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Speaker 1Or the connect hour connected me till past the connect hour. Sorry. I was down there just enjoying and thought, probably ought to be somewhere else right about now. How are y'all this morning? Good.
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Good. Glad to see you. Welcome. Would you stand? And we're gonna sing hymn number four ninety two at Calvary.
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Oh, no. We're not. Wonderful Words Life. Wonderful Words of Life. Hymn number four zero six.
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Tell you what, before he starts, there's a hymnal in maybe there's not a hymnal in front of you. Do you see him? If you see a hymnal in front of you, we have by the time we find the hymnals, here we go. Wonderful words of life. Up on this, up on the screen right now.
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Wonderful words of life.
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Speaker 2Sing them over again to me wonderful words of life let me more of their beauty see wonderful words of life words of life and beauty teach me faith and beauty beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life Christ the blessed one gives to all wonderful words of life sinnerless to the loving call wonderful words of life words of life and beauty teach me faith and beauty beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life beautiful words wonderful words wonderful words of life last verse sweetly echo the gospel call wonderful words of life all for pardon and peace to all wonderful words of life words of life and savior sanctify forever beautiful words wonderful words words of life beautiful words wonderful words words of life
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Speaker 1Amen. Thank you, Hymn number 11 is come thou fount of every blessing. So, typically, Judy picks out the songs for a month at a time and sometimes, Judy does not know whether or not she's going to be here during that month and she will give Florina call and say, hey, Florina, would you play for me? And he says, yes, I will play for you. And then he looks at the songs and he says, but I won't play that because I don't know that.
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So, come thou fount of every blessing is hymn number 11. Here it is. Would you sing like you mean it? Alright? Here we go.
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Speaker 2Come thou fount of every blessing tune my heart to sing thy grace streams of mercy never ceasing call for sounds of loudest praise teach me some melodious on it sung by flaming tongues above praise his name I'm fixed upon it name of God's redeeming love hitherto thy love has blessed me thou hast brought me to this place and I know thy hand will lead me safely home by thy good grace of name Jesus. I'm goodness I'm like a letter bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wonder, lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Use my heart oh take and seal it seal it for thy courts above Amen.
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Y'all can have a seat. I have a
5:34
Speaker 1few announcements. Blake, my announcements for you are hymn number 79 and in hymn number seven eighteen. 79, seven eighteen, and if the pastor doesn't go long, hymn number five ninety three. Alright. Otherwise, we'll sing the doxology at the end.
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Alright, announcements are these. There there's a nurse and mother's room downstairs. I don't nest know whether you'll need it or not but if you were to need it, there there's one downstairs with a video feed of this service as it's happening. Monday nights at first B is happening tomorrow night. There's always gonna be on Monday night a meal and music and a message.
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Tomorrow night, the meal and the music is certain. We know who's doing what and we know what they're doing, meal and music, but Carl is supposed to be back. If Carl is back, Carl will be preaching and if Carl's not back, I'll be preaching. Okay? So there will be a message whose message?
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We don't know at this point. Carl's supposed to be back. So, that's a great time. That's where I go to church and just love love the fellowship around the tables. Meal, music, and a message.
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It happens at the same time as Awana Kids Club happens in this room starting off in here and spreading out all over the church, pouring scripture into the minds of the kids to reach their heart. Youth group happens normally on Tuesdays but Mike called this week. He said, is it cool with you if we don't do youth group on Tuesday this week? Yes, that's fine. So, there's no youth group this Tuesday but on Friday, weather permitting, they are doing a pizza party in the park.
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Mike will send out more more kind of instructions on that to the youth group. If you want to know more, you can call the church office and we'll help you figure it out. Pizza party in the park on Friday evening. Little clicker is not clicking for some reason. Oh, precept study is happening too.
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Acts is the book that they're studying right now. They do an inductive Bible study on whatever book they're studying right now. It's the book of Acts. It's the part two, latter half of Acts. Paul, Jesus's witness to the Gentiles, Thursdays at 09:00 in the morning sharp and they go to 11:30 on Thursday mornings.
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Do you all know what this is? My sister's closet. It is kinda like a high end thrift shop gently used items that people from this church and kinda peripheral to this church will bring together. And we'll have a one day only thrift shop down the hall in the Fellowship Hall, May 18 for a $10 entrance donation. It's sort of like a clothing swap, with good stuff that y'all have brought in together and then you'll swap.
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Does that make sense? Okay, good. Kinda. Little clicker is not working with me this morning Blake. Missed a message, if you missed a message, you can go back onto our website and you can look it up and find both the nine 11 audio.
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You can find them on our website. If you wanted to go back and see one, the 09:00 service each week, do a video feed on the Facebook Live and you can go into Facebook, First Baptist of Jackson, Wyoming, and it'll get you there. So if you wanna go back and see something, if I was talking too fast or you missed a point and wanna go back and pick it up, you can go on there. There is a connect hour between services. That's a place to come together between the nine and eleven 10:00.
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That's where I was actually right up until time to start this one. It's a good place to gather with everybody. There seems to be something I'm forgetting. If I've forgotten anything, it'll be in your paper bulletin, alright? Announcement.
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So take one of those with you when you go. You'll know what's going on around here. And one last thing, yesterday, about three or four different churches came together here in this sanctuary right here, and they did a daddy daughter dance, a butterfly ball, they called it this year. Decorated the whole place. It was like a spring garden in here yesterday.
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But they also came together and fixed it back up like a sanctuary so that all seats would be right back where they need to be and everything clean and spotless like it is on Sunday mornings. It's just nice that the churches are coming together and doing that and that's an event that is good and growing. So I wanted to mention it and I think that's it. So all you extroverts, revel in this time. Stand and greet one another and you introverts try to stare at someone else's shoes for a little while, alright?
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Alright.
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Speaker 2My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine for thee all the follies of sin I resign my gracious now love thee because thou hast first love me purchase my
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Speaker 1Amen. Alright. Hymn number seven eighteen is day by day, day by day. Is that going to be a hymn number up there, Blake? Okay, good.
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Thank you. Thank you for what. Let's just wait just a second. Wait just a second. Y'all know how hard it is to do the job that he does back there?
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It is insane. Like, I y'all are looking at me and that's a that's difficult enough. Trust me. But if anything ever goes wrong up there, about half of y'all turn around slowly and glare at him. And that's a whole lot worse than just having eyes on you the whole time.
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Thank you for what you do. I appreciate it. It takes a lot of planning and it goes out the window when everything anything ever gets kinda fouled up. So here we go, Day by day.
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Speaker 2Day by day and with each passing moment strength I find to meet my trials here trusting in my father's wise bestowment I've no cause for worry or for fear he whose heart is kind beyond all measure gives unto each day what he deems best lovingly it's part of pain and pleasure mingling toil with peace and rest everyday the Lord himself is near me with a special mercy for each hour all my cares he fain would bear and cheer me he whose name is counselor and the protection of his child and treasure is a charge that on himself he lay as your days your strength shall be in measure this the pledge to me he may help me then in every tribulation so to trust your promises oh Lord that I lose not faith sweet consolation offered me within your holy word. Help me lord when toil and trouble me dare to take as from a father's hand one by one the days the moments fleeting till I reach the promise
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Speaker 1Amen. That song goes so well with the message today that is just amazing to me. Would y'all have a seat? And I'll invite the frontline team forward. Would y'all pray with me?
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God, we thank you for the beauty of this morning. I know that a lot of your children, the believers in the Eastern and Greek and Russian Orthodox traditions are celebrating Easter today, Orthodox Easter. They are thinking the day of the resurrection lord and we're thinking of the ramifications of the resurrection and how then should we live. I pray lord that we would be constantly bending our will and submitting into your will like Christ. Lord, if it'd be possible to let this cup pass, I pray for that.
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But if not, Lord, would you give me the strength to go for it, to do your will and not mine? God, I pray that that would be the attitude of our hearts as we're here to receive this morning the word that we may then broadcast and spread. Lord, with this offering, these tithes, I pray that you would do your will and your way of advancing your good gospel in this community and in the state, region, country, and world. In Jesus name, we're looking forward to your return but we want more to know who you are, why you came, and to be set free, and transform. In Jesus name, do your will.
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Amen.
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Speaker 3Story how my loves this day to save in his boundless love and mercy redeemer and he said he from life had Amen. Praise the Lord. Amen.
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Speaker 1Thank you, Florine and Bob. We're up to second Peter 112 through 21. That's the verses that we're going to cover today for the first, you know, go through em together for the first time. We're in a chronological study. So, we've been going through the New Testament for six and a half years and we've been going in order in the order that books are written.
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So, we went the life of Jesus in the book of John which was a later book written. We went through the life of the early church in the book of Acts and since then, we've used that for a framework to go forward. We are up to the writing of this book was somewhere between '65 and sixty seven AD. So, '33, thirty four years or so after the crucifixion resurrection but second Peter one twelve through 21 is what we're covering today. If I put up here speech one zero one and I I ask you what speech one zero one was about, at least some of y'all would say this.
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You'd say, tell them what you're gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them, right? That's speech 101. That's the whole thing. Whether it's a extemporaneous speech or prepared speech, you wanna tell them what you're gonna tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them. That's the normal for an essay or whatever.
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So the way we're doing second Peter today, chapter one, I'm gonna tell them what I told them three weeks ago, and then I'm gonna tell them why I told you what I told you three weeks ago, and then I'm gonna tell you why I'm telling you today why this week what I told you three weeks ago. Are you with me? Yeah. I'm gonna go back and do a quick reminder of the first 11 verses is what I'm saying. I'm doing a reminder and I think you'll see before the end of the sermon why I'm reminding you of it.
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Some of you weren't here. That's one reason but the other thing is it was three weeks ago and we are leaky people. We remember things for a while and then we forget and we can be filled with the love of God and the word of God and it still just seems to leak down if you don't keep on filling up. So, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna remind you the first 11 verses.
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I'm gonna take my time. If you see a white slide with black writing, if you've been here a lot, you know this. White slide with black writing is something we have been through together with me preaching here on this platform and first be listening. So if you see a white slide with black writing, if you see a black slide with white writing, that's new. And if you see a black slide with yellow writing, it's something that we are going to cover but we haven't covered yet.
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Does that make sense? I hope that that's helpful for you. It's very helpful for me. Okay. This is the way second Peter starts off.
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Authoritatively, this is the word of God. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle, Dulos, it is a slave and an apostle, one who has sent out. It's a small A here but it could be a capital A because Peter was one of the original apostles that were sent out by Jesus and he carries a certain apostolic authority but since he starts it off and says, I'm a slave of Christ and one who is sent out. The NIV chose to make it a small A. So, Simon Peter identifies himself as slave and one who is sent out by Christ Jesus.
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He gives now his recipients To those who through the righteousness of our God and our savior Jesus Christ, our, our, ours, ours, meaning his and the people he's writing to, to those who through the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ, have received a faith as precious as ours. Now, Peter was a thoroughly Jewish flavored Christian, right? And he's saying that his recipients are primarily Gentile background or Gentile flavored Christians. How many of y'all are Jewish background people in here? How many of you?
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So, how many of you are Gentile background? That's everybody else. Everybody else, right? To those who through the righteousness of God, it is the work of God that he's spreading his gospel message and you've received it. To those who through the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ have received the faith and this is an incredibly humble statement from a good Jewish boy, Jewish Christian boy.
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You've received a faith that is just as precious as ours. I don't put you in second hand citizen status. Grace, amen, unmerited favor, and peace, shalom. The absence of war, the absence of fighting. Grace and peace be yours in abundance or multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and Jesus our lord.
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The knowledge of God plays a very, very heavy role in that short little book of first Peter. The knowledge of God will be mentioned over and over and over and over. It is about the content, the knowledge of God, but it's also about a firsthand experiential knowledge and understanding of God because of relationship with him. Are you with me? Okay.
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I'm gonna ask that a lot today because there's a lot here. Okay? So we're going through the first 11 verses. Quick reminder, his divine power, and I would say, let's capitalize that. His divine power, I believe what Peter is saying right here and I think it's born out for the of this book.
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His divine power, the Holy Spirit. We have father and son already mentioned right there in the first two verses. His divine power, his Holy Spirit has given us everything we need for a godly life. How? Through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
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It's God's work. God is sovereign and he has extended to us unmerited favor. His divine power, Holy Spirit has given us everything we need for a godly life but it's through the knowledge of him who is good and glorious. Through these, he has given us his very great and precious promises. So, Peter, being the good Jewish boy he was, had Torah and he had the prophets and he studied those and he thought about em and he sat under teaching and he was with Jesus interpreting and teaching from all that he knew to be scripture at the time and he says that God has given very great and precious promises so that through those very great and precious promises, you may participate in the divine nature.
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It does not say you may become a god. It doesn't say that you may become God like even. It just says that you may participate with him. You may participate in the divine nature. His divine power has made the way that you would be able to participate in the divine nature.
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We have a will that is ours but we can voluntarily by his goodness and grace and the sacrifice of Christ upon the direction of the Holy Spirit, we have the choice of submitting our will to his and he allows us to participate in the divine nature. Having escaped the corruption in the world that's caused by evil desires, he gives us a way out of not just our evil desires but our evil actions. He gives us a clear conscience and through confession, he cleanses us from unrighteousness. Now, I'm gonna say this, first B. Y'all are first B.
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I think it's first Baptist but we nickname it first B. I'm saying that's a verb. It's a command, alright? First, be, Alright? And I say that because for this very reason, after those first four verses, he says, for this very reason, y'all make every effort to add to your faith.
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Now, your faith must be placed in Jesus in order for any of the rest of this stuff to happen. Are you with me? First, be. And you be because of what you be. You are because of what you believe.
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Make every effort though to add to that belief that saves. It's by grace, the unmerited favor of God, extended towards you, access by faith. It's by grace through faith that we are saved and not of ourselves. It's the gift of God so no one will boast but we're his workmanship. We're created in Christ Jesus to do good works and this follows that same pattern.
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For this very reason y'all make every effort to add to your faith. So I'd say first be and then do. If I were to reverse the order of those and say, first do so that you may be, I would be theologically inaccurate and just like all the other religions in the world. It is first be, and then what naturally follows or supernaturally follows that is the doing. So here he says, for this very reason y'all make every effort to add to your faith goodness.
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Submit your will in the area of goodness. And to goodness add knowledge. You can actually study the Bible and take in more content and you can open up your mind and your heart and your will to give it over to God and submit to him and you can experience him and to that knowledge, add self control. Does God's Holy Spirit help to restrain you from doing things that you should not do? Amen.
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If he didn't, we just keep on doing em, right? You have to access that divine power, Peter calls it, the higher power, AA calls it, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge, and the knowledge, self control, and the self control, perseverance. Keep on going. And to perseverance add godliness.
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He's given you everything you need for life and godliness and he's given it to you by his divine power. He's given it to you so that you would participate in the divine nature, add to your perseverance, godliness. And the godliness, mutual affection. Mutual affection we mentioned was Philadelphia. It is Philos kind of love, brotherly love, and to that mutual affection add love.
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I could say brotherly love and agape, godly, unconditional type love. That's certainly the pinnacle. Agape love is certainly the pinnacle. The others, I don't think they necessarily go in a stair step arrangement, but it's a rhetorical device to help you. So first B, that is about faith.
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Where do you place your faith? If you place your faith in the son of God, Jesus Christ, you have accepted that his sacrifice, we're going to celebrate the Lord's supper after a while. It's a remembrance of his sacrifice of his perfect life lived on behalf of others as a ransom for many, all who would believe. So first B is based on faith, but the then do is how you exercise that faith. Submitting your will to God, he will add to you goodness and knowledge and self control, perseverance and godliness, mutual affection, and love.
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It is possible through the spirit alone. It's not possible on our own but he's asking for em. He's making a call to holiness. He's calling em out and saying, do it rather than just, yeah, you're good. You're in.
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You got in the kingdom. Stop right there. You're fine. No. He goes on.
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If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, a lot of you who've been here before have seen the slide on sanctification where it says, you're saved right here but then as you submit your will, Christ will grow you and sanctify you. It's the work of the Holy Spirit but we can deny him and not submit and we start to fade. If you possess these qualities in increasing measure, then you will keep from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Is it possible to be saved but also ineffective and unproductive? Peter says it is.
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How many of y'all wanna be ineffective and unproductive? Nobody. So what Peter is saying is this is how not to do that. Submit and be able to to not be, I I should say, to be able to be effective and productive. This slide, I had several people call me after the sermon three weeks ago and said, could you send me just that one slide?
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I want to read that one again because a couple things bothered me about that and I want to know what it was so that I can pray about it and think about it. Ineffective. The two words there are ah, which means not, and then ergos, which means work. Not work. Ineffective.
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It just doesn't work. Synonyms might be or definitions might be idle, lazy, thoughtless, unprofitable, or even injurious. It just doesn't work. And unproductive, a carpos. A carpos is to be literally not fruit, right?
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No fruit. Unfruitful, barren, or profitless. And this is the part that bothered people and they called it the fine print when they emailed me. Akarpas, unfruitful refers to any thought or any action that is not originated and empowered by the Lord. It's not born of faith, not birthed or empowered by God.
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So, by definition, all decisions that are not born of faith are sin. Romans 14 says that. Heavy But it's true. James also says it. James says to know to do good and do it not.
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That's sin. So which automatically renders these deeds eternally fruitless if it's not born of God. It's a waste. This is the case regardless of how impressive or acceptable they are in the eyes of the world. People have done great things that are of no eternal significance.
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Does that make sense? Alright. Or if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, then they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive and in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them, who does not have these things added to their faith, whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. The having been cleansed from the past sins is saying, yes, they're saved.
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They're in. They're in the kingdom. But it's nearsighted and blind to stop right there and just stick with only faith and not have any works to go with it. Are you with me? Okay.
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It's gotta be born of God. Therefore, I love good therefore. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. He is speaking to Christians. If you're here today and you haven't ever trusted in Christ, this message honestly is not really for you.
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I mean, I hope you have an evangelistic slant in here somewhere that you might be able to accept and take into your heart. Jesus says, the Christ, the one, the son of God. But this is primarily a message and a chapter and a book even. First, second Peter, for believers. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you've already trusted in Christ.
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Make every effort then. Make every effort. It's about doing. It's not just about being, it's about doing. The order has to be right.
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You are now due. Make every effort to confirm your calling and your election for if you do these things, if you do these things, it's possible to not do them. If you do these things, which are they? Goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, love. If you do these things, you will never stumble.
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The connotation there is stumble irrevocably. You won't stumble beyond, you won't stumble out of the faith. Actually, somebody called me from the three weeks ago too and said, I had a problem with what you said up there because what you said was, if you have tasted and seen that God is good, and then you reject it and you don't do anything about it, then you will go to hell. And I said, I don't think I said that. I believe that once you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and you have come into the family of God, I believe that you're saved eternally.
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I do believe that. I don't believe that you can be saved and just continue to do nothing. Does that make sense? I believe it's possible to profess Christ but it not be true. Are you with me?
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Okay. So, I do believe that once you're saved, you are always saved but I feel like Peter is writing to people. He's writing to a lot of people who have been under false teaching, and he is saying, be sure, be sure, and if you're not seeing this fruit in your life, you have to question whether this is true in your life at all. Are you with me? Okay.
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We'll talk about it after if you want to. I'll stay here till every question is answered. Alright? And I'm I'm I know I'm walking a razor's edge on these things. I I believe that they're warnings in Hebrews are real, and I believe that there are warnings throughout the Bible.
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But I think that the difference is one who is professing Christ not truthfully and one who is actually saved and professing. So, for if you do these things, you'll never stumble irrevocably and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ and this is the new stuff for today. This is where we start up. So, so, because of all that, because of everything that I just said, so then, I will always remind you. That's why I want to do a reminder this morning because Peter is reminding them.
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So, I will always remind you of these things. If I'm going to be talking to you, it's going to be about the gospel. It's going to be about where you place your faith and it's going to be about what that should do within you after that. I will always remind you of these things even though you know them. He's not being condescending.
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I know you know, but I know you're also leaky people and you need to be told again. I will always remind you these things even though you know them and even though you are firmly established in them, I'm not questioning whether you know em at all. You're firmly established in em. The truth that you now have. But Peter, servant, and apostle, had some very specific experiences with God that he's gonna share with us.
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I think it is right, Peter says, to refresh your memory. It would be really hard to do my job if I didn't think it was right to refresh your memory. If I think, oh, they already know that. I don't wanna say, I gotta say something new. Eventually you run out of new stuff to say.
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The gospel is at the center. It has to be. If it all becomes about self help or the newest thing, then it's not based on what you need to know, right? I think it's right to refresh your memory, to remind you of these things. As long as I live, Peter says, in the tent of this body, and he recognizes that he's only here for a little while.
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And even if he lived a hundred years, still a little while in this light of eternity. As long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside. So I could say a hundred years is soon putting it aside or you don't know. No man knows the hour that his life will be required of him. Nobody knows when they're gonna go.
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But Peter says, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me that I will soon be putting this body aside. Now, if you don't know what reference that is, it's probably this reference to John. It might have been that Jesus was expressing it to him, you know, directly through prayer or whatever but I think it's probably this. John twenty one eighteen nineteen says this, very truly I tell you, Peter, this is Jesus talking to Peter. When you were younger, you dressed yourself and you went wherever you wanted but when you are old, you will stretch out your hand.
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Peter was probably the oldest of the disciples. That's by tradition. We believe that to be true. So, he was probably at least Jesus' age and probably older maybe than Jesus when they met and this is now thirty years beyond that. So, he's old.
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You know, he's an old man. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and you went where you wanted but when you're old, you will stretch out your hands. This is in John 21 and last week, we talked about John 19. We talked about John 20. We didn't get to John 21 where Peter was restored on the beach by Jesus.
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Peter, do you love me? Yes, lord. You know I love you. Feed my sheep. Do you love me?
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You know I love you. Feed my sheep. Do you agape me? Or, you know, hurt his feelings because he had said a third time. But he said, tend my lambs, take care of me.
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Jesus had told him on the night he was gonna betray or deny him. He had told him, listen, I've prayed for you. Satan's asked to sift you like wheat, but I've prayed for you that when you have failed and you have returned, that you'll be able to strengthen your brothers and your sisters in Christ. And then right after he restores him with feed my sheep, feed my sheep, tend my lambs. Oh, and think about this too.
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This one hit me this week. Jesus said, go tell the disciples and Peter. Man, go tell the disciples and don't let Peter disqualify himself. Don't let Peter think I'm not talking to him. Go tell the disciples and Peter to meet me in Galilee and this is what Jesus had to say to him.
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On the beach in Galilee after he's preparing for him, serving him still, prepare him a little fish with a coal fire. He says this, very truly I tell you where when you were younger, you dressed yourself, went where you wanted but when you're old, you will stretch out your hands. Jesus had just been crucified, stretched out his hand. The normal criminal would take their upper beam of the cross and they would stretch out their hands. They would either tie them or nail them to that beam and then they would carry that cross to wherever they were going to be crucified.
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Now, by tradition, on good authority, by tradition, Peter did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same way that Jesus had. So, he asked to be crucified upside down but this prophecy that Jesus had made was true for Peter. John wrote this a few years later. Jesus said this, oh, it says, you someone else will dress you and lead you. When you're old, you'll stretch out your hands and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go and Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God and then he said to him, follow me and he would be following him all the way to crucifixion.
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While he's still alive in this tent of this body, he's going to remind him. He's going to refresh their memory because I know that I'll soon put it aside as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me and I will and he says, make every effort again. Same word. I will make every effort. He's just told us, y'all, me to include it, y'all, all y'all.
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For this reason, make every effort to add to your faith, goodness and goodness, knowledge, knowledge, self control, and self control perseverance, and perseverance, godliness, and godliness, mutual affection, mutual affection, love, and I will make every effort to see that after my departure, you will always be able to remember these things. That puts a big smile on this preacher's face right here, because the heart concern of Peter was the well-being of the body of Christ, of the church, of the individual believers. And he said, I'm gonna make every effort to see that after my departure, you will always be able to remember these things. Simon Peter, a fisherman, probably, maybe not even able to write, had different emanuencies. He had one of them, Sylvanas, we know was one of them.
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I think that Jude probably was his scribe for this letter. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure, you'll be able to remember these things. You know, some things you tell somebody and some things you text somebody, right? He wrote this down and it made it into the Bible and that just makes me cry and smile at the same time because what Peter wants is for God's word to be known and his word inspired by the Holy Spirit became part of holy scripture. So, why does he want that?
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Why is it so important to him that they'd be able to remember these things? And he says it in the next sentence. He says, for, for, because of this, for this reason, because we did not follow cleverly devised stories. The word in Greek is mythos, myth, where we get our word myth. We didn't follow myths or wives, fables, or just morality tales.
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We're not following cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and power. I also wanna say this, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, the coming, you could read that in English and go, well, he's talking about his first coming. He was born yeah. Christmas story. Born in a stable in Bethlehem.
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The word there though is used 17 times in the New Testament. It is always about his second coming. We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about Christ and his second coming and the power that is going to be at that point. But we, Peter says, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. So he's talking about himself and some other people.
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He goes on to say, his majesty where he, Jesus, received honor and glory from God the father when the voice came to him from the majestic glory. The majestic glory is another term for God. The Jews had been using for years to not say the word God because they don't like doing that. They don't do that. He received honor and glory from God the father when the voice came to him from the majestic glory saying, this is my son whom I love.
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With him, I am well pleased. Now, you might read that and upon your first reading, you think, oh yeah, remember that story. That's the baptism of Christ. The, you know, the heavens open up and the spirit of God descends like a dove and it lights upon him as he's being baptized by John the Baptist and God's voice says this but Peter goes on to say, no, I'm not talking about that time. We ourselves heard this voice.
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We heard the voice of God from heaven. When we were with him on that sacred mountain, in the rivers not on the mountain, okay? He's not talking about the baptism of Christ. He's talking about the transfiguration of Christ. Which is a glorious event.
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Here it is from Matthew 17. After six days, this happened at a certain time in a certain place. It's real. It's something that happened. After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, the brother of James, that's the sons of thunder.
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Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. So, there were four of them that went up and there, he, Jesus, was transfigured before them. His face shown like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. One of the synoptic gospel says, his clothes became whiter than anyone could bleach them. Just then, there appeared before them, Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.
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The four guys go up and now there are six guys that are there. Three of them are talking with each other and other three are stunned. In fact, it says, while oh and then while he was still speaking with Moses and Elijah, a bright cloud covered them and a voice from the cloud said, this is my son whom I love. With him, I am well pleased. Listen to him.
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That's great. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground and they were terrified but they heard it and all three of them heard it and it wasn't a delusion. It was three guys standing there listening and all of them testified to this fact. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground terrified but Jesus came and touched them. He said, get up.
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Don't be afraid. When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, don't tell anyone what you've seen until the son of man has been raised from the dead. Now, how many times did Jesus him he's going to be raised from the dead and they just couldn't get it until he actually was and when he was, all of these stories were like, oh, that's what he meant by that. That's what the prophets meant by that.
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No, this is not drunk. This is what the prophet Joel had said. This is what the prophet Jeremiah said. This is what Malachi had said. Oh, sorry.
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Matthew sixteen twenty eight. So, this is immediately before that story of the transfiguration said, truly I tell you, this is Jesus speaking to all of his disciples. Truly, I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the son of man coming in his kingdom and a lot of people over the years have had trouble with that verse saying, those disciples all died but there were three of them that saw him coming in his kingdom. That is the transfigured Jesus is what? The resurrected Jesus.
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That is what the glorified Jesus will be in his return. Other people say, why would Peter go to the transfiguration to describe this instead of going to a post resurrection experience? Instead of going to some other experience with Jesus where he came in the locked room or where he met up with him on the beach or where he appeared to 500 people. There was something different about this transfiguration experience that God, the Holy Spirit, inspired through inspired Peter to write. Now, Peter says, I have a first hand personal experience.
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Very, very real to me But I also have and you also have, we also have the prophetic message, the message of the prophets as something that is completely reliable. Everything that God has said about Jesus will has either come to pass or will come to pass. The prophetic message is completely reliable. In fact, Malachi four five said, see, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. If you follow on down in Matthew, the same portion that I mentioned from 17, it says, Elijah has come and John the Baptist, spirit of Elijah, no doubt but Elijah also came and spoke to Jesus on that holy mountain.
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We have the prophetic message as something completely reliable and you will do well to pay attention to it. Pay attention to the Bible. That's what he's saying. The prophetic message about the Christ. You will do well to pay attention to it as to light shining in a dark place.
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There's so many places where the word of God, Psalm one nineteen is one of them where it says, thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It's good. Completely reliable. It'll do well to pay attention to it because it's light shining in the dark place. I think immediately of John, the prologue of the gospel of John where it says, and Jesus came into the world as light and the darkness rejected him.
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Until the day dawns, the day, the day is a prophetic word, the great and mighty day of the Lord or the day of God's judgment that God, the day of Christ's return, Old Testament, New Testament, the day. Until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Now, what's he talking about when he says morning star? Is it Eugene Morningstar? Eugene Morningstar plays guitar or piano now for our 09:00 band, but he is our own Eugene Morningstar.
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That's not what it's talking about. But until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. The day dawning is an objective event that will happen. It'll happen at the end of human history. It'll happen.
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And the rising in the hearts, I think, is a subjective thing that happens to individuals. And he's saying, on this great mighty day of the Lord, the Morning Star will be seen just as we saw him on the Mount Of Transfiguration, you will know him in his truth and in resplendent glory. If you don't think the Morning Star is Jesus, Jesus says it is. Revelation twenty two sixteen, just five verses before the end of the Bible. He says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.
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I am the root and the offspring of David. The root of David is the alpha beginning and the offspring of David, the end, Omega. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright morning star. Okay? It's funny too that if you look at the derivation of all these things, bright morning star, a lot of times Venus rises and you can see the planet Venus before you can see the dawn.
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Does that make sense? So Jesus has appeared once already and he has been there. He's the bright and morning star before that day comes. But the dawn is coming and it's an objective fact of history and he's looking forward to it because it is completely reliable, the prophetic message that says it's coming. So until that day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
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I am going to share something. I put a little ring around this. I'm going to share it this week. I'm going give you a chance to mull it over and think about it. Maybe even study it.
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The last two verses of this chapter, twenty and twenty one, mainly 20, but I'm gonna share it. This I've used the NIV for my Bible translation for this sermon. Part of it is because of these two verses. The NIV has made an editorial decision here that is true. I don't have any doubt about whether it's true or not.
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It is absolutely true. There's no doubt about it. But I don't agree with it because I don't think that's what Peter was trying to say. Does that make sense? I don't think there are three different ways to interpret this verse, and every time that you're doing any kind of translation, I know there's some language experts in the room.
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Every time you're doing any kind of language interpretation, you have to decide on what exactly was the author's intent. Now we have a divine authorship question here. God, the Holy Spirit, his divine power has inspired Peter to write exactly what he wanted him to write. And when we translate that code, when we translate that into our code, our English code, then we have to try our best to hit his intent. This is true.
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No doubt about it. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture, so scriptural prophecy, no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. Are you agreeing with me there that it's true? It's true. The prophets wrote.
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Some of them probably understood some of what they wrote, but not all of what they wrote. God inspired them to write these things, and it didn't come about by their own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will. But prophets, though human, they spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This whole chapter is about God's divine power and Holy Spirit and the knowledge of God and how he flows through and to us.
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Prophecy never had its origins in the human will, but prophets, though humans, spoke from God as they were carried along by the spirit. Verse 20, that's one of the ways that it can be translated. I actually don't think that's Peter's intent because of chapter two and chapter three, but it's also true. I'm not gonna tell you the other two possible. You all have to study that for yourself.
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Okay? There might be 10 others or a 100 others, but there are at least three main ones that have persisted for the last two thousand years. Above all, you must understand, no prophecy of scripture came about by prophets on interpretation thing. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will. Amen.
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But prophets, though they were humans, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Lord, would you speak your will in your way through me? May I be a proclaimer of that which you have said, lord and mute me anywhere where I would do otherwise. Amen. The Lord's supper.
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Can I get the frontline team to come forward? I think that it's great that in the center of this 16 to 18, Peter says three different times, I'm gonna remind you of this. I'm gonna remind you of this. I'm gonna remind you of this. And the reason he's reminding us three times about it is because we're leaky people and we forget stuff.
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And we start to live other than if we don't think about it and we don't dwell on it. Well, when Jesus said to do this in remembrance of him, he's doing the same thing. Peter learned from his teacher, right? So, I'm going to pray right now and I'd ask y'all if y'all distribute the bread. Lord, would you bless this bread and this cup as we are here assembled, lord.
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Praying for your will, praying for your way in our own lives, praying that we would be submissive and obedient. God, we do this in remembrance of you. I pray that a blessing on each who would receive this. Lord, I pray that we would take the time right now to confess our sin and have that sin completely forgiven by you and thrown as far as the East is from the West. Remember no more.
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I pray lord that we would take advantage of your promise in first John one nine that if we're confessing our sins, you're faithful and just be forgiven our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. We take this act as an act of obedience and remembrance. Lord, would you accompany it in us as we go? Thank you for your body that's broken for us. And to pay attention to what it says, I'm going to take this straight from first Corinthians eleven twenty three to 26 this morning.
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For I received from the Lord that which I also pass on to you that the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed, he took bread and when he had given thanks, he broke it and he said, this is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Lord, we thank you for the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of Jesus that was lived out in direct obedience to the spirit throughout his life. I pray, Lord, that we would appreciate completely and understand completely the sacrifice that was made, Lord, of that shed blood but that we would recognize first hand that there was no sin debt that had to be paid. Therefore, he could give his innocent blood to whoever would receive it.
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In Jesus name, we ask your blessing on this cup. Lord, would you please bless each who partakes and everyone who must let it pass, lord. In Jesus name, amen. In the same way, after supper, he took the cup saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.
1:04:16
Peter says, I'll remind you and I'll refresh your memory as long as I can. I'm gonna keep on reminding you and Jesus had said the same thing to continue this and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me. Amen. For whenever we eat this bread and we drink this cup, Paul says that we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again and that coming again is coming in power, the parousia, the parousia. He is coming again.
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Amen. That he is risen, he is risen indeed and he's coming again. That's a part of the story. Second Peter is looking forward to. Would y'all stand with me?
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We will just sing the doxology, I think. Would you sing with me?
1:05:00
Speaker 2Praise God from whom all blessings flow praise him all creatures here below praise him above you heavenly host praise father, son, and holy ghost Amen.
1:05:32
Speaker 1And now, would you let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one another with Psalms and with hymns and with spiritual songs, singing with thanksgiving in your hearts to God. Would you do that? By the power of his spirit in the name of Jesus. Amen.
