1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,569 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,697 --> 00:00:06,593 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,689 --> 00:00:09,657 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,681 --> 00:00:10,685 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,985 --> 00:00:14,625 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,665 --> 00:00:16,245 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,745 --> 00:00:17,577 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,641 --> 00:00:21,765 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,545 --> 00:00:27,707 All right, well, we're going to go ahead and start our Bible study 10 00:00:27,771 --> 00:00:28,875 here this evening. 11 00:00:28,955 --> 00:00:33,495 Now, if you have been following along with us for the last, 12 00:00:34,075 --> 00:00:36,731 I don't know how long it's been, we've been going through Zephaniah, 13 00:00:36,883 --> 00:00:40,003 we went through a long study in the book of Genesis, and then 14 00:00:40,019 --> 00:00:42,339 we went through a short study in the book of Zephaniah. 15 00:00:42,507 --> 00:00:45,975 And as a pastor, I was racking my brain, do I want to start a book 16 00:00:46,395 --> 00:00:47,875 right before the Christmas season? 17 00:00:47,915 --> 00:00:49,475 And I said, no, I don't want to do that. 18 00:00:49,515 --> 00:00:52,099 I don't want to get everyone lost on the shuffle of the Christmas 19 00:00:52,147 --> 00:00:52,793 season. 20 00:00:52,979 --> 00:00:57,181 And so what we're going to do, at least until the end of this year 21 00:00:57,253 --> 00:01:00,349 and into the new year is we're going to be, and I mentioned this 22 00:01:00,397 --> 00:01:03,477 last week, we're going to be taking some words and doing some 23 00:01:03,501 --> 00:01:04,501 word studies. 24 00:01:04,693 --> 00:01:06,973 And we've been doing this on our podcast. 25 00:01:07,109 --> 00:01:10,773 If you, if you have a podcast outlet that you listen to, we do 26 00:01:10,789 --> 00:01:12,621 a podcast here from our church. 27 00:01:12,773 --> 00:01:15,093 We've got 23 word of the Week episodes. 28 00:01:15,149 --> 00:01:17,461 And so if you haven't ever listened to the Word of the Week 29 00:01:17,493 --> 00:01:20,163 episode, you've got about a half a year you could go back and 30 00:01:20,179 --> 00:01:21,883 listen to all in one sitting. 31 00:01:22,019 --> 00:01:24,563 Probably wouldn't do that, but there are little snippets. 32 00:01:24,619 --> 00:01:27,131 And so I was sitting down and said, okay, what word do I want to 33 00:01:27,163 --> 00:01:28,507 study here this week? 34 00:01:28,571 --> 00:01:30,995 And I actually picked out three words. 35 00:01:31,035 --> 00:01:33,395 And so I'm going to try to jam in three words here this evening. 36 00:01:33,435 --> 00:01:35,227 And I hope that isn't too much. 37 00:01:35,291 --> 00:01:37,347 We'll kind of gauge it in that sense. 38 00:01:37,491 --> 00:01:39,571 But for the next few weeks, we're going to be talking about some 39 00:01:39,603 --> 00:01:40,195 words. 40 00:01:40,355 --> 00:01:45,163 Next week, we're going to be specifically discussing the word 41 00:01:45,219 --> 00:01:45,977 Messiah. 42 00:01:46,091 --> 00:01:47,085 And what does that mean? 43 00:01:47,165 --> 00:01:48,877 We hear that word a lot, Messiah. 44 00:01:49,021 --> 00:01:51,317 But this week we're going to talk about three words. 45 00:01:51,501 --> 00:01:55,345 And all these three words are interrelated to our salvation. 46 00:01:55,845 --> 00:01:58,573 And certainly we know that our salvation is the most important thing 47 00:01:58,589 --> 00:01:59,821 that we have in Christ. 48 00:02:00,013 --> 00:02:02,741 No doubt there are other elements of our Christian life that 49 00:02:02,773 --> 00:02:03,637 are exciting, right? 50 00:02:03,661 --> 00:02:05,501 There's the blessings of growth. 51 00:02:05,573 --> 00:02:08,325 There's the blessings of service. 52 00:02:08,405 --> 00:02:10,485 There's the blessings of all these different types of things, 53 00:02:10,525 --> 00:02:13,007 but the number one blessing is our salvation. 54 00:02:13,181 --> 00:02:16,091 And so I want to think about three different terms here this evening. 55 00:02:16,163 --> 00:02:19,891 And I'm sure that you are familiar with at least some of these 56 00:02:19,923 --> 00:02:23,035 words or you're familiar with a form of these words. 57 00:02:23,075 --> 00:02:24,995 But I want you to think about this first word. 58 00:02:25,035 --> 00:02:26,895 This first word is justification. 59 00:02:27,675 --> 00:02:30,571 Now most of you would say, well, I probably heard that word 60 00:02:30,603 --> 00:02:31,175 before. 61 00:02:31,595 --> 00:02:35,547 I always ask someone, do you know it enough to explain it to a 62 00:02:35,571 --> 00:02:36,539 5 year old? 63 00:02:36,707 --> 00:02:40,491 Because I have found in my life that the more that I know something, 64 00:02:40,563 --> 00:02:44,077 the more I know about something, the easier I can make 65 00:02:44,101 --> 00:02:46,357 it to someone when I'm explaining it to them. 66 00:02:46,541 --> 00:02:49,277 If I'm not really even following my own line of thinking, 67 00:02:49,381 --> 00:02:52,265 I might not understand it as much as I thought I did. 68 00:02:52,565 --> 00:02:57,625 And so we're going to look at this word justification and, or justify. 69 00:02:58,045 --> 00:03:01,741 And sometimes in our society we use the word justify as like I'm 70 00:03:01,773 --> 00:03:04,893 trying to make what I did right, like I'm trying to justify 71 00:03:04,949 --> 00:03:05,253 myself. 72 00:03:05,309 --> 00:03:07,877 Like, you know, I got angry with this person and I'm giving you 73 00:03:07,901 --> 00:03:09,549 the reasons why I got angry with this person. 74 00:03:09,597 --> 00:03:11,257 I'm trying to justify myself. 75 00:03:11,421 --> 00:03:15,121 Well, we know, biblically speaking that we cannot justify ourselves 76 00:03:15,313 --> 00:03:15,761 literally. 77 00:03:15,793 --> 00:03:18,525 The word justify means to declare righteous. 78 00:03:19,025 --> 00:03:22,601 It means that someone can say, hey look, you are righteous, you 79 00:03:22,633 --> 00:03:24,993 don't have guilt upon your life. 80 00:03:25,169 --> 00:03:27,641 And the Bible says in Romans chapter five, you can turn there 81 00:03:27,673 --> 00:03:27,921 with me. 82 00:03:27,953 --> 00:03:29,245 Romans chapter five. 83 00:03:29,945 --> 00:03:36,289 It tells us how we are justified not by our own words, not 84 00:03:36,337 --> 00:03:41,163 by our own actions, not by somebody else's actions. 85 00:03:41,219 --> 00:03:44,315 At least someone else here in this room. 86 00:03:44,395 --> 00:03:46,307 Like I can't look at over someone else and say, well, they 87 00:03:46,331 --> 00:03:47,331 told me I'm okay. 88 00:03:47,443 --> 00:03:48,459 You ever heard someone do that? 89 00:03:48,507 --> 00:03:51,043 They said, well, I think I'm doing okay. 90 00:03:51,099 --> 00:03:53,691 And I asked someone else if I was doing this and they said that's 91 00:03:53,723 --> 00:03:54,747 fine, you could do that. 92 00:03:54,851 --> 00:03:57,051 Well, you know what, they're not going to answer for you before 93 00:03:57,083 --> 00:03:57,771 the Lord. 94 00:03:57,923 --> 00:04:00,907 And so the Bible tells us in Romans chapter five, what brings 95 00:04:00,931 --> 00:04:02,387 us our justification? 96 00:04:02,571 --> 00:04:05,803 What brings that declaration of righteousness in our life and 97 00:04:05,819 --> 00:04:07,021 what is that righteousness? 98 00:04:07,163 --> 00:04:10,073 Now for most of you, you would say, I know this, but, but I think 99 00:04:10,089 --> 00:04:12,201 it's important for us as Christians to be able to explain 100 00:04:12,233 --> 00:04:13,497 this to other people around us. 101 00:04:13,601 --> 00:04:15,233 Because let's say they're reading their Bible and they get 102 00:04:15,249 --> 00:04:18,777 to that word justification, they think about it like this, well, 103 00:04:18,801 --> 00:04:21,553 that means how I can make myself look good. 104 00:04:21,689 --> 00:04:26,121 But, but the Bible says here in verse 1 of Romans chapter 5, therefore 105 00:04:26,193 --> 00:04:32,449 being justified by faith, the Bible says that it is faith alone 106 00:04:32,497 --> 00:04:34,165 that justifies us now. 107 00:04:35,065 --> 00:04:38,121 Not the work that we have done, but faith in the work that 108 00:04:38,153 --> 00:04:40,177 Jesus has done on our behalf. 109 00:04:40,361 --> 00:04:43,465 So it says, therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace 110 00:04:43,585 --> 00:04:47,321 with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 111 00:04:47,513 --> 00:04:50,405 And so the Bible very clearly tells us here in verse number one, 112 00:04:50,945 --> 00:04:51,953 how we are justified. 113 00:04:52,009 --> 00:04:54,993 We are justified by trusting in Jesus. 114 00:04:55,089 --> 00:04:56,793 Now, you would say, of course, that's. 115 00:04:56,889 --> 00:04:57,845 We know that. 116 00:04:58,145 --> 00:04:58,481 But. 117 00:04:58,513 --> 00:05:01,473 But if I'm trying to explain this to somebody who doesn't really 118 00:05:01,529 --> 00:05:02,609 understand that concept. 119 00:05:02,697 --> 00:05:05,065 You ever tried to explain to someone the gospel, and they've never 120 00:05:05,105 --> 00:05:05,641 heard the gospel. 121 00:05:05,673 --> 00:05:07,057 They didn't grow up with the gospel. 122 00:05:07,201 --> 00:05:08,329 I grew up with the gospel. 123 00:05:08,377 --> 00:05:11,041 And so it was so ingrained in my mind that it just made a lot of 124 00:05:11,073 --> 00:05:11,685 sense. 125 00:05:11,985 --> 00:05:15,417 But someone in the world might say, this can't be that easy. 126 00:05:15,521 --> 00:05:18,085 I just believe in Jesus. 127 00:05:18,385 --> 00:05:18,745 How? 128 00:05:18,785 --> 00:05:19,169 How can. 129 00:05:19,217 --> 00:05:22,497 And then, then in the same breath, we say that God hates sin, 130 00:05:22,641 --> 00:05:24,409 and we say that God judges sin. 131 00:05:24,537 --> 00:05:26,265 Well, didn't you just tell me that I'm a sinner? 132 00:05:26,305 --> 00:05:29,121 How can God look at me and say that I'm righteous? 133 00:05:29,313 --> 00:05:30,521 How can I trust in Jesus? 134 00:05:30,553 --> 00:05:31,737 And it all just goes away. 135 00:05:31,801 --> 00:05:33,885 That's a question that a lot of people might have. 136 00:05:34,785 --> 00:05:38,145 And so the Bible explains that to us because it says there, it's 137 00:05:38,185 --> 00:05:41,369 through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith 138 00:05:41,417 --> 00:05:42,925 into this grace. 139 00:05:43,785 --> 00:05:47,561 So it's a gift wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the 140 00:05:47,593 --> 00:05:48,565 glory of God. 141 00:05:49,305 --> 00:05:51,753 And so the Bible tells us that we didn't earn this. 142 00:05:51,809 --> 00:05:56,891 And I want you to think about another word that is connected to 143 00:05:56,923 --> 00:06:00,635 our justification, and it explains our justification, and that 144 00:06:00,675 --> 00:06:04,955 is in First John chapter two, our propitiation. 145 00:06:04,995 --> 00:06:08,635 Now you're going to say, hey, I wasn't here tonight to hear all 146 00:06:08,675 --> 00:06:10,107 these theological terms. 147 00:06:10,251 --> 00:06:12,347 Well, you know, these are good terms to know. 148 00:06:12,451 --> 00:06:15,467 I don't necessarily think that you have to use them, but you do 149 00:06:15,491 --> 00:06:18,643 have to understand what they mean when you understand our salvation 150 00:06:18,699 --> 00:06:19,955 before Jesus Christ. 151 00:06:20,115 --> 00:06:22,331 And so I want you to look at one John chapter two with me. 152 00:06:22,403 --> 00:06:23,935 How can we be justified? 153 00:06:24,395 --> 00:06:26,895 How can justification be a thing? 154 00:06:27,475 --> 00:06:32,235 Well, justification is a thing because of what First John chapter 155 00:06:32,275 --> 00:06:33,095 2 says. 156 00:06:33,715 --> 00:06:37,755 First John chapter 2, the Bible says, my little children. 157 00:06:37,795 --> 00:06:39,615 So he's speaking to Christians here. 158 00:06:40,955 --> 00:06:42,659 So that's important for us to understand. 159 00:06:42,747 --> 00:06:45,987 Christians should understand the principle of propitiation, these 160 00:06:46,011 --> 00:06:46,195 things. 161 00:06:46,235 --> 00:06:48,295 Write I unto you that ye sin not. 162 00:06:48,675 --> 00:06:51,251 I always used to get scared when I read that Because I was like, 163 00:06:51,283 --> 00:06:54,065 wait, he's telling us not to sin, but I know I'm going to sin, 164 00:06:54,145 --> 00:06:55,009 so what do I do? 165 00:06:55,097 --> 00:06:56,617 Well, he says, don't sin. 166 00:06:56,681 --> 00:06:58,281 So the desire should be not to sin. 167 00:06:58,353 --> 00:07:01,409 We should strive to live a life that is pure and holy before 168 00:07:01,457 --> 00:07:01,849 God. 169 00:07:01,937 --> 00:07:03,921 But what does it say in the next part? 170 00:07:04,073 --> 00:07:07,393 It says, and if any man sin, meaning you're going to sin because 171 00:07:07,409 --> 00:07:08,705 you're still fighting that sin nature. 172 00:07:08,745 --> 00:07:10,165 You're still fighting the flesh. 173 00:07:10,545 --> 00:07:15,209 We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 174 00:07:15,297 --> 00:07:18,725 An advocate, Someone fighting for us, someone who has gone before, 175 00:07:18,805 --> 00:07:20,589 someone who has paid the price. 176 00:07:20,717 --> 00:07:23,453 Someone who is our mouthpiece, our. 177 00:07:23,629 --> 00:07:24,805 Our champion. 178 00:07:24,965 --> 00:07:26,797 You ever had someone that just supported you. 179 00:07:26,861 --> 00:07:30,109 Ever had someone that was like your, Your person who came before 180 00:07:30,157 --> 00:07:33,349 you and was like, hey, I can vouch for this person, right? 181 00:07:33,477 --> 00:07:33,973 He's a. 182 00:07:34,029 --> 00:07:34,773 He's a good person. 183 00:07:34,829 --> 00:07:35,941 She's a good person. 184 00:07:36,093 --> 00:07:39,061 What we see is we have an advocate with the Father and it says, 185 00:07:39,093 --> 00:07:40,733 they're Jesus Christ the righteous. 186 00:07:40,789 --> 00:07:43,477 Now go back and think about this. 187 00:07:43,541 --> 00:07:46,653 That's the declaration of righteousness is justification. 188 00:07:46,789 --> 00:07:50,945 God declares us righteous, but it's not our righteousness. 189 00:07:51,525 --> 00:07:53,349 We see here whose righteousness it is. 190 00:07:53,397 --> 00:07:55,145 Jesus Christ the righteous. 191 00:07:55,445 --> 00:07:58,917 And so what God does is he takes Jesus's righteousness and he 192 00:07:58,941 --> 00:08:02,105 takes his righteousness and he puts it on our account. 193 00:08:03,245 --> 00:08:04,505 How can he do that? 194 00:08:04,805 --> 00:08:11,331 How can a righteous and holy God look at an individual sinner 195 00:08:11,493 --> 00:08:13,327 and say, okay, I'm going to declare you righteous. 196 00:08:13,351 --> 00:08:15,991 I'm going to put my Son's righteousness on your account. 197 00:08:16,063 --> 00:08:18,063 Well, it says in verse two what that means. 198 00:08:18,239 --> 00:08:22,815 And he talking about Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. 199 00:08:22,855 --> 00:08:24,675 There's that big word, propitiation. 200 00:08:25,095 --> 00:08:28,327 Now, if you don't know what that word means, it's very easy to 201 00:08:28,351 --> 00:08:31,303 skip over it and just say, well, it means something and it has 202 00:08:31,319 --> 00:08:32,715 something to do with my salvation. 203 00:08:33,095 --> 00:08:35,915 Propitiation literally means a satisfaction. 204 00:08:36,815 --> 00:08:38,755 Someone paid the price. 205 00:08:39,294 --> 00:08:42,434 Someone took the place. 206 00:08:42,854 --> 00:08:48,870 Because God in his holy and righteous character must deal with 207 00:08:48,902 --> 00:08:49,158 sin. 208 00:08:49,206 --> 00:08:51,034 He must judge sin. 209 00:08:51,414 --> 00:08:54,710 He must make the wages of sin death. 210 00:08:54,902 --> 00:08:58,942 But we know Jesus came and he was born in a manger 2000 years ago. 211 00:08:59,038 --> 00:09:00,478 You can see it right behind me. 212 00:09:00,606 --> 00:09:02,234 He came to Bethlehem. 213 00:09:02,654 --> 00:09:05,110 But we all know Jesus didn't start in Bethlehem. 214 00:09:05,302 --> 00:09:06,671 He's eternal. 215 00:09:06,863 --> 00:09:09,551 And Jesus came to Bethlehem, but he didn't stay a baby. 216 00:09:09,743 --> 00:09:13,711 We know that the Bible says that he grew in wisdom and stature 217 00:09:13,823 --> 00:09:15,231 and favor with the Lord. 218 00:09:15,383 --> 00:09:18,831 So Jesus grew up and Jesus lived a life, and he lived a life 219 00:09:18,863 --> 00:09:19,615 that was sinless. 220 00:09:19,695 --> 00:09:21,559 He lived a life with no sin. 221 00:09:21,607 --> 00:09:23,095 He fulfilled the law. 222 00:09:23,255 --> 00:09:26,895 The only person to ever walk this planet that can say they didn't 223 00:09:26,935 --> 00:09:30,515 sin, they were never born in sin, never committed a sin. 224 00:09:30,825 --> 00:09:34,057 And the one who knew no sin, the Bible says in second Corinthians, 225 00:09:34,241 --> 00:09:36,817 the one who knew no sin became sin for us. 226 00:09:36,841 --> 00:09:39,297 Now, that didn't mean he sinned, by the way. 227 00:09:39,441 --> 00:09:42,441 I had a discussion with someone recently, a theological discussion, 228 00:09:42,473 --> 00:09:45,073 and they said, well, he would have had to sin to be judged as a 229 00:09:45,089 --> 00:09:45,257 sinner. 230 00:09:45,281 --> 00:09:47,145 I said, no, no, the Bible is very clear. 231 00:09:47,265 --> 00:09:50,713 Jesus committed no sin or he would be just like anybody else in 232 00:09:50,729 --> 00:09:51,849 the concept of his guilt. 233 00:09:51,937 --> 00:09:53,625 But Jesus committed no sin. 234 00:09:53,745 --> 00:09:56,143 So the one who knew no sin became sin. 235 00:09:56,249 --> 00:09:57,979 He took the place, he took the punishment. 236 00:09:58,027 --> 00:10:01,059 The only one who didn't deserve the punishment, he took that 237 00:10:01,147 --> 00:10:02,883 and he satisfied God's wrath. 238 00:10:02,979 --> 00:10:07,539 I want you to know that the Bible very clearly teaches that when 239 00:10:07,627 --> 00:10:10,627 God was looking down on Jesus Christ in his sin, He. 240 00:10:10,731 --> 00:10:13,491 He poured out his wrath upon him. 241 00:10:13,603 --> 00:10:14,099 It's not. 242 00:10:14,147 --> 00:10:16,955 It's not something that we talk about a lot of the Christmas 243 00:10:16,995 --> 00:10:17,907 season, right? 244 00:10:18,011 --> 00:10:20,619 We don't get around with a lot of people and go, wow, we're going 245 00:10:20,627 --> 00:10:23,179 to just celebrate God's wrath being poured out upon Jesus. 246 00:10:23,227 --> 00:10:25,493 But the Bible actually says that that is the case. 247 00:10:25,579 --> 00:10:28,521 I want you to keep your finger in First John, chapter two in that 248 00:10:28,553 --> 00:10:29,753 idea of propitiation. 249 00:10:29,849 --> 00:10:33,633 And I want you to go to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 53. 250 00:10:33,689 --> 00:10:35,805 Now, most of you know Isaiah 53. 251 00:10:36,145 --> 00:10:38,057 You probably are familiar with Isaiah 53. 252 00:10:38,081 --> 00:10:41,525 You've probably heard it quoted in many different settings. 253 00:10:44,545 --> 00:10:51,551 But I believe it's one of, if not the most obvious references to 254 00:10:51,583 --> 00:10:53,167 Jesus in the Old Testament. 255 00:10:53,231 --> 00:10:54,359 I mean, there are plenty there. 256 00:10:54,407 --> 00:10:57,031 There are plenty of prophecies of Jesus that were fulfilled in his 257 00:10:57,063 --> 00:10:59,983 life and some to come. 258 00:11:00,159 --> 00:11:04,791 But what we do see Here in Isaiah 53 is a description of the 259 00:11:04,823 --> 00:11:09,399 Messiah that would come and pay the price for the sins of his 260 00:11:09,447 --> 00:11:09,919 people. 261 00:11:10,047 --> 00:11:13,287 He would pay the price of sin in the eyes of God. 262 00:11:13,391 --> 00:11:16,549 It says in verse number one, who hath believed our report? 263 00:11:16,727 --> 00:11:18,881 And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 264 00:11:18,953 --> 00:11:21,801 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant. 265 00:11:21,993 --> 00:11:25,793 This is describing Jesus's growth, his physical growth. 266 00:11:25,849 --> 00:11:28,889 And as a root out of dry ground, he had no form nor comeliness. 267 00:11:28,937 --> 00:11:30,209 Now what does that mean? 268 00:11:30,257 --> 00:11:34,449 That means that Jesus didn't walk around with like a glory around 269 00:11:34,497 --> 00:11:34,681 him. 270 00:11:34,713 --> 00:11:37,057 People didn't look at Jesus and go, well, that must be the Son 271 00:11:37,081 --> 00:11:37,593 of God. 272 00:11:37,689 --> 00:11:38,785 He looked like everybody else. 273 00:11:38,825 --> 00:11:42,725 He Was he was a normal looking guy, average looking from the outside. 274 00:11:43,065 --> 00:11:47,049 Now we know that the acts that he did obviously made him distinct. 275 00:11:47,177 --> 00:11:49,125 But it says that he would have looked normal. 276 00:11:49,585 --> 00:11:52,645 There is no beauty that we should desire him. 277 00:11:53,225 --> 00:11:55,569 He is despised and rejected of men. 278 00:11:55,737 --> 00:11:58,161 A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. 279 00:11:58,353 --> 00:12:02,033 And we hid, as it were our faces from him. 280 00:12:02,129 --> 00:12:04,369 He was despised and we esteemed him not. 281 00:12:04,457 --> 00:12:08,547 Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. 282 00:12:08,681 --> 00:12:11,351 Yet we did esteem him stricken spin of God and afflicted. 283 00:12:11,383 --> 00:12:13,183 But he was wounded for our transgressions. 284 00:12:13,279 --> 00:12:14,735 He was bruised for our iniquities. 285 00:12:14,855 --> 00:12:16,783 The chastisement of our peace was upon him. 286 00:12:16,799 --> 00:12:18,271 And with his stripes we are healed. 287 00:12:18,343 --> 00:12:19,471 You guys are familiar with that? 288 00:12:19,503 --> 00:12:22,223 That's describing what Jesus went through for us. 289 00:12:22,399 --> 00:12:23,103 Verse 6. 290 00:12:23,159 --> 00:12:25,111 All we like sheep, have gone astray. 291 00:12:25,223 --> 00:12:27,191 That talks about our sin condition. 292 00:12:27,383 --> 00:12:29,543 We have turned everyone to his own way. 293 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:31,463 And the Lord hath laid on him. 294 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:32,343 That's Jesus. 295 00:12:32,439 --> 00:12:33,151 The iniquity. 296 00:12:33,223 --> 00:12:35,393 That's our sin of us all. 297 00:12:35,529 --> 00:12:38,817 He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his 298 00:12:38,841 --> 00:12:39,025 mouth. 299 00:12:39,065 --> 00:12:40,805 That speaks to Jesus's humility. 300 00:12:41,185 --> 00:12:44,233 He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before the 301 00:12:44,249 --> 00:12:44,945 shears is dumb. 302 00:12:44,985 --> 00:12:46,441 So he opened not his mouth. 303 00:12:46,553 --> 00:12:48,305 He was taken from prison and from judgment. 304 00:12:48,345 --> 00:12:50,201 And who shall declare his generation? 305 00:12:50,313 --> 00:12:52,897 For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression 306 00:12:52,921 --> 00:12:53,489 of my people. 307 00:12:53,537 --> 00:12:58,433 He was stricken and he made his grave with the wicked and with 308 00:12:58,449 --> 00:13:00,489 the rich in his death because he had done no violence. 309 00:13:00,537 --> 00:13:02,037 Neither was any deceit in his mouth. 310 00:13:02,121 --> 00:13:02,477 Yet it. 311 00:13:02,501 --> 00:13:05,269 And this is the verse that I'm getting to to set the context. 312 00:13:05,397 --> 00:13:07,865 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. 313 00:13:08,285 --> 00:13:10,565 He hath put him to grief. 314 00:13:10,685 --> 00:13:14,005 When thou shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall his 315 00:13:14,045 --> 00:13:16,309 see his seed and shall prolong his days. 316 00:13:16,357 --> 00:13:18,893 And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 317 00:13:19,069 --> 00:13:20,061 Now we're going to stop there. 318 00:13:20,093 --> 00:13:21,917 But what we can see there is that it. 319 00:13:22,021 --> 00:13:24,573 It was a satisfaction of God's wrath. 320 00:13:24,709 --> 00:13:27,757 Now, now it's hard for our minds to reconcile that concept of 321 00:13:27,781 --> 00:13:30,101 it pleasing God to bruise his Son. 322 00:13:30,253 --> 00:13:35,237 But we do know that was God's love for his people like the recognition 323 00:13:35,301 --> 00:13:38,613 that Jesus did this for the sake of love. 324 00:13:38,749 --> 00:13:40,261 But God commends his love towards us. 325 00:13:40,293 --> 00:13:42,573 And now while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 326 00:13:42,669 --> 00:13:45,141 Jesus went to the cross, as it says, with love. 327 00:13:45,253 --> 00:13:48,133 We also know in the book of Hebrews that he went to the cross 328 00:13:48,189 --> 00:13:51,709 with joy, though we know that he struggled with it in the garden. 329 00:13:51,797 --> 00:13:55,893 In his humanity, he did say, lord, let this cup pass from me. 330 00:13:55,909 --> 00:14:00,461 If there be any other way, nevertheless, that will be done. 331 00:14:00,653 --> 00:14:05,013 And so Jesus, out of his love for us, out of the joy, he went to 332 00:14:05,029 --> 00:14:05,941 the cross. 333 00:14:06,133 --> 00:14:09,677 And that is how there can be that propitiation. 334 00:14:09,861 --> 00:14:12,005 Jesus paid the price for our sins. 335 00:14:12,045 --> 00:14:16,925 And so one John, Chapter two, verse two, he is the propitiation. 336 00:14:17,045 --> 00:14:21,573 So because of the propitiation, we are able to have 337 00:14:21,669 --> 00:14:24,463 justification by faith, not by works. 338 00:14:24,639 --> 00:14:29,167 Which leads to another word, theological word, that you're probably 339 00:14:29,231 --> 00:14:31,823 familiar with, but sometimes we're not always familiar with when 340 00:14:31,839 --> 00:14:34,715 it comes to its significance, is sanctification. 341 00:14:35,175 --> 00:14:39,383 Now we have the propitiation of Jesus Christ, which leads to, 342 00:14:39,439 --> 00:14:42,655 by faith, justification, the declaration of righteousness. 343 00:14:42,775 --> 00:14:46,555 But we all know, hopefully you know, that salvation is not the end. 344 00:14:46,855 --> 00:14:48,351 A lot of times we think of it that way. 345 00:14:48,383 --> 00:14:50,035 Well, I've got my ticket to heaven. 346 00:14:50,345 --> 00:14:53,897 I'm justified, and now I can just go back to living the way I 347 00:14:53,921 --> 00:14:54,433 want to live. 348 00:14:54,489 --> 00:14:56,113 That's not what the Bible actually says. 349 00:14:56,209 --> 00:14:59,217 The Bible actually says that justification is the start of it. 350 00:14:59,321 --> 00:15:02,353 And now you're on the path of sanctification. 351 00:15:02,489 --> 00:15:03,913 What is sanctification? 352 00:15:04,089 --> 00:15:06,777 Well, literally, sanctification means to be set aside 353 00:15:06,881 --> 00:15:08,365 for a specific use. 354 00:15:09,185 --> 00:15:13,121 In our household, there's things that we know not to put out 355 00:15:13,273 --> 00:15:15,025 around our kids, right? 356 00:15:15,145 --> 00:15:17,383 Because if we put it out, it might get broken. 357 00:15:17,479 --> 00:15:19,583 And so there are certain things that we want to set aside 358 00:15:19,639 --> 00:15:22,495 and keep safe because we don't want it to get messed up in the house. 359 00:15:22,655 --> 00:15:25,103 And that's the same thing when it comes to us as Christians. 360 00:15:25,239 --> 00:15:30,647 God has called us now as his, as his children, he has called us 361 00:15:30,751 --> 00:15:33,727 for a specific job, a specific purpose. 362 00:15:33,871 --> 00:15:36,223 Ephesians chapter two talks about that. 363 00:15:36,399 --> 00:15:38,583 We read Ephesians chapter two quite frequently. 364 00:15:38,599 --> 00:15:39,855 I read it in church on Sunday morning. 365 00:15:39,895 --> 00:15:41,915 It's one of my favorite passages of Scripture. 366 00:15:42,385 --> 00:15:45,953 And we know, usually we're very, very familiar with verses 8 367 00:15:45,969 --> 00:15:48,817 and 9, but we don't always think about what Ephesians chapter 368 00:15:48,841 --> 00:15:50,165 2, verse 10 says. 369 00:15:50,585 --> 00:15:52,537 Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8, 9. 370 00:15:52,601 --> 00:15:54,921 For by grace ye say it through faith, and that not of yourselves, 371 00:15:54,993 --> 00:15:58,365 it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 372 00:15:59,065 --> 00:16:02,961 But here's the verse that tags into that with sanctification. 373 00:16:03,153 --> 00:16:09,293 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good 374 00:16:09,389 --> 00:16:14,077 works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 375 00:16:14,261 --> 00:16:18,373 And so the idea of this is that now that you are saved, now 376 00:16:18,389 --> 00:16:21,181 that you are a believer, God has a purpose for you. 377 00:16:21,213 --> 00:16:24,653 And that is to serve him, that is to live a life of good works. 378 00:16:24,709 --> 00:16:28,725 That is to live a life of public proclamation of your faith. 379 00:16:28,885 --> 00:16:31,213 Now, some would say, well, does that mean that I have to do 380 00:16:31,229 --> 00:16:32,181 that to stay saved? 381 00:16:32,253 --> 00:16:37,215 No, but what he's saying is a true heart change, transformation. 382 00:16:37,555 --> 00:16:40,215 Romans chapter 12 tells us to be transformed. 383 00:16:40,835 --> 00:16:43,899 Second Corinthians, chapter 5 says, We're a new creation in Christ. 384 00:16:43,947 --> 00:16:47,499 And so therefore, a new life in Christ will be transformed to 385 00:16:47,547 --> 00:16:48,075 serve. 386 00:16:48,195 --> 00:16:50,947 It will be transformed to live for him. 387 00:16:51,091 --> 00:16:53,611 And so there's this idea that, and I've said this phrase before, 388 00:16:53,643 --> 00:16:55,251 and it's not original to me. 389 00:16:55,363 --> 00:16:59,331 I don't know where I heard it, but I did not come up with this. 390 00:16:59,363 --> 00:17:00,501 I'm not that smart. 391 00:17:00,603 --> 00:17:01,657 But it says this. 392 00:17:01,801 --> 00:17:02,433 We're not. 393 00:17:02,529 --> 00:17:06,377 We don't serve to be saved, but we're saved to serve. 394 00:17:06,521 --> 00:17:10,025 And that's the idea that we have as Christians is it's not the 395 00:17:10,065 --> 00:17:14,561 service that is our salvation, but it is the manifestation of what's 396 00:17:14,593 --> 00:17:15,925 happened in our heart already. 397 00:17:16,545 --> 00:17:19,585 And so sanctification, there's three elements to sanctification. 398 00:17:19,625 --> 00:17:22,617 I know this is more like a class here this evening, but I hope 399 00:17:22,641 --> 00:17:24,265 that you can glean something from this. 400 00:17:24,345 --> 00:17:26,325 There's three elements to sanctification. 401 00:17:26,785 --> 00:17:28,777 There's the positional sanctification. 402 00:17:28,921 --> 00:17:33,433 God has taken you from the side of an unsaved person and moved 403 00:17:33,449 --> 00:17:36,521 you, as the Bible says, from darkness into marvelous light. 404 00:17:36,673 --> 00:17:38,705 He has now made you a new creation. 405 00:17:38,825 --> 00:17:40,689 So that's your positional sanctification. 406 00:17:40,737 --> 00:17:43,769 He set you aside for that purpose. 407 00:17:43,937 --> 00:17:47,537 Now you are on the path of what some call progressive sanctification, 408 00:17:47,601 --> 00:17:52,127 meaning it's a growth process, work in progress. 409 00:17:52,321 --> 00:17:53,579 You ever driven in Delaware? 410 00:17:53,627 --> 00:17:55,003 There's always road work, right? 411 00:17:55,059 --> 00:17:56,251 Work in progress. 412 00:17:56,443 --> 00:17:57,139 That's. 413 00:17:57,267 --> 00:17:59,523 As a Christian, we should always have that sign in our life. 414 00:17:59,579 --> 00:18:00,723 Work in progress. 415 00:18:00,899 --> 00:18:01,643 Paul mentioned that. 416 00:18:01,659 --> 00:18:04,467 He says, not that I already attained, like in Philippians 3. 417 00:18:04,491 --> 00:18:05,691 He says, I haven't reached it. 418 00:18:05,723 --> 00:18:07,187 I'm going to keep pressing forward. 419 00:18:07,291 --> 00:18:08,855 I'm going to keep pushing forward. 420 00:18:09,715 --> 00:18:13,975 The book of Second Peter really addresses this idea of sanctification. 421 00:18:16,115 --> 00:18:17,655 Second Peter, chapter three. 422 00:18:19,245 --> 00:18:19,885 Normally. 423 00:18:19,965 --> 00:18:22,397 Normally I'm an expository preacher, so I'm preaching through 424 00:18:22,421 --> 00:18:23,197 a passage tonight. 425 00:18:23,221 --> 00:18:26,245 We're going to be bouncing around, and I hope that that's okay. 426 00:18:26,365 --> 00:18:29,309 But we're going to see here in Second Peter, chapter three, the 427 00:18:29,437 --> 00:18:32,385 phrase that he uses is growing in grace. 428 00:18:33,125 --> 00:18:35,485 Now, I will tell you what I used to think about. 429 00:18:35,525 --> 00:18:39,669 Growing in grace was the more wrongly I believe. 430 00:18:39,797 --> 00:18:43,309 I used to think that the more I serve God, the more grace. 431 00:18:43,357 --> 00:18:46,385 He will just like dole out to me like, I'll earn this grace. 432 00:18:46,835 --> 00:18:49,883 Now there's a problem with that because the problem with that 433 00:18:49,939 --> 00:18:53,947 idea is that's a very man centric idea that I'm earning this 434 00:18:54,051 --> 00:18:54,531 right. 435 00:18:54,643 --> 00:18:58,411 The gift of salvation is a gift of grace. 436 00:18:58,563 --> 00:19:02,355 So therefore the gift of sanctification is a gift of grace. 437 00:19:02,515 --> 00:19:04,627 I cannot earn my spiritual growth now. 438 00:19:04,651 --> 00:19:05,587 I have to work. 439 00:19:05,731 --> 00:19:07,115 But I work in the power of God. 440 00:19:07,155 --> 00:19:08,275 It's all a grace. 441 00:19:08,435 --> 00:19:10,483 So, so I used to think about it this way. 442 00:19:10,579 --> 00:19:13,705 God's sitting up in heaven and he's got like this, this grace bucket. 443 00:19:13,745 --> 00:19:15,969 And he says, okay, they're, they're working extra hard for me. 444 00:19:15,977 --> 00:19:17,801 I'm gonna give him a little bit more grace today. 445 00:19:17,953 --> 00:19:20,833 I, I believe the Bible very clearly says that at the moment of 446 00:19:20,849 --> 00:19:23,601 our salvation, God abundantly pours out infinite grace upon our 447 00:19:23,633 --> 00:19:24,185 life. 448 00:19:24,345 --> 00:19:29,525 I believe that it says here in, in 2 Peter, chapter 3, verse. 449 00:19:30,185 --> 00:19:32,169 Let's see here, let's, we'll start in verse 15. 450 00:19:32,257 --> 00:19:32,689 We'll start. 451 00:19:32,737 --> 00:19:34,521 Well, let's just, let's go to verse 18. 452 00:19:34,633 --> 00:19:37,049 And, and you can, you can backtrack and read that for yourself. 453 00:19:37,097 --> 00:19:39,987 But he's talking about the account of long suffering of our 454 00:19:40,011 --> 00:19:41,535 Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 455 00:19:42,275 --> 00:19:46,611 And then we get to verse 18 and he says, but grow in grace and 456 00:19:46,643 --> 00:19:48,955 in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 457 00:19:49,115 --> 00:19:51,403 To him be the glory, both now and forever. 458 00:19:51,499 --> 00:19:55,411 So the way that I have grown to understand this is that God has 459 00:19:55,443 --> 00:19:57,899 already infinitely poured out his grace upon me. 460 00:19:57,987 --> 00:20:02,107 And as I grow in my knowledge of him, and as I grow in the knowledge 461 00:20:02,131 --> 00:20:06,393 of His Word, and as I understand him and as I get to a 462 00:20:06,409 --> 00:20:09,393 place in my life where I'm serving Him and I'm seeing the benefits 463 00:20:09,449 --> 00:20:13,377 of a sanctified life, now I understand his grace more. 464 00:20:13,521 --> 00:20:16,457 I'm able to wrap my mind around his grace more. 465 00:20:16,601 --> 00:20:21,045 I'm able to grow in that area of the understanding of his grace. 466 00:20:21,585 --> 00:20:25,145 Now again, we would say, well, I don't know about that, Pastor, 467 00:20:25,185 --> 00:20:27,193 because, you know, I've seen some new Christians make a lot of 468 00:20:27,209 --> 00:20:27,689 big mistakes. 469 00:20:27,737 --> 00:20:30,761 I've seen some older Christians make, you know, Christians 470 00:20:30,793 --> 00:20:32,305 that have been saved for 50 years make mistakes. 471 00:20:32,345 --> 00:20:33,129 We all make mistakes. 472 00:20:33,177 --> 00:20:35,799 There's, there's that element of grace in our salvation. 473 00:20:35,847 --> 00:20:37,359 We don't lose our salvation. 474 00:20:37,527 --> 00:20:40,591 God just extends that grace to us in the midst of that sanctification 475 00:20:40,663 --> 00:20:40,919 process. 476 00:20:40,967 --> 00:20:43,815 So there's that progressive sanctification, growing in grace. 477 00:20:43,855 --> 00:20:45,155 Now what does that look like? 478 00:20:45,775 --> 00:20:47,615 Because we have to be tangible about that. 479 00:20:47,655 --> 00:20:50,903 Like, we have to put some sort of measurable there. 480 00:20:50,959 --> 00:20:52,927 Because if I just walk up to you and go, hey, are you. 481 00:20:52,951 --> 00:20:53,839 Are you growing in grace? 482 00:20:53,887 --> 00:20:56,503 And they go, well, I hope so. 483 00:20:56,679 --> 00:21:00,889 Like, what does that look like if I, if I come along? 484 00:21:00,937 --> 00:21:04,185 Use Alicia as an example, because I go home with her tonight, 485 00:21:04,225 --> 00:21:06,925 and so hopefully, hopefully she'll come home with me tonight. 486 00:21:07,265 --> 00:21:09,945 And I go to her and I'm like, okay, are you growing in grace? 487 00:21:09,985 --> 00:21:11,225 And she says, yes, I'm growing in grace. 488 00:21:11,265 --> 00:21:12,425 And I said, how are you growing in grace? 489 00:21:12,465 --> 00:21:13,793 And she's like, well, I just. 490 00:21:13,849 --> 00:21:15,273 I just feel like I am. 491 00:21:15,449 --> 00:21:18,245 And I go, okay, well, maybe you are. 492 00:21:19,065 --> 00:21:21,105 And I don't tell her what growing in grace looks like. 493 00:21:21,145 --> 00:21:23,085 She doesn't understand what growing in grace means. 494 00:21:23,625 --> 00:21:25,073 We might be on totally different levels. 495 00:21:25,129 --> 00:21:27,481 Some of you that are married understand that communication sometimes 496 00:21:27,513 --> 00:21:29,841 can break down and one person assumes one thing and the other person 497 00:21:29,873 --> 00:21:30,777 assumes the other. 498 00:21:30,921 --> 00:21:33,577 So biblically, what is growing in grace? 499 00:21:33,641 --> 00:21:34,737 What is sanctification? 500 00:21:34,801 --> 00:21:36,325 What is spiritual growth? 501 00:21:37,185 --> 00:21:37,761 Where? 502 00:21:37,873 --> 00:21:41,385 I'll ask you a question here tonight, and I know it's awkward 503 00:21:41,425 --> 00:21:44,177 to answer it in this setting, but pretend like we're in a Bible 504 00:21:44,241 --> 00:21:46,285 study in a room and we're all sitting around. 505 00:21:46,825 --> 00:21:50,881 Where would we get the information to tell us what it looks 506 00:21:50,913 --> 00:21:52,805 like to grow in grace? 507 00:21:53,825 --> 00:21:55,017 The Word, right? 508 00:21:55,121 --> 00:21:56,255 It's not my opinion. 509 00:21:56,385 --> 00:21:57,415 Because my opinion. 510 00:21:58,475 --> 00:22:01,715 I don't necessarily know what you're doing in private. 511 00:22:01,795 --> 00:22:03,923 I don't know what you're thinking. 512 00:22:03,979 --> 00:22:07,531 I don't know what you're doing in your Bible reading, your prayer 513 00:22:07,563 --> 00:22:07,755 life. 514 00:22:07,795 --> 00:22:10,147 And so I can see someone come into the building and go, wow, they 515 00:22:10,171 --> 00:22:11,803 look like they've got it really together. 516 00:22:11,939 --> 00:22:12,899 Look at that family. 517 00:22:12,947 --> 00:22:13,131 They're. 518 00:22:13,163 --> 00:22:15,187 They're top notch. 519 00:22:15,331 --> 00:22:16,723 But I don't know for sure. 520 00:22:16,899 --> 00:22:20,011 And it's really not my job to be able to say, well, you know what? 521 00:22:20,123 --> 00:22:21,107 I need to inspect a wife. 522 00:22:21,131 --> 00:22:22,605 I need to follow them wherever they go. 523 00:22:22,715 --> 00:22:24,725 No, the Bible says it's the Word. 524 00:22:25,225 --> 00:22:28,345 It's matching our lives up to the Word to say, does my life match 525 00:22:28,385 --> 00:22:29,705 up to Christ? 526 00:22:29,785 --> 00:22:32,457 Because really, spiritual growth is just being more and more 527 00:22:32,481 --> 00:22:32,937 like Christ. 528 00:22:33,001 --> 00:22:34,169 It's Christ likeness. 529 00:22:34,337 --> 00:22:37,977 So we would study the Word to see how Christ lived His life. 530 00:22:38,121 --> 00:22:41,441 We study the Word to see what he says when he says, hey, if you 531 00:22:41,473 --> 00:22:42,833 love me, keep my commandments. 532 00:22:42,889 --> 00:22:44,537 So, therefore, His Word. 533 00:22:44,641 --> 00:22:47,999 How closely are we matching our lives to His Word? 534 00:22:48,177 --> 00:22:49,815 What does His Word mean to us? 535 00:22:51,315 --> 00:22:54,619 And so we go to Second Peter, chapter one. 536 00:22:54,787 --> 00:22:56,375 Second Peter, chapter one. 537 00:22:57,195 --> 00:22:59,579 He says, this Is so. 538 00:22:59,627 --> 00:23:00,587 This is so exciting. 539 00:23:00,691 --> 00:23:02,243 I love this passage of Scripture. 540 00:23:02,379 --> 00:23:04,995 He says, according, Second Peter, chapter one, verse three, 541 00:23:05,035 --> 00:23:08,427 According as his divine power have given unto all of us the things 542 00:23:08,451 --> 00:23:11,107 that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of 543 00:23:11,131 --> 00:23:14,255 him that hath called us to glory and virtue. 544 00:23:15,105 --> 00:23:15,489 So. 545 00:23:15,537 --> 00:23:20,289 So God has called us to obviously to a life of glory in. 546 00:23:20,337 --> 00:23:20,905 In ultimate. 547 00:23:20,945 --> 00:23:22,553 We're going to get to that part here in a second. 548 00:23:22,649 --> 00:23:24,913 But ultimately we're going to be glorified with him one day. 549 00:23:25,049 --> 00:23:28,249 But he says he's also called us to a life of virtue, virtuous 550 00:23:28,297 --> 00:23:32,409 living, godly living, whereby are given unto us exceeding in great 551 00:23:32,457 --> 00:23:33,217 precious promises. 552 00:23:33,281 --> 00:23:37,617 God has given us promises in his word to trust in, right? 553 00:23:37,721 --> 00:23:39,473 If you do this, this is what happened. 554 00:23:39,529 --> 00:23:40,129 Trust in me. 555 00:23:40,177 --> 00:23:40,849 Believe in me. 556 00:23:40,897 --> 00:23:43,761 So he's given us great and precious promises that by these ye 557 00:23:43,793 --> 00:23:45,645 might be partakers of the div. 558 00:23:45,985 --> 00:23:49,881 To be more and more like Christ, having escaped the corruption 559 00:23:49,913 --> 00:23:51,321 that is in the world through lust. 560 00:23:51,393 --> 00:23:54,121 So the Bible says you've escaped the corruption of the sinful 561 00:23:54,193 --> 00:23:56,169 world and now you're called to be more like Christ. 562 00:23:56,257 --> 00:23:57,481 You're called to live like him. 563 00:23:57,513 --> 00:24:02,425 You're called to grow in him, to be more of verse five. 564 00:24:02,465 --> 00:24:07,441 And beside this, so beside this, after this salvation, then 565 00:24:07,513 --> 00:24:09,753 this giving all diligence. 566 00:24:09,889 --> 00:24:12,865 So lest we think that, hey, spiritual growth just happens by 567 00:24:12,905 --> 00:24:13,513 osmosis. 568 00:24:13,569 --> 00:24:16,211 Like if I, you know, I used to. 569 00:24:16,243 --> 00:24:18,875 There was a guy I knew that he said if I just put the textbook underneath 570 00:24:18,915 --> 00:24:21,851 my pillow at night, everything will just bleed into my brain. 571 00:24:21,883 --> 00:24:23,091 It will just seep in. 572 00:24:23,203 --> 00:24:24,315 That doesn't work. 573 00:24:24,475 --> 00:24:27,123 We're not just going to become Christians by walking around here 574 00:24:27,139 --> 00:24:29,515 at the church and there's just glory off of the walls. 575 00:24:29,555 --> 00:24:32,115 No, it says you got to give diligence and the power of God. 576 00:24:32,155 --> 00:24:36,135 You have to take action, add to your faith. 577 00:24:36,835 --> 00:24:40,107 So what we see here is that there's an example here, there's 578 00:24:40,131 --> 00:24:43,325 a directive here that we are to grow, we are to add things into 579 00:24:43,365 --> 00:24:43,701 our life. 580 00:24:43,733 --> 00:24:45,341 We are to grow in certain areas. 581 00:24:45,493 --> 00:24:47,429 So he says, you have faith, great. 582 00:24:47,477 --> 00:24:50,225 That's where it starts and that's where it must continue. 583 00:24:50,525 --> 00:24:56,909 But he says, add to your faith virtue, virtue, knowledge and knowledge. 584 00:24:56,997 --> 00:24:57,905 Temperance. 585 00:24:58,605 --> 00:24:59,469 What's temperance? 586 00:24:59,517 --> 00:25:01,065 Temperance is self control. 587 00:25:01,365 --> 00:25:03,701 I like to sometimes call it God control, right? 588 00:25:03,813 --> 00:25:04,469 Because I can't. 589 00:25:04,517 --> 00:25:07,775 I can't control myself sometimes in my flesh. 590 00:25:07,895 --> 00:25:09,719 But when I allow God to take over, he takes over. 591 00:25:09,767 --> 00:25:11,519 So there's this idea of temperance. 592 00:25:11,607 --> 00:25:13,275 And to temperance, patience. 593 00:25:13,695 --> 00:25:15,543 And to patience, godliness. 594 00:25:15,719 --> 00:25:16,679 And to godliness. 595 00:25:16,727 --> 00:25:20,435 Brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness, charity. 596 00:25:21,335 --> 00:25:22,679 So you see how it goes. 597 00:25:22,727 --> 00:25:22,887 He. 598 00:25:22,911 --> 00:25:25,727 He says, these are things that you have to add to grow spiritually, 599 00:25:25,791 --> 00:25:26,815 to be a mature. 600 00:25:26,935 --> 00:25:31,647 To be a mature Christian, live a virtuous life, grow in your knowledge 601 00:25:31,671 --> 00:25:37,483 of God, have self control, have patience, have godliness, be 602 00:25:37,499 --> 00:25:38,315 more like Christ. 603 00:25:38,435 --> 00:25:42,935 Brotherly kindness, that's a marker of spiritual growth. 604 00:25:43,395 --> 00:25:46,339 I'm going to be nice to other Christians. 605 00:25:46,507 --> 00:25:49,723 You would think that that would be natural, but sometimes we 606 00:25:49,739 --> 00:25:52,347 don't see that and it goes on even further in charity. 607 00:25:52,411 --> 00:25:55,815 That's the idea of selfless love, sacrificial love. 608 00:25:56,115 --> 00:25:58,555 These are all elements that don't necessarily come immediately 609 00:25:58,595 --> 00:25:59,655 after we're saved. 610 00:26:00,815 --> 00:26:03,735 And I'm going to tell you folks, it's something that we grow 611 00:26:03,775 --> 00:26:04,903 on throughout our whole life. 612 00:26:04,999 --> 00:26:06,355 We grow in these areas. 613 00:26:06,855 --> 00:26:09,435 And so he says, do all these things, okay? 614 00:26:09,775 --> 00:26:15,715 For if these things be in you, these elements and abound and grow, 615 00:26:16,335 --> 00:26:20,239 they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful. 616 00:26:20,287 --> 00:26:21,615 So what does the Bible say? 617 00:26:21,735 --> 00:26:25,943 The Bible says that if we live a life that isn't growing in the 618 00:26:25,959 --> 00:26:29,359 Lord, it isn't progressively becoming more and more like Christ. 619 00:26:29,487 --> 00:26:33,475 We will be, as it says here, barren and unfruitful. 620 00:26:33,935 --> 00:26:36,775 Now, I don't know about you, but I want to be a fruitful Christian. 621 00:26:36,815 --> 00:26:39,175 Like my desire is like I want to see fruit in my life. 622 00:26:39,335 --> 00:26:40,839 I want to see people come to Christ. 623 00:26:40,927 --> 00:26:42,703 I want to see people grow in the Lord. 624 00:26:42,879 --> 00:26:45,671 And he says, if you want to be a fruitful Christian, grow in these 625 00:26:45,703 --> 00:26:45,919 areas. 626 00:26:45,967 --> 00:26:48,183 If you want to be an unfruitful, barren Christian, don't 627 00:26:48,199 --> 00:26:48,791 grow in these areas. 628 00:26:48,823 --> 00:26:49,999 That's what he's saying here. 629 00:26:50,167 --> 00:26:54,085 He says, and do that in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 630 00:26:54,665 --> 00:26:58,057 But then he says, what happens to someone who doesn't do these things? 631 00:26:58,161 --> 00:26:58,425 So. 632 00:26:58,465 --> 00:27:00,285 So you're going to be barren and unfruitful. 633 00:27:00,745 --> 00:27:02,353 You, me, all of us. 634 00:27:02,409 --> 00:27:05,065 I don't want to direct it just to you, but this is verse nine. 635 00:27:05,105 --> 00:27:08,005 But he that lacketh these things is blind. 636 00:27:09,825 --> 00:27:10,185 So. 637 00:27:10,225 --> 00:27:13,185 So when we don't keep our eyes fixed on what the Lord has called 638 00:27:13,225 --> 00:27:14,073 us to do, we. 639 00:27:14,129 --> 00:27:18,217 We get blinded and it says, and cannot see a far off. 640 00:27:18,361 --> 00:27:20,271 We, we get cloudy our visions. 641 00:27:20,353 --> 00:27:22,731 Like if I wear contacts, right? 642 00:27:22,843 --> 00:27:26,299 And if I took these contacts out right now, I would not be able 643 00:27:26,347 --> 00:27:29,187 to know who you were, except for the fact that I know where most 644 00:27:29,211 --> 00:27:29,899 of you sit. 645 00:27:29,987 --> 00:27:31,947 So I would say, okay, I know that's brother so and so over there, 646 00:27:31,971 --> 00:27:33,019 because that's where he always sits. 647 00:27:33,107 --> 00:27:35,979 I might get a picture of the blurriness and say, okay, I think 648 00:27:35,987 --> 00:27:37,015 that's who he is. 649 00:27:37,315 --> 00:27:37,651 But. 650 00:27:37,683 --> 00:27:39,371 But the idea is here, that's what he's talking about. 651 00:27:39,403 --> 00:27:41,987 He's talking about, if you don't grow, you'll begin to lose 652 00:27:42,051 --> 00:27:43,395 sight of the things around you. 653 00:27:43,435 --> 00:27:46,355 You'll begin to lose sight of what God's doing in your life. 654 00:27:46,515 --> 00:27:50,171 You'll lose sight of what God's plan is for you in his workmanship. 655 00:27:50,243 --> 00:27:56,371 And then it says, and hath forgotten that he was purged from 656 00:27:56,403 --> 00:27:57,575 his old sins. 657 00:27:58,315 --> 00:28:01,715 Meaning you start to forget about the great work of salvation 658 00:28:01,755 --> 00:28:02,227 in your life. 659 00:28:02,291 --> 00:28:03,883 It becomes just dead to you. 660 00:28:04,019 --> 00:28:07,115 Just, ah, I don't care whatever, you know, yeah, I was saved. 661 00:28:07,155 --> 00:28:08,611 I was taken from darkness into light. 662 00:28:08,643 --> 00:28:11,601 But, you know, it's that idea of apathy. 663 00:28:11,763 --> 00:28:14,173 And so when you don't grow spiritually, you get to a place where 664 00:28:14,189 --> 00:28:17,741 you lose sight of what God has done for you, and therefore you live 665 00:28:17,773 --> 00:28:19,065 your life that way. 666 00:28:20,365 --> 00:28:24,069 And so I would be cautious to say that, hey, you know what, if 667 00:28:24,077 --> 00:28:25,653 there's a point in your life where you say, you know what? 668 00:28:25,669 --> 00:28:29,077 I haven't seen any spiritual growth for years, I would say you 669 00:28:29,141 --> 00:28:32,189 probably, probably lost the joy of your salvation. 670 00:28:32,357 --> 00:28:33,917 You haven't lost your salvation. 671 00:28:34,021 --> 00:28:37,205 I believe in eternal security, but I do believe that you can lose 672 00:28:37,245 --> 00:28:38,413 the joy of your salvation. 673 00:28:38,469 --> 00:28:41,607 David, even the psalmist said, lord, restore unto me the joy of 674 00:28:41,631 --> 00:28:42,595 my salvation. 675 00:28:43,375 --> 00:28:44,535 And we have. 676 00:28:44,695 --> 00:28:47,831 And I've been transparently, there have been periods in my life 677 00:28:47,863 --> 00:28:49,759 where I have lost the joy of my salvation. 678 00:28:49,807 --> 00:28:52,991 And it's got to the place where it's just mundane, I gotta 679 00:28:53,023 --> 00:28:54,231 go here, I gotta do this. 680 00:28:54,263 --> 00:28:56,967 And the Bible says, no, restore that by growing in the knowledge 681 00:28:56,991 --> 00:28:58,935 of God and growing in these areas. 682 00:28:59,055 --> 00:29:01,955 And so that's our progressive sanctification. 683 00:29:02,535 --> 00:29:05,795 So you had the positional sanctification, the progressive sanctification. 684 00:29:06,155 --> 00:29:10,443 And some theologians, because they have to keep the same letter, 685 00:29:10,579 --> 00:29:15,375 say, call it perpetual sanctification or eternal sanctification. 686 00:29:15,835 --> 00:29:17,987 Another word for that would be glorification. 687 00:29:18,131 --> 00:29:21,655 So one day we take our last breath and we're with our Savior. 688 00:29:21,955 --> 00:29:23,947 One day we will have glorified bodies. 689 00:29:24,011 --> 00:29:27,323 One day we will be in his presence physically. 690 00:29:27,499 --> 00:29:28,715 I believe that. 691 00:29:28,875 --> 00:29:32,075 And I don't know what your eschatology is, your end times philosophies 692 00:29:32,115 --> 00:29:32,549 are. 693 00:29:32,667 --> 00:29:34,921 But I do think we could all agree that God is going to give us 694 00:29:34,953 --> 00:29:37,809 glorified bodies, that he is going to restore us in his presence. 695 00:29:37,857 --> 00:29:40,449 The Bible says, absent with the body is present with the Lord. 696 00:29:40,577 --> 00:29:42,649 That's when it's all going to come into clarity. 697 00:29:42,697 --> 00:29:44,505 That's when it's all going to make sense. 698 00:29:44,625 --> 00:29:48,281 Because right now, let's just be honest, a lot of things that sometimes 699 00:29:48,313 --> 00:29:50,145 we face in our life don't always make sense. 700 00:29:50,185 --> 00:29:52,713 It doesn't make sense to me why God allows certain things to 701 00:29:52,729 --> 00:29:55,313 happen over here and he doesn't stop this or he doesn't do 702 00:29:55,329 --> 00:29:55,841 this. 703 00:29:55,993 --> 00:29:57,545 I mean, it's okay to say that. 704 00:29:57,625 --> 00:30:00,125 It's okay to say that you don't understand the ways of God. 705 00:30:00,825 --> 00:30:02,769 And that's actually a theological truth to say. 706 00:30:02,817 --> 00:30:04,505 I don't know why God does what he does. 707 00:30:04,625 --> 00:30:05,753 I wish I could tell you. 708 00:30:05,849 --> 00:30:07,817 I mean, you have people broken coming to you. 709 00:30:07,841 --> 00:30:09,369 Why would God allow this to happen? 710 00:30:09,497 --> 00:30:11,137 I don't know that answer. 711 00:30:11,321 --> 00:30:11,841 I don't know. 712 00:30:11,873 --> 00:30:14,577 I know that he didn't cause that evil in your life, but I do 713 00:30:14,601 --> 00:30:15,129 know that. 714 00:30:15,177 --> 00:30:16,921 I don't know his ways are above my ways. 715 00:30:16,953 --> 00:30:18,457 His thoughts are above my thoughts. 716 00:30:18,601 --> 00:30:21,977 But one day there will be a time when I believe it all will come 717 00:30:22,001 --> 00:30:24,457 together and we're glorified and we're with our Savior face to 718 00:30:24,481 --> 00:30:25,045 face. 719 00:30:25,555 --> 00:30:27,667 And that's what we long for. 720 00:30:27,771 --> 00:30:29,779 That's what progressive sanctification is all about. 721 00:30:29,827 --> 00:30:32,531 We're not going to be there yet on this side of heaven, but one 722 00:30:32,563 --> 00:30:33,355 day we will be. 723 00:30:33,395 --> 00:30:34,691 And that's what we're striving for. 724 00:30:34,723 --> 00:30:35,579 That's what Paul says. 725 00:30:35,667 --> 00:30:37,215 I press towards the mark. 726 00:30:37,555 --> 00:30:38,971 I'm going hard. 727 00:30:39,163 --> 00:30:41,115 Paul says, at the very end, I fought the good fight. 728 00:30:41,155 --> 00:30:41,971 I finished my course. 729 00:30:42,003 --> 00:30:43,215 I've kept the faith. 730 00:30:43,515 --> 00:30:47,603 I guarantee you, when Paul was facing off against the Roman Empire 731 00:30:47,659 --> 00:30:51,227 and Nero was about to martyr him, I don't think Paul was sitting 732 00:30:51,251 --> 00:30:54,763 there going, well, I wish I didn't do this. 733 00:30:54,819 --> 00:30:56,091 I wish I didn't serve God. 734 00:30:56,163 --> 00:30:58,815 I guarantee you he was longing to see his Savior. 735 00:30:59,235 --> 00:31:05,771 And we know that all of the early church martyrs were brave and 736 00:31:05,803 --> 00:31:07,131 bold in that. 737 00:31:07,243 --> 00:31:09,931 And so the reason why we know that they could do that is because 738 00:31:09,963 --> 00:31:11,695 they had hope in something more. 739 00:31:12,555 --> 00:31:16,507 And as a Christian, I do believe that it's so important for 740 00:31:16,531 --> 00:31:20,161 us to understand that glorification so that we can do the 741 00:31:20,193 --> 00:31:23,033 mundane and the difficult in the progressive sanctification. 742 00:31:23,209 --> 00:31:24,145 It's not easy. 743 00:31:24,225 --> 00:31:26,353 That's why they're called spiritual disciplines. 744 00:31:26,529 --> 00:31:28,897 It's not always easy to wake up in the morning and read our Bibles. 745 00:31:28,921 --> 00:31:30,801 It's not always easy to pray. 746 00:31:30,913 --> 00:31:35,657 It's not always easy to serve and to fast and to go through all 747 00:31:35,681 --> 00:31:37,881 of these things that don't come naturally to us. 748 00:31:37,913 --> 00:31:38,545 In our flesh. 749 00:31:38,625 --> 00:31:41,601 It's not easy, but the more we do it, the more exercise we get in 750 00:31:41,633 --> 00:31:44,485 it and the more we understand the motivation behind it. 751 00:31:45,035 --> 00:31:46,523 I'm gonna tell you, like, I. 752 00:31:46,659 --> 00:31:47,531 I like to run. 753 00:31:47,603 --> 00:31:50,603 And the very first time I got told the story, I might have told 754 00:31:50,619 --> 00:31:51,363 the story to the whole church. 755 00:31:51,379 --> 00:31:54,643 I was telling the story to our children one time, I said, you know, 756 00:31:54,659 --> 00:31:57,507 the very first time I got out to run, I tried to run to the end 757 00:31:57,531 --> 00:32:00,475 of our block, and I thought I was going to die. 758 00:32:00,635 --> 00:32:02,731 And I was like, I'm never going to get out and run again. 759 00:32:02,763 --> 00:32:03,099 This is. 760 00:32:03,147 --> 00:32:03,475 This is. 761 00:32:03,515 --> 00:32:06,907 But the next time I did it, I got a little bit further, and I was 762 00:32:06,931 --> 00:32:08,011 able to get a little bit further, right? 763 00:32:08,043 --> 00:32:11,037 And so it was the discipline of doing it more. 764 00:32:11,211 --> 00:32:13,113 And there was a point where I was like, you know, it isn't that 765 00:32:13,129 --> 00:32:15,585 bad to run down to Burger King and back, okay? 766 00:32:15,705 --> 00:32:17,697 And then it was, I didn't need a Burger King. 767 00:32:17,761 --> 00:32:19,257 That would have been counterproductive. 768 00:32:19,401 --> 00:32:19,753 But. 769 00:32:19,809 --> 00:32:22,873 But the idea was, is that the more you do something, the more you 770 00:32:22,929 --> 00:32:26,217 understand the benefits of it, but the more you understand the outcome 771 00:32:26,241 --> 00:32:26,473 of it. 772 00:32:26,489 --> 00:32:30,041 So as a Christian, like, for example, you might wake up tomorrow 773 00:32:30,073 --> 00:32:31,645 morning, you might say, well, you know what? 774 00:32:32,065 --> 00:32:33,489 I could pray for five minutes. 775 00:32:33,577 --> 00:32:34,329 That's great. 776 00:32:34,457 --> 00:32:36,825 If you don't pray for five minutes in the morning, five minutes 777 00:32:36,865 --> 00:32:38,045 is better than nothing. 778 00:32:38,735 --> 00:32:40,415 And so if someone says, how much should I pray? 779 00:32:40,455 --> 00:32:41,935 How much should I read in my Bible? 780 00:32:42,095 --> 00:32:43,807 More, do more. 781 00:32:43,911 --> 00:32:45,951 You do five minutes, do six minutes, right? 782 00:32:46,023 --> 00:32:48,743 Grow, but grow in the love. 783 00:32:48,839 --> 00:32:51,303 Not because it's a duty, but there is going to be times in our 784 00:32:51,319 --> 00:32:53,247 life, in the spiritual disciplines, that we have to do these 785 00:32:53,271 --> 00:32:53,719 things. 786 00:32:53,847 --> 00:32:56,463 And we might not feel like we want to do it, but what we do is 787 00:32:56,479 --> 00:32:59,999 we say, okay, I might not feel like doing this today, but I know 788 00:33:00,047 --> 00:33:01,303 what I'm doing this for. 789 00:33:01,399 --> 00:33:05,169 Because of what my Savior did for me and what he's promised me. 790 00:33:05,217 --> 00:33:10,017 Remember what Peter said, Those precious promises, those wonderful 791 00:33:10,081 --> 00:33:11,873 promises that he's extended to us? 792 00:33:12,049 --> 00:33:14,361 Those are why we do what we do. 793 00:33:14,553 --> 00:33:16,225 That's why we go through difficulties. 794 00:33:16,265 --> 00:33:19,121 That's why we serve when we might not get praise. 795 00:33:19,233 --> 00:33:20,497 That's why we say, you know what? 796 00:33:20,521 --> 00:33:23,833 I'm going to love my enemy, number one, because the Lord told 797 00:33:23,849 --> 00:33:24,185 us to. 798 00:33:24,225 --> 00:33:26,273 But number two is because there's a purpose behind what we're 799 00:33:26,289 --> 00:33:26,441 doing. 800 00:33:26,473 --> 00:33:27,405 There's a why. 801 00:33:27,745 --> 00:33:29,281 There's a why behind what we're doing. 802 00:33:29,353 --> 00:33:33,623 We don't tell our children we go to church because we go to Church. 803 00:33:33,759 --> 00:33:36,135 We tell our children we go to church because of what Jesus Christ 804 00:33:36,175 --> 00:33:36,871 did for us. 805 00:33:36,983 --> 00:33:39,159 We go to church because this is our church family. 806 00:33:39,207 --> 00:33:40,755 We want to be around them. 807 00:33:41,775 --> 00:33:44,927 And the reason why is because I was burdened very, very long time 808 00:33:44,951 --> 00:33:48,231 ago, that there needs to be a why behind what we do in the spiritual 809 00:33:48,263 --> 00:33:49,863 realm and in the physical. 810 00:33:49,919 --> 00:33:51,799 But either way, you need to have a motivation. 811 00:33:51,887 --> 00:33:55,087 And that motivation shouldn't be, well, you know what, we go to 812 00:33:55,111 --> 00:33:57,811 church and people notice us, or we go to church and we get these 813 00:33:57,843 --> 00:33:59,459 positions, or we go to church and we have this. 814 00:33:59,507 --> 00:34:01,651 No, it's because of what Jesus Christ did for us. 815 00:34:01,683 --> 00:34:03,695 And so it starts from the beginning. 816 00:34:03,995 --> 00:34:06,611 Jesus Christ, the one who's the propitiation. 817 00:34:06,763 --> 00:34:10,035 Then we have the justification, then we have the sanctification. 818 00:34:10,195 --> 00:34:11,955 And I want you to think about that here this evening. 819 00:34:11,995 --> 00:34:16,083 I know that nothing that I said tonight is new, but I think 820 00:34:16,099 --> 00:34:18,667 it is important for us to understand how that all ties together 821 00:34:18,731 --> 00:34:19,979 that whole process. 822 00:34:20,147 --> 00:34:22,299 Because like, sometimes we just say, well, I'm saved. 823 00:34:22,467 --> 00:34:23,850 And it's true, we are saved. 824 00:34:23,962 --> 00:34:24,774 Salvation. 825 00:34:25,474 --> 00:34:28,546 But, but when we understand it and break it down into the nuances 826 00:34:28,610 --> 00:34:30,762 of what God has done for us, it's a lot. 827 00:34:30,898 --> 00:34:34,266 I, I believe it's a lot more meaningful to see what all happened 828 00:34:34,290 --> 00:34:35,882 in that miracle of the moment. 829 00:34:36,058 --> 00:34:37,650 Okay, it is a miracle of the moment. 830 00:34:37,682 --> 00:34:41,250 I don't think you get saved over a period of 10 years and once 831 00:34:41,282 --> 00:34:43,114 you get this all done, then you're saved. 832 00:34:43,154 --> 00:34:45,650 No, I believe that when you have faith in Jesus Christ, you're 833 00:34:45,682 --> 00:34:46,294 saved. 834 00:34:46,634 --> 00:34:50,266 But, but all of that stuff is happening in that moment, and we 835 00:34:50,290 --> 00:34:54,149 don't always necessarily recognize that until maybe after. 836 00:34:54,277 --> 00:34:57,093 And so as we go through this process, so let's say it this way. 837 00:34:57,109 --> 00:35:00,213 If you're a believer here this evening, you're on that path. 838 00:35:00,309 --> 00:35:02,645 I don't know where you're at on that path, but you're on that 839 00:35:02,685 --> 00:35:03,305 path. 840 00:35:03,645 --> 00:35:06,269 And I would encourage you to think about it from that perspective. 841 00:35:06,317 --> 00:35:07,661 Like, I need to add to my faith. 842 00:35:07,693 --> 00:35:09,425 I need to grow in grace. 843 00:35:09,725 --> 00:35:13,605 Not because I have to, not because Pastor Josh is going to take 844 00:35:13,645 --> 00:35:16,045 notes and check in and all those different things. 845 00:35:16,085 --> 00:35:17,525 No, that's not why we do it. 846 00:35:17,605 --> 00:35:20,229 We do it because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. 847 00:35:20,357 --> 00:35:23,109 And it's the natural reaction to thankfulness. 848 00:35:23,237 --> 00:35:26,277 And so, so I wanted to use those three words tonight as a, as 849 00:35:26,301 --> 00:35:29,093 a, as a one piece study. 850 00:35:29,229 --> 00:35:31,997 And I hope that it was encouraging for you tonight. 851 00:35:32,141 --> 00:35:35,309 Next week, like I said, we're going to go through the term Messiah, 852 00:35:35,437 --> 00:35:35,653 right? 853 00:35:35,669 --> 00:35:37,945 You hear that word a lot in the Christmas season. 854 00:35:38,965 --> 00:35:40,053 What does that mean? 855 00:35:40,189 --> 00:35:43,025 And it's, it's important to see those things. 856 00:35:43,845 --> 00:35:45,493 A couple of other things when we get into. 857 00:35:45,589 --> 00:35:47,429 And I encourage you to come back if you can. 858 00:35:47,597 --> 00:35:49,029 I love Wednesday nights. 859 00:35:49,117 --> 00:35:50,479 I really, really do. 860 00:35:50,637 --> 00:35:52,535 And I enjoy. 861 00:35:52,915 --> 00:35:55,867 I would, I would do it if no one was here, but I love when people 862 00:35:55,891 --> 00:35:56,403 are here. 863 00:35:56,499 --> 00:35:56,779 So. 864 00:35:56,827 --> 00:35:58,067 So we're going to come back in the new year. 865 00:35:58,091 --> 00:35:59,859 We're going to be studying some really interesting books of 866 00:35:59,867 --> 00:36:00,531 the Bible. 867 00:36:00,683 --> 00:36:02,851 We just got done with Zephaniah and we're going to start. 868 00:36:02,923 --> 00:36:06,283 We're going to study a few of the smaller ones in the New Testament 869 00:36:06,419 --> 00:36:08,283 that you may or may not be familiar with. 870 00:36:08,379 --> 00:36:10,339 So we're going to go through the Book of Jude. 871 00:36:10,467 --> 00:36:12,251 Jude's a very, very interesting book. 872 00:36:12,323 --> 00:36:14,867 One chapter, so it shouldn't be too long, but we're going to break 873 00:36:14,891 --> 00:36:17,439 it down really, really slowly and go through some verses. 874 00:36:17,547 --> 00:36:20,951 There's a lot of Old Testament references there in the Book of Jude. 875 00:36:21,063 --> 00:36:21,943 Very interesting. 876 00:36:22,079 --> 00:36:25,591 And then we're also going to study a book after Jude called Philemon. 877 00:36:25,743 --> 00:36:28,111 And maybe you are familiar with Philemon, maybe you're not, 878 00:36:28,143 --> 00:36:29,495 but it's a, it's a really cool one as well. 879 00:36:29,535 --> 00:36:32,715 So kind of weighing the appetite for the future. 880 00:36:33,935 --> 00:36:36,519 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 881 00:36:36,567 --> 00:36:37,311 podcast. 882 00:36:37,463 --> 00:36:38,823 I hope that this sermon has been. 883 00:36:38,839 --> 00:36:40,035 A blessing for you. 884 00:36:40,375 --> 00:36:42,671 If you would like to find out more information about our church 885 00:36:42,703 --> 00:36:46,367 or this sermon, you can find us at middletown baptist church.org 886 00:36:46,511 --> 00:36:49,235 or find us on Facebook or YouTube. 887 00:36:49,735 --> 00:36:55,031 You can also email me directly@josh massaroiddownbaptistchurch.com 888 00:36:55,183 --> 00:36:56,967 if you've enjoyed this podcast. 889 00:36:57,111 --> 00:37:01,755 Please subscribe and follow along for future podcast and updates. 890 00:37:02,095 --> 00:37:03,223 Thank you so much. 891 00:37:03,359 --> 00:37:04,183 God bless. 892 00:37:04,319 --> 00:37:05,375 Have a wonderful day.