5. Finally, and I think this might be controversial, but I think in MOST instances, the government not allowing church gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic is NOT persecution. Now - there are some areas where I think it is borderline. There is definitely a Constitutional question that needs to be raised and discussed - can the government even tell churches what to do in this case? But them trying does not seem to be persecution, when the same order applies to all gatherings of people, and not just some. I do question that some liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries count as 'essential businesses,' which they do in California. I would argue that the church is far more essential to mental and spiritual health than alcohol and marijuana. I disagree with the orders in those ways, I just don't believe they measure up to persecution. Bottom line - I think Christians should be prudent, wise and judicious about the use of the word 'persecution.' Not every bit of unpleasantness we endure is because of persecution. Here are 5 facts about biblical persecution: Jesus says that you are BLESSED when people persecute you. Matthew 5:11-13, "11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Persecuted people, in particular, have great shelter and refuge in God. He is near the broken-hearted, so says Psalms 9:9-10 "The Lord is a refuge for the persecuted a refuge in times of trouble. 10 Those who know your name trust in you because you have not abandoned those who seek you, Lord." If people are hostile to Jesus and His teachings, they will be hostile to us. If they are open to Jesus, they should be open to us. "Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours." A pastor near us in Santa Cruz, Dan Kimball, wrote a very interesting book I read over a decade ago, "They Like Jesus, but not the Church." The premise of the book is that unchurched people really appreciated Jesus, but found a lot of hypocrisy and bad attitudes in the church. The fact is that Christians should track one to one with Jesus in terms of persecution. Persecution, as bad as it is, has no power to separate us from Christ. "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword" Romans 8:35 How are Christians called to respond to persecution? Surprisingly enough - with blessings and goodwill! Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." Let's tag in Dr. Thomas Schreiner - a pastor and seminary professor to help us better understand what exactly persecution is, and how Christians should deal with it: Quite often I hear people say that Christians aren’t being persecuted in the United States. What they mean is that we aren’t suffering physically for our faith, in contrast to so many Christians in other parts of the world. I recognize, of course, that there is a significant difference between what is happening to Christians here and to Christians elsewhere who are sacrificing their lives or being tortured for their faith. Still, it isn’t right to say that Christians in the United States are free from persecution. We should be more precise: We are free from physical persecution. Consider what 1 Peter says about the suffering of believers: In this [salvation in Christ] you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6–7) Later he writes: Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. (1 Peter 4:1–4) And he goes on to talk about suffering in 1 Peter 3:13–17 and 4:12–16, and we see from these texts that sometimes the suffering was quite intens Peter doesn’t use the word persecution to describe what the readers are experiencing, but they are clearly suffering for their faith, and that is another way of saying they are being persecuted. They are being slandered for being Christians, and they are also maligned for not indulging in the same lifestyle as unbelievers. Peter says they shouldn’t be surprised at the fiery trials they face. But here is the crucial point to see in all these passages: Peter says nothing about physical suffering when he describes the difficulties his readers were experiencing. They were criticized by people in the world; they may have experienced some persecution from governing authorities (1 Peter 2:13–17), and they were certainly out of step with society. But nothing is said about believers being put to death, or flogged, or stoned — in fact, Peter makes no mention of any kind of physical mistreatment. We see something similar in the words of Jesus when he said to his disciples, “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (Luke 6:22). Notice how Christians were maligned, criticized, and rejected for not following the societal ethos of their day. In the same way today, many are astonished that we have such a restrictive sexual ethic. Many contemporaries think we are detrimental to society, and many in the Roman world thought the same thing about Christians. They oppose us because we don’t approve the sin that is celebrated in many quarters (as in Romans 1:32). So what did the persecution look like? The maltreatment Peter talks about consists of verbal abuse and presumably included unjust discrimination in everyday life. Even though they weren’t experiencing physical abuse, they were genuinely suffering.... When persecuted we are tempted to threaten and to seek revenge, but we are called to endure suffering as Christ did and to entrust final judgment to God (1 Peter 2:23). We are to love those who hate us and show them kindness and grace, the same kindness and grace our Savior lavished upon us. As Christians in the United States, we also experience suffering since we are maligned for our faith. The persecution may be relatively light; we recognize that our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world face something much more severe than what we are experiencing. But all believers in Christ are persecuted in one way or another (2 Timothy 3:12). Verbal abuse and various forms of discrimination are still suffering according to 1 Peter. None of us knows what the future holds for believers in the United States, but Peter exhorts us in his first letter to be ready for fiery trials, to follow the pattern of our Lord and Savior, and to live by a faith that knows with certainty that eternal glory comes after this moment of suffering. After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. (1 Peter 5:10) https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-will-be-persecuted-with-words

A.W. Tozer once said, "When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more like Christ, it resolves a great deal of anxiety."There was a year and a half period in my life where I really felt called into ministry. I didn't know what that looked like but I had been working at a country station here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and I just knew that wasn't where God wanted me anymore. So my husband and I agreed that it was time for me to step back. In that year and a half where I was only working part-time, I had this really intense period of study and what I mean by that was that God gave me the grace to get up at 4:30 am every morning. Each day as I would start, I would journal, study the Bible, get my daughter off to kindergarten, I would get my son off to preschool, and then I would spend those three hours with my nose in the Bible. Then, when my son napped in the afternoon, I would write and that year and a half of study served as the bedrock for what I do now.  That built this foundation that has made everything else in my life possible.I thought about Paul when it came to circumstances like these, but this kind of period in my life was voluntary. I stepped down deliberately from the radio station where I had been and took a part-time job at KCBI and that was all voluntary. However, Paul was thrown in prison a couple of times in his life. During one of those imprisonments, he wrote four letters of the New Testament: Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Later he wrote a letter to Timothy from a prison cell and these are texts and scriptures that we cherish and draw life from still to this day. In fact, one of my favorite few verses in the New Testament comes from Philippians 1 starting in verse 12, Paul said:"Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel." (Philippians 1:12)So his quarantine, if you will, his imprisonment, had a purpose. It served to advance the gospel and he says later: "As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear." (Philippians 1:13-14)What is our quarantine serving? Can we say that we are in quarantine for Christ? Can we give this season of our life to the Lord in such a devoted fashion that the people who know us would dare all the more to share the love of Christ?

We have hidden biases which damage our witness to Christ. For example, we bias to the wealthy and against the poor. We bias to the powerful and against the weak. We bias to our nation/color and against othersWho can deny this problem or the damage it does to our witness to Christ? Can we beat bias and improve our witness? Yes, with the help of the Apostle James in James 2:1-4.For Infographic and transcript of this episode click here.

Christmas Can't Cure Your Selfishness, but Christ Can

HOW TO 10X YOUR LIFE AND BUSINESS WITH JESUS CHRIST CARLOS ROSALES PT 1 (https://kcrpodcast.com/carlos-rosales/) Everyone wants more. More time. More money. More success. But how many want MORE OF CHRIST?  That should be a priority in the life of every Christian. But, other than reading your Bible or attending a conference every now and then, most Christians just plug along like everyone else. Sometimes, we need someone that will motivate us and hold us accountable. To each other and, most of all, to Jesus! Amen! My guest today started doing just that. He authored a book titled, “10x for Christ: Discovering Your 10x Lifestyle in Jesus Christ.” Carlos Rosales has been in business for 35 years. Ten years ago, he launched FocalPoint Coaching in the Greater Houston, Texas area. He helps business leaders across all genres to grow and develop while integrating Faith into their business. Carlos also is the Chair of the Houston “Convene” program. Through “Convene,” he engages business owners and CEO’s in a team environment to profitably grow their businesses and increase their leadership impact using peer to peer collaboration and one on one coaching. What takes place in your meetings so that it does not become a preaching service? There are some unscrupulous business leaders who think it is all about the bottom line. That is an important part of running a business, no doubt about that. But you take it to an entirely different level by focusing on “serving.” Serving clients, yes, but also serving other business owners in the process, networking, etc. How did you grow into this facet of ministry? Let’s talk about your book, “10x for Christ: Discovering Your 10x Lifestyle in Jesus Christ.” What motivated you to write your book, “10X for Christ?” And it is based on the Daniel and his 3 friends in the Bible, correct? And this is a one year, 52 week devotional, correct? What makes this devotional different from others devotionals that are out there? What are the five main points which you bring out in your book. Points that will help you to living a 10x life for Christ? Can you explain what those are? Foundation – where are you right now East to West – the first ten weeks Masterpiece – the second ten weeks Abundance – the third ten weeks Folks, Carlos is an experienced business coach who takes his services to a whole new level – in Christ! Amen. His insight into scripture and business provide YOU a unique opportunity to grow Spiritually while also growing your business. Whether you are running a non-profit, a traditional business, speaking business, etc., Carlos can help you to grow. Use the links down below to get in touch with Carlos. Talk with him and see if he can help you to “10X” your life in Christ as well. CONTACT INFORMATION:Email:   10X For Christ Book on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3860sVw)

How To 10X Your Life and Business with Jesus Christ – Carlos Rosales pt 1Everyone wants more. More time. More money. More success. But how many want MORE OF CHRIST?  That should be a priority in the life of every Christian. But, other than reading your Bible or attending a conference every now and then, most Christians just plug along like everyone else.  Sometimes, we need someone that will motivate us and hold us accountable. To each other and, most of all, to Jesus! Amen! My guest today started doing just that. He authored a book titled, “10x for Christ: Discovering Your 10x Lifestyle in Jesus Christ.” Carlos Rosales has been in business for 35 years. Ten years ago, he launched FocalPoint Coaching in the Greater Houston, Texas area. He helps business leaders across all genres to grow and develop while integrating Faith into their business.  Carlos also is the Chair of the Houston “Convene” program. Through “Convene,” he engages business owners and CEO’s in a team environment to profitably grow their businesses and increase their leadership impact using peer to peer collaboration and one on one coaching. He is here today to help us 10X our life for Jesus! Amen!  Help me welcome to the program, Carlos Rosales.  Carlos, thank you for joining us today! The first question I always ask is this. Other than that short bio I just read, tell us in your own words, “Who is Carlos Rosales?” I’m going to get into your book in a moment. But I think it is important for our listeners to understand the background for the book. And I believe that background includes how you became the Chair for the greater Houston area for “Convene.”  First, tell us what “Convene” is and how it helps business owners and CEO’s. And how did you become the Chair for the organization in Houston? That’s a pretty big area. How can a business owner, entrepreneur or CEO use your training to grow their business, network with other like-minded believers and serve the Lord in the position of influence He has placed them in? What takes place in your meetings so that it does not become a preaching service? There are some unscrupulous business leaders who think it is all about the bottom line. That is an important part of running a business, no doubt about that. But you take it to an entirely different level by focusing on “serving.” Serving clients, yes, but also serving other business owners in the process, networking, etc. How did you grow into this facet of ministry? Let’s talk about your book, “10x for Christ: Discovering Your 10x Lifestyle in Jesus Christ.” What motivated you to write your book, “10X for Christ?” And it is based on the Daniel and his 3 friends in the Bible, correct? And this is a one year, 52 week devotional, correct? What makes this devotional different from others devotionals that are out there? What are the five main points which you bring out in your book. Points that will help you to living a 10x life for Christ? Can you explain what those are? Foundation – where are you right now East to West – the first ten weeks Masterpiece – the second ten weeks Abundance – the third ten weeks  Folks, Carlos is an experienced business coach who takes his services to a whole new level – in Christ! Amen. His insight into scripture and business provide YOU a unique opportunity to grow Spiritually while also growing your business. Whether you are running a non-profit, a traditional business, speaking business, etc., Carlos can help you to grow.  Use the links down below to get in touch with Carlos. Talk with him and see if he can help you to “10X” your life in Christ as well. CONTACT INFORMATION: Email:   crosales@10x4Christ.org (mailto:crosales@10x4Christ.org) Website:   www.10x4Christ.org (http://www.10x4christ.org/) Special Welcome Page just for the KCR Podcast...

How far back do we go with this concept of Christ? Can we really take it back to the people who followed Jesus around Galilee and Judea? Did they believe it? Were they Christians? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/elliott-smith6/message

let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup (1 Corinthians 11:28) Usually, when we think of examining ourselves, we think of examining our lives. How are we dealing with besetting sins? Are we reading the Bible to our spiritual profit? Are we spending time in prayer and communion with the Lord? What does our daily lives say about our love to Christ? Can others see that we are Christians? What did Paul say? Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith: if we gain assurance by how well we are performing, it is a false, works based assurance. [If we conclude, we are not saved because of our failures in these things, we are once again making salvation dependent upon our performance]. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that when He said, “It is finished” the salvation of all the elect was accomplished? (John 19:30) Are you relying on who He is and what He did as all you have for acceptance with God? Then you are “in the faith” and a true child of God.

let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup (1 Corinthians 11:28) Usually, when we think of examining ourselves, we think of examining our lives. How are we dealing with besetting sins? Are we reading the Bible to our spiritual profit? Are we spending time in prayer and communion with the Lord? What does our daily lives say about our love to Christ? Can others see that we are Christians? What did Paul say? Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith: if we gain assurance by how well we are performing, it is a false, works based assurance. [If we conclude, we are not saved because of our failures in these things, we are once again making salvation dependent upon our performance]. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that when He said, “It is finished” the salvation of all the elect was accomplished? (John 19:30) Are you relying on who He is and what He did as all you have for acceptance with God? Then you are “in the faith” and a true child of God.

Chris, Jason and Derek talk about experiencing God. Is reading and knowing scripture enough, or is there actually more to this relationship with Christ? Can we have experiential knowledge versus simply informational knowledge? The bible uses two different words for "know", and by this simple word study, we say yes! Watch the Facebook Live recording replay: http://bit.ly/sdp-s3e11-FBliveThank you for your continued support of the Salty Dogs Podcast! Check out the links below to find out how to financially support our efforts. The links provided are Amazon Affiliate links and are a great way to support the show at no extra cost to you.SDP Amazon Wish List: https://amzn.to/2MmRQChPatreon Page: http://Patreon.com/saltydogspodcastSalty Dogs T-Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/salty-dogs-christian-podcastJoin the DAWG HOUSE! Our Facebook Group: http://bit.ly/SDP-FB-Group See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Often times we ask the question, “What’s to gain by worry?” Really what we should ask is “what do we lose?” Do our pursuits of life, trump our relationship with Christ? Can we have peace without him?

What is the basis for our authority as a believer? Is it based on our performance or simply by us being in Christ? How do we step into our authority in Christ? Can we give the devil authority over us?

The Love Movement Part 6 Episode 28      Continuing on with the Love Movement Series we will be in the book of John today. Part of John 15:12-13 says: This is my commandment: “Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.” God loved us so much that He gave His Son to die for you and for me. The love He has for us is so incredible! Yet how far are we willing to go for our Brothers and Sisters in Christ? Can you imagine if the Denominational walls came down and we loved one another with the love of Jesus Christ, and the World witnessed it?         No greater love…..makes me also think of Servicemen and Woman, Border Patrol, Fire Fighters, Police Officers; even parents at times have given their own lives for others. That kind of Love is priceless. Keep in mind when reading these verses it doesn’t mean you need to give your physical life as Jesus did, (even though He was resurrected) but it does mean go the extra mile to care about each other. With that being said, enjoy the podcast and leave a comment if you have time, I would love to hear from you. God Bless You and Yours! Love you All

Increasing Knowledge of God’s Love Does God really love us? He showed His love on the cross, but does He still love us? If so, why do we still experience pain and suffering? How can that be good? Show Notes: If the only characteristics that were true about God were the elements of His power, as well as His justice and holiness, there would be no hope for humankind. In fact, we never would have lasted this long. Without God’s love for us, He would have wiped humanity from the face of the Earth, maybe to make room for a race less obstinate and fickle. Fortunately for us, though, God is not only the most powerful being in the world—star-breather, life-former, thought-knower—He also cares for us. While He seeks His own glory in all things, He equally seeks our good. These two goals are not at odds with each other. God receives glory from us when we enjoy Him, so when He seeks our ultimate good, He is also seeking His own glory. And when we seek God, which is our highest good, we are fulfilled and happy. If you are interested in learning more about this particular topic, I would highly recommend John Piper’s Desiring God. As he puts it, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” Each outcome leads to the other. I have found that many Christians either believe the things I said about God in the last episode but they do not really believe that God loves them, or they believe God is loving but forget how big and powerful He is. This is the cause of a lot of fear. If you know God is loving but don’t really believe He’s powerful enough to take care of you, anything could happen. If you believe God is powerful but don’t really believe He loves you enough to always make decisions based on your best interests, then He might take care of you when it’s convenient but choose to do something that puts you at risk when it suits Him. Today we’re going to look at the trait of God’s love and how it is manifested toward us. Before we go any further, we need to define love. The world would tell us that it is an unpredictable feeling, one that may or may not last very long. Once it's gone, it doesn’t often come back. Just about any popular romance movie will exemplify this definition. Even we in the church fall prey to this description, and I believe it has distorted our view of God and His love. In 1 John 3:16-18, the apostle John tells us what love looks like as believers. “This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brother. If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need – how can God's love reside in him? Little children, we must not love in word or speech, but with truth and action.” Many people read just the first of these verses and conclude that love means being willing to die for another person, but there is so much more to it than that. John says that we know what love is because Jesus “laid down His life for us,” and we should “lay down our lives” for our fellow Christians. In the next verse, he gives us an example of what that looks like—giving away what you have for the sake of others. Jesus laying down His life didn't just include His death; it was a life-long process of taking care of those around Him and generally being about His Father's will. It is the same for us. The main component of love is sacrifice and self-forgetfulness. As C.S. Lewis says in Mere Christianity, “If we were to meet a truly humble person, we would never come away from meeting them thinking they were humble. They would not be always telling us they were a nobody (because a person who keeps saying they are a nobody is actually a self-obsessed person). The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.” (Mere Christianity, 1952) And so, we aim to think of ourselves less. But to what end? John answers that question in the next verse. We are to fill the needs of our fellow believers. If we summarize, according to John, love is spending our lives sacrificially filling other people's needs. Though he goes about it differently, Paul says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: “Love is patient, love is kind Love does not envy, Is not boastful, is not conceited, Does not act improperly, Is not selfish, is not provoked, Does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness But rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, Hopes all things, endures all things.” True love, according to the Bible, is not a feeling or in any way related to sexual desire or fulfillment. It is seeing other people’s needs and taking care of them, all while forgetting that you exist. That’s not to say that we don’t practice good self-care. But the point of healthy self-care is that we will make the most of ourselves and our time for the sake of others. It is not selfish. It’s like studying for a test and realizing that you are so tired that you’re not going to be productive any longer, so you set your alarm for a couple hours earlier than normal in the morning so you can finish studying then, and you get some sleep now. We should rest, eat well, exercise, and not over-work ourselves so that we can be more effective in serving and loving other people. Having defined love, we are now equipped to look at God's love. If love is sacrificially filling others' needs, what is it that we need? According to Ephesians 2:1-10, we are dead and in need of life. Through the sacrifice Jesus made by His life and death, God has given us that and more. He has seated us in Heaven with Jesus, given us good works to do for His glory, and promised to show us kindness for the rest of eternity. If you’ve grown up in the church, you probably don't have a problem believing that God loved you through the cross. You’ve heard it all your life. The issue is now. Does He love you today, yesterday, and tomorrow, or did He just show His love once through the cross so He could save you but then use and abuse you at His whim? In the book of Romans, Paul spends the first seven chapters explaining how no one measures up to God’s standard of righteousness but how God, in His love, provided a way for us to receive the righteousness of Christ through His death on the cross—in essence, the gospel. Now Paul has moved on to sanctification. He’s about to answer the question I just posed. Does God still love us? The whole of chapter eight is a glorious exposition of God’s continued love for the believer, but I’ll just hit the highlights: “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit’s law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death…. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you…. All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him…. “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined… and those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified. “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?... “…Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:1-2, 8-9a, 14-17, 28-29a, 30-32, 35-39, emphasis mine) What beautiful, live-giving truths. One of Paul’s greatest arguments here is in verse 32, which says, “He did not even spare His own Son but offered Him up for us all; how will He not also with Him grant us everything?” Paul must have known that there would be this temptation to slip away from believing that God loves us in the here and now. He argues that God did the big thing; He laid aside His glory and came as a human being, then He died in the place of sinners. This is incomprehensible. If God went to that extreme to save sinners out of love (John 3:16), how could he possibly stop loving us? Even still, we forget. When we don’t remember how great God’s love is for us, our trust in Him begins to slip. Without trust, fears creep into our lives. Why do we forget so easily? What can we do to remember? I have found that the fastest way to forget how much God loves me is to take my righteousness into my own hands. I have a tendency that I think many believers share, and that is to look at the cross and say, “Yes, I’m in! God has brought me into His family and secured my eternal destiny. Now I have to make sure I stay here.” Then I try to do well and keep God happy with me, all the while feeling both guilty about how I’m failing and superior to those who are messing up more visibly than I am. This is called self-righteousness, and it belittles the work of Christ. It says, “Yes, God, Your work was good, but it wasn’t good enough. Let me help.” But we are incapable of helping, and we have nothing good to offer God except what He’s already given us and enabled us to do. When Jesus died on the cross, two very important things happened. First, He took upon Himself all of the sin of every person who would ever be saved. All the ugly, stinky, abhorrent nastiness of my sin and yours was placed in the body of the Son of God (1 Peter 2:24). Second, God the Father exerted all the force of His wrath for all of that sin on Jesus. When we become believers, we receive the righteousness of Jesus in place of the sin He paid for (Phil. 3:9, 2 Cor. 5:21). This is called justification. What does this mean? It means that as believers, there is no wrath left for us (Rom. 5:9-10). There is nothing we can do to make God punish us or even be disappointed in us. He knows everything that we have done and will do, and He paid for it all. We have been brought near to God (Eph. 2:13) and are called children and heirs of God (Rom. 8:17-19). In John 15:9, Jesus tells His disciples that just as much as the Father loves Him (that would be infinite and incomprehensible love), so Jesus loved them, loves us. This is what justification means for us. There’s something some of you are probably thinking that flies in the face of this, right? To one degree or another, we have all experienced loss, pain, and disappointment. A lot of bible teachers dismiss this by saying, “Well, those are the result of sin in the world, and they’re not God’s fault. God wants good things for you.” But that doesn’t actually solve the problem, because it makes God out to be this kind person who wants good for you but doesn’t have the power to give it to you. He’s not really sovereign and in control of everything. If He’s not in control, then we still have reason to be afraid. And as we looked at last week, God really does have the power. So why does He allow us to hurt? In Genesis 50:20, Joseph is talking to his brothers in Egypt. He is the second most powerful man in the world, and his brothers sold him into slavery when he was younger. Now he has the power to get back at them if he wants, and they are terrified. Instead, Joseph takes the long view. He sees God’s hand in the situation and tell his brothers this, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” This word “good” means the same thing as it does coming from Joseph’s lips. Did Joseph suffer? Did he experience loss and pain? Of course. So how can he say it was good? How can Paul in Romans say that everything works together for good when he experienced terrible things over the course of his ministry? The reason we have a hard time reconciling this is because we have a skewed perspective of good. God created us to know Him and to be fulfilled in our relationship with Him. When sin entered the world, that relationship was lost, and all of human history pointed to and waited expectantly for the time when it would be possible to restore that relationship. When Christ died on the cross, it became possible again for human beings across the globe, from all walks of life, of all ages to have a fulfilling, joyful relationship with their Creator again. That’s what we were made for. But because of sin, we think that avoiding pain, loss, and suffering is our best good. That’s how we structure our lives, to experience the least physical and emotional discomfort as possible. But if you look around you at the people who have the most means for keeping themselves from experiencing pain and loss, are they happy? They’re not. For one, they’re never satisfied; they always want more comfort, more ease. For two, they’re terrified that something is going to happen and bring it all crashing down. On the other hand, when those who really know God experience hard things, how do they react? What does it do to them? It brings them closer to Him. Our natural, sinful tendency is to put our trust in things that are not God. We trust school, government, our car’s safety features, locks on our doors at home, etc., etc. to keep us safe, and we trust friends, family, work, hobbies, etc. to give us joy and fulfillment. God loves us enough to send hard things our way to strip us of those trusts, because He knows that our ultimate source of security and fulfillment comes from Him. God doesn’t promise us an easy life, in fact, He promises us a hard one. But He also promises that He will be with us, has a plan for us, and will turn anything we may think is bad in the moment to good in the end. As you go through your day today, think about how God has used things you did not enjoy, things you might have labeled as ‘bad’ when they happened for your good in the end. Remember that He will always do that and fear not. Thanks for joining me on the podcast today. Next week we’re going to wrap up the series on fear with a few more practical steps, examples, and stories. I hope you’ll join me then.

Heart to Heart with Mother Miriam *Excerpts from "Rules for Catholic Family Life" by Tom Hoopes *More on Abuse by clergy and religious *Were there more than three magi at the birth of Christ? *Can two people get married without having children? *How to show love when there is still past pain?

Join Elisa Pulliam and Angela Sackett as they look at what it means to Be Refreshed on the More to Be Podcast. Elisa continues to lead the study in John 4, looking at the life of the Samaritan woman and her encounter with Jesus at the well. Grab your Bible to follow along.HIGHLIGHTSDo we really believe that Jesus can quench our soul thirst? - ElisaWhat are the false gods we are making and seeking to fill us instead of Jesus? - ElisaGod wants to take us from where we are to where He wants us to be in Him. - AngelaHe wants not the truth we're comfortable with but the fullness of the truth. - ElisaIt's out of His love and grace that He pursues us. - AngelaJesus just wants honesty. - ElisaA changed woman leads to a changed legacy. - ElisaWhen God gets a hold of our hearts, it is because of how He wants to use us in His kingdom purpose. - ElisaWe may be unqualified by the world, but we're re-qualified by God. - ElisaCHALLENGE QUESTIONSWhat is the reality of your situation that Jesus sees and knows completely?What is your response to what God offers you through Christ?Can you imagine . . . what would be the result of your faith in the lives of others -- your family, coworkers, neighbors, friends?RELATED CONTENTReady to grow deeper spiritual roots? The Biblical Mentoring Intensive will help you do just that! Learn more here. CONNECT WITH USElisa on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and the More to Be TribeAngela on Instagram, Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest and Everyday WelcomeThanks for listening! We appreciate your reviews and spreading the word about our podcast! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Last week’s passage we read from was Matthew 5:38-42 but it is also recorded in Luke 6:27-31. And Luke opens and closes in an interesting way, which dovetails into today’s message. Luke 6:27; Luke 6:31 I wonder how many of us are willing to listen to Jesus today. I wonder how many of us are prepared to treat everyone the way that we would like to be treated. Are we proving to others that we are truly followers of Christ? Can we answer the question, “Yes” when asked, Do You Love Differently?” Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:32-36 And so, I ask again, Do You Love Differently? You look around at all that is going on in the news and around the world. Are you willing to listen to Jesus’ words regarding that? How does our love look different than the world’s? How does the church’s love look different than the world’s? Matthew 5:46; Luke 6:33-34 Jesus is calling us to love different! He is calling us to love like His Father! Romans 5:6-11 All of us in here stand as testimony to this! That is the power of God’s love! Love can overcome multitudes of sin! Love can overcome checkered pasts! Love can overcome bad decisions! Love can overcome hate! Love can overcome fear! Love can change a person’s life! So, Do You Love Different? Will you love different? Will you respond to our Savior’s instruction to do so? Will you love the unlovable? Will you love the outcast? Will you love those that God has called us to love? Will you love everyone?

  “…When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8b NET) Evidently, real, vibrant, Bible faith will be in comparatively short supply when Jesus returns. Will we have the genuine kind of faith He is looking for? (See 1st Peter 1:7 in the NKJV.) I pray that we do. That is the purpose of these articles, to examine our faith as Paul stated in 2nd Corinthians 13:5. I now feel compelled instead to write to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 1:3 NET). We are contending earnestly for the faith once for all entrusted to the saints in these articles! Grandma, grandpa, your mother or father, or your denomination probably never taught faith quite like you will read in these articles. “Well, I was taught that faith is just believing God, and that is all there is to it.” Have you ever heard that? Many believe firmly that their particular Church doctrinal statements are their faith. Then, you have a multitude of people that ask, “What is your faith? To what faith do you subscribe?” Of course, they are asking you about the particular Christian group you associate with or belong to. Others take faith into the realms of believing and trusting, full persuasion of God’s promises, speaking the Word, or believing (trusting) that you receive your answer to prayer. There are sound Biblical truths to be studied in those areas, but faith is much broader in scope in Paul’s epistles and the rest of the New Testament than these definitions alone. Did you know that obedience is an intimate part of faith? How often do you hear from today’s pulpits that obedience is an integral part of faith? Paul connected them forever. Through Him we have received grace and our apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles on behalf of his name… and through the prophetic scriptures has been made known to all the nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5, 16:26 NET). Did you know that there are teachers today that reject the idea that obedience to God and His Word are essential parts of your faith in Christ? Can they read? Paul began and finished his great epistle to the Romans with the principle of obedience of faith. Obeying the Lord is not an option in Scripture in the Old and New Testaments, that is, IF we want God and the Lord Jesus by His Spirit working in our lives (John 14:21-26; 1 John 2:3-6 NET). These articles will tear down some traditional interpretations, but they should not be construed as a denial of other areas of faith not covered in them. Faith is a BIG subject! For that very reason, I am adding audio messages to these articles that give you some other sides of Biblical faith. I hope you listened to the audio message, “Only Believe” with Part 1 of this series of articles. I suggest you listen to all the 37 audio messages in the series, “Removing Doubt from the Heart.” Only Believe was #28 from this series. Bible faith as Paul understood it, was solidly based on the Old Testament or the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14-17). He also based his understanding of faith on the words and example of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus was the Word of God made flesh, so He and the written Word must agree (John 1:1-3, 14). That must be included in any assessment of Paul’s view of faith. As we saw in the first article, Paul used the Scripture profusely in his epistles, either by direct quotations or by allusions. By allusions, I mean that he was constantly hinting at Scripture even though he was not necessarily quoting verses or naming the books where they were found. Here is an oft-quoted verse used to establish Paul’s teaching on faith. There is no guessing game here! For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 NKJV) “The just shall live by faith” is a quotation of the second part of Habakkuk 2:4.[1]   Where did Paul’s definition of faith come from? Was it from some special revelation only given to him? Paul’s definition of faith was confirmed by his choice of a proof text from the Old Testament, written almost seven centuries before he wrote Romans 1:17. Paul almost exclusively used the Septuagint (LXX) Greek when quoting the Old Testament. The Septuagint was an ancient Jewish translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek. The language was analyzed and the conclusion is that the Pentateuch was translated near the middle of the 3rd century B.C., and the rest of the Old Testament was translated in the 2nd century B. C.[2] The Greek of the New Testament reflects the Septuagint in hundreds of places.[3] Gustav A. Deissmann (1866–1937), the renowned German Protestant theologian, said it like this:   "A single hour lovingly devoted to the text of the Septuagint will further our exegetical knowledge of the Pauline Epistles more than a whole day spent over a commentary… Every reader of the Septuagint who knows his Greek (New) Testament will after a few days’ study come to see with astonishment what hundreds of threads there are uniting the Old and the New."[4] Follow me in this. I am not splitting hairs here. It’s information every single believer should have. Paul quoted Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 by using the Greek word for faith (pistis) as it came to him from the Septuagint, but that was not its origin. The Hebrew original text was standing behind the Greek Septuagint and Paul’s usage. Hebrew has to be the place to look for the original meaning. That makes perfect sense to me, yet many prefer to see only the Greek, and do their best to dismiss the Hebrew standing behind it. That, my friends, is a huge lack in judgment! Going back to the original Hebrew that stands behind the Greek is not only necessary, but it is doing an honest word study, whether you are a scholar, preacher, teacher, or a student of the Word. If one refuses to admit or rejects the Hebrew that stands behind all Greek Septuagint quotations (and word usage) in the New Testament, then one subscribes to a dishonest form of Biblical study. I don’t think any of us want to be accused of dishonesty. What is the Hebrew word translated faith in Habakkuk 2:4, quoted by Paul in Romans 1:17 and in Galatians 3:11? Brown, Driver, Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (BDB) is relevant today, even though newer dictionaries are in circulation. The Hebrew word that is generally translated faith in Habakkuk 2:4 is emunah, and BDB states that it means: firmness, fidelity, steadfastness, and steadiness. (See H530, 53b.) Those definitions are the ones found in the summarized version of the BDB on the Bible software on my cell phone. When looking at the definition of emunah (H530, 53b) in the full BDB, [5] we see that faithfulness and trust are added to the definition. On page 53, column b, under entry #530, around the center of the page, we come to the BDB translation of Habakkuk 2:4: “a righteous man by his faithfulness liveth.” Pay close attention to the code right after the translation: (>faith LUTH AV RV). The list of abbreviations at the front of the dictionary is the place to decode it. The parenthesis means that the preceding translation of emunah as faithfulness is preferred to how Luther, the Authorized KJV, and the Revised Version translated it as faith! Luther, the KJV and the AV (among others) did not translate emunah. They injected into Habakkuk 2:4 their translation from the Greek New Testament back into the Old. That is backwards! I am suggesting that we do the exact opposite, take the Hebrew definitions and inject them into the New! Faithfulness is not “by faith alone” or “believing alone”. Not even close! Oops! That is contrary to centuries of protestant theology that began with Luther emphasizing “by faith alone”, one perpetuated by the KJV, RV, and the majority of versions. Look back at these definitions of emunah. The words faith and believe are completely lacking in the Hebrew definition. “By faith alone” is missing in the BDB translation of Habakkuk 2:4. Look at the NKJV translation of Habakkuk 2:4, one basically in agreement with the KJV and RV: “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.” (NKJV) Translations like the NKJV are simply bringing into the Hebrew original text a translation of the verse according to the Greek New Testament that came from the Septuagint. They paid NO attention to the original Hebrew text! Now, watch what happens when you don’t take the Greek as the final word or inject it back into the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The Hebrew original text of Habakkuk 2:4 gives us a completely different picture. “Look, the one whose desires are not upright will faint from exhaustion, but the person of integrity will live because of his faithfulness” (NET). A few other translations have the better word faithfulness: God’s Word, Good News Translation, Lexham English Bible, New International Revised Version, NIV, New Living Testament, Voice. Young’s Literal Translation has steadfastness. The Common English Bible has live honestly. The Complete Jewish Bible has trusting faithfulness. The Message has loyal and steady believing. All of these are much better than the word faith. The New English Translation in Habakkuk 2:4, under note 15 says about the traditional translation of emunah as faith that it “nowhere else refers to ‘belief’ as such.” “Honesty, integrity, reliability, faithfulness” define emunah when used in reference to human conduct and character, as in this verse.[6] Belief, faith, and believing are not even in the equation! Here’s where it really gets messy. Even though the NET gets it right in Habakkuk 2:4, they ignore the Hebrew background in Romans 1:17. They honestly believe it is the best scholarship to translate the text from the Greek and let it stay that way without elucidating the Hebrew behind it. They missed the point of Habakkuk 2:4 in Paul’s reference. Don’t misunderstand me. Translators are working with the texts in front of them to the best of their abilities. They translate a word, generally, looking for a word or words that convey the meaning clearly into their target language. I believe translators are doing an excellent job, as far as word-for-word translations go, especially in the newer translations like the New English Translation and others. The issue I am referring to is in the realm of looking at the original language behind the Greek when Old Testament verses and allusions are found in the New Testament. When the original emunah is translated from the Greek pistis as faith in the New Testament, without further explanation, it is misleading and woefully incomplete. It has to be elucidated based on Habakkuk 2:4, and other Old Testament verses we will get to. That is especially true if the verses are quoted in the New Testament! Translators could include a footnote next to the word faith (and many others) in the New Testament. There should be a fuller explanation and definition based on the Hebrew original, but these are nowhere to be found! It’s better to translate faith (and believe) as a phrase based on the Hebrew definition. My God! That would have enhanced richly our faith in Christ in so many ways, and kept the church out of many strange and unfruitful interpretations.  If I had known that Bible faith was, and is, correctly defined by faithfulness, steadfastness, loyalty, obedience, and trust, it would have made a huge difference in so many ways. Fidelity, firmness, and steadiness are not primarily (nor secondarily or even thirdly) your beliefs, but your Covenant relationship-fellowship with Him, your lifestyle, and actions according to His Word. Glory to God! I learned some powerful lessons in the realm of faith from 1974 until 1986 (and I am still learning), such as trusting in the promises of God, speaking to the mountain to be removed, speaking of things that are not as though they were, getting your words to agree with God's Word, and so on (Romans 4:17-22; Mark 11:22-26).  When I first learned some of the things I am sharing in these articles, sadly, I started to discard many of the things I learned earlier. I did not realize that what I was learning was not to take away from my faith, but to tweak and adjust me in it. God’s purpose was to take me further into the realm of faith than I had ever been. I threw out the baby with the bathwater! That was not a good idea!  Now in 2017, I can look back, grin, and laugh at how ignorant I was, but it was no laughing matter then. It was havoc and sheer hell! That is one story that I will spare you from. I stepped away from the Lord and His Word over my errors (and sins) from 1989-1999, but (PTL) I came back to Him through repentance and renewal in April of 1999. Looking back, since my initial commitment to Jesus in early 1974 (under the big tent of R. W. Schambach, Tampa Florida), I can truthfully say, that I am finally getting a clue! As I continue to study, finally, I am receiving from the Lord some understanding on how all these areas of faith complement each other and work together. They are not contrary to one another.   I trust that these messages will take you much further in Him, and in faith, than I have ever been. I also trust that it will happen for you in a whole lot less time.  Be mightily blessed!    NOTES: [1] Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 also repeat, “the just shall live by faith.” [2] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Septuagint [3] An interesting question is, which Hebrew text stands behind the Septuagint (LXX)? According to the evidence of the Dead Scrolls, there were a few Hebrew manuscript traditions. One agreed more with the MT, one was like the LXX, and another like the Samaritan text of the Pentateuch. Then, there was the one that was different than those, like the one reflected in the great Isaiah Scroll, and there were more. This is important because scholars believed, until the Dead Sea Scrolls were found and examined, that the LXX had many Christian additions. The DSS proved that assumption wrong because they were pre-Christian! They found clear evidence of a textual tradition similar to the Septuagint. See Ostling, Richard N., “Dead Sea Scrolls” yield “major questions” in Old Testament understanding, (University of Notre Dame; https://news.nd.edu/news/dead-sea-scrolls-yield-major-questions-in-old-testament-understanding/, accessed 10-26-17); Tov, Emanuel; Searching for the “Original” Bible, (https://members.bib-arch.org/biblical-archaeology-review/40/4/10, accessed 10-26-17), and Tov, Emanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. 2nd Rev. Ed. Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 2001, 114-117; where he states that Qumran-specific texts were 20%, Proto-Masoretic texts – 35%, Proto-Samaritan texts – 5%, Proto-Septuagint texts – 5%, Non-Aligned texts – 35%.  [4] Deissmann, The Philology of the Greek Bible, its Present and Future, (1908, Hodder and Stoughton, London), pp. 12, 13. [5] The BDB Hebrew and English Lexicon, (Hendickson Publishers, Massachussetts, 1996) coded to Strong’s numbers. Reprinted from the 1906 ed. [6] The Lumina NET at Bible.org, translation note 15 in Habakkuk 2:4, https://lumina.bible.org/bible/Habakkuk+2 (accessed October 17, 2017)   ________________   The audio message that follows is #29 from the series, “Removing Doubt from the Heart.” The name of the message is: Light Burden vs. the Devil's Heavy Weights. Messages 1-28 are already published on our website.  

Christ Can do in you, what He has done in me.

Luke 10: 1-20 Have you ever felt fully satisfied in Christ? Can you think of a time when you fully and physically alive? Abundant living is not only a goal for you, but it's a place where Jesus wants us to be in order to be used by Him in transforming our culture. This Labor Day Sunday we'll look at a kingdom building effort triggered by Jesus. It's an intensive cultural engagement campaign led by 72 of Christ's followers. Support the show (https://pushpay.com/g/hillsidechgr?src=hpp)

When times are hard, opposition is harder, you're tired and weak, how do you stay faithful to Christ? Can you pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Acts 4 gives us the best example of where to turn when things fall apart. God is the hero of our story.

Today we continue our series, “Goodbye Old, Hello New”. Specifically, we’ll look at what it means to have a new mind. In order to really say hello to the new this year, we just might have to trade in our old mind for a new one. Thinking patterns that haven’t served us well should motivate us toward new thinking. Two questions we’ll work through in this message are: "What does it mean to be transformed by the renewing of the mind?" "How can I have the mind of Christ?" Can you imagine? New mind, new thoughts, NEW LIFE!

Bishop Jayson Quinones brings forth a word from the book of Matthew 9:14-17. Can we become more committed to Christ? Can we stretch ourselves further?

Tozer speaks at a Alliance Conference on the a topic of discerning whether or not a experience or new doctrine is truly from God. He outlines and gives 5-6 reasons how we can surely know if it is from God: Does it glorify Christ? does it magnify Christ? Can it be found in the Bible? Does it promote unity and love for the brethren? This is a worthwhile teaching to hear and re-listen to.