Podcasts about confessing

Sunday Evening, October 26, 2025Given by Dr. Kevin DeYoung | Senior PastorChrist Covenant ChurchConfessing SinSermon Text: Ezra 9:6-15Watch on YouTubeDownload our mobile app

In this profound episode of the Reformed Brotherhood, Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb delve deeply into the Parable of the Tares (Matthew 13:24-30), exploring its implications for Christian assurance. Building on their previous discussion, they examine how this parable speaks to the mixed nature of the visible church, the sovereignty of Christ over His kingdom, and most significantly, the doctrine of assurance. Through careful theological reflection, the hosts unpack how true believers can find solid ground for assurance not in their own works or fruit-checking, but in the promises of Christ and the testimony of the Holy Spirit. This episode offers both encouragement for those struggling with doubts and a sobering challenge to those resting in false assurance. Key Takeaways The Parable of the Tares teaches that the visible church will be mixed until the final judgment, containing both true believers (wheat) and false professors (tares) who may appear outwardly similar. True assurance is not based primarily on good works but on the promises of Christ, the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit, and the evidences of grace in our lives. False assurance is a real danger, as many who think they belong to Christ will discover at the final judgment that they never truly knew Him. The Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18) provides a helpful framework for understanding biblical assurance as the proper possession of every Christian. Christ's role as the divine Master of the house (the world) and Lord of the angels is subtly yet powerfully affirmed in this parable, grounding our assurance in His sovereignty. Good works are the fruit of assurance, not its cause—when we are secure in our salvation, we are freed to serve Christ joyfully rather than anxiously trying to earn assurance. The final judgment will bring perfect clarity, revealing what was hidden and separating the wheat from the tares with divine precision that humans cannot achieve now. The Doctrine of Assurance: Reformed Understanding The Reformed tradition has always emphasized that believers can and should have assurance of their salvation—a conviction recovered during the Reformation in contrast to Rome's teaching. As Tony noted when reading from the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 18), this assurance is "not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation." This assurance rests on three pillars: the promises of God in Scripture, the inward evidence of grace, and the testimony of the Holy Spirit witnessing with our spirit. What makes this understanding particularly comforting is that it shifts the foundation of assurance away from our performance to God's faithfulness. While self-examination has its place, the Reformed understanding recognizes that looking too intensely at our own hearts and works can lead either to despair or to false confidence. Instead, we're directed to look primarily to Christ and His finished work, finding in Him the anchor for our souls. The Problem of False Assurance One of the most sobering aspects of the Parable of the Tares is its implicit warning about false assurance. Just as the tares resemble wheat until maturity reveals their true nature, many professing Christians may outwardly appear to belong to Christ while inwardly remaining unregenerate. As Jesse observed, "The tares typically live under false assurance. They may attend church, confess belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical, it's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual." This echoes Jesus' warning in Matthew 7 that many will say to Him, "Lord, Lord," but will hear the devastating response, "I never knew you." The parable teaches us that this self-deception is not always conscious hypocrisy but often the result of spiritual blindness. As Jesse noted, referencing Romans 1, Ephesians 4, and 1 Corinthians 2, the unregenerate are "not merely ignorant, they're blinded... to the spiritual truth by nature and by Satan." This understanding should prompt humble self-examination while simultaneously driving us to depend not on our own discernment but on Christ's perfect knowledge and saving work. Memorable Quotes "Assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions." - Thomas Brooks, quoted by Jesse Schwamb "When we are confessing, repenting, seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ, then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance." - Jesse Schwamb "The sacrifice and the service that a husband performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him, that is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it." - Tony Arsenal on how good works flow from assurance rather than cause it Resources Mentioned Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 7:21-23, Romans 1, Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 2, 2 Timothy 3:5 Westminster Confession of Faith: Chapter 18 "Of Assurance of Grace and Salvation" Thomas Brooks: "Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices" YouTube Channel: My Wild Backyard Khan Academy: Educational resource recommended during "Affirmations and Denials" segment Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 466 of the Reform the Brotherhood. I'm Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. We're going back to the farm again. Can't stop. Won't stop. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I'm stoked. [00:01:02] Discussion on the Parable of the Tears Tony Arsenal: The last week's discussion was interesting and I think, um, it's gonna be nice to sort of round it out and talk about some things you might not think about, uh, when you first read this parable. So I'm, I'm pretty excited. Jesse Schwamb: Oh, what a tease that is. So if you're wondering what Tony's talking about, we're hanging out. In Matthew 13, we are just really enjoying these teachings of Jesus. And they are shocking and they're challenging, and they're encouraging, and they're awesome, of course. And so we're gonna be finishing out the Parable of the Tears and you need to go back and listen to the previous conversation. This, this is all set up because we have some unfinished business. We didn't talk about the eschatological implications. We have this really big this, this matza ball hanging over us. So to speak, which was the, do the TAs in this parable even know that they are tarry, that they are the TAs? And so in this parable, the disciples learn that the kingdom itself, God's kingdom, the kingdom that Jesus is enumerating and explaining and bringing into being, they are learning that it's gonna be mixed in character. So that's correcting this expectation that the kingdom would be perfectly pure and would have, would evolve righteous rule over all of the unrighteous world. And so it's a little bit shocking that Jesus says, listen, they're gonna be. Tears within the wheats that is in the world, the seed that God himself, the sun has planted and that they're gonna exist side by side for a long time. And so we, they have to wait patiently and give ourselves to building up the wheats as the sons of the kingdom and be careful in their judgment, not to harm those who are believers. We covered a lot of that last week, but left so much unsaid we couldn't even fit it in. This is gonna be jam packed, so I'm gonna stop giving the tees instead start moving us into affirmations and denials. [00:02:45] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: It's of course that time in our conversation where we either affirm with something really like or we think is undervalued or we deny against something that we don't really like or is a little overvalued. So as I usually say to you, Tony, what have you got for us? [00:03:00] YouTube Channel Recommendation: My Wild Backyard Tony Arsenal: I am affirming a YouTube channel. Um, I, I think the algorithm goes through these cycles where it wants me to learn about bugs and things because I get Okay, like videos about bugs. And so I'm, I'm interested. There's been this, uh, channel that's been coming up on my algorithm lately called My Wild Backyard, and it, it's a guy, he's like an entomologist. He seems like a, a like a legit academic, but what he does is he basically goes through and he talks about different bugs, creepy crawlies, looks at like snakes, all that kinds of stuff. It seems like his wheelhouse is the stuff that can kill you or hurt you pretty bad. Nice. But, um, it's interesting and it's. It's good educational content. It's, you know, it's not sensationalized, it's not, uh, it's not dramatized. Um, it's very real. There's occasionally an instance where he, he's not, sometimes he will intentionally get bit or stung by an, uh, by an animal to show you what it does. So he can experience and explain what he's experiencing. And sometimes he just accidentally gets bit or stung. And so those are some of the most interesting ones. So like, for example, just looking at his, his channel, his most recent, um, his most recent video is called The most venomous Desert Creatures in the US ranked the one previous was. The world's most terrifying arachni isn't a spider. And then previous to that was what happens if a giant centipede bites you? So it's interesting stuff. If you are one of those people that likes bugs and likes creepy crawlies and things, um, this is definitely the channel for you if you're not one of those people. I actually think this probably is the channel for you too. 'cause it kind of demystifies a lot of this stuff. Um. You know, for example, he, he will commonly point out that, um, spiders don't wanna bite you and they just wanna leave you alone. And, and as long as you leave them alone, even, even something like a black widow, which people are terrified of, and I think, right, rightfully so. I mean, they can be scary. Those can be scary bites. He'll, he'll handle those, no problem. And as long as he's not like putting downward pressure on them, uh, they have no interest in biting, they really just want to get away. So even seeing that kind of stuff, I think can help demystify and, and sort of, uh, make it a little bit easier. So my Wild Backyard, he can find it on YouTube. Um, he's safe for kids. He's not, he's not cussing even. I mean, I think occasionally when he gets bit on accident, you might, you know, you might have a beep here or there, but, um, he's not, he's not regularly swearing or things like that. And he does a pretty good job of adding that stuff out. Jesse Schwamb: What a great title for that, isn't it? This, yeah. Confluence of your backyard. That space that seems domesticated is also stealing its own. Right. Wild. And there's a be Yeah. Both those things coming together. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. It, it's interesting stuff and it's really good. I mean, it's really compelling videography. He does a good job of taking good photos. You'll see insects that you usually won't see, or spiders you usually won't see. Um, so yeah, it's cool. Check it out. [00:05:51] Discussion on Spiders and Creepy Crawlies Jesse Schwamb: What are you, uh, yeah, I myself would like to become more comfortable with the arachni variety. If only be, I mean, I don't know. It's, it's a weird creature, so my instinct is to be like, kill them all. And then if I can't find them and I know they're around, then we just burn everything that we own. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: They just can't sink into the ground fast enough. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. There's something about the way they move, like their, their bodies don't move the way you would anticipate them to. Right. And it freaks, it just weirds out human sensibilities, so. Right. Jesse Schwamb: They're also like, I find them to be very surprising. Often. It's not kind of a, a very like, kind of measured welcome into your life. It's like you just go to get in the shower and there's a giant spider. Yeah. Oh yeah. Although I guess that spider, he's, he or she's probably like, whoa, where'd you come from? You know, like, yeah. He's like, I was just taking a Tony Arsenal: shower. You know what's interesting? Um, I saw another video was on a different channel, um, like common jumping spiders. Yeah. Which there are like hundreds of species of common jumping spiders. Jesse Schwamb: True. Tony Arsenal: Um, but spiders and jumping spiders specifically, actually you can form almost like a pet bond with, so like the, that jumping spider that like lives in your house and sees you every day. He, he probably knows who you are and is like, comfortable with you. And they've done studies that like you can actually domesticate jumping spiders, so they're not as foreign and alien as you might think. Although they certainly do look a little bit strange and weird. And the way their bodies move is almost designed to weird out people like it just the skinness, like the way their legs skitter and move it, it just is, it's, it triggers something very primal in us to That's wild. Be weirded out by it. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: It's wild. I love it. That's a good, a affirmation. I'm definitely gonna check that out. I, any, anything? I really want to know what the, what like the terrifying arachni is. That's not a spider. Tony Arsenal: It's a, well, it's called a camel spider, but it's not really a spider. Oh, Jesse Schwamb: I know what you're talking about. That is kind of terrifying. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. They, they actually don't have any venom. Um, yeah. Check out the video. I mean, it, it was a good video. Um, but yeah, they're freaky looking and, um, but even that, like he was handling it No problem. Yeah. Like it wasn't, it wasn't aggressive with him once Wow. Once it figured out it wasn't, he wasn't trying to hurt him and, and that it couldn't eat him. Um, it, it just sort of like hung out until he let it go. So Jesse Schwamb: yeah, just be careful if you watch it one before bed or while in bed. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Probably not right before bed. Yeah. You'll, you'll get the creepy crawlies all night. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. But there's something somewhat. Like invigorating about that isn't there? Like it's, it's kind of a natural, just like kind of holy respect for the world that God has created, that they're these features that are so different, so wild, so interesting and a little bit frightening, but in the sense that we just draw off from them because they're so different than what we are. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And you know, again, there's places you would be happy to see them, but maybe your bathtub or like shooting out, like, you know, like where you live, the jumping spiders are legit and they will just pop out on you, you know? Yeah. You're just doing your own thing and then all of a sudden they're popping out. I think part of that is just that what, what gets me is like them just, you know, like I remember in my basement here, once one popped out from a rafter and then I was holding, happened to be holding up broom. My instinct just naturally was to hit it. I hit it with the broom and it went across the room and fell on an empty box and sounded like a silver dollar had hit the box. Like it was just a massive, I mean, again, like, it's like fish stories, like it's a massive spider. It was a big spider. Yeah. But you just don't expect to, to see that kind of thing. Or maybe, maybe I should, but anything that moves in that way, and again, like centipedes, man, forget it. We have those too, like in our basement. Like the long ones. Oh yeah. Yeah. That thing will come like squiggling down the wall at you, like eye level and you just wanna run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, you do run up the stairs screaming like a little girl. It's not that you want to, it's that usually you do. I don't mean like you specifically, although probably you specifically. Yeah. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. There's, yeah, you just react. Well, j Jesse enough freaking out. I mean, we're getting close to Halloween, so I suppose it's appropriate, but, uh, enough of that. What are you affirming or denying today? Jesse Schwamb: Once again, without like any coordination, mine is not unlike yours. I know you and I, we talk about the world in which we live, which God has created, and this lovely command, this ammunition to take dominion over that. And one of the things I appreciate about our conversations is I think you and I often have maybe not like a novel. Kinda perspective on that, but one that I don't hear talked about often and that is this idea of taking dominion over what it is possible to know and to appropriate, and then to apply onto wisdom. [00:10:27] Affirmation: Khan Academy Jesse Schwamb: And so my information is in that realm. It's another form of taking ownership of what's in the wild of knowledge that you can possess. And again, equal parts. What an amazing time to be alive. So I'm affirming with the website, Khan Academy, which I'm sure many are familiar with. And this website offers like. Thousands of hours. Uh, and materials of free instructional videos, practice exercises, quizzes, all these like really bespoke, personalized learning modules you can create for topics like math, science, computing, economics, history, art. I think it goes like even starting at like. Elementary age all the way up into like early college can help you study for things like the SAT, the LSAT AP courses, and I was revisiting it. I have an open account with them that I keep in love and I go back to it from time to time. And I was working on some stuff where I wanted to rehearse some knowledge in like the calculus space, do some things by hand, which I haven't done. And I was just like, I'm blown away at how good this stuff is. And it's all for free. I mean, you should donate if you. You get something from this because it's a nonprofit, but the fact that there are these amazing instructional videos out there that can help us get a better understanding of either things we already know and we can rehearse the knowledge or to learn something brand new essentially for free. But somebody's done all the hard work to curate a pedagogy for you. Honestly, this is incredible. So if you haven't looked at that website in a long time or maybe ever, and you might be thinking, what, what do I really wanna learn? Lemme tell you. There's a lot of interesting stuff there and it's so approachable and it's such a good website for teaching. And if you have children in particular, even if you're looking for help, either helping them with their own coursework or maybe to have like kind of a tutor on the side, this is so good. So I can't say enough good things recently about Khan Academy 'cause it's been so helpful to me and super fun to like just sit and have your own paced study and in the private and comfort of your own home or your desk at work or wherever it is that you need to learn it. To be able to have somebody teach you some things, to do a little practice exercises, and then to go on to the world and to apply the things you've learned. Ah, it's so good. Tony Arsenal: Nice. Yeah, I've, I've never done anything with Khan Academy. I'll have to check it out. There's, um, there's some skills of needing to brush up on, uh, at work that I am probably not gonna be able to find in my normal channels, so I'll have to see if there is anything going on there. Um, but yeah, that's, that's good stuff. And it's free. Love freestyle. It's, and of course, like Jesse Schwamb: things like this are legion. So whatever it is, whatever your discipline or your field of study or work is, there's probably something out there and, uh, might, I humbly maybe encourage you to, if you use something like that and it's funded by donations, it's worth giving, I think, because again, it's just an amazing opportunity to take dominion over the knowledge that God has placed into the world and then to use it for something. I mean, I suppose even if all it is is you just wanna learn more about, like for me, I, I find like the subjects of, of math and science, like just endlessly fascinating and like the computing section I was looking at, I, I don't know much about like programming per se, but there is such a beauty. Like these underlying principles, like the, the organization of the world and the first level principles of like physics for instance, are just like baffling in the most glorious kind of way. How they all come together. So having somebody like teach you at a very like simplistic level, but allow you to grasp those concepts makes you just appreciate it leads me to doxology a lot when I see these things. So in a weird way, it ends up becoming maybe not a weird way and the right way. It becomes worship as often as I'm sitting at my desk and working through like a practice problem on like, you know, partial differential equation or, or derivatives is what I was working on today. And ah, it's just so good. I don't know, maybe I'm the only one. I, it's not be super nerdy, but you, are you ever like at your desk studying something? And it might not be like theological per se, but you just have a moment where you're overcome with some kind of worship. Do you know what I'm talking about? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, um, this we're the nerdiest people on the planet, but let's Jesse Schwamb: do it. Um, Tony Arsenal: when I find a really fun, interesting. Uh, Excel formula and I can get it to work right. Uh, and it, and then it just like everything unlocks. Like, I feel like I've unlocked all the knowledge in the universe. Um, but yeah, I hear you like the, the Excel thing is, is interesting to me because, like, math is just the description. Like it's just the fabric of reality is just the way we describe reality. But the fact that we can do basically just take math and do all these amazing things with it, uh, in a spreadsheet is really, uh, drives me to praise. Like I said, that's super nerdy, but it is. Oh, you're speaking my language. Jesse Schwamb: I, we have never understood each other better than just this moment right now. We, we had some real talk and, uh, a real moment. Tony Arsenal: Yes. Welcome to the Reformed math cast. Jesse Schwamb: We're so glad that you're here. Tony Arsenal: Yes. We're not gonna do any one plus one plus one equals one kinds of heretical math in, up in here. Jesse Schwamb: No. Tony Arsenal: Well, Jesse, I have a feeling that, excuse me. Wow. Jesse Schwamb: We don't edit anything out. Listen, I'm choked up too. It's it, listen, love ones just so emotional. The moment Tony and I are having it. We're gonna try our best right now to pivot to go into this text, but it's, it's tough because we were just really having something, something special. You got, you got to see there. But thank you for trying to Tony Arsenal: cover for me for that big cough. Jesse Schwamb: This is like presuppositional editing. You know, we don't actually do anything in post. It's not ex anti editing. It's, it's literally presuppositional. [00:15:52] Theological Discussion on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: But to that end, we are in Matthew 13. This is the main course. This is the reason why we're here. There's lots of reasons to worship, and one of them is to come before and admire and love our God who has given us his specific revelation and this incredible teaching of his son. And that's why we're hanging out in Matthew 13. So let me read, because we have just a couple of really sentences here, this really short parable and that way it'll catch us up and then we can just launch right back into we're, we're basically like, we're already in the rocket. Like we're in the stratosphere. We're, we're taking it all the way now. So this is Matthew chapter 13. Come hang out here. It's in the 24th verse. And this is what we find written for us. This is the word of the Lord. He put another parable before them saying. The Kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? But he said, no less than gathering the weeds, you root up the weed along with them. Let both grow until the harvest. And at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but to gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: That's good stuff. That's good stuff. Um, you know, we, we covered most of. I don't know, what do you wanna call it? The first order reading of the parable last week. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: On one level, the parable, uh, as Christ explains it, uh, a little bit down further in the chapter is extremely straightforward. It's almost out, it's almost an allegory. Each, each element of the parable has a, a, a figure that it's representing. And the main purpose of the story is that the world and specifically the church, um, is going to be a mixed body until the last days, until the end of time. And so there's, there's the Sons of God or the Sons of the Kingdom, uh, and then there's the sons of the evil one. And we talked a lot about how. These two figures in the parable, the, the, the weeds or the tears? Um, tears is a better word because it's a specific kind of, uh, specific kind of weed that looks very much like wheat at its immature stages. Right. And you can't actually discern the difference readily, uh, until the weed and the wheat has grown up next to each other. Um, and so, so part of the parable is that. The, the sons of the kingdom and the sons of the enemy, or the sons of the evil one, they don't look all that different in their early stages. And it's not until the sort of end culmination of their lives and the end culmination of things that they're able to be discerned and then therefore, um, the, the sons of the devil are, are reaped and they go off to their eternal judgment and the sons of the kingdom are, uh, are harvested and they go off to their eternal reward. What we wanted to talk about, and part of the reason that we split this into two episodes. Is that we sort of found ourselves spiraling or spiraling around a question about, uh, sort of about assurance, right? And false assurance, true assurance. And there is an eschatological element to this parable that I, I think we probably should at least touch on as we we go through it. Um, but I wanted to just read, um, it's been a little while since we've read the Westminster Confession on the show. So I wanted to read a little bit from the Westminster Confession. Um, this is from chapter 18, which is called of assurance of grace and salvation. This is sort of the answer to Jesse's question. Do the, do the tears know their tears or, or could they possibly think that their wheat? So this is, uh, section one of chapter eight. It says, although hypocrites and other unregenerate men may vainly deceive themselves with false hopes and carnal presuppositions or presumptions of being in favor with God in the state of salvation. Which hope of their shall perish yet such as truly believe in the Lord Jesus and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him may in this life be certainly assured that they are in a state of grace and may rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, which hope shall never make them ashamed. And so we, in the reform tradition at least, which is where we find ourselves in the reform tradition, um, we would affirm that people can. Deceive themselves into believing that they're in proper relation with God. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Tony Arsenal: And so it's not the case that, uh, that the weeds always know they're weeds or think they're weeds. It's not even the case. And this was part of the parable. It's not even the case that the weeds can be easily distinguished even by themselves from, uh, from the weeds. So there is this call, uh, and this is a biblical call. There's a call to seek out assurance and to lay claim to it. That I think is, is worth talking about. But it's not as straightforward as simple proposition as like, yeah, I'm confident. Like it's not just like, right, it's not just mustering up confidence. There's more to it than that. So that's what I wanted to start with, with this parable is just maybe talking through that assurance. 'cause I, I would hate for us to go through this parable. And sort of leave people with maybe you're a weed and you don't know it. 'cause that's not right. That's not the biblical picture of assurance. Um, that's the, that's the Roman Catholic picture of assurance that like, yeah, there's no such thing as assurance and people might not realize, but assurance of salvation is actually one of the, one of the primary things that was recovered particularly by the Reformed in the Reformation. Um, and so I think we, we often sort of overlook it as maybe a secondary thing. Um, but it really is a significant doctrine, a significant feature of reformed theology. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah. I'm glad you said that because it is a, is a clear reminder. It's a clearing call as the performers put forth that it is. Under like the purview of the Christian to be able to claim the assurance by the blood of Christ in the application of the Holy Spirit in a way that's like fully orbed and fully stopped. So you can contrast that with, and really what was coming outta Catholicism or Rome at the time. And I was just speaking with a dear brother this past week who. Grew up in the Catholic church and he was recounting how his entire religious experience, even his entire relationship, if we can call it that in a kind of colloquial sense with God, was built around this sense of deep-seated guilt and lack of true performance, such that like assurance always seemed like this really vague concept that was never really fully manifested in anything that he did. Even while the church was saying, if you do these things, if you perform this way, if you ensure that you're taking care of your immortal sins and that you're seeking confession for all the venial stuff as well, that somehow you'll be made right, or sufficiently right. But if not, don't worry about it. There's always purgatory, but there'd be some earning that you'd have to accomplish there. Everywhere along the way. He just felt beaten down. So contrasting that with what we have here. I don't believe, as you're saying, Tony, that's Jesus' intention here to somehow beat up the sheep. I, I think it is, to correct something of what's being said about the world in which we live, but it's at the same time to say that there are some that are the TAs is to say there are some that are the children of God, right? That there are some that are fully crisply, clearly identified and securely resting in that identity without any kind of nervous or anxious energy that it might fall out of that state with God that, that in fact their identity is secure. And as I've been thinking about this this week, I, I'm totally with you because I think part of this just falls, the warning here is there's a little bit of the adventures in Romans one here that's waiting for us, that I like what you said about this idea of, of self deception and maybe like a. Subpart to this question would be, are the, are the terrors always nefarious in their lack of understanding? So we might say there's some that are purposely disruptive, that the enemy himself is, is promulgating or trying to bring forward his destruction, his chaos by way of these tears. But are, are there even a subgroup or another group, uh, co-terminus group or, you know, one in the same hierarchy where there's just a lot of self deception? I, I think that's probably where I fall in terms of just trying to explain that. Yes, I think it was present here is a real quantity, a real identity where they're self-deceived. Imagining themselves to be part of God's people, yet lacking that true saving faith. And this just, I'm gonna go in a couple places where I think everybody would expect in the scriptures, if we go to like Ephesians four, they're darkened and they're understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. And one Corinthians, when Paul writes, the natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, and he's not able to understand them because they're spiritually discerned. And then the book that follows the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. And of course then like everything in Romans one, so I bring all that up because E, even at the end, we're gonna get there, the Es, this eschatological reality when you know God is separating out the sheep and the goats. Still, we find this kind of same trope happening there. But the unregenerate, what I'm reading from this. Importantly is that the unregenerate, they're not merely ignorant, they're blinded, as we all were on point to the spiritual truth. Yeah. By nature and by Satan. That that is also his jam. He loves to blind, to lie, to kill, steal, and destroy. So thus, even if they're outwardly belonging to the church, they're outwardly belonging to the world. They're outwardly belonging to some kind of profession. They cannot perceive the reality of their lost condition apart from divine illumination. Who can, that might be stating the obvious, but I think that's like what we're getting after here. I I, I don't know if there's like any kind of like conspiracy here. It's simply that that is the natural state of affairs. So why wouldn't we expect that to be reflected again in the world and that side by side, we're gonna find that shoulder to shoulder. We are, there are the children of God, and there are those that remain blind and ignorant to the truth. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, it, again, I, I, um, I don't know why I'm surprised. Uh, I certainly shouldn't be surprised. Um. But Matthew is like a masterful storyteller Yeah. Here, right. He's a masterful, um, editor and narrator. Um, and he's, he's put together here, of course, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Um, and, and there's some good reason to think in the text we're not gonna get too, in the nitty gritty here, there's some good reason to think in the text that Christ actually delivered these parables as a set as well. So it's not just, it's not just Matthew coating these, although it could be. Um, but it, it seems like these were all delivered probably as like a common set of parables. And the reason I say that is because when we start to look at this parable and the one we previously went through, the parable of the soils, um, or the parable of the sower. Um, what we see is the answer to your question of why do some people, you know, why are some people deceived? Well, yes, there is secondary causation. The devil deceives them. They blind themselves. They, you know, suppress the, the, the truth and right unrighteousness. But on a, on a primary causation level, um, God is the one who is identi, is, is identifying who will be the sons of the, you know, devil and the sons of the kingdom. Mm-hmm. This is another, and yet another example of election is that the, the good sower sowed good seed, and the good seed was the elect and the enemy. Although in God's sovereignty, God is the one who determines this. The enemy is the one who sows the reprobate. Right? So all, all men. Star, and this is, I, I guess I didn't really intend to go here, but this is good evidence in my mind for, um, infra laps, Arianism versus super laps. Arianism, right infra laps, arianism or sub lapse. Arianism would say that God decrees, uh, to permit the fall and then he decrees to redeem some out of the fall, right? Logically speaking, not temporally speaking. Super laps. Arianism, which is the minority. It's the smaller portion of, of the historic tradition, although modern times, I think it's a little bit louder and a little bit more vocal, but super relapses. Arianism would argue that God, um, decrees. Sort of the, the decree of election and reprobation is logically prior to the decree of the fall. And so in, in that former or in the super laps area model, the fall becomes a means by which the reprobate are justly condemned. Not, um, not the cause of their condemnation, but a way to sort of justify the fact that they will be separated from God, right? Because of their reprobate. [00:28:36] Exploring the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares Tony Arsenal: I know that there's, there's probably some super lab streams that would nuance that differently and some that are probably just screaming straw man, uh, in a coffee shop somewhere and, and people are thinking you're crazy. Um, but by and large, that's actually a rel, a relatively accepted, um, explanation of it. There are certainly potential problems with, uh, sub, sub lapse agonism as well. But in this, in this parable, what we see is the people who are, um, who are elect, are sowed into the field and the people who are reprobate are also sowed into the field. And so God saves the people who are sewed into the field that are, they elect, he saves them out of this now mixed world by waiting and allowing them to grow up next to the reprobate, um, in sort of this mixed world setting. And then he redeems them out of that. Um, and, and, and so we have to sort of remember. Although it is a pretty strict, sort of allegorical type of parable, it's still a parable. So we shouldn't, we shouldn't always draw like direct one-to-one comparisons here. It's making a theological point, but, um, but it's important for us to re remember that, that it is ultimately, it is God who determines who is the elected and who is not. But it's, it's our sin. It's the devil deceiving us. It's the secondary causes that are responsible for the sons of the devil, right? It, the, the men come to the, to the sower and say, who is done this? He says it was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: Right? Right. Tony Arsenal: He doesn't say like, well, actually I put the seed there and so, you know, I'm, I, it's not an equal distribution. He's not sowing good seed and bad seed. He sows the good seed and the devil sows the bad seed. [00:30:24] Theological Implications and Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, and, and that's a, I think that's an important theological point to make. And as far as assurance goes. We, we can't depend on our ability to perceive or sort of like discern election in a raw sense, right? We have to observe certain kinds of realities around us. Um, and, and primarily we have to depend on the mercy and, and saving faith that God gives us. That's right. Um, you know, our, our assurance of faith does not primarily come from fruit checking. Um, we have to do that. It's important, we're commanded to do it, and it serves as an important secondary evidence. But a, a, a person who wants to find assurance. Of salvation should first and foremost look to the promises of Christ and then depend on them. Um, and, and so that's, I think all of that's kind of wrapped up into this parable. It's, it's, it's amazing to me that we're only like two parables in, and we're already, you know, we're already talking about super lapse arianism and sub lapse arianism, and it's, it's amazing. I, I love this. I'm loving this series so far, and we're barely scratching the surface. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, it's all there. I think you're right to call that out. It strikes me, like, as you were speaking, it really just hit me higher that I think you're right. Really the foundation on this, like the hidden foundation is assurance and it's that assurance which splits the groups, or at least divides them, or it gives us, again, like the distinct, kind, discrete compartments or components of each of them. So. Again, I think it's help saying, 'cause we wanna be encouraging. That's, that's our whole point here is when the Apostle Peter says, be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and choosing of you. That herein we have the scripture saying to us, time and time again, be sure of what God has done in your life. Be confident in that very thing. And so if assurance is, as we're saying, that's the argument hypothesis we're making. That's the critical thing here. [00:32:11] False Assurance and True Faith Jesse Schwamb: Then the division between the children of God and the children of the devil is false versus true assurance. So the tears, I think what we're saying here, basically they typically live under false asserts. They may attend church, confess, belief, appear righteous, yet their hearts are unregenerate. Their faith is maybe historical. It's not saving, it could be intellectual, but it's not spiritual. And of course, like just a few chapters before this, we hope those famous verses where Jesus himself drops the bomb and says, listen, many of you, he's talking to the people, the, the disciples around him, the crowds that we're gathering and thronging all about. He says, many of you're gonna say to me, Lord, Lord, do we not prophesy your name? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And then I will declare to them, I never knew you depart from me. These are not people who knew they were false, they thought they belonged to Christ. Their shock on judgment day is gonna reveal this profound self-deception. And that self-deception is wrapped up in a false type of assurance, a false righteousness. So I think one of the things that we can really come to terms with and grab a hold of is the fact that when we are. Confessing, repenting seeking like our status in Christ because of Christ. Then we have confidence that we are in fact part of the children of God. When everything is stripped away from us and all we're crying out is only and completely and solely and unequivocally, Jesus Christ, then I think we have great reason to understand that we should be confident in our assurance. [00:33:38] Historical Perspectives on Assurance Jesse Schwamb: You know, I was reading this week from Thomas Brooks and did incidentally come across this, a quote, an assurance and reminded me of this passage, and here's what he writes. You know, of course he's writing in like 16 hundreds, like mid 16 hundreds. It's wild, of course, but we shouldn't be surprised that what you're about to hear sounds like it could have been written today for us. In this conversation, but, uh, he writes, assurance is the believer's arc where he sits Noah alike quiets and still in the midst of all distractions and destructions, commotions and confusions. However, most Christians live between fears and hopes and hang, as it were, between heaven and hell. Sometimes they hope that their state is good. At other times they fear that their state is bad. Now they hope that all is well and that it shall go well. Well with them forever. Then they fear that they shall perish by the hand of such corruption or by the prevalency of such and such temptation. They're like a ship and a storm tossed here and there, and. I think that he's right about that. And I think the challenge there is to get away from that. I love where it starts, where he says, what wonderful turn of phrase assurance is the believer's arc or Noah, like, you know, we're sitting and the commotion, the destructions, the commotion, the confusions of all the world. That's why to get this right, to be encouraged by this passage, to be challenged by it is so critical because we're all looking for that arc. We all want to know that God has in fact arrested us so completely that no matter what befalls us, that everything, as we talked about before, all of our, all of the world, in fact is subservient to our salvation. But that's a real thing that cannot be snatched away from us because God has ordained it and intended it, built it, created it, and brought it to pass. And so I think that's all like in this passage, it's all the thing that's being called us to. So. I, I don't want us to get like too hung up. It's a good question, I think to ask and answer like we were trying to talk about here, but you're right. If we focus too much just on the like, let's gaff for these tears. Who are they? Like let's people's, like Readers Digest in People's magazine these tears. Like who are they? Do we have a list of them? Who do we think they are? How could it be me? Is it really me? Am I, am I anxious about that? Really what we should be saying is following what Peter calls us to do that is to be all the more diligent to make certain about his calling and his choosing. So even there like our emphasis and focus, isn't it like you're saying Tony about like, let me do some fruit inventory. I got like a lot of good bananas. I got a lot of ripe pears. Like, look at the tree. This, this is good. Even there, the emphasis is to turn our eyes on Jesus, as it were, and to make certain about his work, his calling and his choosing of us. And I think when we do that, we're falling down in worship and in yielding and submission to him, rightfully acknowledging that the righteousness of Christ is the one that is always in every way alien to us and imputed. And that is what makes us sons and daughters of God, that good seed sown by Jesus himself. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I just wanna read, I wanna um, round out a few more paragraphs here out of the Westminster confession because I do think, you know, when we even talk about assurance, we're not even always all saying the exact same thing. And I think that's important because when we talk about assurance of faith, we need to be understanding that this is the rightful, not only the rightful possession of all Christians, but it's the rightful responsibility of all Christians to seek it. So here's, here's section two of that same chapter. It says, this certainty referring to assurance. This certainty is not a bare conjectural and probable persuasion grounded upon a, a fallible hope, but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon the divine truth of the promises of salvation, the inward evidence of those graces unto which these promises are made, the testimony of the spirit of adoption, witnessing with our hearts that we are the children of God, which spirit is the earnest of our inheritance, whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption. So. One of the, the things that I think is, is important here is people read this and say the inward evidences of those graces unto which these promises are made. They read that and they think that it's referring to like good work and like spiritual renewal, but it's, it's not, it's the inward evidence of those graces unto which of the promises are made. So it's this inner, inner renewal. It's the spirit testifying to our spirit. And then, um, chapter, uh, section three here, it says. This infallible assurance doth not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long and conflict with many difficulties before he be partaker of it, yet being enabled by the Spirit to know the things which are freely given of God. He may without extraordinary revelation there, right there is response to Roman Catholicism in the right use of ordinary means at attain there unto. And therefore, it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence, to make his calling and election. Sure. And thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and in joy in the Holy Ghost, in love and thankfulness to God and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience. The proper fruits of this assurance so far is it from inclining men to looseness? Right. [00:38:53] The Role of Good Works in Assurance Tony Arsenal: So we often hear and and I, I think there are good, um, there are good reformed Christians that put. The emphasis of assurance on, or they, they put an overemphasis, in my opinion, on how good works function within our assurance. Right. They, they often will ask us to look to our good fruit as sort of, not the grounding, but as a strong evidence. But at least in terms of the confession here, the cheerfulness in the duties of obedience is the fruit of assurance. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Not Tony Arsenal: the cause or grounding of assurance. So rather than, this is what this last line says. It says so far, is it from inclining? Mental looseness assurance should drive us to obedience and fruitfulness in Christ. And so yes, it is in a certain sense an evidence because if that fruitfulness and obedience is absent from our lives, there's a good reason for us to question whether this infallible assurance is present in our lives. But the assurance is what drives us to this obedience. Um. You know, like, I think you could use the analogy of like a married couple. A married couple who is very secure in their relationship and in their, uh, love for one another and their faithfulness to each other is more likely to cheerfully serve and submit to each other and to respect each other and to sacrifice for each other than a couple that's maybe not so sure that the other person has their best interest in mind. That's or maybe isn't so sure that this thing is gonna work out. I think that's the same thing, like the sacrifice and the service that a husband, uh, performs for his wife, whom he loves and trusts and is committed to and knows that she's faithful and committed to him. That is not causing that faithfulness. It's not causing that trust and that love. It is the outcome and the outflow of it. It's good evidence that that love exists, but it's not caused by it. And assurance here is the same kind of dynamic assurance is not. We can't assure ourselves of our salvation by doing good works. No matter how many good works you do, there are lots and lots of people who are not saved and who will not be saved, who do perfectly good works in appearance. Right. They have the, the outward appearance of godliness, but lack its power. Right, right. Out of right outta Paul, writing to Timothy there. Yes. So that's, that's important for us as we continue to parse all this out, is yes, the fruit is present. Yes. The wheat is to, is discernible from the tears by its final, fruitful status. Right? It grows up to be grain, which is fruitful rather than weeds and tears, which are only good to be burned, but it is not the fruit that causes it to be wheat. It's wheat that causes the fruit to grow. If, if it wasn't wheat, it wouldn't grow fruit, not because the fruit makes it grain, but because it is in fact wheat to start with. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Yeah, that's right on. So I think like by summation we're kind of saying. At least the answer to this question. You know, do the tears know that they're tears? Yes and no. Some do, some don't. I think, yes, there are some that are gonna be consciously hypocritical, willfully rejecting Christ while pretending for worldly gain. I think that's, that's certainly plain to see. And at the same time, do the tears know the tears? Sometimes? No. There's self deceived under spiritual blindness and they have some kind of false assurance. And this idea of, again, coming in repentance before God and seeking humbly to submit to him is I think one of those signs of that kind of true assurance, not a false assurance. And you already stole where I was thinking of Tony by going to Second Timothy again. Thomas Brooks in precious remedies against Saint's device is one of like the best. Books ever. I know that he's really outspoken. He loves to harp on the fact that one of Satan's most effective snares is to make men and women content with a form of godliness without its power. Yeah. And that's often what we're talking about here, I think, is that Satan loves to fish in the shallow waters a profession. And really that can happen in any kind of church or religious culture, that there is this shallowness where that loves religious appearance, prayer, knowledge fellowship, but not the Christ behind them. And so whether we're looking to somebody like Brooks or Jonathan Edwards and we're trying to parse out what are our true affections, not in a way again, that somehow leans well, I feel enough, then somehow that justifies, not inwardly, but again, definitely trying to understand our conviction for conversion tears. For repentance that. Really what we're after is not like just the blessings of Christ, but Christ himself, which I think really leads us to this eschatological perspective then to round all everything out because you know, we talked about before, there's an old phrase, it's like everywhere. A lot of people talk in heaven. Not everybody's going there. And so this idea of like, people will talk about be so great to be there and it's sometimes this, the heaven that they speak of is like absent Christ, you know, as if like, if Christ wasn't there, at least in their perspective, it still wouldn't be half bad. And so I think that does lead us to understand what is this in gathering? What is this? You know, bringing everything into the barn and burning everything else up. And like you just said, if at the beginning you cannot tell the injurious weed aside from that beautiful kernel of wheat that's coming up, but if in the end you can see what's happening in the end, then that brings us all to consummation. What does it mean in this parable? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. [00:44:19] Eschatological Judgment and Assurance Tony Arsenal: And, and I think this actually sort of forces us to grapple a little bit with, with another sort of persnickety feature of this parable that, that I think, I think personally sometimes gets overlooked is we are very quick to talk about this parable to be about the church. And it is. Right. And, and there's reasons to talk like that. But when Christ explains the parable, he doesn't say the field is the church. He says the field is the world. Right. And so we have to, we have to, we have to do a little bit of, um. We have to do a little bit of hermeneutics to understand that this is also speaking of the church, right? It's not as though the church is some hermetically sealed off body that the dynamics of the world and the, the weed and the tears like that, that doesn't happen in the church. But when we talk about the end of the age here, he says the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom. All causes of sin in all lawbreakers. Right? So, so the, the final eschatological judgment, it's all encompassing. And I dunno, maybe I'm, maybe I'm becoming a little bit post mill with this, um, the, the world is already the Kingdom of Christ. Right? Right. That's right. It, it's not, it's not just the church on earth that is the kingdom of Christ. And so when we talk about this eschatological reaping, um, what we see is, is very straightforward. There are those who are, uh, who belong to Christ, who were sown by him into the world, who were, uh, were tended by him, who were protected by him, who he intended to harvest from the very beginning, right? The good sower sows good seed into the field, and that good seed is and necessarily will be wheat. It's not as though, um, it's not as though, and again, this is one of those ways where like the parables sometimes, uh, are telling a little bit of a different story. Even though they're sharing some themes in the first parable, in the parable of the sower, he sows the same seed into the world. But the seed in that first parable is not the, is not the person receiving the seed. The seed is the one is the word of God. Yes. And so the word of God is sewn promiscuously, even to those who will be hard soil and who will be rocky soil and have thorns. The word of God is, is sewn to all of those people. Across the whole world in this parable. The seed that is the good seed that is sown is and always was going to be weed that was, or wheat, which was going to grow into fruitfulness and be gathered into the barn. Right? That was a foregone conclusion. The, the, when the sower decided to sow seed, all of that said he is the one who did that. He's the one that chose that. He's the one that will bring us to completion, right? And then also the ones that are not of his kingdom, the sons of the devil, they will also be reaped at the end. Actually we'll be reaped before the, you know, they'll be reaped and gathered and, and tossed into the furnace before the sons of the kingdom are gathered together. Jesse Schwamb: Right. Tony Arsenal: So it, again, this is a parable and even though this is Christ's explanation of the parable, I don't think that Christ was intending to give us like a strict timeline. Right. I don't think he was encouraging us to draw a chart and try to map out where this all happens in order. Um, I do think it's relevant that, that, at least in the explanation of this parable, I mentioned it last week, that, that the rap, the rapture is actually the wicked being raptured. They're the ones that are gathered and taken out of the world and cast into the fiery furnace before the, before the righteous are gathered together and, and brought into Christ Barn. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, there's a great unmasking that's happening here in this final stage. I mean, that's critically the point. I think there's a lot of stuff we could talk about open handedly and kind of hypothesize or theorize what it means. But what is plain, I think, is that there's this unmasking, this unveiling of the reality of the light of Christ's perfect judgment. But that judgment is for both parties Here it is coming and what was hidden beneath outward religion or more, a facade is gonna be revealed with eternal clarity. That's just the reality. It is coming. So in some ways it pairs. I think at least well in this, well purposely of course in this teaching because Jesus is saying, hold on, like we talked about last time. Do this is not for you to judge. You are ill-equipped. You are not skilled enough to discern this. And therefore though, you wanna go in hot and get spicy and try to throw out all the weeds. Wait for the right time. Wait for the one like you're saying, Tony has from all of eternity past intended for it to be this way. Super intending his will over all things in the casting of the seed. And as we say, Philippians, of course, finishing that good work, which was started, he will finish. It is God's two finish again. And so he says, listen, that day is coming. There's gonna be a great unmasking. Uh, get ready for it. And the scriptures bear witness to that in so many other ways. So. There's such a journey in these like handful of verses, isn't there? I mean, it's really wild. The things that not like we come up with or we read into the text, but as we sit in it a little bit, as we just spend even a cursory amount of time letting it pour over us, that we find there's like a conviction in a weight in these things that are beyond just the story and beyond just even like the illustrations themselves. What we find is, again, it's as if Jesus himself in his brilliance, of course, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is illuminating the mind in the spirit to open up our conception, understanding of the kingdom of God by bringing it to us through his perspective in our own terms, of course, which is both our language and like the context of the world in which we live, and that simple example of farming and seed. And again, even just that there are these interest weeds that look like wheat. I went on this like rabbit hole this week and did a lot of research on like tears and Yeah, like especially people in like the Midwest United States who like know a lot more about agriculture than I do have a lot to say about this. It's not just like we shouldn't be surprised like. Isn't it incredible that like there are actually weeds out there that look like, yeah, it's a brilliance of just knowing that this teaching is so finely tuned. Like we can even just talk about that. Like the world is finely tuned. This teaching is so finely tuned to these grant theological principles that we can at one point be children and appropriate them enough and assume them into our own intellectual capacity so that we can trust in them. And yet even as like adults with like, let's say like the greatest gift of intellectual capacity, still find that we cannot get to the bottom of them because they're so deep. They draw us into these really, really grand vistas or really like extremely deep cold theological waters. And I just find. That I am in awe then of what Jesus is saying here because there's a truth for us in assurance that we ought to clinging to. And there's also like stuff that we should come back to. We shouldn't just stop it here and put it out of our minds until the next time we, we want to just be stimulated by something that's interesting or that we want to just grab somebody and shake them cage style, cage two style and say like, look at this great thing that I just learned about this, this particular parable. But instead, there's so much here for us to meditate on. And in that, I think rather than the Christian finding fear in this parable, what they should find is great comfort. We should be Noah alike sitting in the ark saying, it is well with my soul. And our reason for that is because we know God has cast a seed through his son Jesus Christ. And to be a child, a child of God is the greatest thing in all the universe. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. And I, I think that, um, transitions nicely to, uh, I'll make this point quick because we're coming up on time here. Um. [00:52:04] Christ's Divinity and Sovereignty Tony Arsenal: The other little subtle thing that Christ does here in this parable is he, he absolutely asserts his divinity and sovereignty overall creation. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Yep. Tony Arsenal: Right. It, it's almost like a throw. There's a couple little like lines that are almost throwaway lines, right in the, the first, the beginning of the parable here. Um, the parable itself, uh, he says, um, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed into a field. And then he says, um, the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, right? And then when he interprets the parable, he says, well, the, the servants are, the field is the world, right? So he's the master of the world, and the servants are the angels. So he's the master of the angels. And then if, if there was any doubt left in your mind. Says in verse 41, the son of man will send his angels. That's right. And they will gather out of his kingdom, which is the world, all the causes of sin and all lawbreakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. Right? So we have this, this robust picture that there is election. The the good sower sows good seed into the world, and the good seed will necessarily grow into wheat and will be preserved and protected and ultimately harvest Well, why can we have assurance that that will be the case? Well, because the master of the house is the son of man who is the Lord of the universe and the creator of all things. And his angels do his will. That's right. So, so the whole thing is all wrapped up. Why can we have assurance? Because God is a good God and Christ is a good savior, and the savior of the world is the creator of the universe, right? If any of those facts were not true. Then we couldn't have assurance. If God wasn't good, then maybe he's lying. If Christ wasn't the savior of the world or the God of the universe, the creator of the universe, then he wasn't worthy to be the one who saves. All of this is wrapped up in the parables, and this is what's so exciting about the parables. In most of the instances that we look up, especially of the sort of longer parables, these kinds of dynamics are there where it's not just a simple story making a simple point, it is making one primary point. Usually there's one primary point that a, that a parable is making. But in order to make that primary point, there's all these supporting points and supporting things that have to be the case. If the, if the good sower was not the master of the house and a, a competent, uh, a competent landowner who knew the difference between wheat and weeds, even at the early stage, right? His, his servants go and go, what happened? What's with all of these weeds? They can tell the difference somehow, Jesse Schwamb: right? Tony Arsenal: He's immediately able to go, well, this was an enemy. Jesse Schwamb: That's right. Tony Arsenal: And while they're bumbling around going, should we go rip it all up and start over? He is like, no, no, no, no. Just wait until, wait until it all grows up together. And when that happens, the Reapers will come and they'll take care of it and they'll do it in my direction, right? Because he's competent, he's the savior, he's the creator, he's the good master, he is the good sower. Um, we can be confi

Acts 19:8-20 8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered allof them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.   Key Words: Extraordinary, Miracles, Evil Spirit, Fear, Confessing, Prevail Keystone Verse: Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you? (Acts 19:15) Download Bulletin

Satan wants the church confused about sin—because if you don't know what's killing you, you'll never reach for the cure.  In this message, Lead Pastor Jamie Nunnally shares how to overcome sin and live the life God calls you to live. What is sin?Sin is any behavior, intentional or accidental, outside of God's boundaries. The Bible also calls it "trespass"—you're not just doing the wrong thing; your heart is in the wrong place.Romans 3:23 NIV: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." What the Bible says about sin:Sin is not just a behavior—it's our nature. Romans 5:12 NLT: "Adam's sin brought death... so death spread to everyone." Don't just think of sin as an action you commit, but a condition you carry.We don't become sinners because we sin; we sin because we're sinners.Sin is selfishness. Matthew 16:24 NIV: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves..." Sin starts when "self" sits on the throne.Sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 ESV: "Sin is lawlessness." Other terms: transgression (sin on purpose) and iniquity (a lifestyle of rebellion).Why sin matters:Sin is a big deal because it hurts everyone.Sin hurts you. Romans 6:23 ESV: "The wages of sin is death." Sin sells pleasure but hides the price tag.Sin hurts others. Hebrews 12:15 NLT: "Watch out... that no root of bitterness... corrupts many." Sin is like glitter—it spreads.Sin hurts God. Ephesians 4:30 NLT: "Do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit."What doesn't work:Trying harder. Romans 7:21–23: "I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong..." Righteousness comes from God's power not willpower. Freedom is found in surrender, not striving. More rules. Colossians 2:20–23: "Such rules... provide no help in conquering evil desires."Anger. James 1:20: "The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." You can't punish people into purity.What does work:Confessing and cleansing. 1 John 1:9 NLT: "If we confess... he is faithful to forgive..."Repenting and retraining. Acts 2:38: "Repent... turn to God... and be baptized." Repentance is more than "I'm sorry"—it's "I'm done."Relying and relating. Romans 5:18 NLT: "Christ's one act... brings a right relationship with God." The cure for sin isn't effort, it's intimacy.The Cure:Like anti-venom comes from a lamb's blood, our cure comes from the Lamb of God.2 Corinthians 5:21: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us..."Sin is serious—but Jesus already dealt with it.So next time the enemy tries to accuse you, say:"Not today, Satan—the cure's already in my veins."Are you surrendering your sin to your Savior?

Total Depravity Man's Depravity Gracious Deliverance

In today's narration of Reddit stories, OP was shocked to discover a voice message on her phone and it's her Fiances brother confessing his love to her. Now OP is wondering if she should tell the fiance or confront the brother...0:00 Intro0:19 Story 12:59 Story 1 Comments / OP's Replies3:29 Story 1 Update 14:50 Story 1 Comments / OP's Reply7:08 Story 1 Update 29:49 Story 215:37 Story 2 Comments 18:09 Story 2 UpdateFor more viral Reddit stories, incredible confessions, and the best Reddit tales from across the platform, subscribe to the channel! I *try* :) to bring you the most entertaining Reddit stories, carefully selected from top subreddits and narrated for your enjoyment. Whether you love drama, revenge, or heartwarming moments, this channel delivers the most captivating Reddit content. New videos uploaded daily featuring the best Reddit stories you won't want to miss!#redditupdate #redditrelationship #redditstoriesreddit Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1. Stay focused on where God is leading you.- 1 Corinthians 4:20- Luke 9:23- Galatians 2:202. Thoughts (Recognize how your thought life affects your progress toward Christ likeness)- Romans 12:2- Romans 8:12-13- Colossians 3:1-43. Actions (Bible, Prayer and Community) - Lectio Divina (click here)- Morning Affirmations by Kenneth (click here)- Psalm 23- Hosea 14Pray without ceasing - 1 Thessalonians 5:17- Invite God into the interaction- Ask God for His wisdom- Ask Him to direct you in your heart language - Ask Him to walk with you through any valley you are in that makes continuing to get healthy difficult for youChurch - Meet regularly with other Christians Where do people stall?1. The chose their addiction over becoming like Jesus2. They tell God how He should change them and if He doesn't meet their expectations, they become discouraged and can turn away from Him.3. They isolate themselves due to fear of exposure or shame after failure. 4. They set unrealistic goals for change.5. People are hurt by others and walk away from God. By the love and power of God in your life, you can make it through your addiction to a life like Jesus on the other side.For more info on Repentance: Episode 16 - Confessing and Repentance (12/03/2020)

As the prophet Jeremiah recounts the judgment of Jerusalem, he asks, "Is it nothing to you all ye that pass by?" How does it affect your life to witness the fierce anger of God? Everything God is doing is to turn us back to Himself. No individual or nation can get by with sin. God allows trouble in our lives to show us we need to repent and turn to Him while there is still hope for revival.

Ezra 10 | Ezra gives us a beautiful picture of what happens as God revives and restores his people.  Though beautiful, there is brokenness that happens in the beauty.  One of the marks of revival is the confession and forsaking of sin. Ezra 10 gives us a powerful picture of what it looks like to allow the mourning of sin to lead to the confessing and forsaking of sin.  As we see our sin for what it is, take heart, we will see our Savior for who he is as well.

We all have backlogs (some are clogged and massive) - but what's the one game you're ashamed to admit you've never played?On this episode of the PlayStation Access Podcast, the team are confessing the most shocking games in their backlogs - from surprising titles that have never been touched to beloved experiences that are yet to be finished - prepare to be shocked and appalled. For shame, you guys. FOR SHAME. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sin is real and we cannot pretend otherwise. We need to confess our sins to God and repent.

The Ancient Debate and the Concerns for the Social Consequences on the Community. What if everyone did the sin?!https://thechesedfund.com/rabbikatz/support-rabbi-katzz-podcast

1. Confessing 2. Rejoicing 3. Dedicating

Though Rabbeinu Yonah encourages us not to confess our sins of years past, he does suggest that we carry those sins with us.

Rabbeinu Yonah explains why the Midrashim oppose confessing our sins of previous years.

September 21, 2025 - Brian Mashburn

e329 Chuck E Imposter, Reading Souls, Confessing Honestly by Paul George

We can spend a whole year preparing for a short-term mission trip.  But how much time have you spent preparing for your workplace mission field?  We need to prepare our hearts daily as we get ready for work.  What does that mean?  It means confessing our sins to our heavenly Father before our day starts.  Confessing just means agreeing with God for what He already knows about our attitudes and actions.  So often we carry negative attitudes and actions towards those we work with because of frustrations at our jobs.  Our hearts need to be prepared with love for those in our workplaces.  Whether that be our bosses, our vendors, our customers, or fellow employees, our hearts need to be ready to hear the voice of God and respond lovingly to those around us.  Have you prepared your heart for today? 

Ministering: Pastor Kermit Bekondo

US officials say they've arrested a 22-year old man suspected of shooting dead the prominent right wing youth leader, Charlie Kirk. Also on the programme, a Nobel prize-winner weighs in on the Trump administration's vaccine policies; and, a new push to get museum visitors to spend more time in front of art.(Photo :A Washington County sheriff's deputy joins Washington City police officers outside a residence in Washington, Utah, associated with Tyler Robinson, the suspect in the fatal shooting of U.S. conservative commentator Charlie Kirk during an event at Utah Valley University, U.S., September 12, 2025. REUTERS/Steve Marcus)

Confessions: Stop confessing to crimes What’s the grossest thing your ex did? A Dr tells us about natural Viagra How many languages can you speak? Cat therapy How quickly did the date end? Join the Pod Squad Listen Live on the Nova Player App Follow us on Instagram - TikTok - Facebook - SnapchatSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of The Sophisticatedly Ratchet Podcast, the Tribe takes it all the way back to the days of puppy love — those first crushes, awkward love letters, and playground heartbreaks that felt like the end of the world. Inspired by the viral James Tucker “Done with Bianca” video (our lil man had us ALL in our feelings), we're asking the real question: were those childhood crushes actually valid, or were we just wildin'? From Disney movies teaching us fairytales to parents teaching us reality, we unpack how our earliest lessons in love shaped the way we view relationships today. We're diving into:

Well. I wore it. And you know what? The world kept spinning. Confessing something that may surprise you in this week's episode, and answering a listener question about negative online comments and feedback.SOCIAL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilyabbate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@hurdlepodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠JOIN: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Daily Hurdle IG Channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SUBSCRIBE TO: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Weekly Hurdle newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ASK ME A QUESTION: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Email hello@hurdle.us, to ask me a question.

Jamie confessing his love for avocadoSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dwight Peavy was stuck in sin, but God intervened and saved him. Dwight recounts how he was on the verge of abandoning hope when God took him off his path of destruction and into a life of fellowship with God and his people.What Is Addiction? How Can We Help Each Other? by Michael HochstetlerOsceola Christian FellowshipThis is the 282nd episode of Anabaptist Perspectives, a podcast, blog, and YouTube channel that examines various aspects of conservative Anabaptist life and thought. Sign-up for our monthly email newsletter which contains new and featured content!Join us on Patreon or become a website partner to enjoy bonus content!Visit our YouTube channel or connect on Facebook.Read essays from our blog or listen to them on our podcast, Essays for King JesusSubscribe on your podcast provider of choiceSupport us or learn more at anabaptistperspectives.org.The views expressed by our guests are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Anabaptist Perspectives or Wellspring Mennonite Church.

HELLOOO & welcome back to another episode of MOMENT OF SILENCE.This one's basically us in full chaotic overshare mode — from embarrassing stories, hiding relationships, men's manipulation tactics, and the glitter hack that might catch a cheater, to Karwachauth lies, Sindhi traditions, romantic letters gone wrong, foolproof (and not-so-foolproof) gift guides, and even rewriting Kal Ho Naa Ho for 2025. We spiral through compatibility tests, chilli tattoo confessions, singles mixers, beauty fails before dates, why even 38-year-olds do dumb things in love, and the eternal mystery of teens meeting at 6am by the sea. Plus, Sushi the dog makes a cameo again. It's unserious, a little unhinged, and very us — hit play & don't forget to subscribe so we can finally hit 100K#AD Special thanks to Nexxus for sponsoring this episode! ✨Listen—your hair deserves a comeback story too. The Nexxus Resurrection Hair Oil range literally transfuses a trillion proteins back into strands wrecked by all those “fun little” hair experiments we swore we wouldn't regret. Just 6 drops to virgin hair and boom—hello, virgin energy hair. It repairs damage by restoring lost proteins and lipids, bringing your hair back to its healthiest, glossiest self.So yeah, click that link and let your hair start its redemption arc. (00:00) Intro we didn't plan(01:43) Confessing our most embarrassing life decisions (so far)(04:25) Sneaky relationships 101: how to hide them like a pro(06:23) Men and their masterclass in manipulation

In the third message of our series called One Another, Pastor Mel explains what it means to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another. Confessing sin is difficult because it requires us to be vulnerable and we're afraid of the shame associated with being rejected. The pathway to authentic, loving relationships runs through vulnerability and confession. So often the key to relational healing is simply to say you're sorry. Scripture also instructs us to pray for one another. We should pray for each other in the midst of suffering. We should also pray for each other when we're struggling with sickness. The Bible says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

Of course, families are and always were, God's idea. Yet so often these days, families seem to be, well, let's be honest, just a tad dysfunctional. And as we each grapple with the realities of family life, all too often, we look around at all those apparently normal, balanced, near-perfect families out there and wonder to ourselves – what's wrong with my family? What's going on here?   The Dysfunctional Family Well, here we are, a new week! And today we are going to start a discussion, you and I, about something completely different. Over these next few weeks on the programme we are going to be taking a look at what it means to build a godly family. I'll tell you why. Recently here at the ministry of Christianityworks we asked our friends and supporters to write in to us to share their prayer requests and here's what struck me: at least eighty percent of the prayer requests we received – and there were a lot of them, I have to tell you – at least eighty percent were asking us to pray for people's families: for my son or my wife, for my daughter, my husband, my auntie, my cousins. You know something? We actually care about our families. As difficult and as strife torn as many families are, blood is thicker than water and our families really do matter to us And we don't have to look very far, you know, in society to see todays families are becoming more and more dysfunctional. But here's the thing: we kind of know that but somehow we imagine that, well, there's this perfect family out there. In fact, the perfect family is the norm and the dysfunction we see in our own families, well, we are just the only ones. "It's my fault. I've botched it up. We're just stuck with this – it's the way it is. The teenagers who don't respect their parents; the adults in our extended families who are having feuds and they haven't talked to each other for ages because they argued over distributing the assets of their parents when they died eight years ago. No, you see, it's just my family that's a mess. And that's the thing, it's what I've been handed; it's the hand I've been dealt and there's just nothing I can do about it – there's just nothing. What's the point?" It's true, isn't? Living out families is sometimes like living out a gorilla war. It's so in your face; every time you come home; every time you walk in the door – the whole "family thing" greets you. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that every family is a basket-case – hopefully yours isn't but sometimes we are so close to it all, it kind of feels like it is a basket-case. We get it out of perspective. And in the middle of this constant relational tension you can get to feeling like, "Aw, God, what's going on here? Why can't I have a normal family like everybody else – like those people next door?" And let me tell you, I'm not talking about this whole "family thing" from some perfect place, I can tell you. Before I gave my life over to Jesus a decade and a half ago, I've got to tell you I made some huge blunders that changed the very course of my life and I am still far from perfect. But since that time God's been teaching me a new way – I'm still learning. So I'm at a certain place in my journey and you are at a certain place in your journey and let's get over this comparing and judging, "Other people have better families than me." There's only one issue: "Where do we go from here?" And I for one, I am about building a godly family because there is such reward in that; such harvest and not just one day in the future but along the way, here and now – the joy of investing and sacrificing to make a difference in the lives of those whom we love. We will talk about that over the coming weeks but today I just want to give us some comfort that God knows all about dysfunctional families. You can take the very first human family, if you like – Adam and Eve – and their two sons Cain and Abel. You probably know the story of Adam and Eve – you know, the Garden of Eden, then they sinned; they ate the apple and God kicked them out and they had a couple of sons. But I want to show you something about this family – the interactions between the people – that's a real stark reminder about the dysfunction in family. You often hear people talking about Adam and Eve and the snake and all that stuff from a theological perspective – and that's great – but what about from a family perspective? Okay, Adam and Eve, they've sinned; they ate from that one tree that God told them not to. God comes looking for them – they are hiding in the garden. I have always thought that was incredibly smart to be hiding from God! And God brings Adam to account: He says to Adam, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” And the man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave me the fruit from the tree and then I ate it.” And then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me. I ate.” And the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures. Upon your belly you shall go and dust you shall eat for all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers and he will strike your head and you will strike his heel. Comes from Genesis chapter 3, verses 11 to 15 So there it is: they rebelled against God and God – well, Adam blames Eve. The very first thing he does when he does something wrong Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the snake and I guess, the snake didn't have a leg to stand on! You see what happens? We go from perfect harmony to dysfunction. God tells them that that is going to be the norm from now on there's going to be enmity between the man and the woman, there's going to be enmity amongst the children and that's exactly what happens. Listen to what Cain and Abel ... what their relationship ends up like: Abel was the keeper of sheep and Cain the tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground and Abel, for his part, brought the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering but for Cain and his offering, God had no regard. So Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted and if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door. Its desire is for you but you must master it. Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out into the field,” and when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis Chapter 4. So there you have it – the very first family. They rebel against God; husband turns against wife, brother kills brother. It's the absolute natural state of affairs for a family that has turned its back on God. But here's the good new, there's a flip side to this coin for the family that turns back to God. A family that honours God; a family that has God as the head of its household – that family can expect God to bless it. Have another listen. Deuteronomy Chapter 5, beginning at verse 8: You shall not make for yourself an idol whether in the form of anything that is in heaven or above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them for I, the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of their parents to the third and fourth generations of those who reject me but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. In other words, when we put God at the head of our lives and the head of our families, He will show us His steadfast, unwavering love, not just to us but to a thousand generations. And you know what that means? It doesn't matter how bad things have become in our families, when we honour God, He in turn will honour us.   Breaking with the Past One of the things that bring so much dysfunction into families are the things of the past – things that have been handed down genetically, emotionally and spiritually. Our parents hand so many things down to us – their genes, their strengths and their weaknesses. People say that I look like my dad, I even walk like him but it wasn't till I saw myself in a TV interview that I was shocked to realise that my very mannerisms are so much like my fathers. It's pretty scary! And so alcohol addictions and bad tempers and a tendency to whinge and complain; all sorts of things end up being handed down from generation to generation. Dysfunctional families are much more likely to produce children that grow up to have their own dysfunctional families. Where does it end? Well, I have a simple answer to that – it ends today, right here and now, this very minute – that's when it ends. Let me explain. See, it's really easy to blame our parents for things ... for the bad things that happen. If abuse happened in your childhood or you had a father with a bad temper or your parents smoked; whatever it is and they handed those things down to you. I don't know about your parents but mine, I had good parents. They weren't perfect, they just worked hard and I am sure they can look back at their lives and go, "Well, I could have done this better or I could have done that better," but there is no point in just sitting here and blaming them and blaming the past. Things do get handed down from generation to generation, some of them are good things but others aren't. When you go and see your doctor, one of the first things he'll ask you about is your family history. Is there a history of high blood pressure or diabetes or heart disease or mental health issues or breast cancer? Family history has a lot to do with our physical well-being. Now my dad had Type ll Diabetes and in the end it took his life. My mother has high blood pressure and so I can sit here without exercising, eating whatever I want and whinge and complain about the fact that they could give me diabetes and high blood pressure, or I can get off my backside and do something about it. There's a pretty clear alternative. Most illnesses, you can work against them and reduce the risk and it's the same with emotional and spiritual things that get handed down to us. Maybe you had parents who were into the occult, maybe you had parents who fought like cat and dog, maybe you had parents who knew about God but simply didn't honour God with their lives. Well, you've got two choices – you can sit there and complain about it or you can do something about it. Have a listen to what happens when we put other things before God. We looked at it earlier. God say I am a jealous God and I will punish children for the iniquity of their parents to the third and fourth generation. But those who show steadfast love, I will bless to the thousandth generation. It's pretty straight forward! When parents turn away from God and chase after other things, it's going to have an impact – not just on them – but on their children and their children's children. It's obvious. We've seen how it works. A child brought up by an alcoholic father is likely to suffer the consequences of that in adulthood. There's every chance that it will impact not just them but it will be passed down to their kids. It's not rocket science – we've all seen it but look at the alternative that God talks about: Showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. A thousand generations – a new generation every twenty five years, that's twenty five thousand years! We are only a fraction of the way into that since this was written (Deuteronomy) a few thousand years BC. Do you get it? God's blessing to us and our families when we honour Him is just massive, and you see that in a lot of godly families. This dynasty of blessing flows down from one generation to the next. Maybe there are things from your past – emotional, spiritual – that are impacting your life. Today is the day that we can choose to break that chain. Today is the day that we can choose to break free from the power of the past. Listen to the prayer that Nehemiah prayed: O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps the covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you, day and night, for your servants the people of Israel. Confessing the sins of the people of Israel which we have sinned against you, both I and my family have sinned. And Nehemiah then goes on to ask for forgiveness; he turns away from that and he moves on. It's a simple prayer; it's a prayer of repentance. It breaks the linkage to the sin of previous generations – Nehemiah, his ancestors and his family. We have all sinned! God is a God who forgives and God is a God who makes all things new again. He breaks the power of the past over us because His heart is to bless to a thousand generations. The Apostle Paul writes in Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17: If anyone is in Christ Jesus he is a new creation. Old things have passed away and all things are new. Let me take you back to some of the things that maybe you've had handed down to you – addictions or anger or bad behaviour or whatever it is – we can receive freedom from those things simply by praying and believing. God will work out His answer to our prayer in our lives in His good time Meanwhile we can take stock of those things and decide to start doing something about them. Not in our own fancy strength but through a relationship with Jesus which transforms us. It is time to end the cycle of sin in our families – to stop it dead here. The buck stops with you and me. How about it?   Setting the Course Now it doesn't matter how dysfunctional a family is at the moment, all it takes is one member of that family to turn back to God; to honour God and God can and will make an awesome and mighty difference. It may take time, it may take longer than you and I would prefer but God is a God of grace – His heart is to bless our family to a thousand generations and He's looking for some godly men, godly women, godly children to take a stand and say, "Enough is enough! It is time for me to build a godly family." First Corinthians chapter 4, verse 20 in the Message translation says this: God's way is not a matter of mere talk, it's an empowered life. That's why this ministry I'm involved in is called Christianityworks because it actually does. So let's talk about making it happen – an empowered life that sets about building a godly family. But you know what I have noticed? We can talk about a lot of stuff but most times nothing changes unless we actually do something. It's true at work; it's true at home! How often have you been to a meeting at work and people talk about a whole bunch of stuff: "We'll do this, we'll do that", but after the meeting no one does anything. And guess what? Nothing changes; nothing! We come home at the end of the day; we need a rest; we ignore things – the badly behaved children for example. There's a great proverb: Proverbs chapter 29, verse 17 that says: Discipline your children and they will give you rest; they will give you the delight of your heart. I have seen this down at the local supermarket. The mother's is with the child and the child just grinds her down through bad behaviour and she's tired ... she's too tired to do anything about it so she lets this kid run riot, causing her grief and causing everybody else grief as well. Why does it happen? I'll tell you why – probably because dad is too tired to discipline the child when he comes home. Does he enjoy their behaviour? No! But this kid walks all over his mother, she's exhausted and ... and mind you the kid is only seven – wait till the little terror becomes a teenager! You see, there's fruit in building a godly family – tremendous fruit. Discipline your children and what do you get? Peace and a delighted heart! What you sow is what you reap. The problem is sowing is hard work sometimes and reaping seems ... well, such a long way off, doesn't it? Let me tell you something – we have been talking about building a godly family but it ain't going to happen unless we step out in faith and start making it happen. Yes, it's about God blessing our efforts but if He's got nothing to bless then, He got nothing to bless. I mean, if I am twenty kilos overweight, forty pounds, and I want to be trim, taut and terrific and I pray and pray and believe God for a breakthrough but I keep eating and drinking the same old rubbish and I don't exercise. Let me ask you something – is God going to zap me while I am lying on the sofa and miraculously remove the excess weight? Well, He could, and with God I never rule anything out but I have never quite seen it happen that way, have you? Why would we think it is any different building a godly family? We behave ourselves into a bad place by what we say, what we do, what we fail to do – we behave our families into that bad place and yes, we should pray. But God expects us to start behaving ourselves out of that place. And that's what we are going to be talking about over the next three weeks. He is going to bless that but we have to do our part. So let me ask you something – do you want to have a godly family because if you do you are going to have to decide; that is what we want, plan it and start living it? We are going to have to decide that some changes have to be made. This easy, comfortable, lazy existence has to change. Discipline is painful; kids don't like it much. It takes strength and perseverance but it pays dividends in their lives and in ours. Let me ask you, how much do you want to have a godly family? And if the answer is, "Yes, I do. I do!", then some tough decisions have to be made. If your family is one with a husband and a wife, then it is up to the both of you. If it is a single parent family then it is up to you alone. But husband and wife have to talk and dream and decide what is important and set priorities and figure out how to do this – what steps to take first, and so on. Mum and dad, you are the leaders and I happen to believe that ultimately, the father is responsible for the spiritual growth and nourishment and development of his family. The buck stops with you, dad! And that's not a sexist thing because I have to tell you, so many women would give their eyeteeth if their husbands would just step up to the plate and take on a leadership role. So many kids would love to have parents who were interested in them, who spend time and efforts setting boundaries, enforcing those boundaries, nurturing them within those boundaries. I have to tell you, as a person, I am a natural isolationist. I like my own company, oft times over the company of others. I really enjoy retreating to my own space after a hard day at the office, so for me, given who I am, getting involved with the family and kids and listening to what happened to them at school and at work – it's not a natural gig, you know? But we have to start somewhere. We can't build a godly family if there is no relationship; if there is no interaction; if we are not involved in planning and making it happen. We are going to talk about some of that over the next few weeks. In fact, I have been speaking to one of the godliest families I know; some friends of mine who live in the USA – mum, dad and their NINE children. They have given me some of their pointers, both the parents and the children. This massive tribe, I have to tell you, they have got their act so well together. I know it's not perfect, but I ask them and I ask the kids, "Tell me what this godly family thing is about." I'm going to talk about that in the next few weeks but right now, we have to decide, each one of us, do we really want to have a godly family? Well, do we? And if we do, what are we going to do about it. Maybe that's something you can pray about and think about and talk about over this next week. We will look at it some more when we get together again at the same time next week, this whole thing of building a godly family. But I have to tell you, when I read about this God who says, "Look, I don't care what has happened in the past. You turn back and you honour Me in your lives, in your family and I tell you what, I won't just bless you, I'll bless your children and I'll bless your children's children and I'll bless their children and the next generation." In fact, the blessing when you break the curses that have been handed down to you, simply by praying and honouring God and turning back to Him, the blessing that flows is a blessing that flows for a thousand generations. That's who God is!

Bible Reading: Psalm 32:1-5; Matthew 6:9-13Robin knelt at the foot of her bed and bowed her head to pray. It was hard to focus with her little sister, Jenny, screaming in the bathroom. "No! I don't want to brush my teeth!" Jenny cried.Mom poked her head into Robin's room, a tired smile on her face. "Robin, could Jenny and I pray with you? Maybe we can pray that Jenny will want to brush her teeth."Robin nodded, and her sister raced into the room and sat beside her, suddenly an angel. "Dear Jesus," Robin said. "Thank You for helping me with my math homework and healing Grandma from her fall. Please bless all my friends and family. Help us have a good night's sleep. Amen.""Amen!" Jenny exclaimed."Robin, did you forget something?" Mom asked."Oh, right. Jesus, please help Jenny brush her teeth without complaining. Amen."Mom smiled. "Just one more thing. Do you remember how Jesus taught us how to pray? In addition to thanking God and bringing our needs to Him, we also need to confess our sins."Robin sighed. "I just don't see the point in asking Jesus to forgive my sins every single day. I'll still make mistakes tomorrow.""Admitting our wrongs is about more than preventing future mistakes," Mom replied.Jenny tugged on Mom's sleeve. "Bedtime?" Robin laughed. "Nice try, Jenny. But you have to brush your teeth.""Why does she need to brush her teeth?" Mom asked Robin."Because her teeth are dirty and she might get cavities if she waits too long to clean them.""But her teeth will be dirty again tomorrow," Mom said. "And every day after that. Maybe the whole thing is pointless.""It's still healthier to brush her teeth daily," Robin said. Then she laughed. "You're not talking about brushing teeth, are you?""You caught me," Mom said. "Confessing our sins reminds us of our need for Jesus and helps us appreciate what He did to save us. Prayer is meant to bring us closer to Jesus in this way."Robin turned to Jenny. "If I confess my sins to Jesus, will you finally brush your teeth?"Jenny sighed dramatically. "Okay, fine." –Hannah ChungHow About You?Have you ever wondered why you should confess your sins to Jesus and ask for His forgiveness when you pray? Confessing means to recognize an action or attitude as sin and trust God for forgiveness, knowing that it is because of Jesus's sacrifice on the cross that we will be forgiven. Take a moment to confess any sins, trusting that God will forgive you each and every time.Today's Key Verse:If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.(NKJV) (1 John 1:9)Today's Key Thought:Confess your sins daily

Kankelfritz & Friends chat about birthdays and how some take it to the extreme. Also, why we may find it hard to confess our sins to God.

Today, Pastor Michael Acock speaks on our five-week series titled “Movement Of The Spirit”. Join us as we talk about releasing idols. Have you ever stopped to consider the subtle yet profound ways idolatry seeps into our lives, disguising itself as something harmless? In this sermon, Michael explores the idea that while we may easily dismiss the concept of idols, they often reside within our hearts as things we hold dear—perhaps even good things that we've elevated to the ultimate position. Drawing from biblical passages such as Ezekiel and John, he invites us to confront those ‘hidden secrets' and ‘burdens' that block our relationship with God. You can find the full sermon notes and other resources at our website. We hope this message encourages you and helps you know Jesus in a more real way. Subscribe to us at our YouTube channel, on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify. You can also visit us at Facebook or Instagram.

by Reagan McClenny

Responsibility of Believers The message is directed towards church members, highlighting their responsibilities. Romans is full of inexhaustible treasure and truth. Beseeching Believers A call to action based on Romans 12:1-2: Present bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is considered a reasonable service. Do not be conformed to the world. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Prove what is good, acceptable, and the perfect will of God. Memories and Inspiration A reflection on attending a communion service at Millers Cove and remembering men of God from the past who preached the Word. These men's teachings made a significant difference. Grace and Responsibility Grace is essential for salvation, and nothing can be added to it. Salvation is by grace through faith, a gift from God, not of works. There is a call to heed what the apostle is trying to convey to believers. The Widow's Offering The story of the widow who gave all she had (two mites) is used as an example. Jesus noticed her sacrifice, while others did not. She gave from her poverty, while others gave from their abundance. This illustrates the concept of giving one's all to God daily as a living sacrifice. Living Sacrifice God needs those who are alive, committed, and sold out to Him. The apostle beseeches believers to understand the importance of this concept for their lives and to bring honor to God. These actions enable believers to experience God's work in their lives. Gifts from God Everyone receives a gift from God when they are saved. This gift can be shared with others, even if it's just a testimony. A good testimony from a heart sold out to God can lead others to salvation and hope. God has given everyone work to do. Urgency and Transformation Beseeching involves urging with conviction. Consciously making an effort to offer oneself daily will transform the heart. God can use anything if it is yielded to Him. Example: Balaam's donkey. Holiness and Consecration In the Old Testament, a lamb had to be pure and spotless for sacrifice. Believers should offer themselves to God as a living sacrifice, willing and ready for His use. Offer something holy, clean, and ready for use, not marred by pride or selfishness. Consecrate oneself to God, repent of sin, and offer something He can use. Spiritual Death and Surrender Physical blood is not required as a sacrifice now, but a spiritual death is necessary. Lay down oneself and allow God to be in control. When one relinquishes control, they can present something living, holy, and acceptable to God. Urgency in Preaching Preaching should be urgent and have conviction. The message is not worldly philosophy but transformative truths from the Word of God. Giving oneself to God daily will transform one's living. Mercies of God It is through God's mercies that believers can even be a sacrifice. God can take what individuals have if they repent and become pleasing to Him. Confessing sins leads to forgiveness and cleansing. Even if one feels they have little to offer, God can use them when they are right with Him. "Little is much when God is in it." Overcoming Hesitation Urging listeners to stop hesitating, procrastinating, and holding back from God. God has given something to do, say, or share. The time for holding back is over; start giving oneself to God. Get holy, get right with God, and be acceptable. Allow the Holy Spirit to search and help release what is hindering. Presenting Your Body Presenting one's body to God as a living sacrifice. God already owns believers, having bought them at Calvary. Believers have a free will and a mind, making them unique. Give it up and let God have it. Living Sacrifice vs. Dead Sacrifice A dead sacrifice has no choice,

TOPIC: MAINTAINING YOUR SPIRITUAL GLOW SCRIPTURES: Romans 12:11 KJV 1 Ephesians 4:30 KJV 2 1 Thessalonians 5:19 KJV 3 Job 1:9-12 KJV 4 Luke 4:13 KJV 5 John 14:30 KJV 6 Proverbs 4:18 NLV 7 Exodus 16:19 KJV 8 Lamentations 3:22-23 KJV 9 2 Corinthians 4:16 KJV 10 Ephesians 5:18 KJV 11 Matthew 12:43-45 KJV 11 Luke 22:39 NKJV 13 2 Chronicles 20:2-4 KJV 14 1 Corinthians 14:4 KJV 15 Romans 8:11 KJV 16 Ephesians 5:18-20 KJV 17 Ephesians 5:18-21 KJV 18 Ezekiel 2:1-2 KJV 19 Joshua 1:8 KJV 20 James 1:22-24 KJV 21 KEY POINTS FROM THE MESSAGE Why Must We Maintain the Glow? 22 Satan will return: You need to keep him subdued as he targets your word and your faith23. This is exemplified by Job, where Satan questioned Job's faithfulness to God 24, and by Jesus, where the devil departed from Him "for a season" 25and the "prince of this world" comes, but "hath nothing in me"26. There are higher heights to be achieved: "The way of those who are right is like the early morning light. It shines brighter and brighter until the perfect day"27. You need new grace every day: 28 The Israelites needed new manna for a new day29. There is new mercy daily because God's compassions "fail not" and "are new every morning"30. There is daily renewing: "though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day"31. Something else may fill you if you lose your fire: 32This can include worldliness and sinfulness, as being "drunk with wine" is contrasted with being "filled with the Spirit"33. It can also include evil spirits, where an "unclean spirit" returns to an empty house and brings "seven other spirits more wicked than himself"34. It establishes the gift and blessing: 35Jesus' customs kept him anointed36. How to Maintain the Glow (8 Steps): 37 To maintain your spiritual glow means to be filled daily with the Spirit, continuing practices that get you filled with Holy Ghost power38. THE MYSTERIES Regular Fasting and Prayer: Fast at least once weekly and pray daily39. Tongues Speaking: "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself"40 The Spirit of God dwelling in you will "quicken your mortal bodies"41. Singing and Confessing the Word of God to Yourself: Be "filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord"42. Thanksgiving and Praise: "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"43 Submission Based on the Fear of God: The infilling of the Holy Spirit is for the humble 44; this includes "Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God"45 Keep Connecting to the Impartation Through Podcasts and Messages: "The spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me"46 Don't Forget What God Told You - Meditate on the Word of God: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success"47. Practice the Word You Learn: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves"48. A hearer who is not a doer is like a man who forgets his own appearance after looking in a mirror49. CONCLUSION: Maintaining your spiritual glow is crucial for continued spiritual growth and victory. By consistently engaging in practices like prayer, fasting, speaking in tongues, praise, submission, consuming spiritual messages, meditating on the Word, and practicing what is learned, believers can stay "aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord"50, avoiding spiritual decline and experiencing the fullness of God's blessings.

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Introduction: Guard Your Heart… (Proverbs 4:20–27) With the WORD OF GOD (Proverbs 4:20–22) Psalm 119:9–11 (ESV) – How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Because it BRINGS TRUE LIFE (Prov 4:22a) Because it BRINGS LASTING HEALING (Prov 4:22b) With UNWAVERING VIGILANCE (Proverbs 4:23–27) Luke 6:45 (ESV) – The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. By Watching WHAT YOU SAY (Prov 4:24) Proverbs 13:3 (ESV) – Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. By Controlling WHAT YOU FOCUS ON (Prov 4:25) By Directing WHERE YOU GO (Prov 4:26–27) 1 Kings 11:2–4 – ...for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love... For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods... Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Small Group DiscussionRead Proverbs 4:20-27What was your big take-away from this passage / message?How do you guard your heart with the Word of God? How would you describe your devotional life and the ways it needs to improve?What does it look like to be vigilant in guarding your heart? How have you been lazy in guarding your heart in the past?What actions steps do you need to take moving forward?BreakoutPray for one another. AUDIO TRANSCRIPT The Lord saved me at a young age, but my relationship with Him wasn't really deep until I was a senior in high school.At that time, I became a serious student of God's Word and I bought myself a nice new Bible.Do you want to see that nice and new Bible 16 years later?Alright, thanks. I'll show Jay. Jay wants to see it.Here's how it looks now. How's it look?Some of you get it. Yeah, it does look good in some ways. It doesn't look great in other ways, though, does it?You may be wondering, did you get run over by a lawn mower or something while you were reading it?Nothing as dramatic as that, but for years, this Bible went everywhere with me.It took it to Haiti, twice to Kenya, all the missions, trips I led as a youth pastor.I preached a lot of sermons and taught a lot of lessons from this Bible.When I first bought it, I protected it. I guarded it. I kept it in the box. It came in whenever I put it into my backpack or went on a trip.But as years went by, I stopped protecting it with the box and I just hoped for the best.And I kept getting more worn out, kept getting more beat up.With each passing year, I kept looking worse and worse and worse and worse.It really bummed me out to look at this Bible and what it had become.Other people would comment on it as well, like, "Do you need to buy a new Bible or get it rebounded?"It's going to fall apart any minute.So I eventually took people up on that and I bought a nice leather-bound Bible.And I learned my lesson with my old Bible because I still have the box for the new one.And I still keep it in there all the time whenever I travel or put it into my backpack.I am resolved to guard this copy of God's Word moving forward.It has immense value to me. It is precious to me.So I want to take care of it by any means necessary.According to God's Word, there is something of immense value within youthat you often fail to consider and guard properly.Your heart. Your heart should be precious to youand you should want to take care of it by any means necessary.Over this past year, we have focused on one major theme from Scripture.God wants your heart.God wants your heart.But what if you don't want God like you used to?What if you don't want to give God your heart like you used to?This is the final week of our latest series, Heart Problems.What to do when you don't want God?Every single person in this room has a heart problem of some kind.It could be apathy and prayer, spiritual laziness and gratitude,unrepentant sin in your life.Thankfully, God has solutions to every single heart problem you can experience.Over the past few weeks, we've discovered three of God's solutionsto these heart problems.Evaluating your heart. Confessing sin from your heartand giving thanks with your heart.Maybe at this point you're thinking, "Well, Taylor, I'm good to go.I've done all those things. I've evaluated my heart.I've confessed sin from my heart. I've given thanks to my heart.Time to move on from this series and go back to the Sermon on the Mount.Thanks so much. I'm done with this."Well, not so fast.You are missing one important piece of the puzzle,and that is guarding your heart.Because if you fail to guard your heart,you will lose all the progress that you've made over the past few weeks.And all the old heart problems that you had will return and intensify.New heart problems will pop up and spiral out of control.You must protect yourself from this danger.You must do your best to resolve these heart problems when they first pop upinstead of ignoring them and leaving them undoubt with.We'll spend the rest of this message talking about what it looks liketo guard your heart in action.I want you to walk out of this series with a confidencethat you can resolve heart problems right when they appearthrough God's power and with God's methods.So before we continue, let's go to the Lord in prayer.Please pray for me, and I will pray for you.Father, we come to you with a sense of weightiness.But we all have a heart problem of some kind right now.None of us can say that we don't.I pray that we can be honest about it this morning.Bring those things to you that you can change us,that you can convict us, that you can build us up.Lord, I can do none of those things.All I can do is share your word,and you are the only one who can use your word to change lives.And I ask that you would do that this morning.I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.So over the past two Sundays,we spent a lot of time with King David in the Psalms.This morning we're going to spend some timewith King David's son Solomon in Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 through 27.So if you have a Bible with you,you can turn to Proverbs chapter 4 verses 20 through 27.And as you turn there,let me give you a quick crash course on King Solomon.At a young age, this man was given a blank check by God himself.Name what you want, and I'll give it to you.You ever think about how awesome that is?Just imagine that.What do you think you would ask forif God gave you that blank check?Well, Solomon didn't ask for what was expected.He didn't ask for riches, for honor, or the ability to fly.That would be really cool though.No, what does he ask for instead?Wisdom.Wisdom, which is the ability to apply God's wordto every situation you experienceand every decision that you make.Wisdom is knowledge and action.And God was so pleased with this answerthat he still gave Solomon all the stuffhe didn't ask for minus the superpower flighthe didn't get that.But Solomon was blessed with so much material stuff,most importantly, with wisdom from God.And he used this wisdom to accomplish a lot of great thingslike building the first temple,but later in life, he squandered that wisdom,which we'll talk about at the end of this message.But the first nine chapters of Proverbsare written from the perspectiveof a father speaking to his son.Solomon is addressing his own son,but he's also acting like a fatherly figureto anyone who listens to what he has to say.His wise words should not be ignored.They should not be forgotten.They should be treasured.And in these chapters, Solomon tells his sonthat wisdom is the most valuable thing.It's better than silver, gold, or precious jewels.He's seek after wisdom and get it.He also warns his son against many thingsthat he should not do.But our main focus this morningis Solomon's words of wisdom about his son's heart.That is the thing that Solomon is most concerned aboutbecause if your heart is wrong,it doesn't really matter what else you get right.Solomon gives his son and everyone who readsProverbs 4, 20 through 27 the same command,guard your heart.So on your outline,guard your heart with the word of God.Guard your heart with the word of God.Let's read verses 20 through 21."My son, be attentive to my wordsand climb your ear to my sayings.Let them not escape from your sight.Keep them within your heart."These verses remind me a lot of conversationsI had with my dad when I was younger,when he made it very clear that I should listento what he had to say and not tune him out.I have very similar conversations with my own sonthat vary in their level of effectiveness and success.In those moments, I want my son, Sam, to close his mouth,open his ears, and heed my warningsto listen to what I have to say.But you have to remember that this instructionfrom an earthly father isn't the only thinghappening in this passage.Remember, this is the authoritative word of God.It's not just the end of the Andy Griffith Show.When Sheriff Andy sits down with Opieto give the major moral lesson,no, your heavenly father is sitting you downto give you commands and instructions.God himself is calling you to be attentive to his words,to incline your ears to his sayings,to not let them escape your sightand to keep them within your heart.That sounds very similar to Psalm 119-11.How can a young man keep his way pureby guarding it according to your word?With my whole heart I seek you.Let me not wander from your commandments.I have stored up your word in my heartthat I might not sin against you.You cannot guard your heart, fight sin,and lead a pure life apart from significant time in the Bible.It's just not possible.It's like trying to build a deck on the back of your housewithout any tools or any supplies of any kind.You can have the best of intentions,but you will get nowhere fast.It's not enough just to read the Bible.You need to keep it stored up in your heart.How do you do that?You push out other things to make room for it.You kill the bad habits in your life.You let go of those hobbies that hold you backand that vie for your attention.You make room for God's word by memorizing it.I know what some of you are thinking,"Taylor, I can't memorize stuff. I have a horrible memory."Let me share a universal truth with you.You memorize what you care about.If you love sports,you have a ton of information about players,games, teams, write your fingertips at all times.If you love golf in this room,you have a lot of informationdownloaded into your brain about the perfect golf swing.All the courses you want to play at in the world,if you're a movie freak,you have film knowledge, directors, actors,write in your brain,what is the focus of your memorization?What do you make the most room for in your heart?John Bunyan, the man who wrote one of the best-selling books of all time,The Pilgrim's Progress, hundreds of years ago,was described in this way."This man is a living Bible.Prick him anywhere and he will bleed the Bible.The very essence of the Bible flows from him.He cannot speak without quoting a textfor his very own purpose.He cannot speak without quoting a textfor his very soul is full of the Word of God."Is that description true of you?I wish I fit this description far more than I do.But this can describe you.It can describe me if we grab ahold of the right motivations.And let me tell you this morning,I have no desire to guilt youfor spending more time in the Bible.Do you want to know why?Because that motivation won't last beyond the end of this week.You may be diligent in studying, reading, praying this week,but it won't last any longer.You need the motivation only God can provide.You need to believe that this book is far more importantthan anything else you can set your mind toor fill your time with.Truly be convinced from your heart that reading this book,studying it, living it, applying it,blesses and benefits you in every wayand in every area of life.My yelling, my nagging, my pesteringmay make you feel like a shame dogpopped on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.But those tactics will not make you lovethe instructions of your heavenly mastereven one bit more.So let's talk about two motivationsthat will inspire you to guard your heartwith the Word of God.So on your outline,guard your heart with the Word of Godbecause it brings true life.Because it brings true life.Let's check out the first half of verse 22."For they are life to those who find them."You are only as healthy as what you consume.As the old saying goes, "You are what you eat."That is true both physically and spiritually.Your physical well-being cannot rise abovewhat you put into your body.Your spiritual well-being cannot rise abovewhat you put into your heart.When he was tempted by Satan and the wilderness,Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8.3,"Man shall not live by bread alonebut by every word that comes from the mouth of God."Maybe you are spiritually starving this morningbecause you have never feasted on the Word of God.You have never tasted the goodness of Jesus Christin the gospel.Listen, nothing and no one can satisfy your longingsand cravings apart from Jesus Christ.Stop poisoning yourself with the junk food of this world.That diet will do nothing but make you sick,hurt your heart, and kill your eternal soul.Life is offered to you today in the Word of God.Let go of the junk food of this worldand grab a hold of Jesus Christ who suffered,died, and rose again so that you can have eternal lifethat starts now and lasts forever.Grab a hold of Christ by faith and you will have that life.Guard your heart with the Word of Godbecause it brings true lifeand because it brings true healing.Because it brings true healing.Let's read all of 22."For they are life to those who find them in healingto all their flesh."The Word of God provides a remedy for every ailment.It provides a solution to every heart problem.This book is like the ultimate Swiss army knife.It is multifaceted, multi-purpose,and useful for every situation.It is a genuine lifesaver.I can't guarantee you much,but I guarantee you there is no trial,there is no discouragement,there is no relational issuethat you cannot come to the Word of Godand find wisdom for.There is no issue, you'll come across and be like,"Well, the Bible can't help me with this.Time to buy a self-help book or watch that lifetime movie.Maybe that'll help me."No.The healing help you are looking for is in the Word of God.It's right at your fingertips.You can have access to it every single secondof every single day.And the Lord has brought me so much healing personallyby praying through Scripture,especially through the Psalms.The Psalms provide you a vocabularyfor how to pray to Godas you experience every emotion.Anger, fear, frustration, confusion, sadness,excitement, joy.Do you pray through Scripture?If you don't, let me teach you how to do it.This is very complex.Are you all ready for this?All right, really pay attention.Read a verse and then pray about it.Read the next verse and then pray about it.Read the next verse and then pray some more about it.Rinse, wash, and repeat.Can you do that?You can do that.Pray through God's Word.Pray through the Psalms.Are you overwhelmed right now?Are you at the lowest point that you've been in a long time?Are you in need of healing?Push out what the world has to say about you and your issues.Make room for what God has to say about you and your issues.Guard your heart with the Word of Godand you will experience the healing and the lifethat you are so desperate for.Guard your heart, secondly, with unwavering vigilance.With unwavering vigilance.Verse 23 is the centerpiece of this entire passage.It is one of the go-to verseswhen it comes to the importance of your heart.Solomon writes this,"Keep your heart with all vigilancefor from it flow the springs of life."After a year of repetition,you may be tired of hearing it,but I'm going to say it again,your heart is who you really are on the inside.Your heart is like a spring or a fountain.Everything that you think, say, and do flows from it.Most fountains only pour out what they are filled with.If a decorative fountain is filled with contaminated water,it will only pour out unclean water that you shouldn't drink.If a fondue fountain is filled with cheese and chocolate,you shouldn't be surprised when it only pours out cheese and chocolate.Your heart is a fountain that will only pour out what it is filled with.Have you ever come across a person who is rude in every situationand constantly rags on everyone?And then someone comes along to defend this person."Oh, well, you know, they might be rough around the edges,but deep down, he or she really is a nice and kind person."What do we think about that?Is that true?Incorrect.What is in that person's heart spews out of their mouth.Their heart is full of resentment and disrespect,so it comes out in how they talk to everyone.I can't put it any better than our Lord when He said,"The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good,and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil.For out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks."You show who you really are by what you say and by what you do.And with that essential truth in mind, Solomon says,"Keep your heart with all vigilance."Vigilance.Do you know who I think of when I hear that word?McGruff the crime dog.Does anyone remember McGruff?He was a character in the '80s who was created to increase personal safetyand awareness of crime.He was a bloodhound in the trench coatwho had a really deep and intimidating voice.Does anyone know what his tagline was?Anyone remember?"Take a bite out of crime."McGruff set his sights on important issues like bullying, drug use, home invasion.And he would just be so emphatic that you have to defend yourself.You have to have alarm systems. You have to have a deadbolt on your door.McGruff wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilantin order to guard your loved ones and yourself from the crime that wants to take a bite out of you.Well, God himself wants you to be constantly aware and unwaveringly vigilantin order to guard your heart from the sin that wants to take a bite out of you.You cannot take breaks or vacations from this vigilance.Heart security is infinitely more important than home security.Spiritually, your head needs to be on a swivel at all times.You must be circumspect, not careless, cautious, not casual.So what should you be on the lookout for?How should you guard your heart with unwavering vigilance?What should you be focused on your outline?Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by watching what you say.By watching what you say.Let's read verse 24."Put away from you crooked speech and put devious talk far from you."Crooked speech and devious talk, what does that mean?It's not about trying to be honest, it's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.It's about trying to be honest.That is a stupid thought that you and I both fall for.We've already established that you show who you are on the insideby what you say on the outside.So let's run that through.If you lie to others on the outside, who does that make you on the inside?That makes you a what?A liar.It's that simple.You cannot call yourself a lover of the truthif you constantly indulge in one of the activities that God hates the most.Elsewhere in Proverbs it says, "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord."So should you mess around with something that is described so harshly?No, we really shouldn't.The pathway of Christian speech is straight, not crooked.You need to walk the straight highway of God's truthinstead of stumbling down those side roads of deception.Put away crooked speech and devious talk by fessing up to how you've been deceitful.Sit that person, sit those people downto unravel every single lie that you've told.Those conversations sure won't be fun,but they sure will set your heart free.Put away crooked speech and devious talk by entering into tough conversations,by praying to God, "God, I know I'm going to be tempted to be dishonest.I know I'm going to be tempted to stress the truth.Guard my heart.Help me to only say what is true, even if it costs me."Put away crooked speech and devious talk by diving into Proverbs that talk about how you speak.Proverbs like the one we're studying this morning, or Proverbs 13.3,"Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life, he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin."Be vigilant in guarding your heart by guarding your mouth.Be vigilant in what you say and what you don't say.Guard your heart with unwavering vigilance by controlling what you focus on.So Solomon moves from what you say to where you look in verse 25."Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you."Where you look is where you'll end up.Where you look is where you'll end up.Imagine that after church, I take a nice long walk,I find myself on a road with a really steep embankment.And for some reason, I stop looking directly aheadand my eyes start to wander to the embankment.Keep looking at it, keep looking at it, keep looking at it.If I keep doing that, where am I going to end up?Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrailand rolling down the entire road.Smashing into the guardrail or through the guardrail and rolling down the embankment.I will most likely get in a very serious accident.I could have avoided that if I had kept my eyes looking directly forwardwhere I should have been looking.Where are you looking right now?Are you looking where God wants you to look?Or are you looking where the enemy wants you to look?Where the world wants you to look?If you keep up with watching those corrupting movies and shows,you'll end up with those movies and shows rewriting your thinking.If you keep up with mindlessly, endlessly scrolling on social mediaall hours of the day, you'll end up as a spiritual zombie.As an undisciplined slacker who doesn't give his or her familythe time and attention that they deserve.If you keep up with that pornography addiction,you will end up feeling very aloneand ruining the good connection that you have with your spouse.You become what you behold.Be vigilant in guarding your heart by controlling where you lookand what you focus on.Finally, guard your heart with unwavering vigilanceby directing where you go.By directing where you go.Let's wrap up with verses 26 through 27."Ponder the path of your feet, then all your ways will be sure.Do not swerve to the right or to the left.Turn your foot away from evil."Staple this truth to your brain and never forget it.You are one decision away from life-shattering disaster.You can destroy all the trust that you've worked so hard to build up in an instant.You can tear your reputation to shreds with one choice.You can do serious damage if you're not careful of where you go.Don't do what feels good.Don't do what feels right.Do what is good.Do what is right."Ponder the path of your feet.Direct yourself to where you should go."But here's the thing.You can't ponder the path of your feet on your own.You will go to the right or to the left if you isolate yourself.You will not turn your foot away from evil if you try to go this way alone.Direct yourself towards worshiping with God's people every single week.Direct yourself towards intentional Christian community in small groups.Direct yourself to honest and accountable relationships in the body of Christ.If you've been on the outskirts of this church for weeks, months, or even years,I want to encourage you to dive in.Take a risk.Be vulnerable.Listen, you may have been hurt in the past by a church,and I in no way want to nullify that or minimize that pain.But that pain will not go away if you don't get involved in this church.It will only get worse and worse and worse.To truly be in community, to be truly known, to truly know others,it's always a risk.It always requires you being vulnerable.Take that step in faith and trust the Lord.Trust that He will direct you to where you should go.That He will direct you towards greater maturity and connectedness in the body of Christ.Please know that we love you and we want you here.Be vigilant and guard in your heart by directing where you go.At the end of this message, you may be thinking, "Well, Taylor,all this stuff that Solomon is saying is very obvious.I already know all this stuff. It's not complex."You're right.Keeping your heart, guarding your heart is not complex,except when it comes to actually doing it.When theory becomes reality, when rubber meets the road,when your worldly desires experience a head-on collision with your godly affections.Before we close a curtain on this series,I want to give you a word of warning from Solomon himself.It's actually a warning from his own life,because Solomon didn't listen to his own words.As time went on, he didn't guard his heart with the word of God.He didn't guard his heart with unwavering vigilance.He was told, "Time and time again,don't marry foreign wives from pagan nations who worship other gods.If you do that, they will cause you to not be faithful to the Lord."Solomon knew that, but he didn't listen.Which leads to one of the saddest passages in the entire Old Testament.Solomon clung to these in love.He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines.And his wives turned away his heart.For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods.And his heart was not wholly true to the Lord, his God,as was the heart of David, his father.What a heartbreaking end for Solomon.What a serious warning for you and for me.Solomon knew it all.He knew what the right thing to do was, but he didn't do it.He didn't guard his heart.It's tempting to think, "Well, my heart seems like it's fine right now."But then you fail to think,"Well, I'm going to have heart problems moving forward."You may not think that you have heart problems right now,and that you're free from them.But what about tomorrow?What about next week?What about next month?What about next year? Are you ready?Evaluating your heart is not a once in a lifetime appointment.It is a daily appointment with the Lord.Confessing sin from your heart isn't something you just do once at your conversion.No, it is a daily acknowledging and repenting of your sin.Giving thanks with your heart isn't something that you just do in Novemberwhen you're eating turkey with your family.It is a daily discipline that shapes how you view Godand how you view your own life.Guarding your heart isn't just something you do when you have the time.No, it's something you do 24/7, 365 days a year.Guard your heart with the Word of Godbecause it is the only source of help, encouragement, and strength that you can find.Guard your heart with unwavering vigilancefor from it flow the springs of life.Your heart problems can only be solved by God's solutions.Let's pray.Father, we come to you.And we acknowledge that there is something going on within all of us.Whether it's doubt, severe anxiety, constant complaining,a sin that we don't think anyone knows about, but you do.What help us to lay all those things at your feet,help us to seek after you for help, for encouragement, for strength.Lord, we don't have the energy in ourselves to guard our hearts.We don't have the passion that's needed within ourselves, but you do.Give us your strength, give us your encouragement, give us your passionso that we can guard our hearts, not just today, but every day moving forward.We ask all these things in Jesus' name. Amen

Pastor Mike teaches the scriptural basis for no longer confessing your sins once you’re saved. When a believer sins, they forgot they were clean. They don’t need to be cleansed. Audio>  

Pastor Garrison GreeneTEXT: Psalm 32BIG IDEA: God graciously beckons us to confess our sins, and greatly blesses us through it.OUTLINE:1. We Are Beckoned to Confession2. We Face Barriers to Confession3. We Find Blessings through ConfessionRESOURCES: ESV Study Bible; The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary by Christopher Ash; Confess Your Sins: The Way of Reconciliation by John Stott

In this episode Payton uncovers a serial killer who terrorized the United States in the 1980s. Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW MERCH LINK: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: twitch.tv/throatypie Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intothedarkpod/ Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUbh-B5Or9CT8Hutw1wfYqQ Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7 Sources: Dead Silent Season 2 Episode 6: Secrets of the Santa Cruz Mountains KION News 46 - https://kion546.com/news/2017/04/11/serial-killer-admits-slaying-two-in-aptos-and-santa-cruz-authorities-say/ Mercury News - https://www.mercurynews.com/2017/04/11/serial-killer-terry-childs-convicted-of-two-new-santa-cruz-county-murders-murders-from-1980s/ KSBW Action News 8 - https://www.ksbw.com/article/serial-killer-admits-to-murdering-2-in-aptos-santa-cruz/9257554 SF Gate - https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Serial-killer-admits-to-unsolved-murders-in-Aptos-11063911.php Sportskeeda - https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/bodies-in-the-wilderness-where-terry-childs-now NY Times - https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/21/us/inmate-to-undergo-tests-on-claim-of-12-killings.html Santa Cruz County Sentinel - https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-cruz-sentinel-terry-childs-confess/20196194/?locale=en-US Las Vegas Sun - https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/may/21/suspect-in-1979-murder-returned-to-reno/ https://lasvegassun.com/news/1998/jun/07/man-pleads-guilty-to-killing-teacher/ Mercury News - https://www.mercurynews.com/2007/11/02/killer-admits-to-79-slaying-of-cupertino-woman/ Nevada Appeal - https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2007/nov/02/authorities-california-inmate-confesses-to-1979-sl/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things get real but now we are atoned!Support The Podcast: Join our patreon and become a Dust Jacket! patreon.com/booksunboundSign up to the bookmark subscription! https://store.dftba.com/products/books-unbound-bookmark-subscriptionOur beautiful merch: https://store.dftba.com/collections/books-unboundAriel's T-shirt: https://store.dftba.com/collections/bissett-books/products/im-thinking-about-books-t-shirtFollow us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/books_unbound/Need Info or Some Books?Buy books with our affiliate link: https://bookshop.org/shop/BooksUnboundAll the books we mentioned in this episode: https://www.booksunboundpodcast.com/booksSubmit your book requests at booksunboundpodcast.comUse our affiliate link to get 2 audiobooks for the price of 1! https://tidd.ly/3dyW1XwOur Patrons:A special thanks to our Gold Foil Team on Patreon: Adriane, Alex, Alli, Bellanora, Brittany, Bronte, Candis, Christina, Claire, Debra, Diana, Gene, Inbar, Jessie, Jill, Karina, Livi, Luna, Megan, Michelene, Myriam, Nicole, Roisin, Sherralle, Tiffany, Tina, Vanessa, Zoe!

Confessing the Same Sins Over and Over? Two ways to overcome those sins.FOLLOW US:Our Main YouTubeOur Family YouTubeBlog ArticlesFacebook Page hereInstagram TikTokTwitterPinterest4 DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUPPORT THIS MOST IMPORTANT WORK! 1. Stripe2. Patreon (only monthly) 3. PayPal4. GoFundMe (Billboards) QUESTIONS? https://www.subscribepage.com/e3e8c7WEBSITE (Retreats, Keynotes, Parish Missions, Articles, and more) CHECK OUT OUR T-SHIRTS & MERCH https://catholictruth.org/shop/Like our Tees? Designed by Glorybound Apparel: https://gloryboundco.com/BOOK: Counterfeit Spirituality (Centering Prayer, Yoga, Reiki, Astrology, etc). What is good? What is not? How can we know the difference?)BOOK: WHY Do You Believe In GOD? (True conversations with atheists and evidence for God and faith).In-person or online Confirmation retreat? https://catholictruth.org/speaking-and-retreatsAPOLOGETICS TRAININGS: Would you like 1-on-1 Apologetics personal training with Bryan? Or, a chance to ask questions or get advice? Contact Catholic Truth: info@CatholicTruth.org     

Confessing Your Faith in Jesus - Matt. 16:13-20“Worry is misuse of your imagination.” - Mark GregstonIn the next chapters we will see Jesus make a “bee-line” for the cross. But first He needs His disciples to understand 2 things – Who He is, and what He is going to do in this ‘first coming.'Christ enters Caesar's city, “the gates of Hell” - V. 13aThis city was built to honor Caesar Augustus, who had died in AD 14. There was a Temple there to worship him. They had coins with his face on them: Some said “Caesar is Lord,” others proclaimed him the Son of God.The crowds don't really understand who Jesus is - V. 13b-14The Son of God, the Creator of mankind had become a man, and He liked calling Himself the Son of Man. That He is referring to Himself is clear from verse 15 when He says, “But who do you say that I am?”Jesus wants to make sure His disciples do understand - V. 15-16You in verse 15 is in the plural. Jesus is addressing all twelve of the disciples before Him!In contrast to the dead and impotent gods and idols around them in Caesarea Philippi and the world, Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the LIVING God!Unless you believe that I AM, you will die in your sins. - John 8:24If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. - Romans 10:9Three things that are true of all believers - V. 17-20True believers have been blessed by God - V. 17No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last day. - John 6:44True believers are part of God's great church - V. 18Jesus was probably smiling as He made a play on words in verse 18. Peter is Petros, one small rock. Petra is a rock mass. Peter the rock would be part of a larger Petra rock, the foundation of which is Jesus Himself. True believers have authority to represent Christ - V. 19Verse 19 is in the singular, specifically referring to Peter as a key leader in the early church. But in Matthew 18 in the second reference to the church Jesus makes clear this kind of authority is for churches full of believers. Believers possess delegated authority to act as Christ would if He was physically here (Matt. 28:18-20). Rabbis used the terms binding and loosing to speak of what was permissible according to the law. Christians now have the authority to evaluate all things by the Word of God alone, not the words of popes or preachers who aren't speaking biblical truth.“It is the church on earth carrying out Heaven's decisions, not Heaven ratifying the church's decision.” - Albright and Mann

Sadie's "Confession Hour" is a new practice that she treasures and has discussed in several episodes. Today, she's joined by some of her closest friends — Freddie, Elyse, Lydia, and Grace — who make up this special "Confession Hour" group. Sadie opens up about why confessing to her friends has been such a game-changer in so many ways, and she shares how fear kept her from doing this for so long. If you're wondering how to cultivate deeper, more authentic friendships and relationships, it might be time to start regularly confessing to one another! Not only is this a biblical practice, but it will also help you love and be loved for exactly who you are, enabling you to walk in freedom without shame while glorifying God!  This Episode of WHOA That's Good is Sponsored By: https://www.trymiracle.com/whoa — Get 40% off + 3 FREE towels with code WHOA at checkout! https://fastgrowingtrees.com/whoa — Get 15% off your first purchase with code WHOA at checkout! https://hiyahealth.com/WHOA — Get 50% off your first order today! - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices