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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning 
into our podcast. 

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You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from His word 

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
So I want to thank you all for 

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being here in this live session.
For those of you who are 

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listening online to the podcast,
thank you for joining us as 

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well. 
I hope that you'll listen to 

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this entire series. 
If you weren't here last week, I

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introduced the idea of a 
theological triage that may 

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sound like a technical term. 
Don't let that throw you. 

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Tonight we'll have some things 
that are fairly deep but but 

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necessary as we continue to talk
about some of the primaries of 

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our faith. 
Next Wednesday, that's better. 

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Next Wednesday I'm going to talk
about a specific primary. 

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This, this next couple of weeks 
are going to be really 

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important. 
If you can't be here, you're 

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going to want to capture those 
somehow because next week I'm 

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going to talk about why do we 
believe what we believe about 

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the Bible and why does that 
matter? 

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And then another one the week 
after that is why do I believe? 

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Why do we believe about Jesus, 
what we believe, and why does 

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that matter? 
And those two issues are going 

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to be crucial as you're dealing 
apologetically with a lost 

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world. 
If you don't understand your 

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authority and you don't 
understand who Jesus Christ is, 

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you're not going to have the 
foundational elements to be able

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to share the gospel well with 
anybody out there. 

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And so our world today will not 
necessarily come from that 

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perspective. 
They're going to come from 

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different authorities. 
And you need to know what you 

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believe about about yours. 
And so last week I actually 

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ended with several passages in 
rapid fire from Paul to Timothy 

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and also Titus, about avoiding 
silly myths, avoiding silly 

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opinions and gossip and rumors, 
and instead we trust in God's 

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truth. 
A person that I feel like I've 

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quoted more in Rocky Mount than 
I have ever anywhere in my 

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entire existence is Corey 
Tenboom. 

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And I don't really know why that
is, but she once said never be 

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afraid to trust an unknown 
future to a known God. 

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And and so all of our 
definition, all of our 

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destination, all of our 
direction has to come from a a 

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single place. 
And so God is at work at 

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Inglewood. 
I believe that with all my 

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heart. 
I think when you look around 

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that room, the room to even now 
for those of here live would 

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believe that. 
And so we don't want to, we 

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don't want to ever neglect that 
or stop celebrating that. 

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But they're also always areas in
which to grow and mature as we 

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seek God to perform and to to 
make his bride even healthier 

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and ready for his mission. 
And so we need to believe in him

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and his plan for us. 
So that last session I shared a 

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pretty firehose summary of ways 
to prioritize our beliefs and 

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there. 
And there's two reasons for 

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that. 
I mean, these are the 2 main 

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goals of this little series 
right now. 

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One is it's the best way for us 
to unite as a church so that 

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we're all on the same page. 
And that we can also understand 

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that sometimes the pages have 
different paragraphs, so to 

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speak, that will have some 
nuances that that might be 

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different from one another. 
And, and that can be OK as long 

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as the basics and the primaries 
are the same. 

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And so we want to make sure that
we're united together in 

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ministry. 
But also we really do need to 

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understand some of these things 
to be able to share real truth 

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with a world that doesn't 
believe in real truth. 

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It doesn't believe in any 
absoluteness, so to speak. 

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And so we want to be ready to do
that out there. 

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So if you weren't here last 
time, please go back and listen 

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to that. 
And I told you last time that I 

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was going to break down each 
level in some detail. 

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And that's what we're going to 
begin to do tonight. 

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So what we're going to talk 
about tonight are really some of

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the primary issues. 
And we would call this hills 

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upon which to die. 
These are things we must 

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believe. 
These are things that are 

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crucial to our belief. 
And, and because we're in such a

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truth crisis in our world and 
frankly theological brute 

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bleeding, so to speak, we need 
this triage and, and Rocky 

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Mountain needs this triage as 
well. 

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In fact, let me summarize to you
an article that I was reading 

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some time ago and it was about, 
it's about the nuns. 

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Now, what I mean by that are not
the NUNSS, not the sisters in 

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the habit, but the NONESS, the 
NO, those who are not connected 

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to any religious organization. 
This is the third largest 

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religious group in the United 
States of America, those who are

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not religious. 
And that's the first time in 

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American history that that's 
been true. 

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It's interesting in the last, 
just the last few months, the 

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growth of that nun group has 
actually slowed down, which is 

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interesting. 
I give God credit for that 

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obviously. 
And the growth, the rapid growth

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of the nuns, the non religious, 
the non affiliated with any 

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organized religion people. 
And that's not just 

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Christianity, that's any 
religion that the growth of this

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group has actually slowed down. 
But they're still significantly 

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large. 
If you were to look around the 

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Rocky Mount area, they would be 
the third largest group here. 

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You would have Baptists and you 
would have Catholics and you 

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would have others. 
But then the nuns are always 

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going to be there, the 3rd. 
And that's been true across 

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North Carolina in many places. 
But it's interesting because 

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referring to those who are, who 
are in this realm, there are 

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people who are trying to kind of
be on both sides of the fence. 

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And so there are some churches 
and I put that in quotation 

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marks that no longer identify 
with biblical Christianity, but 

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identify as spiritual but not 
religious quote UN quote and 

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spiritual, but not necessarily 
religious. 

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Although I'm I'm not really 
necessarily wanting to be 

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religious either necessary and 
some of the the negative 

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connotations of that, but but 
often that means that they're 

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all over the place. 
So these spiritual organizations

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don't follow any definite 
doctrine and they allow their 

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members incredible flexibility. 
This is going to be hard for 

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some of you to relate to who 
have been in more traditional 

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search setting. 
For example, in Atlanta, if you 

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think there's a Bible Belt, go 
to Atlanta and you'll realize 

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there isn't 1 Atlanta. 
Atlanta is one of the most 

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diverse cities in the United 
States of America and also one 

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of one of the most lost. 
But in Atlanta, there's a 

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community that no longer 
considers itself a church and 

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identifies as a more fluid 
group. 

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I'm just going to read this 
article for a minute. 

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Their quote UN quote pastor 
said. 

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We are an ever evolving 
spiritual collective. 

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If you're a Christian, 
wonderful. 

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If you're a post Christian, 
wonderful. 

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So at at first sight, these this
organization, it looks like a 

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church has music, it has 
teachings, although I don't know

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what they're teaching. 
It has teachings and fellowship 

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to connect together, but they 
reject blind faith and they 

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allow their members to and I 
quote, believe in anything and 

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nothing simultaneously. 
Another one, another one of 

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these churches, quote UN quote 
churches has a pastor who used 

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to be an active Christian pastor
preacher but struggled with his 

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faith. 
This is what he said. 

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Everything started to unravel 
for me rather quickly. 

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The challenge of still going up 
and preaching A sermon every 

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Sunday when on the inside I was 
doubting the legitimacy of the 

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whole thing. 
So they rebranded as a spiritual

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community, right? 
The focus is less on beliefs and

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dogma and more about the 
experience, the practical 

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spirituality. 
Still another one of these kinds

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of organizations or churches 
claims it's bound by values, not

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written texts or beliefs. 
Here's what they say. 

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Our motto is love. 
Period. 

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We determine what these wisdom 
texts are saying through the 

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lens of love, rather than 
determining what love means 

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through the lens of a wisdom 
text. 

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And many of the members of these
communities have experienced one

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form of religious trauma or 
another, so they no longer feel 

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like they belong in churches. 
And since the doctrines aren't 

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set in stone, there's still a 
lot of experimental parts. 

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And their leaders believe 
they're figuring it out and will

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continue to do so for as long as
possible. 

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But the bottom line is they 
believe in anything and nothing 

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simultaneously. 
That might sound convenient, 

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that might even sound charming, 
but it's not going to help you. 

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It's not going to provide you 
what you need in life, and it's 

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certainly not going to provide 
you what you need in eternity. 

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And it's not going to impact 
this world because it's not 

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going to deal with the truth. 
So what we're dealing with is 

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the balance that we started to 
talk about last time. 

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The balance between love without
truth leads to heresy and 

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ambiguity. 
You're going to have pluralism, 

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you're going to have 
universalism because you can 

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believe anything and everything.
But truth without love leads to 

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legalism and conflict. 
And Jesus even dealt with this. 

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So in Mark Chapter 7 we 
encounter Christ encountering 

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some religious leaders. 
It says this. 

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Now when the Pharisees gathered 
to him with some of the scribes 

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who had come from Jerusalem, 
they saw that some of his 

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disciples ate with hands that 
were defiled, That is unwashed. 

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For the Pharisees and all the 
Jews do not eat unless they wash

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their hands properly, according 
to the tradition of the elders. 

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And when they had come from the 
marketplace, they do not eat 

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unless they wash. 
And there are many other 

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traditions that they observe, 
such as washing of cups and pots

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and copper vessels and dining 
couches. 

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And the Pharisees and the 
scribes asked him, why do your 

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disciples not walk according to 
the tradition of the elders, but

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eat with defiled hands? 
And he said to them, Well did 

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Isaiah prophecy of you 
hypocrites nothing like beating 

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around the Bush as it is 
written. 

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This people honors me with their
lips, but their heart is far 

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from me. 
In vain do they worship me, 

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teaching as doctrines the 
commandments of men. 

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You leave the commandment of God
and hold to the tradition of 

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men. 
And he said to them, You have a 

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fine way of rejecting the 
commandment of God in order to 

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establish your tradition. 
That last, that last part is 

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pretty powerful Traditions, 
opinions and often even in 

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church, I'll hear, well, I 
believe that. 

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Well, I think that or I think 
the Bible says right and, and, 

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and certainly there's some room 
for that when we're talking 

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about some tertiary or secondary
issues. 

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But in primary issues, we need 
to be pretty rock solid to to 

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believe in whatever you invent 
as truth can can, can lead us to

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a rejection of God's truth in 
the end. 

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We've got to be careful. 
Then you can also judge others 

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based on your truth, if you're 
creating your own truth. 

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So suddenly we're attacking or 
gossiping or posting on social 

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media about whatever. 
And, and it's often just opinion

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or tradition rather than truth. 
And so perhaps some of these 

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folks are more concerned about 
getting followers for themselves

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than followers of Jesus. 
But Jesus then continues with 

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specific examples of the way 
they took the truth and they 

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twisted it, how they ignored it.
Now you got to remember these 

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are supposed to be the religious
holy people of the day and how 

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they were ignoring it and 
twisting it or finding loopholes

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in order to justify their their 
own behaviors or traditions 

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instead of following God's word.
Look at verse 10. 

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It says for Moses said honor 
your father and your mother and 

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whoever reviles father or mother
must surely die. 

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But you say if a man tells his 
father or his mother, whatever 

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you have gained for me is Corbin
that is given to God, then you 

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no longer permit him to do 
anything for his father or 

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mother, thus making void the 
word of God by your tradition 

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that you have handed down and 
many such things you do. 

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I'd like to have heard more of 
them, but rather than following 

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the actual word and will of God,
they created a workaround and 

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and then in the name and facade 
of hyper spiritualism, they 

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justify their sin. 
And believe it or not, that 

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happens all the time. 
It happens in the church where 

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somebody's opinion or tradition.
If that keeps going, then it 

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becomes truth and then your 
truth is based upon something 

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that's not true and then it's 
going to lead you to another 

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untruth and you'll find yourself
in a spiral, a progression of, 

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of declining truth if you don't,
if you're not careful. 

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So I'll just be honest with you.
I grow kind of weary of those 

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who claim that God told them to 
do or, or or to do this or to do

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that and and to bring glory to 
God when God was not telling any

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00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:23,280
mature believer to do that and 
his Word doesn't mandate that. 

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And in the end the glory goes to
them rather than to God. 

236
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And so there are people who will
hyper spiritualize things that 

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00:13:31,120 --> 00:13:34,200
are not of the word and will of 
God in the 1st place. 

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But Jesus wasn't finished yet, 
just getting started. 

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This was a problem. 
This was a pattern. 

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This was a belief system. 
Now here what I just said. 

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This was a belief system of 
these religious leaders. 

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This wasn't just one time act. 
This wasn't just kind of a 

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misunderstanding. 
This wasn't just some mistake 

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they were making. 
This was a belief system upon 

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which they were basing not only 
their lives, but also oppressing

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the people around them with 
those traditions and forcing 

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them into it as well. 
And so this became not only not 

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only a one time deal for them, 
it was an entire pattern of 

249
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behavior. 
So he wanted them to understand 

250
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that belief in our hearts is far
more important in determining 

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00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,520
than some of the physical 
rituals that they were 

252
00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:21,920
practicing, etcetera. 
So this is what he says in verse

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00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,440
14. 
And he called the people to him 

254
00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,920
again and said, hear me all of 
you and understand there's 

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nothing outside a person that by
going into him can defile him. 

256
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But the things that come out of 
a person are what defile him. 

257
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:38,640
And when he entered the house 
and left the people, his 

258
00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,480
disciples asked him about the 
parable. 

259
00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,960
And he said to them, Then are 
you also without understanding? 

260
00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:47,240
Do you not see that whatever 
goes into a person from outside 

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00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:50,080
cannot defile him, since it 
enters not his heart, but his 

262
00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:53,320
stomach and his expelled? 
Thus he declared all foods 

263
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:56,080
clean. 
And he said What comes out of a 

264
00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,960
person is what defiles him. 
For from within, out of the 

265
00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:04,040
heart of man becomes evil 
thoughts, sexual immorality, 

266
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,440
theft, murder, adultery, 
coveting, wickedness, deceit, 

267
00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:09,960
sensuality, envy, slander, 
pride, foolishness. 

268
00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:15,040
All these evil things come from 
within and they defile a person.

269
00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:17,640
Now, why am I telling you all 
this? 

270
00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,960
Because when, when we're 
surrounded by lostness, which we

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00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,720
are, and you might not think we 
are, because I recognize that I,

272
00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,160
if I could throw a rock hard 
enough, I could probably hit 

273
00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:31,520
another Baptist Church from 
here. 

274
00:15:32,960 --> 00:15:36,640
But that doesn't mean anything. 
Don't let these buildings fool 

275
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,280
you. 
Just because there is a St. 

276
00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,920
building on corners doesn't mean
there's a healthy church on that

277
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,320
corner. 
And I'm not judging anybody, but

278
00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:48,640
I, I actually know about the 
churches statistically and 

279
00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:50,600
demographically and 
qualitatively and 

280
00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,840
quantitatively. 
I've consulted with some of them

281
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,720
here and so I know what's going 
on in a lot of them. 

282
00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,880
And it's true, all across our 
nation, we are surrounded by 

283
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:06,280
lostness and we are in an 
emergency triage mode to stop 

284
00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:10,000
the bleeding and we have to have
prioritized treatment. 

285
00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,720
So as I promised, I need to 
share more about the first 

286
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:18,400
level, our highest ranking 
doctrine, our primary 

287
00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,880
foundational beliefs. 
Because if not, then we'll see 

288
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,440
this same spiral happening. 
And then it creeps into the 

289
00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,400
church and churches become more 
moderate, churches become more 

290
00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:30,280
liberal. 
Churches draw away from the Word

291
00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,160
of God. 
And before long, God's not going

292
00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,200
to bless them. 
They start declining in size. 

293
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,600
They start calling me and asking
me what to do about it. 

294
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:40,560
And that's what happens in my 
life. 

295
00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,600
Theresa will testify to you that
I, this is what these churches 

296
00:16:43,600 --> 00:16:45,200
do. 
They, they don't call me when 

297
00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:46,960
things are going great. 
I promise you. 

298
00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:50,600
They call me when they're in in 
serious decline and don't know 

299
00:16:50,600 --> 00:16:53,880
how to pull out of it. 
And for some of that, it's 

300
00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:56,760
actually a theological problem. 
It's the fact that they've 

301
00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,160
stopped living out the word of 
God and they started hanging on 

302
00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:02,880
to traditions. 
They have golden calves. 

303
00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:05,800
Now, I've said this to you 
before, but I like the 

304
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,240
illustration so much that I'm 
going to say it again because I 

305
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,079
think it's fun. 
I don't care what you've seen in

306
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:13,200
a movie. 
I don't care what you've seen in

307
00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,640
a Western movie. 
But if a cow standing on a 

308
00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,000
railroad track and that train 
hits that cow, that cow is going

309
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,599
to explode in a million pieces. 
Now, my preference is to get the

310
00:17:22,599 --> 00:17:25,920
cow off the track, but one way 
or the other, that train will 

311
00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,920
run right over that cow. 
And golden calves and traditions

312
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,760
that take priority over truth 
and over understanding how to 

313
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:36,840
actually reach a world with the 
gospel can actually produce 

314
00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,560
problems. 
And So what we want to do is we 

315
00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,400
want to live according to the 
word of God and the will of God,

316
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:48,280
and not simply according to some
tradition or opinion or gossip, 

317
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,880
etcetera. 
So what is our true Christian 

318
00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:55,320
identity? 
Right here's here's what we're 

319
00:17:55,320 --> 00:18:00,040
asking upon what theological 
hills must we die? 

320
00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,400
What is of first importance? 
What gets you into heaven? 

321
00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,680
What defines you as a saved 
believer. 

322
00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:10,240
Pastor Charles and I and she may
be here tonight. 

323
00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,600
I won't embarrass her by 
pointing her out if she is but 

324
00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,440
but we had the wonderful 
opportunity this week of 

325
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:19,880
visiting with a lovely lady 
about the gospel 82 years old 

326
00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:22,840
and she prayed and asked Jesus 
into her heart this week as we 

327
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:25,240
were sharing with her. 
It was a wonderful time and we 

328
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,520
were just, it was just a very an
honest conversation about what 

329
00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:30,680
we believe and what we we need 
to believe. 

330
00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,520
It was just a lovely, just 
wonderful conversation. 

331
00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,080
Plus she had a cute dog name 
that I liked and, and, and liked

332
00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:38,920
me, which is nice. 
But even though he kind of 

333
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:40,520
ignored me, I was a little 
offended. 

334
00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:44,120
But anyways, good. 
So let's start right here. 

335
00:18:44,120 --> 00:18:46,840
Acts chapter 16 verse 29 says 
this. 

336
00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:49,720
If you remember, Paul and Silas 
are in jail. 

337
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:56,080
God opens up the jail. 
The jailer is scared to death 

338
00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,400
and the jailer called for lights
and rushed in and trembling with

339
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,040
fear, he fell down before Paul 
and Silas. 

340
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:07,480
Then he brought them out and 
said, Sirs, what must I do to be

341
00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,120
saved? 
OK, this is pretty, pretty 

342
00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:14,520
foundational. 
This is pretty primary great 

343
00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:16,720
question to ask. 
What do I need to be a 

344
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:18,240
Christian? 
That was part of the 

345
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,080
conversation this week and they 
said believe in the Lord Jesus 

346
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:24,360
and you will be saved, you and 
your household. 

347
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,160
So you have to believe now that 
you've heard me talk about that.

348
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,000
If you were here Sunday, you 
heard me talk a lot about this, 

349
00:19:31,520 --> 00:19:33,920
that you have to faith in 
Christ. 

350
00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:37,400
You have to and that that that 
means to rely upon, to trust in,

351
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:39,920
to cling to, to put your whole 
weight upon. 

352
00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:41,280
It doesn't just mean a head 
knowledge. 

353
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,360
It means that you're, you're 
trusting him with your whole 

354
00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:46,120
existence and that you faith in 
him. 

355
00:19:46,120 --> 00:19:49,560
So there's that again, to 
believe, but to believe, we have

356
00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:51,840
to know and understand certain 
truths. 

357
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:56,320
There's certain things about 
Jesus and about the gospel you 

358
00:19:56,320 --> 00:20:01,400
need to know in order to know 
what it is to believe in, right?

359
00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:03,760
And so when you're talking about
believing in Jesus, what does 

360
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:05,800
that mean, right? 
What does that mean to believe 

361
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:08,200
in the gospel? 
We're going to spell that out a 

362
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:09,800
lot in our personal evangelism 
training. 

363
00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,360
But in the in the classes that 
often teach at the seminary, we 

364
00:20:13,360 --> 00:20:17,720
actually discussed this. 
What must a person understand? 

365
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,120
And we even sometimes say that 
what's the minimum a person must

366
00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:25,080
understand in order to be really
saved. 

367
00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:27,880
Now, that's not my goal. 
My goal is not minimalism, but 

368
00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,840
but what is that minimum thing? 
What, what must they understand 

369
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:34,680
in order to be saved and be 
able? 

370
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,280
And then what? 
What must I be able then to 

371
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,320
articulate out to a lost world? 
So one of the things that I do 

372
00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:43,560
to them, I'm not going to do it 
to you all, although it would be

373
00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:45,160
fun. 
It would just take several hours

374
00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,360
is that I actually make the 
students take 90 plus Bible 

375
00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:53,480
stories and we'll take 90 
starting from Genesis to 

376
00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:55,800
Revelation. 
We have 90, I think it's 93 

377
00:20:55,800 --> 00:20:58,840
Bible stories. 
And they have to decide which of

378
00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:03,320
these Bible stories provide 
content that are absolutely 

379
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,840
necessary for salvation. 
And they rank them 1-2 and 

380
00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,240
three. 
So they, you have to know this 

381
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,000
in order to be saved. 
And then I wish you could know 

382
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,720
this. 
And then for discipleship, you 

383
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,000
should know this. 
And they rank all 93 of those 

384
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:22,840
Bible stories according to the 
priority of salvation versus 

385
00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:28,000
discipleship, right? 
And so and so they do this and 

386
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:30,080
it takes them a while. 
And we have to understand and 

387
00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:32,520
believe certain things to be a 
Christian. 

388
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:35,200
What are those things? 
So there are some doctrinal 

389
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,360
theological hills that are worth
dying on if these things aren't 

390
00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:41,600
true. 
We aren't Christians, and so 

391
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:44,360
they determine the outcome of 
the entire battle, frankly. 

392
00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:49,040
So these are the first level 
primary foundational ideas that 

393
00:21:49,040 --> 00:21:50,160
we're going to talk about 
tonight. 

394
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,680
There's a there's a theologian 
author named Gavin Ortland who 

395
00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:56,400
wrote this. 
Some first ranked doctrines are 

396
00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,200
worth fighting for because they 
mark a fault line between the 

397
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:04,360
gospel and a rival ideology, 
religion or worldview. 

398
00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,560
Some first ranked doctrines are 
worth fighting before because 

399
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,280
they constitute a material point
of the gospel. 

400
00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:15,800
More simply, some first rate 
doctrines are needed to defend 

401
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:19,320
the gospel and others to 
proclaim the gospel. 

402
00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,320
Without them, the gospel is 
incomplete. 

403
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,960
And so we recognize that there 
are certain things we have to 

404
00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,720
believe in order to share the 
gospel or even believe in the 

405
00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,400
gospel. 
And so they define what the true

406
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,120
gospel is. 
And that defines who we are as 

407
00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:40,480
true believers and not what we 
might call cultural Christians. 

408
00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:43,880
How many of you know cultural 
Christians who who may or may 

409
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,800
not actually understand the 
gospel? 

410
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:49,480
And I know we're not to judge 
the heart and mind of people, 

411
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:51,560
but we just see that in their 
life, right? 

412
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:54,960
And then remember what Doctor 
Mueller said last week. 

413
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,520
He said these first order 
doctrines represent the most 

414
00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,320
fundamental truths of the 
Christian faith. 

415
00:22:59,640 --> 00:23:03,760
And the denial of these 
doctrines represent nothing less

416
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,840
than an eventual denial of 
Christianity. 

417
00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:10,000
So first level theological 
issues would include those 

418
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:14,120
doctrines most central and 
essential to the Christian 

419
00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:16,000
faith, right? 
So we're going to talk about 

420
00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,160
what some of these are in detail
and look at some scripture. 

421
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,880
So these first level doctrines, 
you got to think about it this 

422
00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:23,600
way. 
These first leverage, these 

423
00:23:23,600 --> 00:23:27,520
primaries are very gospel 
focused, right? 

424
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,600
They're very much about what the
gospel would say. 

425
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:33,800
You must believe these things to
be saved. 

426
00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:35,920
You must believe these things to
go to heaven. 

427
00:23:36,120 --> 00:23:39,480
You must believe these things to
actually be a Christian. 

428
00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,560
So another theologian, Michael 
Whitmer, says this. 

429
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,160
The essential beliefs of the 
Christian faith are clustered 

430
00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,320
around the story of salvation so
that they surround it. 

431
00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:52,000
You have things like this, the 
triune God. 

432
00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,200
So who is God? 
That's that's a primary 

433
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,160
doctrine. 
We have to know that in fact, 

434
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:01,360
after last session, someone came
up to me and they were talking 

435
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:04,000
about some folks in the Connect 
group, in their small group, and

436
00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,760
they were talking about this and
how when we share the Gospel 

437
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,480
today, and by the way, when we 
do personal evangelism, I'm 

438
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,240
actually going to show you how 
to critically analyze gospel 

439
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:17,400
tools and tracts and things like
that because it's really hard in

440
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,400
today's world out there for most
people. 

441
00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:21,520
We're probably not going to 
start in Romans. 

442
00:24:21,880 --> 00:24:24,120
We're probably not going to 
start in the Gospel of John. 

443
00:24:24,320 --> 00:24:27,640
Guess what book we need to start
in, in Genesis, right? 

444
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,160
And so we have to define who 
this God is, because we can't 

445
00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,760
assume they know. 
So here's what he says. 

446
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,080
So one of them is the triune 
God. 

447
00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,360
Another one is a fallen 
humanity. 

448
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:43,280
In other words, sin. 
We have to know what that is. 

449
00:24:43,360 --> 00:24:46,840
We need to understand sin. 
We need to understand who God 

450
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,240
really is. 
We understand what sin really 

451
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:51,000
is. 
We can't be saved unless we 

452
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,800
understand some of that, right? 
And then we need to understand 

453
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:57,920
the God man, Jesus, who died in 
our place, and our need to 

454
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,480
repent of the sin that is 
killing us and claiming and 

455
00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:04,000
claim the forgiveness and new 
life offered in Christ. 

456
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:07,760
These are the truths the Holy 
Spirit uses to regenerate us. 

457
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,160
So there's certain things we 
have to know before the Holy 

458
00:25:10,160 --> 00:25:13,800
Spirit comes in and helps us 
with our salvation experience. 

459
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:19,680
So this first level is very 
salvation centric, very gospel 

460
00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:25,320
and salvation centric, right? 
So included among those most 

461
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,440
crucial doctrines would be 
things again like the Trinity, 

462
00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:33,200
the full deity and humanity of 
Jesus Christ, justification by 

463
00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:35,720
faith, and the authority of 
Scripture. 

464
00:25:36,120 --> 00:25:38,720
So you got to understand that 
this goes all the way back to 

465
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:42,600
the early church. 
So in the earliest churches, in 

466
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,800
these early years of the church,
they fought false teaching. 

467
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:49,640
In fact, when you read the New 
Testament, many of the epistles 

468
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,080
that were written, especially 
when you get into John and some 

469
00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,120
of those, they're fighting false
teaching in the church. 

470
00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,800
Paul had to do that too. 
And so early on, there are false

471
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:02,360
teachers who are attacking 
several of these doctrinal 

472
00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,200
issues. 
One of the primary things that 

473
00:26:05,200 --> 00:26:09,760
the early false teachers 
attacked was who is Jesus and 

474
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:13,400
the deity of Christ and his 
relation, God the Son, his 

475
00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:16,600
relationship to God the Father, 
the Trinity, They they fought 

476
00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:20,120
all this stuff. 
And So what is the Trinity and 

477
00:26:20,120 --> 00:26:23,680
how do these relationships work?
So again, let me quote Mueller. 

478
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,200
I won't quote him all night 
long, but but let me quote 

479
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:28,240
Mueller again. 
He says the earliest creeds and 

480
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:33,200
councils of the church were 
emergency measures taken to 

481
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,720
protect the central core of 
Christian doctrine and 

482
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:41,360
orthodoxy. 
They, the heresy was condemned 

483
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:46,200
and these councils dealt with 
doctrines of unquestionable 

484
00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:49,200
first order importance. 
And we just take it for granted.

485
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:52,120
When you come to a church like 
this, it preaches the Bible like

486
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:54,600
we do and teaches that you might
take it for granted. 

487
00:26:54,840 --> 00:26:56,920
Don't because they don't out 
there. 

488
00:26:57,480 --> 00:27:01,880
They don't, and we're surrounded
by people who don't know this 

489
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,440
stuff and they don't understand 
it. 

490
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:10,000
And so the church had to affirm 
the full deity and the full 

491
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,760
humanity of Jesus Christ because
they're absolutely necessary to 

492
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:18,280
the Christian faith. 
If Jesus is not God Incarnate, 

493
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:23,520
the cross doesn't work in the 
same way, and so we have to 

494
00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:25,240
understand who he is. 
So the doctrine of the 

495
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:28,240
incarnation is just as important
as many others, and often we 

496
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,000
don't talk about it enough. 
So it's vital. 

497
00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:35,840
It provides the context behind 
the meaning of the life, burial 

498
00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:39,880
and a death burial, physical 
resurrection of Jesus. 

499
00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:43,200
So it matters who Jesus is, 
which is why in a couple of 

500
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,520
sessions from now, I'm going to 
spend the whole time talking 

501
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,840
about who is Jesus and why does 
it matter that we believe this 

502
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,400
about him, Right. 
So those who deny these truths 

503
00:27:56,720 --> 00:27:59,160
are not Christians. 
And the same thing happened with

504
00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,840
the Trinity. 
And Trinity's difficult at times

505
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,400
to explain. 
The early church had to clarify 

506
00:28:05,400 --> 00:28:09,560
and edify its understanding of 
one true and living God by 

507
00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:12,760
affirming the full deity of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy 

508
00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:18,040
Spirit, while also insisting the
Bible reveals one God in three 

509
00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:20,480
persons. 
We're not polytheistic, right? 

510
00:28:20,480 --> 00:28:21,720
What does that mean? 
Poly. 

511
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:24,360
Yeah, many gods. 
We're not polytheistic. 

512
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:27,960
Even though to be honest with 
you, no offense necessarily 

513
00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:31,920
meant, but a but a Muslim would 
consider us polytheistic. 

514
00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,800
One of the worst things to do. 
If you have somebody who's 

515
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,520
Islamic, somebody who's a 
Muslim, don't, don't go down the

516
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,440
Trinity road in your first 
conversation or you're going to 

517
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:43,600
lose them. 
Because they believe our belief 

518
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,760
in the Trinity is actually 
polytheistic and they are 

519
00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,960
strongly mono one God, Allah 
theistic. 

520
00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,600
And so that's one of the 
heresies. 

521
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,280
They think Christianity actually
embraces and puts up a barrier 

522
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:01,280
at times. 
So we we want to think through 

523
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:05,200
how we're doing that. 
But the way true salvation also 

524
00:29:05,200 --> 00:29:08,920
matters. 
So salvation by grace through 

525
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:13,320
faith is a primary issue. 
It has to happen that way, which

526
00:29:13,320 --> 00:29:15,280
is why you heard me share so 
strongly. 

527
00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:18,160
I pray on Sunday about it. 
Because without it, we deny the 

528
00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,560
gospel. 
We make salvation some form of 

529
00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:23,960
human works righteousness. 
So we've got to hold fast to 

530
00:29:23,960 --> 00:29:26,560
that. 
We also have to hold fast to the

531
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,760
infallibility and errancy of 
Scripture, which is why next 

532
00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,840
session I'm going to spend so 
much time on it, right? 

533
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,520
So we'll get to that more. 
But one disease of our fallen 

534
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,280
sinful world is the fact that 
they have no source of 

535
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,040
authority, right? 
And so we really do want to 

536
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,760
emphasize the fact that the Holy
Bible is this inspired, 

537
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:50,880
infallible, inerrant word of God
and, and, and frankly, the one 

538
00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,040
that defines our, our whole 
belief system. 

539
00:29:53,880 --> 00:29:57,320
And so I'm going to, I'm going 
to talk more about that and the 

540
00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:00,160
fact that, that the Bible is 
this authority. 

541
00:30:00,320 --> 00:30:03,920
This is not a, this is not a 
unique or new thing we have to 

542
00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:06,120
believe in. 
This goes all the way back, all 

543
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,000
the way back to the Bible times 
and even the Garden of Eden. 

544
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:10,720
Listen to second Timothy, 
chapter 3. 

545
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:16,440
He writes this while evil people
then, and imposters will, will 

546
00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,920
go on from bad to worse, 
deceiving and being deceived. 

547
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,920
But As for you, continue in what
you have learned and have firmly

548
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,280
believed, knowing from whom 
you've learned it and how. 

549
00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:30,000
From childhood you have been 
acquainted with the sacred 

550
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:33,600
writings which are able to make 
you wise for salvation through 

551
00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:37,240
faith in Christ Jesus. 
All Scripture is breathed out by

552
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,280
God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, and

553
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,360
for training and righteousness 
that the man of God may be 

554
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,680
complete, equipped for every 
good work. 

555
00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,840
And I'm going to spend a lot of 
time on that, frankly, both 

556
00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:51,600
Sunday and next session 
together. 

557
00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:56,880
But it's our final standard of 
authority and truth, right, and 

558
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:58,720
the basis for all of our 
beliefs, which is right. 

559
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,280
The psalmist writes in Psalm 119
in a couple of different places.

560
00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:06,680
He writes, your word is a lamp 
to my feet and a light to my 

561
00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:10,520
path. 
And verse 130 says the unfolding

562
00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,120
of your words gives light. 
It imparts understanding to the 

563
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:17,520
simple. 
So we, we, we need to unfold his

564
00:31:17,520 --> 00:31:22,120
word and in a complete way so 
that even the even the simpleton

565
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:25,720
like me can understand it and 
that people can actually 

566
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:28,360
understand what they need to 
understand in order to 

567
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,840
understand the gospel and in 
order to be saved. 

568
00:31:32,360 --> 00:31:37,880
So let me give you a few ideas 
and tests to help us with some 

569
00:31:37,880 --> 00:31:40,240
of this diversity, some of this 
idea. 

570
00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:45,800
How do we know when something's 
primary and and and important? 

571
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,480
And so a theologian named Ryan 
Putman helps with this. 

572
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,200
The first one's called the 
hermeneutical test. 

573
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:59,520
So some doctrines are clearly 
explicitly stated in Scripture, 

574
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:04,720
while others are more are are 
mere implications or 

575
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,720
interpretations of biblical 
ideas. 

576
00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,280
So there's some doctrines that 
are black and white. 

577
00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:13,680
There's no greatness to it. 
Thou shalt not you should do. 

578
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:16,200
And these are clearly expressed 
in Scripture. 

579
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:21,040
They're more primary, while 
contested doctrines can be often

580
00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:25,680
be more secondary or tertiary. 
So Christian draws often draw 

581
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,160
lines of fellowship and 
authority along those, 

582
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,080
especially those secondary 
lines. 

583
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,320
But people always want to twist 
these things. 

584
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,080
They always want to reinterpret,
they always want to reinstate or

585
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,480
reinvent. 
It seems like it's almost like a

586
00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:41,120
cool thing to have new 
revelation, which is really 

587
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,600
funny because the Bible says 
you, you can't have that. 

588
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:48,400
But it's interesting to me that 
everybody wants a new twist on 

589
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:52,200
on on scriptural passages. 
Listen to what Peter wrote in 

590
00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:56,960
Second Peter 3 and count the 
patience of our Lord as 

591
00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,520
salvation, just as our beloved 
brother Paul also wrote to you 

592
00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,960
according to the wisdom given 
him, as he does in all his 

593
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,280
letters when he speaks in them. 
Of these matters. 

594
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:09,480
There are some things in them 
that are hard to understand, 

595
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,760
which the ignorant and unstable 
twist to their own destruction 

596
00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:17,400
as they do the other scriptures.
You, therefore, beloved, knowing

597
00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,480
this beforehand, take care that 
you are not carried away with 

598
00:33:20,480 --> 00:33:25,560
the error of lawless people and 
lose your own stability, but 

599
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:29,360
grow in the grace and knowledge 
of our Lord and Savior Jesus 

600
00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:31,360
Christ. 
To Him be the glory both now and

601
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:33,160
to the day of eternity. 
Amen. 

602
00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,000
So even Peter's acknowledging 
that when Paul writes, you can 

603
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:38,960
see the contemporariness of 
these two guys. 

604
00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:42,480
And as Paul's writing these 
letters, he already knows that 

605
00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:44,040
people are twisting Paul's 
words. 

606
00:33:44,640 --> 00:33:48,000
They're twisting the letters. 
They're twisting doctrine to 

607
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,480
match their own opinions, to 
match their own, their own 

608
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:55,360
twistings and interpretations. 
I'm sure there was probably even

609
00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:58,480
a spirit of competition in there
at times to where people were 

610
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:02,040
jealous of Paul and wanted to be
wanted to be the great apostle 

611
00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:03,880
or the great teacher or the 
great missionary. 

612
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:05,480
That still happens in church 
today. 

613
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,639
I know you don't believe that, 
but I see pastoral competition 

614
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:11,639
often. 
And so there are some that are 

615
00:34:11,639 --> 00:34:15,320
hard to understand, but Peter 
even says there are some that 

616
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,239
are hard to understand and that 
they get twisted. 

617
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:21,800
But but one of the things that 
we recognize the more closely A 

618
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:25,360
doctrine can be tied to a 
biblical passage, the more 

619
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,600
authority it should have. 
So in other words, when the 

620
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:31,000
Bible speaks clearly and you can
attach that belief to that, 

621
00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:35,639
those are primary doctrines. 
Often the second one's called 

622
00:34:35,639 --> 00:34:38,840
the gospel test. 
Test is the doctrine and 

623
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:41,440
essential component of the 
gospel message. 

624
00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:45,400
Does this doctrine support the 
gospel or would it hinder the 

625
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:49,960
gospel if it was rejected? 
So if you didn't believe this, 

626
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:52,560
could you still share the 
gospel? 

627
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:57,760
Would the gospel still be true? 
And what must you believe in 

628
00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,240
order for you to share the 
gospel with someone? 

629
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:06,040
Because not every doctrinal 
matter that has gospel slapped 

630
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:08,000
on it is necessarily really the 
gospel. 

631
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:13,040
When a favorite soapbox issue 
comes along, often people will 

632
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,200
elevate it to a gospel primary 
level. 

633
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,840
But it's not. 
And those who agree, those who 

634
00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,880
disagree with my my soapbox or 
judged in a wrong, it's my 

635
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:25,240
soapbox. 
It has to be right. 

636
00:35:25,960 --> 00:35:29,920
So Paul makes this clear when 
he's talking to the Corinthians.

637
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:34,960
He says here's what the gospel 
is in First Corinthians 15 for I

638
00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:40,160
delivered to you as of what 
Yeah, it it there's no question 

639
00:35:40,160 --> 00:35:45,320
about this. 
This is of first importance that

640
00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:50,280
what I also received that Christ
died for our sins in accordance 

641
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,480
with the Scripture. 
So what we see here is the fact 

642
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:57,520
that there's no question about 
the fact that there's certain 

643
00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,600
things that are elevated in 
meaning. 

644
00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:02,720
And I'm going to give us a list.
We're walking through this. 

645
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:04,640
This is just introduction. 
We're going to get the real 

646
00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:09,400
thing here in a minute. 
But but to talk about what these

647
00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,520
first level doctrines are. 
So one of the one of the ways to

648
00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,960
categorize them is this. 
Here are the things here. 

649
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,400
Here's what Christians must 
believe. 

650
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:23,440
Here's what Christians must not 
reject, and here's what 

651
00:36:23,440 --> 00:36:26,880
Christians should believe. 
Then you get down to the 

652
00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:30,000
secondary and tertiary levels 
where you say here's what some 

653
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,680
Christians believe, and you 
start thinking about different 

654
00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:35,960
ways to look at this. 
There's the third test, the 

655
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:41,440
praxis test, what doctrines and 
practices are vital for 

656
00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:44,640
fellowship and partnership and 
ministry. 

657
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:49,280
So these doctrines are clearly 
defined in Scripture, given 

658
00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,320
first priority room is allowed 
for differences in 

659
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,320
interpretation when it comes to 
secondary and tertiary things. 

660
00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:58,960
But So what? 
What do we believe here at 

661
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,320
Inglewood? 
Well, if you know anything about

662
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:04,920
the church, some of you are very
familiar with this, some of you 

663
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:08,680
may have no idea what I'm about 
to say, but constitutionally, 

664
00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,160
officially, this church has 
adopted what's called the 

665
00:37:13,160 --> 00:37:17,480
Baptist Faith and Message 2000. 
And the Baptist Faith and 

666
00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:19,640
Message gets twisted around in 
the media. 

667
00:37:20,240 --> 00:37:23,680
It was adopted by the Southern 
Baptist Convention in 2000, 

668
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,000
which is what's called what it 
is. 

669
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,360
It's the Baptist faith and 
message has gone through various

670
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,120
versions and to be honest with 
you, the whole idea of the 

671
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,120
Baptist faith and message 
started from the fact that the 

672
00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:39,200
media would always ask questions
about what are Southern Baptists

673
00:37:39,200 --> 00:37:44,120
believe and and there wasn't any
good summary to tell them. 

674
00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:46,120
Here's what most Southern 
Baptists believe. 

675
00:37:46,840 --> 00:37:48,960
And so they created what was 
called the Baptist Faith and 

676
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,720
Message. 
Now I want to be careful about 

677
00:37:51,720 --> 00:37:53,640
what I'm about to say. 
You got to hear all the 

678
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:55,280
sentences, not just the first 
one. 

679
00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:00,320
Not all Southern Baptists 
believe every single thing about

680
00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:05,040
the Baptist Faith and Message. 
And there's not an authority on 

681
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,640
the convention level that makes 
you believe every single thing 

682
00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:09,080
about the Baptist faith and 
message. 

683
00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,200
That's not how Southern Baptist 
life works. 

684
00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,200
We are each individual 
autonomous churches that 

685
00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:17,480
cooperate together to do things 
together. 

686
00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:21,480
But most Southern Baptists 
believe the Baptist faith, the 

687
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:22,920
message. 
That's the idea. 

688
00:38:23,520 --> 00:38:27,080
So to the outside world, who's 
trying to understand Southern 

689
00:38:27,080 --> 00:38:30,080
Baptists, especially when you 
come from a more ecumenical 

690
00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:33,920
background or say, a Catholic 
background where doctrine is 

691
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:37,800
handed down and you must believe
this specifically or you don't 

692
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:43,080
get to be whatever we are. 
And so in Southern Baptist life,

693
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,640
we have a little more 
flexibility than that, but it 

694
00:38:45,640 --> 00:38:48,120
all still falls within the 
parameters of the word of God, 

695
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,320
Right, Right. 
And so most Southern Baptists 

696
00:38:51,440 --> 00:38:54,440
believe the things that are 
written in what's called the 

697
00:38:54,440 --> 00:38:56,600
Baptist faith, the message. 
And you can go online and look 

698
00:38:56,600 --> 00:38:58,480
at the Baptist faith, the 
message and see a whole copy of 

699
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:01,200
that, or you can you can see it 
in our Constitution. 

700
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:03,840
But the reason I bring it up is 
simply this. 

701
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:08,880
This church has accepted and 
adopted this as a, a statement 

702
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:12,080
of belief. 
So Inglewood believes in this 

703
00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,760
and it was developed for to help
us express that. 

704
00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:20,560
Let me just share with you the 
categories that are described in

705
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:22,920
paragraph form and a lot of 
scripture in each of these 

706
00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,320
paragraphs within the Baptist 
Faith Message. 

707
00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:27,720
I'm just going to give you the 
topics right now. 

708
00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:36,560
So it includes the scriptures, 
God, man, salvation, God's 

709
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:41,360
purpose of grace, the church, 
baptism in the Lord's Supper, 

710
00:39:41,920 --> 00:39:47,000
the Lord's Day, the Kingdom, 
last things, evangelism and 

711
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:51,800
missions, education, 
stewardship, cooperation, the 

712
00:39:51,800 --> 00:39:55,760
Christian and the social order, 
peace and war, religious 

713
00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:59,600
liberty, and the family. 
Now, when I read a list like 

714
00:39:59,600 --> 00:40:03,000
that, there's a lot of really 
vitally important content there.

715
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:07,480
But, but, but there's also more 
there than what I would consider

716
00:40:07,480 --> 00:40:11,640
simply first level doctrine. 
There are other things there. 

717
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:14,760
So you got some secondary and 
tertiary things mixed in, right?

718
00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:25,040
So what I did just for you? 
No extra charge is I went and I 

719
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:30,240
took five of the most popular 
systematic theology books that I

720
00:40:30,240 --> 00:40:35,920
have in my office and I scoured 
the table of contents and I said

721
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:39,840
what what would be a kind of a 
combined list of the doctrines 

722
00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:43,000
found in some of the most 
popular evangelically 

723
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:47,160
conservative, biblically 
oriented theologies. 

724
00:40:47,640 --> 00:40:50,120
Let me share that with you and 
then we're going to get to a 

725
00:40:50,120 --> 00:40:54,560
passage of Scripture, I promise.
So here it is, the word of God 

726
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,200
in revelation. 
I'm going to talk about that 

727
00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:03,120
next week. 
God, creation, humanity or man, 

728
00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:12,120
sin, Christ, Holy Spirit, 
Trinity, salvation, church, last

729
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,960
things in the future. 
Now that list gets us all even 

730
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:19,640
closer, I think, to a better 
list of where we would find 

731
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:22,120
primary issues. 
There might be a few things that

732
00:41:22,120 --> 00:41:25,400
we would still debate about how 
they play out, but these are 

733
00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:28,040
getting closer. 
I need to believe in most of the

734
00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:30,040
things on that list. 
Now. 

735
00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:33,080
There's always going to be a 
debate about what else and 

736
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:35,080
there's going to be some debate 
about what we believe about 

737
00:41:35,080 --> 00:41:36,920
those things and that's pretty 
normal. 

738
00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:40,200
But and we could spend a year or
more studying each of these in 

739
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,720
great detail and we're going to 
continue to discuss these in 

740
00:41:43,720 --> 00:41:45,480
great deal. 
This is the last overview 

741
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,400
lesson. 
But we but, but, but you got to 

742
00:41:48,400 --> 00:41:50,960
keep coming because. 
And then the other thing I want 

743
00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:53,160
to encourage you to do, because 
you didn't think you could come 

744
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,160
and not hear this. 
I really wish you were heavily 

745
00:41:55,160 --> 00:41:57,600
engaged in a connect group. 
See, I had to put that in there 

746
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:03,360
and make sure your students and 
your children are, are involved 

747
00:42:03,360 --> 00:42:07,200
in our family ministries so that
that you can get as much of the 

748
00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:11,200
menu and the diet of biblical 
content as possible, right? 

749
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:16,040
And so, but Paul had to deal, if
you think about it in his 

750
00:42:16,040 --> 00:42:19,720
writings in these churches, Paul
had to deal with people who came

751
00:42:19,720 --> 00:42:23,920
from all kinds of weird 
backgrounds, especially once the

752
00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:25,960
Gentiles came into the picture, 
right? 

753
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:27,920
Right. 
Once the Gentiles came into the 

754
00:42:27,920 --> 00:42:32,400
picture, you had people who were
coming from extremely Pagan 

755
00:42:32,680 --> 00:42:36,320
backgrounds who would have 
brought all kinds of tradition 

756
00:42:36,520 --> 00:42:40,560
and opinion and ritual 
understandings and all kinds of 

757
00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,640
weirdness to the table, right? 
And so if you think the church 

758
00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,960
is weird now, you should have 
been in it then. 

759
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:49,480
And there was often struggle 
with their unity and often 

760
00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:53,840
struggle with their discipleship
because of this mosaic of belief

761
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:55,320
systems that they brought with 
him. 

762
00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:59,280
So he had to remind them about 
where they'd come from, but also

763
00:42:59,280 --> 00:43:03,120
to challenge them and encourage 
them about what the future held 

764
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:04,480
for them. 
And so I want us to spend a 

765
00:43:04,480 --> 00:43:06,640
couple of minutes here in 
Galatians 4. 

766
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,960
So in the same way, we also, 
when we were children were 

767
00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:16,160
enslaved to the elementary 
principles of the world, but 

768
00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:17,680
when the fullness of time had 
come. 

769
00:43:17,680 --> 00:43:20,440
And by the way, that'll be the 
theme of my Christmas series. 

770
00:43:21,160 --> 00:43:24,160
I'm fascinated by that passage. 
You know, you see that verse on 

771
00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:28,280
your Christmas card sometime. 
And I'm fascinated by what the 

772
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,440
meaning of the fullness of time 
is. 

773
00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:34,480
And so I'm going to preach an 
entire Christmas series over 

774
00:43:34,480 --> 00:43:37,080
called The Fullness in the 
Fullness of Time and what that 

775
00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,040
means. 
Why then why there? 

776
00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,800
Why at that moment in history 
did Jesus come right? 

777
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:48,960
Why was it in the Middle East 
2000, whatever years ago? 

778
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:52,720
Why at that moment in time with 
Rome, etcetera? 

779
00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:54,040
Why We're going to talk about 
that. 

780
00:43:54,680 --> 00:43:57,560
But when the fullness of time 
had come, God sent forth his 

781
00:43:57,560 --> 00:44:01,280
son, born of a, born of a woman,
born under the law, to redeem 

782
00:44:01,280 --> 00:44:04,400
those who are under the law so 
that we might receive adoption 

783
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:07,160
as sons. 
And because you were sons, God 

784
00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:10,480
has sent the Spirit of his Son 
into our hearts, crying, ABBA 

785
00:44:10,480 --> 00:44:14,000
Father, so you're no longer a 
slave, but a son, and if a son, 

786
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:19,240
then an heir through God. 
Formally, when you did not know 

787
00:44:19,240 --> 00:44:24,080
God, you were enslaved to those 
that by nature are not gods. 

788
00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:29,080
But now that you have come to 
know God, or rather to be known 

789
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:32,400
by God, since you can get both 
sides of the fence there, how 

790
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:35,840
can you turn back again to the 
weak and worthless elementary 

791
00:44:35,840 --> 00:44:40,600
principles of the world whose 
slaves you want to be once more?

792
00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:45,440
You observe days and months and 
seasons and years. 

793
00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:49,240
I'm afraid I may have labored 
over you in vain. 

794
00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:51,640
Now here's what's interesting 
about this verse. 

795
00:44:52,200 --> 00:44:54,960
When you read the entire 
context, this is not about 

796
00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:58,040
losing salvation. 
It's not when you read this 

797
00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:00,680
context. 
This is about struggling with 

798
00:45:00,680 --> 00:45:04,120
living by faith in the world 
with these people from a Pagan 

799
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:07,160
background when they're 
surrounded with darkness and 

800
00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,200
lostness. 
And the world was so confused 

801
00:45:10,200 --> 00:45:14,680
about the truth and about Jesus 
And Satan is tempting them to go

802
00:45:14,680 --> 00:45:20,080
back to their old ways to sin. 
And they had to be reminded who 

803
00:45:20,080 --> 00:45:22,960
they really were now. 
And there was no way for them to

804
00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:26,760
go back to the Pagan lifestyle 
or practices they once knew. 

805
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:31,680
So they had to live like one who
is free, saved, adopted and 

806
00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:34,400
saved. 
And so the idea here is for them

807
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:36,720
to stand firm in their faith and
believe because they were 

808
00:45:36,720 --> 00:45:39,920
children of God, because the 
only thing back there for them 

809
00:45:39,920 --> 00:45:42,280
was imprisonment to old ways of 
sin. 

810
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:46,560
So the gospel was a hill upon 
which it was worth not only to 

811
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:51,320
stand to fight, to be set free 
and even to die for these, for 

812
00:45:51,320 --> 00:45:54,200
these folks in Galatia. 
And so one of the things that 

813
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:57,480
they recognize was, is that they
were, they were observing 

814
00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:01,160
rituals that were part of that 
Pagan background. 

815
00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:04,440
They had brought that with them.
So let me see if I can do this 

816
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:06,280
for you. 
Let me see if I can do this. 

817
00:46:06,280 --> 00:46:08,040
This isn't on your sheet and it 
probably should have been. 

818
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:11,480
So let's talk about some isms 
for a minute. 

819
00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:13,400
You with me. 
We've done a little, a few of 

820
00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:15,800
these, but I'm, I'm going to do 
this one more time with you 

821
00:46:16,160 --> 00:46:19,840
again in a new way. 
So universalism, who saved 

822
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:24,200
everybody? 
Pluralism, how many ways to God,

823
00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:27,680
right? 
Syncretism. 

824
00:46:28,480 --> 00:46:32,360
Anybody know that one, the 
disruption And another way to 

825
00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:36,720
say it is a mixture. 
So syncretism, which I believe 

826
00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:39,600
is one of the leading religions 
of the United States of America,

827
00:46:40,640 --> 00:46:44,480
is where I pick and choose and I
take this piece and I take this 

828
00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,920
piece and I put it together. 
Now I can give you classic 

829
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:50,600
historic examples of syncretism.
One of them is voodoo. 

830
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:55,040
And then you can also look at 
South American Catholicism. 

831
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:59,240
Voodoo is actually an African 
religion that comes to the 

832
00:46:59,240 --> 00:47:03,480
islands because of slavery and 
gets mixed in the United States 

833
00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:05,880
in certain parts with Catholic 
symbolism. 

834
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:09,800
And so syncretism is when I pick
and choose little pieces of that

835
00:47:09,800 --> 00:47:12,120
religion, little pieces of this 
religion, and I make my own 

836
00:47:12,120 --> 00:47:15,200
religion. 
Well, that's exactly what our 

837
00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:20,440
culture, and often Christians in
our culture are doing. 

838
00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:23,280
Our churches are full of 
synchronous. 

839
00:47:23,920 --> 00:47:26,360
Well, I don't like that part, 
but I like this part. 

840
00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:28,200
And so I'm going to keep this 
part. 

841
00:47:28,200 --> 00:47:31,640
It reminds me of Jefferson, who 
would cut out parts of his Bible

842
00:47:31,640 --> 00:47:33,480
he didn't like. 
He used to have it on display at

843
00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:35,840
Monticello. 
And if Jefferson didn't like a 

844
00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:38,280
part of the Bible, he just tore 
it out, just cut it out of his 

845
00:47:38,280 --> 00:47:41,200
Bible. 
And so his Bible is just full of

846
00:47:41,200 --> 00:47:43,120
holes. 
And so if he didn't like it, he 

847
00:47:43,120 --> 00:47:46,040
just got rid, got rid of it. 
And since syncretism, I get to 

848
00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:48,960
do the same thing. 
So I don't like this part of 

849
00:47:49,080 --> 00:47:51,000
Christianity, so I'm just going 
to get rid of it. 

850
00:47:51,240 --> 00:47:53,200
But I like that part. 
So I'll keep that. 

851
00:47:53,360 --> 00:47:56,280
And I'll still call myself a 
Christian, even though I may not

852
00:47:56,280 --> 00:47:59,840
believe in the primary doctrines
that are absolutely necessary 

853
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:04,040
for me to actually be saved. 
Cafeteria Christians. 

854
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:08,320
And so it's an interesting thing
because it is a huge thing. 

855
00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:12,320
Anybody if I say deism, I need 
you to understand these things. 

856
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:16,720
You know what deism is? 
Who were Deists that in in your 

857
00:48:16,720 --> 00:48:18,800
knowledge anybody a deist that 
you know? 

858
00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:23,520
So a lot of the founding fathers
were actually deists. 

859
00:48:24,320 --> 00:48:27,280
Now we don't like that because 
it it messes with our patriotism

860
00:48:27,720 --> 00:48:29,280
and our and our mix of 
Christianity. 

861
00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:31,960
And I'm not going to go down 
that road, but many of the 

862
00:48:31,960 --> 00:48:34,280
founding fathers were actually 
deists. 

863
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:38,680
They believe in a God figure and
deism. 

864
00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:40,960
Here's the classic illustration 
of deism. 

865
00:48:41,280 --> 00:48:44,080
It's the watchmaker. 
And you'll actually hear people 

866
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:47,160
debate. 
Atheists will still use this in 

867
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:51,160
the debate against Christianity.
It's the watchmaker. 

868
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,840
So there's this God being out 
there who created everything, 

869
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:59,360
wounded up, put it in a box, put
the watch on the in a box, put 

870
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:01,480
the box on the shelf. 
He has nothing to do with it 

871
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:05,160
anymore. 
So it's a distant, impersonal 

872
00:49:05,200 --> 00:49:07,080
God. 
You have no personal 

873
00:49:07,080 --> 00:49:10,920
relationship with this God. 
He, he might be the creator, but

874
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:12,680
he has nothing to do with your 
life. 

875
00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:17,480
And so deism actually puts a 
distance between me and God at 

876
00:49:17,480 --> 00:49:19,440
times. 
Now here's what's interesting. 

877
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:22,720
Now don't throw anything at me 
and I'm not making a connection 

878
00:49:22,720 --> 00:49:25,680
between our founding fathers and
who I'm getting ready to mention

879
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:31,240
again, but Islam has a lot of 
Deus characteristics. 

880
00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:38,240
Don't ever believe that Allah 
and Yahweh are the same, because

881
00:49:38,240 --> 00:49:40,880
they are not. 
And they're not by nature. 

882
00:49:41,080 --> 00:49:44,280
They're not by characteristic. 
They're not by desire. 

883
00:49:44,720 --> 00:49:47,920
A law would never die on the 
cross for someone. 

884
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:52,080
Allah would never lower himself 
to die on the cross for you. 

885
00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:55,720
A law is a distant God that 
you're trying to appease. 

886
00:49:56,120 --> 00:50:01,080
It's deism to a large degree, 
but I also think that we have a 

887
00:50:01,080 --> 00:50:04,520
bunch of Diaz in the United 
States of America who don't call

888
00:50:04,520 --> 00:50:08,600
themselves Diaz because you'll 
hear people talk about God, 

889
00:50:10,160 --> 00:50:12,280
somebody dies, somebody famous 
dies. 

890
00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:17,320
We're praying with, you know, 
celebrities, musicians, athletes

891
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:19,440
all talk about, well, my, but 
you know, I'm praying for them. 

892
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:20,880
Our prayers go up to them, 
right? 

893
00:50:21,480 --> 00:50:24,680
And there's absolutely nothing 
else in that person's life that 

894
00:50:24,680 --> 00:50:27,720
indicates any faith relationship
whatsoever by their normal 

895
00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:30,800
behavior, right? 
But there's some prayer thing, 

896
00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:34,240
some prayer connection to a God 
thing that they obviously have 

897
00:50:34,240 --> 00:50:36,320
in their belief system. 
Now, again, I can't judge them, 

898
00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:41,400
but I know people who believe in
a God, but they have no personal

899
00:50:41,400 --> 00:50:43,920
relationship with them. 
I know people on Southern 

900
00:50:43,920 --> 00:50:49,600
Baptist church rolls who are 
Deists and they have some God 

901
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:51,880
figure in their head, but 
there's no personal relation in 

902
00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:53,080
other words. 
And that what that means is I 

903
00:50:53,080 --> 00:50:54,400
don't have any responsibility 
either. 

904
00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:58,800
See, I'm not interacting with 
God, and so I can kind of do 

905
00:50:58,800 --> 00:51:03,400
whatever I want, and God doesn't
really care in a way. 

906
00:51:03,480 --> 00:51:07,960
So deism is a thing right now. 
I'm going to get weirder, and 

907
00:51:07,960 --> 00:51:09,560
I've shared a couple of these 
things with you before, but I 

908
00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:11,120
want to get it on this podcast 
too. 

909
00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:17,760
So if I say inclusivism, you're 
not probably going to know what 

910
00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:20,960
I mean. 
So there's a specific movement 

911
00:51:20,960 --> 00:51:23,120
within the church, Within the 
church. 

912
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:27,160
It's always within the church, 
within the Christian Church 

913
00:51:27,440 --> 00:51:31,400
called inclusivism. 
And it's it's a weird form of 

914
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:35,240
pluralism and almost 
universalism, but it's a little 

915
00:51:35,240 --> 00:51:38,400
different. 
An inclusivist could come right 

916
00:51:38,400 --> 00:51:41,440
here and say they could quote 
John 14-6. 

917
00:51:41,440 --> 00:51:43,040
I'm the way, the truth and the 
life. 

918
00:51:43,320 --> 00:51:45,360
No one can come to the Father 
except through me and we go, 

919
00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:48,240
Amen, brother. 
They can quote Acts 4. 

920
00:51:48,240 --> 00:51:50,320
There's no other name under 
heaven by which you can be saved

921
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:52,240
except Jesus. 
Amen, Amen, Amen. 

922
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:55,280
They can quote Philippians. 
Every knee will bow and every 

923
00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:57,160
tongue will confess that Jesus 
is Lord. 

924
00:51:57,160 --> 00:51:59,120
And we go, man, that's right. 
Thank you, brother. 

925
00:51:59,120 --> 00:52:01,000
Thank you, brother. 
We're on the same page. 

926
00:52:01,720 --> 00:52:05,800
But here's what they mean. 
They mean that when you die, 

927
00:52:07,280 --> 00:52:09,800
you're going to stand before 
God, not know exactly how this 

928
00:52:09,800 --> 00:52:13,000
looks, but you're going to stand
before God. 

929
00:52:13,520 --> 00:52:15,840
And regardless of what you 
believed on earth, you're going 

930
00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:18,600
to have this moment when you 
realize that if you were a 

931
00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:22,400
faithful person, whether you are
a faithful Buddhist, whether 

932
00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:25,000
you're a faithful Muslim, 
whether you're a faithful animus

933
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:28,240
who worships a rock, whatever 
you were, if you were faithful 

934
00:52:28,240 --> 00:52:30,920
in your belief system, there's 
going to be this moment after 

935
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:33,440
you die that God's going to 
reveal to you that the source of

936
00:52:33,440 --> 00:52:36,800
your belief, the source of your 
faith, the source of your light,

937
00:52:37,080 --> 00:52:39,640
was Jesus Christ and what he did
for you on the cross. 

938
00:52:39,640 --> 00:52:43,640
And you're going to have an 
opportunity after death to trust

939
00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:45,720
in Jesus Christ as your Lord and
Savior. 

940
00:52:45,880 --> 00:52:48,120
And every knee will bow and 
every tongue will confess. 

941
00:52:48,120 --> 00:52:49,320
It's just going to be after 
death. 

942
00:52:50,840 --> 00:52:53,400
And they'll teach that inside 
Christian churches. 

943
00:52:53,880 --> 00:52:57,800
It's a, it's a more liberal view
because here's what that does. 

944
00:52:57,800 --> 00:52:59,840
It takes all the emotional 
pressure off, doesn't it? 

945
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:04,240
See, I don't have to worry about
those Hindus that we pray about 

946
00:53:04,240 --> 00:53:06,960
in our UUPGS. 
If they're faithful Hindus, 

947
00:53:06,960 --> 00:53:09,560
they're fine. 
If they're faithful Muslims, 

948
00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:11,920
they're fine. 
If they're faithful Buddhists, 

949
00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:14,000
they're fine. 
If they're faithful Jews, 

950
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:16,440
they're fine. 
If they're faithful nature 

951
00:53:16,440 --> 00:53:19,080
worshippers, they're fine. 
If they're really good tree 

952
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:24,880
huggers, they're in good shape 
as long as they really believe 

953
00:53:24,880 --> 00:53:27,000
in whatever it is they really 
believe. 

954
00:53:27,520 --> 00:53:30,280
Because they're going to get the
opportunity later to hear that 

955
00:53:30,280 --> 00:53:32,640
the reason they were able to do 
that is because Jesus died on 

956
00:53:32,640 --> 00:53:34,880
the cross for their sins and 
paid for their paid for them and

957
00:53:34,880 --> 00:53:36,760
rose again. 
Isn't that interesting? 

958
00:53:37,080 --> 00:53:39,960
So it's a weird, synchronistic, 
pluralistic, almost 

959
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:43,280
universalistic combination. 
It's one of the most dangerous 

960
00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:45,720
movements in the Christian 
Church in the in America today 

961
00:53:45,720 --> 00:53:49,400
that people don't know about. 
And that's where liberalism in 

962
00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:53,240
churches today are actually 
getting their view of salvation.

963
00:53:53,680 --> 00:53:56,360
So that I don't have to worry 
about evangelism, don't have to 

964
00:53:56,360 --> 00:53:58,440
worry about that. 
Takes all the pressure off. 

965
00:53:58,640 --> 00:54:00,680
Takes all the pressure off. 
That weird question of what 

966
00:54:00,680 --> 00:54:04,200
about that, that, that, that, 
that Hindu that lives in the 

967
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:06,000
village and never gets a chance 
to hear about Jesus. 

968
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:06,960
I don't have to worry about 
them. 

969
00:54:08,040 --> 00:54:11,120
They're taken care of. 
Takes all the pressure off. 

970
00:54:12,200 --> 00:54:15,160
See. 
Well, there's another view 

971
00:54:15,160 --> 00:54:18,760
called exclusivism. 
And that's that's my disease. 

972
00:54:20,240 --> 00:54:24,520
Exclusivism says that I have to 
trust in Jesus Christ as my Lord

973
00:54:24,520 --> 00:54:27,280
and Savior and believe that he 
died on the cross for my sins 

974
00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:30,120
and the only one who could and 
he rose again and I have to do 

975
00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:33,840
it while I'm alive because 
that's what the Bible says. 

976
00:54:36,480 --> 00:54:38,520
Now you got to understand, let 
me show you this. 

977
00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:42,320
Let's pretend like this is world
Christianity, my hands. 

978
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:46,240
This is representing the 
billions of whoever really are 

979
00:54:46,240 --> 00:54:48,760
Christians in the world. 
Not for me to I'm glad it's not 

980
00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:53,680
for me to decide that right? 
Here are those who believe 

981
00:54:54,240 --> 00:54:57,560
totally in exclusivism. 
Here are those who believe in 

982
00:54:57,560 --> 00:55:01,440
exclusivism and the complete 
inerrancy of the Bible, and here

983
00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:04,160
are those who believe in 
exclusive exclusivism, 

984
00:55:04,160 --> 00:55:06,160
inerrancy, and assurance of 
salvation. 

985
00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:13,320
You got to understand how narrow
the gate is that I walk in now. 

986
00:55:14,840 --> 00:55:21,240
Are all those people lost? 
Not my call, but I know what the

987
00:55:21,240 --> 00:55:24,520
Bible says to me. 
As I flip back to that page, 

988
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:29,080
that list, all I know is the 
Bible says to me that if I don't

989
00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:32,640
believe a whole gospel, I can't 
be saved. 

990
00:55:33,960 --> 00:55:37,000
We've got to share the whole 
truth with them. 

991
00:55:37,120 --> 00:55:43,480
And that truth includes I need 
to know who God is, but even 

992
00:55:43,800 --> 00:55:45,600
even before that. 
So here's the problem. 

993
00:55:45,880 --> 00:55:48,360
From what source am I defining 
God? 

994
00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:53,720
The Bible. 
So even before I start talking 

995
00:55:53,720 --> 00:56:00,800
about who God is, I've got to 
know what this is in my life, 

996
00:56:00,920 --> 00:56:04,320
this making sense. 
Which is why next week, that's 

997
00:56:04,320 --> 00:56:08,280
all we're going to talk about. 
This is the hill of authority. 

998
00:56:08,440 --> 00:56:12,800
It's worth dying on if I don't 
have that settled and if I don't

999
00:56:12,800 --> 00:56:17,640
have some way to describe that 
to the people I'm talking to, 

1000
00:56:17,640 --> 00:56:20,720
even if it's just the fact that 
I'm not saying convince them. 

1001
00:56:21,080 --> 00:56:23,600
Don't misunderstand me. 
I don't. 

1002
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:26,680
I'm here to persuade. 
The Bible says in 2nd 

1003
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:28,520
Corinthians 5, I'm going to 
employ you. 

1004
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:30,240
I'm going to beg you to come to 
Christ. 

1005
00:56:30,920 --> 00:56:34,240
I can't make you. 
I can't make you believe. 

1006
00:56:35,400 --> 00:56:37,000
I've got to have the Holy Spirit
to do that. 

1007
00:56:37,560 --> 00:56:39,280
But I'm going to implore you. 
I'm going to. 

1008
00:56:39,360 --> 00:56:42,720
But I need to be intelligent 
enough to have a conversation 

1009
00:56:42,720 --> 00:56:45,240
when I'm confronted by somebody 
who thinks they're smarter than 

1010
00:56:45,240 --> 00:56:46,320
I am. 
Because, you know, they think 

1011
00:56:46,320 --> 00:56:47,920
we're a bunch of backward 
rednecks. 

1012
00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:52,840
And some of us are, but the rest
of you are pretty cool people. 

1013
00:56:56,920 --> 00:57:01,320
I mean, I'm from Tahlequah. 
OK, So. 

1014
00:57:02,400 --> 00:57:05,760
But if, if we can't articulate 
to some degree why I believe 

1015
00:57:05,760 --> 00:57:08,480
what I believe about the Bible, 
why would they want to listen to

1016
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:10,680
you, right? 
You don't even know why you 

1017
00:57:10,680 --> 00:57:14,840
believe what you believe. 
Now, faith is an answer. 

1018
00:57:16,120 --> 00:57:21,000
It's a faith issue, isn't it? 
But we also need to have some 

1019
00:57:21,000 --> 00:57:23,880
ideas to back up our faith. 
So we're going to talk about 

1020
00:57:23,880 --> 00:57:27,120
that next week. 
So then I need to say, here's 

1021
00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:31,880
who God is. 
My God, the real God, the 

1022
00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:35,760
biblical God, Yahweh, Jehovah, 
this is who he is. 

1023
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:41,800
These are his natures, this is 
who He is, and if I do that well

1024
00:57:41,800 --> 00:57:48,320
enough, then the understanding 
of sin is easier track with me. 

1025
00:57:48,920 --> 00:57:52,840
If you understand who God is, 
you'll understand why sin's a 

1026
00:57:52,840 --> 00:57:56,800
problem, see, because part of 
the problem we're going to have 

1027
00:57:56,800 --> 00:57:58,520
to define sin. 
I used to always write when I 

1028
00:57:58,520 --> 00:58:00,720
told you at the beginning in 
class, what must a person 

1029
00:58:00,720 --> 00:58:02,920
understand? 
We'd go through those 93 things 

1030
00:58:02,920 --> 00:58:05,040
and they'd tell me this story 
and this or what do you think a 

1031
00:58:05,040 --> 00:58:06,640
story is? 
They have to believe in just 

1032
00:58:06,640 --> 00:58:09,360
name one name one story you have
to believe in from the Bible to 

1033
00:58:09,360 --> 00:58:13,320
be saved. 
The the what Jesus is crucified.

1034
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:18,240
I heard that one virgin birth 
might be who is Jesus, you know,

1035
00:58:18,280 --> 00:58:20,320
and, and things like that. 
And in the resurrection, 

1036
00:58:20,320 --> 00:58:23,040
obviously things like that. 
Well, you'd be amazed at what 

1037
00:58:23,040 --> 00:58:25,320
the students come up with. 
You know, suddenly I'm, I'm 

1038
00:58:25,440 --> 00:58:28,200
getting a jar full of oil from a
prophet and I'm like, what are 

1039
00:58:28,200 --> 00:58:30,160
you with? 
And so these are illustrations. 

1040
00:58:30,160 --> 00:58:33,000
Why use that to explain? 
OK, let you know it's funny. 

1041
00:58:33,000 --> 00:58:33,880
So we're writing them on the 
board. 

1042
00:58:34,560 --> 00:58:37,800
But then I make a list of 
saying, listen, you better nail 

1043
00:58:37,800 --> 00:58:43,600
down these things in your own 
heart and, and, and you better 

1044
00:58:43,600 --> 00:58:46,640
nail down the Bible. 
You better nail down who God is.

1045
00:58:46,760 --> 00:58:54,120
You've got to define sin in this
world because they define it 

1046
00:58:54,120 --> 00:58:59,000
differently out there. 
See, out there, it's normal now.

1047
00:58:59,600 --> 00:59:04,200
It's normal now things like, I 
mean, and if you're doing this, 

1048
00:59:04,200 --> 00:59:06,840
I'm not trying to, I don't know.
So I'm not pointing at you 

1049
00:59:06,840 --> 00:59:10,640
because I don't know. 
But it's normal now to live 

1050
00:59:10,640 --> 00:59:14,680
together before you're married, 
almost expected, you're almost 

1051
00:59:14,680 --> 00:59:16,880
stupid if you don't, is the 
idea. 

1052
00:59:16,960 --> 00:59:19,160
Why wouldn't you give it a test 
run before you got married? 

1053
00:59:19,680 --> 00:59:25,080
Or why even get married or, or, 
or same sex issues or gender 

1054
00:59:25,080 --> 00:59:27,040
confusion. 
These things are normal. 

1055
00:59:27,040 --> 00:59:28,720
They're accepted. 
They're, they're part in fact, 

1056
00:59:28,720 --> 00:59:30,720
they're defended, aren't they? 
They're defended. 

1057
00:59:32,400 --> 00:59:34,560
They're, they're, they're equal 
to civil rights. 

1058
00:59:35,680 --> 00:59:38,960
See. 
And so and so we've got to 

1059
00:59:38,960 --> 00:59:45,560
understand why do I believe 
that's wrong or why do I believe

1060
00:59:45,560 --> 00:59:49,840
that's right? 
So I need to be able to identify

1061
00:59:49,840 --> 00:59:51,760
sin. 
And then we've got to talk about

1062
00:59:51,760 --> 00:59:53,880
who Jesus is. 
And we need to have an 

1063
00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:57,160
understanding even of the Holy 
Spirit and this Trinitarian 

1064
00:59:57,160 --> 01:00:00,560
relationship that's very hard 
and how salvation works. 

1065
01:00:01,360 --> 01:00:05,120
So that list out of those, those
doctrines in those theological 

1066
01:00:05,120 --> 01:00:07,200
textbooks are pretty good 
guides. 

1067
01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:10,280
These are primary issues for the
most part. 

1068
01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:13,600
We could argue a little bit, we 
could talk about the church and 

1069
01:00:13,600 --> 01:00:15,840
we could talk about the second 
coming and some things like 

1070
01:00:15,840 --> 01:00:17,120
that. 
We could have some different 

1071
01:00:17,120 --> 01:00:18,560
perspectives and that would be 
fine. 

1072
01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:22,320
But we've got to be able to find
these things in truth. 

1073
01:00:24,560 --> 01:00:31,360
So one day when you have five 
hours and the right audience is 

1074
01:00:31,360 --> 01:00:32,920
in the room, I'll share my 
testimony. 

1075
01:00:32,920 --> 01:00:40,120
But but the first time I heard 
the gospel, I was a young child 

1076
01:00:41,240 --> 01:00:43,040
and I was at a college football 
game. 

1077
01:00:43,160 --> 01:00:44,600
We had a College in our 
hometown. 

1078
01:00:45,120 --> 01:00:46,960
It's where we played high school
ball on that field. 

1079
01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:50,720
But I was a little kid and you 
and I got to run around probably

1080
01:00:50,720 --> 01:00:51,760
more than I should in those 
days. 

1081
01:00:51,760 --> 01:00:55,360
And I was somewhere and we were 
playing like a little football 

1082
01:00:55,360 --> 01:00:58,800
game of our own down on one end 
of the state down there on the 

1083
01:00:58,800 --> 01:01:01,160
grass. 
And there were college kids 

1084
01:01:01,160 --> 01:01:03,360
there. 
And a college kid comes up to 

1085
01:01:03,360 --> 01:01:05,160
him and he says, you know, I 
want to talk to you. 

1086
01:01:05,480 --> 01:01:07,920
And he and he holds out a dime. 
I'll never forget this. 

1087
01:01:07,920 --> 01:01:11,400
He holds out and I had a dime in
his hand and he goes here, take 

1088
01:01:11,400 --> 01:01:14,360
the dime. 
And I'm like, what's the catch? 

1089
01:01:15,280 --> 01:01:18,240
You know, he goes, take it. 
It's a free gift. 

1090
01:01:19,160 --> 01:01:21,080
So he gives me the dime. 
Well, guess what's next. 

1091
01:01:21,920 --> 01:01:25,920
You know, we're in Romans 3, 
three, you know, 623 and 323. 

1092
01:01:25,920 --> 01:01:27,600
We're walking right through the 
Romans road, right for the 

1093
01:01:27,600 --> 01:01:29,480
gospel. 
And he shares the gospel with 

1094
01:01:29,480 --> 01:01:31,520
me. 
I'd never heard that in my life.

1095
01:01:31,520 --> 01:01:33,000
I hadn't been in church. 
I didn't go to church. 

1096
01:01:33,000 --> 01:01:36,600
I didn't know what church was. 
And I hear this gospel 

1097
01:01:36,600 --> 01:01:38,040
presentation. 
It gives me nightmares. 

1098
01:01:39,680 --> 01:01:41,640
I have nightmares for weeks 
after that as a kid. 

1099
01:01:41,720 --> 01:01:46,320
I'll never forget it. 
The second time I heard the 

1100
01:01:46,320 --> 01:01:49,480
gospel, and I have shared this 
with some of you before, was 

1101
01:01:49,480 --> 01:01:52,040
later in life and I got so 
angry. 

1102
01:01:52,840 --> 01:01:58,200
I knocked the guy out. 
And it was the third time I 

1103
01:01:58,200 --> 01:02:02,280
heard the gospel. 
And the third time I heard the 

1104
01:02:02,280 --> 01:02:08,720
gospel, I heard it in a way that
was so authentic and so real 

1105
01:02:08,720 --> 01:02:10,480
from the person I was hearing it
from. 

1106
01:02:11,120 --> 01:02:15,680
And, and I was so ready and 
desperate in my life to hear it 

1107
01:02:16,240 --> 01:02:19,200
that I hungered for what he was 
saying to me, even though I was 

1108
01:02:19,200 --> 01:02:23,400
a mess. 
And he shared the whole gospel 

1109
01:02:23,400 --> 01:02:26,760
with me. 
Later this year, we're going to 

1110
01:02:26,760 --> 01:02:28,960
talk about what that means. 
How do I share that? 

1111
01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:32,280
How do I, how do I transition 
from this to this to get to this

1112
01:02:32,280 --> 01:02:38,480
entire story about who God is 
and what God's plan is and how 

1113
01:02:38,480 --> 01:02:44,240
he fulfilled that plan and how 
it's all about you and that you 

1114
01:02:44,240 --> 01:02:49,880
can have it in your life. 
And it radically changed me. 

1115
01:02:52,320 --> 01:02:55,240
And that's all I want us to do 
for those people out there. 

1116
01:02:58,120 --> 01:03:02,000
But there are also sad stories 
along the way. 

1117
01:03:03,760 --> 01:03:07,960
So I was baptized with my best 
friend growing up. 

1118
01:03:08,800 --> 01:03:11,240
Jay Bird, Buffalo meat. 
Told you I was from Cherokee 

1119
01:03:11,240 --> 01:03:13,640
country. 
He had a brother named 

1120
01:03:13,640 --> 01:03:17,800
Screechow. 
They called him a Ray, but his 

1121
01:03:17,800 --> 01:03:21,120
name was Screechow. 
They were half Cheyenne, half 

1122
01:03:21,120 --> 01:03:24,000
Cherokee brothers. 
My best friend's growing up, 

1123
01:03:24,360 --> 01:03:28,280
good athletes, state champions 
and Jay. 

1124
01:03:28,280 --> 01:03:31,920
Jay and I were inseparable for a
long time in life. 

1125
01:03:31,920 --> 01:03:36,840
And he and I were saved and we 
went forward at First Baptist 

1126
01:03:36,840 --> 01:03:42,120
Church where we were, and we 
were baptized. 

1127
01:03:47,120 --> 01:03:49,920
And the last time I ever talked 
to him, he was an alcoholic. 

1128
01:03:49,920 --> 01:03:52,840
And he denied the very existence
of God and claimed to be an 

1129
01:03:52,840 --> 01:03:57,960
atheist in the early days. 
He's the one who taught me how 

1130
01:03:57,960 --> 01:04:01,920
to read this book. 
He's the one that made this book

1131
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:05,240
a part of my daily life. 
He's the one that taught me how 

1132
01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:07,040
to pray. 
And he would be on me about it 

1133
01:04:07,040 --> 01:04:09,160
because we were on in sports 
together. 

1134
01:04:09,240 --> 01:04:11,240
I mean, he'd be rough on me if I
wasn't doing what I did. 

1135
01:04:11,440 --> 01:04:12,800
You read? 
Did you read your Bible? 

1136
01:04:12,800 --> 01:04:14,720
Did you pray today? 
I mean, you know, he thumped me 

1137
01:04:14,720 --> 01:04:23,840
if I didn't doing it. 
But he let that twist him and 

1138
01:04:23,840 --> 01:04:29,840
distract him. 
We got to know what we believe 

1139
01:04:29,840 --> 01:04:34,240
and it's got to be an anchor. 
It's got to be solid, right? 

1140
01:04:35,600 --> 01:04:38,560
It's got to be who we are not 
only as individuals, but as a 

1141
01:04:38,560 --> 01:04:40,480
church. 
So I appreciate so much you 

1142
01:04:40,480 --> 01:04:44,520
coming to these experiences. 
And we're going to talk about 

1143
01:04:44,600 --> 01:04:45,480
these primaries. 
Now. 

1144
01:04:45,480 --> 01:04:49,080
Remember next week, our next 
session, we're going to talk 

1145
01:04:49,080 --> 01:04:52,040
about this hill of authority. 
Why do I, what do I believe 

1146
01:04:52,040 --> 01:04:54,440
about the Bible and why does it 
matter? 

1147
01:04:54,440 --> 01:04:57,240
The week after that, we're going
to talk about Jesus. 

1148
01:04:57,520 --> 01:04:59,520
The week after that, I'm going 
to come back and we're going to 

1149
01:04:59,520 --> 01:05:02,240
talk about what are secondary 
and tertiary doctrines. 

1150
01:05:02,720 --> 01:05:04,680
And then we're going to come 
back and I'm going to talk about

1151
01:05:04,680 --> 01:05:05,800
at least three things. 
Now. 

1152
01:05:05,800 --> 01:05:07,200
I want you to hear these three 
things. 

1153
01:05:07,200 --> 01:05:09,880
This I just added a third. 
I'm actually moving everything a

1154
01:05:10,000 --> 01:05:13,760
week later down the road because
of this, because of some of my 

1155
01:05:13,760 --> 01:05:16,440
conversations with you. 
So the secondaries and 

1156
01:05:16,440 --> 01:05:18,520
tertiaries, I'm going to talk 
about eschatology. 

1157
01:05:19,200 --> 01:05:22,080
What, what, what can we believe 
about the second coming? 

1158
01:05:22,200 --> 01:05:27,120
Just to appease some of you, 
we're going to talk about 

1159
01:05:27,120 --> 01:05:32,000
spiritual gifts. 
Are all the spiritual sign gifts

1160
01:05:32,000 --> 01:05:37,360
still active today or have some 
of them ceased and why? 

1161
01:05:37,360 --> 01:05:40,800
What do we believe about that 
can be controversial. 

1162
01:05:41,000 --> 01:05:43,800
It actually separates 
denominations, some of those 

1163
01:05:43,800 --> 01:05:46,480
beliefs. 
And then I want to talk to you 

1164
01:05:46,480 --> 01:05:48,960
about the doctrine of evil. 
Now that might sound like a fun 

1165
01:05:48,960 --> 01:05:52,360
night. 
I'll wear black, but but I want 

1166
01:05:52,360 --> 01:05:57,480
to talk to you about, and that's
not necessarily even a 

1167
01:05:57,480 --> 01:06:00,560
secondary, it might be a primary
issue, but I want to talk about 

1168
01:06:01,000 --> 01:06:03,200
and answer that and have that 
conversation. 

1169
01:06:03,920 --> 01:06:06,880
Often it's voiced this way, 
which is a bad way to voice it. 

1170
01:06:06,880 --> 01:06:08,480
Why do bad things happen to good
people? 

1171
01:06:09,280 --> 01:06:13,640
But it's it more often sincerely
from some of you, it's why did 

1172
01:06:13,640 --> 01:06:16,800
they die? 
Why were they healed and why did

1173
01:06:16,800 --> 01:06:20,800
they die? 
And I'm going to share with you 

1174
01:06:21,640 --> 01:06:26,960
why evil and death and sin still
exist in this world, because 

1175
01:06:26,960 --> 01:06:30,280
I've talked to several of you 
who need that and want to talk 

1176
01:06:30,280 --> 01:06:32,600
about that. 
You may be here tonight. 

1177
01:06:32,600 --> 01:06:35,160
And again, I'm not going to 
point you out, but even Sunday I

1178
01:06:35,160 --> 01:06:37,840
had a conversation with someone 
where bad things were happening 

1179
01:06:37,840 --> 01:06:40,480
in life and they wondered if it 
was their fault. 

1180
01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:44,000
And I want to talk about why. 
Why? 

1181
01:06:44,000 --> 01:06:48,080
Why are we surrounded by this in
our world today? 

1182
01:06:48,120 --> 01:06:49,960
Why does this still exist? 
And what are we going to do 

1183
01:06:49,960 --> 01:06:53,040
about it? 
And so then we're going to move 

1184
01:06:53,040 --> 01:06:55,080
on into some other things later 
on. 

1185
01:06:55,080 --> 01:06:57,560
But that's what's going to 
happen these next few weeks, OK.

1186
01:06:58,280 --> 01:06:59,640
And so appreciate you being 
here. 

1187
01:06:59,640 --> 01:07:02,240
So let me pray for us. 
We're a little early tonight, 

1188
01:07:03,320 --> 01:07:08,360
but I bet you'll survive. 
I hate getting out early. 

1189
01:07:08,360 --> 01:07:09,760
I heard that. 
I heard that. 

1190
01:07:10,400 --> 01:07:15,920
Well, I can tell another story. 
But Father, we are so grateful. 

1191
01:07:20,560 --> 01:07:25,040
Father, I just thank you that 
these people have come and and 

1192
01:07:25,040 --> 01:07:27,360
this is a lot of introductory 
material and some of it's a 

1193
01:07:27,360 --> 01:07:29,600
little heavy. 
Maybe it's it leave in even a 

1194
01:07:29,600 --> 01:07:32,480
little technical. 
I don't want it to be boring, 

1195
01:07:32,720 --> 01:07:34,720
but we needed to kind of lay 
this foundation. 

1196
01:07:34,720 --> 01:07:38,360
Father and I thank you for these
folks who are enduring this and 

1197
01:07:38,360 --> 01:07:41,440
Father, next, next few sessions 
when we really get into some 

1198
01:07:41,480 --> 01:07:47,120
specifics into your word about 
important truths about you and 

1199
01:07:48,080 --> 01:07:52,480
about what you said, I pray 
Father that even more would 

1200
01:07:52,480 --> 01:07:57,960
come. 
Father, we we need to know who 

1201
01:07:57,960 --> 01:08:05,080
you are as much as we can. 
And Father, you've revealed to 

1202
01:08:05,080 --> 01:08:07,400
us all we need to know about 
you. 

1203
01:08:08,600 --> 01:08:10,640
Now, Father, I look forward to 
the day where I'm going to learn

1204
01:08:10,640 --> 01:08:13,720
more than that. 
But for now, here on the in this

1205
01:08:13,720 --> 01:08:18,479
place, in this life, on this 
planet, Father, you've revealed 

1206
01:08:18,479 --> 01:08:22,720
to us all we need to know about 
you, both in your word and your 

1207
01:08:22,720 --> 01:08:25,000
will, through your spirit, 
through prayer, we know those 

1208
01:08:25,000 --> 01:08:29,520
things. 
And so, Father, help us, Lord, 

1209
01:08:29,720 --> 01:08:32,920
to become so intimately aware of
who you are, that Father, what 

1210
01:08:32,920 --> 01:08:35,240
it does. 
And sometimes it's very painful.

1211
01:08:36,200 --> 01:08:39,240
So because Father, sometimes 
this triage idea, this medical 

1212
01:08:39,240 --> 01:08:43,279
treatment idea, it comes back on
us a little bit because once we 

1213
01:08:43,279 --> 01:08:46,319
realize what we should be 
believing and what we should be 

1214
01:08:46,319 --> 01:08:49,319
doing, sometimes, Father, we 
look in the mirror and we 

1215
01:08:49,319 --> 01:08:51,160
recognize that we're falling 
short. 

1216
01:08:51,160 --> 01:08:55,040
It's really the definition of 
sin in one way, that hamartia, 

1217
01:08:55,040 --> 01:08:57,439
that falling short of the 
target. 

1218
01:08:59,479 --> 01:09:01,359
But Father, that's important for
us. 

1219
01:09:01,760 --> 01:09:04,640
If we don't know what the 
perfect standard is, if we don't

1220
01:09:04,640 --> 01:09:07,399
know what the perfect truth is, 
we don't know who the perfect 

1221
01:09:07,399 --> 01:09:10,640
one is, then we're never going 
to know how we need to grow 

1222
01:09:12,439 --> 01:09:14,120
because all of us need to 
improve. 

1223
01:09:14,120 --> 01:09:17,920
All of us need to correct, all 
of us need to be better. 

1224
01:09:20,319 --> 01:09:25,399
None of us is perfect. 
And so, Father, I pray, Lord, 

1225
01:09:25,399 --> 01:09:27,880
that you'll help us that as we 
come together and learn and 

1226
01:09:27,880 --> 01:09:31,000
study together, that Father, our
desire is really to grow, to 

1227
01:09:31,000 --> 01:09:34,200
know you better so that then we 
can know ourselves better. 

1228
01:09:34,479 --> 01:09:37,439
And when we understand that 
dynamic Father, then we can see 

1229
01:09:37,439 --> 01:09:40,640
the gap between the two and 
we'll know this is the area 

1230
01:09:40,640 --> 01:09:43,080
where I really need to work. 
This is the area where I need to

1231
01:09:43,080 --> 01:09:46,439
grow, but also this is how I 
could help somebody else. 

1232
01:09:47,960 --> 01:09:51,720
That's called the church. 
We're not only do we learn that 

1233
01:09:51,720 --> 01:09:54,040
about ourselves, but we learn 
that about others and we help 

1234
01:09:54,040 --> 01:09:57,320
one another so that I might be 
weak in this area and you're 

1235
01:09:57,320 --> 01:09:58,760
strong in that one. 
You help me. 

1236
01:09:59,000 --> 01:10:01,480
I might be stronger in that area
and you're weaker and I help 

1237
01:10:01,480 --> 01:10:04,000
you. 
That's called being the body, 

1238
01:10:04,000 --> 01:10:07,600
Father. 
So over these next few weeks, I 

1239
01:10:07,600 --> 01:10:10,440
pray we'll be dedicated to be 
here to build upon this 

1240
01:10:10,440 --> 01:10:12,920
foundation. 
And Lord, for us really to 

1241
01:10:12,920 --> 01:10:17,200
understand how I can, how I can 
not only in my own heart, nail 

1242
01:10:17,200 --> 01:10:20,160
down certain things of what I 
believe, but Father, when I go 

1243
01:10:20,160 --> 01:10:24,800
out there to this world, Father,
I can actually articulate and 

1244
01:10:24,800 --> 01:10:28,320
share with somebody. 
Father, I don't have to defend 

1245
01:10:28,320 --> 01:10:31,760
you. 
As one author said, it'd be like

1246
01:10:31,760 --> 01:10:35,200
defending a lion. 
I don't have to defend you, but 

1247
01:10:35,200 --> 01:10:40,680
Father, I can share about you 
and share in a way that people 

1248
01:10:40,680 --> 01:10:45,880
could understand, share in a way
that makes sense, share in a way

1249
01:10:45,880 --> 01:10:48,000
they could lead them to a 
greater knowledge of you. 

1250
01:10:49,800 --> 01:10:52,240
Thank you for your word. 
Thank you for your truth. 

1251
01:10:52,240 --> 01:10:55,640
Thank you that you made clear to
us the gospel. 

1252
01:10:57,080 --> 01:11:04,480
Thank you for being such an 
awesome creator that you didn't 

1253
01:11:04,480 --> 01:11:09,960
want to create Father without 
the opportunity for us to have a

1254
01:11:09,960 --> 01:11:13,760
relationship with you and 
Father. 

1255
01:11:13,760 --> 01:11:18,280
Even when we messed up and we 
mess up and we continue to mess 

1256
01:11:18,280 --> 01:11:23,920
up, Father, You have graciously 
given us a way to be forgiven. 

1257
01:11:25,960 --> 01:11:30,720
And Father, I pray, Lord, that 
we'll continue to seek to be 

1258
01:11:31,160 --> 01:11:33,240
closer and closer to You in our 
walk. 

1259
01:11:34,040 --> 01:11:36,800
But thank you, Father, for 
sending your son to pay for it. 

1260
01:11:39,120 --> 01:11:41,440
Thank you, Father, for an empty 
tomb that proves it. 

1261
01:11:43,680 --> 01:11:46,440
Thank you, Father, that one day,
maybe today, you're going to 

1262
01:11:47,040 --> 01:11:48,720
going to allow the return to 
happen. 

1263
01:11:48,720 --> 01:11:51,320
And the sun's going to come and 
the trumpets are going to blow. 

1264
01:11:51,320 --> 01:11:58,880
And the Father, we have people 
that we need to bring with us so

1265
01:11:58,880 --> 01:12:03,840
that we truly can all sit in a 
in a room with people from every

1266
01:12:03,840 --> 01:12:05,680
tribe, every tongue and every 
nation. 

1267
01:12:05,960 --> 01:12:10,080
And we can all truly bow our 
knees and confess with our 

1268
01:12:10,080 --> 01:12:15,800
tongues who is really Lord, 
Thank you for Inglewood. 

1269
01:12:16,840 --> 01:12:18,920
I pray you'll bless us these 
next few days. 

1270
01:12:18,920 --> 01:12:21,280
Help us this Sunday to worship 
you well. 

1271
01:12:22,880 --> 01:12:27,600
I pray, Father, that you'll help
me as I share about you. 

1272
01:12:29,720 --> 01:12:33,160
Father, just bless us tonight in
Christ's name, Amen. 

1273
01:12:34,200 --> 01:12:40,160
Thank you all so much. 
Thank you so much for listening 

1274
01:12:40,160 --> 01:12:41,760
today. 
And I also hope that you'll go 

1275
01:12:41,760 --> 01:12:44,000
to 
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 

1276
01:12:44,000 --> 01:12:47,040
as well as our app and find many
other resources that will bless 

1277
01:12:47,040 --> 01:12:49,240
you and your families. 
Thank you once again.