361: Podcast Showcase – Essential Bible Studies

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Hey everyone, this is Jason
Hensley.

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This week we are listening to a
Christadelphian podcast called

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Essential Bible Studies, and a
specific episode is The Mind of

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the Spirit.
Now, one of the things that I

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love about this podcast is that
it’s really a discussion.

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So there’s numerous guests and
you get to really just listen in

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on this Bible discussion.
It’s almost like you’re having a

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really good, exciting Bible
conversation.

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So I think that you’re going to
enjoy that about it.

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In addition to that, the guest
interviewed in this one is

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brother Ben Brinkerhoff.
They actually went to Sunday

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school together.
So when I heard that he was a

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guest on this episode, I was
pretty excited about that.

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But in addition to that, I
really love the way that this

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discussion moves through
experience and scripture at the

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same time.
I think sometimes that’s a

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really difficult line to really
hit.

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Sometimes we lean too far on
experience.

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Other times we are only
scripture and it can be really

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hard to figure out how does how
does this apply or how does this

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mean something to me.
And I really loved how this

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episode weaved it all in, weaved
it all together, and I felt like

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really created this whole with a
a depth of meaning and

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significance for really any
anybody who’s listening to it.

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So.
With that said, this is the mind

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of the Spirit discussing what is
the Spirit and what does it mean

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to have the mind of the Spirit,
focusing specifically on Romans

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chapter 8 and with a little
sprinkling in of the Gospel of

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John.
So I think you’ll enjoy it.

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This is the Mind of the Spirit,
essential Bible studies for the

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Tim Young is the podcaster, and
the guest is Brother Ben

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Brinkerhoff.
For to set the mind on the flesh

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is.
Death.

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But to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace.

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That’s from Romans chapter 8.
Verse 6 This is the.

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Essential Bible Studies Podcast.
My name is Tim Young and I’m

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here with Ben Brinkerhoff, an
old friend that I haven’t seen

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or talked to in, I’m figuring,
20 years.

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Where does the time go?
But now, with the magic of

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technology, we can bridge the
distance and talk again.

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I blame it on Ben.
He moved to New Zealand and,

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well, I moved to Canada.
But way back when we were a lot

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younger, we both lived in the
Golden State of California.

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Right men.
That’s right, Tim, back in those

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days, I looked up to you.
But it’s nice 20 years later,

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like, oh, why?
Actually, we’re not in different

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parts of life as much as we were
then.

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Yeah, it’s great to be reunited
again.

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I can’t help but think by the
Providence of God, as I was

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preparing this season with the
theme of the Spirit, I really

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wanted to do an episode on what
it means to have the mind of the

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Spirit and how we can have the
Spirit dwelling in US.

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What does that mean?
OK.

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I felt Romans chapter 8 was the
perfect passage to talk about

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it, but I didn’t really have
anybody to talk about it with.

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Then out of the blue, I
discovered these classes on

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Romans given by an old familiar
friend.

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So I listened and I just thought
they were excellent.

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I had to find you again and talk
to you about setting the mind on

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the things of the Spirit.
So here we are, and I’m so happy

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to have you on the podcast.
Can you tell us how you got into

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this study and how it changed
your life?

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Because it really did change
your life, right?

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It did.
I found this study when I was in

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a lot of emotional distress.
I was doing mission work in the

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Persian Gulf.
Wow, that sounds like it’s a

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very scary place to do mission
work.

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But I didn’t find it very scary
at all.

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Working with people that are
brought into the Persian Gulf to

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do labour jobs, people from Sri
Lanka, India, Pakistan and

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Philippines and other places and
they brought into that country

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and they have a real thirst for
God.

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Some of them come over as
Christians and you could

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absolutely speak to them and
they had a real desire to hear

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about the word of God.
But the work was incredibly

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challenging and we ran into many
various conflicts.

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One of the most important was I
had about $48,000 stolen from

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us.
We were moved out of our house

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and we lived in a place which
wasn’t up to the specifications

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of where we had been before.
And we couldn’t cook hot food.

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That’s not that you can’t cook
hot food in Qatar.

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Certainly you can’t.
It’s just the place we were at.

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We couldn’t.
The gas wasn’t hooked up, wasn’t

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working, problems with the
electrics, and my wife was

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pregnant and she didn’t feel
like she was getting the medical

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care that she needed because she
was a type 1 diabetic.

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So I had the concern of getting
her the appropriate medical care

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for her pregnancy.
This is your first child.

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This is our first child.
So everywhere I looked, I was

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under pressure and cess and I
thought maybe because I was

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doing mission work that God owed
me a couple a couple breaks

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maybe, right.
And it’s not that the mission

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work itself wasn’t being
successful because we were doing

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wonderful things there and that
was rewarding itself.

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But I, you know, when looking at
the number of challenges that we

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are facing, I felt distress and
I didn’t know where to turn.

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Alyssa wasn’t doing very well
and I, I felt like every moment

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I was trying to solve a problem
and some of the problems I

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couldn’t solve.
And so as you do, you know, I

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turned to the scripture and it
was turned the scripture in a

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sort of a, a beautiful way.
Because so much when you’re on

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mission work, what you’re doing
is you’re preparing Bible

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classes for other people to hear
classes on the 1st principles of

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the faith and classes on the
essential facts of the faith so

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that people can learn those
things.

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And what you end up finding is
you’re not often doing Bible

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study for yourself to strengthen
yourself.

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And so I remember I turned open
to Romans and I did kind of

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didn’t know where to go.
Oh, interesting.

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Right.
Just fell open that it.

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Kind of did those pages fell
open and I read these verses

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that you read as a starter to
this podcast to set thy mind on

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the things of the Spirit as
opposed to setting your mind on

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the things of the flesh.
And one was being life and one

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was death.
And the next verse really struck

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me there.
Romans 8, verse 7.

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For the mind that is set on the
flesh is hostile to God.

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In the King James Version, it
says enmity with God going on.

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It says it does not submit to
God’s law.

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Indeed it cannot.
I remember Tim looking at that

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and having this huge sense of
relief.

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And the sense of relief was
there was something in me,

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something that was rebellious,
something that was hostile to

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God, and that thing within me
was absolutely not going to be

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converted.
It was enmity.

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It would not be subject to God’s
law.

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It cannot be subject to God’s
law.

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And so if I’m sitting here and
I’m having difficult thoughts,

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rebellious thoughts, anger and
hostility, if I feel like I

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don’t want to do the work, well,
why was I promised any

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different?
Is there not something within me

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that is hostile and at enmity
with God?

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And so the issue was not whether
or not I had good or bad

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feelings.
You see, that’s I think that is

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a false course.
It’s a red herring that I should

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pursue a path towards good
feelings or that somehow the

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truth was about having good
feelings.

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Like a warm fuzzy.
Feeling.

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Yeah.
It’s elusive.

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Or maybe some sort of ecstatic
experience or something like

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that?
Absolutely, that I should be

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having something along those
lines.

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And instead what I came to
realize that the work of the

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Spirit within me was in setting
my mind, setting my mind on the

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things of the spirit rather than
the things of the flesh.

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Now the mind is the conscious
thoughts and it has to be

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something that is set able.
It must be able to be set.

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It must be changeable.
It must be something I can

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maneuver from one place to
another.

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And so in that respect, it has
to be different than the enmity

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that cannot be converted.
There’s something within me that

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can’t be converted.
I don’t know that I can set that

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thing, but what I can do is I
can set my mind on the Spirit,

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or alternatively, if I’m not
careful about it, I can set my

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mind on the things of the flesh.
And so in that sort of crisis

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place in missionary work, I
understood that I just need to

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make a choice, The choices set
my mind on things of the Spirit,

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no matter how it felt.
And that rang true, right?

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Yeah.
Because how could the prophets

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and the apostles and disciples
who faced so many challenges and

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so much distress, how could they
do that?

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Because it felt good.
You know, feelings themselves

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are much more likely to be tied
to the flesh, which produces

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feelings, than it is to be tied
to.

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The yeah, the natural
instinctive reactions.

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We have those feelings, yeah.
So I needed to do what was

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right, no matter how it felt to
set my mind on the things of the

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Spirit.
And there’s actual piece of that

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because rather than trying to
hit your head against the brick

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wall that is trying to convert
the flesh, right?

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Which is pretty hard, right?
It’s like, I don’t have to

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convert that.
You know, what I’m going to do

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in this instance is I’m going to
do the right thing and we’re

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going to see where the feelings
go, right?

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We’re going to see what the
flesh does.

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That is not my business.
That’s God’s business.

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I think this is interesting that
you had several years under your

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belt of Bible study and reading
and to the point where you’re

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dedicated enough to go across
the planet to preach and still

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you needed to learn this.
And it’s right there in the

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Scripture, right?
But you couldn’t learn it to the

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experienced it and put it with
the word right.

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And it’s some way that the
Spirit works because it

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illuminates our carnal mind.
It emphasizes this war that’s

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within us, right?
So if we don’t have that war, I

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think there’s a problem.
It means we’ve already lost to

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the flesh, or we’re just
automatically by default,

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setting our mind on the things
of the flesh.

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So there has to be that battle
there.

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And we’ve talked about on the
podcast about recognizing sin in

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our lives and how awful it is,
how dangerous it is.

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Like Paul says at the end of
Chapter 7, he says, O wretched

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man that I am is actually coming
to that point and realizing that

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we’re all wretched, that we all
have this carnal mind, this base

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that’s inside of us.
There’s nobody free from this.

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We all sin.
We all succumb to this.

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But I love what you’re saying
there about you have to set your

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mind that this is a choice in
our life to follow after the

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things that make for life and
peace rather than death.

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Yeah, I think there in Romans
chapter 8, what Paul’s doing is

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he’s elaborating on what he said
in verse 4, because what he has

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said in verse 1 to 4 is that
there’s no condemnation for

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those who are in Christ Jesus.
Yeah, that’s verse one.

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And then he gets to verse four.
He says in verse 4 in order that

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the just requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in US who

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walk not according to the flesh,
but according to the Spirit.

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That’s a big statement because
he’s saying there’s no

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condemnation, which of course I
love to hear.

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Because once you get brought to
the point where you understand

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that you’re wretched and that’s
a big point to get to, you

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understand that within me is
something that desires to sin

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and that it is wretched and it
is in me and I can’t get rid of

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it.
And you think to yourself,

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there’s no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus.

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You think absolutely, these are
the words I need to hear.

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I need to hear that even though
I have this body of sin that I

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have a hope that I can grab onto
that is bigger than my problems.

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But then he says in verse four,
he qualifies.

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Who can access this?
And the qualification is about

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the word who at the universe,
for he’s in the RSV version who

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walk not according to the flesh,
according to spirit.

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And I think, oh, wait a minute,
I was just given this wonderful

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thing called no condemnation.
And now I’m told that it’s

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accessible for those who walk
according to the Spirit and not

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according to the flesh.
And now I’m thinking, oh, wow,

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wait a minute, right, That’s my
problem.

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My problem is I’m fleshly.
So if I have to walk over in the

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spirit to access this, no
condemnation, am I not back in

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the same problem I was before?
I think Paul understands the

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tension of that.
Oh, absolutely.

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And so Paul understands as well,
because he’s established in

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Chapter 7 that the desire to do
wicked things is inevitable.

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So now he has to relieve the
tension of the moment.

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How do we walk according to the
Spirit?

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How do I do that?
Because I definitely want no

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condemnation, but walking
according to the Spirit that I’m

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struggling with.
What does that mean?

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And so Paul’s going to say that
believers have a choice.

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They don’t have a choice whether
or not they have a desire to sin

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because that desire to sin is
encoded within us and it’s

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enmity with God.
You don’t have a choice.

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You can’t make that go away.
It didn’t go away for Paul.

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It didn’t go away for Peter.
And of course it was in the Lord

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Jesus Christ and he took it to
the cross and you destroyed it.

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You destroyed that body of sin
that he had.

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So we don’t get to get rid of
it, right?

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So what we have to do is we have
to set our minds on the things

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of the Spirit and that way we
can make this choice one choice

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at a time to do that.
But of course, the one of the

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things that that then brings up
and the question that brings up

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is, well, what?
What’s the spirit set?

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00:17:05,359 –> 00:17:07,960
My mind up, that’s the question
I was going to ask is, yeah, we

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talked about that.
We talked about how to do this.

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Well, I think first of all, we
have to define what is the

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spirit.
Now I’ve taken a shot at this in

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in past podcasts, but I’d I’d
like to hear your take on this.

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OK, I’m not saying that I have
any better take than you do,

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Tim.
In fact, I probably default to

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00:17:25,400 –> 00:17:28,680
you.
But I think if you look at the

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word spirit, it’s used in such a
wide variety of contexts.

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Absolutely.
And you think to yourself, what

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is the thread of similarity
between these contexts?

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And you’ve probably mentioned
some of these on previous

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episodes, Like Breath and Like
Winds and like life itself.

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And angels are called spirits
and God’s power is called a

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spirit.
OK, so what’s the thread here?

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I remember kind of trying to
think about this and noticing in

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the distance a tree and the tree
was moving.

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And the The funny thing about
seeing a tree move is you and I

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00:18:08,960 –> 00:18:11,360
both into, and everyone
listening to this knows that

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what was making the tree move
was wind.

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But here’s The funny thing about
wind is you can’t see it.

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You can’t see the wind.
So wait a minute, this tree is

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moving.
So I can see the effect.

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I can see what happened.
I just can’t see the ’cause I

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can’t see the agent of the tree
moving.

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I can’t see wind.
Maybe in extreme cases I can.

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But you know, just as we just
look it out the window, we see

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the tree just swaying back and
forth.

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You can’t see it with your eyes.
It’s just clear.

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But I see the effect.
And so when something has power

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but it cannot be seen, the Bible
terms that spirit.

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So if you see someone who’s
alive and someone is dead, it’s

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obviously the alive person is
very similar to the dead person.

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They have all the same parts,
head, heart, hands, you know,

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00:19:09,440 –> 00:19:14,040
intestines, all the same, except
the difference is the alive

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00:19:14,040 –> 00:19:18,520
person’s breathing.
And so the ancients, they call

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00:19:18,520 –> 00:19:23,400
breath spirit because that’s the
thing that is sustaining that

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00:19:23,400 –> 00:19:28,920
person’s life.
So my thoughts, it’s clear that

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00:19:28,920 –> 00:19:32,480
I have them and it’s clear that
they’re very powerful, but I

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00:19:32,480 –> 00:19:36,720
can’t see my thoughts.
And so in some context, I’m

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00:19:36,720 –> 00:19:38,480
going to call my thoughts
spirit.

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00:19:38,640 –> 00:19:41,320
It has power, but I can’t see
it.

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00:19:41,320 –> 00:19:44,360
Angels, I can see the effect of
angels.

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00:19:44,360 –> 00:19:47,640
I look back in my life and I
cannot notice that in areas that

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00:19:47,640 –> 00:19:51,200
there might have been, I think
there was angelic intervention,

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00:19:52,160 –> 00:19:55,600
but I can’t see the angels.
So the angels are called

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00:19:55,600 –> 00:19:59,320
spirits, ministering spirits.
I can see the effect.

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00:19:59,560 –> 00:20:03,200
I can’t see the cause.
And in all these instances where

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00:20:03,200 –> 00:20:06,000
I can see the effect and not see
the ’cause I’m going to call

301
00:20:06,000 –> 00:20:08,040
those things spirit.
And where they could be wind, it

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00:20:08,040 –> 00:20:11,080
could be breath, it could be an
Angel, it could be thoughts.

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But I’m going to give you even a
more subtle example and that is

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00:20:15,720 –> 00:20:17,920
words.
See everyone that’s listening to

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00:20:17,920 –> 00:20:22,600
this podcast right now See
there’s Sound Vibrations.

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00:20:23,000 –> 00:20:28,280
That is moving through the air,
that’s moving from their device

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00:20:29,160 –> 00:20:32,880
into their ears.
Now they can’t see that.

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00:20:33,480 –> 00:20:37,680
You can’t see the sound
vibrations and the air vibrating

309
00:20:37,680 –> 00:20:45,000
and moving.
Yet words have huge power, don’t

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00:20:45,000 –> 00:20:45,960
they?
Oh, absolutely.

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I mean, I’ll tell you how
powerful words are, Tim.

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00:20:49,840 –> 00:20:55,680
I mean, I fell in love with my
wife because of words, because

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00:20:55,720 –> 00:20:58,840
of our conversations.
She was living in New Zealand.

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I was living in the United
States.

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00:21:00,200 –> 00:21:01,200
I didn’t even know what she
looked.

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00:21:01,200 –> 00:21:03,120
Like she cast her spell on you
it sounds like.

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00:21:04,480 –> 00:21:07,400
Yeah, and we had these
conversations and you’d share

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00:21:07,400 –> 00:21:10,560
things and it’s just words.
And suddenly something is

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00:21:10,560 –> 00:21:13,440
happening inside my heart,
right?

320
00:21:14,280 –> 00:21:19,360
That is incredibly powerful.
And I haven’t even seen her.

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00:21:20,040 –> 00:21:23,960
It’s just words and suddenly I’m
feeling like I’m in love.

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00:21:24,960 –> 00:21:29,880
Now don’t tell me that that’s
not power, but I never could see

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00:21:29,880 –> 00:21:34,880
it, right?
And the power behind it, Ben, is

324
00:21:34,880 –> 00:21:37,840
that it’s actually 2 minds that
are connecting.

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00:21:37,840 –> 00:21:40,480
I mean, you talk about it going
through the airwaves, but you’re

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00:21:40,480 –> 00:21:43,680
actually formulating these
thoughts in your mind.

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00:21:44,240 –> 00:21:46,960
You’re vocalizing them with your
tongue.

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00:21:46,960 –> 00:21:50,440
It goes out through the sound
waves into the ears of somebody

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00:21:50,440 –> 00:21:54,680
else and it gets in their brain,
they interpret it and it’s an

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00:21:54,680 –> 00:21:58,920
influence on somebody else,
whether for good or for bad.

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So that’s the spirit.
So and I think it just to

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00:22:03,880 –> 00:22:08,640
enlarge that too, like in our
world, in our age, there’s a

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00:22:08,640 –> 00:22:12,080
spirit of the age.
We have influences in society.

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00:22:12,080 –> 00:22:15,840
We’ve moved in these currents of
words and thoughts that, you

335
00:22:15,840 –> 00:22:19,000
know, social media has just
exploded and those kind of

336
00:22:19,000 –> 00:22:23,560
things, but it has an influence.
It’s a current which moves

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00:22:23,560 –> 00:22:25,360
something.
Absolutely.

338
00:22:25,480 –> 00:22:27,280
Yeah, the.
Base of it is words like you

339
00:22:27,280 –> 00:22:31,440
said, and that’s to us, that’s
the scriptures, that’s the word

340
00:22:31,440 –> 00:22:34,480
of God, right with the things
that we are are reading right

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00:22:34,480 –> 00:22:37,680
here in the Bible.
They are spirit, their power,

342
00:22:37,840 –> 00:22:41,120
their words, but they’re just
not letters on a page.

343
00:22:42,600 –> 00:22:44,760
Maybe to some of their letters
on a page?

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00:22:44,920 –> 00:22:47,320
Yes.
But you know they stopping

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00:22:47,320 –> 00:22:50,800
letters on a page at a certain
point and the point is when you

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00:22:50,880 –> 00:22:54,800
believe them, you can’t actually
point.

347
00:22:55,000 –> 00:22:59,200
Even if you were under the most
advanced of MRI machines, I

348
00:22:59,200 –> 00:23:01,360
wouldn’t be able to take a
believer in a non believer and

349
00:23:01,360 –> 00:23:05,200
put them under MRI machine and
point to that’s the belief spot,

350
00:23:05,480 –> 00:23:08,240
right?
I wouldn’t put it past

351
00:23:08,240 –> 00:23:09,720
scientists to try to do that.
Maybe.

352
00:23:09,960 –> 00:23:12,000
Right.
You’re absolutely right, yeah.

353
00:23:12,720 –> 00:23:17,800
But here the those invisible
words have entered into my mind

354
00:23:18,760 –> 00:23:23,560
and they have absolutely changed
my life.

355
00:23:24,440 –> 00:23:30,200
My life is completely different
because I believe them and they

356
00:23:30,200 –> 00:23:37,480
have power to translate me from
death to life like I was dead.

357
00:23:38,600 –> 00:23:44,920
And then I got access to some
words and I believe those words

358
00:23:45,640 –> 00:23:52,120
and I acted on those words.
And because of the words written

359
00:23:52,120 –> 00:23:57,360
down spoken by men thousands of
years ago, because I believed

360
00:23:57,360 –> 00:24:01,720
them and I acted on that belief.
I can’t point to the place, but

361
00:24:01,720 –> 00:24:04,200
God says my name’s now in the
book of life.

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00:24:05,960 –> 00:24:13,960
So words have created belief,
and belief has moved someone

363
00:24:14,920 –> 00:24:23,040
from death to life.
That’s power, and that’s why the

364
00:24:23,040 –> 00:24:26,360
Word is spirit.
Yeah, I can see what you’re

365
00:24:26,360 –> 00:24:28,440
getting at.
And I think it’s very helpful

366
00:24:28,440 –> 00:24:30,760
because what Paul is talking
about here about setting our

367
00:24:30,760 –> 00:24:34,000
mind on the Spirit, I think a
lot of people kind of read that

368
00:24:34,000 –> 00:24:36,840
and they just assume, well, is
this just something that comes

369
00:24:36,840 –> 00:24:39,960
out of the blue?
Is this just some sort of

370
00:24:40,240 –> 00:24:43,480
thought that pops into my mind
that I have the Spirit like we

371
00:24:43,480 –> 00:24:45,880
were talking about before?
Is it some sort of ecstatic

372
00:24:45,880 –> 00:24:50,960
experience that boom, all of a
sudden I know what to do those

373
00:24:50,960 –> 00:24:54,240
kind of things, right?
But what you’re saying is that

374
00:24:54,840 –> 00:24:59,200
this is really developed off of
familiarity with the word of

375
00:24:59,200 –> 00:25:01,800
God.
You know, the Word of God is

376
00:25:01,800 –> 00:25:05,040
talked about as a seed, right?
You know, there’s a parable.

377
00:25:05,040 –> 00:25:06,880
This sower goes out to sow a
seed.

378
00:25:07,440 –> 00:25:12,080
Paul in First Corinthians
chapter 3, he says when he

379
00:25:12,080 –> 00:25:16,240
preached he planted and he said
this other brother in Christ,

380
00:25:16,240 –> 00:25:19,240
Apollo’s watered.
But then he said God gave the

381
00:25:19,240 –> 00:25:22,840
increase to me.
It’s almost like the Word and

382
00:25:22,840 –> 00:25:26,680
the Spirit are connected in that
way that the word to the seed

383
00:25:27,360 –> 00:25:30,240
and that there is something
inside of us that makes this

384
00:25:30,240 –> 00:25:35,920
word grow beyond what’s just a
letter on a page that we have

385
00:25:35,920 –> 00:25:39,080
the spirit now to take this and
say, OK, here’s the spirit of

386
00:25:39,080 –> 00:25:42,200
what this is saying.
Otherwise we’d just have a big

387
00:25:42,200 –> 00:25:44,680
rule book, you know, trying to
make every rule for every

388
00:25:44,680 –> 00:25:48,480
situation in our life.
But that’s not possible, right?

389
00:25:48,920 –> 00:25:52,360
So we have to have something
that’s spiritual that helps us

390
00:25:52,360 –> 00:25:56,920
to form our thoughts to say, OK,
I’m dealing with this challenge

391
00:25:56,920 –> 00:26:01,000
right now in my life.
And when I read the scriptures,

392
00:26:01,400 –> 00:26:03,840
what’s the spirit of what the
scriptures is, is trying to

393
00:26:03,840 –> 00:26:07,200
guide me in my life.
So do you have other ideas about

394
00:26:07,200 –> 00:26:11,120
like, is Paul here talking about
the Spirit in that way that it’s

395
00:26:11,120 –> 00:26:14,200
really the word?
I absolutely think that that is

396
00:26:14,320 –> 00:26:17,640
the sense in which Paul is
getting at.

397
00:26:18,320 –> 00:26:23,880
This is sense in which you have
believed and so you have set

398
00:26:23,880 –> 00:26:28,160
your mind on the things of that
belief.

399
00:26:28,480 –> 00:26:33,720
Now you know, it says in Isaiah
that God dwells in a high and a

400
00:26:33,720 –> 00:26:39,680
holy place and also with Him
that as of a contrite and a

401
00:26:39,680 –> 00:26:42,080
humble spirit.
OK.

402
00:26:42,720 –> 00:26:45,680
And I think all of us have the
experience of noticing someone

403
00:26:45,960 –> 00:26:49,160
who is humble and contrite
because of the effect of the

404
00:26:49,160 –> 00:26:51,560
Word of God on them.
Yes.

405
00:26:52,280 –> 00:26:57,160
And as a result of that, they
make choices and speak in such a

406
00:26:57,160 –> 00:27:00,680
way that the word has had such
an influence on them that

407
00:27:00,680 –> 00:27:03,160
they’re not even speaking
themselves.

408
00:27:03,480 –> 00:27:08,560
It’s like when they speak, you
hear God’s wisdom through their

409
00:27:08,720 –> 00:27:13,600
experience and you think to
yourself, God’s dwelling in that

410
00:27:13,600 –> 00:27:15,400
person.
Now, how is God dwelling in that

411
00:27:15,400 –> 00:27:18,120
person?
God’s dwelling in that person?

412
00:27:18,120 –> 00:27:20,200
Because what they say isn’t
really their words.

413
00:27:20,200 –> 00:27:22,040
It’s not the thoughts that come
from their flesh.

414
00:27:22,960 –> 00:27:27,640
It’s was the thoughts that came
to them from the outside in that

415
00:27:27,640 –> 00:27:32,640
have changed them because they
believed them and they acted on

416
00:27:32,640 –> 00:27:35,680
them.
And so they’re different because

417
00:27:35,680 –> 00:27:37,720
something came from the outside
in.

418
00:27:38,480 –> 00:27:44,160
And so now God dwells in that
person through his Word.

419
00:27:45,040 –> 00:27:50,840
And absolutely the Spirit of the
Lord Jesus Christ has to dwell

420
00:27:51,080 –> 00:27:54,200
within us.
And Paul’s going to say that

421
00:27:54,200 –> 00:27:56,680
here in Romans.
He’s going to say if the Spirit

422
00:27:56,680 –> 00:27:59,240
of the Lord Jesus Christ isn’t
in you, you don’t have any life.

423
00:27:59,880 –> 00:28:03,920
And that is 100% true.
Not only did the Holy Spirit

424
00:28:03,920 –> 00:28:06,960
raise Jesus from the dead, and
if the Holy Spirit doesn’t raise

425
00:28:06,960 –> 00:28:08,560
us from the dead, we have no
life.

426
00:28:08,840 –> 00:28:10,560
So the Holy Spirit better do
that work.

427
00:28:12,160 –> 00:28:15,120
But the Holy Spirit is going to
do that work because we believe,

428
00:28:16,600 –> 00:28:19,320
and the Spirit that was in the
Lord Jesus Christ, that Spirit

429
00:28:19,320 –> 00:28:24,880
that believed, if that Spirit is
absent within us, then all we

430
00:28:24,880 –> 00:28:27,960
have is flesh and then all we
have is death.

431
00:28:29,760 –> 00:28:34,480
And so Christ better dwell
within us through His Spirit,

432
00:28:34,720 –> 00:28:38,960
just like God said, He dwells in
a person that is of a lowly and

433
00:28:38,960 –> 00:28:44,360
a contrite heart.
And of course, as believers on a

434
00:28:44,360 –> 00:28:50,040
Sunday, we partake of the bread
and the wine, don’t we?

435
00:28:50,720 –> 00:28:53,800
And it’s not that we believe
that that is literally the body

436
00:28:53,800 –> 00:28:56,560
of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,

437
00:28:56,560 –> 00:28:59,800
but in symbol.
It is those things.

438
00:28:59,920 –> 00:29:04,800
And you take them in you, and
they have to be in you, and they

439
00:29:04,880 –> 00:29:08,320
have to dwell in you beyond a
physical sense, beyond the sense

440
00:29:08,320 –> 00:29:11,200
of the flesh.
They have to dwell within you in

441
00:29:11,200 –> 00:29:15,440
the sense of the Spirit.
And the best example of this I

442
00:29:15,440 –> 00:29:19,080
think is in John 6 where.
I was just thinking the same

443
00:29:19,080 –> 00:29:20,640
thing.
You want to turn over to John 6

444
00:29:20,640 –> 00:29:22,840
because I think it’s a good
example of these principles.

445
00:29:25,360 –> 00:29:28,840
You’re in John 6 and says
they’re in verse 54.

446
00:29:29,920 –> 00:29:34,720
He who eats my flesh and drinks
my blood has eternal life, and I

447
00:29:34,720 –> 00:29:36,600
will raise him up in the last
day.

448
00:29:37,160 –> 00:29:40,360
For my flesh is food indeed, and
my blood is drink indeed.

449
00:29:40,520 –> 00:29:46,200
Leaves my flesh and drinks my
blood abides in me, and I abide

450
00:29:46,240 –> 00:29:48,160
in him.
And now that’s very similar

451
00:29:48,160 –> 00:29:50,800
language, by the way, to what we
see in Romans.

452
00:29:50,800 –> 00:29:54,240
Which mentions a dwelling.
Yeah, dwelling or in the RSV

453
00:29:54,240 –> 00:29:56,360
abiding.
So same word there, right?

454
00:29:56,440 –> 00:30:01,080
So it’s the same idea of like,
if you eat my flesh and drink my

455
00:30:01,080 –> 00:30:04,760
blood, you abide in me.
And of course you do as a

456
00:30:04,760 –> 00:30:07,440
believer on a Sunday, you eat
that bread and you drink that

457
00:30:07,440 –> 00:30:11,560
wine and you do it in symbol.
So this is very similar

458
00:30:11,560 –> 00:30:14,040
language.
Why I want Christ to abide in

459
00:30:14,040 –> 00:30:16,040
me.
How do I do that?

460
00:30:17,360 –> 00:30:22,600
The record’s going to say that
when several of the disciples

461
00:30:22,600 –> 00:30:28,480
heard this, they were offended
because it was a hard saying and

462
00:30:28,480 –> 00:30:33,280
they murmured amongst themselves
and Jesus says, do you take

463
00:30:33,280 –> 00:30:37,480
offence at this?
And I think that this is an

464
00:30:37,480 –> 00:30:41,200
interesting concept here because
I just want to focus for a

465
00:30:41,200 –> 00:30:45,000
moment on that word offence
because here’s the interesting

466
00:30:45,000 –> 00:30:48,600
thing is I want to just ask the
question.

467
00:30:49,600 –> 00:30:54,240
These words of the Lord Jesus
Christ were true and they were

468
00:30:54,240 –> 00:30:57,520
life.
But how did they feel?

469
00:30:59,320 –> 00:31:00,520
Well, I’ll tell you how they
felt.

470
00:31:01,480 –> 00:31:04,280
They caused offence.
They caused offence.

471
00:31:05,440 –> 00:31:08,040
See the the words of the Lord
Jesus Christ don’t always feel

472
00:31:08,040 –> 00:31:11,360
good tooth.
Hey, in this instance they

473
00:31:11,360 –> 00:31:15,200
caused offence.
It’s the trouble of focusing on

474
00:31:15,200 –> 00:31:17,040
feelings.
How do you think it would have

475
00:31:17,040 –> 00:31:20,120
been for the 12 when they saw
all these disciples scatter?

476
00:31:21,080 –> 00:31:24,160
You see, Because what feels
good, I tell you, you know what

477
00:31:24,160 –> 00:31:26,640
feels good?
What feels good is someone

478
00:31:26,760 –> 00:31:30,560
giving you bread they pull out
of a basket that you didn’t have

479
00:31:30,560 –> 00:31:31,360
to.
Work free food.

480
00:31:31,440 –> 00:31:34,920
You know that feels good.
Like Genesis 319 says, by the

481
00:31:34,920 –> 00:31:38,120
sweat of your face, you’re going
to create bread, right?

482
00:31:39,120 –> 00:31:41,720
And here Jesus is pulling bread
out of a basket or like no sweat

483
00:31:41,720 –> 00:31:44,560
of my face on that one.
That feels great.

484
00:31:44,840 –> 00:31:46,960
Give me this bread.
I want this bread.

485
00:31:47,160 –> 00:31:48,640
Give me this bread.
Always.

486
00:31:48,960 –> 00:31:52,600
See, that feels good.
And that is not what the Lord

487
00:31:52,600 –> 00:31:55,720
Jesus Christ was going to give
them.

488
00:31:55,720 –> 00:31:57,600
He was going to give them
something so much better.

489
00:31:57,600 –> 00:31:59,480
Well.
When you talk about flesh and

490
00:31:59,480 –> 00:32:01,920
blood, you’re talking about
crucifixion, you’re talking

491
00:32:01,920 –> 00:32:04,800
about suffering.
That’s what he’s going to give

492
00:32:04,800 –> 00:32:05,480
them, right?
Yeah.

493
00:32:05,520 –> 00:32:08,160
Did that feel good, that.
Doesn’t feel good, yeah, but

494
00:32:08,160 –> 00:32:10,160
that’s the path they take up our
cross, right?

495
00:32:10,360 –> 00:32:13,840
Yeah, exactly.
So what is it within us that

496
00:32:13,840 –> 00:32:15,800
allows us to do what doesn’t
feel good?

497
00:32:16,920 –> 00:32:22,280
What is it within us that allows
us to choose to do the right

498
00:32:22,280 –> 00:32:26,960
thing, the godly thing, even
when it feels bad?

499
00:32:28,360 –> 00:32:33,560
That’s spirit, that’s power.
There’s something bigger than

500
00:32:33,560 –> 00:32:37,240
our flesh.
There’s something that’s within

501
00:32:37,240 –> 00:32:39,840
us.
Allow us to do what’s right,

502
00:32:40,320 –> 00:32:43,720
even when doing what’s right
feels bad.

503
00:32:45,760 –> 00:32:47,920
And that thing has to have
power.

504
00:32:49,320 –> 00:32:54,160
And so actually in in relation
to feelings, having the spirit

505
00:32:54,520 –> 00:32:58,400
is not only not worried about
how you feel, it’s sometimes

506
00:32:58,400 –> 00:33:01,920
doing what doesn’t feel good in
reality.

507
00:33:02,680 –> 00:33:06,120
And there’s got to be a power
within you that allows you to do

508
00:33:06,120 –> 00:33:10,240
what doesn’t feel good, but is
what your Lord is asking of you.

509
00:33:12,120 –> 00:33:14,480
And if you set your mind on
things of the flesh and you want

510
00:33:14,480 –> 00:33:18,480
the free meal, right, then
you’re going to murmur and

511
00:33:18,480 –> 00:33:21,680
you’re going to walk away.
And what’s interesting is when

512
00:33:21,760 –> 00:33:24,480
Jesus says, Hey, do you take
offense of me?

513
00:33:25,600 –> 00:33:28,840
Right?
He says this in verse 62 of John

514
00:33:28,840 –> 00:33:31,840
6.
Then what if you see the Son of

515
00:33:31,840 –> 00:33:33,640
Man ascending where He was
before?

516
00:33:34,200 –> 00:33:37,760
It is the Spirit that gives
life.

517
00:33:38,760 –> 00:33:42,640
The flesh is of no avail.
When Jesus was talking about His

518
00:33:42,640 –> 00:33:45,640
body in his blood, they’re
offended because they didn’t

519
00:33:45,640 –> 00:33:47,520
want to literally eat his body
in the blood.

520
00:33:48,360 –> 00:33:50,160
But he’s like, no, no, no,
you’ve missed it.

521
00:33:50,920 –> 00:33:54,240
See, it’s the Spirit.
It’s the Spirit that gives life.

522
00:33:54,480 –> 00:33:56,800
You have to have belief in those
things.

523
00:33:58,240 –> 00:34:02,080
If you don’t have belief in
those things right, If you don’t

524
00:34:02,080 –> 00:34:06,480
take them inside and ingest them
so that I dwell in your heart

525
00:34:06,480 –> 00:34:11,000
and within you to create the
conditions in which you do what

526
00:34:11,000 –> 00:34:15,880
is right and good in God’s eyes,
even when it’s hard, if that

527
00:34:15,880 –> 00:34:20,440
doesn’t live within you, then
you have no life within you.

528
00:34:20,960 –> 00:34:22,480
It’s the Spirit that gives
light.

529
00:34:22,480 –> 00:34:26,639
The flesh is of no avail.
The words that I’ve spoken to

530
00:34:26,639 –> 00:34:32,800
you are Spirit and life.
I couldn’t say it more clearly,

531
00:34:32,800 –> 00:34:36,880
Tim, could it?
The words I’ve spoken to you are

532
00:34:36,880 –> 00:34:40,480
spirit and life.
And of course, they leave.

533
00:34:41,360 –> 00:34:43,400
They don’t want this because it
doesn’t feel good.

534
00:34:43,760 –> 00:34:48,560
Many of the disciples abandoned
him and so it says in verse 66.

535
00:34:48,560 –> 00:34:52,400
After this, many disciples drew
back and no longer went about

536
00:34:52,400 –> 00:34:54,920
with him.
And Jesus said to the 12 do you

537
00:34:54,920 –> 00:34:58,960
also wish to go away?
And Simon Peter answered and

538
00:34:58,960 –> 00:35:04,920
said, Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal

539
00:35:04,920 –> 00:35:08,600
life.
So Peter got it right.

540
00:35:08,960 –> 00:35:13,840
So what allowed Peter to stay
when everyone else left is he

541
00:35:13,840 –> 00:35:16,120
had belief.
Yeah, Yeah, he did.

542
00:35:16,680 –> 00:35:21,000
He had the words of eternal
life, and as believers, we take

543
00:35:21,000 –> 00:35:24,640
the symbols of the bread and the
wine and we take them within us.

544
00:35:25,480 –> 00:35:29,640
And at the end of that process,
the Spirit of the Lord Jesus

545
00:35:29,640 –> 00:35:33,160
Christ and the fact that he was
poured out for his brother and

546
00:35:33,160 –> 00:35:34,920
sisters, He was poured out for
us.

547
00:35:35,120 –> 00:35:37,720
If we don’t have a spirit in
which we’re willing to live as

548
00:35:37,720 –> 00:35:40,960
resurrected believers and be
poured out for other believers

549
00:35:42,160 –> 00:35:46,600
and do difficult things because
this spirit compels us to do

550
00:35:46,600 –> 00:35:51,560
difficult things because we
believe, then we’ve just eaten

551
00:35:51,560 –> 00:35:53,760
bread and dragon wine.
It’s just physical.

552
00:35:53,880 –> 00:35:58,240
It’s just flesh.
Yeah, well, you brought up verse

553
00:35:58,240 –> 00:36:02,080
63 there.
Jesus says the Spirit gives

554
00:36:02,080 –> 00:36:04,600
life, the flesh is no help at
all.

555
00:36:05,040 –> 00:36:07,720
The words that I’ve spoken to
you are spirit in life.

556
00:36:07,760 –> 00:36:12,560
I just like to go back to Romans
chapter 8 and just read verses 9

557
00:36:12,560 –> 00:36:16,200
through 11 because it almost
seems like Paul is picking up on

558
00:36:16,200 –> 00:36:17,840
these words.
Absolutely.

559
00:36:18,680 –> 00:36:21,560
And when you read these two
back-to-back, Paul is talking

560
00:36:21,560 –> 00:36:25,040
about how the Spirit is life.
But we see how Jesus says it’s

561
00:36:25,040 –> 00:36:28,800
the words that he’s saying.
This is what Paul says in Romans

562
00:36:28,800 –> 00:36:32,760
8 verses 9 through 11.
Well, let me start at verse 8.

563
00:36:33,440 –> 00:36:36,720
Those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.

564
00:36:37,200 –> 00:36:42,040
You, however, are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if in

565
00:36:42,040 –> 00:36:46,160
fact the Spirit of God dwells in
you.

566
00:36:46,920 –> 00:36:51,280
Anyone who does not have the
Spirit of Christ does not belong

567
00:36:51,280 –> 00:36:55,200
to Him.
But if Christ is in you,

568
00:36:56,000 –> 00:37:00,640
although the body is dead
because of sin, the Spirit is

569
00:37:00,640 –> 00:37:06,840
life because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of Him who raised

570
00:37:06,840 –> 00:37:13,000
Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, he who raised Christ Jesus

571
00:37:13,000 –> 00:37:17,640
from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies

572
00:37:18,200 –> 00:37:22,840
through his Spirit who dwells in
you.

573
00:37:22,840 –> 00:37:28,040
There’s so much in there, but I
love this part in verse 11 where

574
00:37:28,040 –> 00:37:31,320
he puts a lot of words to where
he could have simply said the

575
00:37:31,320 –> 00:37:35,080
Spirit of God.
He says the Spirit of him who

576
00:37:35,080 –> 00:37:38,480
raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you.

577
00:37:39,240 –> 00:37:42,200
It’s a resurrection power,
right?

578
00:37:42,200 –> 00:37:45,360
The Spirit raised Jesus from the
dead, literally.

579
00:37:45,640 –> 00:37:50,880
But that’s what Jesus is calling
us to do is to be resurrected

580
00:37:51,280 –> 00:37:54,640
through baptism and through the
renewing and the changing the

581
00:37:54,640 –> 00:38:00,040
Spirit of our minds to be
created in his image and his

582
00:38:00,040 –> 00:38:03,240
likeness, right?
So I just love how he draws that

583
00:38:03,240 –> 00:38:07,320
out and puts that echo there.
But he also mentions 3 times he

584
00:38:07,320 –> 00:38:09,480
mentions this aspect of it
dwelling in you.

585
00:38:09,760 –> 00:38:14,080
But Paul here does in this verse
that the Spirit of God, which he

586
00:38:14,080 –> 00:38:18,840
says is also the Spirit of
Christ, has to be dwelling in

587
00:38:18,840 –> 00:38:20,880
us.
So we have to understand that

588
00:38:20,880 –> 00:38:23,720
this is not a mystery.
We know how it happens.

589
00:38:24,400 –> 00:38:27,080
It’s by setting our minds on the
things of the Spirit, which is

590
00:38:27,080 –> 00:38:31,040
the words of Christ.
We are taught that, we learn

591
00:38:31,240 –> 00:38:33,240
that we incorporate, that we
believe.

592
00:38:33,240 –> 00:38:36,600
Like you’ve said, oh, that’s so
important.

593
00:38:36,640 –> 00:38:40,200
And that’s really to me, is how
the Spirit is supposed to guide

594
00:38:40,320 –> 00:38:43,800
our life.
Well, I think that sometimes the

595
00:38:43,800 –> 00:38:46,600
word spirit can be a difficult
concept to understand because

596
00:38:46,600 –> 00:38:50,120
the word is used so broadly.
Yeah, but the Spirit of the Lord

597
00:38:50,120 –> 00:38:56,680
Jesus Christ was a spirit within
him that absolutely believed in

598
00:38:56,680 –> 00:39:02,160
the things that God had promised
and had total dedication within

599
00:39:02,160 –> 00:39:08,200
himself to do God’s will.
And that spirit in some measure

600
00:39:08,640 –> 00:39:14,680
must be within us.
And it is in us when we read

601
00:39:14,680 –> 00:39:19,920
what Jesus has done and we
believe, and then as a result of

602
00:39:19,920 –> 00:39:24,400
that belief, we start to make
difficult choices that don’t

603
00:39:24,400 –> 00:39:29,560
feel good to our flesh, but
which are honoring to God.

604
00:39:30,880 –> 00:39:39,400
We set our mind on the things of
the Spirit, and that spirit must

605
00:39:39,400 –> 00:39:42,720
be within us, because you can’t
set your mind on something you

606
00:39:42,720 –> 00:39:47,320
don’t have.
You don’t ask people to read the

607
00:39:47,320 –> 00:39:52,480
Bible just to torture them.
The idea is to get these ideas

608
00:39:52,720 –> 00:39:59,040
into their mind so that they can
set their mind on it.

609
00:39:59,560 –> 00:40:02,960
Because if they don’t have these
ideas in their mind.

610
00:40:03,360 –> 00:40:08,920
Then the default will always be
satisfy the cravings of my body.

611
00:40:10,600 –> 00:40:14,000
So if a listener is staying
there right now and they’re

612
00:40:14,000 –> 00:40:19,120
making choices that are not in
the interest of satisfying the

613
00:40:19,120 –> 00:40:24,880
cravings of their body, but are
allowing them to do what God’s

614
00:40:24,880 –> 00:40:30,680
will is because of their belief,
then that is the result of

615
00:40:30,680 –> 00:40:32,600
steady your mind on the things
of the Spirit.

616
00:40:32,640 –> 00:40:37,760
And that can only occur because
the Spirit of Christ dwells

617
00:40:37,760 –> 00:40:42,360
within you because of what
you’ve heard and Christ saying,

618
00:40:42,360 –> 00:40:47,120
my words are spirit and my words
are life.

619
00:40:48,160 –> 00:40:51,280
And it changes you.
And you can have spiritual

620
00:40:51,280 –> 00:40:56,600
experiences in which because of
the word, the Spirit in my life,

621
00:40:57,040 –> 00:41:00,440
things that I used to struggle
with and really strain against,

622
00:41:00,720 –> 00:41:05,280
now they don’t tempt me as much
as they did before because God’s

623
00:41:05,280 –> 00:41:09,400
relieved me of that.
Because of following the things

624
00:41:09,400 –> 00:41:13,080
of the Spirit.
Paul says things that he used to

625
00:41:13,080 –> 00:41:16,080
treasure, he now considers done
right.

626
00:41:16,200 –> 00:41:19,440
Well, there’s obviously a
change, you know, something that

627
00:41:19,440 –> 00:41:21,520
used to really tempt him and
things that he wanted.

628
00:41:21,520 –> 00:41:24,000
And now he looks at those things
and they’re not valuable to him

629
00:41:24,000 –> 00:41:26,000
anymore.
And he’s changed, and that

630
00:41:26,000 –> 00:41:29,760
happens, right?
But that happens because you set

631
00:41:29,760 –> 00:41:31,280
your mind on things of the
Spirit.

632
00:41:32,480 –> 00:41:36,080
And I think what Paul’s even
doing in verses 9 to 11, he’s

633
00:41:36,080 –> 00:41:38,640
saying, because you might think
to yourself, set your mind on

634
00:41:38,640 –> 00:41:40,360
the things of the Spirit.
That’s so hard.

635
00:41:40,360 –> 00:41:44,640
How do I do that?
And I think the overall emphasis

636
00:41:45,680 –> 00:41:51,080
is that the spirit is greater
than the flesh, the spirits

637
00:41:51,080 –> 00:41:54,320
overcome the flesh, and that
what’s with you and what’s

638
00:41:54,320 –> 00:41:56,600
working for you and what’s
trying to help you in this

639
00:41:56,600 –> 00:41:59,520
endeavour is greater than what’s
working against you.

640
00:42:00,320 –> 00:42:03,600
And I know that because it
resurrected a man from the dead.

641
00:42:03,600 –> 00:42:06,440
And the flesh can’t do that.
The flesh can’t do that.

642
00:42:07,200 –> 00:42:10,240
So whatever the spirit is, it’s
got to be greater than the flesh

643
00:42:10,240 –> 00:42:12,440
because it can do the things the
flesh can’t do.

644
00:42:13,800 –> 00:42:17,040
And we’re meant to feel comfort
as a result of what Paul’s

645
00:42:17,040 –> 00:42:20,000
saying here, not be confused, be
comforted.

646
00:42:20,920 –> 00:42:23,320
Right.
Not feel defeated, not let our

647
00:42:23,320 –> 00:42:26,560
flesh lie to us.
And you feel like we’re a fraud

648
00:42:26,560 –> 00:42:29,600
or something like that, right?
Because we’re to expect this

649
00:42:29,600 –> 00:42:32,200
battle.
But like you’re saying, when we

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00:42:32,200 –> 00:42:36,400
let that word, when we let that
spirit influence us and overtake

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00:42:36,400 –> 00:42:38,840
us, what does it do to the
carnal mind?

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00:42:38,840 –> 00:42:41,280
It starts putting it to death.
That’s right.

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00:42:41,280 –> 00:42:43,840
And you have these battles where
it’s being put to death.

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00:42:43,840 –> 00:42:47,040
And of course you lose some
battles, but the important thing

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00:42:47,040 –> 00:42:50,240
is there that God and Christ are
there helping us to win the war.

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00:42:50,520 –> 00:42:51,960
Right.
Absolutely.

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00:42:52,360 –> 00:42:55,800
Well, what else is there to say?
A lot.

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00:42:56,720 –> 00:42:59,720
I think we just touched the tip
of the iceberg here, especially

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00:42:59,720 –> 00:43:02,600
in Romans chapter 8.
He goes on to talk about the

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00:43:02,600 –> 00:43:05,520
Spirit some more, but I think
this is a just a really good

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00:43:05,520 –> 00:43:08,600
starting point when we talk
about essential Bible studies,

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00:43:09,240 –> 00:43:11,680
this is one of them, right?
This is not the only place that

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00:43:11,760 –> 00:43:17,200
Paul talks about the Spirit, but
this is a really key passage and

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00:43:17,400 –> 00:43:20,040
I’m so glad that God touched
your life with it.

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00:43:20,040 –> 00:43:22,960
He’s touched my life with this
passage as well.

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00:43:23,440 –> 00:43:27,160
But as we’ve been saying, it’s
something learned over time,

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00:43:27,520 –> 00:43:29,680
right?
It’s something that’s gradual,

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00:43:29,680 –> 00:43:32,520
like the growth of a plant, like
we were talking about before,

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00:43:32,520 –> 00:43:35,480
from a seed, it sprouts up
pretty quickly.

670
00:43:35,480 –> 00:43:38,280
But as it’s nourished and
continues to grow, it’s a slow

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00:43:38,280 –> 00:43:42,560
process before it actually bears
fruit, the fruit of the Spirit.

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00:43:42,760 –> 00:43:45,800
I always like to say God does
the hard work like, you know,

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00:43:45,800 –> 00:43:51,120
planting, watering, ho hum,
bringing a flowering plant from

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00:43:51,120 –> 00:43:55,800
a seed this small, that’s hard.
God does the hard work, right?

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00:43:55,800 –> 00:43:57,800
Not us.
And I think the Spirit the same.

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00:43:57,800 –> 00:44:03,480
We read, we pray, we try and you
think where’s the change going

677
00:44:03,480 –> 00:44:05,120
to come?
You say, well, give God time.

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00:44:05,120 –> 00:44:08,960
God’s going to do the hard work.
Yeah, yeah, beautiful.

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00:44:09,360 –> 00:44:11,480
He’ll grow it within you.
Yeah, it’s just amazing.

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00:44:11,480 –> 00:44:14,480
And a lot of times, yeah, you
just have to stand back and just

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00:44:14,480 –> 00:44:17,240
wonder and be amazed at
everything that God does.

682
00:44:17,600 –> 00:44:19,680
All right, Ben.
Well, thank you very much for

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00:44:19,680 –> 00:44:21,640
joining me.
I know you’re very a busy man.

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00:44:21,640 –> 00:44:24,320
I really appreciate it.
And I think this is a great

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00:44:24,320 –> 00:44:26,560
session that we’ve had.
I’d like to do it again

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00:44:26,560 –> 00:44:27,480
sometime.
Yeah.

687
00:44:27,480 –> 00:44:28,560
Sure.
Thank you, Tim.

688
00:44:28,560 –> 00:44:31,800
It’s really wonderful connect
and thank you for inviting me as

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00:44:31,840 –> 00:44:33,120
a guest.
I really appreciate it.

690
00:44:33,640 –> 00:44:34,400
All right.
Thanks, Ben.

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00:44:34,480 –> 00:44:46,960
Take care.
This marks the 70th episode of

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00:44:46,960 –> 00:44:49,200
the Essential Bible Studies
podcast.

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00:44:50,040 –> 00:44:52,000
That means if you’re new to the
podcast, there’s a.

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00:44:52,000 –> 00:44:55,520
Lot of great listening for.
You in our back catalog 70

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00:44:55,520 –> 00:44:59,080
podcasts are a lot, but there’s
so much more fascinating topics

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00:44:59,080 –> 00:45:02,040
to come.
Join us next week when Jay

697
00:45:02,040 –> 00:45:06,200
Mayock is back to talk with me
about the relationship between

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00:45:06,480 –> 00:45:10,880
God the Father, Jesus Christ His
Son, and the Holy Spirit,

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00:45:11,520 –> 00:45:14,920
popularly known as the Trinity.
We’re going to traverse some of

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00:45:14,920 –> 00:45:18,240
the history of that term and
study some of the verses that

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00:45:18,240 –> 00:45:21,560
talk about the Father, Son, and
the Holy Spirit.

702
00:45:24,080 –> 00:45:28,080
As always, look out for us on
Facebook, Instagram or X and

703
00:45:28,080 –> 00:45:31,200
share our posts on your own
timeline or story so others can

704
00:45:31,200 –> 00:45:36,480
discover it as well.
Yes, you plant all water and God

705
00:45:36,480 –> 00:45:43,560
will give the increase.
Make sure to visit our website

706
00:45:43,560 –> 00:45:49,240
at www.essentialbiblestudies.org
and use the contact form to send

707
00:45:49,240 –> 00:45:52,120
us a question.
You can request one of our free

708
00:45:52,120 –> 00:45:56,400
media kits or get the link to
join our online Bible study

709
00:45:56,400 –> 00:46:02,800
group.
The Essential Bible Studies

710
00:46:02,800 –> 00:46:04,920
podcast is sponsored by the book
Rd.

711
00:46:04,920 –> 00:46:10,240
Christadelphian Ecclesia in
beautiful Ancaster ON Canada.

712
00:46:14,400 –> 00:46:17,520
Until we meet again, dear
friends, I pray to God that you

713
00:46:17,520 –> 00:46:20,400
may grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior

714
00:46:20,400 –> 00:46:23,640
of Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and

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00:46:23,640 –> 00:46:26,280
to the day of eternity.
Amen.