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Speaker 1Good morning, back. Is this thing on? Everybody out there, you can hear me? Would you stand with me? Imma invite Scott.
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He's in town. Come on forward. We're going to sing Oh Worship the King, hymn number one zero four. If you want to look for your part, it's pretty pretty good one. Oh, worship the king.
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Here with us this morning. Thank you, Judy.
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Speaker 2Worship the
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Speaker 1victorious, in
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Speaker 2Jesus, all glorious, our Amen.
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Speaker 1That's a good one. Don't do that one all
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Speaker 2the time.
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Speaker 1That's very nice.
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Speaker 2That's a good one.
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Speaker 1Like, great is thy faithfulness. Hymn number one thirty nine.
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Speaker 2Great is thy faithfulness morning by morning mercy thousand great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness morning by morning new mercy I see Great is thy faithfulness. One more time.
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Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat. We we opted for the optional ending and we didn't tell anybody. Alright. Thank you. We're, I've got a few announcements and here they are.
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So, there's a high school and junior high school Bibles study for junior high and high school girls that happens during the first service. Judy is leading that. It's going well. Very good. We've got youth group tonight.
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It's five to seven tonight. So, youth group from five to seven tonight right here at the church. Tomorrow night, in this very room, we start out Awana Kids Club because kids matter to God, 05:45 to 07:30PM right here from ages two all the way through fifth grade and then down the hall, we have Monday nights at first B. Carl, it's going to be on Job the second sermon in a series on Job. So, the answer, what question?
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What will be the question that I asked tomorrow night? God just. Is God just? Fantastic. Thank you.
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Job two tomorrow night. Monday night, that also comes with meal and music, not just the message. Meal, music, and a message every Monday night. The senior center of Jackson Hole is not meeting tomorrow. It's Veterans Day tomorrow.
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So, the senior center of Jackson Hole is not doing their normal Bible study but it's still up here so that you'll go next week, okay? Next week, 12:45 but tomorrow is Veterans Day. Hope and healing in the aftermath of rebellion against God, a study of lamentations. This happened Thursdays, nine o'clock sharp in the fellowship hall. Jane Kreinberg is leading that study.
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I'm planning on being there this week. I was out of town past week but Lamentations is a three part series and we're in the second part. Please come. Hope and healing in the aftermath of rebellion against God. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance, formerly known as men's fraternity, has kind of extended its bounds to all of the different churches in the area and so in this room, they'll start out 06:00AM Wednesday mornings and they're studying the book of Ephesians together.
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They're tasking a different leader each week with a little portion of the book of Ephesians. Mine's coming in a few weeks. December 11 is when I'm supposed to present, but we're going there. Jackson Hole Men's Alliance, study Ephesians and encourage one another, build each other up. Habitat for Humanity and First Bee.
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We're doing a First Bee build day on December 7. December 7 from 08:45 to 04:30. There is a sign up on our website. If you go to firstbjackson.org, you can sign up and it'll give them an idea how many people are coming. And if they know how many people are coming, they have a better chance of having a lot of work available and ready for us when we get there.
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So that's December 7 is our first bee build day for Habitat. I am told we have a video for Operation Christmas Child. It's a minute and a half long, and we'll go to that.
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Speaker 3We're here in Mazdalon, Mexico with Operation Christmas Child to minister and love on children in these communities. Pastors used Operation Christmas Child and the greatest journey to go out there and share the name of Jesus Christ. I'm excited to be here because pastors are going out and building these churches knowing that people are going to come after the Operation Christmas Child distribution. It's people that participate in Operation Christmas Child that make all this happen. Those that are volunteer in distribution centers, those are just simply packing a shoebox.
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Your shoebox is a part of that. These are gospel opportunities. This is a chance to go out and share the name of Jesus Christ throughout the world, and then to teach evangelism, discipleship to these young children, whether go on and sharing with their families and their friends, and then churches are being planted because of that. This is an exciting time here in Mexico, and, it's pretty humbling to be a part of it.
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Speaker 1That is Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan's Purse is a it's a good organization. It's a great method. So, that's that's fantastic. I love I I have a when I looked at that, I just thought of I had a professor in seminary that said this all the time. Methods are many and principles are few.
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Methods always change. Principles never do. They've got good principles behind this method and it it really works. There are some boxes back there. If you want to pack a box, you can bring em in.
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We'll have a wrapping party, November 20 and then we'll send them off through the distribution centers all over the world and how many of you all are veterans? How many of you all have served in the armed forces? Would you mind standing up? Or should the rest of us stand up and say thank you? How about that?
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Thank you all.
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Speaker 2Sorry, I can't talk about
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Speaker 1that. My dad is a veteran. I've mentioned that before. But when I start talking about that, I just cry. I try I love y'all and I appreciate you for doing what you have done and what your compatriots are still doing Can we pray?
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Maybe I'll get out of this. Thank you for those who are willing to put their lives on the line to protect other people Lord, I thank you that that our our country is a country of laws, that its law is king and not the king makes law. God, I thank you that there are men and women that have been able and been willing to fight for those best parts of our tradition, Lord. And I just thank you that you put it upon your people to go and do that. In Jesus name, I ask that you would bless all of the veterans here in the families.
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Lord, they represent for our soldiers that are on the field right now. I pray comfort and peace and the knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Amen.
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Sorry. If there's anything that I've forgotten, it's wiped away right now. Would you all stand up and greet one another?
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Speaker 2What
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Speaker 1What's that? Yeah, I think so. Thanks. Music helps.
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Speaker 2Worthy of worthy of praise worthy of honor and glory worthy of all the glad
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Speaker 1Hymn number two twenty four, we've come into his house, gathered in his name to worship him. Him we
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Speaker 2and
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Speaker 1have come into in his name to
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Speaker 2his house and worship Christ the Lord worship him
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Speaker 1Y'all can have a seat but I will invite the frontline team to come forward. Would y'all pray with me? Or should I say, let us pray. Let us pray. Lord, it's in Jesus name that we come together this morning gathered in this house to worship you.
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We know that we can approach you through Jesus Christ, our lord. Through the veil which is his flesh. Lord, I thank you that you rip that earthly copy top to bottom, the moment of the crucifixion. I thank you lord that you restored and you resurrected Christ and that he is living today. I thank you lord that we, his body continuing right here, lord, are continuing by your spirit.
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Lord, I pray that if we are to live by the spirit that we would keep in step by the spirit and as you lead, we would be obedient where you call will go, where you lead us, we will follow. Lord, in Jesus name, I pray that you'd use all of the offerings and tithes that are put into these plates this morning to further your kingdom's advance that we would, lord, be investing it, putting it forward into the fertile soil of the mission field, and Lord that you would be raising it up. I pray that we would do the part that is our necessary and reasonable service, Lord, and that you would do what only you can do. Would you multiply your word to do your will? You say that it will not return void.
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We take that very, very literally. So Lord, would you spread your word through your obedient service this morning, we give to you to see you advance. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Judy.
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So, we have gotten up to Hebrews 10. That's where we are in our study of scripture and we got there. If you missed one week and you came back and said, wait a second, we were in eight last time I was here. If you missed just one week, you missed a chapter and a half last week. So we did all of chapter nine and the first 18 verses of chapter 10, but it's because all of those things were related.
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It was related to the high priest Jesus Christ, our great high priest Jesus Christ, and it was speaking of the old covenant in relation to the new covenant or better yet, the new covenant in relation to the old. Basically, let me sum up. The old covenant, it's all on you. How you feel about that? The new covenant, it's on God.
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He's taken it upon himself. He will do the work. Now you still have to submit your will to his will, but it's all on him. He has the power. You surrender your will to his power and he will move.
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So would you rather it all be on you or it all be on Christ? It's all on Christ. And so that's the summary of the old and new covenant. If you wanna read back through chapter nine and the first part of chapter 10, feel free to do that. You can go back and listen to the sermon from last week if you'd like on Facebook.
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But I have kinda a little subtitle under this. Is this just word salad? Have you all heard the term word salad? Maybe not. In my line of work, I've heard it a lot and a lot lately.
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So Jennifer Flanagan is here with us this morning. And when she was helping and taking care of Wes over in the memory care facility, Wes would begin to speak. And when he began to speak, a lot of times there'd be lots of words that came out, but they would not be in any particular order. And sometimes the words would be very meaningful, sometimes they would seem to have no meaning whatsoever. In fact, his his most frequent refrain was hot dog.
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He just said hot dog. When he didn't know what else to say, he would often say hot dog. And and that happens when people so word salad, it's just when things are coming out at you all at once. I I am using this as a device, rhetorical device, please forgive me. But word salad, therefore, I'll get to it in a minute.
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It's not just word salad. I believe these words really mean something. It takes the last chapter and a half or if we go further than that, it takes the whole of the book of Hebrews, the sermon that is the book of Hebrews thus far. It takes all of the theology and all of the old testament quotes and everything that we've seen so far. And then this passage will give us a this is what we do with that now.
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So there'll be three hortatory subjunctives. The last time I presented it, I presented it for nerds. This time I'm presenting it in puns. Okay? Forgive me a forefront here.
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Therefore, brothers and sisters, brethren, since we have confidence to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, and knowing the old covenant, there was only one person that was allowed to enter into that holy place and it was the high priest and he was only allowed to do it one time a year and he was only allowed to do it after he'd sacrificed bulls and goats for his own sin and for the sins committed in ignorance of the people. He was the only one and it happened once a year on the day of atonement and they even tied a rope around his leg to pull him back out of there in case he entered unworthily. Carl talks about this lot. He says, what would it be like to go and to make sure on the day of atonement and you're there and on your way out of the temple, you sin. You think, I gotta carry this thing for another year before I can even have any hope of it having been dealt with at all and the writer of Hebrews says it never was dealt with.
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All that the old covenant did was remind us of our sin. It let us know of it and reminded of of it and something had to die because of it. It's just a that's a I don't like the old covenant but I do like the old covenant as it points to the new covenant. So, this is new covenant. Therefore, brothers and sisters, those who've accepted the truth that Jesus is the Christ.
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He is the right and only sacrifice. He has been sacrificed once for all the last few verses have said in earlier chapter 10. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way. What was the way that they used to access the Holy of Holies? It was dead.
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It was external. This is the law. You have to do it this way. Something has to die but that thing that died never came back to life. It was a dead way.
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It was external rules that were static that you had to do. Now, those rules did point towards this new and living way the whole time they did. By new and living way which Jesus inaugurated for us. Now, he was the only one who could righteously go in because he had no sins of his own. This was covered in the previous passages too.
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Through the veil, that veil, that is his flesh, his flesh, a life perfectly well lived with no sin debt of its own. He is the way because he offered himself voluntarily. We can choose to accept him and it's exclusive. It just is. He's the way.
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He's the truth. He's the life. He's the only way to the father and in our society, that is offensive. People want tolerance there. They want all roads to lead to heaven and as long as you're sincere but this says that he has made the way It's a new and a living way.
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It is through his flesh and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, since we have confidence to enter the holy place, since we have a great high priest over the house of God, I'd say this is the rationale behind. This is the rationale behind all of theology that we've gotten up to this point and then, he's about to give us some hoardatory subjunctives. That's the encouragement for all of us to do. He's gonna do it this way. Let us.
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Alright, word salad. Let us. Let us. Let us. Let us.
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And he's already done this before. Actually, he's done this several times before. In chapter four, let us fear. Let us fear if while a promise remains of entering his rest because that's what we're looking forward to is entering that incorruptible hope, entering into that rest that God offers in Christ. Therefore, let us all fear if while a promise remains of entering his rest, anyone of you that are listening to this sermon for the first century Jewish background, believers in Jesus or for me presenting to y'all, let us fear.
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Let us really fear. If we have set up a system by which people think I'm good, I'm good. Without Christ. It's let us fear if we have created a system by you know what you're supposed to wear, you know what you're supposed to do, you know what you're to say, you know what you're how you're supposed to act. And if you do all these things, we just think you're it.
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You're good. Let us fear if that ever case. It's by Christ and Christ alone. We'll go on. If anyone may seem to have come short of it, therefore, let us be diligent.
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Let us be diligent to enter into that rest so that no one will fall. He's talking about banding together and I know that because he's about to say that. The next let us we get to. No one will fall through following the same example of disobedience. So, today, if you hear God's voice, do not harden your hearts like they did in the wilderness and be disobedient.
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Therefore, let us be diligent, enter that rest so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience of those children of Israel in the wilderness. I've got two of em in the three verses right here. Two more lettuces. Therefore, since we have a great high priest. Oh, I've heard that before in the first part of chapter ten nineteen says that, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens.
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Oh, this is not just an earthly situation like those other weak priests. This is someone who has actually passed through the heavens. He's not serving a copy or a shadow, but he's actually gone before God, before the throne. He's seated at the right hand of majesty right now interceding for those who would put their trust in him. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, then, let us.
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Let us hold fast our confession. It is about Jesus. It is not about the way you dress, the way you act, the way that you who your mama is, who your daddy is, who your ism is, it is about Jesus. Let us hold fast to that confession. This passage we're studying today was unswervingly hold on to the fact that it is.
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Jesus, let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weak. Jesus knows what it's like to walk in the flesh and we have one who has been tempted in all things just as we are. So, he understands the temptation. Yet, he was without sin and since he was without sin, he could offer his life blameless before God and it was an acceptable sacrifice to God and we have heard from the writer of Hebrews that the blood of bulls and goats can never never take away sin. It can remind us of our sin, but it can't take it away.
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Therefore, let us let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace. Now, draw near. We just saw that. Verse 19. Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we might receive mercy.
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Mercy is not getting what we do deserve for our sin. And so that we can find grace to help in a time of need and getting something good that we don't deserve. The Holy Spirit of God is a good gift that we do not deserve. Hebrews six one goes on with more lettuce. Therefore, leaving the elementary teachings about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from the dead works and of faith toward God.
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Let us press on to maturity. So the let us here, the let us is a way of making a command, but it's including the writer in the command. It's a much softer command, a hortatory subjunctive. It means, if I stood up and I did a little while ago and I said, us pray. Now if I said, let us pray, and I bow my head and I begin to say words out loud directed to God, you have the choice of saying words to God, praying.
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Or you have a choice of saying, he'd pray if he wants to. I'm just gonna sit here. Right? So it's contingent. They'll let us is an encouragement towards good for all of y'all from somebody, and it's including me in that request.
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Let us pray. You have the choice of praying or not. You have the choice of drawing near or not. You have the choice of partaking of the divine spirit by engaging one another. Let us.
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Hebrews ten twenty two starts off this way and this is where we get into our, this is what you do with all that we've seen before. Let us draw near, huddle, gather together. That's why y'all came. We have gathered in his name to worship him. Let's draw near.
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How? With a sincere heart. Not because your mama made you. Not because you think, if I'm gonna get any votes this November, I gotta be there. If I'm gonna have anybody in this town, that might not be a that might not be something people do, but back home, it's something people do.
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Let us draw near. How? With a sincere heart. With a sincere heart, I'm going to gather with God's people to praise God. Yeah.
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That's why I'm going sincerely. In full assurance of faith and it's not just like, oh, come on, please. Big guy in the sky, whatever. I mean, it's a nice time. We get together and then we go to breakfast.
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I guess it'll be alright. No. We come together with a sincere heart in full assurance of the faith that we profess, right? That Jesus is the king and that we come together, we gather together. He'll get on or the writer of Hebrews will come together and say more about what we are to do when we draw near with a sincere heart and in full assurance of our faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean.
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Oh my goodness. We just went through last week of how everything that is in tabernacle worship, almost everything it says, is purified or cleansed with blood. Blood sacrifices is sprinkled on, you know, the cups and the lampstands and every other thing, but he's saying that we don't have just externals. God is writing his law on our heart. He is contacting us directly by his spirit in our minds and in our hearts, and we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.
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It's not just a reminder of our sin, but it was a reminder of our sin which humbles us and has us turned towards a new covenant savior that actually expiates and removes our sin. It doesn't just remove the guilty feeling, it removes the guilt. We stand amazed before God because he's willing to make us, though our sins be as crimson, white as snow. Having had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, I think that is a reference to baptism. Although the cleansing portion of it, he's saying, y'all have decided about Jesus.
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Y'all have already made this decision. You know that the blood of bulls and goats was pointing towards this and when you see Jesus as being the ultimate sacrifice, it need not be done anymore. Don't be tempted to go back. You've already been baptized in to this. Stick with Jesus.
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He's better than better than better than. We've heard it the whole book. An evil conscience is gone. Sprinkle clean and our bodies washed with pure water. Now, let us Let us what?
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Let us hold fast. Hold fast, grip it, and hold on to it unswervingly. Like I said, the confession of our hope. It is on Christ. Now, if Christ prayed in the garden for unity in the body and he did.
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He said, may they be one. All of my followers, lord, father God, all of my fathers, may they be one just as you and I are one. There should be difficulty with separating in between the followers of Christ because they hold unswervingly to the confession of their hope to Jesus. I've had multiple people that have called me this week. Some of them were struggling with church.
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Previous church, past church, local church, this church, that church, maybe this church actually, literally. They called and said, I'm struggling. I'm struggling with church. I'm struggling with the do's and the don'ts and the list, and I'm struggling with the way that this is practiced and that is practiced. And I said, have you you have you really spent any time lately getting to know Jesus?
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Stick with the confession of our hope. If we are Christians, Christ must be what this is all about. Have you read the book of John lately? It's 25 pages long. It's not a hard read.
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Reading, you know, first 18 verses are like, wow, that's amazing. And then the story. Chapter two, changing water to wine. Not to grandstand so that his disciples would believe in him. Chapter three, Nicodemus, religious guy coming at night.
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No. Legalistic understood the old covenant very very well but yet Jesus said, you gotta be born again. Chapter three, you can't be good enough to get in. Chapter four, Samaritan woman at the well. Yeah.
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You got four husbands. The guy you're living with now is not your husband. Can't be bad enough to be excluded. I like that guy. I I I have yet to challenge anybody to read through the book of John and they come out of it not liking Jesus.
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He's the hero. He is Jesus Christ. By the time you get to chapter eight and you see the woman caught in adultery, oh my goodness. And Jesus, the way he deals with her, let those of you who are without sin cast the first stone. We have to hold fast the confession of our hope and Jesus is the confession of our hope.
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He really is. Faith in Christ is what? It's all about union with Christ. So let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of our faith, having our heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. Our bodies washed with pure water.
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Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, unswervingly. And why should we do that? He's gonna answer it. The writer of Hebrews is gonna answer that. For he who promised is faithful.
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Great is thy faithfulness. Oh God, my father, there's no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changes not thy compassions they fail not. As thou hast been, thou ever wilt be. All of that old covenant stuff was pointing towards what God would provide and he is faithful to transform us and sanctify us.
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And let us. Let us consider. Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. How to stimulate one another love and good deeds. New King James Version is the one that I have memorized in my head that says this, and let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.
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We are to be stirring up love and good works and when I think of stirring up, I I think what do you do with paint? If you want to use paint, if you want for it to be any good, paint that just sits on a shelf for a long long time separates, right? Especially oil paint. Oil paint, the oil floats to the top and the pigment sinks to the bottom, and if you try to paint with oil paint that has not been stirred up, what happens? You're painting the wall first with oil, which makes it slick, and then if you reach down to the bottom and get some pigment, it won't stick to the oil.
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But if you take a drill and a stir stir stick or a drill and use it kind of agitated a bit, then it's paint. You know, it sticks. The medium sticks. Let me go back to the Greek. That Ace Hardware example right there didn't seem to stick.
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So let's go back to the Greek. Here here it is. Paroxysm is our English word. Paroxysm is interesting. Paroxysmon is stimulation, provocation, or irritation.
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Think about that. I think that the writer of Hebrews had heard what they were provoking each other unto and it wasn't love and good works. They were fighting amongst themselves. Some of em were fighting saying, come on back in. It's ridiculous.
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Why is it that we, I know that God said he provided and and that yeah, Jesus is it but hey, we can still go through the motions. It's not a big deal. They're persecuting us over there and it's not that big a deal if we just go through the motions, day of atonement, whatever, you know. No. Others are saying, but you can't do that.
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It's gotta be Jesus and all along that spectrum, there are people that are arguing, they're provoking and irritating each other and then they start to splinter. Have you seen it happen? In my experience, in my youth, I saw churches split. We had a little church in Georgia that I went to. It was about 50 people usually and we'd swell to about a 100.
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Tremendous move of the spirit and then something would be upsetting and we would shrink back down to about 40. And about 40 people would leave to go to another church and about 20 would never go to church again and it happened multiple times and we've all seen it happen because we irritate each other because we provoke each other and we stimulate one another. Really do. Actually, I'm going to go one step further. This is the definition from Thayer's lexicon but actually angry dispute, I wanted to wait to mention that but that's part of it.
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There are two uses of this word in the New Testament. Only two. One of them is stir one another up into love and good works. Stimulate one another up into love and good deeds or agitate one another into love and good works. That's good.
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The other one is this, Acts 15. It's the story of Paul and Barnabas when they're about to leave on their journey and after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, let's return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are and Barnabas wanted to take John called Mark, John Mark along with them also but Paul kept insisting they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work and there occurred such a paroxysm, such a great sharp disagreement. Now, between them that they separated from one another and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus and Paul went on his journey without him. That's the other use. Now, trying to get between these two and go, how can it be stirring one another up?
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He's using a very, very, very passionate word. Such a sharp disagreement. Now, those of us who are in ministry, you've seen ministers that had a sharp disagreement and they go. When they part from one another, everybody uses the Paul and Bar. Paul Paul did it.
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It's just a Paul and Barnabas thing. We can't go forward together. What a shame that is. And Paul eventually came back around and said, bring John Mark with you. He's useful to me for ministry, please.
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He recognized that, and I think he regretted that decision. The sharp disagreement. If there's gonna be something that is an agitation or an irritation or a provocation, what we should be provoking one another to do is love one another and do good work. The good works that God has prepared in advance for us that we should walk in them. So, let's consider how we may stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together.
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As is the habit of some and some people do that. When they have that division, like I said, that is a temptation to say, you know what? I just can't get along with them anymore. When when the whole movement, protestant movement is born out of protest, we still go by it, protest. We're fighting still.
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It's five hundred years, people. Can we not get back together? Not forsaking our own assembling together as is the habit of some. Some people do just fall away. Let's stick in this together and if we're going to provoke one another, let's don't provoke them into anger or to violence.
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Provoke each other into love and good works. Encourage one another. Be encouraging one unto another, Alelonis, Greek word. Be encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day, the great mighty day of the Lord drawing near. Okay.
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So how many of y'all think that today we are at least a day closer to Jesus' return than we were yesterday? Okay. So you're to be more encouraging today than you were yesterday. All the more encouraging so much the more the writer of Hebrews is used so much the more about five times too. It builds Encouraging one another, not discouraging one another.
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I think we're pretty good at that, at discouraging one another. Encouraging one another. All the more. That's three lettuces here. Three lettuces.
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Let us draw here. Let us hold fast the confession unswerving and let us stimulate one another unto love and good works. Consider how to stimulate one another. So, be thinking about it. If you see in someone a gift that they may not see, encourage them to be active using that gift for the kingdom of God.
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Consider how to stimulate one another. Almost used a real rough example right there. I got time. Why not? If someone stands up and they sing and it's terrible, truly terrible, be nice to them.
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Don't encourage them to do that again, okay? I'm just kidding. Maybe that caused the church split. I'm not really sure. No, let us consider.
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There are people that God's family, God's people will affirm one another in the gifts that they have. I think that there's some gifts that we think. Oh, I think I really want to do this and I really want to do that. That might not be your gift. You know, be willing to serve humbly wherever it is that God has truly gifted you.
44:15
Let's consider how to stimulate one another. This is to be a farm for lettuce, okay? This is the place where let us do these things. Let us hold fast. Let us draw near.
44:25
Let us stimulate one another up in love and good works. This gal comes to church here. She usually comes to the first service. She comes to Monday night. This week, she's away at a outdoor ministry conference.
44:37
She came to Carl and me a while back and she said, I'm working right now. She has a story about how she was disabled. Her back was hurt so bad she didn't think she'd ever be able to walk again, but she is and she's an athlete. And she is serving among athletes, and Jackson's a very athletic place. So she's moved here drawn to the people that God has called her to, and she is trying to minister in outdoor athletics.
45:06
Christian Little is her name. She goes by Christie. And if you see her around the church, encourage her that she is doing what it is that God's called to do. I believe that it that she is doing it. She has been doing it without any real kind of support.
45:19
It's been more or less, I feel like God's saying do this and so, she started doing it and you know, she's does physical therapy and other stuff too but what she's passionate about is people coming to Jesus who don't know him through outdoor ministry. That's Christian Christie Little. This is a pocketbook. This pocketbook, it's not about the sermon about generosity. This is a pocketbook that was made by the girls.
45:47
Means grace in Kiswahili, Kenyan's language. Tanya, you all know has been to Kenya several times. I've been to Kenya several times. Roseanne lived in Kenya for a while. And when Roseanne was ministering in Kenya, one of the gals that was in the youth group, Grace was in youth group, found out about Jesus, start studying the Bible, and she feels that God is calling her to help victims of physical and sexual abuse, young ladies, Ne'ama means grace, and she has this ministry that has been started.
46:24
And they started off making quilted little purses and things, and they've gotten better and better at doing that. Now that is a way for those girls who are in that program to make these things and they sell those things in order to be able to fund that program so that more girls can come in and receive the healing and the transformation that Christ offered. It's fantastic. I'm not selling purses. I just wanted to mention that one.
46:49
Do y'all have anything? I'll give you an offer. We got seven minutes left. Does somebody have something that God has called you to that you know God has called you to and you're already currently working in this, and you just won't let the church know because we want to be a hot house for lettuce, okay? Anybody?
47:09
Teaching Sunday school for Crystal. Fantastic. Thank you. Anybody? Music ministry.
47:16
Missionary in Romania in God's time, Florin. Yeah. Anybody else have one? I'll tell you my story. Jane, teaching precept.
47:26
That is what God God has called you to. This is the place that you can stimulate. You considered how best and for me, the word of God is the best way that I know it's a guarantee because it says the word of God will never return void, and so I'll tell you my story real quick. I don't have a picture of me, but Blake probably does. Of course he does.
47:46
Yeah. That's it. Yeah. That's me. That was when I used to no, I'm just kidding.
47:54
1975. My my story is fast forward from that about twenty something years. Twenty twenty years from then. And I was in I was looking for a job. I interviewed for a job and the the guy that I was that was interviewing me said at the end, he goes, well, I really like it sounds like you fit pretty good.
48:14
Do you speak Spanish? And I said, I think I could if I needed to. I'd had high school Spanish. I'd had college Spanish. Didn't really speak Spanish, I had never really had the opportunity.
48:25
So well you need to, you got the job. And tomorrow, and from then from now on, 40% of the people you'll be speaking to don't they don't speak English. They speak Spanish. So I started studying Spanish and I was kind of scared to death, quite honestly. The bosses in the mills and the factories that I used to work in didn't, for the most part, understand Spanish.
48:45
They used translators, but
48:46
Speaker 2I thought if I'm going
48:47
Speaker 1to be effective, I'm really going to have to learn this. So I wrote out a script and it was basically I started studying Spanish by reading the Bible in Spanish. I bought a paperback New Testament and I started reading it through, and I got some of these great means verily verily I say unto you. I got a lot of biblical stuff in that way but to learn to speak it, I started talking to people and then I prayed, God, if you'll help me learn this language, I'll give it back to you. I don't know how but I promise that I will.
49:18
Help me. And he did. My script on the backside of my five safety points that I had to make the back of it. It said, Jesus said, come on to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. That's a quote from Jesus and Matthew.
49:39
If you'd like a Bible, I know a lot of you have left home and you've come a long way and you're here away from your family and you probably left the family Bible at home. If you want, one of these paperback New Testaments, I'll give it to you. I've got a bunch of em in my truck. Would you would you like one of those? Tell me afterwards and that helped me learn Spanish that way and I give him gave him a Bible and I saw God work through his word.
50:01
It was fantastic and then, I was sitting in church one night and the preacher preached a sermon. It was very much like this lettuce sermon. He didn't use lettuce and he didn't use this passage but he said, if there are any of you out there who are currently doing a ministry that you are doing on your own, the church wants to help you with that ministry. And so tell James Culver, he's the guy in charge of equipping people to do that sort of thing. So just tell James.
50:28
Now James was right there. He was one row up and one seat over from me and so I leaned forward and I said, James, I hand out Bibles and sawmills. Is that what he's talking about? And James said, yeah, man. You speak Spanish?
50:42
I said, yeah. He said, we can get you some Bible. So, good. That's great. I mean, it wasn't a huge cost but it was a cost, you know.
50:48
We'll get you a couple of cases on the way. Do you speak Spanish? I said, yeah, more or less and he goes, we got a mission trip going to Mexico in two weeks And if you'll go, they'll probably they'll probably pay your way. They don't have a translator. They don't have anybody who speaks any Spanish at all.
51:04
And so two weeks later, I'm in Mexico, which turned into seven years, which turned into five years of seminary, which turned into me preaching here. But I think that that's my story. That's my story is just being willing to say, you know, yeah, God help me. I don't know what I'm doing. But as you lead, I'll make a step forward and he he does that.
51:23
So I would say the same thing. If you have something that you're currently doing for Christ, please let us know and let us help. We want to be a hothouse for lettuce. We want we want to stir you up and not to anger and not to violence and not to go to a different church but stir you up into love and good deeds And praise God that he he still works through imperfect people who are willing to just go forward. Yes.
51:47
I think that's it. Like Judy, I think that's it. That's black slide up there. I think that think I'm through. I'm gonna cover this passage again next week very briefly as I lead up to the very severe warning that follows.
52:03
So if you wanna read ahead in the text, it is this and then it is a warning that follows another one of those. It's an exhortation and then it's it's a it's a pretty tough warning coming. So I feel like I've forgotten something but I don't know what it is. I hope the song will cover it. What is it?
52:20
I surrender all? Alright. Fantastic. That's it. Would y'all stand up?
52:26
Amen. Scott.
53:09
Speaker 2All to Jesus I surrender all forsaken take me Jesus
53:47
Speaker 1I remember what it was. So, Carl and I went to a pastor's conference this week and it was particularly run by Eric Watt, Run Ministries, Reaching Unreached Nations. We've been supportive of him and his ministry for for quite a long time here. When I started seminary about twelve and a half years ago, there were 6,500 or 6,600 people groups with more than 10,000 people that were unreached or unengaged. 6,600 people groups with more than 10,000 people that were unreached and unengaged.
54:19
In the intervening time, we are down to about 500 now. That's amazing. So considering that Jesus even included it in his eschatological talk about the gospel will be preached in all of the nations. And we know from Revelation, every tribe, tongue and nation will gather before the throne. If we consider that and think about it and he says and then the end will come.
54:44
We're getting closer and closer. I'm seeing the day approaching. So, considering how to stimulate one another unto love and good deeds. This might not be something that will affect you directly but it'll affect all of us indirectly, okay? So, they were asking, they had 243 people groups, just a page representing them on the wall over here and they were saying, would you be praying for one of these groups and to pick a group, you just pick the group.
55:10
However, how do you pick a group? There are no easy ones left. I'll tell you that. If they haven't been reached yet, they're not easy. The death of a lot of different countries and cultures are hard to reach and there are a lot of deaf people on that list And there are a lot of people in the ten forty window where Islam is predominant on that list and it's not easy.
55:32
So they ask us if we would pick. So I chose two groups. Carl and I chose Prague chose two groups. One of them is Gypsies of Kazakhstan. You know why I chose Gypsies of Kazakhstan?
55:44
Because of that gypsy. Of Romania. That's it. I know him and I could see the powerful force that God is in this community through him and there need to be more people gathered around the throne from his background. Now, his language and their language is somewhat similar and so Kazakhstani gypsies, I put em up on the wall down at the end of the hall and then, long time ago, Tanya and I, and I've been on a couple of trips to the Berbers of Morocco in the Central Atlas Mountains.
56:13
And we have these mountains right here. And so mountain community, mountain community, the Algerian Berbers, the Manasseh Berber people of Algeria. So, I'm asking you, this is, I'm trying to stimulate us. This might not be something we ever really know the extent of until heaven but would you begin praying for Kazakhstan, Egypt, and Algerian Berbers and with that, I'll bring us to the benediction and give you a dismissal here. Now, short passage today but a long benediction.
56:42
Now, may the God of peace who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead, our Lord Jesus, a new and a living way. That great shepherd of the sheep. May he equip you with everything good for doing his will and may he work in us what is pleasing to him through Jesus Christ to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. May you go in peace carrying the name of Jesus with.
57:05
Thank you.
