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What is Christmas? (Romans 4:23-25) | Pastor Marc Cogan
00:00 Introduction to the Verses
01:16 The Promise to Abraham
02:10 Faith and Righteousness
05:22 Personal Anecdote on Faith
07:42 Application to Modern Believers
09:50 God's Promise to You
13:39 Understanding True Belief
16:24 Survival Shows and Fiery Serpents
17:36 Belief and Temptations
20:10 The Sin Problem and Righteousness
22:13 The Importance of Resurrection
23:54 God's Kindness and Repentance
26:10 Justification and Trespasses
29:31 The Promise of Salvation
33:07 Final Prayer and Encouragement
Transcript
We'll be looking at these three verses that may not
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:initially seem related to Christmas.
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:It may not initially seem like Christmas
eve verses, but I am confident that
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:they will clearly help you understand
why we celebrate Christmas, and
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:specifically why we celebrate Jesus
this Christmas next Christmas.
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:All year round why we ought to do that.
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:So read with me and we're
actually gonna begin in verse 20.
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:So I want your eyes on these
verses as I read them aloud.
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:We're actually begin in verse 20, just
to give you some context that I think
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:is necessary and helpful for the verses
that we'll be looking at tonight.
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:So verse 20 says this, know unbelief made
him waver concerning the promise of God.
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:Who's him?
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:Shout it out.
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:Jesus.
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:Abraham Abraham, this whole
chapter has been about Abraham.
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:You got, you guys got the
Jesus, the Jesus Duke.
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:You know, the Sunday School Answer.
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:What's the answer to everything?
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:Jesus.
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:You guys got that, but
you got the wrong answer.
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:Okay.
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:Who is it?
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:No unbelief made him Abraham waver
concerning the promise of God.
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:What's the promise of God
specifically in this context?
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:You guys learned about it.
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:What's the promise to
Abraham in this passage?
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:Close.
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:Yeah.
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:That he would be the father of a nation.
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:Of a nation, right?
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:But he grew strong.
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:Abraham grew strong in his faith as he
gave glory to God, fully convinced that
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:God was able to do what he had promised.
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:That is why his faith was
counted to him as righteousness.
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:Okay, verse 23 is where
we're gonna be tonight.
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:Listen carefully.
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:But the words it was counted to him
were not written for his sake alone.
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:For ours also, it will be counted
to us who believe in him, who raised
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:from the dead, Jesus our Lord, who
was delivered up for our trespasses
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:and raised for our justification.
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:Christmas is worth celebrating.
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:It's worth celebrating because Jesus
was delivered up for your trespasses and
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:he was raised for your justification.
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:What is Christmas?
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:It's a celebration of Jesus.
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:His birth that would result in
this stunning possibility that
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:your faith here in 2025 could be
counted to you as righteousness.
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:If that doesn't amaze you, it should.
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:If you don't celebrate that, you should.
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:If, if you don't marvel
at that, you, you should.
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:That is an amazing truth, but it's
okay if you don't quite get it.
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:It's okay if you don't quite get it
because God is very kind to you to
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:bring you here tonight, to hear his
promise, to hear of his promise.
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:And there's some big words that
we need to make sure we understand
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:and there's some important ideas
that we're gonna unpack tonight.
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:So God has been kind to you
to give you his word and we're
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:gonna examine it together.
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:Sound good?
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:Alright, let's look at verse 23.
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:Verse 23 says.
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:The words it was counted to him
were not written for his sake alone.
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:Okay?
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:If we were just looking at this
verse, it would make no sense, right?
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:What is the it?
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:Normally, when you're reading your
Bible, sometimes these things are a
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:little bit harder to discover, but
thankfully in this passage, all you
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:gotta do is look at the verse above it.
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:What is the it?
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:Verse 22 says.
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:That is why his faith was
counted to him as righteousness.
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:So when we read verse 23 and
it says it was counted to him,
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:it's referring to verse 22.
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:There's two important words that I
know Lewis has already taught you on,
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:but are so critical to understanding
everything else that I wanna make sure
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:we're all on the same page and that
we have clarity about these two words.
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:Look at verse 22.
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:That is why his faith.
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:What is faith?
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:What exactly is faith?
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:Well, we're talking about Abraham's faith.
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:Paul has been talking about
Abraham Abraham's faith
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:through all of chapter four.
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:Well, largely throughout of chapter four.
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:God promised something radical to Abraham.
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:What did he promise him?
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:That he would be the
father of a great nation.
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:What was the problem with that promise?
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:At least what appeared to be
the problem with that promise?
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:Abraham was.
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:He was old.
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:He was old, he was too old to have kids.
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:His wife was also too old, but, but he had
faith in the promise of God that he would
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:indeed be the father of a great nation.
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:And in his old age he would,
he would be able to do that.
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:This promise didn't really make sense.
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:In fact, even somebody
laughed at this promise.
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:Who was that?
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:Who laughed at this promise, right?
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:Sarah?
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:She hears this promise and goes, what?
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:This is crazy, right?
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:Abraham?
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:Does he laugh?
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:No.
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:Abraham has faith.
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:And look at verse 20.
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:It says, no unbelief made him waver.
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:What does waver mean?
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:He's not shakeable.
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:He's not shaken.
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:Concerning this promise of God.
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:And verse 21, it says he was
fully convinced that God was
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:able to do what he had promised.
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:So what is faith?
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:Well.
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:When I was maybe six, I
dunno, maybe six, maybe seven.
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:I was just absolutely dead set on.
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:I was absolutely dead set on a gift.
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:This gift, I bet nobody will.
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:Nobody will.
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:Guess it was a toy cash register.
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:I don't know if you, I don't know
if when you were a kid, when you
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:were, when you were six or seven.
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:If you would just like hyperfocus on
a gift and it was like all you could
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:think about for the weeks leading up
to Christmas, maybe you still do that.
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:Maybe, you know, maybe.
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:Maybe.
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:But it was just all I could think
about was this toy cash register.
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:My parents were very
generous, giving us gifts.
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:We didn't always have a ton
of money, but they were always
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:very generous giving us gifts.
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:And I asked for it.
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:I asked for it.
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:Did I see them buy it?
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:Nope.
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:Did I happen to see it in the closet?
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:Nope.
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:And, and I didn't that year.
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:Look for it in the closet.
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:Did I see them wrap it?
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:No.
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:And in fact, in our family, our tradition,
at least when I was a kid, was that our
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:parents would put those big gifts under
the tree only on Christmas morning.
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:That way we couldn't
sleuth around too much.
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:So I didn't even see it until
Christmas morning, but I was convinced
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:that they were gonna give it to me.
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:Why?
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:Why?
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:I was convinced.
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:No evidence of the actual present
that they were going to give it to me.
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:In fact, they did.
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:In fact, they did.
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:The only indications that they were
gonna give it to me was the fact
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:that Christmas was a couple weeks
away and that my parents loved
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:me and that I had asked for it.
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:I didn't have anything else, but I was
convinced that I would get that present.
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:And I did Abraham in a similar way.
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:I mean, I believe in my parents,
but Abraham believes in God.
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:Abraham is fully convinced that God is
going to deliver his promise to him.
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:He's fully convinced that God is
able to and will even in fact, when
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:he had evidence to the contrary, all
the evidence I had when I was a kid
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:was that they would get it to me.
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:Abraham doesn't even have that.
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:He has evidence suggesting that it's not
possible that he's too old, that it's
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:not gonna be something that will happen.
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:Okay, so Abraham's faith is
counted to him as righteousness.
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:So his faith is counted
to him as righteousness.
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:What is, what does that mean?
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:So his faith is counted
to him as righteous.
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:Well, what?
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:What is righteousness?
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:What is righteousness?
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:Maybe you already know.
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:Maybe you already know.
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:Maybe this is simplistic, but just
to make sure we're on the same page,
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:I think I want you to think when you
hear the word righteousness, to hear
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:right in that word and specifically.
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:Right with God.
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:Righteousness is being right with God
as opposed to being wrong with God.
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:So what is this?
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:It's faith that is counted
to Abraham as righteousness.
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:This is also not the first time
you've heard this in this room,
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:but you have a big problem.
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:Many of you are believers and.
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:This problem is not a problem at
this point, but you were all born
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:with the problem and that problem
is that you were not righteous.
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:That you were not right with God.
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:You were wrong with God.
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:Your sin made you the bad guy, made
you the person who was the enemy
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:who made you, the person who was
at odds with God, not righteous.
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:And so what is happening here
is that the faith of Abraham.
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:Is being counted to him to solve
that problem, to solve that problem.
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:So we've been talking
about Abraham, right?
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:This whole passage
seemingly is about Abraham.
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:What does it have to do with you?
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:What does it have to do with you?
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:Well, Paul is actually extremely clear
about what it has to do with you.
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:Let's look at verse 23,
specifically at the, uh, as it
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:goes into verse 24, it says, but
the words, it was counted to him.
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:Were not written for his sake alone.
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:They were not just written for Abraham.
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:Who were they written for, but for
ours also, this promise is for you.
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:This promise is for you.
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:The idea that your faith can be
counted to you as righteousness is
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:a promise for you this very evening.
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:God has included this amazing
truth in the Bible so that you
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:can hear it this very evening.
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:I, I wish I could use all
your names in that statement,
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:that this promise is for you.
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:Hear your name as I say that and
begin to wonder, begin to maybe
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:even for the first time, be amazed
at what an incredible thing that
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:is, that this promise is for you.
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:Think about everything that it
took for you to get here tonight.
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:I know all your paths here to True
North are a little bit different.
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:But you know, you maybe you're
in your last class, your teacher
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:has to actually let you leave.
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:You might rebel if, if they didn't let you
leave, but they have to finish up class.
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:You have to walk to your car.
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:Your car has to actually still
be in the parking lot or the
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:bus has to actually be there.
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:You have to get in your car, you have to
get on the bus, you have to ride home, you
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:have to get there safely, not get in any
sort of car accident to go in the house.
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:There has to be food in the fridge, or
maybe your mom has food on the table
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:so that you don't starve to death.
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:I know what it's like
to be a high school boy.
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:It's possible that you would starve to
death, then you have to get ready to go.
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:You have to get back in the car.
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:You have to not get in an accident.
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:The doors to this building
have to be unlocked.
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:The building itself has to be standing.
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:There's a million things that you did
not think about that God cared about
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:to make it possible for you to be
here tonight so that you could hear.
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:These incredible words
and his promise to you.
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:Let me go even further to suggest,
to actually confidently say that
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:God has worked all of human history
so that you could be here today in
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:this music room to hear his promise.
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:Every king that's ever sat on a throne,
every law that's been passed, every
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:war, every famine, every victory
of the good guys, all of that.
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:Was cared for by God, was directed
by God, so that your parents would
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:meet so that they would have you, so
that you'd eventually make it here.
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:Don't think that that was a coincidence.
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:Don't think that that was just by chance.
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:That was God's love for you.
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:He loves you.
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:He cares for you, and he wants
you to hear his promise to you.
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:What is his promise?
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:What is his promise?
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:And we've already said
it, but we can't miss it.
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:We can't miss it.
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:Look, again, we're gonna read
23, but we're gonna read a
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:little bit further in verse 24.
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:Before I do that, lemme
give you the first point.
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:Um, I realize I, I missed that.
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:Lemme give you the first
point, uh, this Christmas.
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:You are to be, you should believe
in God to be right with God.
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:Believe in God to be good, believe in God,
to be righteous, to be a righteous person.
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:And that's the promise.
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:That is the promise that God has
given to you, that if you believe
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:in him, there is a hope for you.
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:So, okay, now let's look at verse 23.
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:Verse 23.
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:It says, but the words it was counted to
him were not written for his sake alone,
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:not just for Abraham, but for ours also.
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:It will be counted to us who believe
in him, who raised from the dead.
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:Jesus, our Lord God has protected
his word so that you can hear
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:these, these words this very night.
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:Okay.
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:Again, we need to make sure we
understand exactly what's going on here.
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:There's a word in here that maybe
you think you understand, but we
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:need to make sure we understand it
properly, and it's the word believe.
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:It will be counted to
us who believe in him.
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:What does it mean to believe in somebody?
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:Well.
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:I don't want you to turn there,
but I want you to listen carefully.
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:I'm gonna read a passage from the book
of Numbers, and this is an account
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:from the time of the people of Israel
when they were in the wilderness.
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:So they're under Moses as their leader.
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:They're in the wilderness
and listen to what happens.
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:Numbers 21 verse four says, from Mount
whore, they set out by the way to the
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:Red Sea to go around the land of Edem.
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:The people became impatient on
the way they became impatient.
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:So they sinned in their hearts.
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:Their hearts were rotten, their
hearts were not righteous.
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:And then they sin outwardly.
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:It says, and the people then spoke
against God and against Moses.
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:So they're impatient and then they speak
against God and they say, why have you
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:brought us up out of Egypt to die in the
wilderness for there is no food and no
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:water, and we loathe this worthless food.
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:Which is it?
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:Is there no food or is it worthless food?
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:I, you can see their heart
attitudes are not good.
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:Are not good.
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:Well, God is gonna judge them and
you're gonna be surprised unless
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:you know this how he judges them.
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:Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among
the people and they bit the people,
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:and so many people of Israel died.
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:And the people came to Moses and said,
we have sinned for we have spoken
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:against the Lord and against you.
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:Pray to the Lord that he take
away the serpents from us.
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:So Moses prayed for the people.
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:They don't quite get the answer
to the prayer that they want.
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:Listen, and the Lord said to
Moses, make a fiery serpent.
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:We're gonna find out.
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:It's made outta bronze.
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:Make a fire serpent and set it on
a pole, and everyone who is bitten.
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:When he sees it shall live, so he
doesn't get rid of the serpents.
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:Instead, he provides this solution.
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:So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it
on a pole, and if a serpent bit anyone, he
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:would look at the bronze serpent and live.
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:Imagine that.
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:Imagine you're one of the people
of Israel and this happens and
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:there's all of a sudden snakes
that are on fire all around you.
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:You're trying to get away from them,
but then one bites you on the arm.
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:What are you gonna do?
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:Get a bandaid?
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:No, you're not gonna get a bandaid.
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:What if, if you watch those
shows, those survival shows, are
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:you gonna suck out the venom?
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:That's what Sean's gonna do.
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:You gonna go find mom,
see if mom can help.
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:What are you gonna do?
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:They're also fiery serpents, so
you're probably also on fire, so
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:you're padding out maybe your clothes.
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:What are you gonna do?
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:Well, Moses provides a solution, but
it's a counterintuitive solution.
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:It's a solution that
doesn't make any sense.
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:If you think the solution to the
bite from the snake is to get a
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:bandaid or to find mom or to do
anything else, it's not gonna work.
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:You're gonna be looking down at your
arm, you're gonna be looking for
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:more snakes to that might bite you.
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:It doesn't make sense to look up.
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:Why would you look up when
the problems are down here?
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:You wouldn't look up unless you
believed that salvation would
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:come by looking up at the serpent.
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:The only way you would do that is
if you believed in God's promise
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:that that serpent on the pole
was the way that you were saved.
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:You believe in something.
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:I'm, I'm encouraged that many
of you have professed faith.
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:But if you haven't professed faith in
Jesus, you still believe in things.
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:And for those of you who are
Christians in the room, there's
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:temptations to believe in solutions
to problems that aren't godly.
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:Maybe some of you are lonely.
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:Maybe it's really hard to
go to lunch 'cause you don't
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:know who's gonna talk to you.
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:You don't know how awkward those
conversations are gonna be.
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:You don't know if your
friends are gonna abandon you.
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:Maybe you're lonely.
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:Maybe you think to yourself, the
solution to that is, if only I
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:had a boyfriend or girlfriend.
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:If I had a boyfriend or a girlfriend,
then problem solved, right?
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:If my friends abandoned me,
I have somebody to talk to.
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:I have somebody to text.
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:Right?
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:That thinking is a belief that.
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:A boyfriend or a girlfriend
will solve your problems.
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:Maybe that's not exactly something
that you face, but I think you
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:could probably relate to that.
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:Maybe you feel a lot of anxiety.
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:Maybe getting outta bed in the
morning is really difficult.
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:Maybe every time you leave your house
you feel just completely exhausted.
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:Maybe when you walk onto school
campus or you begin some sort of
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:project related to school, you feel
your tight, your chest tightening up.
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:You feel that anxiety in you.
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:And the only time you feel relief
from that is a couple times when
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:you've done really well in tests and
you feel, oh, it's finally over, and
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:I feel the relief from that anxiety.
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:And so you begin to work harder and
harder at your school so that you can
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:experience that relief that comes when
you've passed a test and done really well.
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:You put more and more faith into your
education, which is a good thing.
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:But that way of thinking is believing that
good grades are gonna solve your problems.
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:That is a belief.
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:I know you guys face real problems.
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:I know you face real problems, whether
that's anxiety or, or loneliness or, or
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:fears or depression or troubles at home.
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:I know those are real things.
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:Each of you faces
different facets of life.
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:There's different things that you each
struggle with, but there's one thing
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:that you were all born with and in fact
the Bible makes it very clear and Lewis
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:has preached very clearly on this.
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:You all were born with a sin problem,
and that problem is, is huge.
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:It's a huge problem.
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:We've already talked about how
that problem means that you are not
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:righteous, you are not right with God.
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:You need a solution to that?
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:What is the solution
to that righteousness?
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:What do we see here in Romans four?
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:It'll be counted to us.
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:Who believe in him?
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:Who raised from the dead?
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:Jesus our Lord.
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:What is the it?
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:It's the righteousness that you need.
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:A Christian doesn't have
anxiety disappear overnight.
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:When they profess faith and
they are saved, depression
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:doesn't just suddenly disappear.
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:God may relieve that may work through
your life to help you, but those
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:things don't just vanish overnight.
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:The problems that you have don't
just disappear when you become a
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:Christian, but there is something that
disappears when you become a Christian.
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:It disappears instantly.
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:It disappears immediately, and that
is the problem of righteousness.
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:That you have and have had since birth.
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:When you are saved, God
makes you righteous.
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:Does that mean that you continue
to sin or don't continue to sin?
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:We still sin as Christians in this
life, but we are made righteous
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:before God, once and for all.
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:Once a righteous Christian,
always a righteous Christian.
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:We do grow.
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:Christians do grow.
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:There's a big word.
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:We're not gonna dive into it, but
imagine many of you have heard
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:it, progressive sanctification.
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:That's something that happens
over the life of a Christian.
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:But when you become a Christian,
your biggest problem is dealt with.
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:Your biggest problem of sin is dealt with.
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:One Corinthians 1517.
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:A place where Paul helps us to
understand another important
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:element to the passage here.
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:One of the things that is clearly
articulated in this passage is
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:that Jesus is raised from the dead.
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:Raised from the dead.
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:We don't celebrate the
resurrection at Christmas.
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:We celebrate it at Easter, right?
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:The resurrection is
critical to understanding.
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:This reality.
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:So listen to, just don't turn there.
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:One Corinthians 15,
verse 17 says, says this.
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:And if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is futile.
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:So your faith is worthless.
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:Why is that?
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:Because you are still in your sins.
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:So we're dependent on the resurrection
of Christ because without that
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:resurrection, we are still in our sins.
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:Paul continues on and he says,
then those also who have fallen
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:asleep in Christ have perished.
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:So even if it was possible that you could
be a Christian in this life, but Jesus
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:wasn't resurrected himself, what hope
would you have of life after this life?
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:What hope would you have of
resurrection for yourself?
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:But no, Jesus has been resurrected.
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:He has overcome the grave,
and so we do have hope.
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:Just to make sure we're
not missing anything.
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:Paul continues.
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:He says, if in Christ we have
hope in this life only, we are
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:of all people most to be pitied.
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:We're very much dependent
on the resurrection.
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:For any of this to be possible,
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:you have a, a, a problem if you
are not a Christian, which is that
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:sin, reigns and rules in your life.
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:If you are a Christian, you
need to remember these truths.
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:You need to remember that God is kind to
you and you need to remember the gospel.
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:So this Christmas, believe in God
to be right with God this Christmas.
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:Look to the cross for the
hope that you can have.
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:There's nothing you can
do, but look to the cross.
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:Alright, does anybody
know what a warrant is?
455
:If Mark Cogan has a warrant for
his arrest, who knows what that is?
456
:Only two people.
457
:Everybody else has no clue.
458
:Who knows what a warrant for
arrest is if I have a warrant for
459
:my arrest, what does that mean?
460
:It means that some judge has sat in a
courtroom and looked at evidence and
461
:said, that guy is guilty of a crime.
462
:He needs to come in and see me.
463
:He needs to be judged for his
crimes that he has committed.
464
:Does that mean I'm in the courtroom yet?
465
:It does not mean I'm in
a courtroom before yet.
466
:When we're born, we all have
kind of a warrant for our arrest.
467
:We have a sin nature, a sin problem that
God has issued a warrant of sorts for.
468
:Does God issue a warrant because he needs
time for a police officer to bring you in?
469
:No, he certainly does not.
470
:He does not.
471
:God has issued a warrant for your
arrest and he has not called you into
472
:your judgment yet because he's kind
to you, because he loves you, because
473
:he wants all to reach repentance.
474
:As Peter says, God wants
all to reach repentance.
475
:A judge in a courtroom needs
a police officer to go out and
476
:arrest whoever it is who has the
warrant, but God is kind to you.
477
:Let's look at verse 25.
478
:Let's lurk at verse 25
to better understand.
479
:This Verse 25 says, who was delivered up?
480
:So who is the who?
481
:That's Jesus.
482
:He was delivered up for our trespasses
and raised for our justification.
483
:So we have a warrant when we're born
for our arrest, but if we believe and
484
:we have faith and the righteousness
is counted to us, what happens?
485
:Does God call us in for that warrant?
486
:No.
487
:Who is delivered up?
488
:Instead, Jesus is delivered up instead.
489
:Instead, Jesus is the
one who pays the price.
490
:What is that word?
491
:Trespasses.
492
:That word trespasses.
493
:I suspect many of you kind of like
intuitively know what it means.
494
:I, I think the easiest way to
understand it is that it's sin.
495
:Trespasses is Paul's way, of course,
in the English of saying sin.
496
:That word trespasses, I
think is really helpful.
497
:What is a trespass?
498
:Normally, if I get trespassed
from a place, what does that mean?
499
:It means I went onto the
property of somebody else and
500
:I broke their rules, right?
501
:I made a scene, made a mess,
broke something, stole something.
502
:And so what does the property owner say?
503
:You broke the rules of the property.
504
:You are no longer welcome on the property.
505
:Trespasses for God work in a similar way.
506
:God is the creator of everything.
507
:This is his world.
508
:Every inch of this world is his.
509
:You are his.
510
:And he has set up rules.
511
:And when we break them,
we deserve punishment.
512
:We deserve to be kicked off
the property, as it were.
513
:But we have hope.
514
:And we have hope because
Jesus is the one who is.
515
:As Paul says, delivered
up for our trespasses.
516
:Alright, there's another
important word here.
517
:He doesn't just say delivered
up for our trespasses, right?
518
:Jesus didn't just die, but
here's that word again, raised.
519
:We already talked about
that, but an important word.
520
:He wasn't just delivered up for our
trespasses put to death for our sin,
521
:but he was raised for our justification.
522
:Another big word.
523
:Again, I think you probably intuitively
know what it means, but justification.
524
:What word do you hear in there?
525
:Think justice.
526
:Justice, right?
527
:The phrase justice is served,
probably comes to your mind.
528
:Justification means what is good
and right, and just is done.
529
:I know you guys probably been exposed
to many of the headlines recently about
530
:some of the terrible things that have
happened in our world and in your heart.
531
:I'm sure you desire justice to be done.
532
:I'm sure you are alarmed at
it, but I also know that you
533
:desire justice to be done well.
534
:What is the justice that we deserve?
535
:The Bible says that the wages
of sin is death, but, but there
536
:was a baby born in a major.
537
:There was a baby born in a major.
538
:There was good news of great joy.
539
:That will be for all people that
today in the city of David, a
540
:savior is born, Christ is born.
541
:And so you can be justified.
542
:You can be made righteous before
God because of what Christ has done.
543
:Notice here, what does Paul not
say, or another way of asking that
544
:is, what role do you play in this?
545
:Our final point for tonight,
546
:0.2
547
:of two is be amazed that God saves anyone.
548
:Be amazed that God saves
anyone this Christmas.
549
:Be amazed that God, who lived a
perfect life, who was born in a
550
:manger, lived and died for you.
551
:That's an incredible thing.
552
:There's no law of nature that says
that that's something God had to do.
553
:There's no, there's no law of physics
that says God had to save you, but he did.
554
:There's nothing that mandates that
God loves you, but he does love you.
555
:He was delivered up for our trespasses
and raised for our justification.
556
:What part do you play in that?
557
:It's your trespasses, right?
558
:Where you delivered up for them.
559
:Were not.
560
:You are justified or you raised
up for that justification.
561
:You are not.
562
:What an incredible thing.
563
:What an incredible promise from God.
564
:What an incredible display of love
for you that he would do such a thing.
565
:It's complete.
566
:It's sufficient.
567
:It's done.
568
:Again, a Christian grows a
Christian sanctification that
569
:happens day by day in their life.
570
:But once a justified Christian,
always a justified Christian.
571
:I'm not much of a football fan.
572
:I'm a little bit better now.
573
:I'm not too proud of this story, but in
high school, I started watching football.
574
:I was really confused because at
the end of games, the clock was
575
:still ticking down, but everybody's
cheering the like stadium is.
576
:Cheering.
577
:Everybody's happy.
578
:Everybody's excited.
579
:I'm like, well, wait a minute.
580
:The clock is still ticking down.
581
:What has happened?
582
:Well, the reality is
a team had won, right?
583
:The scorebook don't, didn't reflect,
and wouldn't reflect that a team had won
584
:until that clock clicked down to zero.
585
:But there was a final play.
586
:There was a final touchdown
that sealed the deal.
587
:It was done.
588
:It would've actually been weird for the
stadium to wait until the clock ticked
589
:all the way down to start cheering.
590
:It would've been odd to to
wait for that to happen.
591
:Jesus has sealed the deal.
592
:He has done it.
593
:He has completed it.
594
:There is a time coming when Jesus
will return and the the score books,
595
:the record books will be finalized.
596
:For this moment here in
:
597
:He has been victorious.
598
:There's nothing the enemy
can do to undo his work.
599
:There's nothing that can be un, there's
nothing that can undo his promise.
600
:And so this Christmas, this Christmas,
you should celebrate what God has done.
601
:You should be amazed that
God sent his son to die.
602
:You should be amazed that a
baby was born in the manger.
603
:You should be amazed that he has given
you this promise that if you believe in
604
:him, righteousness will be counted to you.
605
:Alright, let me pray for us
and we'll go to small groups.
606
:Lord, thank you for Drew North.
607
:Thank you for these students.
608
:Thankful for those.
609
:Who have professed faith.
610
:I pray that they will be encouraged,
that they will be, um, excited
611
:about what you've done, that they
will be reminded of the gospel.
612
:For those here who are not saved,
I pray that tonight will be the
613
:first night that they believe.
614
:I pray that they will believe in you.
615
:I, I pray that they will understand
the problem they have, but they
616
:will understand how great a God
you are, how much you love them.
617
:I pray that they will believe,
um, that they will be.
618
:And their faith will be counted to
them as righteousness as you promise.
619
:This is a good word for them and I pray
that, uh, it will work in their hearts
620
:and their minds by the power of the
Spirit this evening as you see fit.
621
:In Jesus name I pray, amen.
622
:Alright, thank you guys.
