296: Jim Styles – What Does God Require of You?

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Welcome to good Chris Elfion
talks.

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I’m Levi.
And I’m Chris, and I’m Brian.

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Thank you for joining us this
week.

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On this podcast, we select one
talk a week to help us get the

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Bible in our Daily News feed.
We post a new episode at the

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start of each week with the
short intro beforehand to kind

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of set the stage for the talk
you’re about to listen to.

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And now, let’s talk more about
this week’s talk.

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Hi everyone.
This is Jason Hensley and this

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week we are going to be
listening to a talk that Brother

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Jim Styles just gave at
Rathmines Bible School in

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Australia.
So he gave this just a few weeks

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ago.
So it’s very new material and

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this is the first class in the
series.

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The entire series is called
Living as a Member of God’s

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Family and His First Class is
specifically entitled What Does

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God Require of You?
I Absolutely love this series,

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so I hope that you are going to
get to listen to the entire

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thing.
What I really like about it is

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that Brother Jim really brings
out and stresses who God is.

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That’s really the whole idea
behind this series.

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And what he does is he he takes
apart, deconstructs some of the

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false ideas that maybe we had
about God that we didn’t realize

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we had.
And these ideas, in creating a

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wrong picture of God, affect us
because we then turn around and

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treat other people the way that
we believe God treats us.

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So this series is huge.
Listen to the whole thing once,

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listen to it twice, three times.
I think it’s the kind of thing

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that you want to listen to over
and over to really help fight

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against some of those wrong
ideas that maybe we’ve taken on

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and and wrong perceptions of
God.

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And so by getting this in and
recognizing that God is a father

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and therefore he loves us and
that he gives us this guarantee

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that if we stick with him and
stay with his program, that he

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has a plan and that he’ll give
salvation when we realize that

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there is such incredible
comfort.

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So I hope that you enjoy this
series.

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I hope you enjoy this first
class and then ultimately the

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whole series.
And I think that these talks are

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going to do a lot for us in
helping us develop our biblical

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perception of God.
So here’s Brother Jim Styles

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living as a member of God’s
family.

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This is class #1.
What does God require of you?

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What I’d like to do is we’re
we’re gonna have it more of a

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devotional study this week.
It’s not really a Bible book

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study, but hopefully it’ll be
very practical for a lot of you

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and everybody go home with some
good lessons to try and apply in

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our lives.
Little challenging things here

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and there, but I really believe
the foundation of all our life

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in Christ has taken me so many
years to realize is that this

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incredible love that God has for
us, I didn’t hear much of that

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growing up in my generation.
People didn’t talk about the

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love of God.
It just was like maybe too

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evangelical to talk about that,
but really that it should be the

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number one principle in our BASF
that is the basis for all the

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things that God has done.
He loves his creation, He loves

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us.
And all these things that he has

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done.
You know, planning for 4000

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years to send Jesus and put him
through what what he went

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through.
And and all the the torture that

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they did to him so that God
could win the victory over sin

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and save us into His eternal
family.

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Draw us away from sin.
And and convince us to join

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Christ in a in a life that
that’s like unbelievable love

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that God has for us.
And it’s really important that

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all of us catch on to that.
Because what I’ve discovered is

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that this is one of the most
motivating things in our life.

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Because if you look back at your
own life I think most of you

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here will probably have to admit
that your vision of God your

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understanding of God the
relationship that we have with

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your God really effects who you
become in a way of looking at

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our second studies on Job and I
I can show you going through Job

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that Job had a relationship with
God that I would say was more on

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the fear based side at least at
least the three the friends

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pushed him to that he was always
afraid about.

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You know like God you’re
watching over me every minute

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and you’re gonna you’re gonna
shoot me with your arrows and he

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it was he was he was on that
side of on the on the balance of

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fear base always thinking God
was watching out for all those

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things that he did wrong.
And if that’s the way you are

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and that’s your relationship
with God you you’re you’re

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living with this fear based
relationship where you’re

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thinking God is always watching
and the angels are watching what

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you do so that they can get you
in this life.

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Then what happens is you feel
justified treating other people

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like that.
That’s sad.

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But I look back in your life.
I I know I myself went through

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this.
You feel like, well, I can.

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I can look at other people.
I can see what they’re doing

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wrong.
And if they do something wrong,

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I can.
I can bring consequences into

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their life.
I can judge them.

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I can, I can punish them for
what they’ve done.

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And it’s because we really do
become the God who we worship.

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And that’s why we have to get it
right.

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We we have to understand who is
our God.

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How does he really deal with us,
What what is he expecting from

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us?
How does he treat us and and all

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of our sins and all of our
mistakes.

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You know, as you’re going
through that job study in the

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second period, you look at all
the things that Job said and did

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and he and he said some things
that were wrong in the end.

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But God had unbelievable
compassion towards Job.

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As we looked at in in James
Chapter 5 yesterday, his

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compassion and his mercy was
unbelievable.

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A lot of us would written tobe
off.

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We would have said, you said all
those things and you you saw all

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this stuff, You know that now
you’re going to pay for it.

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No, that isn’t what our God
does.

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He looks at them as learning
experiences, things that we’re

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going through in life, making
mistake, a mistake.

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But what do you want from those
things so we can get closer and

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closer to him.
And it’s really the challenge

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this week.
So I think for all of us is what

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kind of God do you worship, You
know what kind of relationship

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you have with your God.
And that’s something that all of

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us have to get challenged on.
If Jesus Christ walked through

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the door right now today, as
that door opens up back there,

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if he walked in there and you
saw him, would you want to run

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up and thank him or would you
want to like sneak out the back

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door?
And and it tells us a lot about

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our relationship with God and
with Jesus Christ, his Son and

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with the angels that are working
in our lives.

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If we have a fear based
relationship, brothers and

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sisters, then we will transfer
that to our children and we will

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bring that out in our collegia.
And it’s not a very positive way

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to live the truth that you you
won’t find, you know, that’s

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really the aim of the goal of of
vital characters.

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They came to love their God.
They came to have, you know a

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friendship with Jesus Christ.
And that’s what we want to look

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at this week because our God
really does love us.

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He loves us.
He is full of compassion and he

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treats us that way as we’re
going to see, and so do his

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family members with Jesus Christ
and the angels.

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That’s how they treat us as
well.

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He treats us as a father does
his children, and this is part

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of why he has put us in
families.

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He could have raised children on
this earth entirely different

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ways, but he he put us into a
situation where as young people

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grow up, the men and the boys
and the girls, they find

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relationships with each other.
Many of them have children, or

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they have children they work
with in the Ecclesia.

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And you learn as a father how to
deal with your children and

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children with the parents.
And we we we start to understand

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how our God feels about us.
But if mom and dad are always

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like looking at what we do wrong
and and we’re looking at our

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kids and we’re like spanking
them for every little thing they

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did wrong instead of explaining
to them why and hoping that I

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hope you learn from this like
our God does and showing

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compassion and mercy.
How are our kids ever going to

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understand our God if if we if
we bring them up with a fear

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based relationship.
And when the teens get to the

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point where they’re teenagers
now and and they’re in that teen

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class, we’re still treating them
like that, then in the end they

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think, well, if that’s where you
are, that’s the way God is and

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they and they walk away from the
truth.

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This is serious about how we
view our God.

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It’s a serious subject.
And I don’t really think we

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spend enough time on it myself.
Some people think that when they

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look back at the Old Testament,
they, they read the Old

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Testament, They see all these
things that God did.

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He was angry with the children
of Israel, They punched the

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children of Israel.
He did all these things.

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He said to a whole generation,
you won’t go into the land

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because of unbelief.
And he made him wander for 38

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years.
But we missed the fact that that

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was a national thing.
He was dealing with a nation of

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people.
That’s not the same as you here

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today.
We you can’t superimpose those

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things of the Old Testament on
national Israel and say that God

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is treating all of us the same
way.

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We we weren’t forced into this.
We volunteered to come here.

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We weren’t circumcised at 8 days
old.

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We were baptized and we
willingly joined Christ and said

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to God we want to have a death
like his for his help to live a

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new kind of life patterned after
the resurrection of Christ.

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It’s it’s a totally different
thing.

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And if you go back and look at
how God wanted to treat his

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nation, you see, you see things
like Deuteronomy 7, that verse

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six there.
For you are a holy people to the

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Lord your God.
The Lord your God has chosen you

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to be a people for himself, a
special treasure above all the

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peoples on the face of the
earth.

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That’s what he wanted.
And and most God said the the

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Lord did not set his love on you
nor choose you because you were

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more in number.
It’s because you’re not the

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biggest group than any other
people, for you are the least of

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all the peoples.
But because the Lord loves you,

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and because he would keep the
oath which He swore to your

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Father’s, he’s faithful to his
oath.

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And the Lord has brought you out
with a mighty hand and redeemed

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you from the House of bondage.
And that’s how God wants to

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treat us.
That’s the relationship He wants

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with us, like a father with His
children.

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That’s what he’s after, hoping
that we then will live like that

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in the way we treat other
people.

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You see it again in Deuteronomy
10, starting there at verse 12.

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And And what does the Lord your
God require of you but the fear

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of the Lord your God to walk in
his ways?

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Well, that fear of the Lord your
God, that that doesn’t have to

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mean be afraid of him.
It’s respect him.

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Realize that she She’s the God
who gives us these principles to

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live by, and yet they’re good.
They’re good principles to live

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by.
That we agree with the

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righteousness of God.
He’s right about how we should

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live.
That’s what he’s after, to serve

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the Lord your God with all your
heart, all your soul, and to

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keep the commandments and
statutes and so on.

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But she’s commanding you this
day for your good.

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Yet the Lord set his heart and
love on your father, as it shows

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their offspring after them.
You above all peoples, as you

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are this day circumcise,
therefore the force get of your

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heart, and no longer be
stubborn.

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It.
It was a tough thing for Moses

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to get to, but as you go through
this you see like that in verse

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18, that God executes justice
for the fatherless and the

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widow, and He loves the
sojourner, giving him food and

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00:11:57,520 –> 00:12:01,600
clothing.
Therefore you are being asked to

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love the sojourner.
Therefore, for you were you were

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sojourners in the land of Egypt,
you see the connection that he’s

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making between how God treats
people, how He treats you and

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00:12:13,160 –> 00:12:17,320
expects that that will translate
into then if you understand your

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00:12:17,320 –> 00:12:20,600
relationship with God and how
merciful He’s been with you,

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that you will be motivated other
people the same way he’s

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treated.
It’s not rocket science.

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It it’s just totally
understanding our God, That’s

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00:12:32,480 –> 00:12:35,240
what he’s really after.
But although Paul does say it in

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Romans chapter 2, there’s an
expectation there.

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He’s hoping that when God is
merciful to us and and he’s,

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he’s kind to us.
Even Paul goes on to tell the

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Jews, you O man, you know
everyone of you who judges these

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Jews.
They read back in Romans one all

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these nasty Gentiles and God
gave them up.

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But he said, look at you Jews.
You the judge, you practice the

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very same things you know and
and he goes out in verse four,

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Do you presume on the riches of
his kindness and forbearance and

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patience, not knowing that God’s
kindness is meant to lead you to

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00:13:06,200 –> 00:13:09,400
repentance?
He’s expecting a response to his

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00:13:09,400 –> 00:13:13,560
mercy and his kindness.
But that response is that we we

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repent.
We we realize that I want to be

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00:13:15,920 –> 00:13:18,080
like God.
I I want to be more like Jesus.

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I want to live like them.
I want to be like Christ the

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00:13:21,000 –> 00:13:24,280
resurrected man, but because of
your heart and and penitent

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00:13:24,280 –> 00:13:26,880
heart, you’re storing up a wrath
for yourself on the day of wrath

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00:13:26,880 –> 00:13:29,920
because there will be a a day of
wrath for those people who are

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00:13:29,920 –> 00:13:32,160
not willing to respond.
So what?

247
00:13:32,160 –> 00:13:33,920
What does the Lord require of
us?

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00:13:33,920 –> 00:13:36,880
What is He after in US today?
What does He want from us?

249
00:13:37,120 –> 00:13:39,520
What are we going to learn from
this week about what we can take

250
00:13:39,520 –> 00:13:42,680
home and apply in our life?
You know what’s He after?

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00:13:43,600 –> 00:13:46,440
So some of the religions around,
at least in the US, I’m sure you

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00:13:46,440 –> 00:13:48,080
have some here in Australia as
well.

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Some of them really pushed the
idea that you got to be out

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00:13:50,920 –> 00:13:53,640
there doing good works, good
works, good works.

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And whoever does the most good
works wins.

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And you’re the ones that have
earned your salvation.

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That’s that’s a that’s a push
that some religions have.

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It’s that’s what the Jews did,
isn’t it?

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The the Jewish Pharisees, they
pushed works works works

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thinking that somehow they were
going to make themselves look

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00:14:08,480 –> 00:14:11,480
good before God and therefore
you can earn your salvation.

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Now this isn’t just Christian
religions either.

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I’ve I’ve run into this in the
Muslim community and the

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different religions the Jewish
community.

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It’s a common practice to think
that what we got to do is make

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00:14:21,720 –> 00:14:25,320
sure in the end that our good
works outweigh our bad works.

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And therefore we we now we come
out on the end of where we’re we

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have a positive to our life and
the and God will then have to

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00:14:31,720 –> 00:14:34,840
give us eternal life.
But that isn’t what our God

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00:14:34,840 –> 00:14:37,320
does.
That’s that’s not the way he

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00:14:37,320 –> 00:14:39,000
works.
I I think for the young people

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00:14:39,000 –> 00:14:42,400
here today especially if you’ve
got to understand this God isn’t

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00:14:42,400 –> 00:14:44,680
weighing up your life and
watching what you do today and

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00:14:44,680 –> 00:14:46,200
saying well how many good things
did you do.

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How many bad things did you do?
As long as the good ones

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00:14:48,560 –> 00:14:50,720
outweigh the bad ones then all
right.

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You’re OK.
That isn’t how God works.

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00:14:53,600 –> 00:14:57,360
Not at all.
What he does is he gives grace.

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00:14:58,080 –> 00:15:01,600
He gives grace.
He’s, He’s put us into these

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00:15:01,600 –> 00:15:05,040
lives with this nature that’s so
prone to sin.

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And he’s, he’s going through
life watching us where we sin

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day after day we sin, hoping we
will learn from that that that

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our God is merciful.
He’s gracious, He is willing to

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forgive that.
That in turn will treat all of

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00:15:20,520 –> 00:15:22,880
you like He treats me.
And you’ll treat your, your

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00:15:22,880 –> 00:15:25,080
other, the children like that.
And the children treat their

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00:15:25,080 –> 00:15:28,400
parents like that and will treat
other ecclesial members like

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00:15:28,400 –> 00:15:31,320
that And and look around in our
colleges today.

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00:15:31,320 –> 00:15:34,320
And I just watching as I I’ve
grown up in the truth for years.

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00:15:34,520 –> 00:15:37,920
It’s so sad to watch in a
collegial life where elders will

291
00:15:37,920 –> 00:15:41,320
make very gracious decisions
about their own children when

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00:15:41,320 –> 00:15:44,480
they when they sin.
But if it’s somebody else’s

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00:15:44,480 –> 00:15:47,160
children, they come down much
more judgmental.

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00:15:47,640 –> 00:15:49,680
And that’s not good.
Brothers and sisters.

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00:15:49,680 –> 00:15:52,280
That’s what the Bible calls
showing partiality.

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00:15:52,600 –> 00:15:54,720
Partiality.
That isn’t what God does.

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00:15:55,200 –> 00:15:59,120
He doesn’t show partiality.
What God is after is helping

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00:15:59,120 –> 00:16:03,280
everybody and bringing the right
circumstances into the life.

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When we sin, they’ll send those
angels out.

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They’ll bring the right
circumstances that help us

301
00:16:08,400 –> 00:16:11,320
develop and help us to learn.
And that’s what he did with his

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00:16:11,320 –> 00:16:12,960
own son.
As you’re going through Job,

303
00:16:12,960 –> 00:16:15,600
you’re gonna see that although
Job starts out a very righteous

304
00:16:15,600 –> 00:16:19,480
man, he’s learning as he goes
through this, he’s developing,

305
00:16:19,480 –> 00:16:21,520
He’s maturing his spiritual
character.

306
00:16:21,760 –> 00:16:25,360
So by the end he says, wow, I’ve
heard of you by the hearing of

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00:16:25,360 –> 00:16:28,160
the ear, but now my eye sees
you.

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00:16:28,720 –> 00:16:32,320
Now he had a relationship with
God based on love and saw how

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00:16:32,320 –> 00:16:35,880
God was using suffering to bring
about good things.

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00:16:36,200 –> 00:16:39,520
It was a total different way of
looking at God or look at Jesus

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00:16:39,520 –> 00:16:40,960
Christ.
The ultimate case.

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00:16:41,120 –> 00:16:44,640
Whatever model we create in life
has to fit Jesus Christ.

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00:16:44,960 –> 00:16:47,640
He goes through life perfect,
never making mistakes.

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How did God get him there?
He learned obedience by the

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00:16:51,840 –> 00:16:55,480
things that he suffered.
Suffering is a huge part of

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00:16:55,480 –> 00:16:59,400
that.
God doesn’t use suffering in us.

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00:16:59,760 –> 00:17:04,440
The way he uses wrath on the
nations, a wrath on on those who

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00:17:04,440 –> 00:17:07,560
walked away from God.
When Jesus Christ returns, he’s

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00:17:07,560 –> 00:17:10,800
treating you like children, Paul
says in Hebrews 12.

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That’s what he’s doing with you.
He’s disciplining you for your

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00:17:14,520 –> 00:17:19,079
good, that you might share His
Holiness and all those people

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00:17:19,079 –> 00:17:22,640
that Paul ends up saying, if you
have been trained, you’ve been

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00:17:22,640 –> 00:17:26,200
trained into that righteousness.
It’s a training program that

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00:17:26,200 –> 00:17:30,160
He’s running us through so he
doesn’t weigh out the goods and

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00:17:30,160 –> 00:17:32,520
the bads that we do.
What he’s doing is just

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00:17:32,520 –> 00:17:35,640
constantly bringing
circumstances into our life to

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00:17:35,640 –> 00:17:40,120
help us learn to become better
children, to learn his eternal

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00:17:40,120 –> 00:17:43,280
way of life.
Eternal life, as Jesus called

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00:17:43,280 –> 00:17:45,040
it, or as John calls it in his
letters.

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00:17:45,200 –> 00:17:47,840
He talks about eternal life,
eternal life.

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It’s not immortality.
That’s a huge mistake to make.

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00:17:50,920 –> 00:17:54,000
If you read eternal life and
from Jesus or from John when

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00:17:54,000 –> 00:17:56,880
when Jesus said this is eternal
life, that they know you, the

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00:17:56,880 –> 00:18:00,920
only true God and Jesus Christ
and you have son, that’s not

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00:18:00,920 –> 00:18:04,920
immortality, That’s an eternal
way of life.

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00:18:05,520 –> 00:18:07,880
Or as John would say, you have
eternal life.

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00:18:07,880 –> 00:18:12,280
Now abiding in you, you have it.
It’s a way of life.

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00:18:12,600 –> 00:18:17,480
It’s God’s eternal way of life.
It’s his way of life, and he’s

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00:18:17,480 –> 00:18:20,480
trying to train us to live like
him.

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00:18:20,920 –> 00:18:23,880
And he found out the best
motivation he could ever give

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00:18:24,080 –> 00:18:27,480
was to send his son and put his
son through all those

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00:18:27,480 –> 00:18:31,240
circumstances and show us that
no matter what happened when he

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00:18:31,240 –> 00:18:33,800
was reviled, he didn’t revile in
return.

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When he suffered, he didn’t
threaten.

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00:18:36,160 –> 00:18:39,400
Why?
Because he trusted that the one

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00:18:39,400 –> 00:18:42,600
who judges justly, you know,
that’s what he did.

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00:18:42,880 –> 00:18:45,960
And by His stripes, we are
healed.

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We’re healed because we’re
learning from that to behave

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00:18:49,520 –> 00:18:52,120
like Him.
That’s the whole goal, man.

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00:18:52,120 –> 00:18:54,600
Peter summarizes it like that in
first Peter 2.

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00:18:54,920 –> 00:18:56,760
So that’s what our God is doing
with us.

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00:18:56,760 –> 00:18:58,560
Then He.
He’s not really comparing all of

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00:18:58,560 –> 00:19:00,840
our sins with all our good deeds
and weighing them out.

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00:19:01,040 –> 00:19:03,520
That’s more like a fair, safe, a
way of looking at life.

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00:19:03,720 –> 00:19:07,840
What he’s hoping is these sins
that we commit are going to help

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00:19:07,840 –> 00:19:11,080
us learn to become better
members of his family.

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00:19:11,560 –> 00:19:13,520
And you see, He doesn’t look at
sin like we do.

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00:19:13,800 –> 00:19:16,400
Somebody sins in our community
and they do something wrong.

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00:19:16,400 –> 00:19:19,360
And a lot of us, we have these
tendencies to think, oh, right,

360
00:19:19,480 –> 00:19:21,400
what are we going to bring?
What consequences are we going

361
00:19:21,400 –> 00:19:24,560
to bring into their life?
And and we we look at this as

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00:19:24,560 –> 00:19:27,480
though we’ve got to somehow do
this to them and they’ve got to

363
00:19:27,480 –> 00:19:29,240
be punished.
Because if you have a

364
00:19:29,240 –> 00:19:31,480
relationship with God where you
think he’s where he wants to

365
00:19:31,480 –> 00:19:34,600
punish you for your sins, you
feel justified in doing that to

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00:19:34,600 –> 00:19:36,880
other people.
But that isn’t what our God

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00:19:36,880 –> 00:19:38,560
does.
He gives more grace.

368
00:19:38,560 –> 00:19:42,400
James says that’s what he does.
That’s how he solves wars and

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00:19:42,400 –> 00:19:45,440
and ecclesial members.
And in chapter 4, James says,

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00:19:45,440 –> 00:19:49,160
well what does God do?
He gives more grace, same way.

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00:19:49,560 –> 00:19:53,800
So we know it’s by grace that we
have been saved and it’s not

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00:19:53,800 –> 00:19:58,360
from ourselves, it’s the gift of
God and not by works so that no

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00:19:58,360 –> 00:20:00,280
one can boast.
That’s the reason.

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00:20:00,560 –> 00:20:03,520
It’s like nobody can boast.
And what God has done is he’s

375
00:20:03,520 –> 00:20:06,440
brought us into a family.
He’s training us to be his

376
00:20:06,440 –> 00:20:09,760
family members, training us to
be ready for eternal life.

377
00:20:09,840 –> 00:20:12,480
That’s what he’s doing.
Have you ever thought about the

378
00:20:12,480 –> 00:20:15,080
concept about, like, if he was
weighing out good and bad things

379
00:20:15,200 –> 00:20:17,000
and it was based in any way on
our works?

380
00:20:17,160 –> 00:20:19,720
Well, what we could do rather
than sisters and young people?

381
00:20:19,720 –> 00:20:21,440
Just think about it.
You know, it’s it’s almost like

382
00:20:21,440 –> 00:20:24,280
a job that you have if we treat
God like our employer.

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00:20:24,440 –> 00:20:27,080
And and you, you go to work
today, you go to a teacher at

384
00:20:27,080 –> 00:20:29,760
school and you think, well, if I
do a good job, if I really do

385
00:20:29,760 –> 00:20:31,160
this right, they’re going to
give me more.

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00:20:31,160 –> 00:20:33,240
They’re going to pay me more or
they’re going to pay you more.

387
00:20:33,840 –> 00:20:37,360
But our God can’t afford to run
eternal life like that.

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00:20:37,360 –> 00:20:39,520
Immortality.
That is just how he works.

389
00:20:39,720 –> 00:20:42,440
What he does is he says here you
can have it.

390
00:20:43,240 –> 00:20:45,680
It’s a gift.
I’ll give you grace.

391
00:20:45,920 –> 00:20:49,800
You’ve been saved by grace.
And then he waits to see how we

392
00:20:49,800 –> 00:20:51,920
will respond to that.
What are you going to do with

393
00:20:51,920 –> 00:20:53,920
that?
You just going to squander it?

394
00:20:54,360 –> 00:20:56,280
You’re going to just like, not
treat it seriously?

395
00:20:56,600 –> 00:21:01,320
Or is it going to change your
life and how you treat other

396
00:21:01,320 –> 00:21:05,040
people That’s what he’s looking
for and and you see why.

397
00:21:05,080 –> 00:21:07,520
If if it was all about like I’m
trying to do works and I’m

398
00:21:07,520 –> 00:21:09,880
trying to earn my way through
and I’m piling up comparing my

399
00:21:09,880 –> 00:21:13,000
good and my bad when it came
behind to the Judgement seat and

400
00:21:13,000 –> 00:21:16,720
he gives us immortality, what
motivation is there anymore to

401
00:21:16,720 –> 00:21:19,160
do good things?
You see that?

402
00:21:19,160 –> 00:21:23,120
That’s, that’s this whole issue
of that we have to love God’s

403
00:21:23,120 –> 00:21:25,280
way of life.
When when Jack was going through

404
00:21:25,280 –> 00:21:28,080
that with Job, I mean, look at
what Job did, He kept holding on

405
00:21:28,080 –> 00:21:31,560
to this idea and his integrity
of the righteousness of God.

406
00:21:31,800 –> 00:21:36,040
God’s way of life is right.
That’s what God’s looking for,

407
00:21:36,360 –> 00:21:38,760
not people that are just doing
it for what they can get out of

408
00:21:38,760 –> 00:21:41,000
it in this life.
Because as soon as that’s over,

409
00:21:41,000 –> 00:21:44,280
there’s no motivation anymore.
He wants people that will hold

410
00:21:44,280 –> 00:21:47,720
on to it even when they’re going
through rough times, even when

411
00:21:47,720 –> 00:21:49,920
they’re being challenged.
Even when things aren’t going

412
00:21:49,920 –> 00:21:54,200
well, you still commit to it.
Those are the people that endure

413
00:21:54,200 –> 00:21:57,560
to the end for whom he can
graciously hand out immortality

414
00:21:57,840 –> 00:22:01,240
and say welcome to the family.
That’s that’s the way our God

415
00:22:01,240 –> 00:22:03,400
works.
And it changes how we treat

416
00:22:03,400 –> 00:22:06,160
other people.
So we’re not here by accident

417
00:22:06,160 –> 00:22:07,960
today.
You know, it isn’t a case where

418
00:22:07,960 –> 00:22:10,480
somebody just happened to preach
to us that you were born into a

419
00:22:10,480 –> 00:22:13,960
Christadelphian family or or
whatever you are here because

420
00:22:13,960 –> 00:22:18,200
God wants you and his family.
He loves you, John.

421
00:22:18,360 –> 00:22:21,600
Jesus says in John 15 that you
are my friends.

422
00:22:21,640 –> 00:22:24,680
If you do whatever I command,
you no longer do, I call you

423
00:22:24,680 –> 00:22:27,400
servants, for a servant does not
know what his master’s doing.

424
00:22:27,760 –> 00:22:31,320
But I have called you friends or
all things that I’ve heard from

425
00:22:31,320 –> 00:22:33,360
my father I have made known to
you.

426
00:22:33,920 –> 00:22:37,240
You did not choose me.
See, sometimes we think,

427
00:22:37,240 –> 00:22:39,520
brothers and sisters.
We did all our Bible study.

428
00:22:39,520 –> 00:22:41,200
We did all this work.
I learned the truth.

429
00:22:41,400 –> 00:22:44,360
You know, I did all this stuff
and I got baptized and you know,

430
00:22:44,360 –> 00:22:47,200
I did it.
And then we continue that

431
00:22:47,200 –> 00:22:49,640
process through our life.
That isn’t how it works.

432
00:22:50,440 –> 00:22:53,040
We’re we’re only here because
God chose us.

433
00:22:53,400 –> 00:22:55,960
Jesus chose you.
He chose you.

434
00:22:56,680 –> 00:22:59,680
That’s what he did.
I I remember learning years ago

435
00:22:59,680 –> 00:23:03,960
that in our BAS stuff, right,
we’ve got this clause that we

436
00:23:03,960 –> 00:23:06,200
put in.
We amended the BASF years ago

437
00:23:06,400 –> 00:23:07,640
and we have this clause.
What is it?

438
00:23:07,640 –> 00:23:10,120
Clause 25, right?
Or whatever it is in your BAS.

439
00:23:10,360 –> 00:23:12,560
Over over here, we got this one
about The Who are the

440
00:23:12,560 –> 00:23:15,400
responsible people, right?
The responsible.

441
00:23:15,400 –> 00:23:17,720
Well, who are they and and what
we would rattle off?

442
00:23:17,720 –> 00:23:20,320
The responsible people are those
that know the revealed will of

443
00:23:20,320 –> 00:23:22,280
God, right?
You did your studies, you know

444
00:23:22,280 –> 00:23:24,680
all the answers you could pass
the pass the baptismal

445
00:23:24,680 –> 00:23:26,120
interview.
You know it.

446
00:23:26,200 –> 00:23:29,680
You’re the responsible people
and we forgot to read the rest.

447
00:23:30,960 –> 00:23:37,520
Who knows how that ends?
Do we know RBASFI didn’t I got

448
00:23:37,520 –> 00:23:41,600
taught this by unamended brother
sisters in in North America.

449
00:23:41,840 –> 00:23:43,520
They said just read the rest of
the clause.

450
00:23:43,600 –> 00:23:46,120
What did they put in there?
It says those who know the

451
00:23:46,120 –> 00:23:50,560
reveals what of God and have
been called upon to submit to

452
00:23:50,560 –> 00:23:52,440
it.
You totally left out God’s

453
00:23:52,440 –> 00:23:54,440
calling.
You didn’t realize it’s up to

454
00:23:54,440 –> 00:23:55,680
God to call you.
It’s not.

455
00:23:55,680 –> 00:23:58,480
You don’t call your children.
You don’t make your children

456
00:23:58,480 –> 00:24:00,760
responsible to the truth.
That isn’t what we do as

457
00:24:00,760 –> 00:24:04,000
parents.
We pray that God will call them

458
00:24:04,360 –> 00:24:07,560
and that we will then help in
that process by teaching them

459
00:24:07,560 –> 00:24:09,800
the truth.
But it’s not up to me.

460
00:24:10,480 –> 00:24:13,040
It’s not up to me.
Maybe I learned that the hard

461
00:24:13,040 –> 00:24:16,200
way, having an autistic child,
that no matter what we did, we

462
00:24:16,200 –> 00:24:19,680
we couldn’t force things.
It’s totally up to God and his

463
00:24:19,680 –> 00:24:22,040
calling, and it all made sense
in the end.

464
00:24:22,040 –> 00:24:24,440
In in Romans 9, when Paul
actually deals with this,

465
00:24:24,720 –> 00:24:27,080
though, you, Paul Jesus said
there that you did not choose

466
00:24:27,080 –> 00:24:30,520
me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go

467
00:24:30,520 –> 00:24:34,080
and bear fruit.
It was up to Christ to do the

468
00:24:34,200 –> 00:24:37,000
calling or up to God and they
are the ones who call.

469
00:24:37,760 –> 00:24:40,360
I I learned a lot by doing a
study of the angels years ago

470
00:24:40,360 –> 00:24:43,320
and I was really impressed with
the fact that I had been reading

471
00:24:43,360 –> 00:24:46,080
angels the wrong way.
I knew all these Bible stories

472
00:24:46,080 –> 00:24:48,960
and I know you do too.
You know all about Abraham and

473
00:24:48,960 –> 00:24:50,920
lot all this stuff.
We we knew all the stories.

474
00:24:51,120 –> 00:24:53,920
But what I had never done is
read them from the perspective

475
00:24:53,920 –> 00:24:56,640
of angels.
And I found that very helpful to

476
00:24:56,720 –> 00:24:58,880
start out in January when you’re
doing the Bible readings.

477
00:24:58,880 –> 00:25:01,600
And every time you run across a
story where angels are involved,

478
00:25:01,960 –> 00:25:04,400
just try to understand and think
about what?

479
00:25:04,560 –> 00:25:08,560
What are they thinking?
What are they going through?

480
00:25:08,560 –> 00:25:10,720
Because they’re already in God’s
family.

481
00:25:11,200 –> 00:25:15,680
Watch how they treat people with
these people and learn from them

482
00:25:15,680 –> 00:25:18,840
about how to treat one another.
I found that very useful.

483
00:25:19,040 –> 00:25:21,000
So look at the three men in
Genesis 18.

484
00:25:21,000 –> 00:25:22,680
The three angels, they they rose
from there.

485
00:25:22,680 –> 00:25:25,440
This is after talking to Abraham
and Sarah.

486
00:25:25,440 –> 00:25:28,240
And what did they tell them?
They told Abraham, here you are,

487
00:25:28,240 –> 00:25:31,000
old man, You’re going to have a
son, Sarah, you’re old, but

488
00:25:31,000 –> 00:25:32,720
you’re going to have, you’re
going to have a child.

489
00:25:33,120 –> 00:25:35,680
And they came to tell them that
news personally.

490
00:25:36,120 –> 00:25:39,760
And then the three angels, they
left there from from Abraham,

491
00:25:39,960 –> 00:25:42,440
they started to walk away.
Where were they going?

492
00:25:43,160 –> 00:25:45,680
They’re going to Sodom, Genesis
19, right?

493
00:25:46,080 –> 00:25:48,200
And they have a conversation on
the road.

494
00:25:48,480 –> 00:25:52,600
And they look at one another and
they say, wow, we’re going down

495
00:25:52,600 –> 00:25:54,280
to Sodom.
We’re probably going to destroy

496
00:25:54,280 –> 00:25:56,080
it.
Abraham’s nephew went down

497
00:25:56,080 –> 00:25:57,320
there.
Do you think we should tell

498
00:25:57,320 –> 00:26:01,000
Abraham what we’re going to do?
Do do you, do you read your

499
00:26:01,000 –> 00:26:02,680
Bible that way?
I mean, that’s what’s happening.

500
00:26:02,680 –> 00:26:06,680
They’re having a conversation.
These angels were empowered to

501
00:26:06,680 –> 00:26:09,880
make a huge decision.
They’re they’re having this

502
00:26:09,880 –> 00:26:12,080
look, the Lord said.
So we get fooled by reading.

503
00:26:12,080 –> 00:26:14,880
The Lord said, Shall I hide from
Abraham what I am doing?

504
00:26:15,280 –> 00:26:18,520
See, the three that are having
this discussion are three angels

505
00:26:18,520 –> 00:26:21,000
who Abraham refers to as the
Lord or Yahweh.

506
00:26:21,200 –> 00:26:23,800
And Lot in turn calls them
Yahweh as well.

507
00:26:24,160 –> 00:26:29,640
So it’s these three angels that
are there, I’m doing since

508
00:26:29,680 –> 00:26:32,480
Abraham shall surely become a
great and mighty nation, and for

509
00:26:32,480 –> 00:26:35,560
all the nations of the earth are
going to be blessed in him, or I

510
00:26:35,560 –> 00:26:38,760
have known him.
Now isn’t that interesting, that

511
00:26:38,760 –> 00:26:40,960
phrase I have known him.
Do you realize that the Hebrew

512
00:26:40,960 –> 00:26:44,200
words there that are used are
the same words where Abraham

513
00:26:44,200 –> 00:26:47,920
knew his wife and she conceived?
That’s the same word.

514
00:26:48,480 –> 00:26:51,080
And in the Hebrew I have known
him.

515
00:26:51,320 –> 00:26:54,640
This is an intimate personal
relationship.

516
00:26:55,240 –> 00:26:57,440
The angel’s head with Abraham.
They came to talk to him

517
00:26:57,440 –> 00:26:58,880
personally.
Friend.

518
00:26:59,600 –> 00:27:02,400
I really believe this first time
Abraham was ever called the

519
00:27:02,400 –> 00:27:04,400
friend of God, it’s referred to
him.

520
00:27:04,400 –> 00:27:06,160
It wasn’t there.
There’s 40 righteous.

521
00:27:06,160 –> 00:27:09,080
What are you going to do?
Angel talks with Abraham, says

522
00:27:09,080 –> 00:27:13,400
OK, he’s talking with Abraham.
That’s what this Angel did.

523
00:27:14,840 –> 00:27:18,360
Look at that idea that God, in
this case, or the angels that

524
00:27:18,360 –> 00:27:21,000
were there, they talked to
Abraham as their friend.

525
00:27:21,200 –> 00:27:23,840
It fits in with Jesus and John
there where he said that, you

526
00:27:23,840 –> 00:27:25,440
know, I don’t call you servants
anymore.

527
00:27:25,480 –> 00:27:28,640
You’re my friends, you know.
I I know you.

528
00:27:28,720 –> 00:27:31,720
I want you to understand.
We want a relationship with you

529
00:27:32,080 –> 00:27:34,280
where you will learn to live
like me.

530
00:27:34,280 –> 00:27:37,440
That’s what he’s after.
So look, in John 6, this was

531
00:27:37,440 –> 00:27:40,400
also an interesting one about
God’s calling, because the Jews

532
00:27:40,400 –> 00:27:42,960
therefore answered, Jesus
answered the Jews here, and he

533
00:27:42,960 –> 00:27:46,240
said to them, Don’t murmur among
yourselves, for no one can come

534
00:27:46,240 –> 00:27:49,120
to me unless the Father who sent
me draws him.

535
00:27:50,400 –> 00:27:52,680
See, that’s a blanket statement.
It’s not just here you’re going

536
00:27:52,680 –> 00:27:54,480
to find.
That’s all over in John’s Gospel

537
00:27:54,480 –> 00:27:57,400
and elsewhere in the Bible.
Sometimes as parents, we think

538
00:27:57,400 –> 00:27:59,440
that we just got to drill the
Bible into our kids.

539
00:27:59,440 –> 00:28:01,400
We got a Bible Mark.
We got a CYC.

540
00:28:01,400 –> 00:28:03,880
We got, we got to do all this
stuff about the Bible, do the

541
00:28:03,880 –> 00:28:06,480
Bible rings home.
And we got to be careful because

542
00:28:06,480 –> 00:28:09,480
in the end we think that when
they’re baptized, we look back

543
00:28:09,480 –> 00:28:11,600
and say, oh, look at that, look
what I did.

544
00:28:12,280 –> 00:28:14,920
And we look at somebody else in
the truth whose child walks away

545
00:28:15,240 –> 00:28:18,080
and we judge them and say, well,
you didn’t do as good a job as I

546
00:28:18,080 –> 00:28:20,920
did.
That’s not right.

547
00:28:21,000 –> 00:28:24,160
Brothers and sisters, we we
should be doing the Bible

548
00:28:24,160 –> 00:28:26,080
readings at home.
We should be going to Cyc.

549
00:28:26,120 –> 00:28:28,080
We should have our kids here at
at these guys.

550
00:28:28,480 –> 00:28:31,960
But at the same time, we should
be praying and pleading with God

551
00:28:32,560 –> 00:28:36,040
that he will call them.
It’s up to him to call them into

552
00:28:36,040 –> 00:28:38,680
his family.
And he doesn’t always call

553
00:28:38,680 –> 00:28:41,480
everyone.
Abraham had to deal with that

554
00:28:41,480 –> 00:28:43,840
with Ishmael.
He said, oh, that Ishmael might

555
00:28:43,840 –> 00:28:47,520
live in your sight.
God says no, it’s not going to

556
00:28:47,520 –> 00:28:50,760
go through Ishmael.
And later on, Isaac, you know,

557
00:28:50,800 –> 00:28:53,360
pleading with God about he loved
Esau.

558
00:28:54,000 –> 00:28:56,640
And God says no, it’s going to
go through Jacob.

559
00:28:57,400 –> 00:29:00,160
And we sometimes fool ourselves
into thinking that Jacob was a

560
00:29:00,160 –> 00:29:03,400
better man than Esau.
Well, you know, read the account

561
00:29:03,400 –> 00:29:05,440
of Jacob’s life.
He’s a schemer.

562
00:29:05,760 –> 00:29:08,800
He he tried everything he could
to scheme his way through life.

563
00:29:09,280 –> 00:29:11,920
And yet God trained him.
He worked with him.

564
00:29:12,120 –> 00:29:16,560
He patiently worked with Jacob
because God was calling Jacob

565
00:29:17,440 –> 00:29:19,200
and it’s a lesson we have to
learn.

566
00:29:19,320 –> 00:29:22,080
Paul deals with this in Romans 9
when he talks about God’s

567
00:29:22,080 –> 00:29:24,760
election.
And he says from the same lump

568
00:29:25,000 –> 00:29:29,520
of clay he can make one vessel
to honor and another vessel to

569
00:29:29,520 –> 00:29:32,120
dishonor.
Not different lumps of clay, not

570
00:29:32,120 –> 00:29:36,040
one good lump and one bad lump.
No, from the same lump, same

571
00:29:36,040 –> 00:29:37,120
lump.
He can do that.

572
00:29:37,680 –> 00:29:40,600
Why John Baptist said of these
stones God can raise up children

573
00:29:40,600 –> 00:29:41,920
to Abraham?
He can.

574
00:29:42,360 –> 00:29:44,840
That’s what he can do it.
It’s not that there’s better

575
00:29:44,840 –> 00:29:46,480
stones.
And you know, that was a mistake

576
00:29:46,480 –> 00:29:48,680
the Jews made.
They they thought, oh, we are

577
00:29:48,680 –> 00:29:50,560
the people.
We have the promises, that we’re

578
00:29:50,560 –> 00:29:53,240
better people than those nasty
dog Gentiles.

579
00:29:54,120 –> 00:29:56,360
And God had to constantly remind
them, no, you’re not better

580
00:29:56,360 –> 00:29:58,360
people.
You’re you’re in a better

581
00:29:58,360 –> 00:30:00,000
situation.
Because I love you.

582
00:30:00,680 –> 00:30:02,120
I’ve.
I’ve given you these things.

583
00:30:02,120 –> 00:30:03,760
I’ve given you all these
privileges.

584
00:30:04,400 –> 00:30:06,960
Now I’m expecting something from
you.

585
00:30:07,320 –> 00:30:10,520
And he got so disappointed in
the nation where for all the

586
00:30:10,720 –> 00:30:14,320
things God had done for them,
they had not responded.

587
00:30:14,320 –> 00:30:17,280
And it was frustrating to God
and to the angels that we’re

588
00:30:17,280 –> 00:30:20,000
working with them.
So we have to remember it’s all

589
00:30:20,000 –> 00:30:22,600
about God’s calling.
God’s having a family.

590
00:30:22,840 –> 00:30:26,400
He wants to have a family.
He’s I had with God because our

591
00:30:26,400 –> 00:30:29,880
God, he really is our coach now.
Have you ever played a sport

592
00:30:29,880 –> 00:30:32,120
where you play for a coach where
everything you do wrong, he just

593
00:30:32,120 –> 00:30:34,720
wants to like wack you on the
head or he wants to like punish

594
00:30:34,720 –> 00:30:36,320
you?
Go ride, go run ton lap.

595
00:30:36,720 –> 00:30:38,720
Do you really want to play for a
coach like that?

596
00:30:39,280 –> 00:30:41,720
I didn’t.
I didn’t find them very fun to

597
00:30:41,720 –> 00:30:43,800
play with.
The game plan, It’s his game

598
00:30:43,800 –> 00:30:46,680
plan.
It’s God’s righteousness, his

599
00:30:46,680 –> 00:30:49,920
right way of life.
It’s all gonna be right because

600
00:30:49,920 –> 00:30:53,960
the the judge of all the earth
will do right and he guarantees

601
00:30:53,960 –> 00:30:56,760
success.
Wouldn’t that be great, to go

602
00:30:56,760 –> 00:31:00,160
into a A, a school, a class in
in school or somewhere in

603
00:31:00,160 –> 00:31:02,640
business and have somebody
teaching about this and

604
00:31:02,640 –> 00:31:06,040
guaranteeing that if you
cooperate with the program, you

605
00:31:06,040 –> 00:31:08,080
will be successful?
You’ll make it.

606
00:31:08,520 –> 00:31:13,160
It’s a guarantee you’ll make it.
If by faith you trust him,

607
00:31:13,680 –> 00:31:16,600
whatever he brings into your
life, whatever happens when we

608
00:31:16,600 –> 00:31:20,320
go home, whatever’s happening
today in your life and my family

609
00:31:20,320 –> 00:31:23,080
life, we got to trust him.
He’s in control.

610
00:31:23,320 –> 00:31:25,920
It’s God’s family.
He’s got his angels.

611
00:31:25,920 –> 00:31:28,400
They’re out there working.
Jesus is over them now, and he’s

612
00:31:28,400 –> 00:31:33,000
controlling all these things.
We just have to trust and treat

613
00:31:33,000 –> 00:31:36,560
people the way he treats people.
We don’t have to force an issue.

614
00:31:36,560 –> 00:31:39,360
We don’t have to say, well, the
ends will justify the means.

615
00:31:39,360 –> 00:31:41,240
So I had to do it that way.
No, we don’t.

616
00:31:41,640 –> 00:31:44,360
God’s in control and that’s what
he’s after.

617
00:31:44,640 –> 00:31:47,880
And he knows what we need.
He knows it better than any of

618
00:31:47,880 –> 00:31:49,440
us.
You know, I’ve, I’ve watched

619
00:31:49,440 –> 00:31:52,000
this on arranging boards before
I’ve been on and and a young

620
00:31:52,000 –> 00:31:54,800
person will make mistake and
people talk about, well, what

621
00:31:54,800 –> 00:31:57,240
consequence or punishment we
have to bring in their life so

622
00:31:57,240 –> 00:32:00,080
that they will learn, you know,
that this is wrong or something.

623
00:32:00,080 –> 00:32:02,360
You’ve got to set an example for
the other young people and all

624
00:32:02,360 –> 00:32:05,160
these things.
But brothers and sisters, you

625
00:32:05,160 –> 00:32:08,200
know, look at the life of David.
What did you learn from David

626
00:32:08,200 –> 00:32:11,160
with his mistake?
Like David was the king.

627
00:32:11,440 –> 00:32:14,080
David committed adultery, David
committed murder.

628
00:32:14,280 –> 00:32:17,800
And what did God do?
By law, he should have been

629
00:32:17,800 –> 00:32:23,280
stoned, should have been stoned.
But God doesn’t treat him that

630
00:32:23,280 –> 00:32:25,760
way.
I I think for a lot of times

631
00:32:25,760 –> 00:32:30,160
we’ve misread the law, but the
law told us what we deserve for

632
00:32:30,160 –> 00:32:33,320
our sins.
But did you realize that so many

633
00:32:33,320 –> 00:32:37,800
times people who made terrible
mistakes didn’t receive what the

634
00:32:37,800 –> 00:32:42,440
law said they should receive?
Because the law accepted that

635
00:32:42,440 –> 00:32:44,880
people were living under you
would learn after a while that

636
00:32:44,880 –> 00:32:46,680
wow, I deserve this, I deserve
that.

637
00:32:46,920 –> 00:32:51,360
But God, I’m pleading for mercy.
God is merciful and he hoped

638
00:32:51,360 –> 00:32:54,400
that we would catch on that
that’s what we should be doing

639
00:32:54,400 –> 00:32:57,480
for other people.
Have you ever noticed, like

640
00:32:57,480 –> 00:32:58,680
reading through the New
Testament?

641
00:32:59,120 –> 00:33:00,800
Remember when Mary became
pregnant?

642
00:33:01,120 –> 00:33:05,000
Do you notice how the Manti goes
out of his way to say that

643
00:33:05,280 –> 00:33:11,160
Joseph, being a just man,
decided to put her away

644
00:33:11,160 –> 00:33:13,280
privately?
Well, that’s not what the law

645
00:33:13,280 –> 00:33:14,960
said.
Oh no, you get pregnant like

646
00:33:14,960 –> 00:33:16,120
that.
You should be stoned.

647
00:33:16,480 –> 00:33:20,120
They were engaged, should have
turned her into have her stoned.

648
00:33:20,760 –> 00:33:27,000
But the Bible trying to tell us
that Joseph being a just man,

649
00:33:27,800 –> 00:33:31,200
didn’t bring on her the
punishment that the law said she

650
00:33:31,200 –> 00:33:33,840
deserved.
Don’t read the law like that.

651
00:33:33,960 –> 00:33:36,800
If we don’t have to apply those
punishments, we don’t have to.

652
00:33:37,280 –> 00:33:39,520
We can extend mercy like our
God.

653
00:33:39,880 –> 00:33:42,000
But look, look at how that
played out with the woman caught

654
00:33:42,000 –> 00:33:43,960
in adultery.
Jesus knew she was caught in

655
00:33:43,960 –> 00:33:46,520
adultery.
He doesn’t push the law to say,

656
00:33:46,520 –> 00:33:49,520
well, he kept the law perfectly.
He doesn’t push the issue to say

657
00:33:49,520 –> 00:33:51,440
Chip Stoner, she committed
adultery.

658
00:33:51,520 –> 00:33:54,280
Nope.
He he he guilts the other guys

659
00:33:54,280 –> 00:33:55,800
into the point.
They all walk away.

660
00:33:56,600 –> 00:34:00,360
And then he tells her, go away
yourself, you know, But sin no

661
00:34:00,360 –> 00:34:01,920
more.
Learn something from this.

662
00:34:01,920 –> 00:34:03,840
That’s what he’s after.
Learn something.

663
00:34:04,160 –> 00:34:07,200
Yeah, I’ve learned to read the
Bible an entirely different way

664
00:34:07,480 –> 00:34:10,719
by by just being careful about
these stories and trying to

665
00:34:10,719 –> 00:34:12,320
figure out what’s God trying to
tell us.

666
00:34:12,760 –> 00:34:16,679
And it’s it’s just amazing to me
how as a younger person, I was

667
00:34:16,679 –> 00:34:19,679
much more judgmental, much more
into thinking that we had to

668
00:34:19,679 –> 00:34:22,960
carry out all the consequences
instead of leaving that in God’s

669
00:34:22,960 –> 00:34:26,000
hands and letting him bring the
right consequences into

670
00:34:26,000 –> 00:34:27,920
someone’s life, as he did with
David.

671
00:34:27,920 –> 00:34:30,040
You know, he, he brought the
right things into David’s life.

672
00:34:30,400 –> 00:34:31,760
But the angels take care of
that.

673
00:34:31,760 –> 00:34:34,320
They do that.
And so nobody gets away with

674
00:34:34,360 –> 00:34:36,960
anything in the life.
These are all just mistakes that

675
00:34:36,960 –> 00:34:39,159
we make and we hopefully learn
from them.

676
00:34:39,159 –> 00:34:41,400
And God reminds us through the
circumstances.

677
00:34:41,880 –> 00:34:45,120
So, Micah, you know this story.
And Micah 6 Micah talks about

678
00:34:45,120 –> 00:34:47,000
coming before the Lord.
You know, what are you going to

679
00:34:47,000 –> 00:34:48,239
bring?
What are you going to bow down

680
00:34:48,239 –> 00:34:49,760
before the high God with him?
Right.

681
00:34:49,760 –> 00:34:52,080
Shall I come before him with
burnt offerings and calves?

682
00:34:52,080 –> 00:34:54,040
A year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with

683
00:34:54,040 –> 00:34:56,280
1000 Rams and 10,000 rivers of
oil?

684
00:34:56,520 –> 00:34:59,480
Is that what he really wants?
The law said, you know, you

685
00:34:59,480 –> 00:35:03,240
bring all these sacrifices.
Did God want sacrifices?

686
00:35:03,920 –> 00:35:07,360
No.
He wanted us to learn from the

687
00:35:07,360 –> 00:35:10,720
sacrifices, about the higher
principles of his life.

688
00:35:11,120 –> 00:35:14,240
That’s what he was really after,
you know, He’s shown you, O man,

689
00:35:14,240 –> 00:35:17,240
what is good and what what does
the Lord require of you, but to

690
00:35:17,240 –> 00:35:22,480
do justly to love mercy and to
walk humbly with your God.

691
00:35:23,440 –> 00:35:26,080
That’s what we should be
learning on Sunday mornings when

692
00:35:26,080 –> 00:35:29,880
we take and bread and the wine.
Doesn’t that remind us how we

693
00:35:29,880 –> 00:35:30,400
are?
We are.

694
00:35:30,400 –> 00:35:34,000
We are responsible.
We committed it baptism to join

695
00:35:34,000 –> 00:35:37,320
Christ in a death like his and
come out of the waters walking

696
00:35:37,320 –> 00:35:39,960
in a new way of life patterned
after his resurrection.

697
00:35:40,440 –> 00:35:43,840
So we promised.
And every Sunday morning we take

698
00:35:43,840 –> 00:35:45,880
bread and wine.
We can be reminded that we’re

699
00:35:45,880 –> 00:35:49,840
God is allowing us to take those
emblems to remind us that this

700
00:35:49,840 –> 00:35:52,880
is the promise we made.
And yet look at all the failures

701
00:35:52,880 –> 00:35:56,080
we’ve done during the week.
And we all plead for mercy.

702
00:35:56,760 –> 00:36:00,560
We do oh, what are you going to
do the next time somebody else

703
00:36:00,560 –> 00:36:03,160
makes a mistake and they’re
pleading with you for mercy?

704
00:36:04,040 –> 00:36:06,960
And we have to learn from this,
Brothers and sisters, this is

705
00:36:06,960 –> 00:36:11,160
our God and we be we.
We become people that are

706
00:36:11,160 –> 00:36:13,040
connected with the God when we
worship.

707
00:36:13,120 –> 00:36:15,640
How do you understand how God
took care of these things?

708
00:36:16,000 –> 00:36:19,640
He he didn’t want sacrifices.
He wanted you to learn from the

709
00:36:19,640 –> 00:36:22,280
sacrifices to identify with
Messiah.

710
00:36:22,520 –> 00:36:24,840
Lay your hands on that animal,
my son.

711
00:36:25,000 –> 00:36:27,120
This animal is perfect without
blemish.

712
00:36:27,400 –> 00:36:29,280
That’s the goal and the
objective.

713
00:36:29,280 –> 00:36:32,160
To be like God, to be obedient
to God.

714
00:36:32,320 –> 00:36:34,920
And yes, it’s gonna require
suffering, but you are gonna

715
00:36:34,920 –> 00:36:37,360
kill that animal.
You kill the animal, not the

716
00:36:37,360 –> 00:36:40,080
priest.
You commit to die with Christ,

717
00:36:40,080 –> 00:36:43,960
to sin, as Paul calls it in
Romans 6, and then rise to a new

718
00:36:43,960 –> 00:36:46,560
way of life, and you put that
animal on the altar.

719
00:36:46,560 –> 00:36:49,480
In the end, at all the trials of
this life that we go through the

720
00:36:49,480 –> 00:36:53,200
sufferings, they burn that
animal and you ascend to God as

721
00:36:53,200 –> 00:36:55,840
a pleasing odor.
See, a lot of times I’ve watched

722
00:36:55,840 –> 00:36:58,080
my brother and argue about
animal sacrifices and what they

723
00:36:58,080 –> 00:37:00,520
mean, and all they ever get to
is the point when they kill the

724
00:37:00,520 –> 00:37:01,960
animal.
And it’s all about sinners

725
00:37:01,960 –> 00:37:03,960
deserve to die, sinners deserve
to die.

726
00:37:04,240 –> 00:37:07,080
And do you deserve a violent
death or do you deserve, deserve

727
00:37:07,080 –> 00:37:09,800
a regular death?
And it was never about that.

728
00:37:10,520 –> 00:37:12,800
The animal sacrifices were to
Paul.

729
00:37:13,200 –> 00:37:15,440
The great thing about studying
Romans for all of you,

730
00:37:15,440 –> 00:37:18,440
especially the young ones that
are here, study Romans someday

731
00:37:18,440 –> 00:37:20,840
and notice how Paul gives a
whole exposition of the

732
00:37:20,840 –> 00:37:27,440
atonement in Romans 1 to 11 and
never mentions sacrifice because

733
00:37:27,440 –> 00:37:31,240
he tells you what it means with
You can’t argue with Paul.

734
00:37:31,360 –> 00:37:33,400
He doesn’t use words like
sacrifice.

735
00:37:33,640 –> 00:37:36,720
He doesn’t talk about devil and
sin and all those things.

736
00:37:37,000 –> 00:37:39,240
Well, he talks about sin but all
being slaves to sin.

737
00:37:39,400 –> 00:37:42,320
But he doesn’t use those
catchwords that we use and we

738
00:37:42,320 –> 00:37:45,480
understand a certain way.
He explains it in words that

739
00:37:45,480 –> 00:37:48,760
everybody will understand and he
says, look, what you do in

740
00:37:48,760 –> 00:37:51,480
baptism is you commit to die
with Christ, to sin.

741
00:37:51,760 –> 00:37:54,800
That’s what this was all about.
And and he instead of talking

742
00:37:54,800 –> 00:37:58,320
about animal sacrifices, he
tries to tell us what they were

743
00:37:58,320 –> 00:38:02,160
supposed to do to teach us to
live justly and love mercy and

744
00:38:02,160 –> 00:38:06,240
walk humbly with our God.
So the key thing is that God’s

745
00:38:06,240 –> 00:38:08,720
in control, not us.
We’re not in control of our

746
00:38:08,720 –> 00:38:11,560
families, our children, our
parents, our collegians.

747
00:38:11,560 –> 00:38:14,800
Nothing.
It’s all gods, all gods.

748
00:38:15,080 –> 00:38:18,400
And all we’re doing is trying to
help those people in that

749
00:38:18,400 –> 00:38:20,840
family, to make it to God’s
Kingdom.

750
00:38:21,080 –> 00:38:23,040
And and look at how does God
help us?

751
00:38:23,040 –> 00:38:25,400
Well, let’s help other people
that same way.

752
00:38:26,000 –> 00:38:28,360
Look at how Jeremiah, when he
talks about what God really

753
00:38:28,360 –> 00:38:31,400
wanted in Jeremiah 7, he
mentions the fact that look at

754
00:38:31,400 –> 00:38:33,760
when I brought you children of
Israel out of Egypt, when I

755
00:38:33,800 –> 00:38:35,840
brought you out of Egypt and
brought you up there to Mount

756
00:38:35,840 –> 00:38:39,400
Sinai, what did I tell you?
Did I tell you offer a bunch of

757
00:38:39,400 –> 00:38:42,240
sacrifices?
No, he said.

758
00:38:42,320 –> 00:38:47,000
What I asked you to do was obey
my voice and I will be your God

759
00:38:47,000 –> 00:38:49,480
and you shall be my people and
walk in all the ways that I’ve

760
00:38:49,480 –> 00:38:51,880
commanded you that it, and be
well with you.

761
00:38:52,280 –> 00:38:54,280
That’s what he was after.
Obedience.

762
00:38:54,640 –> 00:38:59,440
Not obedience to law.
Not sacrifices and rituals, but

763
00:38:59,440 –> 00:39:03,080
obedience to God’s principles,
His way of life, of doing

764
00:39:03,120 –> 00:39:07,800
justice and loving mercy and
walking humbly before our God.

765
00:39:07,840 –> 00:39:11,200
That’s what he was really after.
But faith is the key rather than

766
00:39:11,240 –> 00:39:12,680
it says.
If we talk a lot about faith,

767
00:39:13,080 –> 00:39:16,520
but faith really helps us in the
sense that it’s a belief.

768
00:39:16,520 –> 00:39:20,520
It’s that that that substance of
things hoped for where we really

769
00:39:20,520 –> 00:39:22,400
do believe.
And we have that assurance that

770
00:39:22,400 –> 00:39:26,320
God is in control, that in
everything God is working for

771
00:39:26,320 –> 00:39:29,520
good in everything.
No matter what happens today,

772
00:39:29,760 –> 00:39:32,800
you you can stand back for a
moment and say, I know God is

773
00:39:32,800 –> 00:39:35,360
working for good.
That’s what faith does.

774
00:39:35,680 –> 00:39:39,000
It becomes real that you start
to realize what what I wonder

775
00:39:39,000 –> 00:39:41,440
why the angels did that by
getting you start and

776
00:39:41,440 –> 00:39:45,120
questioning about God working in
our life instead of reacting in

777
00:39:45,120 –> 00:39:47,520
ways we get angry.
Or we just treat it like, well,

778
00:39:47,520 –> 00:39:50,000
God’s not involved in that or
whatever He is involved.

779
00:39:50,360 –> 00:39:53,720
He’s very involved in our lives,
trying to train us and guide us

780
00:39:53,720 –> 00:39:56,440
into his family.
But the peace that we have to

781
00:39:56,440 –> 00:39:59,400
provide is faith.
Trust God, believe that he’s

782
00:39:59,400 –> 00:40:02,200
really working in our lives and
faith will change our lives.

783
00:40:02,600 –> 00:40:05,960
A faith in God’s love for us and
his ability to change our lives

784
00:40:05,960 –> 00:40:07,720
to save us, that’s what we’re
looking for.

785
00:40:07,880 –> 00:40:11,000
Or faith that God’s in control,
He’ll guide our lives so that

786
00:40:11,000 –> 00:40:14,080
will develop into his children.
It’s a faith that trusts God

787
00:40:14,080 –> 00:40:18,040
completely, no matter what
happens, no matter what happens.

788
00:40:18,560 –> 00:40:22,240
And I see that having raised six
kids, no matter what happens

789
00:40:22,240 –> 00:40:26,040
with your children, you have to
stand back and realize God is in

790
00:40:26,040 –> 00:40:29,720
total control.
He’s totally in it for our good,

791
00:40:29,840 –> 00:40:32,480
as Paul says, so that we can
share His Holiness.

792
00:40:32,920 –> 00:40:37,160
And what it does is it motivates
us then to be obedient to God,

793
00:40:37,160 –> 00:40:40,240
to follow in the steps of Jesus.
Not because we want to show God

794
00:40:40,240 –> 00:40:43,120
how good we are, but because we
love his way of life.

795
00:40:43,640 –> 00:40:46,080
We love it and we want it for
ourselves.

796
00:40:46,520 –> 00:40:49,480
Not to show God that we deserve
it, that we deserve eternity

797
00:40:49,480 –> 00:40:50,920
life.
It’s just this is the kind of

798
00:40:50,920 –> 00:40:52,840
life we want.
We want to be like Jesus, we

799
00:40:52,840 –> 00:40:55,760
want to be like God.
And faith is that key.

800
00:40:56,080 –> 00:40:58,040
Go look at how Paul word’s AT
and Hebrews 11.

801
00:40:58,040 –> 00:41:02,320
That faith is being sure of what
we hope for and certain of what

802
00:41:02,320 –> 00:41:04,840
we do not see.
And this is what the ancients

803
00:41:04,840 –> 00:41:08,840
were commended for, that their
faith motivated them to make

804
00:41:08,840 –> 00:41:11,400
decisions for God.
And without faith we know it’s

805
00:41:11,400 –> 00:41:13,960
impossible to please God.
Impossible.

806
00:41:14,360 –> 00:41:16,520
I love the way the NIV words
Hebrews 11.

807
00:41:16,520 –> 00:41:19,320
Oh, as you’re going through it
because instead of saying that

808
00:41:19,320 –> 00:41:23,240
these all died in in faith it
it’s it says instead that all

809
00:41:23,240 –> 00:41:28,960
these people were still living
by faith when they died.

810
00:41:29,640 –> 00:41:32,240
Now those of you that have
studied Hebrews 1011 and 12 will

811
00:41:32,280 –> 00:41:35,640
will know that within the
context of 12 and and and 10

812
00:41:35,640 –> 00:41:38,480
that it’s bounded by the fact
that for endurance Paul says

813
00:41:38,480 –> 00:41:40,800
you’ve got to endure.
It’s all about endurance to the

814
00:41:40,800 –> 00:41:42,880
end.
And he lists all these people

815
00:41:42,880 –> 00:41:45,880
and Hebrews 11 that endured to
the end, and they still had

816
00:41:45,880 –> 00:41:48,600
their faith when they died.
And that’s what God’s after.

817
00:41:48,640 –> 00:41:51,840
And all of us, we’ve got to
maintain that faith and have it

818
00:41:51,840 –> 00:41:55,920
still there when we die as well.
So that’s what God is after.

819
00:41:56,400 –> 00:41:58,480
And he promises to save us and
his family.

820
00:41:58,760 –> 00:42:00,960
That’s a promise.
It’s not like, well, maybe he

821
00:42:00,960 –> 00:42:04,600
will or he could if he wants to.
He has promised that if you

822
00:42:04,600 –> 00:42:08,600
follow the game plan, it will
take you to the end of you will

823
00:42:08,600 –> 00:42:11,240
be given eternal life.
That’s what he will do.

824
00:42:11,720 –> 00:42:14,240
And to become part of God’s
family forever, we’ve got to

825
00:42:14,240 –> 00:42:16,320
learn to live like his family
members.

826
00:42:16,400 –> 00:42:17,760
We’ve got to be like those
angels.

827
00:42:18,080 –> 00:42:20,000
They’re already there.
They’re in the family.

828
00:42:20,360 –> 00:42:23,400
They they don’t bring out
reviling accusations of people.

829
00:42:23,400 –> 00:42:26,240
They don’t distrust people.
They don’t treat Abraham or they

830
00:42:26,240 –> 00:42:28,800
hide things from each other.
They go to Abraham and say,

831
00:42:28,800 –> 00:42:30,800
look, you’re our friend, our
intimate friend.

832
00:42:30,800 –> 00:42:33,360
We want to tell you what we’re
doing, but we’re not going to do

833
00:42:33,360 –> 00:42:35,800
this behind your back.
That’s what they do.

834
00:42:35,800 –> 00:42:38,480
Or when when they brought Lot
out of Sodom, those two angels

835
00:42:38,480 –> 00:42:41,800
that grabbed Lot and his wife by
the hand and they walked them

836
00:42:41,840 –> 00:42:46,480
out, the Lord being merciful to
him, That’s how God’s family

837
00:42:46,480 –> 00:42:49,320
members behave, brothers and
sisters, and he’s left it there

838
00:42:49,320 –> 00:42:53,120
in the Bible for us to read.
But we can read the Bible for 50

839
00:42:53,120 –> 00:42:56,560
years and never notice that the
angels are revealed in the

840
00:42:56,560 –> 00:43:00,400
Scriptures that teach us about
how God’s family members behave.

841
00:43:01,120 –> 00:43:03,520
So I’ll leave it with that and
thanks very much.

842
00:43:03,520 –> 00:43:20,040
We’ll pick it up there tomorrow.
Thank you for listening to the

843
00:43:20,040 –> 00:43:21,680
good Christadelphian Talks
Podcast.

844
00:43:22,480 –> 00:43:24,920
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845
00:43:24,920 –> 00:43:27,280
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846
00:43:27,280 –> 00:43:29,040
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847
00:43:29,440 –> 00:43:32,680
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00:43:33,800 –> 00:43:36,280
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00:43:36,280 –> 00:43:38,200
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00:43:39,120 –> 00:43:41,800
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861
00:44:12,080 –> 00:44:14,000
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