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Sermon: Proverbs 6:1-19 – Practical Wisdom, or The Heart of the Matter

I preached again!

Pastor Scott is out of town on a much deserved family vacation. It also happens to be Father’s Day, and, being the only elder without kids and barely mentioning Father’s Day, it was fitting I was the one preaching.

Be forewarned: I step on all the toes.

As usual, below are my rough notes and not necessarily everything I said.

Proverbs 6:1-19 – Practical Warnings, or The Heart of the Matter

Intro

25 years ago, I was a fairly typical teenager. Like many, I dreamed of being a spy.
A major difference, possibly, is that I enjoyed rooting for the Bond villains and other bad guys. I would point out where they went wrong and how I would do things differently. I was quite adept at coming up with very plausible stories to help me get away with all sorts of bad decisions, and I almost enjoyed interfering with others’ relationships, starting fights and arguments with “innocent words.”

What made me truly want to become a criminal mastermind was learning the story of Leopold & Loeb. 100 years ago (and three weeks and five days, as of this message) these two young men, at the ages of 19 and 18, committed a crime. They were very intelligent. They were graduate students at the University of Chicago, their hometown, and in 1921 they began an intimate relationship with each other. (Yes, that kind.)

They believed in the teachings of Nietzche’s Übermenschen (supermen), humans that were more evolutionary along than other mere humans. To prove it, they planned on kidnapping and killing someone to show how much smarter than everyone they were. They settled on Leopold’s distant cousin who happened to live down the street, and this way they could be close enough the investigation to watch it unfold. So, on May 21, 1924, they lured 14-year-old Bobby Franks into a rented car, killed him with a chisel and rope, and dumped his hydrochloric-acid-drenched face and nethers (to slow down identification) in a drainage pipe near Hammond, Indiana.
Then they watched what happened, enjoying the lies and intrigue.

And I wanted to be better than them … at crime.

Thankfully, God got a hold of me not long after hearing this story for the first time.
Today, I like using my mind to see how God’s Word changes lives.
If you’ve been around long enough, you probably know one of my favorite things about biblical literature: chiasms – the hinged parallelisms of writing.

We elders were discussing the interesting ordering of Proverbs, that there seemed to be several passages about adultery, then today’s section, Proverbs 6:1-19, and then more passages about adultery. We saw it was a giant chiasm, hinging on what is found in this passage. Ultimately, we are all faithless adulterers toward God, but Proverbs 6:1-19 gives more details about this.
Let’s look at it, starting with the last four verses, 16-19.

Message

We start with the chiasm of what God hates in vv. 16-19
vv. 16-19 [Read]

  • The first and last: Haughty eyes and sowing discord
    • the prideful, know-it-alls, and never-wrongs. I think of my own dad who is very smart, often the leader wherever he works, but with a rebellious pride issue. His know-it-all attitude and pride had gotten him into many fights in his life, and, while we were growing up, he often reminded us that he knew things better than we did. I think we can learn from him, though, in that after I became a Christian he reminded me he was raised Catholic. However, he was willing to put his pride aside to hear what changed his son.
    • This prideful, know-it-all mentality can also be the preachers/teachers that give false gospels and teachings.
    • Compare this with vv. 1-5 [Read]
      • This can be used to say avoid loans. Why does it line up with haughty eyes and sowing discord.
      • The latter 4 verses show this is pledging yourself to help someone. I can be financial, but it can be offering to help accomplish a task or even defend someone – taking sides in an argument.
    • Jesus explained this more clearly in Matthew 5:21-26 [Read]
    • Add in Jesus’ pronouncement of woes against the Scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:1-12, that they set standards and rules that are impossible to live by while not helping the people they demand perfection from, tithing money and food (which was required for the Temple Tax) but not helping those in need.
    • Think, then, of this passage as saying “If you helped someone to make yourself look good, or you realized you couldn’t actually help them, you have sinned and need to confess!”
  • The next match-up in: A lying tongue and false witness
    • doesn’t need much explanation. This definitely includes false preachers/teachers, but it is the people who just lie. It can come from fear (FOMO, losing/not getting friends, not being capable, possible consequences.) Like the previous part, it can come from pride: “I don’t have to lower myself to do that!”
    • Compare this with vv. 6-11 [Read]
      • It doesn’t seem to line up at first. Obviously, this is about laziness, which is true.
      • Lazy people also don’t want to put in the hard work required of … LIFE! So they come up with excuses, like in Proverbs 26:13, the sluggard that says there is a lion in the streets! [Or a bear at Safeway!] Laziness and lying often go hand in hand. “It’s not my fault!” “Why should I have to do this?” Remember that we are to love our neighbor to love God. Not working hurts our coworkers, bosses, employees, and ultimately ourselves. It also goes against the first command of God given to Man: “WORK (… the land and care for it.”)
      • Again, going back to the first match-up of haughty eyes and sowing discord, it can also look like Proverbs 26:17-19, meddling in someone else’s argument/fight or throwing firebrands and arrows into a crowd is like the person who gets situations heated up or flat out lies and then says “Just kidding!”
    • When we act like a know-it-all or insert ourselves into situations we have nothing to do with, we claim knowledge and help we can’t really offer, so we make matters worse and then act like we didn’t mean it or even get offended. (Sounds like much of our culture today, eh?)
      • The most dangerous are the people who claim to speak for God – teachers, preachers, pastors, prophets, and apostles – [2 Peter 2:1b-3,18-22] who twist God’s Word, “secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. . . . For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves[h] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”” (Proverbs 26:11)
    • Which leads to the last pair in our chiasm …
  • The innermost pair: Hands that shed innocent blood and feet that run to evil
    • We see that false teachers mock the blood of Christ as they lead people into death.
    • Compare this with vv. 12-15 [Read]
      • False teachers are described as “worthless people, wicked men.”
      • How much do we see this in our world today, though, both inside and outside the church?
      • It all continues as a thread throughout, people who ask the same question as the serpent in Genesis 3, “Did God really say,” so that any lifestyle and sin can be justified. It is lazy interpretation of God’s Word, wicked deception from the pits of hell, and it literally costs lives.
      • It is like the fanaticism of Left-versus-Right politics, never listening to the other side, “because they’re all evil.”
      • “For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God!” (Romans 3:23)
      • It is attacking another country, raping, torturing, and killing, and acting like the victim. (Yes, like Hamas against Israel or Russia against Ukraine.) It is also like acting like the ones defending themselves are innocent victims. (Ukraine still has many socialistic practices, and Israel is “the most woke nation” in the Middle East.)
  • Which all leads to the heart of the matter
  • A heart that devises wicked plans.
    • All these other things listed come from our own hearts!
    • We are not much different from “the days of Noah” nor Israel in the time of Judges, when we live as independently as we can (“No authority over me!” Which really means we live like we don’t need God, even as we claim to be worshiping Him.) while “all the thoughts of our hearts are wicked continually.”
    • Jeremiah got it right calling our hearts deceitful and desperately wicked (17:9). Yet, many people love repeating today, “Just follow your heart!”
    • When people ask why everything is wrong in the world, we can point to sin – and it’s in everyone’s heart. Only the grace of God through the blood of Christ can redeem us, but we must trust in Christ and follow His example with the help of the Holy Spirit to be able to live a life pleasing to God.
    • Otherwise, we find ourselves to be living worthless, wicked lives. As Isaiah reminds us in 64:6, even our good works apart from Christ are like filthy, used bathroom tissues, but in Christ our works are sanctified and meaningful.
    • When we try to do things on our own, God can use them for good, but we are lying to ourselves if we think we can earn any grace or goodness or the favor of God.
  • Here is the thing: on our own, we will sin. We need God to be able to do truly good things.
    • James 2:9 reminds us that if we stumble slightly in one area, we are guilty of breaking the whole Law of God.
    • Back to Leopold and Loeb, they were caught. How? There were only three people with the specific prescription glasses Loeb had. When they were dumping the body of Bobby Franks, his glasses fell out of his shirt pocket into the mud, and he didn’t realize it until they were back home in Chicago. He was also killed in prison by fellow inmates.
    • The connection here is that it only takes a little mistake to mess everything up. These two definitely highly intelligent men followed their hearts, and it led to murder, prison, and death.
    • However, like my own story, God can redeem lazy liars and rage-filled people. He does this as He described in Ezekiel 36(:26), when by the Spirit He replaces our heart of stone with a heart of flesh. He doesn’t just melt it. He replaces it.
    • The only work it takes on our part is the faith He gives us to trust in Christ and be transformed into His likeness.
  • We can learn from this.

Conclusion

To close, we see that Leopold and Loeb were the example of being haughty, prideful, deceptive, violent fools, and in many ways we are just like them. It feels icky to think that we are little better than Hitler, but compared to Jesus, that is what we are.

We commit crimes of pride and laziness, twisting God’s Word and serving our own hearts. We want to be helpful and faithful, but we serve out of self-interest or fear more often than not.

We thus learn from this that we should seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), and the love of God will guide us in all things, redeeming our selfish, fear-filled actions to become truly good, Spirit-led works for the glory of God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The only “supermen” we tend to see in human history are liars, tyrants, and murderers. The only truly Super Man was the God-Man, Jesus Christ, the one who didn’t go out to kill but was killed for us. When we seek Him, He not only saves us from ourselves and God’s wrath, He makes us like Him.

Jesus is the wisdom of God.

Should we be wise with our money, our words, and our actions? Absolutely. And God helps us with that. Most importantly, we are wise with our hearts and souls, seeking the Wisdom sent from above to redeem us, letting Him work in and through us to redeem this world.

If He can take a violent, lying, adulterous, horrible sinner like me (and like Paul, who persecuted the Church) and turn my life around, He can do that for anyone.

You. Your family. Your friends.

Your enemies.

As Proverbs has already said multiple times, seek God. Fear and love Him, and His wisdom will come to you.

2024
06/16
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The Church Next Door Sunrise Service – March 31, 2024

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

New cross covered in snow. Isaiah 1:18

Our Pastor Scott Mitchell delivered our Sunrise message this year.

Remember that these are rough notes and not necessarily everything said!

Sunrise Sermon

One thing we have in common with Jesus: early riser…
mountain…up – fight against it or work with it…
the mountain is real…and will not be ignored… our only choice is how we respond to it…
the tomb was empty
our only choice is how we respond to it…
did the enemies in the Bible ever deny that the tomb was empty?
28:11 – behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
they never denied it…because they could not.
no they only attempted to offer another explanation because they opposed him
back to the beginning… Guard

27:62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[j] of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.
they opposed Christ – they created a situation where the only way he was getting out of that tomb was a miracle – thus solidifying the evidence that there was a miracle that day – the miracle of our Lord’s resurrection…
God will receive glory through our lives – Pharoah – in abject defeat
Moses – working with Him
today we’re going to look at 2 different responses…
that of the enemy – and that of the women who loved Jesus… at the cross.watching when he was buried…there sunday morn…
the enemy
28 Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like

lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4 And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.
fear – abject paralyzing – cause an accident fear -fear that made them faint…
why – because they had set themselves in opposition to this mighty one and his angelic messengers…
the followers
5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he[k] lay.
7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” 8 So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
why fear –

you hear the Lord you love and came to anoint his body but now he’s gone…its overwhelming…
fear – yes – you see a majestic angel and you freak out – thats the Biblical thing to do…
why great joy –
why do not be afraid …
because the victorious one who has risen is the one you love and He is on your side…
the choice is still real today – the tomb is empty –
our only choice is how we respond…
we see this in acts 17:30
Acts 17: 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
3 responses:
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked.
But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst.

34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
which group are you in this morning –
mocking – choosing the things of this world over the risen Lord?
fear – terrible gut wrenching fear is in order….
this world is going down – and if you’re clinging to it instead of trusting Christ – you’ll go down with it…
1 john 2:15-17 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires…
wanting to hear more about this? maybe you have questions…that’s ok…
Lee strobel – the case for Christ
Who Moved the Stone? Frank Morison, whose real name was Albert Henry Ross, was a skeptical British journalist when he began his research, but it convinced him of the historicity of the resurrection…
but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
what is the will of God? what does he want us to do?

John 6:28-29 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
for those who believe…
fear – yes – because this is an awesome God! but also joy –
and victory – 1 John 5:5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
this world is going down – but if you believe in the risen Lord – you will rise with Him…its as though you have on a spiritual jetpack….when the ground gives way – you will remain afloat…
what’s your response to the empty tomb?
I pray you believe and find hope in the death and resurrection of our Lord…
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Christ is risen!

Regular Sunday Service

https://www.youtube.com/live/jhgy0LrUzyk?si=BHUD7gg4-6gtyTjB

2024
03/31
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Sermon: The Message for All – Acts 8:25-40

I preached again!
I was honored to once again be with the brethren in Paulden Christian Fellowship.
As usual, these are my rough notes, so not necessarily everything I said while preaching.

The Message for All – Acts 8:25-40

Intro

Thank you who live in the wilderness of Paulden, AZ, for welcoming me.

I was challenged by some friends to continue in the book of Acts but also to include Palm Sunday and birthdays.

Easy.

Jesus began His ministry by being sent into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. He went to a place of wandering and seclusion to show He was ready to best Satan and evil and also fulfill the promises to Israel and others.

Jesus ended His ministry making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, being praised by people who would later call for His death. Yet, He came to overcome death.

Likewise, today happens to be my wife’s birthday, and I can promise you, she is excited that she can spend her birthday hearing the Word of God with the gathered saints of God.

And I promise, that as we get into Acts 8, these will be relevant. (Not so much that it’s her birthday.

In fact, ask her and many who have known me for a long time (or relatively short time), I prefer to celebrate a day other than my own birthday, October 26.

I celebrate January 9 over October 26, because that is the day I finally said “Yes” to Jesus coming into my life. I call it my Re-Birthday, the day I was born again.

Maybe you don’t remember the day you became a believer in Jesus Christ as your Savior, and that’s okay. You can celebrate your birthday, then, as the day God brought you into this world. You can celebrate the day you were baptized.

Maybe you don’t know Jesus this way, yet. It’s my prayer that after this message you may know that the message of Jesus, the gospel, is for you, and that you can believe this truth.

And for you who believe – now or later – may you be encouraged to share the truth of this message that’s for all people.

Now, join me in Acts 8, starting in verse 25.

Body

[Read Acts 8:25-40]

There are three important things to know from this passage:

  1. We must be ready with the gospel at all times.
  2. The gospel goes out to all people.
  3. The gospel is for all kinds of people.

Let’s take these one at a time:

  1. We must be ready with the gospel at all times.
    1. Philip went to the Samaritans and then found himself in a desolate place and later in more Gentile cities.
    1. For a Jewish believer, he kept finding himself surrounded by people who are unclean and unwelcome, and the wilderness was understood as the place of wandering and judgment.
      1. We’ll get to the unclean and unwelcome in a few moments.
      1. Remember, Adam and Eve were pushed into the wilderness after the Fall, and Israel spent 40 years wandering the wilderness after their unfaithfulness.
      1. This would be uncomfortable for him on many levels.
    1. Philip encounters a man reading from our Old Testament.
      1. Do you know the Old Testament at all? At least a little?
      1. Do you know the gospel well enough to connect it with Old Testament truths?
      1. Do you know the gospel well enough to connect it with situations people are in?
    1. Philip is able to share the gospel because he spent the last 4-6 years learning from Jesus
      1. He was an Apostle, following Jesus in ministry, and it’s believed Stephen was killed 1-3 years after Christ’s resurrection.
      1. If you believe in Christ, you should have a desire to learn about him and from Him.
      1. Daily study should be important. (Yes, it’s okay to miss a day reading. It’s about desire and focus.)
      1. Knowledge comes from exposure and experience. We must be studying the Word so that the Spirit can remind us of it.
        1. John 14:26 says the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and remind us of Jesus words, which is to say that He teaches us through the inspired Word, the Bible, and reminds us of what it says.
    1. As to the gospel, explaining that will cover the last two points simultaneously
  2. The gospel goes to all people.
  3. The gospel is for all kinds of people.
    1. God promised redemption, restoration, and salvation.
      1. In Genesis 3:15, God promises that a male descendent of Eve will destroy the tyranny of deception and separation.
      1. In Genesis 12:1-3, God promises Abraham that through his descendants will come one who will bless all the nations.
      1. In the Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy), specifically in Deuteronomy 18, God promises a great Prophet will arise who will teach people and show them God.
      1. In 1 Chronicles 17, God promises David that he will have a descendant who will be King forever.
      1. In the Prophets, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, God promises a savior who will be God and a Man, who will take away sins and welcome all people into God’s family.
    1. The excluded will be included.
      1. Especially in Leviticus (21-23), God explains that Gentiles (non-Israelites), murderers, anyone with deformities, and people who practice abominable practices are at best not allowed in the Temple to approach God or at worst should be killed.
        1. It specifically mentions those whose genitals are crushed or removed … as in a eunuch. They were excluded from entering the Temple at all, while there was even a place Gentiles could gather.
    1. Now consider Jesus’ words and what we see specifically through Philip.
      1. Jesus said in Matthew 11:5 and Mark 2:17 that He came to heal the sick and call sinners to repentance and righteousness.
      1. In John 4:23-24, Jesus says the time had arrived when people could worship God anywhere in Spirit and Truth.
      1. In Acts 1:8, Jesus tells the Apostles that they will be His witnesses “in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
        1. Remember that the Northern tribes were removed from prominence, their descendants having become the nation of Samaria. (They’re called Jews due to Judah being the main faithful tribe, and Judea is the area they live.)
        1. The Samaritans were “mixed-bloods,” having Gentile relations, so they were considered unclean and abominable.
          1. Where did Philip and the other Apostles go first? (8:4,25) Samaria!
        1. The understanding of the Jews is that the Queen of Sheba came from “the ends of the earth”: that was Ethiopia.
          1. Philip encounters an Ethiopian!
          1. The gospel is shown as already reaching the ends of the earth!
        1. Philip then “found himself” suddenly in mostly Gentile cities!
        1. In Jerusalem, we see Greek Jews hearing the message, then Samaritans, even a magician (sorcerer) is able to receive the message (though Simon denied it through his greed), and now we see a eunuch, someone with a deformity that keeps him from the Temple, can worship God and be included in the assembly of believers!
  4. What is the gospel?
    1. As Romans reminds us again and again, as stated in 3:9-23, all of us are sinners. Since the Fall of Adam and Eve through today, all people rebel against God and live contrary to His ways. We all think we can do something to earn salvation, earn God’s favor, that we’re good enough or because we do more good than bad that we’re okay. We can never do enough good, and in fact none of what we do is truly good (apart from Christ.)
    1. Sin is disobedience, separation, and denial of God in every area of our lives. It is not loving God as we should, people as we should, and things of this world (including people and our own ideas about God) too much.
    1. Yet, God promised a way, a Prophet King who would reveal God, restore relationship, and remove sin from our lives.
    1. Jesus is that promised Prophet King, the One who is truly God and truly Man, the only one who could perfectly obey God and make the payment only a man could make.
    1. He told us in John 3 that one must be born again, born of the Holy Spirit in faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. With faith comes a New Birth, a Re-Birthday.
    1. And we know that He reigns now in heaven, at the right hand of God as ruler and Judge.
    1. Now, not all will be believe and be saved, but He has shown us that no one is excluded from this offer of salvation and relationship: the one who hates, the one who kills, the one who is addicted to substances and money, the one who loves sex, the one who commits adultery, the prisoner, the slave, the rich, the poor, black and white and everything in between, “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). There are examples throughout Scripture.
    1. Just as Jesus came into Jerusalem being praised and asked to save us (“Hosannah!”), when we believe He can save us He comes into our lives by the Holy Spirit living in us.
    1. And when we believe this about Christ saving us, we know Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:11: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
    1. We find we have a new birth, for we are a new Creation in Christ Jesus our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:17) … and His ambassadors of the faith calling all to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).
  5. But, as James 2:17 reminds us, “faith without works is dead.”
    1. If we say we believe, but we never share it with others, do we really believe?
    1. Do we believe we are truly saved?
    1. Do we believe this message is for all people?
      1. Or do we think some are not worthy of salvation?
    1. If God can save a murdering adulterer (David), prostitutes (Rahab and Mary), vulgar fishermen (most of the Apostles), and even someone who killed Christians (Paul), people who came from God’s chosen people as well as different colors and nations, then He can save anyone.
    1. May we show we have faith by sharing that faith with others.
      1. Romans 10:8-17
  6. Jesus Himself has sent us: Matthew 28:18-20

Conclusion & Application

If you have decided today that you believe this message, awesome! Happy Re-Birthday! Welcome to the family of God! Please, let me or someone else know! You are now born again into new, everlasting life with Jesus.

If you still have questions, awesome! Please, talk with me or someone else!

For all of us who believe, may we know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the message of our salvation, and not only for us but for the whole world.

May we grow in this faith and the understanding of who Christ is, seeking God and His growing, righteous Kingdom through the reading of the Bible, listening to sermons and teachings, and encouraging each other to grow in Christ.

May we desire to share the truth of Christ with everyone we know and everyone we meet.
Yes, it’s scary at times, but it’s also so important.

And, like the Ethiopian, if you have yet to be baptized, what is stopping you? This man saw water available and asked to be baptized immediately, to show that he accepts his new Family, the Church, and that Christ is Lord.
If you desire to be baptized, tell us!

For all of us, may we see that Jesus is ALREADY marching across this world with His gospel through us, the Church. His next Triumphal Entry will be His return, when He comes to dwell with His people on earth for eternity. When He returns (or we die), it is too late to choose His Life, but we will be there celebrating our God who has saved us.

Let this encourage us to share the message for all urgently, but lovingly and compassionately.

He has sent us into the world before He comes back to the world. May we share this message with all.

Prayer

Our Lord, we thank You that you have saved us. We thank You that, even though we denied You, Your ways, and Your love, You have cleansed us, redeemed us, and called us Your own.

By Your Holy Spirit whom You sent to us, we ask that You now send us out boldly into our world to proclaim Your message. Empower us to learn this message. Embolden us to share this message. Fill us with hope, wonder, and anticipation that You are working in and through us to change this world, to prepare people for Your next Triumphal Entry, to show them that You have called us all to Yourself.

Our great God, we thank You for your Word, for Your love and grace, for Your strength and faithfulness, and for Your promise to always be with us and to go before us.

Guide us in all truth. Grow us in grace. Help us to love you by loving all with the message You have sent to us all.

Thank You for calling us friends, sons and daughters through Your Son, Your redeemed and loved ones. Thank You for new birth and new love for all, especially for You, our Creator, our Redeemer, our Father.

2024
03/24
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Sermon: For or Against: Counted Worthy – Acts 5:28-42

I preached again!
I was honored to once again be with the brethren in Paulden Christian Fellowship.
As usual, these are my rough notes, so not necessarily everything I said while preaching.

For or Against: Counted Worthy – Acts 5:28-42

Intro

Growing up: Shy kid, but antagonized religious people due to family’s history (hurt), until it clicked. Challenged teachings. Challenging things to hear got to me.

As a Christian: Frequently challenged with tough questions. Had to learn some grace and to develop a squishy-tough skin. (Huggable and patient while shrugging off attacks.)

In Acts 5, we see the early church in a similar situation:
Apostles trying to deal with new people with a need to show grace.
They also keep getting arrested, as seen here. Sometimes freed, as Pastor Paul talked about last week and will be seen again.

Last time, they were freed to go back and preach, which brings us back to being arrested again, picking up in verse 28.

Body – The Painful Truth

[Read vv. 28-32]

Point #1: The truth hurts, but we are faithful to God’s truth.

We know we should obey God rather than man, but it can be hard.
“… you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us!”
Yes! We are all guilty of Jesus’ death!

[Read Romans 3:22-25, 6:23; Colossians 2:13-14]

It is our sins that put Jesus on the cross, but it’s also the cross that forgives us, if we have faith in this truth.

Other truths hurt, too, especially when God’s Word intersects with our lives. This is why we need the “squishy-tough skin.”

Our society today says:
“Live your truth.” (John 14:6)
“Love is love.” Or “Just let people do what they want! They’re not hurting anyone.” (1 John 4:16)
“Don’t judge!” (Matthew 7:1-6)
“That’s just your interpretation.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

When we disagree with people, basing it on God’s Word, they will feel attacked and hurt.
We see it with the priests here, who are angry enough to kill.

[Read vv. 33]

When we share God’s truth, it offends our natural senses. “Why can’t I do whatever I want?!”
We’ve each felt it. We may disagree with the Bible, but I guarantee all of our disagreements come from misunderstanding or selfish pride.

The alternative is our next point:

[#1: Truth hurts, but we are faithful to God’s truth.]

Point #2: Don’t try to hurt, but be honest and reasonable.

[Read vv. 33-39a – “found opposing God!”]

The Apostles said hurtful things, and many will feel hurt by the truth, but we can learn from Gamaliel.
“Hey, if this isn’t of God, it will blow over.”
Yes, we still defend biblical truth, but who would claim to know as much as Jesus’ Apostles?

Remember, too, that the Apostle Paul had been a student of Gamaliel, but how well did he listen? [Acts 87:58-8:3]
Even as a Pharisee, he followed the leadership of the Sadducees in this area.

But look at Paul’s letters later: he defended truth, called out false teachers, and treated straying believers with grace.

Even in grace, people will react strongly and (sometimes trying to be reasonable) negatively. (Remember, the religious leaders think they’re defending good beliefs!)

[#1: Truth hurts, but we are faithful to God’s truth.]

[#2: Don’t try to hurt, but be honest and reasonable.]

Point #3: Expect to hurt, but stay faithful and joyful.

[Read vv. 39-42]

The leadership felt like they were letting the Apostles off easy with “merely” a beating.

Think of what’s happening in our society today:
If you’ve ever said anything bad (by current standards), you should be cancelled.
If you disagree with the current standards, you’re a [insert religious/sexual identity]-phobe.
If you think there really is an absolute truth, you’re stupid and wrong.

And they think they’re being kind to everyone else, and even to Christians by trying to help them get over their stuffy old ways.

Yet, our society will vilify and mock us, and we’re even seeing increased reports of attacks on churches, Christians, and ministries and Christian-owned businesses. (Nov. 15, 2023, a pastor was shot in the head while street preaching just 100 miles south of here in Glendale.)

But how can we stay joyful in our faithfulness?

Jesus told us in the Beatitudes that we who are merciful and peacemakers are blessed, and in Matthew 5:10-12 that when we are persecuted, reviled, and mocked that we should rejoice!

Why?

Look at their words: they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. They were considered worthy of the same treatment as our God.

Not for being a jerk.
Not for putting people in their place.
Not for strict adherence to a set of rules (though many will claim that’s all it is.)

They rejoiced knowing they are counted faithful like our Lord.

And we do that when we join them in going house to house teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Remember they met in houses and at the Temple.)
Stay faithful, with grace, patience, and squishy-tough skin.

Application/Conclusion

What does it look like for us?

We keep calm when situations aren’t going the way we would like, remembering everyone is trying to get through this life. [And God is in control!]

We teach others God’s truth, even when it hurts, but with gentleness and respect.
[Read 1 Peter 3:13-17]

We’re in an election year: Stick to biblical truth, but don’t get angry with those who disagree!

We expect that people will disagree with us, but we show grace.

And if someone reviles, mocks, or attacks us:
-We develop that squishy-tough skin. Yes, being vulnerable, but we let their attacks slide off of us.
-We remember that this is how they treated our Lord.
-We rejoice that Christ’s faithfulness has moved through us.

[#1: Truth hurts, but we are faithful to God’s truth.]

[#2: Don’t try to hurt, but be honest and reasonable.]

[#3: Expect to hurt, but stay faithful and joyful.]

Our worthiness is found in Christ alone, and His faithfulness. We are counted worthy when we are found in Him and His truth.

It’s easy to feel like we’re right and deserve better, but the only things Christ promised us are that we will have troubles in this world (John 16:33) and that He is always with us (Matthew 28:20), especially in our troubles.

2024
01/14
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Sermon: Do As I Say … – Matthew 23:1-12

I preached again!

As usual, these are my rough notes, so not necessarily everything I said while preaching.

Matthew 23:1-12 – Do as I say …

Intro

“Do as I say.”

What do we think of when we hear these words?

Do you hear your angry mom or dad or boss? Do you hear your own voice talking to your kids or employees or co-workers?

Do you hear reprimand?

Do you hear rebuke?

Or do you hear a command? “DO AS I SAY!” Or maybe a gentle reminder? “Please, just do as I say.”

The words that go through my head tend to be, “Do as I say, not as I do.” That hypocritical reminder that we fail, but we hope others do better. That our children will live a better life than we did growing up.

I also think about those times my parents would ask me to do something that I didn’t understand, and – sometimes with a hint of annoyance, sometimes with that gentleness of patience – they would simply say, “Do as I say,” with that implication it will make sense soon.

Message

Jesus spent the past chapter and a half talking to the religious leaders. This is the week of His Passion, the week He is crucified, and it is generally believed that it is now Tuesday. He had His triumphal entry on Sunday, He cursed a fig tree and cleansed the Temple on Monday, and He is now in the Temple having discussed His authority, the unfaithfulness of sons and tenants who even killed servants and the Son of the Master, the apparent worthiness of those invited to a wedding feast who likewise killed servants, paying taxes, and the final resurrection. The last two things discussed were the Greatest Commandment with Jesus explaining the source of His authority.

After all of this set up with the back and forth with the Pharisees, scribes (Greek: grammateis), Sadducees, and lawyers, Jesus addresses the leadership, specifically the scribes and Pharisees. A lawyer was simply one who knew the Law of Moses forward and backward. He doesn’t bother with the Sadducees. They deny the power of the Law while teaching it. Jesus focuses His attention on Pharisees, the conservative leaders, and scribes – literally the grammarians, the theologian priests who copy the Law and write the commentaries.

vv. 1-3a [Read]

In verse one we notice that Jesus directs this introduction to the crowd and His disciples. I imagine He starts out looking at them, but as He finishes verse three He shifts His gaze towards the religious leaders. He says that they sit on Moses’ seat. They are the stewards of God’s Word, delivering the message first given to Moses (and the Prophets) to the people of Israel, and they sit as judge over the people, as seen in Deuteronomy 17:9-11. This means that they are still spreading God’s truth. I can even imagine them beginning to look a little [more] smug, hearing Jesus say to listen to them. I can hear them repeating, “Yes. Do as I say.”

Then Jesus shifts, and I imagine He is fully looking at the Pharisees now.

vv. 3-7

Read v. 3: Jesus puts words in their mouths at this point: “Do as I say, not as I do.” In the next couple of weeks, we will see how He gives examples, such as keeping others from heaven while promising good things, making people worse, justifying wicked actions while hypocritically condemning others for those actions. He summarizes them here …

Read vv. 4-7: Remember the message from two weeks ago, when Jesus dealt with His authority and the Greatest Commandment.

He stressed loving God by loving others. What is Jesus saying immediately after that? The religious elite try to love God, but they do it by not loving others. It looks like they love God, because they explain His Law so well and add so many protections to keep God holy. It is loving to help people obey God’s commands, but it is not loving to give rules but not help obey them. It is loving to point people toward God, however, Jesus shows us that it is not out of love for others that the Pharisees do things.

“They do these to be seen by others.”

It is selfishness, pride, and prestige. The make themselves look good so that people think they are good and righteous. It’s not about honoring God, it’s about looking like they’re honoring God.

It is helping out in every ministry in church, but not taking time to actually help others or actively study God’s Word and thus grow in relationship with Him.
It is posting to Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok posts of your daily Bible readings, not so much because you remember what you read but to show people that you’re doing what you’re supposed to.

“They make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.”

It has been pointed out by many that there different words that could have been used by Jesus other than “phylacteries” that would have been more accurate to describe what was commanded by Moses in Exodus 13:9,16 and Deuteronomy 6:8 and 11:19. The Hebrew words “totapot” (to-faw-faw or to-ta-fof) and “tefillin”, which mean “bindings of reminder/remembrance,” or the Greek “asaleutos”, which means “immovable/unshakable” are meant to serve as reminders of God’s saving Israel from Egypt and to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, and mind.

A phylactery denotes a charm or protective ward, a superstitious or magical protection. Jesus is saying the Pharisees are using God’s Word as some sort of protective spell to keep away demons or curses rather than to actually keep God’s Word at the forefront of their minds, hearts, and actions as an act of worship and love.

Their fringes were a reminder of God’s holiness laws, as found in Numbers 15 and Deuteronomy 22. The Pharisees are showing they know all of God’s laws and keep them well. Between the two articles of jewelry/clothing, they are showing how many passages of Scripture they have memorized, how smart and biblical they are. “See how holy I am! Look! LOOK! I’m better than you!” Just like the proud pharisee in Jesus’ parable with the humble and contrite tax collector who both pray in Luke 18:9-14.

It is looking down on other Christians who don’t believe quite the same way or do things differently.
It is letting everyone know what they have done wrong without showing grace (“tie up heavy burdens, not willing to lift a finger to help.”)
It is reminding everyone of God’s standard while disobeying somewhere yourself.

“They love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues.”

They thought of themselves as better than others, so they expected good seats at events. They wanted to be the closest to whoever was teaching so that they could be seen as intense and passionate learners, lovers of the Law and good debaters.

It is having your seat at church and getting upset when someone else sits there.
It is wondering why the church isn’t doing more to serve you and meet your needs, rather than serving the brethren before your own needs.
It is arguing and debating the meaning of biblical passages and words without a willingness to learn or be proven wrong.
It is the discernment teachers who call out every sin of other teachers while neglecting to notice their own failings (maybe even saying they never sin.)

“They love greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi.”

The Pharisees loved being recognized and seen as smart. Some rabbis even demanded people give them public honor, such as bowing or kissing their hands.

It is the YouTuber who expects recognition for their great teachings.
It is the so-called “apostles” and “prophets” today who brag about their spiritual giftings and drag others into their lies and false teachings.
It is expecting non-Christians to behave like Christians, or all Christians to act exactly the same way.

Yet, these are the people Jesus says to listen to!

vv. 8-12

Read vv. 8-10: Is Jesus saying never be a teacher or pastor? Is he saying we can’t call our male parent our father?

No.

Jesus is saying stop seeking titles. Stop seeking to be better than others. Stop seeking to always correct everyone.

Seek first God and His Kingdom (Matthew 6:33), and He might make you one of the teachers and pastors. Remember James’ warning in chapter 3 of his letter: “Not many of you should become teachers, because teachers are judged more strictly. Look at the reaction the Pharisees and grammar nazis … I mean scribes are getting. Next week we get into the woes against them from Jesus Himself! But we also know teachers are held to a higher standard. Seek the standard first. What standard?

We are to love God and love others first.

How?

Jesus basically said in John 14, “Do as I say (v. 23 – “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word”) and as I do (v. 12 – “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do, and greater”).” Or, here in Matthew …
Read vv. 11-12: Love God by loving others by serving them. [Read Philippians 2:1-4] Yes, we still have interests and needs that can be taken care of, but we are to think of others first. The next several verses in Philippians remind us that Jesus did this for us, the Creator and Sustainer of everything became a servant for us, dying on a cross.

Likewise, we serve God when try to make it easier on each other to follow Him. We don’t compromise truth, but neither do we bash people over the head with it. If anyone ever had reason to be judgmental and ruthless, it was Jesus. Instead of demanding a title or going out of His way to get recognition or correcting every little issue or killing people who didn’t follow God perfectly, He showed love, grace, and mercy.

Yes, He told people to go and sin no more, but first He saw them, He heard them, and He loved them.

Application

Maybe you have fallen short of perfection. (Romans 3:23 – We all have!) It’s not rules we follow that get us into heaven and away from God’s wrath, as the Pharisees clearly believed. It is trusting in the name of Jesus, the work He accomplished when He died on a cross to wash away our sins and restore us to relationship with God. It is believing that He raised again from the dead, overcoming death and sin, giving us hope for eternity with Him, not merely sitting on clouds and playing harps but on a restored Earth with glorified bodies free of pain, suffering, and fear.

Maybe you’re the one who doesn’t show grace to others. I have been. Then it was others showing grace to me and realizing more fully God’s grace for all of us that I began to grow in grace. I have been the legalist who had to correct every little error in someone’s theology, or told others how wrong their actions were, even while making the same (or very similar) errors. Such as when I fell into a crowd of hyper-charismatics, and I knew I understood God better than others. Or when, after that, I actually read and studied my Bible, and seeing all of the connections and God’s teachings, I had to call out everything my pastors and professors said or did wrong.

It was pastors, teachers, and, yes, even people under my care and teaching that corrected me. Yes, defend the truth of God’s Word, of who Jesus is, but also remember that we are all sinners in need of grace, constantly learning and growing. Even you. Even me.

Maybe you spent this past year so focused on what everyone is doing wrong. Two chapters after reminding us to think of others first, Paul told the Philippians in 4:8-9 “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you all.”

It is easy to focus on the negative, to focus on everyone else doing everything right. It’s even easy to focus on what you might be doing wrong, but again, focus more on the positive, seeking God. As Paul said in the four preceding verses (4:4-7), “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Christ died for your failures and your sins. Give them to Him! Don’t just tell people everything their doing wrong, but rejoice with them in the good, encouraging each other to grow in godliness as the Holy Spirit transforms us more and more into the likeness of Christ.

Yes, call out false teachings, but – more importantly – teach God’s truth to each other with grace, mercy, gentleness, and respect, that people may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). Others will hear what you say and see what you do, and they just might see Jesus (1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1).

Conclusion

We are called to obey God’s commands. It is so easy to see our own failures. It is easier to see the failures in others.
We are at that time when many set resolutions: goals for the coming year. I think we see how we condemn ourselves with many of these resolutions, with the average person (64%!) giving up by the end of January!

Sometimes, we forget that the other people in church or at work or at the grocery store or on the road are going through things in their lives, just like we are. We want to be quick to complain about how stupid they’re being, or we want to put them in their place and correct them, or we think that they are uncaring or need to grow in grace. It’s easy to look at Adam and Eve, Israel in most of their history, our own families, co-workers, and friends and see the blatant mistakes and sins they made. Maybe it’s even seeing our own failures and getting upset or losing hope.

So, rather than merely setting annual resolutions or simply getting upset with others, let’s start where God told us to.
God has commanded us to love. Like Paul reminded us in Philippians 2, we look after our own needs as well as others, but like Jesus said in Matthew 6, we work diligently while seeking and trusting God to meet our needs. Loving is not always so easy to do, and it can feel impossible to love others, especially when they are in the wrong, and maybe even more when we are in the wrong.

But Jesus says, “Do as I say,” in the gentle, patient voice of a parent who really does know better. There is sometimes rebuke, when we knowingly disobey, but mostly Jesus is our compassionate teacher and friend, guiding us toward a godly, fulfilling life. When we focus on loving God by loving and serving others, it is no burden. As Jesus says in Matthew 11, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, because we can rest in the light of knowing He is in control. It’s based on His faithfulness flowing through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not always easy, but Jesus has shown us the way. So, let us draw near to God by drawing together in the unity of His love, doing what our Lord has said and done.

2023
12/31
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April 9, 2023 CND Sunrise Service

I preached again!

Specifically, I was honored to preach our special Easter Sunrise Service.

(I also happened to have a fresh cold! Sorry about the coughing.)

As usual, these are my rough notes below.

CND Sunrise Service – April 9, 2023

Let’s test this:
“He is risen!” [“He is risen, indeed!”] [Prayer]

But what about that first Easter? How did the first followers of Jesus react?

First, let’s look back at a few days earlier.
Where was Peter?
Here is the man who said he would never abandon Jesus, even if he had to die.
Yet, we know that he ran away with the others when Jesus was arrested.
Sure, in John 19 for example, he came back during the “trial” of Jesus, but he tried to stay at a distance, and then he called down curses on himself as he claimed to not know who Jesus is.
This was one of the most faithful followers of Jesus, right?

Where was John?
We know he ran away at the arrest, but John 19 also tells us that John may have stayed for the trial with the high priest. It is not clear if this was John, but the way he usually talks about himself as “another disciple” and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” implies it could have been him.
We also see he came to the crucifixion.

John 19:25-27, ESV
but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John saw Jesus on the cross, but where was he Sunday morning? Hiding with the other disciples. All of the disciples hid in a locked room (John 20:19)
But who is not staying put, during the crucifixion and on that first Easter morning?

John 20:1, 11-18
[v. 1] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

We know Mary Magdalene was accompanied by Mary (James and Jesus’ mom) and Salome (James and John’s mom). Arguably, these three women were truly faithful, but why would these Mary’s be there?
Jesus’ mom makes sense. She’s His mom and definitely had her life changed by His birth and life. Back to reading, in verse 11:

[vv. 11-15] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

Here is a woman weeping at the tomb of Jesus, and even doesn’t notice the hint of angels being present. She didn’t even notice Jesus as Jesus, thinking He was just the gardener near the tomb.

Here is a woman that Luke 8:2 and a few other places remind us had seven demons cast out of her. She may or may not have been a prostitute (Scripture is not clear on this), but at the very least she had seven demons cast out of her.

Here is a woman who had her life drastically changed by Jesus, making it possible for her to live a normal life after only-God-knows how long under demonic oppression and societal rejection.

Why was Mary Magdalene at the crucifixion and the first to the resurrection while the men all hid?

Because Jesus had touched her with His healing power, making her whole and clean again. The men did not. She was shunned, while they could move about freely (though some like Matthew/Levi did have minor obstacles).

Mary was changed from the inside out.

And in all of their grief, they all still missed Jesus.

Our grief can blind us to God.
Our own self-righteousness can blind us to God.
Our successes and failures can blind us to God.

It is only when God is with us and touches us with His healing and grace and we hear Him calling us by name can we see Him working.

[vv. 16-18] Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Have you let Jesus change your life?
It is His death and resurrection that has brought us change. It is nearly impossible to see it until we are open to hearing His voice.
And when we do, it is tempting to sit and cling to that initial feeling, but He has given us the charge to tell others that He is has saved us.

And He is risen.

Let go of your pain, your grief, your self-righteousness, your works by hearing the voice of our risen Lord.

He is risen!

And He has changed us with His power and healed us of our emotional and spiritual wounds by taking them on Himself.

And He has removed our fear and given us hope through His resurrection.

And He calls us by name in the midst of it all.

And He sends us to tell the world …

… that He is risen!

2023
04/09
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Sermon: Tasting Bitterness and Goodness – Esther 8

I preached again!

As usual, these are my rough notes, so not necessarily everything I said while preaching.

Tasting Bitterness and Goodness – Esther 8

Coffee

Pastor Scott has been leading us through the book of Esther.

There is a reminder that this is the only book of the Bible that does not mention God. We know that sometimes the things in this life can make it feel like God is not there, but our sovereign God is always moving the pieces, even if we can’t see.

It is like going to the coffee shop.

I work part-time in a coffee shop. I like making coffee for people.

Isn’t interesting how many people think they can tell their barista how to make their coffee, even to the point of giving not just bad advice but downright wrong advice about what they like?

Some people even complain that they don’t know what is happening on the other side of the counter, because they can’t see what the barista is doing.

Take it from a barista: most of us know what we’re doing, and we are not big fans of being told how to do our job or having to answer the same quality questions over and over.

Coffee obviously is not for everyone, because it is a cup of bitterness. With a good barista, that cup of bitterness can become a delicious treat. (Unless you really can’t stand coffee or have a medical condition, but that is beside the point.)

But, you may be asking, does this have to do with the book of Esther?

We know the Jewish people were handed the bitterest of cups with their people being condemned to slaughter, but we see how God made something good from it.

Promotion

Esther 8:1–2, ESV

On that day King Ahasuerus gave to Queen Esther the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was to her. And the king took off his signet ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Go back into chapter 7: the day is when Haman was revealed and put on the very gallows he had built for Mordecai.

The day Mordy should have been lifted up and killed, Esther tells the king that he is her relative who raised her, and he is instead lifted up in promotion to the old job of Haman.

Imagine the elation of the Jews: one of their own is now one of the most powerful leaders in the empire!

It is very much like elections here: when a leader we dislike is elected, we whine and complain and riot … I mean feel sad; but when a leader we like is elected, we’re happy (even if we don’t always like everything they do.)

Maybe now some good things will come.

Now some real decreeing and declaring can happen!

Let’s see how that plays out.

Seeking the King

Esther 8:3–8, ESV

Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and wept and pleaded with him to avert the evil plan of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had devised against the Jews. When the king held out the golden scepter to Esther, Esther rose and stood before the king. And she said, “If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and if the thing seems right before the king, and I am pleasing in his eyes, let an order be written to revoke the letters devised by Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the provinces of the king. For how can I bear to see the calamity that is coming to my people? Or how can I bear to see the destruction of my kindred?” Then King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him on the gallows, because he intended to lay hands on the Jews. But you may write as you please with regard to the Jews, in the name of the king, and seal it with the king’s ring, for an edict written in the name of the king and sealed with the king’s ring cannot be revoked.”

First, notice how Esther approaches her husband, the king: she still comes humbly, still has to await seeing if she has his favor, which seems obvious after this past chapter, but this was a pagan king who could kill anyone who approaches without being summoned.

Second, notice how she Esther asks the king: at his feet, weeping and pleading. This is a contrite woman who knows her people are still in danger (even if she and Mordy will probably be okay).

Third, we see the dangerous side of the Persian government: a kings decree is un-revocable. Because of this law, the king now has a possible civil war on his hands. (We also see the reminder of how impulsive he is, because he killed a mildly disobedient wife, signed a decree based on “Please, because I hate them,” and little consideration for the future.)

He has a problem he helped create, but he also now has good counselors in Esther and Mordecai. He puts his trust in them to figure out a way around the first decree.

Decreeing

Esther 8:9–14, ESV

The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel.

We recall from chapter 3 that Haman made the decree on the 13th of the first month, Nisan, to kill all the Jews in the twelfth month, Adar.

The 13th of Nisan is the day before Passover. So, the day before the Jews celebrate redemption, a law is passed saying that at the end of their year they will be killed.

It would be similar to either an Easter or Christmas massacre for Christians.

  • Christmas 2021 at a church in Myanmar (Burma).
  • Christmas 2016 in a marketplace in Berlin, Germany.
  • Christmas 2008 at churches in Congo as well as the Ortega Family in California.

But now, here are Esther and Mordy, two months and ten days after the decree, able to write their own decree: on the 13th of Adar (less than 9 months away), the Jews can not only defend themselves, but they are allowed to kill, destroy, and plunder from anyone who attacks them!

This is good news!

Now, we could ask why God would even allow these things to even happen.

As many of you know, I greatly enjoy coffee. My wife and I became coffee snobs, because there is much, MUCH better than Starbucks and many of the other chains out there. I tell you this so that you can understand where this video is coming from.

[James Hoffman video about coffee tasting]

What does Mr. Hoffman and myself drinking bad coffee have to do with God allowing such horrible things to take place (or almost take place)?

Whenever we as humans have things go well, we eventually get tired of the good things and complain. So God actually promised that He would help break the cycle.

In Deuteronomy 28 and 30, we read:

And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it. “And the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.

Deuteronomy 28:63-64, ESV

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. . . . when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3,10, ESV

So, God brings the curses, the bad things, to bring us back to Him.

Now – look around at our nation today. See the obvious rebellion and problems that necessarily follow: a culture that says people can be whatever they want, love whom they will, kill their babies (and in some countries and states the elderly and sick), inflation, hatred, etc.

As Paul told us in Romans 1:

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 1:24-32, ESV

Oh, yes. I believe God is cursing a country that was once based on God’s Law and Christian morality.

So, will we be a people that whine and complain about how horrible things have gotten, or will realize we have the ear of the King, humbly approach Him with tears and pleading, and ask Him to save this land?

Will we be a people who realize our King has already sent out His decree (Matthew 28:18-20):

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Are we going to do our part and carry this decree to everyone as quickly as we are able?

Because we have the truth, and we have received our promotion and a decree to declare to the whole world.

Good News

Esther 8:15–17, ESV

Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a robe of fine linen and purple, and the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.

Esther and Mordecai were real people in a real place in history. But we also see what God was pointing us toward.

Jesus of Nazareth, the long-awaited Messiah/Christ, was God come to us, putting on flesh, to give the example of living out God’s holy commands, to then sacrifice Himself in our place for the punishment WE deserved for our breaking His commands, and then to rise back to life and give us hope for the future.

When we believe this truth, like Mordecai, we are raised up with Christ as heirs of the promises of God. We are clothed in bright white robes of the righteousness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit (blue), and we are given a crown of glory that comes from Christ.

His authority is lived out in us to take this good news to all parts of the world, that some may declare themselves part of our People – that they may put their faith in Christ, our King who has given us freedom from the fear of death.

Like a good barista, our Maker does His work in us through the bitterness of this world. We know what the best of life is like, so we willingly go into this world full of nastiness and wrongness, and we share that bitter cup of Christ (sacrifice) that others may be able to taste and see the goodness of God.

2022
10/09
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Sermon: Growing into Friends of God – John 15:7-17

I preached again!

Once again, I was back in Paulden covering for Brother Paul. We both have been retreading ground. In my last sermon, I preached verses 1-11, and last week Paul did the same (covering things from a slightly different angle.)

This week, I started in verse 7, so only a little retreading.

As usual, these are rough notes, and I added quite a bit.

Unfortunately, the recording had a major error, so there is no video or audio. At least you can read my notes, I guess.

Growing into Friends of God – John 15:7-17

Intro – The Day I “Became a Man”

Our society today rebels against true manhood and womanhood, against all the things God calls good: family, traditional roles, childhood and parenthood.

Frankly, it is all stupid, especially as they wonder why our society is going to hell in a hand basket, even as studies keep coming out showing the importance of fathers and two-parent homes, the rise in depression especially among younger generations and even those who “find their true selves” through gender-swapping and transgenderism, and the yearning for justice that no one can find.

Yet, growing up I wanted to be like my dad.

I remember the day I knew he saw me as a man. It was a summer day in 2002. We were taking our almost annual road trip from Illinois to Upstate New York to see family and friends. I was 18-going-on-19, and I was ready for the regular 12-14 hour day of riding in the back seat, reading, playing some games with my siblings, maybe pretending to nap. (I don’t nap well while traveling.) My dad usually drove, though sometimes he would have my mom drive for a couple of hours to let himself rest a little.

We made our stop near the border of Indiana and Ohio, did the usual rest stop stuff and got some lunch, and then headed back to the car.

Dad stops me a few feet from the car, dangles the keys in front of me, and says, “Ready for your turn?”

It was huge. I knew I was a man that day.

But he also went through a quick list of “remember this and that” for safe driving and such, as well as a reminder that he would be next to me if I got worried or needed to pull over.

In other words, “You’re not a kid anymore. Remember the rules, and remember I am here to help.”

______________

Before we resume John 15, let’s remember what we’ve talked about.

The past two weeks, Pastor Paul and I covered abiding in Christ.

We discussed much about obeying God, showing we love Jesus by obeying His commands.

What are God’s commands?

  1. Love God with everything you are;
  2. Love other people;
  3. Love each other, the Church.

There are different ways of doing this, yes, but there are some specific ways of doing this.

As Pastor Paul reminded us last week, the people of Israel were supposed to be the light to world drawing other people to God. They were God’s vine that consistently did not grow good fruit, so He had to cut them off.

Not just prune the vine. He had to cut them off. First through exile, and then, after Christ’s ministry and resurrection, the destruction of the nation of Israel (until 1948).

He gave a new Vine, Himself, to make a new people, the Church.

In other words, if we want to do truly good works and find eternal life, we must be found in the Vine of Christ. Only in Christ do we find life and fulfillment. Only in Christ, the faithful Son, can we be faithful to obey.

We must be a people who desire Christ more than anything, only finding our fulfillment in Him.

This leads us back to John 15, starting in verse 7.

​Reading

John 15:7–17, ESV

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Growing Up

Just like my Old Man showed his love by letting me drive, we see here that Christ is showing God’s love for us.

We are being elevated from mere servants of God to friends.

I don’t know if I ever would have asked to drive on a road trip. That was Pop’s job. He did the hard work of driving, even if I really, really wanted to drive.

I don’t think we realize what we fail to ask God for in this life.

Many teachers, preachers, and theologians today like to teach “See! We can ask for whatever we want!” To the point that some famous preachers say they had to ask God for a new luxury car, a bigger house, and a faster private jet. Verses 7 and 16 say so!

Is this what Jesus is saying we should be doing?

“If you abide in me … whatever you ask the Father in my name …”

We should be asking according to Jesus’ will.

Am I saying we should never ask for things or to drive our dad’s car? No. God loves when we talk to Him, even over seemingly trivial things.

However, this passage and others show that we ask according to His will.

The Mega Millions was just at $1.3 Billion (a winning ticket was sold in Chicago). It got me thinking about all of those people who win and suddenly find out about family and friends they weren’t aware of. People who come asking for money and/or gifts.

That’s annoying, having people only come to you when they want something, a free handout.

Or if I had started asking random people if I could drive their car. Also annoying and silly.

But Jesus tells us that He is not inviting anyone to come ask Him and His Father for stuff.

Like my dad, He demands faithfulness to His commands, regular obedience.

He wants us to grow up.

My dad didn’t hand me keys to the car when I was five or even 16 years old (though there was practice driving from the age of 15). He waited until I had faithfully shown him that I could be trusted with a vehicle.

Likewise, Jesus says we are His friends if we obey Him. He has shown us we are friends by revealing what His will is.

He says, v. 16, that He chose us to bear fruit, so we know we can bear the fruit He wants.

He says, v. 8, that His will is to glorify the Father.

He says, v. 17, that His will is to glorify God by loving others.

He says, v. 13, that we are to love sacrificially. Even to the point of giving up our lives.

We get over our selfish desires and seek to glorify God by serving others. We are to grow up and start caring for others.

Back in the Garden of Eden, our super-great grandparents chose personal rewards over obedience, and nothing has changed since.

But now we have the Holy Spirit of God who changes our way of thinking and acting to be conformed to the likeness of Christ, to seek the will of God, to love the same way He has loved us.

Some examples

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.​
Exodus 33:11, ESV

But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, “You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off”
Isaiah 41:8-9, ESV

Moses and Abraham were murderers and liars, yet they were called friends of God because of their obedience and sacrificial love, both giving up children for God.

And through these men, God called people to Himself, not to be selfish but to seek the will of God.

In chapter 4 of his letter, James, the brother of Jesus, told us as much:​

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:1-10, ESV

So, the message?

Grow up. Be a friend of God, one who seeks His will and glory above your own, who loves God by loving others.

Be humble and realize your dependence on Him, drawing near to abide in His everlasting love.

We live in a world that says we should be seeking our own comfort and glory, but God demands obedience to His will. And He helps us be faithful if we draw near.

My dad didn’t give me the keys to the car because I was the greatest driver in the world.

He gave me the keys of the car because he loved me enough to train me to drive and rewarded my faithfulness to growing. (Even though I still had a ways to go!)

Likewise, Jesus gives us His Holy Spirit to go into the world and bring glory to God.

He promised (in the last chapter, 14:18) that He would not leave us as orphaned children, rather that He would help train us up and empower us by His Holy Spirit to preach the gospel to whole world, loving them as He has loved us.

[Hebrews 6:1] “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity,” [2 Peter 3:17-18] “beloved, knowing this beforehand, taking care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

2022
08/01
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Sermon: Abiding in Christ – John 15:1-11

I preached again!

I once again covered for brother Paul at Paulden Christian Fellowship.

As usual, I offer the reminder that these are my rough notes. In fact, I added about double the words verbally this time!

Also, there is no video this time around.

Branching Out: Abiding in Jesus: John 15:1-11

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 15:1-11

Intro

Here are some interesting things about grape vines:

  • The ground beneath a vine needs to be perfectly clean: no weeds, no fallen branches or fruit. It is hard work to keep the ground clean for a vine to grow strong and healthy.
  • Vines are creeping plants, so they want to spread out across an area. If they stay on the ground, they do not grow good fruit. Therefore, grape vines are usually help up off the ground on trellises (woven/netted fences) or forked stakes.

  • New vines are allowed to grow for three years before they can grow fruit, being pruned once a year to keep the ground clear and conserve growing energy.

  • In the winter (usually December-January) of the third year, the vine is extensively pruned to prepare for fruit growth.

  • There are two kinds of branches that grow on the vine: those that produce fruit and those that don’t. Again, to help those that produce fruit get the most energy and food, the fruitless branches are cut off, to help keep them from robbing the good branches of sustenance. They are not good for anything (except maybe some artwork) due to being too soft for construction and burning too quickly to be used for useful fires. They are at best kindling and even described in Ezekiel 15 as only good for being burned in a bonfire.

  • Israel was often described as a vine (Isaiah 5, Jeremiah2, Ezekiel 15-19, Hosea 10, Psalm 80), and for much of its history Israel used the vine as its national symbol.

Why talk about this? Because it has everything to do with our passage today! We will see what the fruitless branches look like, what a fruitful branch looks like, and we will look from the beginning of history all the way to the end of history.

The Vinedresser and Fruit

The first thing we must think about is our Father in heaven.

God created the heavens and the earth in six days. During that creative work, He made a Garden in which to place Man, giving the Man dominion over the Creation to tend it and cultivate it, to care for animals and plants, yet to enjoy the fruit and rest of that Garden.

There was only one rule established at the beginning: don’t eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

I find it interesting that Adam is not told to not eat the fruit of the Tree of Life. Is this because God Himself is that tree? It is possible, as Christ told us in the previous chapter of John that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

But our focus is that Adam – and via him Eve – was commanded not to eat of this fruit.

“Every branch that does not bear fruit, He takes away.”

Well, let’s discuss for a moment the nature of vines: that the bad branches need to be pruned off so that they do not take sustenance from the good fruit.

Adam and Eve took fruit that was not theirs. When we give in to temptation or blatantly sin, we join with them in taking fruit without permission.

When people in church are living in unrepentant sin, they are robbing the fellowship of God’s goodness.

They are fruitless and deprive those with good fruit of sharing in all goodness, because they must then share their good fruit without the benefit of return. (Not that we do good things expecting good in return in this life!)

Galatians 5 explains the works of the flesh – the lack of fruit, which leads to immorality, sensuality, idolatry, hatred, rage, divisions, and wild living. When people live this way, we perpetuate the curse of sin and draw away others from God’s goodness and fellowship.

So God cuts them off.

The bad branches are cast into the fire.
This sounds harsh. It may even sound like people can lose their salvation.

Let me share my understanding, based on the whole council of God’s Word and historical orthodox understanding: 

The bad branches are not those who once put their faith in Christ and fell away. These are those who tried to be good on their own power. They may be those who were raised in church, and even believed much of what they were taught and maybe even taught themselves. Just like the parable of the soils (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) explains, some believe and even immediately take root, but the cares of this world, worries, fears, and even greed get in the way and they die.

These are people who like God’s grace, but they take issue with other teachings in the Bible. The word translated as divisions in many modern Bibles is adequately translated in the KJV as “heresies”: different or false teachings. Those who fall away often believe false teachings.

Today it is the people who love God’s grace but hate the Bible’s “homophobia and transphobia.” After all, love is love, and God is love. So stop hating.

Today it is the people who love God’s grace but hate the Bible’s teachings on slavery and how it was used to keep the US in slavery for so long.

Today it is the people who love God’s grace but hate that the Bible seems to keep women down.

In truth, God does love all people, but He does have His standard on what love looks like. We do not hate people, but there is a best way to live, according to God.

In truth, none of these teachings are in the Bible the way these people understand them (or they understand them correctly and hate it all the same.) It does not condone slavery as seen in the 19th Century and before, but it set a standard for protection (that today looks more like the employer-employee dynamic). And the Bible is the reason women were elevated as much as they were historically, to the point that women could eventually own property, run businesses, and have a say in society.

No, these are people who take the good things from God and only keep what they like. They try to steal from God and His People while claiming they have the real goodness.

So, God cuts them off of the Vine, for they were never really a part of the Vine. (As Jesus points out in Matthew 25.) They are unable to do any truly good work (v. 5), so they are cast into the fire.

And God prunes those with good fruit.

Good branches

What does it mean that He prunes us?

It means He cuts of the parts that are not helpful. And yes, it hurts. We have to give up the things that get in the way of God in our lives.

It can look like the hard circumstances in our lives (though, yes, the hard circumstances could also be a direct result of our sinfulness.)

It can look like having something lost, taken from us, or being out of reach, like a job, a car, or a dream.

It can look like being corrected, as much as we like doing what we’re doing or as much as we would rather no one knows what we did.

But we are able to endure it if we abide in Christ.

What does abiding look like?

It is regularly attending church.
It is regularly reading the Bible.
It is regularly (and often) praying.
It is regularly helping others.

It looks like seeing the fruit of the Spirit as shown in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

These are not separate fruits, rather they are attributes of the single fruit of the Spirit. If one of these nine is missing in our lives, we are out of step with the Holy Spirit, not fully abiding in Christ. We should take a moment to examine ourselves, possibly with the help of others, to see what God wants to prune from us to keep us in step with the Sprit, abiding in Christ.

And we see the patience, joy, and self-control to go through that process.
We see the love, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness to want to help bring others into that same joy and peace.

We seek to want to help till the ground of the hearts of others to be ready to accept the gospel of Christ, understanding that it is the Holy Spirit using the Word to change their hearts.

Maybe, like Jude tells us, we are able to snatch some from the fire, to help them, as Paul says, to be truly grafted into the True Vine, Jesus.

Jeremiah called out Israel for becoming a wild vine that produces bad and even rotten fruit. But Jesus is the True Israel, the True Vine, in whom we are grafted and see the good works that can flow through us to glorify God.

As Jesus said …

Glorifying God

Abiding in Christ – being grafted in to His Vine – means we seek the glory of the Father. Our will is being conformed to His will, such that we will want to ask for things that bring Him glory and draw others to Him.

As even Pastor Paul preached, we show we are abiding in Christ, loving God, when we obey His commandments.

What are the greatest commandments?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; Love your neighbor as yourself; and the new commandment from John 13, love one another (the Church).

When we love God, we obey His commands to keep Him first and foremost in our lives, to love other people sacrificially and in truth, and we love His Church.

We are born into a world that rebels against God, and that includes our thoughts. We must realize that we naturally want to rebel and believe what the world teaches us is truth.

We believe that God literally created the world in six days, but the world teaches the universe began on its own and gradually progressed to produce every better (fitter) life. That we get better as we go along. That as a people we are smarter than in the past.

We let this sink in to our understanding today: We must know more than Christians in the past. It may be true for some things, but here we are 2000 years after Christ lived, died, and rose again still disseminating meaning from what was written in this book.

We ask for God’s wisdom through His Holy Spirit to realize where our world is influencing our understanding rather than Him and His Word. We ask for the change in our hearts and minds that only He can give us to be transformed to be more like Christ.

As James reminds us, this is the kind of thing that delights God and that He wants to grant. (See Solomon, after all.)

But what else do we ask for?

That He helps us abide in Him and bring Him all glory.

We see that the vine spreads. Likewise, Christ the Vine spreads as His Church cleans the land through the spreading of the gospel.

We do the good works of pointing people to Christ that they may be drawn near to Him. It may look like feeding and clothing the poor, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and being kind to those the world has forgotten.

Most importantly it is sharing the gospel.

Abiding Toward the Future

As we see, Christ wants us to abide in Him as He abides in the Father, and we are abiding if we are obeying His commands.

And this brings us all joy.

It is because we remember that humanity was invited to abide with God in the Garden of Eden, but through Adam (and our own sin) we rejected that.

The gospel shows us that Jesus was born to faithfully obey, and His greatest fruit was being put on a tree in the place of Adam and Eve and all of us.

The gospel shows that we can one day be with Him in Paradise, as intended.

That is the hope that we have.

If we abide in Christ, we have the hope of eternal glory in the presence of The Glory.
No more pain. No more suffering. No more want. No more tears. No more difficult labor (double meaning here).

But we are to follow in His love as Jesus followed the love of the Father.

That means that we are to live sacrificially for others for the sake of the gospel.

The Father loved Jesus, yet the love was displayed through the crucifixion.

God loves us, so we will see pain and trouble in this life for His sake.

Abiding Today

I could give a list of “this is what it looks like” to abide in Christ.

In a way, I did: attend church and small groups, read the Bible, pray, encourage each other, be a servant.

The thing is, abiding in Christ is all of this, but it also can look different for everyone.

It can be serving the hungry. (Which the food bank here does well!)
It can be listening to someone hurting: physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
It can be giving money or things to help someone in need, even to the point of wondering how all the bills will be paid this month.

Without the love of God, the fruit of the Spirit guiding our every decision and action, it does not much matter.
Therefore, we keep meeting together to encourage each other in Christ, reminding each other of the hope that we have in Christ, and … how about we let the Word tell us:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrew 10:23-25, ESV

The pastor is supposed to help us understand the Scriptures, and I pray I have helped with that today. But it takes all of us working with Christ to encourage each other to abide in Christ. It is that whole living life together thing.

How do we abide?

We trust in Christ for our salvation.
We rely on the Holy Spirit and the Church to grow us and change us.
We encourage each other and ask for the wisdom God offers.
We spread the good news of Jesus Christ throughout our community and the world by doing good works and sharing the gospel.

And we do it together, joining God in this great mission of love, grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

2022
07/18
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Sermon: Freedom and Truth in the Spirit – Galatians 5:16-26

I preached again!

While Pastor Scott is out of town, I was given the privilege of preaching on the passage about the works of the flesh versus the fruit of the Spirit.

I am sure I never to too controversial … (I mention false teachers and current political drama …)

As a reminder, these are sermon notes, so they may not necessarily have everything I actually said. (Especially seeing as, as I said at the beginning of the message, a bunch of my notes digitally disappeared! I put much of what I said in here.)

Freedom and Truth in the Spirit – Galatians 5:16-26

Intro

Be thankful.

54 weeks ago, I preached in Mark 10 and gave a mini-seminary lesson on chiastic structures in literature, especially the Bible. A chiasm, as a reminder, is when ideas flow, like a door on a hinge, such that there is a Thought A, a Thought B, and a Thought C (possibly a similar Thought C’), that then connects with similar Thought B’ and concluding with a similar Thought A’.

I could go deeper, but I will spare you a full repeat of that lesson.

I wanted to explain possibly dozens of chiasms in this little book of Galatians, and that in Galatians 5:15-26 I found a possible four chiasms! Oh, how I wanted to point out similarities between the various thoughts and how God used Paul to connect our own infighting and envy, getting over ourselves, and the goodness of God; how certain works of the flesh correlate with each other!

Instead, I will not gratify my own desires and nerdiness for language and grammar. I will leave you in the freedom of not being lectured on the intricacies of such things … so that you do not slip into sinful rage against my boring interests.

No, I will just focus on stepping on everyone’s toes, pointing out how sinful our world is and we ourselves can be! I even admit that looking at the list of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5, I see too much of myself … in all 15 things and things like these.

And, hopefully, as we go through Galatians 5:16-26, you also find the encouragement and freedom we have in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit against our own sinfulness and in His grace.

Who are we gratifying?

​Galatians 5:16–18 (ESV)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.There are many things that we want to do. There are many things that feel good. Maybe they are not in and of themselves bad, but are they necessarily the things we should be doing.

If we are in church – or even listening online or later – we are probably seeking to live good and godly lives. A good church – good pastors and leaders – will point out that even as Christians we often fail to perfectly live good lives.

How do I know?

I look at my own life! I am sure most if not all of you would be willing to admit that you know where, when, and how often you fall short.

Hamartia – the Greek word for sin that literally means “falling short of the target.”

But we do get encouragement from God’s Word, when Paul reminds us in Romans 7 that he, too, fell short:

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
Romans 7:7-25, ESV

We are content to live our lives assuming we are living well, but then God’s Law shows us that we consistently fall short. And before anyone can assume they are doing okay, we are also reminded in Romans 2 that God has written His Law on our hearts. Our own consciences betray us, knowing what we should or should not do and doing the opposite.

In other words, we are enslaved to our own sinful desires when left to our own devices. We would rather gratify our sinful, fleshly desires than seek God.

Now, as pastors Scott and Aaron have reminded us the past two weeks, when we are found in Christ we are set free from the confines of the Law. We are free to choose to please God rather than our own desires.

Paul has now told us twice – in Romans 7 and back here in Galatians 5 – that our flesh keeps us from wanting to obey God, but in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to fight back, to cast off the yoke of slavery to sin to willingly take the yoke of Christ. The Law reminds us we can’t measure up, but when our faith is in the So n of God, the Father sees the Son’s faithfulness and empowers us with the Holy Spirit to walk in the same righteous faithfulness of Christ.

But there are many who teach a twisted form of this truth.

The “Gospel” of the Flesh

​ Galatians 5:19–21 (ESV)

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Some quick definitions and explanations:

  • Sexual immorality, impurity, and sensuality:
  1. Sexual immorality is our translation of the Greek “porneia” – denotes sex outside of marriage, where we get our word for “pornography”. And as Jesus informed us in the Sermon on the Mount, even lusting is adulterous, so not merely the physical but also the emotional and imagination.
  2. Impurity comes straight out of this, that we taint the marriage bed by pursuing fantasies, personal gratification, or non-husband-and-wife relationships that interfere with marital relationships.
  3. Sensuality also comes out of this, by being tempting to others, dressing for attention (both male and female!) especially in a sexy way, pushing boundaries (“How far is too far?”).
  • Idolatry and Sorcery, sorcery being the Greek word “pharmakeia”, where we get our word for “pharmacy” – it can mean medicinal research (so not all bad), but it carries the implication of using drugs or magical manipulation to alter reality or our perception of it, i.e. trying to play God by creating new things from nothing or by illicitly combining elements of things. In other words, putting things before God or playing God, including addictions and trying to do things apart from Him, including seeking eternal life and personal happiness.
  • Enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy:
  1. Enmity and strife are making people enemies by purposefully spreading lies or gossip with the intent of causing harm, thus …
  2. Rivalries, dissensions, and divisions – purposefully and malevolently seeking to harm others to selfishly get ahead. “We’re better than they are because …” The Greek word for divisions is “hairesis” or “heresies”. People who make up new meanings and teachings to help themselves.
  3. Fits of anger and envy are slipping into rage and desiring harm to others, thinking others have it better off because of special privilege or advantage and therefore need to be taken down a peg.
  • Drunkenness and orgies go together, as the implication of drunkenness (Greek “methai” – which sounds a lot like our drugs Meth, but while that is merely coincidence it should serve as a good reminder) is one who lives in a perpetual state of being drunk, i.e. an alcoholic or addict, and the word translated “orgies” implies alcohol fueled parties in which anything goes and often does.

When I look at this list and compare my life 16 years ago, I remember thinking reading this in 2007 that my life (as a Christian!) had become all but two things on this list – sorcery/witchcraft and orgies. Yet, knowing the deeper meanings today, I can see that many of the parties I attended the previous two years fell into this, because we would have hookah mixed with other things or the crazy drink concoctions (sorcery) while having mass make-out sessions (included in the understanding of orgies). All of this is one of the reasons I understand and appreciate the Parable of the Prodigal Son and God’s grace so much more!

But let’s work through these works in light of what others may teach today:

People like to point out all of the accounts of abuse in churches, thinking it proves the Church is merely another religion of men trying to control other people.

While a few of those caught in abusive scandals in recent years do look like orthodox preachers who did horrible things, we must realize that a) non-Christians and even the irreligious are at least as guilty as people found doing such things in the Christian churches and b) the vast majority have been caught teaching heresies, man-made doctrines, and/or twisted gospels. It is an expected sign that people teaching/promoting heresies and such are later caught in abusive behaviors, be they controlling others (often through emotional and spiritual abuse) and/or sexual sins and/or addictive behaviors.

The Hillsong scandals of the past two years: a church that promotes the prosperity gospel and has been associated with known false teachers. I specifically mean those in the New Apostolic Reformation full of false prophets and apostles, such as the Bethel Church of Redding, CA, group, and the International House of Prayer out of Kansas City. Why do I mention them? Sure, they occasionally get a prophecy right and typically have good sounding statements of faith (if they have one), but the vast majority of their prophecies have been wrong. According Scripture (Deuteronomy 13 and 18, as well as smatterings throughout the Hebrew Bible), it only takes one false prophecy to be a false prophet.

These people and even some historically sound teachers argue that it merely means they attempted to prophecy in their own power, not that they’re false prophets. This is definitely a heresy (division in our list today), and it is definitely a blasphemy. They have attributed falsehood to God, what Jesus (in Matthew and Luke 12) calls blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

It is people who teach we need to be doing certain things – performing signs and wonders or loving a certain way – to be saved or to prove we are saved or to finish our salvation by doing works or making reparations for our sins and the sins of our ancestors.

It is the so-called pastors who twist Scripture to justify their own teachings and lifestyles, saying things like “Jesus never said anything about gay marriage” or “words like homosexuality were added in the past 120 years” or “they were writing to the cultural context of their day only.” If the changes in society govern how we should interpret Scripture, it would mean it is not the eternal Word of God that it claims to be, that God – who the same Scriptures say does not change – changes with the times, too.

Our fruit, they say, is to admit that love is love and that we need to be tolerant of each others’ personal truths. Embrace your fruitiness, come out of the closet, and don’t judge! Jesus said don’t judge, so stop being hypocrites and celebrate our diversity and inclusivity!

Yet, these are the very people who show their fruit by demanding their rights over the rights of others.

These are the people who say they don’t care what God’s Law says, they have their own personal freedom to do what they want when they want. They may think it is good to have out-of-control protests and riots.

These are the people who say “my body, my choice,” and then attack others – verbally and physically – such as demanding we forfeit our religious rights for their preferences, or deface and damage businesses and non-profits that they disagree with, taking away the choice of others. (Yes, I am referring to the news of the past week (and two months) of Roe v. Wade being overturned as well, as Pride Month.)

All of these are different gospels, things they those who profess them think are “good news”, but like Paul reminded us (and Pastor Scott in his messages has reiterated) these are no gospels at all. They are false gospels from false teachers. They think they have freedom, but they are still slaves to their sinful desires.

I know. I am being a bit confrontational. Science and Scripture are actually on our side.

And I can hear some of the rebuttals:

  • “But aren’t you being divisive with these words?”
  • “What happened to loving your neighbor?”
  • “Aren’t you told not to use your freedom in Christ to hurt others?”

And technically these are true, but this is using the same tactics of the serpent in the Garden.

  • “Did God really say …?” – “Why are you going against God’s Word?” (While they twist it themselves.)
  • “You will not surely die …” – “God didn’t really mean what He said.”
  • “You will be like God …” – “We have freedom, too! You are the ones not obeying!”

“Those people” are the ones misunderstanding. Jesus commanded us to judge rightly, not hypocritically, in Matthew 7, using God’s Word to examine ourselves and each other.

And how do we love others?

By revealing God’s truth, even when it hurts. No one likes hearing they are deplorable sinners, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We don’t like hearing we have spit in the face of God, slapped Him, beat Him, killed Him by our own sin.

We all have broken His righteous Law.

We all are guilty of abusing His words and His grace.

We all are guilty of putting Jesus on the cross.

Yet, it is Jesus who told people we do not take sin seriously enough, that getting rageful (from our list) is tantamount to murder, that lusting is tantamount to adultery.

It is Jesus who said to go and sin no more.

It is Jesus who said no one comes to the Father except by Me, that only those who deny themselves and believe in the Son will be saved from God’s wrath an inherit eternal life.

It is Jesus who willingly went to the cross to pay for our rebellion, our sexual immorality and impurity, our rage and jealousy and strife and division against God.

So, how do we respond?

Knowing we are just as guilty as everyone raging against the Church and God’s Word and recent Supreme Court decisions …

How do we respond?

Galatians 5:21–26 (ESV)

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

One of the things that blew my mind as a young Christian was when my pastor (also a Pastor Scott) pointed out that the word for fruit is singular. These are not nine different fruits that we may show at different times. We are looking at one tree (one vine!), and it produces a single fruit comprised of various parts.

How do we respond?

Those outside of Christ are still in the yoke of bondage to sin. They do not have the freedom they think they do.

We who belong to Christ have crucified our flesh, our desires, our passions, that we may be conformed to the image of Christ. Dying to ourselves does not sound like freedom, but as Pastor Aaron said last week, it is just like being invited into a construction site to write scriptures and prayers on the hidden structure, being told there are limits to where we can go, but for the love of those working and the officials (of the school) freely choose to stay within those limits.

And that is what we see: love (for God and others), joy (that is difficult to explain), peace (that is difficult to understand), patience (to deal with limitations on ourselves and from others), kindness (reflecting the kindness our Lord has shown us when being mocked and beaten), goodness (in the midst of evil), faithfulness (when the easy thing is to compromise and settle), gentleness (controlled strength, not reacting to attacks but from love), and self-control (when we want to give in.)

How do we respond?

We freely choose the gospel over retribution or even our own rights. We do not concede to evil, but we stand up in the midst of it, showing love and grace with a faithfulness to truth and God.

We show patience and kindness towards those who disagree with us, showing gentleness (“forgive them, for they know not what they do”) as our all-powerful God was with us who crucified His Son.

When they lose control, mocking us, getting violent, destroying property and lives, we show self-control, not getting overly angry or spiteful toward them.

We take the time to listen, to hear their hurting hearts, their fears, even their hatred. We do not relent in truth, but we stand in the truth.

It is too easy for us to give in to the passion of the moment, desiring retribution and our chance to be heard. Instead, we are crucified with Christ. It is no longer we who live but Christ in us. We walk in the Spirit, knowing that in Christ we died to our selves. We await our renewed bodies, but we walk in the renewal of our minds in the Holy Spirit. We lay down our rights to be heard and to be “right” in every argument.

But we hold to the truth.

We do not force truth on others, mocking their arguments and actions while wishing people listened to us as much as they listen to “the woke left” or even the conservative right or anyone in between.

No, we rest in the truth of God’s Word, telling others the truth in love.

Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit
1 Peter 3:13-18, ESV

Yes, we have the truth on our side, but we do not make others listen. We speak God’s Word and trust the Holy Spirit to work on their hearts.

Yes, we do work toward making our world a better place and standing for truth, but …

though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ
2 Corinthians 10:3-5, ESV

Why do we do this?

We remember that we are no different. We are just as guilty of sin and rebellion.

But Christ has saved us who believe.

So we are patient and kind and self-controlled and loving, even when we don’t necessarily feel like it.

This is why we continue meeting together: to (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:23-25, ESV

We devote ourselves to biblical teachings and the fellowship of the saints, to the breaking of bread and prayers in the awe of God.

We are in the world but not of it, so we join with God to bring heaven to Earth – patiently, kindly, and lovingly, with God’s goodness, joy, and peace which surpasses understanding.

I know I see myself too well in the works of the flesh, but I strive to enter through the narrow door, to enter the freedom of God’s rest that I may not enter into the same disobedience, for peace with everyone, for the holiness without which no one sees the Lord.

I strive for the freedom from sinfulness and bitterness that Christ offers.

I trust in Christ to change me to change the world.

I strive to live a full life in Jesus and bring others along for the ride.

Will you join me as I seek Jesus?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are the Holy One, the righteous Judge, our loving Savior. We know we have chosen to pursue our own sinful desires, to chase down our own passions, to rebel against You and each other.

We ask again for your forgiveness for all those times we fall short, when we give in to the fear of this world over the fear of the Lord, when we act self-righteous over trusting in Your righteousness, when we fight and rage against each other over seeking Your peace, when we seek our own gratification over the fullness of the Spirit.

By Your Spirit, guide us in all truth and love, that we may carry your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our own lives and to our violent, impure, rebellious world. Make Your light shine through us, helping us to trust You more and more, sharing the hope of Your yet future return, that others may come to glorify Your Name in all the Earth.

Help us to be faithful in all things, with all gifts.

2022
07/03
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