Aug. 6, 2024

One God Pt 1

One God Pt 1

We begin a review of a sermon on Ephesians 4:5

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We begin a review of a sermon on Ephesians 4:5

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Tuesday, August the sixth, twenty twenty four. It

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is currently eleven eighteen am Central time. I apologize I

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have for some reason when I said August the sixth,

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I almost said twenty twenty three. I corrected that. You

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probably wouldn't have even noticed. But in my brain was like,

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why did I think it's twenty twenty three? Like is

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what made me? Where did the three come from? Right?

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So let's do that again. Good morning everyone. It is Tuesday,

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August the sixth, twenty twenty four. It is currently eleven

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eighteen am Central time, and I am coming to you

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live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas.

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That's one of the funny things about public speaking is

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you may get ready to say something and then you

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catch yourself and you correct it. Nobody, nobody listening even

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has a clue what's going on. But in your brain

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you're going, wait a minute, why did I just say that? What? Wait?

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Did I mess something else up? Like? What's good?

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You?

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And you start trying to process everything that's going on

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while at the same time you're trying to think about

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what you're going to say next. So sometimes, at least

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this is my theory. Not all public speakers would would

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would agree with this. Sometimes I think you just acknowledge, Hey,

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my brain was doing this, and then you just you

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just correct it. You just even though there's really nothing

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to correct, you just go ahead and acknowledge it, because

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once you acknowledge it, then in your brain you can

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now get back in your typical way of speaking. As

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you're speaking, you're thinking about what you're getting ready to

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say next, as you're thinking you're getting ready to say

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you you then can get back in that flow because

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if anything messes it up, then then there's at least

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a period of time where it seems awkward, at least

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in your own mind. So, yes, for some weird reason,

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I was going to say, it's twenty twenty three. Have

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no idea why. That's one of those things that happens,

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But it is very much twenty twenty four. Maybe I

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wish it was twenty twenty three. No, not really, I

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was twenty twenty three better than twenty twenty four. I don't. No,

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I think I'm happy it's twenty twenty four, and before

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we know it will be twenty twenty five. But before

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we get to twenty twenty five, we have a challenge

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in place, right, we have a challenge in place for

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the year of twenty twenty four. And remember what that

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challenge is. In fact, now I gave you the challenge

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initially at the end of twenty twenty three, but all

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of twenty twenty four is all about the Sermons two

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point oh app. The Sermons two point oh app. You're

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supposed to download the Sermons two point oh app and

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then we have the Sermons two point oh app sermon Challenge,

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where every single day you open up the Sermon's two

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point oh app and you do what you choose a

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random sermon. Sometimes I'm giving you very specific things to

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look for, sometimes giving you very specific things to listen to.

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But for the most part, every single day you're listening

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to a sermon from the Sermon's two point oh app.

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You write down the sermon, the name of the church,

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and then you write out a summary of what that

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sermon was about, what was the goal. By the time

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we get to the end of twenty twenty four, you

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have a notebook filled with one sermon for every single

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day of the year. Now, some days you may be

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listening to five sermons to make up for the days

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that you did not listen to any. But hopefully, when

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it's all said and done, it really works out that

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you basically have one sermon for every day of twenty

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twenty four. Now, what will that mean, I don't know.

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Is it going to mean you're better off spiritually? Hopefully?

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Is that you've gained a lot of knowledge. I think

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I think we can be absolutely sure of that you've

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gained a lot of knowledge. You've definitely heard a lot

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of what's going on in churches and how churches are

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handling Word of God in preaching, and you probably will

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be able to It will be interesting when it's all

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said and done. I mean, I don't even know how

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many people are actually participating, but it will be interesting

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by the end of the year to see people try

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to assess what they gained from participating in the challenge.

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Hopefully it will prove to be very beneficial. Now, as

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a part of that challenge, for this week, you're supposed

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to be listening to the twenty twenty four Salt and

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Light Conference. I think there's currently thirteen sermons in the series,

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the twenty twenty four Sault and Light Conference. It was

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held at Tyler Primitive Baptist Church. This Tyler Primitive Baptist Church,

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the twenty twenty four Salt and Light Conference, you're supposed

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to be listening to it and remember this entire conference

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for twenty twenty four. Their focus was Ephesians chapter four,

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verse five. Ephesians chapter four, verse five, where we read

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these words one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God

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and Father of all, who is above all and through all,

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and in you all. That is the focus of the conference.

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So I challenged you a part of our other, a

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part of the sermon's two point oh app challenge, I

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guess necessarily challenge. I'll say I gave you an assignment

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as a part of your challenge that all of this week,

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it's Ephesians chapter four. Read it, read it, read it,

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and read it as you're listening to those sermons. And

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then I came along and said, well, since this is

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Ephesians chapter four, and Ephesians chapter four begins with the

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word therefore, then we're going to have to spend some

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considerable amount of time kind of looking at the structure

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of Ephesians. What is the therefour four And what we

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identified is this that the therefore in Ephesians four one

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is a transi traditional therefore because it's transitioning from the

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philological exposition to the practical exposition. The practical exposition and

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Ephesians four, five, and six flows from the philological exposition,

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which teaches us that our theology must ultimately be worked

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out in a practical way, right in a practical way.

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And so many times our practical living out our theology

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actually demonstrates that our practical living things out in many

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cases is actually contradictory to the theology we hold. And

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so what we want is a practical living out to

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the theology in a consistent way. And I'm not just

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talking about well, you know, we sin and we felt.

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I'm talking about just being radically inconsistent with your theology

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in very practical ways. And we talked about that yesterday.

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We spent almost I think we spent almost an hour

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looking at the structure of Ephesians, looking at the thilological exposition,

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and then trying to see how it plays out practically.

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So what I challenged you to do as you're reading

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Ephesians four. Everything in Ephesians four you need to stop

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and go Okay, now, wait a minute, how does this

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connect to the philological exposition of Ephesians Chapter one, two,

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and three. For example, when it says, I, therefore the

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prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of

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the calling with which you were called with all lowliness? Okay,

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what is it about the philological exposition that should bring

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us a lowliness of mind, a lowliness of attitude? So

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then you'll connect it there, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Now,

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I don't know if in this conference they do that.

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I don't know if they are like, Okay, here's what

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we're covering in Ephesians four, but we're going to constantly

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demonstrate how this is flowing from the philological exposition and

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chapters one, two, and three. I don't know if they're

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going to do that, because, as you know, when I

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review sermons, I don't listen to them first. So I've

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challenged everyone to listen to the all the sermons for

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the twenty twenty four saltan Light Conference. So guess what,

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I need to get busy listening to them. So I've

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grabbed the first one, and I'm like, well, i'll listen

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to it with you live on the air. I think

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that's a good idea. So are you ready. Let's listen

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to it together. Well, I'll offer critique analysis, I will

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offer agreement or disagreement. I will offer counter perspective, and

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hopefully by by the time i'm done, well you've heard

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their message, you've heard my critique, and you can draw

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your own conclusion. All right, so are you ready? Hopefully

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that was Okay, that's about an eight minute review. There's

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a lot more I could say there, there's a lot more,

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but there you go. And also, I know I also

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give you another assignment on the words salt and light,

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but we won't get into that right now. We'll pick

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an appropriate time and how to work on that. I'm

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still thinking about what to do with that. I've given

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you an assignment, but I won't do I won't say

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anything about that here, but trust me, I have not

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forgotten that assignment either. We've got a lot going on. Okay,

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so here we go. The one thing we can we

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can't worry about all the things we have to do.

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We can only focus on what we can do. And

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what we can do right now is grab one of

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the first messages from the twenty twenty four Salt and

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Light Conference. It's on Efusion, chapter four, verse five. We're

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going to see how they handle the verse, and I'm

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going to see how they handle it in light of

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the therefore that starts the very chapter. Are you ready?

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Here we go.

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I want to be mindful of your time where I preach.

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I have a clock to look at, so I'll adjust

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and use my phone. But anyway, I'm honored and humbled

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to be here, and thank you for your invitation. Let's pray,

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Holy Father, you know the congregation, you know the minister,

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and you know that we need you. We can have

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a little say, we can go through our worship, and

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we can be as you describe the congregation at Corinth

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that want, upon one occasion that they came together for

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the worse and not the better. We don't want to

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do that, and so we ask for your divine presence

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on us all for your honor and your glory in

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Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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Brother Joseph has already read the text, and so I

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won't reread it for you. My part is to according

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to the schedulest talk to one regarding one God and

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one father of all. However, this section tells us how

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that a congregation is to be unified.

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Okay, so all right, this is somewhat interesting. He's saying

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that this section is telling us how a congregation is

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to be unified. Now, remember Ephesians four to one has

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the therefore this is a transition. So the transition is

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we've gone from the theological exposition to now the practical exposition.

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Now just remember therefore, I therefore the prisoner of the

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Lord beseech you. Now he's begging them, pleading with them,

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teaching them, calling them to himself to beseech them, to

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encourage them, to challenge them to do certain things. But

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it flows from the philological exposition that came before. So

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I'm gonna pull up everything from the philological exposition from

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all of my notes yesterday. Okay, And if you remember,

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if you remember, if we go all the way back,

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remember if we kind of do a summary of Ephesians

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chapters one through three. Remember, chapter one is about the

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spiritual blessings in Christ. Chapter two, Paul explains how believers

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were dead in their sins but made alive in Christ

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by grace through faith. Paul emphasizes that Christ has broken

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down the dividing wall between you and gentile, creating one

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new humanity and reconciling both to God. I think this

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is in Ephesians two. I think it's eleven through twenty

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two Ephesians two, starting in verse eleven. Therefore, remember that

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you want that you once gentiles in the flesh, who

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are called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made

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in the flesh by hands. But at that time you

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were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,

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and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope,

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and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus,

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you who were once far off, have been brought near

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by the blood of Christ. For He himself is our

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peace who has broken, who has made both one, and

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has broken down the middle wall of separation. So are

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unity comes from our redemption in Christ that is laid

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out in the philological exposition in Ephesians two. So now

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he is saying that in Ephesians four, the section is

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about how are we to be unified? Well, is it

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how we are to be unified? Or is it beseeching

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them to be unified, or that unity should now manifest

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itself in a practical way. As a result of the

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philological exposition in Ephesians two, which gave us the philological

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basis for our unity. We are unified in Christ Jesus.

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So maybe we could argue this way. In our position

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in Christ, there is perfect unity. And if you are

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in Christ and I am in Christ, we are perfectly

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unified in Christ. We are one in Christ. There's neither

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jew gentile, there's neither male or female. No, it doesn't matter,

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race doesn't matter, culture doesn't matter anything, because we are

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one in Christ. We stand perfect in His imputed righteousness.

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We are declared perfect because of His imputed righteousness. We

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stand there perfectly unified, perfectly blessed, perfect, holy and righteous.

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But now that positional unity has to be made manifest,

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or we seek to make it manifest in a practical way.

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So is he going to tell us how we're to

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be unified or is this going to be simply the

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challenge to be unified. Well, let's see how he handles this.

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Remember this was written to a congregation, and the Body

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is speaking of the congregation in all reality, and so

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the passage bearish testimony of Christian unity. We live in

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a day when people try to have e communical unity

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of various kinds and sorts. But you cannot be unified

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unless you are unified on the truth of the scriptures

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and the truth of the Gospel. And there.

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Now see, you can't be unified unless you're unified on

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the truth of the scriptures, are unified about the Gospel.

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Now gonna, I'm gonna challenge this a little bit. Now

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we are unified in Christ Jesus period like, there is

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perfect unity in Christ. That's our positional unity. Practically, it's

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easy to say, well, we can't have any unity unless

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there's unity about the Word of God and unity about

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the Gospel. But here's the thing. Nobody agrees on the

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Word of God, nobody agrees on the Gospel, nobody agrees

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on anything. So so then then unity becomes very difficult.

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People have a hard enough time agreeing inside the church.

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Now we should so on one thing. We have to

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We have to rely on the fact that we are

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unified in Christ Jesus. He's broken down that wall of separation.

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We are now one, neither June nor gentile, because we

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are in Christ Jesus. That is spiritual unity, practical unity.

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I guess you could say, well, there can be no

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practical unity unless we agree on this or this or

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this or this. But even if you say agree on

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the Word of God or agree on the Gospel, then

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you've got to say, well, what must I agree with

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you on the Word of God about? All right? Just

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what the Word of God is or on an interpretation

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of it the gospel? Well, who gets to define then

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what the gospel is? Is it the Calvinist? Is it?

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The Armenian? Is it? Lordship? Is it non lordship? Who

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gets to who gets to? Who gets to? Is it? Pelagian?

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Semi Pelagian, Augustinian like? Who gets to decide? That becomes

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much more complicated. All right, but all right, let's see,

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let's see where he's going to go here.

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Therefore, congregational unity to be based upon unity accordingly, and.

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I understand congregational unity in a practical way. But here's

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what I think we should do. The congregational unity is

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first needs to be understood that we are one in

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Christ Jesus. We need to cling to our positional unity,

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right because because so many times our practical unity can

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disintegrate and fall apart relatively quick. Right, So, but we

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can say wh whoa whoa whoa whoa whah. All right,

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we disagree. We may never agree on this, but can

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we agree that we are one in Christ Jesus. Now

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how that should play out? And practically? Okay? But so

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I think he's looking very much at the practical application.

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But he's not. He's not. Again. Therefore, if this section

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is about how about unity, this unity has to flow

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from the unity taught in Effhesions two, from the philological perspective,

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which is our spiritual one. That I'm gonna I'm gonna

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really emphasize that over and over, because as you go

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through Ephesians four, I want you to connect everything to

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the philological exposition in one, two, and three. I'm gonna,

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I'm just gonna. I'm gonna. You're gonna get tired of

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hearing me say that. All right, So here we go.

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Let's let's see how he he he maps all of

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this out.

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Uh. Also, there to have agreement in the congregation and

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to have a congregation functioning together must be according to

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the majority. When Paul wrote to the congregation at Carnate

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UH and talking about one who was disciplined. He was

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disciplined by the majority. And I bring that up because

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and Brother Zach probably remembers this. When Brother Poe Uh

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and Grace Chapel was constituted, he spoke about having unity

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within the congregation and he said that if say you

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vote on something and the majority rules, which well you're

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supposed to be scripturally.

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Okay, the majority rules. Then in scripture the concept is

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that the majority rules. Wow, okay, all right, I'm going

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to all right, I'm gonna I'm gonna do something here.

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I'm going to grab I'm gonna grab what do I have? Okay,

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I can't grab my note Well, I'm gonna grab my

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notebook here, I'm going to grab my notebook, my journal,

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actually my leather bound journal. Love this thing. I'm going

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to use this, and I'm going to I'm gonna I'm

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gonna write something down because I think this is an

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interesting discussion, right, I'm going to write down as a question.

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Does the Bible teach majority rule? Does the Bible teach

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the idea that the majority rules that that's how you

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that's how you come to the conclusion. Is it's based

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off the majority? All Right, I'm gonna. I'm gonna, let's

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let's ask Ai. I don't know if AI can be

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of much assistance here, but I'm going to ask it. Okay,

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So I'm going to ask. Does the Bible teach majority rule?

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All right? You see here? Yeah, that does not help

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me very much here. All right, let's say it this way.

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Does the Bible teach the majority is right? All right?

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The Bible does not teach that the majority is always right.

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In fact, there are numerous instances where the majority is

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depicted as being in the wrong, and where following God's

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will requires going against the majority. Noah's arc Israelites in

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the wilderness, many prophets, Jesus teaching early Christians. All right.

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So these examples illustrate the Biblical teaching emphasizing faithfulness to

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God and his commands over conformity to the majority views

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or practices. So with in a congregation, now this gets

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very complicated with in a congregation, does the majority rule?

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If a decision is being made, and let's say you

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have a congregation of say one hundred and seventy of

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the one hundred, say this is the right way. Now,

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maybe if it's not a scriptural issue, maybe if it's

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like which carpet to get, we're gonna do this with

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the building, We're gonna do that. Like there's not really

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a scriptural issue. Then I think you would say then

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the majority would rule because you kind of you if

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you're especially if you're congregating. Well, wet's see. Now this

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is kind of interesting because it wouldn't it depend on

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your church form of government. If it's congregational, lad, then

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the majority would determine right. Doesn't mean the majority would

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be right. If it's elder led, then it would be

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with the majority of the elder say, not what the

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majority of the congregation wants correct if it's led by Oh,

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this could get into a lot of interesting discussions here,

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but I think just from a I think it's very

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I think we at least need to distinguish this the

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Bible nowhere, and I agree with the AI here and

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the illustrations that give. I don't think the Bible in

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any way would in shape or form, would say the

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majority is always right or the majority is the source

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of truth, because in many cases the majority is completely wrong.

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It's the minority that is right. But I think what

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we would have to say is that the Bible determines

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what's right and wrong, not majority or minority. Now, the

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only problem with that is nobody can agree on what

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the Bible actually says. So then the majority could be right,

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the minority could be right. You don't know who could

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be right, because well, everyone thinks they're right in their

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own eyes. So then just becomes complicated. I guess if

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you're not not scriptural issues, then I guess you would

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rely on the majority. If I guess if you're a

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congregational led type church, right in my opinion.

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But anyway, the majority rules, then the do not say

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well they got their way. The minority's attitude should be, well,

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that's what they want, that's what I want to And

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when Brother Poe said that, I never will forget that

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always made a lasting impression upon me.

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All right. So in the church, according to this theory

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is that if the majority wins, if the majority wins,

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If the majority wins, then at least, according to this view,

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if the majority wins whatever issue there is, the minority

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should be should not just simply say well the majority won.

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The minority should say, well, I'm glad this is what

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I want to. So if the majority wins, the minority

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just like that's what I want to and just immediately

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goes along with it. Now that sounds great in theory. Again,

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I think you have to be very careful how you

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articulate this. Right, if it's scriptural issues, I don't think

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you can just go, well, the majority said this, so

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this is what I want. The Bible would completely contradict that.

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But I guess if it's in non scriptural issues, right

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about what we're going to do this, or we're going

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to do this, or we're going to do this, or

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we're going to do this. But almost no matter what

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issue you face in the church, someone could come along

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and make it a scriptural issue, could they not. I mean,

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there's very few things that you can do in a

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church that someone would not then say, well, this is

403
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a biblical issue based on this scripture. I think you're wrong.

404
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All right. I don't know what any of this has

405
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to do necessary with Ephesians four, as far as any

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of the texts he's supposed to be looking at. But

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if this is about unity, his argument is unity. Now again,

408
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the unity should be based off I'm going to go

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back therefore the unity whatever, if unity is going to

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be discussed here it has to be linked to the

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philological exposition of chapters one, two, and three, and the

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thiological exposition teaches a spiritual unity because we are in Christ. Now,

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how does that play out in practical ways? Well, his

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argument so far is basically majority rules. That's how you

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have unity. You have a majority, they make a decision.

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The minority then says that's what we want to They

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simply go along with all Right, let's see. I don't

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I think this is just almost maybe a deal. This

419
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may be actually not help me. I don't think this

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is where he's going. So maybe he's just kind of

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throwing this in, which is going to kind of be

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frustrating because we almost just need to stop here and

423
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have this discussion. But you can, you can think out

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how all this would possibly play out in a in

425
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a in a practical way, let's see where he goes

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with this.

427
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But also the majority shouldn't say, well, we got our way.

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They should be supathetic to the minority. In other words,

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the purpose of congregation of worship is for the honor

430
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and the glory of God. It's not for individual personalities.

431
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It's for the honor and glory of God. And Paul

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was writing this to the congregation at Ephesis for this purpose.

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And therefore he said that they were to walk worthy

434
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of the vocation with what they were called, and to

435
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keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

436
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Unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Another

437
00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:44.480
thing that I might say, and I know that I'm

438
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going to have to rush home, because I've got more

439
00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:49.240
down here than I can.

440
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They should endeavor to keep the unity of peace. But

441
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I think they endeavor based off the unity that we

442
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have in Christ. It must flow from that spiritual reality,

443
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the practical living. It out flows from the spiritual positional

444
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reality that is described in Ephesians two.

445
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Uh present in the time allotted. But this oneness of

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body and spirit and Lord and faith and baptism in

447
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God is a oneness in kind. It's a oneness in kind.

448
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In other words, the scripture talks about God's many and

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Lord's many. In Second Caribbeans, Chapter eight, it also talks

450
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about baptisms in plural. In Hebrews, it talks about one

451
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faith that the devils have, and so they have one faith,

452
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and therefore the they have the wrong kind of faith.

453
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They have the wrong kind of faith. There's one body.

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And I'm persuaded that the body of Christ in the

455
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New Testament I don't have time to go into this

456
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:18.200
is always the local assembly. Is always the local assembly.

457
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I know that's not according to modern Christianity, but anyway,

458
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I'll just leave that with you for if you want

459
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to ask me about it, feel free. I'll be glad

460
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to discuss it with you.

461
00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:41.480
Okay, Just from a purely preaching perspective, I'm somewhat confused

462
00:30:41.799 --> 00:30:45.279
in this. I don't really understand the approach here, right.

463
00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.359
If the approach is okay, my job is to preach

464
00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:52.240
on one God, on one Lord, one God, one father

465
00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:55.279
of all, all right, And so he wants to turn

466
00:30:55.319 --> 00:30:58.680
this into unity. But the unity here, if we're gonna

467
00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:02.839
the practical apple of the unity, flows from the unity,

468
00:31:03.039 --> 00:31:05.640
the philological unity, and Ephesians too, because we have the

469
00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:08.519
word therefore the beginning of this section. So, but if

470
00:31:08.559 --> 00:31:10.680
you want to go, so he wants to go one Lord,

471
00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:15.839
one God, one faith, that these are a oneness of kind. Right.

472
00:31:15.839 --> 00:31:18.400
There There may be many lords, but this is the

473
00:31:18.440 --> 00:31:23.039
one Lord of this kind, one God. There are gods plural,

474
00:31:23.279 --> 00:31:25.839
but there is one God of this kind. Right, And

475
00:31:25.880 --> 00:31:28.000
I understand he's trying to draw a distinction. There are

476
00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:31.880
many baptisms, but there's only one baptism of this particular kind. Okay,

477
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:35.000
drawing a distinction where there's times things are spoken of

478
00:31:35.039 --> 00:31:37.839
in a plural way versus in a singular way. Okay.

479
00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:40.880
But my question would be, if this is found and

480
00:31:41.000 --> 00:31:44.759
a section dealing with unity, what does the one God,

481
00:31:44.839 --> 00:31:48.039
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father.

482
00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:51.559
Why is this emphasis on one of all of these things.

483
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:55.039
How does it relate to then the unity of us

484
00:31:55.119 --> 00:31:57.920
or the unity of the congregation. I'm assuming that's where

485
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:01.039
he's going to go. He just he's throwing out a

486
00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:04.400
lot of little different concepts. Let's see. It's just weird

487
00:32:04.400 --> 00:32:06.359
how he's kind of putting this together. But let's see

488
00:32:06.359 --> 00:32:06.960
where it goes.

489
00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:13.519
But though there are God's many and Lord's many, Paul

490
00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:16.759
went on to write in Second Corinthians, but to us

491
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:22.720
there is one God and one Lord. There's only one

492
00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:27.440
that is described in the right kind. And much more

493
00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:30.599
could be said about that, but I don't have time

494
00:32:31.039 --> 00:32:33.680
to go into it, but just wanted to bring that

495
00:32:34.200 --> 00:32:41.839
to our attention. And by the way, complete and full

496
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:48.680
unity cannot be attained when two different rules for authority

497
00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:54.160
is used. If brother Zach and I want to build

498
00:32:54.160 --> 00:32:58.519
a house, and he says twelve inches is a foot,

499
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:03.400
say fourteen inches is a foot, we can't build a

500
00:33:03.440 --> 00:33:08.640
house together. We're not in unity. And I say that

501
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:12.640
by saying that a congregation in order to be unified,

502
00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:19.160
needs to have the same authority, the same authority. My

503
00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:25.279
authority is the Masuretic text and the Texas receptives the

504
00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:30.359
Maasuretic texts of the Hebrew scriptures, and the Masuretic text

505
00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:36.000
for the Greek behind the best English translation, the King

506
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:36.839
James version.

507
00:33:39.519 --> 00:33:42.079
Okay, so all right, this this is interesting. He's he's

508
00:33:42.119 --> 00:33:46.400
not doing he's not even addressing that this unity in

509
00:33:46.599 --> 00:33:51.559
four flows from the philological exposition of unity in chapters one, two,

510
00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:55.000
and three. So the therefore has been completely thrown out

511
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:58.119
of this, all right, But so let's go with this argument.

512
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:00.000
All right, So he kind of threw out the majority.

513
00:34:00.400 --> 00:34:02.640
Now if he throws if you throw in the majority rule,

514
00:34:02.960 --> 00:34:05.400
now he's seeing the real authority is scripture. So then

515
00:34:05.400 --> 00:34:08.159
that means the majority rule may not always be right,

516
00:34:08.280 --> 00:34:11.320
unless you're just gonna say we're only referring to the

517
00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:15.599
majority rule and non scriptural issues. But the majority is

518
00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:19.519
not always right if you're establishing that the real authority

519
00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:22.679
is the Bible. Now he's arguing the masoretic texts and

520
00:34:22.760 --> 00:34:26.079
Texas receptives. Basically, what he's saying is the King James

521
00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:29.039
is the authority. So we have to agree on the

522
00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:32.440
King James and then that is the authority. Well, let

523
00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:36.920
me make it very clear. I very much lived a

524
00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:39.239
good portion of my Christian life in the King James

525
00:34:39.360 --> 00:34:42.119
only world, right, in the independent fundamental Baptist world. I

526
00:34:42.199 --> 00:34:45.719
went to schools that were KJV only. I graduated from them,

527
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:48.840
graduated from seminary that with KJV only, also went to

528
00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:51.360
Bible Institute. So a lot of my education, not all

529
00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:53.360
of it, but a lot of it was in that world.

530
00:34:53.559 --> 00:34:56.840
But I've been in those churches, and those churches having

531
00:34:56.880 --> 00:35:00.360
the King James only as the authority fall apart and

532
00:35:00.400 --> 00:35:04.320
split all the time. All Right, So let me make

533
00:35:04.360 --> 00:35:06.199
it very clear. I don't care if you say it's

534
00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:08.000
the King James. I don't care if you say it's

535
00:35:08.039 --> 00:35:10.320
the NIV. I don't care if you say it's the ESV.

536
00:35:10.679 --> 00:35:14.639
You choose the translation and say this is our authority.

537
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.239
Therefore we should be unified. No, it doesn't bring unity

538
00:35:19.280 --> 00:35:26.800
because here's the thing, nobody can agree on what it says. See,

539
00:35:26.840 --> 00:35:32.159
it's so it sounds so spiritual. Hey, we're in this church.

540
00:35:32.280 --> 00:35:35.119
We're gonna have unity because we have the same authority,

541
00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:38.519
and the same authority is God's word. Oh that sounds

542
00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:42.079
so good. But it doesn't bring unity. It almost always

543
00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:46.159
inevitably brings division because we can't agree on what the

544
00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:59.039
authority actually says. We can't agree. That's why we always

545
00:35:59.039 --> 00:36:02.599
have to fall back that our unity is found in

546
00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:08.400
Christ Jesus. Now the issue is I guess this is

547
00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:11.000
the question because you let's just say, I don't know

548
00:36:11.000 --> 00:36:12.960
who you are listening, but let's say you and I

549
00:36:13.039 --> 00:36:15.679
we disagree on almost everything. And there's a high probability

550
00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:18.199
some of you who listen disagree with me on about everything.

551
00:36:18.360 --> 00:36:20.679
And that's okay. Let's say we disagree on everything. Now

552
00:36:20.679 --> 00:36:26.840
here's the real question. Can the reality of our positional unity?

553
00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:30.519
Can the reality of our spiritual unity that we have

554
00:36:30.719 --> 00:36:34.280
in Christ? Because we have been redeemed, the wall of

555
00:36:34.599 --> 00:36:37.000
that separates us has been broken down, we are now

556
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:39.480
brought together. And that's primarily in Ephesians too, about jew

557
00:36:39.519 --> 00:36:41.880
and gentile. But let's just say that in Christ we

558
00:36:41.920 --> 00:36:48.719
are now one. We are unified positionally and spiritually. Can

559
00:36:48.960 --> 00:36:58.360
that spiritual unity overcome and help preserve unity practically in

560
00:36:58.599 --> 00:37:09.400
light of strong disagreements over pretty much everything. Can that

561
00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:14.519
positional unity in any way shape or form assists or

562
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:19.639
help the practical disunity that we are going to inevitably

563
00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:23.480
encounter because you take two Christians, you open up the Bible,

564
00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:26.559
you say, I think it means this. Just count down

565
00:37:26.800 --> 00:37:31.199
five four three two. Someone's gonna say, but bub, but

566
00:37:31.400 --> 00:37:35.760
I think it means this, And then inevitably you have disagreement.

567
00:37:40.679 --> 00:37:45.199
When you have different versions, You're going to have different authorities,

568
00:37:45.920 --> 00:37:49.719
You're going to have different rules, and a congregation needs

569
00:37:49.719 --> 00:37:53.440
to be saying the same thing. The preacher and the

570
00:37:53.480 --> 00:37:59.000
people need to be reading the same versions.

571
00:37:59.239 --> 00:38:02.960
You can have the same versions and get justice. I've

572
00:38:02.960 --> 00:38:06.800
seen so many church splits and independent fundamental Baptist churches

573
00:38:06.840 --> 00:38:11.039
that have the King James. So he's saying, if if

574
00:38:11.039 --> 00:38:12.880
we all have the same version, then we're gonna have

575
00:38:12.960 --> 00:38:15.239
unity in the church. That's the most ridiculous thing I've

576
00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:18.199
ever heard in my entire life. In fact, I've seen

577
00:38:18.280 --> 00:38:21.719
King James. Only churches fight split and divide in some

578
00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:26.519
cases more than non King James churches. I mean, I

579
00:38:26.519 --> 00:38:28.480
guess in theory, hey, if we all reading from the

580
00:38:28.519 --> 00:38:31.280
same translation, there should be there should be agreement. No,

581
00:38:31.760 --> 00:38:34.400
we can't agree on what the King James says.

582
00:38:38.159 --> 00:38:41.199
And to be in agreement. So I just leave that

583
00:38:41.239 --> 00:38:47.039
with you for whatever is worth. We live in a

584
00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:52.719
world where truth is defined by each individual's ideas and opinions,

585
00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:59.719
and to presume. To keep me from presumed presuming too

586
00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:03.480
much with regard to where you are, I want to

587
00:39:03.559 --> 00:39:10.800
ask you some challenging questions to answer to yourself. Do

588
00:39:10.920 --> 00:39:19.320
you believe there is only one truth regarding any particular subject?

589
00:39:22.280 --> 00:39:28.079
Do you believe there's only one truth regarding any particular subject.

590
00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:32.000
I'm not talking about applications that can be made by

591
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:36.960
a particular principle or truth, but there's only one truth

592
00:39:37.039 --> 00:39:39.239
to any particular subject.

593
00:39:41.800 --> 00:39:45.719
I'm absolutely baffled here about this approach to this text.

594
00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:47.599
It's like it's not even dealing with the text. I

595
00:39:48.239 --> 00:39:51.360
don't really understand exactly what's happening here. Maybe it we'll

596
00:39:51.360 --> 00:39:53.960
make more sense, okay, but I guess he wants Sorry,

597
00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:58.519
there's only one truth. There's absolute truth. Okay, that again,

598
00:39:58.559 --> 00:40:02.159
that sounds great. Well, the world doesn't believe in absolute truth,

599
00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:05.119
and they all think that their opinion is right, ladies

600
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:08.719
and gentlemen. That's the church. The Church operates under the

601
00:40:08.880 --> 00:40:12.960
exact same premise. We just dress it up in our

602
00:40:13.000 --> 00:40:15.519
religious language, where we said, well, they don't believe in

603
00:40:15.559 --> 00:40:17.800
absolute truth, and they all believe that they're right and

604
00:40:17.840 --> 00:40:20.639
that their truth is right. And then what happens in Christianity?

605
00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:23.039
He said, well, the Bible is the authority. No, we

606
00:40:23.079 --> 00:40:26.199
become the authority, and we believe our interpretation is right

607
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:28.920
and that everyone else must submit to our interpretation. And

608
00:40:28.960 --> 00:40:31.400
if they don't go along with our interpretation, then they're

609
00:40:31.400 --> 00:40:35.199
a heretic, they're wrong, and they're going to hell. Everyone.

610
00:40:35.800 --> 00:40:39.599
The Christianity is the same thing. We are the authority,

611
00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:42.880
and we determine what truth is. You say, no, no,

612
00:40:42.960 --> 00:40:48.519
the Bible does. No, it doesn't. The individual reads, interprets,

613
00:40:48.599 --> 00:40:52.440
and then makes a dogmatic declaration that this is true,

614
00:40:52.639 --> 00:41:01.079
and if you don't believe it, you are Anathemas operates

615
00:41:01.159 --> 00:41:04.440
under the same premise. All we do is we disguise

616
00:41:04.519 --> 00:41:07.440
it in religious and theological term. No, no, no, No,

617
00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:13.079
it's not my opinion. It's God's word. It's not me

618
00:41:13.519 --> 00:41:16.920
saying this, it is God. And then the person over

619
00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:21.320
there saying it's not me saying this, it's God. And

620
00:41:21.360 --> 00:41:24.960
everyone says it's God. Well, guess what, it's all us

621
00:41:25.159 --> 00:41:28.119
because we can't agree. If it was God, then you

622
00:41:28.280 --> 00:41:31.280
think we would all speak the same thing and believe

623
00:41:31.360 --> 00:41:35.199
the same thing, and then there would be practically one God,

624
00:41:35.599 --> 00:41:43.960
one faith, one baptism. Oh, I know I just offended everyone,

625
00:41:44.039 --> 00:41:47.239
but I'm sorry. If you're living in you're living in

626
00:41:47.239 --> 00:41:51.599
a made up world. If you believe, we'll see the

627
00:41:51.599 --> 00:41:55.480
world out there. They don't believe in absolute truth, and

628
00:41:55.519 --> 00:41:59.320
they are all their own authority, and it's ridiculous. And

629
00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:04.119
guess what it is in Christianity. I open the Bible

630
00:42:05.159 --> 00:42:08.239
and I say, the Bible teaches that baptism is by immersion,

631
00:42:09.239 --> 00:42:12.880
and it's only four believers. Someone must make a profession

632
00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:16.480
of faith, then they're baptized. The baptism doesn't do anything,

633
00:42:17.559 --> 00:42:21.159
It symbolizes what has already occurred. Someone else will take

634
00:42:21.159 --> 00:42:24.239
the same Bible and say, absolutely wrong. It is not

635
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:27.440
an ordinance, it's a sacrament, it's a means of grace,

636
00:42:27.760 --> 00:42:30.480
and we baptize a baby at eight days old and

637
00:42:30.519 --> 00:42:33.639
it washes way original sin and they're born again, and

638
00:42:34.440 --> 00:42:37.199
others like no, no, no, no, no, no, you baptize.

639
00:42:37.280 --> 00:42:39.079
It is a sacrament, It is a means of grace.

640
00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:41.760
But it only it places the seal of the Covenant

641
00:42:41.800 --> 00:42:44.480
upon them, and now they enter into the covenant community

642
00:42:44.719 --> 00:42:47.719
with that sell upon them. But it's not regenerative. It

643
00:42:47.760 --> 00:42:51.119
doesn't save them. No, no, it does. No, it shouldn't be. No,

644
00:42:51.119 --> 00:42:56.719
no baby baptism. No, I only only a believer's about baptism, immersion, sprinkling.

645
00:42:56.920 --> 00:42:58.239
We can go on and on and on and on,

646
00:42:58.280 --> 00:43:03.079
and nobody agrees. Everyone would say that it's God who

647
00:43:03.119 --> 00:43:12.599
says it, whether you like it or not. The reality

648
00:43:12.639 --> 00:43:20.679
of Christianity is that the individual is the authority, and

649
00:43:20.760 --> 00:43:27.320
that scripture becomes subservient to the person's interpretation. The person

650
00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:31.039
interprets the word of God, and that interpretation becomes authoritative,

651
00:43:31.440 --> 00:43:36.599
not the text itself. We are much more about people

652
00:43:36.679 --> 00:43:39.280
defining what truth is than the Word of God defining

653
00:43:39.320 --> 00:43:45.440
what truth is. Oh, I know, everyone's going to say, no,

654
00:43:45.559 --> 00:43:47.840
that's not true. No that's not true. No that's not true.

655
00:43:47.880 --> 00:43:49.800
I know you're going to say it's not true, but

656
00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:51.519
then you're going to open the Bible, you're gonna read it.

657
00:43:51.559 --> 00:43:53.480
You're going to tell other people that they're not right,

658
00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:55.239
and then other people are gonna open the Bible and

659
00:43:55.280 --> 00:44:01.880
tell you you're not right. So who's right? If it's

660
00:44:02.000 --> 00:44:04.079
just the Bible, then shouldn't you not come to the

661
00:44:04.079 --> 00:44:05.559
same conclusion.

662
00:44:11.519 --> 00:44:17.280
If you don't believe that, why and what proof do

663
00:44:17.360 --> 00:44:22.719
you have that that's not truth? And I want an example.

664
00:44:22.840 --> 00:44:25.599
If we're talking privately, I want you to give me

665
00:44:26.199 --> 00:44:31.400
an example, and I want you to have some basis

666
00:44:32.320 --> 00:44:42.880
for your example. One truth on any particular subject. Secondly,

667
00:44:43.039 --> 00:44:51.360
do you believe there is more than one God? If yes,

668
00:44:52.239 --> 00:44:55.719
what's your basis for that? I'm not asking if you

669
00:44:55.840 --> 00:45:01.719
believe there are many different things or persons and considered

670
00:45:01.760 --> 00:45:02.400
to be God.

671
00:45:05.320 --> 00:45:12.559
Matt, this is a baffling approach to this text. I'm

672
00:45:12.559 --> 00:45:15.119
really I'm kind of scratching my head here, going, well,

673
00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:19.079
why do I don't I don't bah blah blah blahlah.

674
00:45:19.079 --> 00:45:21.880
I don't really understand. Okay, all I can do is

675
00:45:21.960 --> 00:45:25.280
kind of follow. I'm trying to follow his I'm trying

676
00:45:25.320 --> 00:45:27.000
to follow. I'm trying to follow. That's what I'm trying

677
00:45:27.000 --> 00:45:28.800
to do. I'm trying to follow, all right. So okay,

678
00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:31.800
so do you believe there's more than one God? Okay?

679
00:45:32.360 --> 00:45:34.400
Now this is a a Christian conference. You would think

680
00:45:34.440 --> 00:45:39.920
that we It's kind of an interesting approach. Really, it's

681
00:45:39.960 --> 00:45:43.320
kind of an interesting approach. Maybe I don't Maybe maybe

682
00:45:43.360 --> 00:45:45.199
somehow I don't know. I don't know what this is

683
00:45:45.239 --> 00:45:47.920
doing with the text. I'm trying. I'm trying to predict

684
00:45:47.960 --> 00:45:49.679
where this is going, and I'm having a hard time

685
00:45:49.719 --> 00:45:51.880
predicting where it's going. Maybe for you, you've already got

686
00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:54.880
it mapped out. Let's let's all I can do is say,

687
00:45:54.960 --> 00:45:56.679
let's see. I don't. I don't really know.

688
00:45:58.280 --> 00:46:01.639
Question is do you believe there there's only one God?

689
00:46:03.239 --> 00:46:09.360
One God? In a release in a recent political assembly

690
00:46:10.199 --> 00:46:17.199
political assembly, there was a pagan prayer offered up to

691
00:46:17.320 --> 00:46:23.440
the highest of all gods. That's what this pagan prayer

692
00:46:23.719 --> 00:46:33.159
was at this recent political assembly, the pagan prayer. There's

693
00:46:33.239 --> 00:46:38.840
only one God, not one God that's highest of all others.

694
00:46:40.440 --> 00:46:48.199
There's one God. There's one cause of all calls, that

695
00:46:48.360 --> 00:46:54.360
is without cause. Let that sink in. There's one cause

696
00:46:55.440 --> 00:47:02.159
that caused everything, and nothing caused that one calls to be.

697
00:47:03.559 --> 00:47:07.519
That's what we're talking about, one God, Paul said, there's

698
00:47:07.559 --> 00:47:14.000
one God and father of all. So do you believe

699
00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:19.920
there is only one calls that is without calls?

700
00:47:21.559 --> 00:47:25.920
This is interesting because he argued that this section is

701
00:47:25.960 --> 00:47:30.480
really about unity, but he's almost turned this now into

702
00:47:30.480 --> 00:47:38.000
an apologetic for a monotheistic understanding. So is this an

703
00:47:38.039 --> 00:47:46.119
apologetic or is this somehow a calling for unity based

704
00:47:46.159 --> 00:47:49.199
off the philological exposition that happened in chapters one, two,

705
00:47:49.239 --> 00:47:53.320
and three. I'm a little perplexed at now how he's

706
00:47:53.400 --> 00:47:56.559
kind of like, Hey, this is about unity, and now

707
00:47:56.599 --> 00:48:01.239
he's kind of turning this into an apologetic argument. No,

708
00:48:02.119 --> 00:48:05.239
maybe it could serve as an apologetic argument. Well, what so,

709
00:48:05.320 --> 00:48:08.880
what is the real what is the purpose of the text,

710
00:48:09.159 --> 00:48:11.679
and what really are you attempting to do with this?

711
00:48:11.719 --> 00:48:14.920
Is what I'm trying to figure out.

712
00:48:18.760 --> 00:48:26.119
If so, what is your authority? It can't be reason,

713
00:48:28.320 --> 00:48:32.760
It can't be ration the reason and ration would come

714
00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:33.800
to that conclusion.

715
00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:40.519
So what's your authority? It cannot be reason can be

716
00:48:41.599 --> 00:48:46.400
rationalizing something, So it cannot be that. So he's going

717
00:48:46.480 --> 00:48:48.320
to say it would have to be the word of God.

718
00:48:48.400 --> 00:48:53.519
But doesn't our reason don't we utilize reason to interpret

719
00:48:53.559 --> 00:48:59.159
the word of God? Like if you just say the

720
00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:02.079
Bible is the author authority, But I have to utilize

721
00:49:02.079 --> 00:49:05.840
my reason. I have to rationalize, I have to interpret,

722
00:49:06.000 --> 00:49:08.960
I have to examine, I have to exegy, I have

723
00:49:09.039 --> 00:49:14.960
to define, I have to determine purpose, context, original audience,

724
00:49:15.039 --> 00:49:18.920
original intent. I mean, that's all reason. All of that

725
00:49:19.079 --> 00:49:23.000
is reason. I read the Bible and then I reason

726
00:49:23.079 --> 00:49:25.760
out what it says, and then I draw a conclusion,

727
00:49:25.960 --> 00:49:30.199
which then I make a dogmatic assertion about. So you

728
00:49:30.199 --> 00:49:33.159
can say, well, if a reason isn't the authority, it's

729
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:35.400
the word of God is the authority. Again, we're playing

730
00:49:35.440 --> 00:49:44.559
little games. It's my interpretation that becomes authoritative. People churches

731
00:49:44.639 --> 00:49:52.719
divide over interpretations. Christians separate over interpretations. Those interpretations arrive

732
00:49:53.239 --> 00:50:00.519
from men's reasoning and rationalizing and interpreting, and then that

733
00:50:00.760 --> 00:50:04.400
becomes the authority. Well, we claim it's the word of God.

734
00:50:04.559 --> 00:50:07.880
But the other side that you're separating from, or dividing from,

735
00:50:08.119 --> 00:50:11.119
or debating or fighting, they would say, theirs is coming

736
00:50:11.159 --> 00:50:14.199
from the word of God. Well, the only thing you

737
00:50:14.239 --> 00:50:16.960
can the reason why there's so many difference of opinion

738
00:50:17.320 --> 00:50:21.280
is because then it's man's reason that really is the authority.

739
00:50:21.480 --> 00:50:32.480
Right, Your authority is right here, right here, this is

740
00:50:32.480 --> 00:50:35.480
should be authority. This should where we're going back to

741
00:50:35.920 --> 00:50:36.840
where we started.

742
00:50:39.320 --> 00:50:42.519
See he's holding up the Bible. See, the Bible is

743
00:50:42.519 --> 00:50:48.079
the authority. And that's why we have thousands of different denominations.

744
00:50:48.840 --> 00:50:53.679
That's why we have church splits constantly, denominational splits constantly.

745
00:50:56.719 --> 00:50:59.760
That's why you can't get Christians to agree literally on in.

746
00:51:09.679 --> 00:51:15.119
This is my authority. It's not what I believe, it's

747
00:51:15.159 --> 00:51:16.400
what God's word says.

748
00:51:19.719 --> 00:51:23.559
No, it's what you believe God's word says, because someone

749
00:51:23.599 --> 00:51:27.280
else will believe the opposite of what you think God's

750
00:51:27.280 --> 00:51:30.519
word says. So it's not God's word, it's what you believe.

751
00:51:30.559 --> 00:51:33.360
Don't say it's not what you believe. That that's such

752
00:51:33.400 --> 00:51:35.880
the oldest trick in the book, right, Hey, hey, hey, hey,

753
00:51:36.039 --> 00:51:39.159
it's not what I believe, it's what God's word says.

754
00:51:39.320 --> 00:51:42.400
So you better do what I tell you because it's

755
00:51:42.480 --> 00:51:44.320
not what I believe, it's what God's word says. And

756
00:51:44.360 --> 00:51:46.239
then someone else will say, no, no, no, no, it's not

757
00:51:46.280 --> 00:51:48.840
what I believe. It's what and some person is like, well,

758
00:51:48.880 --> 00:51:50.559
wait a minute, that church told me this, and you're

759
00:51:50.599 --> 00:51:52.880
telling me this, that church said this. You're telling that

760
00:51:52.960 --> 00:51:55.280
church said, you're telling me that that church says this,

761
00:51:55.320 --> 00:51:58.280
about saying you're telling me this, this, this, this, It's

762
00:51:58.400 --> 00:52:02.400
it's a never ending circle. It's a never ending cycle

763
00:52:02.599 --> 00:52:05.400
of people coming forward telling you what they believe the

764
00:52:05.400 --> 00:52:07.360
Word of God says, but then telling you it's not

765
00:52:07.400 --> 00:52:10.000
what they believe, it's what the word of God actually says.

766
00:52:10.119 --> 00:52:12.599
But if it's what the Word of God actually says,

767
00:52:13.000 --> 00:52:18.360
then we should have one understanding.

768
00:52:21.679 --> 00:52:25.440
It's not my concept of God's word. It's not what

769
00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:30.320
I think God's word says. Is what God's word says.

770
00:52:31.440 --> 00:52:35.559
That is just that's categorically not true. It is what

771
00:52:35.760 --> 00:52:39.079
you think God's word says. They are preaching in a

772
00:52:39.239 --> 00:52:45.480
primitive Baptist church. Look up their philological understanding on a

773
00:52:45.800 --> 00:52:48.639
number of issues, like when he says he even said

774
00:52:48.679 --> 00:52:52.079
earlier he thinks the body of Christ only refers to

775
00:52:52.159 --> 00:52:57.320
a local congregation. He even acknowledges modern day Christianity completely

776
00:52:57.320 --> 00:53:01.719
disagrees with that which would speak of some invisible universal body. Okay, well,

777
00:53:01.719 --> 00:53:05.599
wait a minute. Both sides claim that's what the Word

778
00:53:05.639 --> 00:53:10.519
of God says, So then it can be well, this

779
00:53:10.800 --> 00:53:12.320
is what the word of God says. No, it's what

780
00:53:12.440 --> 00:53:15.480
you think the Word of God says. It's your interpretation,

781
00:53:15.880 --> 00:53:25.920
it's your belief. We have to acknowledge our part in it. Now.

782
00:53:25.960 --> 00:53:29.119
I wish it. I wish it wasn't that convoluted. I

783
00:53:29.159 --> 00:53:31.880
wish it wasn't that complicated, and I wish it wasn't

784
00:53:31.880 --> 00:53:34.599
that messy, and I wish there wasn't never ending debate

785
00:53:34.679 --> 00:53:37.360
and division. But that's the world we have to live in.

786
00:53:37.599 --> 00:53:41.400
So we either have to blame it's God's words fault

787
00:53:42.079 --> 00:53:44.960
that it just cannot be understood, it cannot be interpreted,

788
00:53:45.280 --> 00:53:48.719
or we have to acknowledge that the issue is man

789
00:53:49.320 --> 00:53:52.719
and that the real authority is us and our interpretation,

790
00:53:53.199 --> 00:53:55.719
even though we want to pretend it's not what I believe,

791
00:53:55.880 --> 00:53:57.840
it's not what I think, it's what the word of

792
00:53:57.840 --> 00:54:01.000
God says. No, it's what you think think the Word

793
00:54:01.000 --> 00:54:03.360
of God says, And then what you think it says,

794
00:54:03.719 --> 00:54:06.239
you think, then that is the word of God, and

795
00:54:06.280 --> 00:54:08.840
then you're the way you think is the word of God.

796
00:54:08.880 --> 00:54:11.800
Therefore you think you're always right because you the way

797
00:54:11.840 --> 00:54:14.320
you think is the word of God to you.

798
00:54:19.400 --> 00:54:24.119
God's word says in the beginning, God created the heavens

799
00:54:24.119 --> 00:54:29.960
and the earth. I don't understand that. I can't comprehend that.

800
00:54:31.159 --> 00:54:36.480
I can't explain that, but I believe it. Why do

801
00:54:36.559 --> 00:54:40.360
I believe it? Not because of creation scientists, though I

802
00:54:40.519 --> 00:54:45.320
admire the work that they've done. I believe it because

803
00:54:45.480 --> 00:54:48.840
God said it. And that's where I want to point

804
00:54:48.920 --> 00:54:53.719
our a teacher. What does the Bible say there's one God?

805
00:54:53.880 --> 00:54:57.960
Why do you believe there's one God? Why do you

806
00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:04.360
believe it? And unless the scriptures that is the Bible,

807
00:55:05.400 --> 00:55:08.320
as you called I normally called it the scriptures. I

808
00:55:08.519 --> 00:55:13.320
like the writings, but anyway, I won't hold you accountable

809
00:55:13.360 --> 00:55:18.800
for that. But the Bible is the source of all truth.

810
00:55:21.440 --> 00:55:27.079
And you're lost in a sea of despair and all

811
00:55:27.119 --> 00:55:33.679
alone with your own philosophy unless you bow to the

812
00:55:33.679 --> 00:55:38.800
word of God. Let that sink in.

813
00:55:43.039 --> 00:55:47.920
This may be the most I am so confused in

814
00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:50.559
this sermon. I don't really understand if this is an

815
00:55:50.559 --> 00:55:54.280
exposition of Ephusions four five. I don't know if this

816
00:55:54.400 --> 00:55:57.320
is really about Ephusians four five. I don't know if

817
00:55:57.360 --> 00:55:59.480
this is about unity. I don't know if this is

818
00:55:59.480 --> 00:56:01.800
an apollo legic. I don't know. If this is an

819
00:56:01.840 --> 00:56:04.159
issue about truth. I don't know if this is an

820
00:56:04.159 --> 00:56:06.960
issue about a subject about I don't know what this is.

821
00:56:07.239 --> 00:56:11.320
I really don't, but it's just driving me crazy that

822
00:56:11.360 --> 00:56:14.480
he's playing the same game that all Christians play. The

823
00:56:14.519 --> 00:56:18.559
Bible is the authority, the Bible is, You're the authority.

824
00:56:19.280 --> 00:56:23.880
Just acknowledge it. We want the Bible to be the authority. Theoretically,

825
00:56:23.920 --> 00:56:27.079
we want that to be true. We may strive for that.

826
00:56:27.480 --> 00:56:30.440
But you pick it up, you read it, you interpret it.

827
00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:33.480
Then you declare this is the way it is, and

828
00:56:33.599 --> 00:56:36.760
anyone else who doesn't agree with that is wrong. And

829
00:56:36.800 --> 00:56:40.679
then you tell yourself that your interpretation isn't your interpretation,

830
00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:43.599
but it's what the Word of God actually says. Therefore,

831
00:56:43.639 --> 00:56:48.679
your interpretation now becomes dogmatic and infallible because now you're

832
00:56:48.679 --> 00:56:50.840
claiming that what you believe is what the Word of

833
00:56:50.880 --> 00:56:53.119
God says, and so you can never be challenged on

834
00:56:53.159 --> 00:56:54.719
it because you're like, no, that's what the Word of

835
00:56:54.760 --> 00:56:56.760
God says. No, that's what you interpret the Word of

836
00:56:56.800 --> 00:56:57.480
God is saying.

837
00:57:04.480 --> 00:57:10.880
I want to say that again. You are lost in

838
00:57:10.960 --> 00:57:18.079
a sea of despair and all alone with your independent

839
00:57:18.159 --> 00:57:27.559
philosophy unless the Bible is your authority. We live in

840
00:57:27.639 --> 00:57:34.079
a world of conflict, but the only adjustment is going

841
00:57:34.119 --> 00:57:37.320
to be in the Word of God. You know Hebrews

842
00:57:37.360 --> 00:57:42.000
eleven six, by faith we are normally quoting.

843
00:57:44.280 --> 00:57:48.639
Let me just make it very clear. He's describing Christianity

844
00:57:49.639 --> 00:57:55.039
a never ending conflict for two thousand years, denomination after

845
00:57:55.079 --> 00:58:01.440
denomination after denomination after denomination, split, church split, fight, disagreement,

846
00:58:01.519 --> 00:58:05.840
theological wars over every issue. We can't agree if it's

847
00:58:05.880 --> 00:58:09.039
the regulative principle or the normative principle that should guide

848
00:58:09.079 --> 00:58:11.039
the church. We can't agree on the Lord's Supper. We

849
00:58:11.079 --> 00:58:14.119
can't agree on baptism. We can't agree on church structure.

850
00:58:14.360 --> 00:58:17.719
We can't agree on salvation. We literally we can't even

851
00:58:17.760 --> 00:58:21.280
agree on hermeneutical system. We can't agree on eschatology. We

852
00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:24.039
can't agree if Israel is actual of the nation or

853
00:58:24.079 --> 00:58:26.719
if it's the Church. We can't agree if certain promises

854
00:58:26.760 --> 00:58:29.079
go to the Church or to Israel. We can't agree,

855
00:58:29.159 --> 00:58:34.000
literally on anything. We are lost in a sea of

856
00:58:34.159 --> 00:58:40.960
confusion and despair, surrounded by competing philosophies known as interpretations,

857
00:58:41.280 --> 00:58:47.519
and just it's maddening. He's describing Christianity. He's not describing

858
00:58:47.559 --> 00:58:55.000
the world. He's describing Christianity.

859
00:58:55.800 --> 00:59:02.639
Jeff went blank. Without need God for everything, even to preach,

860
00:59:05.079 --> 00:59:10.960
but without faith, it is impossible to please him. For

861
00:59:11.119 --> 00:59:15.599
he that cometh to God must believe that He is,

862
00:59:18.159 --> 00:59:21.159
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently

863
00:59:21.199 --> 00:59:26.199
seek you. You must believe that. You must believe that.

864
00:59:28.880 --> 00:59:31.960
And if you don't believe the truth of the scriptures,

865
00:59:33.840 --> 00:59:38.280
you're calling God a liar. First John chapter five.

866
00:59:42.480 --> 00:59:49.719
I don't know what to do. I'm just sitting here

867
00:59:49.719 --> 00:59:52.559
looking at Ephesians to see. This is why I told

868
00:59:52.599 --> 00:59:55.880
you to read Ephesians over and over and over and over,

869
00:59:55.920 --> 00:59:58.079
and then when you listen to all these sermons on

870
00:59:58.159 --> 01:00:01.440
Ephesians four five, you'll be you'll be equipped. That's why

871
01:00:01.440 --> 01:00:03.719
I went and did all the background work trying to

872
01:00:03.719 --> 01:00:07.280
help you understand how Ephesians went to two chapters one, two,

873
01:00:07.320 --> 01:00:11.679
and three were the theological exposition, the theological exhortation, and

874
01:00:11.719 --> 01:00:14.400
then when you get to Ephesians four, five, and six,

875
01:00:14.519 --> 01:00:19.679
now you have the practical exhortation, the practical driving home,

876
01:00:19.800 --> 01:00:26.119
the practical and now I'm sitting here and I have

877
01:00:26.159 --> 01:00:28.639
no clue what I'm listening to. I'm baffled. This is

878
01:00:28.679 --> 01:00:34.920
an it. Look, I'm not gonna say. All I'm going

879
01:00:34.960 --> 01:00:37.519
to say is I just don't understand the approach. Obviously,

880
01:00:37.599 --> 01:00:42.199
pastors can approach a text anyway they want because ultimately

881
01:00:43.079 --> 01:00:46.519
they're the authority, which kind of contradicts everything that we're hearing.

882
01:00:46.639 --> 01:00:48.000
But it's just true.

883
01:00:51.840 --> 01:00:57.239
Verses nine through eleven. If we receive the witness of men,

884
01:00:57.400 --> 01:01:02.400
the witness of God is greater. For this is the

885
01:01:02.400 --> 01:01:05.239
witness of God, which he has testified of his son.

886
01:01:05.760 --> 01:01:08.360
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the

887
01:01:08.400 --> 01:01:14.400
witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made

888
01:01:14.480 --> 01:01:21.599
him a liar because he believeth not the record that

889
01:01:21.679 --> 01:01:25.079
God gave of his son. And this is the record

890
01:01:25.360 --> 01:01:28.679
that God hath given to us eternal life. And the

891
01:01:28.719 --> 01:01:32.039
life is in his son. So you can't separate Christ

892
01:01:32.320 --> 01:01:36.920
from the Father. But if you're not going to believe God,

893
01:01:38.159 --> 01:01:44.079
you're calling God a liar. You're saying I'm right, God's wrong.

894
01:01:48.119 --> 01:01:52.599
And David said long ago, let God be true in

895
01:01:52.679 --> 01:01:53.840
every man a liar.

896
01:01:57.280 --> 01:02:01.079
But in practices is the way it works I'm right.

897
01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:06.920
If you disagree with me, you disagree with God. If

898
01:02:06.960 --> 01:02:11.119
you say I'm wrong, you say God is wrong. If

899
01:02:11.199 --> 01:02:13.920
you say I am right, you say God is right.

900
01:02:14.000 --> 01:02:15.840
I know Christians are gonna say no, no, no, no, no,

901
01:02:15.840 --> 01:02:18.440
no no no no, we don't say that. Yes, you do.

902
01:02:18.840 --> 01:02:21.000
You read the Bible, you interpret it. You think your

903
01:02:21.039 --> 01:02:25.760
interpretation is right. You think your interpretation is what God says.

904
01:02:26.000 --> 01:02:28.880
So now you and God are in perfect agreement. So

905
01:02:29.000 --> 01:02:31.000
now what you do is you take your interpretation, you

906
01:02:31.039 --> 01:02:33.239
preach it and say this is what the word of

907
01:02:33.280 --> 01:02:36.480
God says. And if you don't believe me, you don't

908
01:02:36.480 --> 01:02:39.960
believe God. Now what we say is no, if you

909
01:02:39.960 --> 01:02:43.360
don't believe this, you don't believe God. But it's your interpretation.

910
01:02:43.880 --> 01:02:47.719
Everyone thinks their interpretation is right. Everyone thinks their interpretation

911
01:02:47.920 --> 01:02:52.920
is dogmatic. Everyone thinks their interpretation is infallible. They think

912
01:02:53.000 --> 01:02:57.599
it's binding. And if you don't agree with them, I'll well,

913
01:02:57.599 --> 01:02:59.159
I don't know what's wrong with these other people. They

914
01:02:59.199 --> 01:03:09.599
just can't read their our Bible. Now again, all I

915
01:03:09.639 --> 01:03:12.719
can do is keep speaking about this same issue because

916
01:03:13.119 --> 01:03:15.440
I can't really do anything with efusions for because I

917
01:03:15.480 --> 01:03:17.039
don't know what any of this has to do with

918
01:03:17.079 --> 01:03:19.159
the Fuesians for really, ultimately.

919
01:03:20.440 --> 01:03:24.880
Either about to God or we don't. In other words,

920
01:03:25.000 --> 01:03:29.760
I'm coming back to encourage you to know and to

921
01:03:29.920 --> 01:03:35.320
understand that either you are your own authority or God

922
01:03:35.400 --> 01:03:37.400
is your authority.

923
01:03:38.079 --> 01:03:46.880
We are our own How do Christians convince ourselves that

924
01:03:46.920 --> 01:03:49.440
we are not our own authority? That is the most

925
01:03:49.480 --> 01:03:54.639
baffling thing to me. We are our own authority. We read,

926
01:03:54.960 --> 01:03:57.920
we interpret, and then we say this is the right way,

927
01:03:59.639 --> 01:04:03.960
and if you disagree, you're wrong. Now you can say, well,

928
01:04:04.039 --> 01:04:07.320
I put it this way, even if you push back

929
01:04:07.400 --> 01:04:10.280
on me, even if you push back on that, you've

930
01:04:10.280 --> 01:04:13.039
got to acknowledge there is a part of what I'm

931
01:04:13.079 --> 01:04:17.079
saying that is a reality. Look, I am with you.

932
01:04:17.519 --> 01:04:19.519
I want the word of God to be the authority.

933
01:04:19.840 --> 01:04:21.559
I want the word of God to be true in

934
01:04:21.599 --> 01:04:24.000
every man a liar. I want that. I want us

935
01:04:24.039 --> 01:04:27.119
to pursue it. I want us to understand it. But

936
01:04:27.199 --> 01:04:31.119
we cannot deny the inevitable issue that we all face,

937
01:04:31.280 --> 01:04:34.760
which is we pick up a Bible. And once we

938
01:04:34.800 --> 01:04:38.480
pick up a Bible, then the entire system is now

939
01:04:38.519 --> 01:04:41.360
going to have and a flaw in the system and

940
01:04:41.400 --> 01:04:45.320
that flaw is you and I because we bring our thinking,

941
01:04:45.639 --> 01:04:51.880
our rationalization, our reasoning, our logic, our interpretive skills, our

942
01:04:51.920 --> 01:04:55.840
hermeneutical ability, our inability, and then we read and then

943
01:04:55.880 --> 01:04:59.960
we draw conclusions. Now, what we inevitably do is we

944
01:05:00.000 --> 01:05:03.519
we immediately assume that our conclusion is what the Word

945
01:05:03.840 --> 01:05:07.960
of God says. We never are willing to admit. No,

946
01:05:08.400 --> 01:05:11.960
this is what I believe it says, this is what

947
01:05:12.039 --> 01:05:16.480
I think it says. This is my interpretation based on

948
01:05:16.639 --> 01:05:20.079
my study as up to this point. That's why I

949
01:05:20.280 --> 01:05:25.079
inevitably tell you your past understanding is of no value

950
01:05:25.320 --> 01:05:28.519
in your presence study because your past understanding could have

951
01:05:28.559 --> 01:05:31.320
been wrong. So your present study, you throw out your

952
01:05:31.360 --> 01:05:34.599
past understanding. You look at it again, hoping you will

953
01:05:34.639 --> 01:05:37.159
get closer and closer to the actual text. This is

954
01:05:37.159 --> 01:05:40.360
why I've taught over and over and over Bible study methods,

955
01:05:40.480 --> 01:05:43.880
where we engage in serious methods that we can try

956
01:05:43.880 --> 01:05:46.559
to get to the text and remove ourself as much

957
01:05:46.719 --> 01:05:49.599
from it. This is why I talk about hermeneutical systems.

958
01:05:49.719 --> 01:05:52.599
This is why I'm always talking about not just learning theology,

959
01:05:52.719 --> 01:05:57.559
but doing theology, coming up with hypotheses, challenging them, looking

960
01:05:57.559 --> 01:06:02.079
into this, looking into that, challenging this, questioning this, trying

961
01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:07.599
as much as possible to fight the inevitable reality of

962
01:06:07.719 --> 01:06:13.039
us being the authority. But when you do it that way,

963
01:06:13.199 --> 01:06:15.920
all you do is find yourself in never ending conflict

964
01:06:15.960 --> 01:06:18.159
with other Christians who will say, you're wrong, you're wrong,

965
01:06:18.199 --> 01:06:20.519
you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong. That's all

966
01:06:20.559 --> 01:06:22.800
you ever hear is you're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong.

967
01:06:24.199 --> 01:06:26.400
And trust me, I've been in ministry long enough to

968
01:06:26.440 --> 01:06:29.400
know people will get immediately you're wrong. Leave your church.

969
01:06:29.480 --> 01:06:32.800
You're wrong, Leave your church. You're wrong, because they think

970
01:06:32.920 --> 01:06:41.320
they are the authority.

971
01:06:42.039 --> 01:06:47.320
And for congregational unity, God must be the authority, not you,

972
01:06:48.960 --> 01:06:57.599
not the preacher, not the deacon. Godge the authority, Godge

973
01:06:57.639 --> 01:07:06.719
the authority. One last question, and I'm stilling my introduction.

974
01:07:09.679 --> 01:07:14.800
One last question, Who or what is God?

975
01:07:18.760 --> 01:07:21.000
So I guess I will end with this because we're

976
01:07:21.000 --> 01:07:24.000
at sixty seven minutes. If this is only his introduction,

977
01:07:24.079 --> 01:07:26.480
then maybe he'll he'll handle all the stuff later on.

978
01:07:26.519 --> 01:07:28.239
We're gonna have to listen, we'll have to do another

979
01:07:28.920 --> 01:07:31.199
we'll have to do another review and listen to the rest.

980
01:07:31.320 --> 01:07:34.159
But here's what I would say, is God really the

981
01:07:34.199 --> 01:07:38.440
authority in the church? He says, the pastor's not the authority,

982
01:07:38.920 --> 01:07:41.440
the deacon's not the authority, the people in the pew

983
01:07:41.480 --> 01:07:47.800
are not the authority. God is the authority. Okay, so

984
01:07:48.119 --> 01:07:52.679
God's the authority. Now how exactly does this work? Because

985
01:07:52.679 --> 01:07:55.360
the pastor is going to interpret God's word and preach

986
01:07:55.400 --> 01:07:57.800
it as if it's true, and he's going to say

987
01:07:57.800 --> 01:08:00.239
that it's God being the authority, not him being the authority.

988
01:08:00.360 --> 01:08:02.239
Then someone inevitably is going to be sitting in the

989
01:08:02.239 --> 01:08:04.679
pew who's going to disagree with what the pastor is preaching.

990
01:08:05.719 --> 01:08:08.920
Now is the pastor always right? They said, Well, the

991
01:08:08.920 --> 01:08:11.079
pastor is not always right. Well are the people in

992
01:08:11.079 --> 01:08:13.000
the pew always right? Well, no, they're not always right.

993
01:08:13.280 --> 01:08:15.360
So if the pastor's not always right the people are

994
01:08:15.360 --> 01:08:18.119
not always right, then how is God the ultimate authority?

995
01:08:18.560 --> 01:08:21.159
Because if God's the ultimate authority, all we can rely

996
01:08:21.239 --> 01:08:23.680
on is on a written text that everyone has to

997
01:08:23.720 --> 01:08:27.199
interpret and then everyone says their interpretation is what God says.

998
01:08:27.920 --> 01:08:36.720
So really, who's the authority in this equation? We'll let

999
01:08:36.800 --> 01:08:38.119
him at least finish this point.

1000
01:08:41.640 --> 01:08:45.279
Obviously, sermons can be preached on it. I've preached the

1001
01:08:45.359 --> 01:08:49.920
series of sermons on who is God, and we can't

1002
01:08:49.920 --> 01:08:56.119
do that today. But you need to know. You need

1003
01:08:56.159 --> 01:09:04.239
to have a conscious awareness of who God is and

1004
01:09:04.279 --> 01:09:10.000
that God is here. You need to have a conscious

1005
01:09:10.039 --> 01:09:14.880
awareness of that. Now, we don't have time to go

1006
01:09:14.960 --> 01:09:19.920
into all the attributes of God, such as his eternality,

1007
01:09:20.479 --> 01:09:25.760
his simplicity. By the way, simplicity means that God is

1008
01:09:25.960 --> 01:09:34.560
not made up of parts. He's uncompounded. Angels are spirits,

1009
01:09:35.560 --> 01:09:39.479
but they're compounded. They're made up of parts because angels

1010
01:09:39.520 --> 01:09:45.319
are here and not there. God's here and there. God's

1011
01:09:45.359 --> 01:09:51.239
here and there. He's uncompounded. He's uncompounded.

1012
01:09:54.840 --> 01:09:57.479
Ladies and gentlemen, I have no idea what any of

1013
01:09:57.479 --> 01:10:00.439
this has to do with Ephesians. I really don't. I

1014
01:10:00.520 --> 01:10:02.840
don't even know how to analyze this. I don't even

1015
01:10:02.880 --> 01:10:04.720
know how to I don't know what to do. And

1016
01:10:04.760 --> 01:10:07.359
if this is all his introduction, I don't know then

1017
01:10:07.399 --> 01:10:10.680
what the actual I don't know what this is introducing.

1018
01:10:11.159 --> 01:10:14.840
This is I'm so white, I'm somewhat confused. I want

1019
01:10:14.880 --> 01:10:16.720
to let finish this point so that if we do

1020
01:10:16.880 --> 01:10:19.680
a second review on this, we can start at a

1021
01:10:19.800 --> 01:10:21.720
very late, we can be done with all of this,

1022
01:10:21.760 --> 01:10:23.199
So let's at least let it finish out.

1023
01:10:24.520 --> 01:10:29.880
We don't have time to go into omnipotence, all powerful omniscience,

1024
01:10:29.920 --> 01:10:34.680
a whole knowledge, love, joy, love, the attributes of God,

1025
01:10:38.920 --> 01:10:41.239
and so time would fail us to go into that.

1026
01:10:41.319 --> 01:10:43.600
Time would fail us to go into the Trinity.

1027
01:10:44.840 --> 01:10:45.920
But there is one.

1028
01:10:45.760 --> 01:10:52.119
God in three persons, father, son, and Holy Spirit, one

1029
01:10:52.239 --> 01:10:56.479
John five seven, and it's in the original text, regardless

1030
01:10:56.560 --> 01:10:59.039
of these modern translations.

1031
01:11:00.000 --> 01:11:03.359
Oh boy, okay, hey. On one hand, he said one God,

1032
01:11:03.479 --> 01:11:06.000
three distinct persons, didn't say one God manifesting. He didn't

1033
01:11:06.039 --> 01:11:09.159
go to modalism or Sibelianism, so that is awesome. The

1034
01:11:09.199 --> 01:11:13.520
immediately goes to first John five seven. It's in the original. Okay,

1035
01:11:14.039 --> 01:11:17.239
let me just make nobody has the original. Nobody has

1036
01:11:17.279 --> 01:11:21.279
the originals, nobody, nobody. The original manuscripts are gone, they're

1037
01:11:21.359 --> 01:11:24.880
bye bye, they're no more. We have copies of copies,

1038
01:11:25.000 --> 01:11:27.880
of copies of copies. So the best he can say

1039
01:11:28.199 --> 01:11:31.359
is that First John five to seven appears in some

1040
01:11:31.880 --> 01:11:36.279
copies and doesn't appear and other copies. Now you can

1041
01:11:36.319 --> 01:11:38.840
debate on which copies you want to go with, and

1042
01:11:38.880 --> 01:11:41.520
when does it first appear, When does it show up?

1043
01:11:41.720 --> 01:11:44.479
How many manuscripts is it in? How many manuscripts is

1044
01:11:44.520 --> 01:11:47.520
it missing? It's it's just ridiculous to say it's in

1045
01:11:47.680 --> 01:11:52.920
the original based off what you don't have the original.

1046
01:11:55.920 --> 01:11:59.199
Or in your show called King James Bible with marginal

1047
01:11:59.279 --> 01:12:02.600
notes ch question mark Tony, I don't have time to

1048
01:12:02.640 --> 01:12:05.000
go into that, but I am as confident at that

1049
01:12:05.359 --> 01:12:07.960
as I'm standing in front of you. One John five

1050
01:12:08.119 --> 01:12:22.159
seven is God's valid text you're understanding concerning God?

1051
01:12:24.520 --> 01:12:27.039
And please note he says, first John five to seven

1052
01:12:27.079 --> 01:12:29.840
is in the original. He just made a dogmatic declaration

1053
01:12:31.560 --> 01:12:35.920
while others would disagree. Now based on what authority. He

1054
01:12:35.960 --> 01:12:38.960
can't say from the word of God's authority. Because we

1055
01:12:39.039 --> 01:12:43.479
don't have the original manuscript, you're basing it off. Well,

1056
01:12:43.600 --> 01:12:46.680
one translation has it, other translations don't have it, and

1057
01:12:46.720 --> 01:12:49.520
he even acknowledges it any many King James. They have

1058
01:12:49.560 --> 01:12:51.960
a footnote that says it may not be belong here.

1059
01:12:52.239 --> 01:12:56.119
So why can't we see He's just becomes the source

1060
01:12:56.119 --> 01:12:58.239
of truth. He says, God is the source of truth.

1061
01:12:59.079 --> 01:13:01.239
Is God going to tell you if it belongs or

1062
01:13:01.279 --> 01:13:07.880
doesn't belong? Oh? No, God's not talking to you. Okay,

1063
01:13:08.039 --> 01:13:12.159
So then you're now making a dogmatic declaration based off

1064
01:13:12.319 --> 01:13:16.960
your own understanding, your own belief, making yourself the authority.

1065
01:13:17.000 --> 01:13:19.439
After you just said the pastor is not the authority.

1066
01:13:19.600 --> 01:13:23.359
You just made yourself the authority over a very complicated

1067
01:13:23.760 --> 01:13:28.079
textual issue that there is very strong disagreement on.

1068
01:13:32.279 --> 01:13:36.840
Is one of, if not the most important thing that

1069
01:13:36.920 --> 01:13:44.399
will shape or determine your life. Your concept of God

1070
01:13:45.239 --> 01:13:53.640
will determine in shape your life. And there's many, many,

1071
01:13:53.720 --> 01:13:57.039
many rabbit holes I could go down in that. I've

1072
01:13:57.039 --> 01:14:02.119
been studying this for several weeks, trying to shut gates

1073
01:14:02.159 --> 01:14:05.199
here and gates there, keep me from running down that

1074
01:14:05.319 --> 01:14:08.439
rabbit hole or that path after that rabbit.

1075
01:14:15.159 --> 01:14:17.359
All right, we're gonna stop there. I'm gonna shut the

1076
01:14:17.399 --> 01:14:21.560
gate because I don't know what's going on. Okay, I

1077
01:14:21.600 --> 01:14:24.119
don't really know, all right, So there you have it.

1078
01:14:24.199 --> 01:14:28.000
I how I really thought it was gonna be about

1079
01:14:28.000 --> 01:14:31.039
Ephesians four. I really thought we were gonna dig into

1080
01:14:31.079 --> 01:14:33.600
Ephesians four. And then when he started going that this

1081
01:14:33.640 --> 01:14:36.119
is about unity, I'm like, okay, good, So he's gonna

1082
01:14:36.119 --> 01:14:40.479
show how this practical unity flows from the philological or

1083
01:14:40.479 --> 01:14:44.399
from the from the philological exposition of Unity and Ephesians too.

1084
01:14:44.560 --> 01:14:49.199
I see that therefore got left out. We go to five,

1085
01:14:49.640 --> 01:14:51.840
it just says God, and then next thing, you know,

1086
01:14:51.880 --> 01:14:56.800
I don't even know what happened. I don't really know

1087
01:14:56.840 --> 01:15:04.840
what happened, all right. The mystery that I have right

1088
01:15:04.880 --> 01:15:06.960
here in front of me is what happened to my pencil?

1089
01:15:07.399 --> 01:15:11.399
Okay that I know you. You're like, yeah, that's how

1090
01:15:11.439 --> 01:15:14.039
distracted I am, because I was just like, I don't

1091
01:15:14.039 --> 01:15:16.199
even know what to say here. So then I was like, okay, well,

1092
01:15:16.239 --> 01:15:18.640
I have my notebook here. Remember I had my notebook

1093
01:15:18.680 --> 01:15:21.239
earlier and wrote I wrote something down in it. Okay.

1094
01:15:21.359 --> 01:15:22.840
So then I was like, okay, well, let me grab

1095
01:15:22.840 --> 01:15:25.000
my notebook and i'll I don't know, I'm just as

1096
01:15:25.039 --> 01:15:26.600
I'm listening, I'll try to do I got to I

1097
01:15:26.680 --> 01:15:29.039
gotta think of something here. And then I realized I

1098
01:15:29.079 --> 01:15:31.680
can't find my pencil. Look where did my pencil go? Right?

1099
01:15:31.760 --> 01:15:34.239
I mean, I've got a pencil here, but it's not sharpened.

1100
01:15:34.319 --> 01:15:38.960
I've got boxes of pencils here. I got boxes boxes,

1101
01:15:39.119 --> 01:15:42.760
because I always have boxes of pencils, boxes, but none

1102
01:15:42.760 --> 01:15:44.399
of them are sharpening. So I'm like where did my

1103
01:15:44.479 --> 01:15:47.800
pencil go? All right? So yeah, that's how I was

1104
01:15:47.840 --> 01:15:50.960
just getting so frustrated with that. Go listen to the

1105
01:15:51.000 --> 01:15:53.600
rest of it, A right twenty twenty four, Sultan Light,

1106
01:15:53.800 --> 01:15:56.600
this is the first message on one God, one Father,

1107
01:15:56.880 --> 01:15:59.560
something along those lines. We made it through most of it.

1108
01:16:00.199 --> 01:16:02.159
Go listen. I'm gonna keep it paused and then we

1109
01:16:02.199 --> 01:16:04.479
will we will try to finish that review. I was.

1110
01:16:04.600 --> 01:16:07.960
I don't I don't know. I don't know what to say.

1111
01:16:08.039 --> 01:16:09.920
I really don't know what to say. I know that

1112
01:16:09.960 --> 01:16:11.800
I just probably ticked off. You know, I don't know

1113
01:16:12.079 --> 01:16:15.680
half of Christianity. But the Christianity just lives in a

1114
01:16:15.720 --> 01:16:19.239
delusion that we don't that you don't realize and understand

1115
01:16:19.239 --> 01:16:21.800
that you're the authority. We want to say it's God's word,

1116
01:16:21.840 --> 01:16:26.760
but it just it doesn't work that way. I always

1117
01:16:26.920 --> 01:16:30.800
I look, as much as I obviously am not Catholic,

1118
01:16:30.840 --> 01:16:33.920
because I believe when justification by imputed righteousness versus an

1119
01:16:33.960 --> 01:16:38.319
infused righteousness, obviously I reject Catholicism. And as much as

1120
01:16:38.319 --> 01:16:41.520
I love the Reformation and a lot of the theology

1121
01:16:41.560 --> 01:16:44.800
coming from the Reformation, I've said before that there were

1122
01:16:44.880 --> 01:16:49.279
unintended consequences that happened in the Reformation. Right. The Reformation

1123
01:16:49.399 --> 01:16:52.880
ultimately became an argument over the authority of the Church

1124
01:16:53.239 --> 01:16:56.600
to interpret the scriptures. And we can understand that what

1125
01:16:56.680 --> 01:16:59.600
Luther wanted to do was say, no, the Church doesn't

1126
01:16:59.680 --> 01:17:03.119
judge the scriptures. The scriptures judge the Church. The scriptures

1127
01:17:03.159 --> 01:17:05.600
are the authority. I understand what Luther was trying to do.

1128
01:17:05.800 --> 01:17:09.600
So he disagreed with the Church, and he argued that

1129
01:17:09.640 --> 01:17:13.039
his disagreement was based off scripture. So the scriptures were

1130
01:17:13.039 --> 01:17:16.119
the authority. So he has to stand and he can

1131
01:17:16.159 --> 01:17:19.439
do nothing because his conscience is held keptive by the

1132
01:17:19.479 --> 01:17:21.840
word of God. Here I stand. Okay. I know I'm

1133
01:17:21.880 --> 01:17:24.800
paraphrasing the famous statement. Okay, but it's the word of God,

1134
01:17:24.920 --> 01:17:27.600
and it sounds good, and it's the rally cry, and

1135
01:17:28.119 --> 01:17:31.760
it's our battle cry. The word of God Sola scriptora

1136
01:17:32.159 --> 01:17:35.479
is the final authority. Yeah, we all say that. But

1137
01:17:35.560 --> 01:17:40.319
the inevitable consequence of the Reformation was this. The Church

1138
01:17:40.479 --> 01:17:44.119
lost the authority and even though Luther wanted to bring

1139
01:17:44.159 --> 01:17:46.800
it to the Bible, it skipped over the Bible and

1140
01:17:46.800 --> 01:17:53.199
that landed right in the lap of the individual. Now

1141
01:17:53.279 --> 01:17:56.960
every individual can open the Bible and says, this is

1142
01:17:57.000 --> 01:17:59.640
what God says, this is what He meant, this is

1143
01:17:59.680 --> 01:18:02.199
the true and if you disagree with it, you disagree

1144
01:18:02.279 --> 01:18:07.880
with God because my understanding basically is God's understanding. And

1145
01:18:07.920 --> 01:18:13.359
guess what inevitably happened. Luther fought the church said the

1146
01:18:13.359 --> 01:18:17.239
Bible's the authority, and within fifteen seconds, Okay, maybe that's

1147
01:18:17.239 --> 01:18:19.720
a little bit of hyperbole, someone opened up the Bible

1148
01:18:19.760 --> 01:18:23.399
said Luther, you're wrong. And then someone said no, you're wrong,

1149
01:18:23.760 --> 01:18:26.359
and someone else said you're wrong. And then one group

1150
01:18:26.399 --> 01:18:29.279
after another, group after another, group after another group in

1151
01:18:29.359 --> 01:18:33.640
denomination after denomination after denomination after denomination, and fights and

1152
01:18:33.800 --> 01:18:37.880
argues and philological wars and battles because nobody can agree.

1153
01:18:37.960 --> 01:18:41.600
Because inevitably, as much as we wanted to say sola scriptra,

1154
01:18:41.840 --> 01:18:49.479
it became sola individual. The individual became the authority, and

1155
01:18:49.520 --> 01:18:54.479
the individual interpretation becomes the right interpretation in their own eyes,

1156
01:18:54.800 --> 01:18:56.840
and then they judge everyone else on the basis of

1157
01:18:56.880 --> 01:19:00.119
their interpretation. And then we'll call everyone else heretics and

1158
01:19:00.159 --> 01:19:03.800
apostates because their interpretation now is the right interpretation. They

1159
01:19:03.840 --> 01:19:07.079
will judge their pastors, they will judge. You can take

1160
01:19:07.079 --> 01:19:09.439
someone who's never been to Bible college, never been to seminary,

1161
01:19:09.520 --> 01:19:11.920
has never even read a Hermeneutics textbook, And they will

1162
01:19:12.000 --> 01:19:14.720
judge preaching, and they will judge teaching, and they will

1163
01:19:14.800 --> 01:19:19.079
judge interpretation and say you're wrong and I'm right, and

1164
01:19:19.119 --> 01:19:23.560
they will always say that they're right, and they will say, God,

1165
01:19:24.039 --> 01:19:27.560
do you realize every Christian believes God is on their

1166
01:19:27.720 --> 01:19:38.000
side and that their interpretation is God's interpretation? I don't.

1167
01:19:39.000 --> 01:19:44.640
I end, I don't know what else to say. The end,

1168
01:19:46.399 --> 01:19:48.119
I don't know what else to say. You can email

1169
01:19:48.159 --> 01:19:51.199
me all of your disagreements and all of your authoritative

1170
01:19:51.239 --> 01:19:56.800
conclusions to newsif at yahoo dot com, newsif at yahoo

1171
01:19:56.840 --> 01:19:58.800
dot com. And I know that you think God is

1172
01:19:58.840 --> 01:20:01.560
on your side. Therefore I know that you think you're

1173
01:20:01.640 --> 01:20:04.960
right and that I'm wrong. I just don't. I just

1174
01:20:04.960 --> 01:20:07.880
think at some point Christians got to acknowledge the complicated,

1175
01:20:07.920 --> 01:20:12.800
convoluted mess that we were just as just as confused

1176
01:20:12.800 --> 01:20:14.720
as everyone else is when it comes down to truth.

1177
01:20:15.439 --> 01:20:17.000
As much as we try to claim that we're not

1178
01:20:17.600 --> 01:20:20.640
news I f at yahoo dot com, news if at

1179
01:20:20.680 --> 01:20:24.119
yahoo dot com. I'm gonna go find my pencil because

1180
01:20:24.159 --> 01:20:27.920
it's driving me crazy how a pencil could just literally disappear.

1181
01:20:28.000 --> 01:20:32.159
It's almost as if something nefarious is going on. Okay,

1182
01:20:32.239 --> 01:20:33.720
I'll probably find it here in a minute, all right,

1183
01:20:33.760 --> 01:20:35.359
but thank you for listening. Everyone, have a great day.

1184
01:20:35.479 --> 01:20:37.439
I wish I could offer you more. I don't know

1185
01:20:37.439 --> 01:20:40.000
what else to say, but there we have it. God

1186
01:20:40.039 --> 01:20:40.359
bless