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Good morning, everyone. 
It's great to see everyone who's

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in the audience today. 
We have a regular members, we 

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have visitors who are perhaps 
feeling the seats of people who 

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are not here today from our own 
congregation. 

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So we want to welcome you. 
Thank you for being here and 

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hope you can come anytime you're
able to have in the future to 

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join with us in worship. 
And we hope you know this is not

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about us. 
Everything we've done so far 

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today, everything we will do in 
the future in this worship is 

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all for the glory of God. 
And that is our one focus this 

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morning. 
So there's not a better purpose.

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There's not a better place to 
be. 

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And I'm thankful to get to lead 
in this part of the worship 

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because this is my favorite 
part. 

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This is the part where we dive 
into God's brilliance. 

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We get to dive into God's 
encouragement, God's wisdom. 

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And so I hope if you have your 
Bibles, you'll turn with me to 

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second Peter chapter 1. 
All right. 

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I didn't know where I was going 
to go next. 

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But Chris at the last service 
said he was kind of expecting to

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go into second Peter. 
So we're going to go into second

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Peter. 
So we're going to keep rolling 

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on from first Peter, which was 
all about the trials of their 

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faith. 
The apostle Peter, who had been 

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through some trials himself, who
had really messed up a lot, who 

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had really ate his foot, who had
really done a lot of stuff that 

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we look back and say, you know, 
that's that's not the ideal. 

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He'd been through a lot, but 
that saying Peter had a lot to 

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to express to us, had a lot to 
teach us about about the faith 

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and about what it means to go 
through those trials. 

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And as he's going into the 2nd 
letter, the tone changes, the 

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message changes. 
It's not so much a letter all 

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about the trials of the faith, 
but it's about those who would 

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work against those who are 
Christians, those who might try 

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to pull them away. 
And so really there's there's a 

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there's a lot of similarities to
things we've studied recently in

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first, second and third John in 
here. 

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So you may see notes of that. 
But the same man is writing this

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and I've titled today's Add to 
your faith. 

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Now, I and many people believe 
this may be the single most 

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encouraging chapter in all the 
Bible. 

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I just hope I don't get in the 
way of that this morning. 

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I hope you will see God's word 
for its brilliance. 

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And as Dave prayed, go home and 
read it and go home and meditate

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on it and do it again tomorrow. 
And then a year from now, this 

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is going to come alive in new 
ways because it is one of the 

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most awesome chapters in all the
Bible. 

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First Peter, a second Peter 
chapter 1. 

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We're going to start right here 
in verse one. 

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It says Simon Peter, a 
bondservant and apostle of Jesus

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Christ. 
So that's who's writing it. 

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He's identifying himself as the 
writer Peter to those who have 

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obtained like precious faith 
with us by the righteousness of 

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our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
So he's he's identifying who's 

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writing to some people that the 
authors are writing to are 

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writing to people who have never
heard. 

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We're studying with Frank in the
book of Acts about he's writing 

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to O excellent Theophilus, this 
man who's a an influential, 

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maybe a leader, but he's not a 
Christian potentially check, 

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Fact Check myself, but not every
recipient of the word has always

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been a a believer or a 
Christian. 

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Here, though he has identified 
those who have already obtained 

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the faith. 
He's writing to people who in 

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the 1st chapter, he said you 
have been buried in baptism. 

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He says you've been washed by 
baptism. 

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He says baptism, not the removal
of the filth of the flesh, but 

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the answer or the appeal of a 
conscience toward God. 

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He said those people have 
already obtained the faith. 

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They've already done that. 
These people are Christians. 

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So if you don't know how to be 
saved, hopefully you know you'll

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pay attention at the end and 
that will dive into exactly how 

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to be saved. 
These people are saved. 

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It's in the past tense and 
they've done it by the 

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righteousness of our God and 
Savior Jesus Christ. 

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I hope we never misunderstand 
when we stand in this pulpit, 

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none of our salvation is given 
to the glory of ourselves. 

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Our salvation is all by the 
righteousness of God, our Savior

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of our God and Savior of Jesus 
Christ. 

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The Bible says that Abraham 
believed God and it was 

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accounted to him for 
righteousness. 

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Our righteousness comes from 
Jesus Christ. 

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And if there's ever any doubt 
that Jesus is our God, look what

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it says right here of our God 
and Savior Jesus Christ. 

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He is our God and Savior. 
Sometimes we want to talk about 

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God, like there's God the 
Father, the real God, and then 

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there's Jesus and the Holy 
Spirit who are, you know, who 

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are of the family, but they're 
not really God. 

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No, there are three entities in 
the Godhead. 

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There's the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Spirit. 1 is not God 

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and the other word, the Son and 
the Holy Spirit, they're all 

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God. 
And this says our God and Savior

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Jesus Christ. 
So he's writing to people who 

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have been saved by Jesus. 
He says grace and peace be 

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multiplied to you in the 
knowledge of God and of Jesus 

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our Lord. 
So the writers often begin with 

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this because this is the 
ultimate goal of the message. 

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The goal of God's message is not
to strike down sinners at the 

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hands of an angry God. 
Some people attribute that 

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motive to God and other false 
deities. 

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That's their motive. 
Our God seeks to bring peace and

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grace if we will let him. 
That is the ultimate, the 

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ultimate motive of our God. 
But how does it come to us? 

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Sometimes we just want it the 
easy way. 

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We want to get it. 
We want to get Bam slapped in 

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the face by grace and peace. 
And he attributes this to the 

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knowledge of God. 
And I want to submit to you 

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today. 
If you want the easy way where 

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it just happens to you, you're 
going to be wishing for it your 

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whole life. 
If you just want it to happen to

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you without diving into the 
peace of the Scriptures and the 

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love of God in the Scriptures, 
it's never going to happen. 

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Hopefully someone comes along 
your way and shows you that love

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from an example, but unless we 
read it, we're not going to be 

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filled with it. 
May we seek to be filled with 

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the knowledge of God that will 
bring us grace and peace that is

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beyond what our understanding 
can handle. 

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It comes from the knowledge of 
God and of Jesus Christ our 

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Lord. 
He says as His divine power, His

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godly power has given to us all 
things that pertain to life and 

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godliness through the knowledge 
of him. 

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There it is again, who called us
by glory and virtue. 

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If we ever doubt, let's just 
remind ourselves. 

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Peter's going to say in just a 
minute, I'm writing this to stir

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up your minds by way of 
reminding you all things that 

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pertain to life and godliness 
are in His word, in the 

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knowledge of Him. 
And maybe Satan has tempted us. 

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Maybe Satanist tempted you to 
think that you don't really have

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all you need in God to make you 
think that when you read the 

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Bible. 
Yeah, there's stuff about being 

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holy, but, you know, there's not
really anything about real life 

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I deal with real life I deal 
with, you know, real stuff that 

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happens to people you don't 
know. 

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The Bible doesn't have that. 
That's nonsense. 

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The Bible has everything that 
pertains to life and godliness. 

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Sounds like that's all we need 
to know. 

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That sounds like it has every 
single bit of of life sustenance

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that we need. 
But maybe life's challenges, 

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frustrations and endurances have
you made you forgotten that have

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made you lose a focus on the 
word, like it actually has that 

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for you. 
Peter wants to remind you that 

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it's the knowledge of it. 
It's knowing him. 

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It's knowing His Word and the 
things about Him. 

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They're going to get you through
all the things that pertain to 

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life and being godly in it. 
And this is through Him who 

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called us by glory and virtue. 
We come to God because we 

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acknowledge that He has the 
glory and the virtue. 

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We don't come to God because of 
any other reason other than He 

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is the source of it all. 
He is what defines good. 

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We're going to talk about today 
how to be good and what it means

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to strive to be good, but he is 
the source of it. 

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That's why we come to him. 
He is the source of all things 

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that are glorious and that calls
us to him and he called us with 

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a message of glory and virtue as
well. 

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We seek that verse 4 which 
haven't been given to us 

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exceedingly great and precious 
promises. 

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It's this glory and virtue that 
brings us exceedingly great and 

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precious promises that through 
these you may be partakers of 

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the divine nature, having 
escaped the corruption that is 

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in the world through lust. 
His glory and virtue gave us 

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promises that are so great you 
can't even wrap your mind around

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it. 
It's exceedingly great. 

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There's things in our lives that
seem good and they last for 

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about a day or two. 
Or maybe here maybe there's 

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things that are really exciting 
for a little while. 

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But these things go far beyond 
to the point that they're called

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exceedingly great by scriptures.
They're promises that go beyond 

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anything else they exceed. 
They go above all the other 

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promises that through these you 
may be partakers of the divine 

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nature. 
The divine nature is something 

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you see when you look into the 
creation around you. 

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The divine nature you can grasp 
just a little bit of when you 

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look into the mountains and the 
solar system and you stand in 

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awe of the divine nature that 
has this kind of power. 

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When you see real goodness that 
someone would sacrifice 

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something of themself or someone
else, you see divine nature when

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you get to share in that. 
To partake means to take part, 

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to have a shared participation 
in the divine. 

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That's mind blowing that we 
could really touch the divine in

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a real way. 
But it comes through having 

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escaping the corruption that is 
in the world through lust. 

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And if you haven't escaped the 
corruption, the lust of the 

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world will only corrupt as we 
seek the divine. 

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There are lusts that will only 
corrupt you and they seem good 

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for now. 
And if you're young and you 

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think, you know, this is great, 
there's nothing wrong with this.

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It's going to show you in time 
that it's going to corrupt and 

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produce death. 
But the divine nature is where 

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we go to escape that. 
But also for this very reason. 

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For what very reason? 
For the fact that he has 

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wonderful promises, a divine 
nature. 

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And there's less that could pull
you away because of that. 

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He says for this reason, giving 
all diligence, add to your faith

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and I'm going to go ahead and 
read this and we'll go back 

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through slowly. 
He says giving all diligence add

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to your faith, virtue to virtue,
knowledge to knowledge, 

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self-control, to self-control, 
perseverance to perseverance, 

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godliness to godliness, 
brotherly kindness, and to 

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brotherly kindness, love. 
For these things are yours and a

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bound in you and a bound you 
will be neither barren nor 

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unfruitful. 
And the knowledge of our Lord 

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Jesus Christ, if you want to get
fired up to move forward and to 

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walk with God, there's no better
place to start than right here. 

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So let's let's start. 
He says for also for this very 

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reason, given all giving all 
diligence, the first point he's 

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going to acknowledge is this is 
going to take a daily effort. 

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If you tried yesterday and 
you're surprised that it's hard 

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today, he's going to say, yeah, 
that's why you need diligence. 

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And at this stage of my life, 
I'm realizing how hard it is to 

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be diligent. 
I'm realizing that there's a lot

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of things you could do for one 
day that's not always easy to do

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tomorrow, and then the next day 
and the next day and the next 

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day. 
It takes diligence. 

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It takes a daily grind. 
But you can't. 

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There's nothing that God has 
asked you to do that you can't 

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do giving all diligence add to 
your faith. 

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So he's writing to people who 
have some level of faith and 

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everyone in this audience has 
some level of faith. 

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I had a chance to talk about 
these verses with some kids in a

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in a club at school that they 
call Bible Club. 

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And I had a chance to teach to 
them. 

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And even those kids, you know 
very little about the Bible have

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some little bit of faith. 
Hopefully it's like a mustard 

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seed, the Bible says, but you 
have some little bit of faith. 

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And so maybe you don't know 
much, but you have some seed of 

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faith that has you here today. 
The Bible says that his innate 

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power in Godhead is, is is known
by all. 

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We at some point our lives may 
lose the acknowledgement, the 

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awareness that there's divine 
nature. 

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We lose the awareness. 
But God said we have all known. 

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So there's some seed of faith 
that he wants us to add to. 

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Because it's one thing to have a
faith, but it's another thing to

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live the faith. 
So what does it look like? 

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He says, add to your faith? 
Virtue. 

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What is virtue? 
It's moral excellence. 

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Moral excellence means being a 
good person, doing good things, 

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being morally excellent. 
Now, some people want to talk 

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about that like it's a holier 
than thou. 

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No, it's not. 
If that person is having a bad 

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day and they need somebody, they
need somebody who's morally 

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00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,120
excellent to be there for them, 
to support them and strengthen 

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them and be there. 
Virtue is moral excellence. 

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00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:38,480
So it's not enough just to have 
faith. 

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00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,920
You got to be morally excellent.
So take whatever you currently 

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have and go do something good 
with it. 

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If you're starting out, just in 
the beginning, go do something 

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00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:49,680
good. 
And you know what? 

247
00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:51,960
We all know what's good 
naturally. 

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00:13:52,640 --> 00:13:56,720
Generally, we all know what's 
good. 

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You can take a kid and you say I
want you to do your best today. 

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00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:02,840
If you go out and do your best, 
I'm going to give you an ice 

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00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,480
cream party. 
At the end of the day, that kid 

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is going to light up and they 
know exactly what to do. 

253
00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:09,200
Generally, OK, they might not 
know everything. 

254
00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,360
That's where we're going to get 
into something else next. 

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00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,480
They might not have all 
knowledge of what's good, but 

256
00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,920
they generally know how to do 
good things, and we do, too. 

257
00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:23,520
That's why, though, he says add 
to your faith virtue and to 

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00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:28,560
virtue knowledge. 
So as we develop the desire and 

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00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:33,200
the ability to get ourselves to 
go do something good, we need to

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00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,920
be educated about what's good. 
How can you know all the good 

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00:14:36,920 --> 00:14:39,000
things there ought to do unless 
you you learn? 

262
00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:43,280
How can we know what is right 
and good without diving into 

263
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:45,840
Scripture? 
And so that's why I believe he 

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00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,360
puts this next on the list. 
He wants us to have faith that 

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00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,200
prompts action, but that action 
is going to be misguided. 

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00:14:52,800 --> 00:14:55,160
There are things when I was 
young Christian that I thought 

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00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:59,400
were totally fine and I didn't 
know until I got knowledge that 

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00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:02,160
it was wrong, and it's something
else I needed to be doing was 

269
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:04,360
good that I just wasn't aware 
of. 

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00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:08,920
I don't know how actively the 
scriptures tell us you need to 

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00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,960
go visit widows and orphans, 
James says. 

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00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:17,480
That's real religion. 
Are you visiting widows and 

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00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,520
orphans? 
There are things you need to add

274
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:22,640
to your knowledge, their 
awareness of what is virtuous. 

275
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,640
So you add to your faith, 
knowledge of what's good, and to

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00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:31,200
knowledge we add self-control. 
So once you know this stuff, 

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00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:36,560
that's where our human will 
really hits a conflict because 

278
00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,040
at this point we've been aware 
of God and we want to do 

279
00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,800
something good until we learn 
about something that we don't 

280
00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,520
really want to do. 
And that's where you have to 

281
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:49,320
control yourself. 
And I'm made aware of that 

282
00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,080
whenever I talk to Charlie. 
And Charlie's just doing 

283
00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:53,520
something. 
I said, Charlie, control 

284
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,600
yourself. 
You have control. 

285
00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,760
There's something in one of you 
that wants to fly off the handle

286
00:15:59,760 --> 00:16:02,400
and do something else. 
I need you to take control of 

287
00:16:02,400 --> 00:16:05,200
yourself. 
And if we act as mature 

288
00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,920
Christians or older Christians 
of the faith, as if we don't 

289
00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:12,320
still need self-control, we are 
not in control of ourself. 

290
00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,760
Because we'll realize how much 
it takes to overcome the evil 

291
00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:22,440
that is pressing against us and 
maybe pressing out from within 

292
00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:26,520
us that we have to control and 
to stop and to overcome. 

293
00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,320
Because there are undoubtedly 
going to be things that feel 

294
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,360
good that we want to do. 
We have to learn again, the very

295
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,400
first word we learn as humans. 
The very first word you learn is

296
00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,160
no. 
We have to learn the word no for

297
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:45,040
ourselves sometimes, and 
sometimes no means overcoming 

298
00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:47,320
complacency. 
No, I will not be complacent. 

299
00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:51,120
No, I will not sit here and act 
like I'm doing enough today, 

300
00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:55,400
like that's good enough and 
yesterday's merits are good 

301
00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:58,040
enough. 
No, I'm going to keep moving 

302
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,320
forward. 
I'm going to take control of 

303
00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:04,800
myself and take responsibility 
for what is good, what is 

304
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,560
virtuous, and I'm going to go do
that thing I don't feel like 

305
00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,200
doing today. 
I'm going to take control of 

306
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,160
myself, whether it's a desire to
or a desire not to. 

307
00:17:14,160 --> 00:17:15,560
I got to take control of all 
that. 

308
00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:20,640
You can't control yourself and 
not just be controlled, be 

309
00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,480
carried away by the things that 
might detract from us. 

310
00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:27,880
So we have to learn to control 
ourselves. 

311
00:17:28,520 --> 00:17:32,920
Once we know, and once you learn
to control yourself, he says, 

312
00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:37,520
add perseverance. 
You got to learn to just keep 

313
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:44,360
going, to persevere through the 
successes because maybe you get 

314
00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:46,280
through the end of one day and 
you're like, man, I'm feeling 

315
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:47,360
good. 
That was successful. 

316
00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:48,760
And you're like, I got to do 
that again tomorrow. 

317
00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:51,480
That can be exhausting 
sometimes. 

318
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:56,640
But again, God will give us 
strength for the daily effort. 

319
00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:58,400
That's what daily bread is. 
That's what mana is. 

320
00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,640
It's a representation. 
Just says give us this day Our 

321
00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:02,240
Daily Bread. 
It's a representation of the 

322
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:06,480
things I need to do today. 
I need today to do it again, to 

323
00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:11,560
live a life of faith again and 
that do it again mentality is 

324
00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:13,880
perseverance. 
Yes, it was hard to control 

325
00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,160
myself, but I can persevere in 
that. 

326
00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:18,920
You need to learn to persevere, 
not against only against 

327
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:23,040
successes and through successes,
but against failure to fall on 

328
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,400
your face one day, so to speak, 
and to then go, I'm going to get

329
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,080
up again. 
I'm going to try again. 

330
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:32,200
I messed up and the devil's 
message is you're a loser, 

331
00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,480
you're never going to succeed. 
You're a failure if you follow 

332
00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:36,880
that teaching. 
That's the teaching of the 

333
00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:39,240
devil. 
Do you realize that the teaching

334
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,520
of the devil is you can't 
succeed, you're a loser? 

335
00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:44,240
Sometimes we feel like it's this
righteous voice inside of us 

336
00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,760
saying no, I if I know it's 
really right, I'm never going to

337
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:50,000
be successful. 
That is the message of the 

338
00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,320
devil. 
Reject that and hear what 

339
00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:55,520
scripture has to say. 
Scripture says no, you can't 

340
00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:59,760
control yourself and keep going 
in that despite your failures. 

341
00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:06,040
You get up again, you try again,
one man said. 

342
00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:10,320
In order to grow in anything, 
you have to face it's opposite. 

343
00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:16,000
In order to be a strong person 
physically, you have to push 

344
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,640
yourself to the point of 
weakness with muscles. 

345
00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:23,360
You have to accept the feeling 
I'm going to feel weak when I 

346
00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:27,000
try to push this load, whether 
it's on the job site or if it's 

347
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:28,920
in the gym. 
You have to push to the point 

348
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,920
that you feel weak, and then 
that makes you strong. 

349
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,280
So in your Christian life, don't
be surprised when you get to 

350
00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:38,440
feeling like you're weak and it 
hurts mentally. 

351
00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,280
Like I like this. 
That means you're being pushed 

352
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,880
towards strength. 
If you want to develop social 

353
00:19:44,880 --> 00:19:46,960
skills, you have to embrace 
awkwardness. 

354
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:48,960
You have to go out there and 
try. 

355
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,400
A lot of times it happens when 
people are young, they got to 

356
00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:54,120
push themselves past being 
awkward into social situations 

357
00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:55,960
they don't really like. 
But that's the only way to get 

358
00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:57,600
better. 
If you don't like public 

359
00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,760
speaking, the only way to get 
better is to go through the 

360
00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:03,720
awkward. 
So the only way to feel 

361
00:20:03,720 --> 00:20:05,440
comfortable is to embrace the 
awkward. 

362
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:10,960
Sometimes in order to get 
physical health after an injury,

363
00:20:11,400 --> 00:20:14,600
you have to feel more injured. 
Sometimes when I separated my 

364
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,800
shoulder, the last thing I want 
to do is rehab, right? 

365
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:21,440
Because the rehab hurts and 
you're made more aware of your 

366
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,320
injury. 
But every day I just kept doing 

367
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:26,840
it and it became healthy. 
It became a healthy shoulder. 

368
00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:29,320
There's no popping, there's no 
limited range of motion. 

369
00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:33,080
But I had to embrace the injury.
If I sat there, I wouldn't feel 

370
00:20:33,080 --> 00:20:34,400
injured. 
I feel great. 

371
00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:36,600
As long as I don't move, I feel 
fine. 

372
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:38,840
But as soon as I start to move, 
that's what hurts. 

373
00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:43,400
In order to develop health, you 
have to feel injured. 

374
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,840
Sometimes. 
In order to get strong, 

375
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,240
mentally, have mental health, 
you have to. 

376
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:55,360
You have to handle the past hurt
and you have to handle the 

377
00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:57,800
current reality of how bad you 
are right now. 

378
00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,120
Maybe it's really bad, maybe 
it's not super bad, maybe it 

379
00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,040
feels really bad, but you have 
to look that in the face and 

380
00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:06,960
deal with that. 
It's easier to numb ourselves 

381
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:11,600
with any number of things, with 
substance, with distractions, 

382
00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:14,280
with entertainment, to the point
that we don't think a thing 

383
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:15,640
about how we really are right 
now. 

384
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,240
That's easy and you feel good, 
but it doesn't make you good. 

385
00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,080
It keeps you mentally unhealthy.
But to be healthy, you have to 

386
00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,200
look unhealthiness in the face 
and you have to look at who you 

387
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,360
are right now and deal with the 
pain of where you're at, where 

388
00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:31,520
you've been. 
It's nothing. 

389
00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:33,240
It's nothing new. 
You all know this. 

390
00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,840
And so spiritual health often 
comes in the form of spiritual 

391
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:40,360
war. 
Spiritual health comes through a

392
00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:45,640
spiritual fight. 
And so if these call to 

393
00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:47,920
perseverance and all these 
things feel like, man, this 

394
00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:49,480
Christian life isn't what I 
thought it was going to be. 

395
00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:51,520
I thought I was going to walk in
and Jesus was going to sweep me 

396
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,560
off my feet and carry me on. 
Yes, but that's not always what 

397
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:59,600
it feels like. 
He's going to carry us and give 

398
00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,280
us strength that we don't have 
on our own, but it's not always 

399
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:08,680
going to feel like that. 
And so we have to be perseverant

400
00:22:08,840 --> 00:22:14,160
and to perseverance godliness. 
There's a lot of reasons why you

401
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,600
could explain the order, the way
that things they are, the way 

402
00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,960
they are here. 
I think it makes sense that 

403
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,800
until you have learned to know 
what's good, to control yourself

404
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,200
and to do it even when you don't
feel like it, how can you 

405
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,000
possibly know what it means to 
be like God? 

406
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:33,920
God and all of human history has
faced frustrating idiots like us

407
00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:37,080
and said I'm still going to be 
good to you anyway. 

408
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:41,760
And it's not until you've dealt 
with something you don't want to

409
00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,720
do and you still did what was 
good and virtuous anyway, that 

410
00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,080
you can even comprehend what it 
means to be godly. 

411
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:57,000
And that is the goal, being like
God, being more like him. 

412
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:03,280
Or we can overcome and still 
seek good despite the challenges

413
00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,600
to godliness. 
Brotherly kindness. 

414
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:08,920
Some translations say brotherly 
affection. 

415
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,040
I think that might be a little 
bit better for the trying to 

416
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:12,520
understand what he's really 
getting at. 

417
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,720
He wants us to add a God to 
godliness and brotherly 

418
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,360
kindness. 
Because there's a lot of people 

419
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:24,040
who are godly, but maybe people 
don't quite feel the affection 

420
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,880
from them. 
So you got to add that. 

421
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,240
You got to learn how to be 
affectionate like a brother, not

422
00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:33,360
like a spouse. 
It's not spousal affection. 

423
00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,360
That's why he says brotherly. 
I believe it's because it's a 

424
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,720
different kind of affection. 
It's a it's a brotherly like I'm

425
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,280
here for you and I want you to 
feel that. 

426
00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:42,640
I want you to know that. 
I want you to see that, that I'm

427
00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,560
here for you as a brother in 
support and to lock arms with 

428
00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:47,160
you and to do this thing. 
Let's go. 

429
00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:49,880
I want to make people feel that 
way. 

430
00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,360
So if you're godly, maybe you 
need to seek to make people feel

431
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:59,200
that that kindness from you. 
There's a lot of angles on this 

432
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,560
passage, but I think it's also 
important to note that there are

433
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:09,400
people who are godly in many 
areas of their life, But when it

434
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,280
comes to loving their brethren, 
maybe specifically their 

435
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:18,680
brethren in Christ, that's hard 
because we sometimes are the 

436
00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,880
shortest with the people that 
we're the closest to. 

437
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:25,920
You don't have your most fights 
with your distant friends. 

438
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,760
You know, a lot of times have 
fights, but people who are close

439
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,120
to you because you know them, 
you've been through this before.

440
00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:35,720
We've hit this wall before, and 
I'm frustrated with you. 

441
00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:40,960
And so it takes another level of
effort to be kind to your 

442
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:44,600
brother sometimes. 
Me, I had two older brothers and

443
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,240
younger sister. 
We were probably the rudest 

444
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:48,480
toward each other out of 
anybody. 

445
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,760
We would never be as rude to 
other people as we were to each 

446
00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:54,040
other sometimes. 
And so sometimes we have to 

447
00:24:54,040 --> 00:25:00,240
learn how to love each other 
despite how close we are and 

448
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:04,920
despite the warps we see in one 
another that make it hard to be 

449
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:07,560
affectionate, brotherly. 
I think that's all wrapped up in

450
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:14,040
this. 
It's a whole nother thing to be 

451
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:19,600
affectionate toward people and 
not just be sternly godly. 

452
00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:26,160
Sometimes we need to be 
affectionate beyond the goodness

453
00:25:26,160 --> 00:25:35,080
that we see in God. 
And a brotherly kindness, love, 

454
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,280
This is the last thing he says 
on this list here. 

455
00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:40,640
And you might think, well, why 
don't you start with that? 

456
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:45,080
Why don't you start with love? 
Brandon, many of you have seen 

457
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:49,000
in the past as you've studied 
this and you can see it now that

458
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,360
love is a lot. 
As you read First Corinthians 

459
00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,240
chapter 13, you realize love is 
a lot of things that require a 

460
00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,720
lot of effort that are actually 
things on this list. 

461
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,520
How can you be loving if you 
don't know how to be loving if 

462
00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:09,120
you're not a good person? 
Can you be loving if you're not 

463
00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:10,680
virtuous, if you're not a good 
person? 

464
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,640
Can you be loving if you don't 
know what's good and right? 

465
00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,720
And that's what's backwards 
about our society. 

466
00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,760
A lot our society says it's 
loving if you just accept me how

467
00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,960
I am. 
No that is not knowledge says 

468
00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:27,000
that is not true. 
Love says I don't I love you 

469
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:30,560
enough to not leave you there 
because if I love you I will 

470
00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:33,480
pull and pull and help you from 
where you stand. 

471
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,360
Not just say you're fine, do 
what you're doing. 

472
00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,480
You do you. 
No, that is not love and 

473
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:41,000
knowledge tells us that. 
So can you be loving without 

474
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:43,960
knowledge? 
Can you be loving without 

475
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:46,680
self-control? 
Man, I've been around people who

476
00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:51,600
I thought were superly, superly,
super, super good at brotherly 

477
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:53,840
affection. 
They were like, they made me 

478
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,480
feel good when I was around. 
They were like affection in a 

479
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,480
different way. 
But then there's some things 

480
00:26:58,480 --> 00:26:59,960
that happened and they flew off 
the handle. 

481
00:26:59,960 --> 00:27:02,120
They had no self-control. 
And all of a sudden I was like, 

482
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:03,840
whoa, whoa, whoa, you're not who
I thought you were. 

483
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:08,360
Can you be loving if you don't 
have self-control? 

484
00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:14,800
Can you be loving if you don't 
keep going when it's hard? 

485
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,880
Can you be loving if you are not
godly? 

486
00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:24,200
Because there's things about God
that are pure love that we could

487
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:27,480
never come up with on our own. 
Can you be loving if you're not 

488
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,280
affectionate? 
I think we might think that, but

489
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:32,400
then other people disagree. 
They're like, you're not that 

490
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,040
loving. 
There's things that people see 

491
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:36,280
in us. 
They were like, well, I thought 

492
00:27:36,280 --> 00:27:38,720
I was loving, but you didn't 
really make anyone else feel 

493
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:43,440
loved. 
And I think that's why this is 

494
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:48,800
at the end of the list, because 
that's when you start to really 

495
00:27:48,800 --> 00:27:53,640
see it all come together. 
Now, I don't believe this is the

496
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:55,320
ending point. 
I believe this is cyclical. 

497
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,840
But don't be afraid if you think
you're here, start at the 

498
00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,720
beginning. 
Maybe you need to add more 

499
00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:03,920
faith. 
Maybe you need to add more of 

500
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,040
the beginning pieces of this 
process. 

501
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,080
And it's cyclical. 
And this is the life right here.

502
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,240
This is the life we live. 
We go around and around on this 

503
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:13,160
process. 
But I hope you at least start to

504
00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:15,240
see that you have direction 
today. 

505
00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,800
I hope you see something in this
list where you're like, yeah, I 

506
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:21,040
feel like I've got that, but I 
know I think I need that right 

507
00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:22,600
there. 
And so you keep going. 

508
00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:28,040
You add to your faith. 
That is Peter's first message to

509
00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:33,600
the people in this letter. 
Add to your faith, verse 8. 

510
00:28:34,600 --> 00:28:39,320
Why should I do this? 
Because for if these things are 

511
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:43,600
yours and abound, you will 
neither be barren nor unfruitful

512
00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:45,400
in the knowledge of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 

513
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,320
So he says, if you just have a 
little bit of this sometimes in 

514
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,160
your life, you're going to 
you're going to be fruitful, 

515
00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,240
right? 
No, he says, if this here, these

516
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:59,880
are yours and about if you try 
this one time in your life, it's

517
00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:02,200
not promising good, a whole lot 
of great things. 

518
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:06,160
But if it abounds in your life 
and you make this the habit of 

519
00:29:06,160 --> 00:29:08,520
your life, like I'm going to 
keep doing this and keep going. 

520
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:11,800
He says the product will be 
guaranteed. 

521
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,040
If you had a farmer and you 
could tell him if you do this 

522
00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,960
thing, you'll be guaranteed a 
harvest, you'd be a billionaire.

523
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,280
That's what every commercial 
probably tells these farmers. 

524
00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:26,840
If you just get this pesticide 
or you just get this fertilizer,

525
00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,960
you're going to have a 
unhindered harvest. 

526
00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:36,240
It's going to be perfect. 
The Christians have a guarantee.

527
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:42,480
If you do this, you will be 
neither barren nor unfruitful in

528
00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:43,920
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

529
00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:46,560
If you have this perfect 
Peachtree, but it produces no 

530
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,600
Peaches, it's barren and it's 
unfruitful. 

531
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,520
You did all the work. 
You planted it, you dug the 

532
00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,360
hole, you, you planted it. 
You, you fertilized it. 

533
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,440
You kept the weeds out of it. 
You did all the right things and

534
00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:01,240
it produces nothing. 
It's just a waste. 

535
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:05,920
God does not want our lives to 
be a waste. 

536
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:12,200
That's the biggest, that's the 
biggest danger I think in our 

537
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:15,120
lives is that you go through all
of it, all the challenges, all 

538
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:17,560
the heartbreak, all the ups and 
downs, and then for what? 

539
00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,000
For nothing. 
He doesn't want that for us. 

540
00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:24,600
He wants us to be fruitful. 
And to be honest with you, 

541
00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:29,320
that's one of my fears is that 
am I doing the right things? 

542
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:34,400
Am I going to look back later 
and say I I was unfruitful? 

543
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:38,000
I see the results later because 
I was unfruitful, because I was 

544
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,840
not abounding in these things. 
How do I know that I'm going to 

545
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,040
look back later in life and I'm 
not going to have regrets? 

546
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,800
This passage is so comforting 
because it says if you do this 

547
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,200
stuff he just talked about, 
don't worry about that. 

548
00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,160
The product will take care of 
itself. 

549
00:30:56,120 --> 00:31:02,440
The results will show because 
that means it's possible to have

550
00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:06,040
knowledge of Lord Jesus Christ 
that does nothing for you. 

551
00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:10,360
It's possible to have a 
knowledge of Jesus Christ that 

552
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:16,760
does nothing for anybody else. 
That is terrifying. 

553
00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:23,720
That is demonic. 
Even the devil's believe and 

554
00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:25,640
tremble. 
The demons believe in tremble. 

555
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:31,760
You don't have to worry. 
If you just keep adding to your 

556
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,560
faith, these things, everything 
will take care of itself. 

557
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:38,320
You don't have to wonder like 
what is God going to do with me?

558
00:31:38,320 --> 00:31:40,440
There's some of those questions 
like God's plan for my life. 

559
00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,160
You just go. 
You just go and let the manager 

560
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:46,880
take care of the managers 
business and you take care of 

561
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:49,360
your business. 
And if you do that, you will 

562
00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:52,480
never be unfruitful in your 
knowledge of Him. 

563
00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:02,480
For he who lacks these things is
short sighted or near sighted, 

564
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,840
we might say today even to 
blindness, and it's forgotten 

565
00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:07,560
that he was cleansed from his 
old sins. 

566
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:11,320
Near sightedness For those of 
you who have eyeglasses, near 

567
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,480
sightedness is when you can only
see what's near. 

568
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,560
You can't see what's beyond your
face. 

569
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,840
And so some people will be 
sitting there reading, will be 

570
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,880
looking up and ahead of you, but
you need glasses to see close. 

571
00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:27,720
That's called farsighted. 
Farsighted, as you can see, far 

572
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:31,400
near sighted is I'm starting to 
flip myself around. 

573
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,360
Near sighted means you can't see
past right here. 

574
00:32:35,080 --> 00:32:37,480
OK, so near sighted means I can 
only see what's right here in 

575
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:39,600
front of me. 
He says if you don't have all 

576
00:32:39,600 --> 00:32:41,720
these qualities, you're near 
sighted. 

577
00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:43,680
You can't see past what's right 
in front of you. 

578
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,360
Why is that a problem? 
Because he says it leads to 

579
00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:49,520
blindness because you've 
forgotten that you're cleansed 

580
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:52,160
from his old sins. 
You're too near sighted about 

581
00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:54,440
your past. 
It's like you forgot who you 

582
00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:55,960
were. 
You can only look this far back 

583
00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:57,640
and you're like, oh, that was 
pretty good yesterday. 

584
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,480
So that's who I am. 
No, this history is you. 

585
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:02,920
Do you remember where he pulled 
you from? 

586
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:08,000
Your floor as a person is not, 
you know, a kind of a Christian 

587
00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:09,400
who messed up a few times here 
and there. 

588
00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:11,640
No, that's not your floor. 
That's not my floor. 

589
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:16,360
Our floor of our life is dead in
trespasses and sins. 

590
00:33:16,360 --> 00:33:19,720
Ephesians chapter 3. 
We were dead in our sins. 

591
00:33:20,440 --> 00:33:24,160
And so if we act like we can't 
see back far enough to see where

592
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,400
we were dead, that's 
nearsighted. 

593
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:30,240
We're blind to see what's past 
just right here. 

594
00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,640
We can't see far back enough to 
see where we came from. 

595
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:40,720
And you know, something that I 
hear past people have struggled 

596
00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:43,280
with addiction. 
Something those people say is 

597
00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:47,320
they say I can go nowhere near 
these things because I know 

598
00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:50,400
where I've been. 
I know what I've struggled with.

599
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,720
I know what my triggers are. 
I know that I can't hide my 

600
00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:58,440
weaknesses and we need to learn 
something from people who've 

601
00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,600
struggled with addiction in that
they're aware and acknowledge 

602
00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:04,640
what's their challenges are. 
But sometimes we as Christians 

603
00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,040
act like I can do whatever I 
want and I'm going to be fine. 

604
00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:12,280
We're blind to where we came 
from. 

605
00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:17,800
We came from the dust of death 
and sin and we will stay there 

606
00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:20,480
if we are not careful to add to 
our faith. 

607
00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:26,440
But also we're short sighted 
because if you don't add these 

608
00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:27,960
things, you're just living for 
the moment. 

609
00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,679
Right now. 
You can't see the consequences 

610
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:33,400
on the other side of right here 
from our face. 

611
00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,120
You can't see why oh need to 
have self-control and brotherly 

612
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:40,040
love. 
We can't see past the moment. 

613
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:45,280
And so it is short sightedness. 
And because of that you're just 

614
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:50,920
as good as being blind. 
If I can't see right here, If I 

615
00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:55,000
can't see past right here, I'm 
blind to what really matters. 

616
00:34:57,240 --> 00:34:59,120
He has forgotten. 
He has cleansed from his old 

617
00:34:59,120 --> 00:35:05,640
sins. 
Therefore, verse 10, brethren, 

618
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:10,000
be even more diligent to make 
your call and election. 

619
00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:11,800
Sure. 
The Scriptures mention this 

620
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:13,480
phrase a lot about how you are 
called. 

621
00:35:14,240 --> 00:35:17,320
You're chosen. 
Did you know you can make that 

622
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,560
more sure? 
Whatever anyone wants to tell 

623
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:23,760
you about election, we've talked
about that in past studies, so 

624
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,880
I'm not going to go into it. 
Whatever people say about having

625
00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:32,920
been called by God, you have the
ability to make that sure you 

626
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:36,920
and your own life can latch onto
that and make that a strong 

627
00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,520
surety. 
You don't have to be like, did 

628
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:41,240
God choose me? 
That's not what this is about. 

629
00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:46,000
It's about I can make it sure I 
can be the called of God by 

630
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,480
answering the call for sure. 
You don't have to wonder. 

631
00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:54,760
I in my life have struggled with
assurance of my salvation 

632
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:59,560
because it just blows my mind. 
Like how is this real for me? 

633
00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:01,880
But he says you can make it 
sure. 

634
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:04,560
You don't have to be wondering. 
You don't have to be unsure. 

635
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:10,800
If you are adding to your faith,
this will help make you sure. 

636
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:16,280
For if you do these things, you 
will never stumble. 

637
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,960
Stumbling is kind of in contrast
to what scriptures often call 

638
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:29,000
the walk of faith, the spiritual
race, an upright life, walking 

639
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,320
in the light. 
It's in contrast to think about 

640
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:35,080
stumbling. 
So what is stumbling? 

641
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:40,200
Scriptures describe falling in 
phrases like falling from grace.

642
00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:43,800
So you can fall and he doesn't 
want them to stumble. 

643
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:46,920
So stumbling might be called the
process that leads up to 

644
00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,960
falling. 
Maybe it's the the sequence of 

645
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:52,680
stumbling steps that leads to a 
fall. 

646
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:54,720
He doesn't want that. 
He doesn't want us to 

647
00:36:54,720 --> 00:36:59,640
spiritually fall. 
Spiritually destruction, 

648
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:02,840
spiritually destructive fall is 
what he wants us to avoid. 

649
00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:05,080
And I was reading after people 
who say, well, it doesn't mean 

650
00:37:05,080 --> 00:37:06,960
you're going to lose your 
salvation, which means you're a 

651
00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:09,920
fall. 
Well, why does he say next you 

652
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,640
have an abundant entrance into 
the Kingdom? 

653
00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,760
I believe he's contrasting the 
abundant entrance with stumbling

654
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:21,800
to fall. 
Judas, he stumbled and he fell. 

655
00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:24,760
Peter stumbled, but he got back 
up. 

656
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,480
This phrase stumble literally 
means a loss of footing. 

657
00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,760
That's what your foundation is. 
That's your foundation for 

658
00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,320
everything else. 
And he doesn't want these people

659
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,320
to stumble in the sense that 
they lose a strong foundation. 

660
00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:45,960
So I believe the best way to 
kind of summarise this is it's 

661
00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:49,320
not missing the mark, right? 
Because we can be living the 

662
00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,160
life of faith, walking the light
and miss the mark and sin. 

663
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:53,400
That's what the definition of 
sin is. 

664
00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,120
It's to miss the mark. 
But if we stumble, it's he's 

665
00:37:57,120 --> 00:38:01,720
like classifying it as a 
downward trajectory into a fall 

666
00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:05,040
spiritually, because we're, 
we're all going to sin. 

667
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:09,040
We're all going to miss the 
mark, but if you do these 

668
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:11,120
things, even though you missed 
the mark, you're not going to 

669
00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:18,120
fall into a cycle or a pattern 
of destruct, destructive living.

670
00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,520
I believe that's kind of the 
context of what he's saying 

671
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,440
here. 
We will still sin. 

672
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,040
We're not going to be perfect. 
There's no scripture that says 

673
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:26,720
that. 
You are never going to argue to 

674
00:38:26,720 --> 00:38:31,200
be perfect. 
But if we do these things, 

675
00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,280
you're not going to slip into 
destructive patterns. 

676
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:41,800
You're not going to be lost and 
fallen for so in an entrance 

677
00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:46,480
will be supplied to you 
abundantly into the everlasting 

678
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,920
Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ. 

679
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,120
Frank has taught on this not too
long ago. 

680
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:57,000
It's an abundant entrance. 
It's not squeaking in like I 

681
00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:59,200
think you said by by the 
skinnier teeth. 

682
00:38:59,720 --> 00:39:02,720
It's not just barely getting in.
It's an abundant entrance. 

683
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,400
If you live your life like 
wonder, am I going to squeak in?

684
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:08,200
You're probably not adding to 
your faith. 

685
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:14,480
If you're adding to your faith, 
it'll make you sure and as it 

686
00:39:14,480 --> 00:39:18,320
makes you sure it'll be an 
abundant entrance. 

687
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,240
Don't doubt it. 
If you struggle with that, talk 

688
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:24,920
to one of us. 
You need to work through things.

689
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,120
I've had to work things and do 
have still have to work through 

690
00:39:27,120 --> 00:39:30,320
things. 
So don't let that linger as an 

691
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,360
idea in your mind that is real. 
God wants you to have an 

692
00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:40,760
abundant entrance supplied to us
into the everlasting Kingdom of 

693
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:42,280
our Lord and Savior Jesus 
Christ. 

694
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:46,160
That's the that's the ideal. 
For this reason, I will not be 

695
00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:49,040
negligent to remind you always 
of these things Peter says, 

696
00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:51,280
though you know and are 
established in the present 

697
00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,040
truth. 
For this reason, he's saying, 

698
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,600
because this is the case, I need
to keep reminding you. 

699
00:39:57,880 --> 00:40:02,480
So what he's saying is you are 
now aware of this and you're 

700
00:40:02,480 --> 00:40:06,120
established in it, and yet this 
person is still writing them a 

701
00:40:06,120 --> 00:40:07,760
letter. 
How much do you think that 

702
00:40:07,760 --> 00:40:09,000
means? 
We need this. 

703
00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:14,160
If you think you can just coast 
through life and not live in the

704
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:17,480
scriptures, we're lying to 
ourselves. 

705
00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:21,080
Because he says these people 
know it and are established, but

706
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:25,520
they still need to hear it. 
I still need this or I'm not 

707
00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:30,680
going to be. 
In the right spirit frame of 

708
00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:35,640
mind to grasp it. 
And he wants them to be reminded

709
00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:38,880
always of these things, of the 
present truth. 

710
00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:42,560
Verse 13 yes, I think it is 
right. 

711
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,880
As long as I'm in this tent, 
it's a temporary earthly 

712
00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:47,200
dwelling. 
It's his body. 

713
00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:49,320
His body is a temporary place, 
His tent. 

714
00:40:49,720 --> 00:40:53,320
As long as I'm in this tent to 
stir you up by reminding you, 

715
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:58,480
knowing that shortly I must put 
off my tent because I'm going to

716
00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:01,480
die soon, I'm going to lose this
earthly body. 

717
00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:05,280
This tent as opposed to a house,
it's permanent. 

718
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:09,200
It's tent, it's temporary. 
Just as our Lord Jesus Christ 

719
00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:12,200
showed me, He had revelation 
that showed him he wasn't going 

720
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,720
to be here a lot longer. 
So he's writing this letter as a

721
00:41:15,720 --> 00:41:17,440
final admonition to these 
people. 

722
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:21,840
Moreover, I will be careful to 
ensure that you always have a 

723
00:41:21,840 --> 00:41:23,880
reminder of these things after 
my disease. 

724
00:41:24,160 --> 00:41:27,560
Isn't that cool? 
He was writing thousands of 

725
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:31,000
years ago, said I'm going to 
make sure that you don't lose 

726
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,840
this message. 
And we're still hearing it 

727
00:41:34,840 --> 00:41:40,160
thousands of years later. 
We still have the reminder after

728
00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,640
Paul or Peter's been dead for 
thousands of years. 

729
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,920
Wow. 
For we did not follow, it says. 

730
00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:50,440
For we did not follow cunningly 
devised fables, he says. 

731
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,240
The stuff that we're asking you 
to believe in, it wasn't like 

732
00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:55,280
some trick we put together. 
And that's what people try to 

733
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:56,800
say, right? 
You've heard people say that, 

734
00:41:57,200 --> 00:41:59,520
that the Bible is just like all 
these people who got together 

735
00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:03,840
made a plan to trick everyone, 
he says. 

736
00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:08,480
We didn't follow these sneaky 
tricks when we made known to you

737
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:12,280
the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we were 

738
00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:17,480
eyewitnesses of his. 
I think he actually says glory. 

739
00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:19,000
I don't know if that might have 
chopped off the end of the 

740
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,120
verse, but he says we were 
eyewitnesses. 

741
00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:24,800
The things you're reading are 
from an eyewitness to it. 

742
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:27,320
Peter saw this with his own 
eyes. 

743
00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:30,200
What did he see? 
For he received from God the 

744
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:33,440
Father honor and glory. 
When such a voice came to him 

745
00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:35,560
from the excellent glory, who is
this for? 

746
00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,680
He being Jesus, received from 
God the Father honor and glory. 

747
00:42:39,880 --> 00:42:42,920
So like we know this is this 
guy's real deal because we saw 

748
00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:44,360
it happen. 
He got honor from God the 

749
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:45,880
Father. 
When, what? 

750
00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:50,880
When such a voice came to Him 
from the excellent glory, and 

751
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:52,480
this is what the excellent voice
said to him. 

752
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:56,800
What did he say? 
This is my beloved Son in whom I

753
00:42:56,800 --> 00:43:00,800
am well pleased. 
Peter said We heard God tell 

754
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:03,160
Jesus that, God the Father tell 
Jesus that. 

755
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:06,840
And we heard his voice which 
came from heaven when we were 

756
00:43:06,840 --> 00:43:09,080
with Him on the holy mountain. 
You remember who wrote this? 

757
00:43:09,200 --> 00:43:11,880
Peter, Peter, James, and John 
went on the mount of 

758
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:14,160
Transfiguration with Jesus by 
themselves. 

759
00:43:14,480 --> 00:43:16,720
Jesus pulled them aside and only
those people got to see. 

760
00:43:16,720 --> 00:43:21,600
This is an amazing scene. 
And Jesus was transfigured 

761
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:26,400
before their faces and he's 
shown and they saw his glory. 

762
00:43:26,640 --> 00:43:29,320
Why? 
To contrast with Moses and 

763
00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:33,480
Elijah, to contrast with these 
people that they revered. 

764
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,160
He said, no, no, no, this is my 
beloved Son. 

765
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:39,840
Hear him. 
That's what the Father 

766
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:42,640
identified about the Son. 
And it's in that the Peter's 

767
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:44,440
writing the same guys, we didn't
make this up. 

768
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:48,560
We saw God identify Jesus and 
reveal his glory on the Mount of

769
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:52,960
Transfiguration. 
We're not making this up, guys. 

770
00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:56,480
This is real. 
And so we have the prophetic 

771
00:43:56,480 --> 00:44:01,880
word confirmed that confirmed it
for them, which you do well to 

772
00:44:01,880 --> 00:44:06,520
heed as a light that shines in a
dark place until the day dawns 

773
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:08,320
and the morning star rises in 
your hearts. 

774
00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:09,720
We're almost done. 
Please stay with me. 

775
00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:12,720
This is some of the most 
powerful imagery in all of the 

776
00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:17,080
scripture. 
I'm not going to try to get the 

777
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:20,280
lights all turned out right now,
but I want you to picture 

778
00:44:20,280 --> 00:44:25,160
yourself in a dark place in a 
dark cave even and I have been 

779
00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:27,000
to I think it was the moaning 
caverns. 

780
00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,240
You couldn't even see your your 
hand in front of your face. 

781
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:33,920
That's the illustration here 
that you would be, that you 

782
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:38,120
would heed the light that shines
in a dark place. 

783
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,080
If you're in those caverns, 
whenever someone turns on a 

784
00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:44,800
light, everyone's eyes go to it 
immediately. 

785
00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:48,280
You can't help it. 
Your eyes lock on it like it's 

786
00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:52,400
the only light in a dark, dark 
place, He says. 

787
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:56,480
That's how we need to be living 
our lives, looking into the 

788
00:44:56,480 --> 00:45:00,880
Scripture. 
Look at God's Word, the 

789
00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:04,400
prophetic word. 
Look at it like it's the only 

790
00:45:04,400 --> 00:45:12,200
light in a dark, dark place. 
Are you looking at the Word of 

791
00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:16,240
God like it's the only light in 
a dark place right now, Or are 

792
00:45:16,240 --> 00:45:19,040
you looking at everything else 
and that's just kind of in the 

793
00:45:19,040 --> 00:45:25,480
room with you? 
It's the only light in this dark

794
00:45:25,480 --> 00:45:28,600
place. 
The earth right now is a dark 

795
00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:29,720
place. 
In many ways. 

796
00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:36,200
It's not a surprise. 
We need the light that shines 

797
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:40,080
the Word of God in this dark 
place. 

798
00:45:40,080 --> 00:45:43,640
Until what? 
Until the day dawns and the 

799
00:45:43,640 --> 00:45:46,160
morning star rises in your 
hearts. 

800
00:45:47,160 --> 00:45:49,720
What is he talking about here? 
This is beautiful. 

801
00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:54,320
What is he talking about? 
If you look into the night sky a

802
00:45:54,560 --> 00:45:56,120
lot of times in town you can see
this. 

803
00:45:56,120 --> 00:45:58,000
You can see some beautiful stars
out there. 

804
00:45:58,440 --> 00:46:02,520
You can see some some celestial 
bodies, as First Corinthians 

805
00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:03,960
calls it. 
They're just amazing. 

806
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:10,200
And in the night sky, you see a 
dark place and there are lights 

807
00:46:10,200 --> 00:46:14,600
that are shining. 
But he wants them to identify 

808
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:16,880
the morning star. 
What is the morning star? 

809
00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:20,840
Well, when you look up at the 
night sky and you see this, this

810
00:46:20,840 --> 00:46:22,720
is the night sky through the 
Hubble telescope. 

811
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:26,040
So if you go up in the mountains
where you're away from all the 

812
00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:28,600
light pollution, you see 
something closer to this. 

813
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:31,000
You still can't see it all. 
The telescope helps you really 

814
00:46:31,000 --> 00:46:33,920
see it. 
But these stars just form a 

815
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:37,240
mass. 
They form a lot of lights that 

816
00:46:37,240 --> 00:46:39,200
are kind of unclear as to what's
what. 

817
00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:42,040
And during this day and time, if
you're trying to use that for 

818
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:43,720
navigation, it could be very 
confusing. 

819
00:46:44,720 --> 00:46:50,160
What he wants them to see is the
morning star. 

820
00:46:51,480 --> 00:46:54,000
Can you pick out the morning 
star in this sky right here? 

821
00:46:54,680 --> 00:46:55,960
You know what the morning star 
is? 

822
00:46:56,400 --> 00:47:01,760
It's a specific star. 
And even more so if you look in 

823
00:47:01,760 --> 00:47:04,480
the Hubble telescope. 
I'm not an astronomer. 

824
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,920
I don't know where the morning 
star is today. 

825
00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,840
We know that the morning star is
not just a star, it's a it's 

826
00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:12,120
actually a planet. 
It's Venus. 

827
00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:17,760
In the morning sky you can see 
Venus and it's the last star 

828
00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:19,640
left standing before the sun 
comes up. 

829
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:26,000
It's hard to see sometimes in 
the dark. 

830
00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:33,080
This is Venus. 
If you look next time there's a 

831
00:47:33,080 --> 00:47:35,560
sunrise and there's not clouds 
in the way, look to the east 

832
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:40,320
where the sunrise is coming up. 
The last star you'll see before 

833
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:43,280
the sun comes up is Venus. 
It's a planet. 

834
00:47:43,720 --> 00:47:46,400
They call it the Morning Star. 
Who is that? 

835
00:47:47,160 --> 00:47:49,200
Revelation 22 clearly 
identifies? 

836
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:53,280
That's Jesus. 
Do you see the metaphor building

837
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:54,720
here? 
You've been going through 

838
00:47:54,720 --> 00:47:56,400
darkness. 
You're in darkness. 

839
00:47:56,720 --> 00:47:59,520
The true light is coming where 
we live in the presence of the 

840
00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:03,360
sun, where we are in living in 
light right now. 

841
00:48:03,360 --> 00:48:05,880
We're living in light, right? 
You guys see the the the sun is 

842
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:06,720
up. 
We're living in light. 

843
00:48:06,720 --> 00:48:09,440
That's a metaphor for being in 
God's presence. 

844
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:12,480
But we're in the darkness right 
now, as if we're in the night, 

845
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:16,000
and he wants us to look while 
it's still dark, out before the 

846
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:18,240
sun is out before in God's 
presence. 

847
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:21,440
He wants us to see the morning 
star. 

848
00:48:22,360 --> 00:48:27,120
He wants us to see Jesus and 
what he says is if you hold on 

849
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:30,200
to this light, the word of God 
on the Bible up here, if you 

850
00:48:30,200 --> 00:48:33,360
hold on to the word of God like 
it's the only light in a dark 

851
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:35,880
place, what's going to happen is
everything else is going to 

852
00:48:35,880 --> 00:48:38,080
disappear. 
All those lights that were 

853
00:48:38,080 --> 00:48:40,840
confusing to you and like how do
you know what truth is? 

854
00:48:40,840 --> 00:48:43,040
How do I know who's the right 
God and how do I know which 

855
00:48:43,040 --> 00:48:45,480
church to be a part of? 
How do I know it's right on this

856
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:48,360
doctrinal issue or this issue? 
He says you hold on to the word 

857
00:48:48,360 --> 00:48:51,640
of God and pretty soon it's 
going to be the only light left 

858
00:48:51,640 --> 00:48:54,000
standing. 
Jesus, the bright and morning 

859
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:55,960
star is going to be standing 
there. 

860
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:58,760
The truth will be revealed. 
It'll be clear eventually. 

861
00:48:59,400 --> 00:49:03,680
This is true both in eternity's 
sake, but it's also true in your

862
00:49:03,680 --> 00:49:07,480
individual lives. 
With the questions you have, are

863
00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:09,280
you wondering about this or 
that? 

864
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:12,200
Hold on to the word like it's 
the only light in a dark place. 

865
00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:15,320
And eventually this is going to 
happen. 

866
00:49:16,200 --> 00:49:20,800
Truth will become clear. 
But you may be standing in the 

867
00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:22,760
night looking at the night sky 
and you're like, I don't know 

868
00:49:22,760 --> 00:49:30,160
what to believe. 
Hold on to the Word of God until

869
00:49:30,160 --> 00:49:35,640
the day dawns, the day starts to
come up, and the morning star 

870
00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:37,560
rises in your hearts. 
You know why? 

871
00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:40,680
This is not just an eternal 
thing. 

872
00:49:41,280 --> 00:49:44,840
Jesus will come back and then 
we're going to go to be in the 

873
00:49:44,840 --> 00:49:49,600
presence of his light. 
But I know it's also for right 

874
00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:51,600
now because he says it's in your
hearts. 

875
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:57,200
It's still in our hearts now. 
So even though we're not in the 

876
00:49:57,200 --> 00:50:02,640
presence of the Father, you can 
have that peace that leads you 

877
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:07,560
to see truth despite the lies, 
despite the mess, despite the 

878
00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:13,160
confusion, the darkness, Jesus, 
the true light will shine 

879
00:50:13,160 --> 00:50:16,320
through. 
But you have to 1st hold on to 

880
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:19,960
the Word before that day star 
comes. 

881
00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:24,080
This symbolizes the end of the 
night. 

882
00:50:25,320 --> 00:50:29,240
Jesus is the end of the night. 
He is the day that is coming. 

883
00:50:29,960 --> 00:50:32,440
The true light is coming. 
When you see that day star, you 

884
00:50:32,440 --> 00:50:35,120
know the light is on its way. 
The sun is coming up. 

885
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:37,880
God's coming back to get us. 
Jesus is coming back. 

886
00:50:38,040 --> 00:50:41,920
But right now wait to see the 
day star. 

887
00:50:42,680 --> 00:50:46,600
They will light on this star for
navigation in the night sky sky.

888
00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:50,480
If you couldn't pick out the 
Venus, which they could, they 

889
00:50:50,480 --> 00:50:52,320
could pick out Venus to to guide
them. 

890
00:50:52,560 --> 00:50:54,360
If they couldn't pick it out, 
they were lost. 

891
00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:58,880
They needed it for navigation 
and today we need Jesus and we 

892
00:50:58,880 --> 00:51:03,520
need the word for truth. 
Side note, if you're not looking

893
00:51:03,520 --> 00:51:06,960
at the Hubble telescope, this 
will increase your faith in the 

894
00:51:06,960 --> 00:51:10,960
magnitude and the power of God. 
These are photos from the Hubble

895
00:51:10,960 --> 00:51:14,080
telescope so as Christians 
please use it. 

896
00:51:14,080 --> 00:51:19,040
It's mind blowing knowing this 
first that no prophecy of 

897
00:51:19,040 --> 00:51:21,320
scripture is of any private 
interpretation. 

898
00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:24,960
The the people who wrote the 
word of God didn't give us their

899
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:26,960
interpretation what they thought
God was telling them. 

900
00:51:28,360 --> 00:51:30,680
No, it's not a private 
interpretation. 

901
00:51:30,920 --> 00:51:33,960
Therefore we can't privately say
I think it means this. 

902
00:51:34,120 --> 00:51:38,080
You can think whatever it means.
No, God gave them for prophecy 

903
00:51:38,080 --> 00:51:41,200
never came by the will of man, 
but holy men of God spoke as 

904
00:51:41,200 --> 00:51:42,560
they were moved by the Holy 
Spirit. 

905
00:51:42,680 --> 00:51:45,920
The Holy Spirit said, I want you
to say this, He gave this to 

906
00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:47,720
them. 
However you got that done. 

907
00:51:47,920 --> 00:51:50,000
I know that the Holy Spirit 
spoke through them. 

908
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:54,080
So what that means is they 
didn't pick what it meant and we

909
00:51:54,080 --> 00:51:57,440
don't pick what it means. 
God's truth needs to shine 

910
00:51:57,440 --> 00:52:00,520
through. 
And that's the end of chapter 1.

911
00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:04,720
And today, if you have not begun
walking in this light, if you 

912
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:08,320
have not identified that Venus, 
that morning star in the night 

913
00:52:08,320 --> 00:52:12,240
sky, I can tell you it's Jesus. 
And I can tell you that the 

914
00:52:12,240 --> 00:52:15,320
Bible is clear about how to be 
saved and how to become a child 

915
00:52:15,320 --> 00:52:17,040
of his. 
As we've talked today, the Bible

916
00:52:17,040 --> 00:52:20,640
says in Mark 1616, he who 
believes and is baptized will be

917
00:52:20,640 --> 00:52:23,280
saved. 
But we're told we can't just, 

918
00:52:23,560 --> 00:52:25,520
you know, keep living. 
Like he said in this chapter, we

919
00:52:25,520 --> 00:52:28,640
have to add to our faith, and 
that involves repentance. 

920
00:52:28,640 --> 00:52:32,640
It means I have to change. 
I have to go from my way and go 

921
00:52:32,640 --> 00:52:35,000
toward God's way. 
I need to change according to 

922
00:52:35,000 --> 00:52:37,160
Luke 13. 
Three, we need to confess. 

923
00:52:37,160 --> 00:52:40,720
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 
You can't just say that there's 

924
00:52:40,720 --> 00:52:43,520
God out there and all these 
stars in the sky are all great. 

925
00:52:43,720 --> 00:52:46,360
I'm going with all of them. 
No, there is one morning star, 

926
00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:49,600
that's Jesus Christ. 
We must confess Him and we have 

927
00:52:49,600 --> 00:52:52,320
to be baptized, as we already 
read in First Pier 321. 

928
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:55,360
He already addressed this. 
These people were baptized and 

929
00:52:55,360 --> 00:53:00,080
washed in baptism. 
First Pier 321. 

930
00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:03,680
If you've done that, then you 
are a child of God. 

931
00:53:03,680 --> 00:53:06,600
You may be a strange child of 
God, but you can come back today

932
00:53:07,040 --> 00:53:10,680
and you can make things right. 
If you want to do that with in 

933
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:12,520
front of the audience, say you 
can do that. 

934
00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:14,680
If you need to talk one-on-one 
to make that right. 

935
00:53:15,040 --> 00:53:16,800
Whatever we can do today to 
support you. 

936
00:53:16,800 --> 00:53:19,560
If you need to be baptized for 
their mission, their sins, if 

937
00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:22,880
you want to get started in the 
process working towards that, or

938
00:53:22,880 --> 00:53:25,400
if you need to make something 
right, please come forward while

939
00:53:25,400 --> 00:53:26,280
we stand on what we see.