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Hello and welcome to the
Middletown Baptist Church Podcast,

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where we are proclaiming the
truth to the world.

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My name is Pastor Josh, and I
want to thank you for listening to

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this podcast.

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I hope that this podcast can
be a blessing to you and strengthen

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you in the word of God.

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Now come along, let's look
into the Bible and see what God has

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for us here today.

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I'm thankful for you, thankful
for the fact that you're able to

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come here today and to hear
and heed the word of God.

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And we have a lot of reasons
to be thankful here at our church.

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We have a lot of reasons to be
thankful here as believers in this

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country.

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We have a lot of reasons to be
thankful, just in general, what God

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has given us in our lives.

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And I encourage you this week
to take some time to count your blessings,

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take some time, maybe even to
write down on a piece of paper or

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type out on a computer all the
things that you can give God thanks

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for.

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You could talk about your
family, you could talk about your

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health, you could talk about
your job, you could talk about your

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church family, you could talk
about your friends.

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You could list that list over
and over and over again throughout

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the day, and you probably
could keep listing things.

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But I will say that one of the
things that we do sometimes struggle

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with in the area of giving
thanks is giving thanks for the things

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that aren't so easy to go through.

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Right?

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The Bible does say.

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And if you have your Bible
here this morning, we're going to

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go to a couple different
passages before we get to our main

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text.

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But in First Thessalonians,
chapter 5, the Bible says something

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that, you know, a lot of times
we don't always follow because we're

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thankful for some things.

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We're thankful for portions of
our life.

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But the Bible says in 1st
Thessalonians, chapter number 5,

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verse number 18, in
everything, give thanks.

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Not necessarily for
everything, but in everything.

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And so sometimes it's
difficult for us to give thanks for

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things in our life or give
thanks to God for who he is and what

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he has done when things are
not going the way that we expect

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them to go.

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So he says here in everything,
give thanks.

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And then there's this phrase
that comes in the second part of

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the verse that a lot of times
we don't quote.

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It says, for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning

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you, meaning if you want to
follow God's will, part of that is

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giving thanks in everything.

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It's his will that you do that.

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I know there's a lot of
Christians, hopefully most Christians,

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all Christians would say, hey,
you know what?

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I want to follow the will of
God in my life.

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I want to follow God's plan.

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I want to walk in his steps.

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I want him to guide me.

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Well, one of the things that
we can see here very clearly is that

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it is God's will that we give
thanks in everything, in the good

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times and in the not so good
times, in the easy times and in the

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difficult times.

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And you say, well, what does
that mean for me today?

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Okay, what are you trying to
get accomplished here?

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What are you trying to say?

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Well, in Second Peter, chapter
three, Second Peter, chapter three,

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verse nine, this is where we
started last week, and we're going

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to pick it up this week.

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It says that the Lord here, in
this case, we know that this is the

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will of God.

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He says, the Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men

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count slackness, but is long
suffering toward us Word not willing

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that any should perish, but
that all should come to repentance.

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And so what we see here is
that it is God's will that everybody

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comes to repentance.

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And so if we use our reasoning
and if we use scriptural context,

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it is God's will that we give
thanks in everything.

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And it's God's will that we
come to repentance.

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And so therefore we should be
thankful for repentance.

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Well, what brings repentance?

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Well, that's 2 Corinthians,
chapter 7.

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That's what we've been talking
about for the last few weeks.

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So I want you to go to Second
Corinthians, chapter seven.

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That's our main text this
morning, and we're going to look

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at the results of repentance.

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Last week we looked at the
first result of repentance, and that

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was revival, a renewed spirit,
a renewed passion.

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Paul comes at the beginning of
Second Corinthians, chapter seven,

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and he confronts the
Corinthian church with the truth.

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And what was the confrontation?

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He says, look, you guys are
living in sin.

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You guys are not living the
way that God would have you to live.

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And so therefore, Paul starts
this whole process in love with a

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confrontation.

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He speaks as the Bible says in
Ephesians chapter 4, verse 15, Ephesians

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4, 15.

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He speaks the truth in love.

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He says, I love you enough to
tell you where you're wrong, and

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I love you enough to tell you
where you can change that.

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And I love you enough to tell
you that God is not pleased with

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you living in this sin.

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And so Paul starts with a Very
difficult thing.

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He starts with a confrontation.

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But I'm gonna tell you here
today, one of the things that we're

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thankful for is friends and
family in our life, if we love our

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friends and if we love our
family, we must tell them the truth,

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the truth in love.

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And so Paul confronts them at
the beginning of chapter seven and

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really throughout this whole
book with, hey, look, there is an

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issue in your life.

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There are issues, plural in
your life that you need to get fixed.

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And so sometimes the reason
why we don't confront people with

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the truth is the fear of the
repercussions of that, right?

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If I tell the person the
truth, the truth of God in their

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life, they may or may not
respond well.

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They may actually get upset
with me.

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They may even get to a place
in our life where they push us away.

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But what we see here is
actually the result of the confrontation

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is not division.

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We're actually going to see as
we conclude this chapter today that

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the confrontation led to godly
sorrow, the godly sorrow led to repentance,

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the repentance led to revival,
the revival leads to refreshment,

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and the refreshment leads to restoration.

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So from the beginning of the
chapter, we see confrontation, division,

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issues with Paul.

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Remember they.

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What were they questioning
about Paul?

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They were questioning his motives.

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They were like, Paul, why
would you say one thing and do another?

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You don't really love us.

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They were questioning his
love, they were questioning his devotion.

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They were questioning the
whole relationship that they had

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with Paul.

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And in so doing, they were
actually questioning the truth that

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Paul was preaching, right?

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So they didn't trust Paul.

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So they didn't trust the Gospel.

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And so Paul could have said,
well, you know what?

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Corinthian Church, forget you.

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I'm going to move on to the
next place.

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You guys are a lost cause.

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But.

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But what does he do?

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Out of love for them and out
of love for the Lord and out of love

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for the Gospel.

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Paul says, I'm going to
confront this and press them on the

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truth of the gospel, the truth
of the word of God.

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And so he does that.

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And what was the Response?

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Verse number 10.

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For Godly sorrow worketh
repentance to salvation.

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Not to be repented of, not to
be turned away from, but the sorrow

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of the world worketh death,
meaning it was biblical sorrow that

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brought the Corinthian Church
to repentance.

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It wasn't worldly sorrow.

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It wasn't, sorry I got caught.

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It was, I'm sorry that the
truth of God has presented and I

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fall short of the truth of God.

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And if we're honest with
ourselves at some point in our life,

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we've all had to come to that
point in our life where we understand

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how much we have fallen short
of the truth of God in our lives.

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Repentance is a necessity.

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Repentance is needed for salvation.

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Repentance is needed for
spiritual growth.

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Repentance is needed for revival.

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Repentance is needed for restoration.

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Repentance is needed for every
area of our life for God to work

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because it brings us to a
place of humility and brokenness.

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The Bible says that God
resists the pride.

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He resists those that are
resting in their pride.

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And he gives grace to the humble.

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It takes us to a place in our
life where we come to repentance,

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that we place ourselves in the
trust of God to change us and to

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move us and to get us to a
place in our life where we need to

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be.

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And so Paul says, I'm thankful
for the godly sorrow because why

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it worked.

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Repentance.

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And what did that repentance do?

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Well, we see in verse number
11, it brought revival.

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If we want revival, we have to
have repentance.

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Revival is new life.

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Now we have to go back because
some of you might not have been here

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last week.

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What is repentance?

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Repentance is literally
turning away from something and turning

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to something else.

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Repentance is not perfection.

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Repentance is.

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I'm walking this way and I'm
turning and about face and going

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somewhere else.

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We emphasized this last week.

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Repentance is not just turning
away from sin, but it's turning away

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from sin and turning to God.

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A lot of people can try to
turn over a new leaf in their life.

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A lot of people can say, I'm
tired of this.

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I'm tired of the results of
this sin.

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So I'm just going to try to
fix that, folks.

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It's not just turning away
from sin.

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It's turning away from sin and
turning to God, turning to his satisfaction,

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to his revival, to his relief,
to his restoration.

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And so we see in verse number
11, the revival.

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There he says before, behold
the self.

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Same thing that you sorrowed
after a godly sort being biblical

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sorrow brought you to repentance.

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He says, what carefulness it
wrought in you.

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That phrase there, what
carefulness essentially means this.

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It's this idea of diligence.

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It's the idea of having a
renewed passion for the things of

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God.

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So he says, what carefulness
it wrought in you, what clearing

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of yourselves, Meaning it
brought them a clear conscience.

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It Brought them that.

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You could phrase it this way.

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That burden was lifted.

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I don't know if any of you
have experienced that moment when

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there's revival and repentance
in your heart.

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And that burden of that sin,
that burden of that guilt falls away

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at the foot of the cross.

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That is an amazing feeling.

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But more than just that
feeling, it's an amazing truth that

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God can remove all of that
guilt from our hearts.

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Folks, as Christians, we
should not be walking in guilt.

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The Bible says In Romans,
chapter 8, there is therefore now

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no condemnation to those that
believe in Jesus, to those that are

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walking in the truth of Jesus Christ.

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And so as Christians,
sometimes we confuse guilt and conviction.

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Conviction is a good thing,
and we're going to talk about that.

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That conviction is something
that we should be thankful for.

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Guilt is not a good thing.

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Condemnation is not a good thing.

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Condemnation is what falls
upon those that are outside of the

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faith of Jesus Christ.

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We as Christians no longer
have to bear that condemnation in

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our life because Jesus Christ
has paid that price.

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And so what we can be thankful
for is the conviction.

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See, I started out with saying
there are some things that we're

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comfortable with being
thankful for, and there's things

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that we're not comfortable
with being thankful for.

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One of the things that I
struggle with being thankful for

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is conviction.

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But I'm gonna tell you, one of
the greatest things that God can

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00:11:09,919 --> 00:11:11,551
bring us in our life is conviction.

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00:11:11,703 --> 00:11:13,143
And we should be thankful for that.

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00:11:13,239 --> 00:11:15,679
We should be thankful for the
fact that God works in our heart,

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00:11:15,767 --> 00:11:18,875
because in conviction always
comes the path to restoration.

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You understand that, right?

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00:11:20,423 --> 00:11:22,479
God doesn't just condemn us in
our sin.

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He says, this is what's wrong
and this is how you fix it.

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That's the beauty of conviction.

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00:11:27,607 --> 00:11:29,695
Conviction always leaves us
with hope.

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00:11:29,815 --> 00:11:33,623
Condemnation leaves us with no
hope, leaves us with judgment.

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00:11:33,799 --> 00:11:36,823
And so the Bible says here in
this case, that when we get to that

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00:11:36,879 --> 00:11:40,055
clearing in our lives, that
conviction is something that we celebrate.

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00:11:40,095 --> 00:11:43,111
Now, most of us are not going
to sit around the Thanksgiving table

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00:11:43,143 --> 00:11:46,127
with our turkey and go, I'm
thankful for God's conviction in

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00:11:46,151 --> 00:11:46,915
my life.

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00:11:47,255 --> 00:11:50,551
The truth is, is that maybe we
should more often say, lord, thank

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00:11:50,583 --> 00:11:51,903
you for pricking my heart.

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00:11:51,999 --> 00:11:56,091
Thank you for cutting my heart
and showing me where I need to change

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00:11:56,163 --> 00:12:00,267
so that I can be the person
that Jesus wants me to be, so that

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00:12:00,291 --> 00:12:03,163
I can be the Father that God
wants me to be, so that I can be

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00:12:03,179 --> 00:12:04,851
the Christian that God wants
me to be.

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00:12:04,923 --> 00:12:07,491
And so, so many times, we
don't celebrate the conviction.

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We celebrate the Comfort which
the comfort comes.

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00:12:10,059 --> 00:12:12,707
But the conviction had to come
here in verse number 10.

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00:12:12,811 --> 00:12:13,947
Before we get to the comfort.

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We're gonna see that the
comfort comes through all of this.

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But there is great conviction.

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00:12:17,955 --> 00:12:19,721
He says, clearing of yourselves.

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What indignation.

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00:12:20,901 --> 00:12:22,333
That's hatred for sin.

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00:12:22,509 --> 00:12:23,621
That's repentance.

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00:12:23,773 --> 00:12:25,757
That's one of the definitions
of repentance.

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00:12:25,861 --> 00:12:27,077
I hate this sin in my life.

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00:12:27,101 --> 00:12:28,941
I gotta get rid of that in my life.

275
00:12:29,133 --> 00:12:30,037
What indignation?

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00:12:30,101 --> 00:12:30,477
Yay.

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00:12:30,541 --> 00:12:31,173
What fear?

278
00:12:31,229 --> 00:12:32,349
That's the fear of God.

279
00:12:32,437 --> 00:12:35,237
So one of the elements of
revival is the fear of God in our

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00:12:35,261 --> 00:12:39,037
lives, in a healthy respect
for God in our life.

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00:12:39,141 --> 00:12:41,861
The moment we lose that
healthy respect for God is the moment

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00:12:41,893 --> 00:12:47,109
that we fall back into that
trap of sin and division and fleshly

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00:12:47,157 --> 00:12:47,821
desires.

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00:12:47,933 --> 00:12:50,741
So fear of God, yea, what zeal.

285
00:12:50,933 --> 00:12:53,485
He's describing someone who's
revived in Jesus Christ.

286
00:12:53,565 --> 00:12:56,917
He says, what zeal you have,
what passion you have, what fire

287
00:12:56,981 --> 00:12:59,909
is in your heart, and what revenge.

288
00:12:59,957 --> 00:13:00,949
Now, revenge is a.

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00:13:00,997 --> 00:13:03,621
Is a word that sometimes we
think, well, what is he talking about

290
00:13:03,653 --> 00:13:03,773
here?

291
00:13:03,789 --> 00:13:05,917
Is he talking about you got
revenge on someone that sinned against

292
00:13:05,941 --> 00:13:06,077
you?

293
00:13:06,101 --> 00:13:08,625
No, he's talking about really
in this case, what.

294
00:13:09,445 --> 00:13:12,145
The way that you could say it
is this vindication.

295
00:13:12,485 --> 00:13:15,389
God vindicates you, so it's
God's revenge in your life.

296
00:13:15,437 --> 00:13:18,181
God is vindicating everything
that has been done in your life,

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00:13:18,253 --> 00:13:20,565
whether it be wrong, whether
it be the wrong that you have done,

298
00:13:20,605 --> 00:13:22,069
wrongs that others have done
to you.

299
00:13:22,157 --> 00:13:23,705
He's vindicating you.

300
00:13:24,005 --> 00:13:27,005
And so ultimately, that's
revival and all things ye have approved

301
00:13:27,045 --> 00:13:31,013
yourselves to be clear in this
matter, standing clear before God,

302
00:13:31,069 --> 00:13:33,877
that is repentance, that is revival.

303
00:13:34,021 --> 00:13:35,525
And so how did this happen?

304
00:13:35,645 --> 00:13:39,615
Started with the
confrontation, and it went to conviction,

305
00:13:40,275 --> 00:13:42,547
then it went to comfort.

306
00:13:42,731 --> 00:13:46,075
There's the godly sorrow that worked.

307
00:13:46,115 --> 00:13:48,419
Repentance, repentance, revival.

308
00:13:48,547 --> 00:13:51,131
And what we're going to talk
about here for the most of our time

309
00:13:51,163 --> 00:13:54,499
here today would be after the
revival, what was the result of that?

310
00:13:54,547 --> 00:13:57,627
Well, the result of the
revival was, as we're going to see

311
00:13:57,651 --> 00:14:03,769
here in verse number 12 and
13, it's relief, it's comfortable.

312
00:14:03,967 --> 00:14:06,101
And so we're gonna go ahead
and pray and I wanna talk to you

313
00:14:06,133 --> 00:14:09,885
today about the results of revival.

314
00:14:10,045 --> 00:14:12,493
And that is relief and restoration.

315
00:14:12,669 --> 00:14:14,157
Let's go ahead and pray and
then we'll jump right in.

316
00:14:14,181 --> 00:14:16,021
Lord, I thank you for this
time and thank you for this opportunity

317
00:14:16,053 --> 00:14:17,085
to look into your word.

318
00:14:17,165 --> 00:14:21,013
Thank you for this opportunity
to see that we can be thankful for

319
00:14:21,069 --> 00:14:23,533
conviction, that we can Be
thankful for repentance, that we

320
00:14:23,549 --> 00:14:26,821
can be thankful for the fact
that you work in our lives as a God

321
00:14:26,853 --> 00:14:29,435
who cares about us and a God
who can change us.

322
00:14:29,565 --> 00:14:32,127
And that can move us to a
place of the truth, that can move

323
00:14:32,151 --> 00:14:35,759
us to a place of
transformation in our life and, Lord,

324
00:14:35,807 --> 00:14:37,391
a place of restoration.

325
00:14:37,583 --> 00:14:40,535
Lord, we're thankful for the
fact that we no longer have to walk

326
00:14:40,695 --> 00:14:44,239
as those who are lost, but we
can walk with those who have hope

327
00:14:44,367 --> 00:14:45,783
in the light of Jesus Christ.

328
00:14:45,919 --> 00:14:47,687
Lord, I pray that you convict
us today.

329
00:14:47,751 --> 00:14:50,111
If need be, comfort us where
need be.

330
00:14:50,143 --> 00:14:53,087
Lord, help us to see you
clearly in a place of repentance

331
00:14:53,151 --> 00:14:53,831
this morning.

332
00:14:53,983 --> 00:14:56,223
So, Lord, we thank you and we
love you, removing distractions from

333
00:14:56,239 --> 00:14:58,893
our minds and from our hearts
and allow us to see you clearly this

334
00:14:58,909 --> 00:14:59,085
morning.

335
00:14:59,125 --> 00:15:00,261
In Jesus name I pray.

336
00:15:00,333 --> 00:15:01,045
Amen.

337
00:15:01,205 --> 00:15:04,365
Remember, what Paul is talking
about here is he's talking about

338
00:15:04,405 --> 00:15:09,741
the result that happened after
Titus went and reported to him what's

339
00:15:09,773 --> 00:15:11,181
going on at the Corinthian Church.

340
00:15:11,333 --> 00:15:13,965
Paul is talking about where he
was in Macedonia.

341
00:15:14,085 --> 00:15:19,797
Titus, a fellow that's working
with Paul as a minister, went to

342
00:15:19,821 --> 00:15:22,301
the Corinthian Church with the
letter that Paul wrote about the

343
00:15:22,333 --> 00:15:23,127
confrontation.

344
00:15:23,261 --> 00:15:27,699
He's returning back, Titus is
returning back to Paul and giving

345
00:15:27,747 --> 00:15:28,483
him a report.

346
00:15:28,579 --> 00:15:30,955
So this is Paul's results.

347
00:15:31,115 --> 00:15:35,123
This is his reaction to the
report that was given to him by Titus.

348
00:15:35,219 --> 00:15:38,427
And so he says, wherefore,
though I wrote unto you, I did it

349
00:15:38,491 --> 00:15:41,619
not for his cause of the one
who did wrong.

350
00:15:41,667 --> 00:15:43,435
So Paul's like, I didn't take
that side.

351
00:15:43,555 --> 00:15:45,947
I didn't take the side of the
one who had suffered the wrong.

352
00:15:46,051 --> 00:15:50,895
But I came to you in the sight
of God so that the sight of God might

353
00:15:50,935 --> 00:15:51,591
appear unto you.

354
00:15:51,623 --> 00:15:55,103
So he said, I came for your sake.

355
00:15:55,239 --> 00:15:58,479
I came with you with this
confrontation for the betterment

356
00:15:58,567 --> 00:16:00,159
of your spiritual life.

357
00:16:00,327 --> 00:16:01,455
It wasn't for my good.

358
00:16:01,495 --> 00:16:02,351
It wasn't for his good.

359
00:16:02,383 --> 00:16:03,351
It wasn't for his good.

360
00:16:03,423 --> 00:16:05,631
It was for the good of the
Lord working in your life.

361
00:16:05,663 --> 00:16:09,595
And so he says in verse 13,
this is our main text, he says, therefore

362
00:16:10,575 --> 00:16:11,199
we.

363
00:16:11,327 --> 00:16:16,165
Paul talks about him and his
company were comforted in your comfort.

364
00:16:16,745 --> 00:16:21,089
So there's comfort that is
given by God to the Corinthian Church

365
00:16:21,137 --> 00:16:23,473
through their conviction and
through their repentance.

366
00:16:23,529 --> 00:16:28,137
And so therefore we see that
God comforts the Corinthian Church,

367
00:16:28,281 --> 00:16:31,241
the Corinthian Church and
their comfort comforts Paul and his

368
00:16:31,273 --> 00:16:32,161
folks there.

369
00:16:32,313 --> 00:16:33,841
What a beautiful thing that is.

370
00:16:33,953 --> 00:16:36,337
With conviction comes the comfort.

371
00:16:36,441 --> 00:16:39,329
With repentance comes relief.

372
00:16:39,497 --> 00:16:40,785
Folks, if you're looking for relief.

373
00:16:40,825 --> 00:16:42,461
It's not just in working harder.

374
00:16:42,593 --> 00:16:47,181
If you're looking for comfort,
it's not just in ignoring the problem

375
00:16:47,253 --> 00:16:48,021
around you.

376
00:16:48,133 --> 00:16:51,621
The comfort and the relief
comes through addressing the truth

377
00:16:51,653 --> 00:16:54,861
of God and addressing the
conviction that comes to our life.

378
00:16:54,973 --> 00:16:57,741
And I'm gonna tell you, folks,
if you're like, I don't feel conviction

379
00:16:57,773 --> 00:16:58,629
in my life.

380
00:16:58,797 --> 00:17:00,301
I don't ever feel wrong.

381
00:17:00,453 --> 00:17:02,309
I feel like I can do what I
want to do.

382
00:17:02,397 --> 00:17:05,461
Folks, that is a warning sign
that the Holy Spirit is not guiding

383
00:17:05,493 --> 00:17:06,133
your life.

384
00:17:06,269 --> 00:17:08,797
Now, it's not my judge to tell
you whether or not you're saved or

385
00:17:08,821 --> 00:17:09,395
not saved.

386
00:17:09,485 --> 00:17:12,111
But what I am saying is, if
you say, well, I don't feel conviction

387
00:17:12,143 --> 00:17:15,315
at all when I read the Word of
God, that's a big red flag.

388
00:17:15,615 --> 00:17:19,567
Because all of us, as we read
the truth of Scripture, as we see

389
00:17:19,591 --> 00:17:23,895
the perfection of God through
the words of Scripture, we must see

390
00:17:23,935 --> 00:17:28,231
how short we fall when it
comes to our life and our flaws.

391
00:17:28,303 --> 00:17:30,895
And so God is always working
on a Christian.

392
00:17:30,975 --> 00:17:31,599
You ever.

393
00:17:31,727 --> 00:17:33,663
You know, in Delaware, we see
this all the time.

394
00:17:33,799 --> 00:17:34,951
Road work, right?

395
00:17:35,063 --> 00:17:37,615
Construction ahead, under construction.

396
00:17:37,655 --> 00:17:38,615
You see those signs all the time.

397
00:17:38,655 --> 00:17:40,639
That should be what a
Christian wears on their chest.

398
00:17:40,687 --> 00:17:43,415
All the time I'm under
construction, God's still working

399
00:17:43,455 --> 00:17:43,839
on me.

400
00:17:43,887 --> 00:17:45,075
Work in progress.

401
00:17:45,695 --> 00:17:46,943
Paul said that.

402
00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:48,775
You know, think about what he
said in Philippians.

403
00:17:48,815 --> 00:17:50,303
He's like, I have not attained.

404
00:17:50,399 --> 00:17:52,279
I've not gotten to where I
need to go.

405
00:17:52,407 --> 00:17:54,623
Folks, if we all get to a
place in our life where we say, you

406
00:17:54,639 --> 00:17:55,103
know what?

407
00:17:55,199 --> 00:17:56,119
I'm good.

408
00:17:56,287 --> 00:17:58,655
I don't need anyone telling me
that I need to change.

409
00:17:58,695 --> 00:18:00,475
I don't need any change in my life.

410
00:18:00,935 --> 00:18:04,711
That's a dangerous place to be
because that is a place characterized

411
00:18:04,783 --> 00:18:07,341
by pride and not humility.

412
00:18:07,493 --> 00:18:09,901
And so we need that godly
sorrow to bring us to a place of

413
00:18:09,933 --> 00:18:12,677
repentance, to see that we
need to continue to change in our

414
00:18:12,701 --> 00:18:14,341
life for the cause of the Gospel.

415
00:18:14,413 --> 00:18:16,945
And the change comes through
the conviction of the Spirit.

416
00:18:17,365 --> 00:18:20,669
So he says, therefore we were
comforted in your comfort.

417
00:18:20,717 --> 00:18:28,905
Yea, and exceedingly, the more
joyed we were for the joy of Titus.

418
00:18:29,445 --> 00:18:34,727
We see that Titus found joy in
seeing the Corinthian Church change.

419
00:18:34,911 --> 00:18:37,335
And therefore Paul saw the joy
of Titus.

420
00:18:37,455 --> 00:18:41,087
And in Paul experiencing the
joy of Titus, Paul was able to share

421
00:18:41,111 --> 00:18:42,863
that joy back with the
Corinthian Church.

422
00:18:42,959 --> 00:18:45,743
And so the relief comes in a
couple of different areas.

423
00:18:45,879 --> 00:18:47,875
Comfort and joy.

424
00:18:48,695 --> 00:18:53,023
A life characterized by a life
of repentance and conviction is a

425
00:18:53,039 --> 00:18:55,375
life characterized by comfort
and joy.

426
00:18:55,455 --> 00:18:57,059
We would actually think it's
the opposite.

427
00:18:57,167 --> 00:18:59,067
The more conviction we have,
the less joy we have.

428
00:18:59,091 --> 00:19:00,219
But it's actually the opposite.

429
00:19:00,307 --> 00:19:01,755
You want to see a joyful Christian?

430
00:19:01,835 --> 00:19:04,395
A joyful Christian is a
Christian who realizes that he needs

431
00:19:04,435 --> 00:19:07,427
Jesus Christ as a savior, that
he needs Jesus Christ to change his

432
00:19:07,451 --> 00:19:07,755
life.

433
00:19:07,835 --> 00:19:09,987
And he has the joy in knowing
that that is a.

434
00:19:10,091 --> 00:19:10,587
Is a.

435
00:19:10,651 --> 00:19:14,451
Not just a possibility, but
it's a guarantee that God will change

436
00:19:14,483 --> 00:19:16,491
us if we come to him in repentance.

437
00:19:16,683 --> 00:19:18,795
The Bible says here that that
brings joy.

438
00:19:18,915 --> 00:19:21,947
Titus saw the joy from the
Corinthian church which brought the

439
00:19:21,971 --> 00:19:25,495
joy to Paul, which Paul brings
the joy back to the Corinthians.

440
00:19:25,925 --> 00:19:28,989
He says, there's comfort and
joy in this relief.

441
00:19:29,117 --> 00:19:34,021
So in repentance comes relief,
and in this relief comes joy and

442
00:19:34,053 --> 00:19:34,301
comfort.

443
00:19:34,333 --> 00:19:37,349
Folks, should we be people
characterized by joy?

444
00:19:37,437 --> 00:19:42,013
The answer to that question is
yes, we should be exuding joy in

445
00:19:42,029 --> 00:19:45,125
our lives, the joy of the
Lord, as the book of Nehemiah says,

446
00:19:45,165 --> 00:19:46,305
is our strength.

447
00:19:46,765 --> 00:19:48,845
What does Paul say in
Philippians, chapter four, verse

448
00:19:48,885 --> 00:19:51,345
four, rejoice in the Lord alway.

449
00:19:51,755 --> 00:19:54,015
And again I say, rejoice.

450
00:19:55,555 --> 00:19:59,435
So a Christian who is
miserable, a Christian who has no

451
00:19:59,475 --> 00:20:03,315
joy, is a Christian who is not
resting in the truth of God, resting

452
00:20:03,355 --> 00:20:06,411
in the conviction of God,
resting in the humility that God

453
00:20:06,443 --> 00:20:08,135
brings us through that repentance.

454
00:20:09,195 --> 00:20:10,987
You would actually think it's
the other way around.

455
00:20:11,131 --> 00:20:12,027
Well, you know what?

456
00:20:12,131 --> 00:20:14,395
I'm feeling good about what
I'm doing, so I've got a lot of joy.

457
00:20:14,435 --> 00:20:16,083
Folks, that's no joy.

458
00:20:16,219 --> 00:20:17,409
That's a joy.

459
00:20:17,547 --> 00:20:18,829
You know what's a black hole?

460
00:20:18,877 --> 00:20:19,285
Black hole.

461
00:20:19,325 --> 00:20:20,797
Everything that goes into it
is just destroyed.

462
00:20:20,821 --> 00:20:22,225
Like nothing can live there.

463
00:20:22,565 --> 00:20:24,357
That's what happens, right?

464
00:20:24,461 --> 00:20:25,661
When we live in pride.

465
00:20:25,773 --> 00:20:27,381
We can't find the joy of the Lord.

466
00:20:27,453 --> 00:20:28,765
And the joy of the Lord is our strength.

467
00:20:28,805 --> 00:20:30,665
And so therefore, we can't
find strength.

468
00:20:31,285 --> 00:20:34,445
So ultimately, what happens
here is a result of the repentance

469
00:20:34,485 --> 00:20:35,829
of the Corinthian Church.

470
00:20:35,997 --> 00:20:40,109
The result of them responding
in repentance to the confrontation

471
00:20:40,277 --> 00:20:42,685
is that they found comfort and joy.

472
00:20:42,845 --> 00:20:44,843
Titus found comfort and joy.

473
00:20:44,989 --> 00:20:46,271
Paul found comfort and joy.

474
00:20:46,303 --> 00:20:49,991
And therefore, today we can
learn that in our conviction, our

475
00:20:50,063 --> 00:20:53,511
family can find comfort and
joy, our church can find comfort

476
00:20:53,543 --> 00:20:56,527
and joy, our community can
find comfort and joy.

477
00:20:56,631 --> 00:20:58,375
Our country can find comfort
and joy.

478
00:20:58,415 --> 00:20:58,807
Right?

479
00:20:58,911 --> 00:21:03,039
We want to be the propagators
of comfort and joy through Jesus

480
00:21:03,087 --> 00:21:03,675
Christ.

481
00:21:04,015 --> 00:21:05,135
Where did that start?

482
00:21:05,215 --> 00:21:06,655
It started with the truth.

483
00:21:06,815 --> 00:21:07,915
Truth in love.

484
00:21:08,295 --> 00:21:12,257
And so, therefore, what we see
here in this case is that Paul is

485
00:21:12,431 --> 00:21:14,445
celebrating the truth and love.

486
00:21:14,485 --> 00:21:18,581
He's celebrating the comfort
and the relief and the joy.

487
00:21:18,773 --> 00:21:24,717
He says here, because Titus
was joyful, because his spirit was

488
00:21:24,781 --> 00:21:27,825
refreshed by you all.

489
00:21:28,565 --> 00:21:30,709
You could say refreshed or relief.

490
00:21:30,837 --> 00:21:33,545
But in revival comes refreshment.

491
00:21:34,045 --> 00:21:36,505
We all need spiritual
refreshment in our life.

492
00:21:36,885 --> 00:21:39,153
We all need to be renewed in
the Spirit.

493
00:21:39,349 --> 00:21:42,873
We all need to have that
renewed passion for the cause of

494
00:21:42,889 --> 00:21:43,449
the gospel.

495
00:21:43,537 --> 00:21:44,361
How do we do that?

496
00:21:44,433 --> 00:21:47,825
Well, it takes each and every
one of us to come to a place of conviction

497
00:21:47,865 --> 00:21:50,569
in our life, come to a place
of the truth and say, lord, change.

498
00:21:50,617 --> 00:21:53,385
Me and my change can affect
other people's change.

499
00:21:53,465 --> 00:21:55,841
And what we can see in our
life is that we can bring refreshment

500
00:21:55,873 --> 00:21:59,713
to other Christians by the
change that we show, by the difference

501
00:21:59,769 --> 00:22:00,685
in our lives.

502
00:22:01,305 --> 00:22:03,257
Folks, we live our Christian life.

503
00:22:03,361 --> 00:22:04,005
So.

504
00:22:04,425 --> 00:22:09,337
So individually, it has been
told to us in our Western society

505
00:22:09,401 --> 00:22:11,481
that Christianity is an
isolated thing.

506
00:22:11,593 --> 00:22:13,865
This is your personal thing
that you do in private.

507
00:22:13,985 --> 00:22:16,401
Folks, that is the opposite of
what the Bible says.

508
00:22:16,513 --> 00:22:20,025
The decisions that we make
affect those that are around us.

509
00:22:20,185 --> 00:22:22,737
The decisions that I make for
the Lord are going to affect those

510
00:22:22,761 --> 00:22:23,057
around us.

511
00:22:23,081 --> 00:22:25,817
Now, I don't have to answer
for someone else's decisions, but

512
00:22:25,841 --> 00:22:28,545
I do have to answer for the
way that I influence others by my

513
00:22:28,585 --> 00:22:29,805
decisions in my life.

514
00:22:30,585 --> 00:22:35,089
Because the Corinthian church
was willing to take the word of confrontation

515
00:22:35,217 --> 00:22:37,001
and allow that conviction to
change them.

516
00:22:37,033 --> 00:22:40,185
Through godly sorrow and
repentance, they were able to influence

517
00:22:40,225 --> 00:22:40,697
Titus.

518
00:22:40,761 --> 00:22:42,513
Titus was able to influence Paul.

519
00:22:42,609 --> 00:22:44,649
Paul was able to influence the Macedonians.

520
00:22:44,737 --> 00:22:47,489
The Macedonians were able to
influence Paul again through giving,

521
00:22:47,537 --> 00:22:49,405
which we're going to talk
about in the next chapter.

522
00:22:49,785 --> 00:22:53,041
And then Paul comes around and
uses the Macedonians who were helped

523
00:22:53,073 --> 00:22:56,097
by Paul and challenges the
Corinthians with the Macedonians

524
00:22:56,161 --> 00:22:56,681
good life.

525
00:22:56,753 --> 00:22:58,405
You see, it's just a big circle.

526
00:22:59,075 --> 00:23:00,635
And so what I would tell you
is this.

527
00:23:00,755 --> 00:23:03,867
There's gonna be times in your
life where you need the comfort of

528
00:23:03,891 --> 00:23:04,859
others in the church.

529
00:23:04,987 --> 00:23:07,275
There's gonna be times in your
life where you need to comfort others

530
00:23:07,315 --> 00:23:07,691
in the church.

531
00:23:07,723 --> 00:23:09,467
You don't go, well, they
didn't comfort me.

532
00:23:09,491 --> 00:23:10,523
So I'm not gonna comfort them.

533
00:23:10,579 --> 00:23:11,835
No, I'm gonna comfort them.

534
00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:14,467
Because you know what the
supernatural thing that's gonna happen

535
00:23:14,491 --> 00:23:17,571
is that eventually when I need
that comfort, God's gonna work through

536
00:23:17,603 --> 00:23:19,575
somebody else and work that
into my life.

537
00:23:20,275 --> 00:23:21,539
It's an idea of thankfulness.

538
00:23:21,587 --> 00:23:24,147
It's that attitude of
gratitude that we should all live

539
00:23:24,171 --> 00:23:25,159
with in our lives.

540
00:23:25,307 --> 00:23:28,607
And so we get to this place
where he says, thank you, Lord, for

541
00:23:28,631 --> 00:23:29,487
the refreshment.

542
00:23:29,591 --> 00:23:31,183
Thank you, Lord, for the repentance.

543
00:23:31,279 --> 00:23:32,955
Thank you, Lord, for the revival.

544
00:23:33,975 --> 00:23:35,835
Then we see more in verse 14.

545
00:23:36,255 --> 00:23:41,767
He says, for if I have boasted
anything to him of you, meaning if

546
00:23:41,791 --> 00:23:45,207
I have said anything good
about you to Titus, he's talking

547
00:23:45,231 --> 00:23:45,991
to the Corinthian Church.

548
00:23:46,023 --> 00:23:48,031
He said, I've said some good
things about you to Titus.

549
00:23:48,103 --> 00:23:50,605
Now you gotta think about
Titus position.

550
00:23:50,735 --> 00:23:53,241
Titus has only heard of the
negative things about the Corinthian

551
00:23:53,273 --> 00:23:53,885
Church.

552
00:23:54,345 --> 00:23:57,265
He's only heard what they're
doing to Paul in the accusations

553
00:23:57,345 --> 00:23:58,153
and evil.

554
00:23:58,249 --> 00:24:00,361
And he's heard about what's
happened in First Corinthians, about

555
00:24:00,393 --> 00:24:01,465
all the sin that's there.

556
00:24:01,545 --> 00:24:04,081
Titus probably was pretty
scared to go and bring that letter

557
00:24:04,113 --> 00:24:05,217
to the Corinthians.

558
00:24:05,401 --> 00:24:06,609
Paul says, no, they're good people.

559
00:24:06,657 --> 00:24:08,425
They just got some issues, okay?

560
00:24:08,505 --> 00:24:09,761
Titus is like, I don't know.

561
00:24:09,793 --> 00:24:11,585
And Paul says, no, they've got
good attributes.

562
00:24:11,625 --> 00:24:14,505
He says, I've boasted in
things, for I've boasted anything

563
00:24:14,545 --> 00:24:15,369
to him of you.

564
00:24:15,457 --> 00:24:16,241
I am not ashamed.

565
00:24:16,273 --> 00:24:17,181
He says, I haven't.

566
00:24:17,273 --> 00:24:18,941
I'm not ashamed of what I've
said about you.

567
00:24:19,013 --> 00:24:20,981
There's good things to be said
about you.

568
00:24:21,133 --> 00:24:22,973
You have a lot of spiritual gifts.

569
00:24:23,029 --> 00:24:26,789
You have a lot of blessings in
your midst, and you're good people

570
00:24:26,837 --> 00:24:28,485
in the cause of the Gospel.

571
00:24:28,605 --> 00:24:33,005
He says, but as we spake all
things to you in truth, even so,

572
00:24:33,045 --> 00:24:36,165
our boasting, which I made
before Titus, is found a truth.

573
00:24:36,205 --> 00:24:36,749
Meaning.

574
00:24:36,877 --> 00:24:37,893
That's a hard way to say it.

575
00:24:37,909 --> 00:24:40,925
But what he's saying is this
says some good things about you.

576
00:24:41,045 --> 00:24:44,377
And the way that you responded
to the truth validated those good

577
00:24:44,401 --> 00:24:45,445
things about you.

578
00:24:45,945 --> 00:24:47,561
And so what he's saying here
is this.

579
00:24:47,673 --> 00:24:50,681
I want to speak life into your life.

580
00:24:50,833 --> 00:24:52,337
I want to say good things
about you.

581
00:24:52,401 --> 00:24:54,929
Now, I think there's a lesson
to be learned about this with Paul

582
00:24:54,977 --> 00:24:55,685
as well.

583
00:24:56,425 --> 00:24:59,405
He's doing this to people that
are against him right now.

584
00:24:59,825 --> 00:25:03,961
Now, how many of you would
say, okay, I'm gonna say good things

585
00:25:03,993 --> 00:25:05,865
and continue to say good
things about people that are saying

586
00:25:05,905 --> 00:25:07,009
bad things about me.

587
00:25:07,137 --> 00:25:09,697
Most of you are like, no way
they say one bad thing about me.

588
00:25:09,721 --> 00:25:10,945
I'm not gonna say anything
good about them.

589
00:25:10,985 --> 00:25:11,131
They.

590
00:25:11,153 --> 00:25:13,035
They've lost credibility in my life.

591
00:25:13,615 --> 00:25:18,335
Well, that might be justified
in our way of doing things, but how

592
00:25:18,375 --> 00:25:21,007
can we get to a place of
restoration in someone's life?

593
00:25:21,151 --> 00:25:23,887
How can we have them restored
back to the truth of the Gospel?

594
00:25:23,991 --> 00:25:26,959
How can we have them restored
back to our fellowship if we just

595
00:25:27,127 --> 00:25:30,007
discredit everything about
them, right?

596
00:25:30,111 --> 00:25:31,967
It's not an enemy that we see.

597
00:25:32,031 --> 00:25:33,439
It's someone that we can speak
truth into.

598
00:25:33,487 --> 00:25:36,015
So what Paul says here is,
hey, I still have concern for you.

599
00:25:36,055 --> 00:25:37,131
I still have love for you.

600
00:25:37,223 --> 00:25:40,667
I still want to tell you good
things about what you are in Christ.

601
00:25:40,731 --> 00:25:41,643
And so what does he say here?

602
00:25:41,659 --> 00:25:45,075
He says, I am not ashamed of
the things that I've said because

603
00:25:45,115 --> 00:25:46,531
our boasting was made true.

604
00:25:46,563 --> 00:25:49,483
You validated those good
things in the way that you responded

605
00:25:49,499 --> 00:25:51,603
to Titus, verse 15.

606
00:25:51,659 --> 00:25:54,851
And his inward affection,
talking about Titus is more abundant

607
00:25:54,883 --> 00:25:57,611
towards you, meaning this has
helped Titus grow in his love for

608
00:25:57,643 --> 00:25:58,215
you.

609
00:25:58,555 --> 00:26:01,587
This has helped him grow in
his understanding of how he can have

610
00:26:01,611 --> 00:26:02,815
grace with other people.

611
00:26:03,715 --> 00:26:06,867
And so his inward affection is
more abundant towards you, whilst

612
00:26:06,971 --> 00:26:09,075
he remembered the obedience of
you all.

613
00:26:09,115 --> 00:26:13,355
So you actually see here that
the Corinthians obedience affects

614
00:26:13,435 --> 00:26:14,787
Titus life.

615
00:26:14,971 --> 00:26:15,411
Right.

616
00:26:15,483 --> 00:26:19,539
Titus is renewed in his love
for the Corinthians and for other

617
00:26:19,587 --> 00:26:23,315
Christians and for the Lord by
seeing the obedience of the Corinthian

618
00:26:23,355 --> 00:26:23,975
church.

619
00:26:24,595 --> 00:26:28,443
Your obedience to the Lord
matters, your faithfulness to the

620
00:26:28,459 --> 00:26:31,751
Lord matters, the way that you
respond to the preaching and the

621
00:26:31,783 --> 00:26:34,983
reading and the study of the
Word matters, because it can affect

622
00:26:35,039 --> 00:26:36,195
those around you.

623
00:26:36,855 --> 00:26:39,183
And so what we see here is
that the Corinthian Church, though

624
00:26:39,199 --> 00:26:42,455
they had a lot of flaws in
their repentance and their revival,

625
00:26:42,535 --> 00:26:45,719
can be used to minister to a minister.

626
00:26:45,807 --> 00:26:46,151
Right?

627
00:26:46,223 --> 00:26:47,447
Titus is a minister.

628
00:26:47,591 --> 00:26:52,127
Titus is renewed by these
Corinthian lay people, serving God,

629
00:26:52,271 --> 00:26:56,551
obeying God, and ultimately
that affects him to the core.

630
00:26:56,743 --> 00:26:59,983
He says here that the
obedience of you all, how with fear

631
00:27:00,039 --> 00:27:02,075
and trembling, ye received him.

632
00:27:02,855 --> 00:27:07,959
Now, Titus brought this
message from Paul, and the Corinthians

633
00:27:08,007 --> 00:27:10,047
could have responded in many
different ways, but what did they

634
00:27:10,071 --> 00:27:10,231
do?

635
00:27:10,263 --> 00:27:12,623
They responded here with fear
and trembling.

636
00:27:12,679 --> 00:27:12,911
That's.

637
00:27:12,943 --> 00:27:14,511
That's speaking of brokenness.

638
00:27:14,623 --> 00:27:16,915
That's speaking of their humility.

639
00:27:17,255 --> 00:27:19,767
And so therefore, they
received the Word of God properly.

640
00:27:19,791 --> 00:27:22,007
And I would encourage you to
receive the Word of God properly

641
00:27:22,031 --> 00:27:22,835
in your life.

642
00:27:23,265 --> 00:27:28,793
One of the things that I do in
difficulty sometimes is hear the

643
00:27:28,809 --> 00:27:31,685
Word of God, especially when
it convicts me, when it cuts me.

644
00:27:32,865 --> 00:27:35,993
It's easy to build that shell
around us to say, you know what?

645
00:27:36,089 --> 00:27:37,485
I don't want to hear that.

646
00:27:37,825 --> 00:27:40,129
And most of you wouldn't do this.

647
00:27:40,257 --> 00:27:43,057
But sometimes, figuratively,
what we do is we stick our fingers

648
00:27:43,081 --> 00:27:45,369
in our ears and go, I just
don't want to hear it.

649
00:27:45,537 --> 00:27:48,931
If I don't retain this, I'm
not responsible.

650
00:27:49,113 --> 00:27:52,543
But the truth is that when the
Word of God is preached or when the

651
00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:55,511
word of God is taught, or when
you study the word of God yourselves

652
00:27:55,623 --> 00:27:58,435
and something jumps off the
page, it's doing that for a reason.

653
00:28:00,215 --> 00:28:03,999
You ever had a preacher preach
and you thought that he was preaching

654
00:28:04,047 --> 00:28:05,835
to you that day?

655
00:28:06,215 --> 00:28:07,239
I've been there.

656
00:28:07,367 --> 00:28:09,495
I remember there was a
preacher that was preaching.

657
00:28:09,575 --> 00:28:13,039
It was actually the service
that I trusted in the Lord in, and

658
00:28:13,047 --> 00:28:15,337
he was preaching, and I was
sitting there.

659
00:28:15,361 --> 00:28:16,765
I was 15 years old.

660
00:28:17,185 --> 00:28:18,805
And I'm like, oh, man.

661
00:28:19,265 --> 00:28:23,473
My parents must have called
this guy before the service, because

662
00:28:23,489 --> 00:28:25,045
he knows everything about my life.

663
00:28:25,665 --> 00:28:28,085
He's exactly describing me.

664
00:28:28,905 --> 00:28:31,537
And so I tried to reject it
for a few minutes.

665
00:28:31,601 --> 00:28:32,473
I was like, you know what?

666
00:28:32,529 --> 00:28:34,045
No, I don't want to hear this.

667
00:28:35,105 --> 00:28:37,085
But the moment I said, you
know what?

668
00:28:37,505 --> 00:28:40,885
Okay, Lord, you're speaking to
me, and I submitted to that.

669
00:28:41,815 --> 00:28:44,671
There was this miraculous
thing that happened in the concept

670
00:28:44,703 --> 00:28:46,915
that the Holy Spirit was
speaking to me.

671
00:28:47,575 --> 00:28:49,375
And I encourage you to think
about that.

672
00:28:49,415 --> 00:28:52,031
I'm not saying that, you know,
I don't know anything about.

673
00:28:52,183 --> 00:28:54,551
If I've ever been up here and
I've said something that you're like,

674
00:28:54,583 --> 00:28:55,555
man, that's me.

675
00:28:55,855 --> 00:28:56,519
I don't know.

676
00:28:56,567 --> 00:28:57,039
Okay.

677
00:28:57,127 --> 00:28:59,407
I don't sit there in the week
and think about different people.

678
00:28:59,591 --> 00:29:01,871
I don't sit there and plan my
sermons out.

679
00:29:02,023 --> 00:29:04,711
You know, that expositorily,
we just preach through passages of

680
00:29:04,743 --> 00:29:05,503
scripture.

681
00:29:05,679 --> 00:29:09,467
But if something in scripture
is speaking to you, that is there

682
00:29:09,491 --> 00:29:11,131
for a purpose to respond.

683
00:29:11,323 --> 00:29:15,259
And what we can see here in
this case is that Titus brings them

684
00:29:15,307 --> 00:29:18,395
the Word from Paul, ultimately
from God.

685
00:29:18,475 --> 00:29:19,739
And how did they respond?

686
00:29:19,867 --> 00:29:26,395
Not with pride, not with
arrogance, not with a lack of concern.

687
00:29:26,515 --> 00:29:27,491
What does it say here?

688
00:29:27,563 --> 00:29:28,011
They were.

689
00:29:28,083 --> 00:29:31,895
They received it with fear and trembling.

690
00:29:32,645 --> 00:29:34,185
That's how we have to see it.

691
00:29:34,685 --> 00:29:36,877
Now, you're gonna have
different speakers come up.

692
00:29:36,901 --> 00:29:37,997
You're gonna have me come up here.

693
00:29:38,021 --> 00:29:39,725
You're gonna have Pastor John
come up here.

694
00:29:39,805 --> 00:29:41,637
You might have Pastor Carlos speaking.

695
00:29:41,741 --> 00:29:43,861
You might have a preacher that
you listen to online.

696
00:29:44,013 --> 00:29:47,437
It's not fear and trembling
from that person, because sometimes

697
00:29:47,541 --> 00:29:49,405
different people can be a
little bit more intimidating.

698
00:29:49,485 --> 00:29:52,093
Like if someone gets up here
with a booming voice, or they run

699
00:29:52,109 --> 00:29:54,357
up and down the aisles and
they shake the Bible in your face,

700
00:29:54,381 --> 00:29:56,757
and you go, man, maybe I am a
little bit fearful this guy's gonna

701
00:29:56,781 --> 00:29:57,437
hurt me.

702
00:29:57,581 --> 00:30:01,979
It's not fearing and trembling
over the person that's speaking.

703
00:30:02,107 --> 00:30:04,867
It's fearing and trembling of
the source of that message, and that

704
00:30:04,891 --> 00:30:05,775
is God.

705
00:30:06,115 --> 00:30:09,475
So when the word of God is
preached and it's preached clearly,

706
00:30:09,595 --> 00:30:12,011
and it's Preached from the
truth of Scripture.

707
00:30:12,123 --> 00:30:14,815
That is literally God speaking
to his people.

708
00:30:15,195 --> 00:30:16,891
In the Old Testament, it
looked like this.

709
00:30:16,963 --> 00:30:19,195
The prophet would come and he
would say, thus saith the Lord.

710
00:30:19,235 --> 00:30:22,935
And God would give the prophet
the truth that he needed to preach.

711
00:30:23,435 --> 00:30:27,227
Nowadays, we have the revealed
prophecy of God, the revealed word

712
00:30:27,251 --> 00:30:28,325
of God right here.

713
00:30:28,475 --> 00:30:31,081
Peter says that we have a more
sure word of prophecy.

714
00:30:31,113 --> 00:30:32,441
And he's talking about the.

715
00:30:32,593 --> 00:30:35,161
You know, Peter, you guys know
the story.

716
00:30:35,233 --> 00:30:38,085
Peter, James and John go out
to the mount of Transfiguration,

717
00:30:38,745 --> 00:30:43,601
and Jesus reveals himself in
his truest form before Peter, James

718
00:30:43,633 --> 00:30:43,921
and John.

719
00:30:43,953 --> 00:30:45,185
And what happens?

720
00:30:45,265 --> 00:30:46,921
Peter says, we want to stay here.

721
00:30:47,033 --> 00:30:47,665
We want to build.

722
00:30:47,705 --> 00:30:49,889
We never want to leave this mount.

723
00:30:50,057 --> 00:30:54,011
And then later on, Peter says,
hey, he's describing that process.

724
00:30:54,153 --> 00:30:57,391
The voice of God is heard audibly.

725
00:30:57,503 --> 00:30:59,767
The voice of God the Father is
heard audibly.

726
00:30:59,911 --> 00:31:02,191
And we would think, well, man,
none of us have experienced anything

727
00:31:02,223 --> 00:31:02,655
like that.

728
00:31:02,735 --> 00:31:03,895
And what does Peter say?

729
00:31:03,975 --> 00:31:08,955
He says, you have a more sure
word of prophecy in the Scriptures.

730
00:31:09,575 --> 00:31:10,795
That's amazing.

731
00:31:11,415 --> 00:31:14,271
It's amazing the fact that we
have the word of God given to us.

732
00:31:14,343 --> 00:31:18,047
So when the word of God is
presented, never see it as an agenda

733
00:31:18,071 --> 00:31:20,319
of a pastor, an agenda of a teacher.

734
00:31:20,447 --> 00:31:23,167
See it as the word of God
being spoken to you.

735
00:31:23,351 --> 00:31:25,879
And when you do that, and you
receive it in fear and trembling,

736
00:31:25,927 --> 00:31:26,871
it brings us to a place.

737
00:31:26,903 --> 00:31:28,463
What does it say here in verse 16?

738
00:31:28,639 --> 00:31:34,591
I rejoice, therefore, that I
have confidence in you in all things.

739
00:31:34,703 --> 00:31:35,951
What happens here?

740
00:31:36,143 --> 00:31:42,255
Paul says, I haven't lost my
confidence in you as my fellow brothers

741
00:31:42,295 --> 00:31:43,515
and sisters in Christ.

742
00:31:43,815 --> 00:31:45,355
That is restoration.

743
00:31:45,905 --> 00:31:46,681
Okay?

744
00:31:46,833 --> 00:31:50,209
Restoration is when two
parties can come together and say,

745
00:31:50,257 --> 00:31:52,857
even though there's been
hardship, even though there's been

746
00:31:52,881 --> 00:31:55,657
things said, even though sins
have been committed, we can come

747
00:31:55,681 --> 00:31:58,765
together and we can trust each
other in the cause of the gospel.

748
00:31:59,505 --> 00:32:01,765
That is beautiful restoration.

749
00:32:02,065 --> 00:32:05,565
Because what's happened here
is that we have people that at every

750
00:32:05,985 --> 00:32:09,137
point in their ministry have
fallen short, right?

751
00:32:09,161 --> 00:32:10,777
The Corinthian church have
fallen short.

752
00:32:10,881 --> 00:32:13,867
I mean, if you go back to 1
Corinthians, they were doing pagan

753
00:32:13,931 --> 00:32:15,251
acts in the temple.

754
00:32:15,443 --> 00:32:17,675
They had people within the
church that they had to separate

755
00:32:17,715 --> 00:32:19,523
from because of their public sin.

756
00:32:19,659 --> 00:32:22,179
They were condemning Paul and
his motives.

757
00:32:22,227 --> 00:32:23,627
They were condemning the gospel.

758
00:32:23,731 --> 00:32:27,859
But we can see at the end of
verse 16 that even though they did

759
00:32:27,907 --> 00:32:33,107
all of those things, there can
still be restoration between Paul

760
00:32:33,211 --> 00:32:36,575
and between the church at
Corinth because of the repentance.

761
00:32:37,195 --> 00:32:40,699
Restoration comes from both
parties submitting to Jesus Christ,

762
00:32:40,867 --> 00:32:43,051
both parties coming and
submitting themselves to the power

763
00:32:43,083 --> 00:32:44,827
of God and saying, hey, you
know what?

764
00:32:44,891 --> 00:32:46,163
It's not me versus you.

765
00:32:46,219 --> 00:32:47,731
It's not a winner or a loser.

766
00:32:47,803 --> 00:32:50,179
It's we come back in
repentance before God.

767
00:32:50,267 --> 00:32:53,003
And in that repentance, we
fall broken and humble for him and

768
00:32:53,019 --> 00:32:53,771
say, you know what?

769
00:32:53,883 --> 00:32:56,531
We both must receive each
other because God received us in

770
00:32:56,563 --> 00:32:57,695
our sin as well.

771
00:32:58,515 --> 00:33:00,931
And I would encourage you to
think about that in your own life.

772
00:33:01,003 --> 00:33:01,975
This is hard.

773
00:33:02,595 --> 00:33:06,531
This is the hardest thing to
do in the Christian walk, is to have

774
00:33:06,563 --> 00:33:09,607
forgiveness and restoration
with someone who has harmed you or

775
00:33:09,631 --> 00:33:10,515
wronged you.

776
00:33:11,615 --> 00:33:12,927
I mean, maybe not.

777
00:33:12,951 --> 00:33:14,967
Maybe you say there's other
things that are more difficult.

778
00:33:15,111 --> 00:33:17,607
I'm gonna tell you one of the
hardest things that I've ever experienced

779
00:33:17,631 --> 00:33:19,887
in my life is being able to
see someone through the eyes of God

780
00:33:19,911 --> 00:33:21,555
and not through the eyes of my offense.

781
00:33:22,535 --> 00:33:23,079
Okay?

782
00:33:23,167 --> 00:33:26,955
That is the hardest thing,
because we have an ego.

783
00:33:27,335 --> 00:33:30,631
We have all the teachings of
the world in our brain that says

784
00:33:30,703 --> 00:33:32,783
if someone wrongs you, you
wrong them back.

785
00:33:32,879 --> 00:33:35,073
Eye for an eye, tooth for tooth.

786
00:33:35,169 --> 00:33:36,329
They don't deserve forgiveness.

787
00:33:36,377 --> 00:33:37,577
They don't deserve grace.

788
00:33:37,681 --> 00:33:40,113
Paul could have said that, and
none of us would have batted an eye

789
00:33:40,129 --> 00:33:43,489
if he said, the Corinthian
Church doesn't deserve me, I'm gone.

790
00:33:43,537 --> 00:33:44,681
But no, what does he do?

791
00:33:44,793 --> 00:33:46,125
He comes back.

792
00:33:47,545 --> 00:33:52,041
He comes back and loves them
enough to tell them the truth, risking

793
00:33:52,113 --> 00:33:52,777
their cause.

794
00:33:52,841 --> 00:33:55,825
By the way, restoration
doesn't always happen because in

795
00:33:55,865 --> 00:33:59,085
restoration, two parties have
to come to repentance.

796
00:34:00,915 --> 00:34:02,867
Both parties have to come to Christ.

797
00:34:03,051 --> 00:34:06,655
Let's say, for example,
someone comes in here as I'm preaching,

798
00:34:07,515 --> 00:34:09,747
and they walk right up to the
front, and hopefully the security

799
00:34:09,811 --> 00:34:10,975
would notice that.

800
00:34:11,475 --> 00:34:13,515
And he comes up to me, and I
think he's gonna give me a hug.

801
00:34:13,555 --> 00:34:16,747
He's walking up, and he comes
up, and he just clocks me one right

802
00:34:16,771 --> 00:34:17,259
in the face.

803
00:34:17,307 --> 00:34:20,107
Knocks me out right here, and
I fall down, okay?

804
00:34:20,211 --> 00:34:21,415
And he walks out.

805
00:34:23,075 --> 00:34:26,655
And I could say all day, man,
I forgive you.

806
00:34:27,325 --> 00:34:29,381
I want to be restored to you.

807
00:34:29,573 --> 00:34:33,037
I want you to come back into
the church and be a part of us.

808
00:34:33,181 --> 00:34:35,525
But if that person goes, well,
I don't want to be a part of this

809
00:34:35,565 --> 00:34:36,093
church.

810
00:34:36,229 --> 00:34:37,821
I don't want to be restored to you.

811
00:34:37,933 --> 00:34:39,685
I don't think what I did is
wrong, folks.

812
00:34:39,725 --> 00:34:42,261
You see how that restoration
can happen right now?

813
00:34:42,293 --> 00:34:45,421
One side can be forbearing,
meaning I'm offering grace, I'm offering

814
00:34:45,453 --> 00:34:45,885
forgiveness.

815
00:34:45,925 --> 00:34:47,029
I'm offering all these things.

816
00:34:47,117 --> 00:34:50,585
And we have the responsibility
as an offended party to do that,

817
00:34:51,205 --> 00:34:52,101
to tell them the truth.

818
00:34:52,133 --> 00:34:54,397
And now what I would need to
do is I would need to go to him one

819
00:34:54,421 --> 00:34:56,908
on one and go, hey, brother,
you punching me in the face in front

820
00:34:56,916 --> 00:34:58,660
of the church really wasn't a
cool thing to do.

821
00:34:58,732 --> 00:35:00,396
Please don't do that ever
again, okay?

822
00:35:00,420 --> 00:35:06,108
It offended me in many ways,
but if I've done my part in everything

823
00:35:06,156 --> 00:35:09,420
and said, I forgive you, I
forbear, you know, and then there's

824
00:35:09,452 --> 00:35:10,764
that concept of them coming back.

825
00:35:10,804 --> 00:35:12,784
So I say all that to say this.

826
00:35:13,124 --> 00:35:14,824
This doesn't always work out.

827
00:35:15,204 --> 00:35:18,436
The Bible does say, live
peaceably with all men if possible.

828
00:35:18,500 --> 00:35:20,164
And so it doesn't always come
to pass.

829
00:35:20,284 --> 00:35:23,935
But when two parties come in
repentance and in the conviction

830
00:35:23,975 --> 00:35:26,247
and say, you know what, we
need to get this right, we need to

831
00:35:26,271 --> 00:35:28,567
overlook these differences,
and we need to come to a place in

832
00:35:28,591 --> 00:35:30,903
our life where we show love
and grace to each other because we're

833
00:35:30,919 --> 00:35:34,055
on the same team, that's when
true restoration happens.

834
00:35:34,175 --> 00:35:37,463
And I believe even though the
church at Corinth isn't perfect by

835
00:35:37,479 --> 00:35:40,335
any stretch of the imagination
in scripture, this is where I do

836
00:35:40,375 --> 00:35:43,215
see Paul saying, hey, we've
got restoration.

837
00:35:43,375 --> 00:35:44,635
I'm here for you.

838
00:35:44,975 --> 00:35:47,715
I'm committed, and I trust you.

839
00:35:48,665 --> 00:35:54,489
I rejoice, therefore, that I
have confidence in you in all things.

840
00:35:54,657 --> 00:35:57,165
I don't think Paul is being
sarcastic here.

841
00:35:58,305 --> 00:36:00,729
That sounds like something
maybe that could be sarcastic.

842
00:36:00,777 --> 00:36:03,257
Like, you've given me no
reason to have confidence in you,

843
00:36:03,281 --> 00:36:04,897
but I have confidence in you completely.

844
00:36:04,961 --> 00:36:06,697
No, I don't think he's being sarcastic.

845
00:36:06,761 --> 00:36:09,841
I think he's trying to
encourage the Corinthians, showing

846
00:36:09,873 --> 00:36:13,057
them that he is convinced that
their repentance is genuine and that

847
00:36:13,081 --> 00:36:14,245
they can work together.

848
00:36:14,815 --> 00:36:19,355
And so by lifting them up, by
exhorting them, by edifying them,

849
00:36:20,455 --> 00:36:24,315
he's able to continue this
path to restoration.

850
00:36:24,615 --> 00:36:25,975
And so this is an example.

851
00:36:26,055 --> 00:36:27,415
This is an example for all of us.

852
00:36:27,495 --> 00:36:30,535
And so at the end of this
chapter, Paul encourages the Corinthian

853
00:36:30,575 --> 00:36:31,315
Christians.

854
00:36:32,815 --> 00:36:37,835
And the real reason for this
restoration is their repentance.

855
00:36:38,335 --> 00:36:41,435
The real reason for this
refreshment is repentance.

856
00:36:41,765 --> 00:36:44,957
And so all throughout this
chapter, we see how concerned Paul

857
00:36:45,021 --> 00:36:49,065
was about the relationship
with the Corinthian Christians.

858
00:36:49,965 --> 00:36:51,869
He didn't just discredit them.

859
00:36:52,037 --> 00:36:56,229
And so Paul's relationship
with God affected his relationship

860
00:36:56,277 --> 00:36:58,825
with the people that he's
ministering to.

861
00:36:59,205 --> 00:37:02,997
And Paul's relationship with
God and his relationship with the

862
00:37:03,021 --> 00:37:06,545
people brought him to a place
to speak the truth in love.

863
00:37:07,135 --> 00:37:13,755
And then the Corinthian Church
responded to that truth with repentance,

864
00:37:14,815 --> 00:37:19,431
revival, refreshment,
restoration, folks.

865
00:37:19,463 --> 00:37:22,343
If we want restoration, it has
to start with the truth.

866
00:37:22,519 --> 00:37:24,115
It has to go through revival.

867
00:37:24,775 --> 00:37:26,795
But it starts with that repentance.

868
00:37:27,575 --> 00:37:29,807
Truth reveals the repentance.

869
00:37:29,951 --> 00:37:32,075
Truth reveals the turn.

870
00:37:32,945 --> 00:37:35,881
And then we get to the point
where the godly sorrow sustains the

871
00:37:35,913 --> 00:37:36,545
shift.

872
00:37:36,705 --> 00:37:39,233
And ultimately true revival brings.

873
00:37:39,369 --> 00:37:44,485
Excuse me, true repentance
brings revival, refreshment and restoration,

874
00:37:45,265 --> 00:37:45,769
man.

875
00:37:45,857 --> 00:37:46,577
You know what?

876
00:37:46,681 --> 00:37:49,801
Some of us in our life need
that restoration with people that

877
00:37:49,833 --> 00:37:50,753
have wronged us.

878
00:37:50,889 --> 00:37:53,193
Some of us have been on the
side of being the ones that have

879
00:37:53,209 --> 00:37:53,953
wronged other people.

880
00:37:54,009 --> 00:37:56,841
And we need to go back in
humility and brokenness and say,

881
00:37:56,913 --> 00:37:57,761
hey, I'm so sorry.

882
00:37:57,793 --> 00:37:59,315
I need to get this right with you.

883
00:38:00,615 --> 00:38:04,895
That doesn't happen outside of
the power of God working in our lives,

884
00:38:04,935 --> 00:38:05,159
folks.

885
00:38:05,207 --> 00:38:07,071
This is a miraculous thing
that happens.

886
00:38:07,183 --> 00:38:09,115
This is a wonderful thing that happens.

887
00:38:09,495 --> 00:38:11,295
Have I been perfect in this as
a pastor?

888
00:38:11,335 --> 00:38:12,815
Of course I have not been perfect.

889
00:38:12,895 --> 00:38:14,431
Who is perfect in these things?

890
00:38:14,583 --> 00:38:15,703
Well, we know who is perfect.

891
00:38:15,759 --> 00:38:16,599
That's the Lord.

892
00:38:16,727 --> 00:38:18,311
And we have to go back to him
on that.

893
00:38:18,423 --> 00:38:20,455
Think about all the examples
of Jesus, right?

894
00:38:20,575 --> 00:38:22,435
We could go through many.

895
00:38:23,015 --> 00:38:26,305
Jesus is sitting there right
before he goes to the cross.

896
00:38:27,245 --> 00:38:31,141
He knows that there's one guy
sitting at this table that's gonna

897
00:38:31,173 --> 00:38:32,105
deny him.

898
00:38:32,845 --> 00:38:36,061
It's the same guy that says,
jesus, I'll die for you, Jesus.

899
00:38:36,093 --> 00:38:38,597
I'll go anywhere with you,
Jesus, I'll go to the ends of the

900
00:38:38,621 --> 00:38:38,781
earth.

901
00:38:38,813 --> 00:38:41,225
And Jesus goes, you're gonna
deny me three times.

902
00:38:42,365 --> 00:38:44,145
There's another guy in the room.

903
00:38:45,565 --> 00:38:48,825
He's about to betray Jesus for
30 pieces of silver.

904
00:38:49,685 --> 00:38:51,331
Yet what does Jesus do?

905
00:38:51,493 --> 00:38:53,359
He doesn't say, hey, get out
of here.

906
00:38:53,527 --> 00:38:54,615
Forget you.

907
00:38:54,775 --> 00:38:55,995
He gets down.

908
00:38:56,295 --> 00:39:01,595
John 13 takes the form of a
servant and washes their feet.

909
00:39:02,455 --> 00:39:03,799
He washes all their feet.

910
00:39:03,887 --> 00:39:05,463
And all of them are going to
deny him.

911
00:39:05,559 --> 00:39:05,887
Really.

912
00:39:05,951 --> 00:39:09,263
Peter publicly denies him, but
all of them run except for John the

913
00:39:09,279 --> 00:39:10,075
Beloved.

914
00:39:10,535 --> 00:39:15,935
But he shows that Jesus shows
opportunities for us, that we can

915
00:39:16,095 --> 00:39:20,375
exercise love in the midst of
wrongdoing in our life.

916
00:39:21,035 --> 00:39:23,787
Now, there's a lot to this.

917
00:39:23,971 --> 00:39:25,867
We're not going to be able to
handle all of this because there

918
00:39:25,891 --> 00:39:28,707
is going to be time and a
place in our life where there can't

919
00:39:28,731 --> 00:39:29,403
be restoration.

920
00:39:29,459 --> 00:39:30,171
How do we deal with that?

921
00:39:30,203 --> 00:39:32,411
Well, that's coming in
different passages of Scripture,

922
00:39:32,523 --> 00:39:34,611
but what we see here is the ideal.

923
00:39:34,763 --> 00:39:38,331
We see the ideal of Paul
saying, I need to confront you with

924
00:39:38,363 --> 00:39:38,819
something.

925
00:39:38,947 --> 00:39:41,815
I need to confront you with
the truth, the truth of the Word.

926
00:39:42,315 --> 00:39:47,595
And then the Corinthian Church
responding as it says, there with

927
00:39:47,635 --> 00:39:52,915
fear and trembling, with
humility that brought godly sorrow,

928
00:39:53,075 --> 00:39:54,683
that brought repentance.

929
00:39:54,819 --> 00:39:56,467
Repentance brought revival.

930
00:39:56,611 --> 00:39:58,667
Revival brought refreshment.

931
00:39:58,811 --> 00:40:00,899
And that refreshment brings restoration.

932
00:40:00,987 --> 00:40:03,695
Folks, some of us need to be
in a place of repentance.

933
00:40:04,035 --> 00:40:06,575
Some of us need that place of refreshment.

934
00:40:07,195 --> 00:40:09,535
Some of us need that place of
restoration today.

935
00:40:09,995 --> 00:40:11,547
And I would encourage you to
think about that.

936
00:40:11,571 --> 00:40:13,375
I would encourage you to pray
about that.

937
00:40:13,715 --> 00:40:15,179
Some of us are in the role of Paul.

938
00:40:15,227 --> 00:40:17,123
We need to be the ones that
are speaking the truth into people's

939
00:40:17,139 --> 00:40:17,695
lives.

940
00:40:19,115 --> 00:40:19,715
You know what?

941
00:40:19,755 --> 00:40:24,915
Sometimes for me, this is
embarrassing for a pastor to share,

942
00:40:25,035 --> 00:40:28,135
but whatever, I have nothing
to lose.

943
00:40:29,435 --> 00:40:34,939
I sometimes will sacrifice the
truth for grace because I don't want

944
00:40:34,947 --> 00:40:36,015
to offend somebody.

945
00:40:37,135 --> 00:40:39,127
Someone might come up to me
and be like, hey, what do you think

946
00:40:39,151 --> 00:40:39,575
about this?

947
00:40:39,615 --> 00:40:43,071
And I really want to tell
them, like, well, I think it's a

948
00:40:43,103 --> 00:40:45,115
terrible decision that's going
to ruin your life.

949
00:40:45,735 --> 00:40:50,159
But then, because maybe of
fear, it literally goes back to pride.

950
00:40:50,207 --> 00:40:50,911
It goes back to pride.

951
00:40:50,943 --> 00:40:52,087
I want the person to judge me.

952
00:40:52,111 --> 00:40:55,199
I go, well, you know, I don't
know if I would do that, but it could

953
00:40:55,247 --> 00:40:55,991
work out, maybe.

954
00:40:56,023 --> 00:40:56,855
And you're like, right.

955
00:40:56,895 --> 00:41:00,343
So sometimes there's that
struggle, that inner struggle that

956
00:41:00,359 --> 00:41:05,051
we have where we don't want to
offend so we won't tell them the

957
00:41:05,083 --> 00:41:05,723
truth.

958
00:41:05,899 --> 00:41:07,375
And sometimes people come.

959
00:41:07,875 --> 00:41:08,827
My thing is this.

960
00:41:08,891 --> 00:41:11,731
If someone comes and asks me
for the truth, that's my gateway

961
00:41:11,763 --> 00:41:12,595
to give them the truth.

962
00:41:12,635 --> 00:41:13,107
Okay?

963
00:41:13,211 --> 00:41:15,315
There's no more hesitancy on that.

964
00:41:15,435 --> 00:41:16,883
If you really want to know the
truth, I'm going to give you the

965
00:41:16,899 --> 00:41:17,931
truth in love.

966
00:41:18,123 --> 00:41:20,083
But there are going to be
times when people don't come to ask

967
00:41:20,099 --> 00:41:21,091
you for the truth.

968
00:41:21,243 --> 00:41:22,455
That's the hard part.

969
00:41:23,315 --> 00:41:25,723
And what Paul did is he says,
I'm going to send this letter to

970
00:41:25,739 --> 00:41:27,891
the Corinthian Church because
I love them enough to tell them the

971
00:41:27,923 --> 00:41:28,439
truth.

972
00:41:28,587 --> 00:41:33,783
And this is hard because where
does this go from judgment and, you

973
00:41:33,799 --> 00:41:37,439
know, being, you know, the
whole idea of plank in, you know,

974
00:41:37,487 --> 00:41:40,279
speck in my brother's eye and
plank in my own eye, right?

975
00:41:40,367 --> 00:41:41,383
So there is that.

976
00:41:41,519 --> 00:41:42,935
And Jesus teaches all about that.

977
00:41:42,975 --> 00:41:45,007
Make sure you're right with
God before you start going around

978
00:41:45,031 --> 00:41:46,471
and telling people the truth.

979
00:41:46,663 --> 00:41:48,791
But he's not saying you can't
tell people the truth.

980
00:41:48,823 --> 00:41:51,287
He's saying, just inspect your
own life to make sure you're not

981
00:41:51,311 --> 00:41:53,917
just living in disorder and
then coming to people with issues.

982
00:41:54,111 --> 00:41:57,033
But there is a time and a
place in love to tell someone the

983
00:41:57,049 --> 00:42:01,125
truth about Jesus Christ, even
a saved person, right?

984
00:42:01,585 --> 00:42:07,937
So, like, for example, if I
had my children, I don't struggle

985
00:42:07,961 --> 00:42:09,313
with telling my children the truth.

986
00:42:09,409 --> 00:42:11,833
I don't sit there and worry
about like, well, I'm going to offend

987
00:42:11,889 --> 00:42:13,657
my son today by telling him
that this is wrong.

988
00:42:13,681 --> 00:42:17,105
I'm going to tell him the
truth because I have an investment

989
00:42:17,185 --> 00:42:18,205
in my son.

990
00:42:18,665 --> 00:42:20,787
I have an investment in my
family, right?

991
00:42:20,851 --> 00:42:23,867
Because if my family breaks
down, it's going to affect me completely,

992
00:42:23,931 --> 00:42:24,395
right?

993
00:42:24,515 --> 00:42:27,451
And so therefore, I don't
struggle with telling my family the

994
00:42:27,483 --> 00:42:28,095
truth.

995
00:42:29,355 --> 00:42:30,915
So what do I have to see in
that way?

996
00:42:30,955 --> 00:42:32,083
I have to see it this way.

997
00:42:32,179 --> 00:42:33,615
This is my church family.

998
00:42:35,315 --> 00:42:37,615
And I don't want to see my
family broken down.

999
00:42:38,195 --> 00:42:41,299
I don't want to see my family
get to a place because we're in this

1000
00:42:41,347 --> 00:42:41,987
together.

1001
00:42:42,171 --> 00:42:45,027
And so it's done in love, it's
done sensitively, but it's done in

1002
00:42:45,051 --> 00:42:48,363
a way that brings someone to a
place of where they have to respond

1003
00:42:48,419 --> 00:42:50,177
to the truth of the gospel.

1004
00:42:50,371 --> 00:42:52,613
The godly sorrow works repentance.

1005
00:42:52,709 --> 00:42:56,925
So that's the side of the one
who needs to speak the truth.

1006
00:42:57,085 --> 00:42:59,237
But some of us maybe are on
the other side.

1007
00:42:59,381 --> 00:43:01,173
Maybe some of us need to hear
the truth.

1008
00:43:01,229 --> 00:43:06,013
And how we respond to that
truth matters too, because the Corinthians

1009
00:43:06,069 --> 00:43:08,425
could have said, who are you, Paul?

1010
00:43:09,125 --> 00:43:10,117
Who are you?

1011
00:43:10,261 --> 00:43:12,485
You're the one that chose
Macedonia over us.

1012
00:43:12,525 --> 00:43:14,373
And you told us you would be
here, and you're not here.

1013
00:43:14,469 --> 00:43:17,975
Paul says, no, you need to
receive this in truth.

1014
00:43:18,015 --> 00:43:19,271
You need to receive this in love.

1015
00:43:19,303 --> 00:43:24,863
And so some of us need to
receive the truth in that love and

1016
00:43:24,879 --> 00:43:28,887
to receive it with humility
and to receive it with godly sorrow

1017
00:43:28,991 --> 00:43:30,595
that brings forth repentance.

1018
00:43:31,575 --> 00:43:35,399
I've had people come to me and
say, pastor, or maybe it's just Josh.

1019
00:43:35,447 --> 00:43:36,671
Maybe it's not someone in the church.

1020
00:43:36,703 --> 00:43:39,087
I've had other pastors come
and say, hey, I think you're seeing

1021
00:43:39,111 --> 00:43:40,675
this from the wrong perspective.

1022
00:43:41,305 --> 00:43:43,025
You know what my flesh wants
to do?

1023
00:43:43,145 --> 00:43:44,921
Well, you're not here, you're
not around me.

1024
00:43:44,953 --> 00:43:46,481
You don't know what you're
talking about.

1025
00:43:46,633 --> 00:43:47,561
But what do I need to do?

1026
00:43:47,593 --> 00:43:50,525
Well, wounds of a friend are a blessing.

1027
00:43:50,985 --> 00:43:53,321
If a friend comes up to me and
tells me that there's something wrong

1028
00:43:53,353 --> 00:43:55,801
with what I'm doing, and I
know that they're my godly friend,

1029
00:43:55,833 --> 00:43:56,881
I gotta say, hey, you know what?

1030
00:43:56,913 --> 00:43:58,201
There's some truth to that.

1031
00:43:58,393 --> 00:43:59,925
I need to listen to that.

1032
00:44:01,105 --> 00:44:03,441
If I have someone that's
invested in my life and someone that

1033
00:44:03,473 --> 00:44:04,737
loves me and has proven their
love to me.

1034
00:44:04,761 --> 00:44:07,097
And they come to me and they
go, hey, you know what?

1035
00:44:07,241 --> 00:44:10,393
I see this going in your life
a certain way, and I just want to

1036
00:44:10,409 --> 00:44:13,857
caution you, that's time for
me to say they love me enough to

1037
00:44:13,881 --> 00:44:15,449
tell me that I need to listen
to that.

1038
00:44:15,537 --> 00:44:17,485
And it's ultimately from the
truth of God.

1039
00:44:17,905 --> 00:44:21,137
Maybe I'm sitting in a pew or
I'm sitting in a chair and a preacher

1040
00:44:21,161 --> 00:44:22,809
gets up and preaches something
from the Word.

1041
00:44:22,897 --> 00:44:23,825
And that cuts me deep.

1042
00:44:23,865 --> 00:44:25,321
What is my responsibility?

1043
00:44:25,473 --> 00:44:29,017
My responsibility is to
receive that in humility and come

1044
00:44:29,041 --> 00:44:35,175
to a place of repentance in my
life that is not easy, but it's biblical.

1045
00:44:35,635 --> 00:44:39,067
And for some of us, it's been
a long time since we've wrestled

1046
00:44:39,171 --> 00:44:41,455
with conviction and repentance.

1047
00:44:42,235 --> 00:44:44,815
We've been living our lives
the way that we want to live it,

1048
00:44:45,315 --> 00:44:47,779
and when something comes that
makes us feel uncomfortable, we just

1049
00:44:47,867 --> 00:44:48,815
push it away.

1050
00:44:49,515 --> 00:44:50,415
Embrace.

1051
00:44:51,635 --> 00:44:53,295
Embrace conviction.

1052
00:44:53,995 --> 00:44:55,815
Be thankful for conviction.

1053
00:44:56,315 --> 00:45:00,375
Be thankful for when God
speaks to you and changes your heart.

1054
00:45:01,305 --> 00:45:03,705
I encourage you to think about
it from that perspective, because

1055
00:45:03,785 --> 00:45:06,473
we're all going to sit around
the dinner table on Thursday and

1056
00:45:06,489 --> 00:45:08,105
say, I'm thankful for God's comfort.

1057
00:45:08,185 --> 00:45:11,805
The comfort does come, but the
comfort sometimes comes through conviction.

1058
00:45:12,745 --> 00:45:17,497
And I would dare say that most
of us are not naturally going to

1059
00:45:17,521 --> 00:45:20,129
say, well, I'm thankful for
when God really convicted me in that

1060
00:45:20,177 --> 00:45:20,529
service.

1061
00:45:20,617 --> 00:45:21,489
Some of us might.

1062
00:45:21,577 --> 00:45:26,787
That's a great place to be,
but it's that place of humility.

1063
00:45:26,891 --> 00:45:29,787
How are we going to respond to
the conviction of the Holy Spirit?

1064
00:45:29,851 --> 00:45:32,675
If you're a Christian, there
is conviction.

1065
00:45:32,835 --> 00:45:33,427
Okay?

1066
00:45:33,531 --> 00:45:35,699
The Bible does say that we can
quench the spirit.

1067
00:45:35,787 --> 00:45:38,059
The Bible says that we can see
our conscience.

1068
00:45:38,227 --> 00:45:41,323
But if you're walking in the
spirit, there will be conviction.

1069
00:45:41,499 --> 00:45:43,787
I don't know about you, but
when I study for my sermons throughout

1070
00:45:43,811 --> 00:45:45,635
the week, I'm riddled with conviction.

1071
00:45:45,755 --> 00:45:48,139
By the time I get up on Sunday
morning, I'm like, I'm not even qualified

1072
00:45:48,187 --> 00:45:50,855
to preach this because I need
to take, like three or four steps.

1073
00:45:51,445 --> 00:45:54,653
The preacher gets the first
fruits right as I'm preparing.

1074
00:45:54,749 --> 00:45:56,453
Some of you like to cook on Thanksgiving.

1075
00:45:56,589 --> 00:45:59,293
How many of you are the cooks
in your house on Thanksgiving?

1076
00:45:59,429 --> 00:46:00,677
How many of you cooks.

1077
00:46:00,781 --> 00:46:01,549
Be honest.

1078
00:46:01,677 --> 00:46:03,797
How many of you cooks take a
little bit of a sample of what you're

1079
00:46:03,821 --> 00:46:04,465
cooking?

1080
00:46:04,845 --> 00:46:05,237
Okay?

1081
00:46:05,261 --> 00:46:07,037
Only also, only a few of you
guys are telling the truth.

1082
00:46:07,061 --> 00:46:07,357
All right?

1083
00:46:07,421 --> 00:46:08,581
I'm just saying I'm up there.

1084
00:46:08,613 --> 00:46:10,813
I'm always like, if I'm
cooking something, I'm already We

1085
00:46:10,829 --> 00:46:11,453
like to do a.

1086
00:46:11,509 --> 00:46:15,645
How many of you have ever seen
a security charcuterie board?

1087
00:46:15,685 --> 00:46:16,813
Okay, okay.

1088
00:46:16,909 --> 00:46:18,829
By the time the charcuterie
board is already.

1089
00:46:18,957 --> 00:46:20,301
Alicia's, like, working on it.

1090
00:46:20,333 --> 00:46:21,557
I'm not really the presenter
of that.

1091
00:46:21,581 --> 00:46:22,997
She, like, gets it all fancy.

1092
00:46:23,141 --> 00:46:25,397
I've already eaten, like, half
of the board before it's up there.

1093
00:46:25,421 --> 00:46:26,925
She's like, you're eating the
supply here.

1094
00:46:26,965 --> 00:46:27,501
Come on.

1095
00:46:27,613 --> 00:46:32,669
So the truth is that sometimes
when we are doing our own biblical

1096
00:46:32,717 --> 00:46:36,773
study in our own lives, by the
time we get to somebody else, we

1097
00:46:36,789 --> 00:46:38,773
are already convicted with
things, and we need to get that right

1098
00:46:38,789 --> 00:46:39,637
with God.

1099
00:46:39,821 --> 00:46:42,545
And so if you can take
anything with you is the results

1100
00:46:42,725 --> 00:46:45,085
of repentance is revival.

1101
00:46:46,545 --> 00:46:51,445
It's refreshment, and then
lastly, it's restoration.

1102
00:46:53,105 --> 00:47:00,405
Embrace, celebrate, give
thanks to God not only for his comfort,

1103
00:47:01,025 --> 00:47:03,205
but for his truth and conviction.

1104
00:47:03,665 --> 00:47:07,937
It's not an easy message to
preach, but nonetheless, it's an

1105
00:47:07,961 --> 00:47:10,519
important message to hear and
to live and.

1106
00:47:10,557 --> 00:47:12,659
And to learn in our lives.

1107
00:47:12,827 --> 00:47:14,635
And so I encourage you here today.

1108
00:47:14,795 --> 00:47:19,259
It's not a big revolutionary truth.

1109
00:47:19,347 --> 00:47:20,563
All it is is this.

1110
00:47:20,699 --> 00:47:22,331
What is your response to the
truth of God?

1111
00:47:22,363 --> 00:47:24,535
What is your response to
conviction in your life?

1112
00:47:24,915 --> 00:47:27,723
Maybe you've been pushing away
the conviction so much that you've

1113
00:47:27,739 --> 00:47:31,495
become desensitized to God
working in your life.

1114
00:47:32,755 --> 00:47:36,493
You know, there was a time
when I would hear a word or that

1115
00:47:36,509 --> 00:47:38,685
I would see something, that I
would just.

1116
00:47:38,765 --> 00:47:41,941
I would literally turn my
head, I would plug my ears.

1117
00:47:41,973 --> 00:47:43,357
I would run away from something.

1118
00:47:43,461 --> 00:47:48,109
But how many of us have gotten
so accustomed to the things of this

1119
00:47:48,157 --> 00:47:51,373
world that when something
wrong pops up in front of us and

1120
00:47:51,389 --> 00:47:53,341
the conviction of the Holy
Spirit is trying to press on us,

1121
00:47:53,373 --> 00:47:54,653
we just reject that because.

1122
00:47:54,749 --> 00:47:56,305
Well, that's just silly.

1123
00:47:57,245 --> 00:47:58,317
It's like when I was.

1124
00:47:58,381 --> 00:47:59,541
I've used this analogy before.

1125
00:47:59,573 --> 00:48:01,901
It's like when we were in
college, and the first few weeks

1126
00:48:01,933 --> 00:48:04,607
in there, I'm like, man, this
guy's dorm stinks so bad.

1127
00:48:04,781 --> 00:48:05,575
Okay?

1128
00:48:05,915 --> 00:48:07,699
None of the guys, you know, we just.

1129
00:48:07,747 --> 00:48:09,295
It was just stinky in there.

1130
00:48:09,715 --> 00:48:13,895
And after two or three weeks,
I'm like, man, the stench went away.

1131
00:48:14,835 --> 00:48:15,563
Then when my.

1132
00:48:15,619 --> 00:48:19,055
When people would come and
visit, they'd be like, wow, this

1133
00:48:19,635 --> 00:48:20,547
your room stinks.

1134
00:48:20,571 --> 00:48:20,947
It's like, what?

1135
00:48:20,971 --> 00:48:21,747
No, it says so.

1136
00:48:21,771 --> 00:48:25,131
We get so used to what we live
in that the stench eventually goes

1137
00:48:25,163 --> 00:48:25,735
away.

1138
00:48:27,515 --> 00:48:29,961
Let's not lose the sensitivity.

1139
00:48:30,083 --> 00:48:30,781
You want to see.

1140
00:48:30,853 --> 00:48:33,861
You want to see awesome
Sensitivity to conviction of the

1141
00:48:33,893 --> 00:48:34,333
spirit.

1142
00:48:34,429 --> 00:48:37,101
Deal with, like, a child who's
just been saved.

1143
00:48:37,293 --> 00:48:38,865
They'll keep you straight.

1144
00:48:39,765 --> 00:48:41,345
My Kids, keep me straight.

1145
00:48:41,765 --> 00:48:43,725
Dad, that's not a word that we
should say.

1146
00:48:43,805 --> 00:48:44,125
Dad.

1147
00:48:44,165 --> 00:48:45,485
That's not a place we should be.

1148
00:48:45,565 --> 00:48:46,845
Dad, should we be reading this?

1149
00:48:46,885 --> 00:48:47,085
Dad?

1150
00:48:47,125 --> 00:48:48,789
It's like, wow, okay, you know what?

1151
00:48:48,837 --> 00:48:50,425
There's a lot of preaching to that.

1152
00:48:50,765 --> 00:48:53,013
And for us, you know, I think
sometimes the Bible does say we need

1153
00:48:53,029 --> 00:48:55,685
to come back as little
children, like, have the sensitivity

1154
00:48:55,725 --> 00:48:56,423
to that.

1155
00:48:56,589 --> 00:48:59,035
Now, I'm not saying we have to
live under a rock.

1156
00:48:59,115 --> 00:49:01,811
I'm not saying that we have to
live sheltered lives, but it is saying

1157
00:49:01,883 --> 00:49:03,195
we need to live differently.

1158
00:49:03,355 --> 00:49:05,507
And that conviction of the
Spirit, when a preacher gets up and

1159
00:49:05,531 --> 00:49:09,139
preaches or a teacher is
teaching, or you're in your own spiritual

1160
00:49:09,187 --> 00:49:13,267
study or you're listening to a
podcast and something's there, don't

1161
00:49:13,411 --> 00:49:16,415
reject that move in the Spirit.

1162
00:49:17,395 --> 00:49:18,675
And so I would encourage you
to do that.

1163
00:49:18,715 --> 00:49:19,123
Let's go ahead.

1164
00:49:19,139 --> 00:49:20,491
If you're able to just stand
with me.

1165
00:49:20,643 --> 00:49:22,555
Every head bowed, every eye
closed as the music plays.

1166
00:49:22,595 --> 00:49:25,633
This morning, we have an
opportunity to respond to the preaching

1167
00:49:25,649 --> 00:49:27,045
of the Word here today.

1168
00:49:28,185 --> 00:49:29,721
How many of you said, you know what?

1169
00:49:29,753 --> 00:49:32,361
It's been a while since
there's been repentance in my life.

1170
00:49:32,433 --> 00:49:35,817
A marked repentance, a marked
change in my direction.

1171
00:49:36,001 --> 00:49:38,801
Folks, I would encourage you,
if there has been a time in your

1172
00:49:38,833 --> 00:49:42,777
life where you've been
repentant, but now it's been a while,

1173
00:49:42,881 --> 00:49:46,129
I encourage you to come there,
come back to that place of repentance

1174
00:49:46,177 --> 00:49:47,045
in your life.

1175
00:49:47,625 --> 00:49:49,779
Maybe for some of you, say,
you know what?

1176
00:49:49,977 --> 00:49:53,943
I've been seeking relief in my
life from these sins, refreshment

1177
00:49:54,079 --> 00:49:55,591
from these issues of this world.

1178
00:49:55,623 --> 00:49:56,183
You know what?

1179
00:49:56,279 --> 00:50:02,047
Refreshment and repentance and
revitalization only comes through

1180
00:50:02,191 --> 00:50:06,435
that broken, humbled spirit.

1181
00:50:07,335 --> 00:50:11,791
So you have that revival, you
have that refreshment, and maybe

1182
00:50:11,823 --> 00:50:13,623
some of you are seeking that restoration.

1183
00:50:13,759 --> 00:50:17,305
Maybe it's with a family
member, maybe it's with a friend,

1184
00:50:19,365 --> 00:50:20,345
I don't know.

1185
00:50:21,565 --> 00:50:24,293
But that restoration is only
going to come through both sides,

1186
00:50:24,349 --> 00:50:27,621
being repentantly, falling
before God and seeking after his

1187
00:50:27,653 --> 00:50:28,225
will.

1188
00:50:29,245 --> 00:50:30,981
Maybe you're the one that's
done the offense.

1189
00:50:31,053 --> 00:50:34,197
Maybe you've been the one who
has been offended.

1190
00:50:34,381 --> 00:50:36,785
But seek restoration through repentance.

1191
00:50:38,005 --> 00:50:39,893
So easy to live a life of bitterness.

1192
00:50:39,989 --> 00:50:43,155
It's so easy to live a life of ingratitude.

1193
00:50:43,695 --> 00:50:44,791
But let's be thankful.

1194
00:50:44,863 --> 00:50:45,863
Maybe it's just this.

1195
00:50:45,919 --> 00:50:49,551
Maybe it's just I want to
learn how to be thankful for the

1196
00:50:49,623 --> 00:50:51,275
difficult things in my life.

1197
00:50:52,175 --> 00:50:54,231
Difficult for the conviction.

1198
00:50:54,383 --> 00:50:56,143
It's difficult to be convicted.

1199
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But am I willing to give
thanks in the difficulty of conviction?

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Or am I pushing that aside and
only thanking God for the things

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that I like in my life?

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None of us like the pain of
conviction, but all of us should

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embrace the comfort that comes
with that change, that comes through

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conviction in our life.

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Let the Lord speak to you.

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Let the Lord change you.

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Let the Lord guide you and
encourage you to think about that

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here this week in the time of
giving thanks.

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Give thanks to the Lord for
the conviction of the spirit, the

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convictor and the comforter.

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He's the convictor and the comforter.

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Embrace those elements of our Savior.

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Lord, I pray that you'd be, in
this time of invitation, working

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hearts and lives.

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00:51:36,173 --> 00:51:39,317
Lord, if there's someone here
today that has for their whole life

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tried to earn work, get to a
place of salvation.

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Lord, I pray that today can be
the day of salvation.

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Today can be the day of
conviction that leads to that repentance.

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00:51:52,277 --> 00:51:55,293
Lord, I pray that that godly
sorrow of their sin can get to a

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place in their life where they
can see that the only remedy to sin,

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the only comfort to sin, the
only relief to sin, the only restoration

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00:52:02,011 --> 00:52:07,873
to God, the greatest lover of
our souls, is found through biblical

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repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

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00:52:10,873 --> 00:52:13,937
But I pray that we can all
come to you today in that faith and

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00:52:13,961 --> 00:52:14,673
repentance.

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00:52:14,809 --> 00:52:16,889
But Lord, I pray that if
there's someone here who has not

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found you a Savior, that today
can be the day of salvation.

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00:52:20,985 --> 00:52:22,705
Lord, we thank you for your
love and your grace.

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In Jesus name, Amen.

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00:52:24,361 --> 00:52:26,433
As the music plays, if you
need to come forward, we've got some

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00:52:26,449 --> 00:52:29,077
folks up here with Bibles that
can show you in the word of God what

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00:52:29,101 --> 00:52:30,797
it means to come to know him
in faith.

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00:52:30,901 --> 00:52:32,901
But maybe you just need to
come forward and thank him for that

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00:52:32,933 --> 00:52:34,141
conviction in your life.

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00:52:34,293 --> 00:52:36,253
I encourage you to do that
here today.

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00:52:36,309 --> 00:52:36,893
Give him praise.

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00:52:36,949 --> 00:52:39,145
Give him thanks for everything
that he has done.

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00:52:39,605 --> 00:52:42,189
Thank you again for listening
to the Middletown Baptist Church

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00:52:42,237 --> 00:52:42,965
podcast.

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00:52:43,125 --> 00:52:45,705
I hope that this sermon has
been a blessing for you.

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00:52:46,045 --> 00:52:48,341
If you would like to find out
more information about our church

1242
00:52:48,373 --> 00:52:52,061
or this sermon, you can find
us at middletownbaptistchurch.org

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00:52:52,213 --> 00:52:54,865
or find us on Facebook or YouTube.

1244
00:52:55,405 --> 00:53:00,225
You can also email me directly
at joshmasaro at middletownbaptistchurch.

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00:53:00,765 --> 00:53:01,005
Com.

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00:53:01,005 --> 00:53:04,349
If you've enjoyed this
podcast, please subscribe and follow

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00:53:04,397 --> 00:53:07,425
along for future podcast and updates.

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00:53:07,765 --> 00:53:08,901
Thank you so much.

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00:53:09,053 --> 00:53:09,853
God bless.

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00:53:09,989 --> 00:53:11,045
Have a wonderful day.