9/15/21 Wednesday night Bible study Don Blackwell

but now she really does dress me so i can't say that anymore what used to be a joke is literal we're going to start with our axe chart here and we are going to pick up in fact let me see if i can make this full screen here let's go there we go all right we're going to start with our memory chart and we are going to do the first 10 tonight i know you probably haven't studied that far but the first five are abcde and after that we did i did rhymes acts chapter 1 is the letter a and we've got two things what is the letter a ascension an apostle jesus went back into heaven they chose a new apostle acts chapter 2 is b what is that beginning of the church acts chapter 3 is see the crippled man is healed four is d the disciples are detained all right that is because they healed the crippled man acts chapter five is e evil companions who are the evil companions ananias and sapphira acts chapter six i had to start rhyming them because when you get to a point i can't remember what letter of the alphabet was next so i knew that wasn't going to work so acts chapter 6 is seven men chosen to fix in fact let me change this all right there we go acts chapter six seven men chosen to fix what is that about i know we're not there yet but this is when they the apostles said choose out seven men who can wait tables because they said we can't tend to that we've got to give ourselves to teaching these are the men i believe are the first deacons and we'll talk about that when we get there acts chapter 7 stephen is stoned and looks to heaven you've got stephen sermon at the end stephen is put to death acts chapter 8. i know you don't know it yet but two men who don't wait acts 8 two men who don't wait two men who don't wait to do what i know we hadn't gone over it yet but take a guess two men who don't wait to be baptized obey the gospel who are the two men that are baptized in acts chapter eight acts chapter eight you've got simon the sorcerer and you have the ethiopian eunuch acts chapter 9 saul is struck blind you've got the account of saul on the way to damascus and then the account that leads to his conversion acts chapter 10 the gentiles begin this is the story of cornelius and we'll hit 11 since it's on here acts chapter 11 the gentiles can go to heaven in acts chapter 10 you've got the account of cornelius acts chapter 11 is really just the repeating of that account because peter goes back to jerusalem and he tells about everything that happened in acts chapter 10. and so those two are very similar so next week i'm going to be gone i'm speaking i'm in a gospel meeting next week but when i get back the following week i want us to go through the first 11. these are easy easy easy and then you ought to be able to remember what's in the first 11 chapters of the book of acts all right acts chapter 2 is where we are tonight in acts chapter 2 this is the day of pentecost peter is preaching the first gospel sermon what we've covered so far is he tells the jews you have crucified the messiah verse 37 says when they heard this they were cut to the heart and they said men and brethren what shall we do acts 2 and verse 38 peter said unto them repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the remission of your sins it is an interesting thing this particular verse acts 2 38 if i were going to say there is one verse that the lord's church is known for i would say it's acts 2 38 would you agree with that it is very interesting because i want to show you this this week the gospel broadcasting network put out a video that was dealing with uh calvinism and this man his name is james white he is a prominent calvinist in fact he's kind of like the michael jordan of calvinist and he does a weekly podcast video and this week he was reviewing the gospel broadcasting network and it was very interesting and this is aaron gallagher down in the corner doing the podcast and uh aaron does a great job for us this is james white attacking us and i watched it you can watch him i'm kind of trying not to send people there because i don't want to up his numbers but and it's a bunch of nonsense but anyway he attacks the lord's church and he says every time i've been around the church of christ all they want to talk about is acts 2 38 acts 2 38 he said they go to a debate they don't want to move off of acts 2 38 and i thought that's very interesting why is it that people get upset when we talk about acts chapter 2 and verse 38 and as a matter of fact when people say that to you they say oh you want to talk about acts 2 38 2 3 what are they trying to do when they say that why are they saying that they want you to not talk about it they're trying to intimidate you and the point is acts 2 38 is powerful it is plain they don't know how to answer it they don't know how to get around it it works and so what do they do they will mock you because they want you to move off of acts 2 38 because they don't know what to do with it i watched this man's video in a two-minute time period i looked at this he used the words pelagianism uh sodorology provisionism synergism reformed theology this was in a two-minute time span why is he using words like that when he's talking about what a person has to do to be saved in a two-minute time span he used that sort of thing do you find any of those words i just mentioned in the bible you don't find any of those words in the bible i'm telling you that oftentimes you will see people in the religious world they will use big and complicated words and it comes across like i know more than you do about religion you can't talk to me because you don't know what pelagianism is you know god's not trying to trick us what we have to do to be saved is simple it is right you can read acts 2 38 and learn what you have to do to be saved we should not and we cannot let people intimidate us with things like this something else i thought was very interesting was two weeks ago i did a class on what is the gift of the holy spirit and i went through a bunch of things i saw a man online reviewing my facebook on what is the gift of the holy spirit that was very interesting and he said don's class is not comprehensive he said i have five notebooks on the holy spirit and he said i'm wrong don's was just short it's not comprehensive i've got five notebooks on this is that a good argument you know i've got a a bible by a man named zodiates he is a a greek expert and next to each passage in the bible he's a denominationalist but next to each passage he will write notes and under acts 2 38 where it says repent and be baptized he's got something like 83 lines of notes of why you don't actually have to be baptized i thought it's very interesting peter said repent and be baptized five words in 83 lines he explained why that's not what it means we can't let people use tactics such as that to intimidate us the bible is plain it says what it says not trying to be ugly but the point is we want to teach what the bible says you don't have to know these five dollar words in order to convert people anyway let's go on acts chapter 2 and verse 39. let's move on are you ready ben all right let's read it for the promises to you and your children and to all who are afar off as many as the lord our god will call all right after talking about this peter says the promise is unto you and your children as many as the lord our god shall call i want to focus on that phrase shall call the new king james says we'll call what is he talking about when he speaks about the lord calling us you ever hear people today and they will say well the lord called me the lord called me to preach i remember when i was going to get out of the air force and i was going to go to the school of preaching one of my bosses a senior master sergeant said well he said when the lord calls you i guess you got to go what was he thinking what do people have in mind when they say that sort of thing what's that a voice speaking to you yeah they think the lord is speaking to you in some way the holy spirit is speaking to you guiding you i heard a story about a man who said that he was a farmer and he said he went outside one day and he looked up in the clouds and the clouds looked like the letters gp and he said i knew that was the lord telling me to go preach and somebody else said to him how do you know it wasn't the lord telling you to go plow you're a farmer well see if you start interpreting things like that the lord doesn't call us in some mysterious way today in fact i want you to look at this because this is the only sense in which the lord calls us today at second thessalonians 2 14 you can write this in your bible next to acts 2 39 to which he called you by our gospel that's how the lord calls us today it is by the gospel all men today have been called by the gospel all right acts 2 and verse 40 let's keep reading and with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying be saved from this perverse generation all right peter kept preaching on the day of pentecost and it says with many other words he exhorted them this is very interesting to me because many other words they're not recorded it simply says peter said a lot of other things to them which the lord didn't record for us and it made me think of this two verses john chapter 20 and verse 30 says about jesus truly jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book but these are written that you may believe that jesus christ is the son of god and that believing you may have life through his name in other words in the book of john you've got a certain number of miracles that jesus did but there was a whole lot more which the holy spirit did not inspire john to write why he said this is all you need and this next passage is very interesting john 21 25 he said john says at the very end of his book and there are also many other things that jesus did which if they were written one by one john says i suppose that not even the world itself could contain all the books that could be written that is matthew mark luke and john have some miracles of jesus and they are fascinating things the holy spirit said this is all you need john said there is a whole lot more he said i suppose if we record everything that jesus did in his three years of ministry john says i think speaking in a hyperbole i suppose the world itself couldn't even record it all very interesting peter said many other things on the day of pentecost that are not recorded would you like to know those things i'd love to hear it i wish we had those recorded somewhere but the lord said i gave you what's necessary all right acts 2 41 then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3 000 souls were added to them okay this is a very interesting or very interesting phrase here he says they that gladly receive the word were baptized 3 000 souls were added unto them added unto whom isn't that an interesting question 3 000 souls were added to them who are the them that they are added to i want to suggest something for your consideration this is not a matter of fellowship but i want you to think about this there are many in the lord's church myself included who believe that this may be referring to people who were baptized under the baptism of john because the baptism of john i believe that those people were quote set in the church and on the day of pentecost those who were baptized were added to them now i want you to consider several things with me first what was the purpose of john's baptism i want you to look at this luke chapter 1 and verse 17 says the purpose of john's baptism was to make ready a people for the lord and i believe that's what happened with john's baptism he made people ready for the lord the people who were baptized by john were people who were prepared they were ready so on the day of pentecost they were set in the church they didn't have to be baptized again for the remission of their sins those who were baptized on pentecost were added to them here's a second thing that i want you to consider what did john's baptism accomplish what was a second purpose of john's baptism mark chapter 1 and verse 4 says this john came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of what two things here repentance for of sins john preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins does that sound familiar to what we just read in acts 2 38 what did peter say to them they said what must we do what did he say repent and be baptized for the remission of sins john's baptism was one for repentance that involved baptism for what purpose for the remission of sins so why would a person who was baptized under john's baptism they had to repent it was for the remission of sins what was the purpose of the baptism on the day of pentecost it's for the remission of sins if you had received the remission of sins why would you need to be baptized again for the remission of sins now i want you to think about this how does a person get the remission of sins can the blood of bulls and goats take away sin what can remove sin remission means from a move what can remove sin what can wash away my sin nothing but somebody said it nothing but the blood of jesus if you read revelation 1 and verse 5 matthew 26 26 you remember when jesus instituted the lord's supper he said this is the blood of my covenant that was shed for many for what what's he saying permission of sin permission of sins jesus blood was for the remission of sins brethren the only thing that can give remission of sins is the blood of jesus john's baptism was for the remission of sins i want you to think about that if only the blood of jesus can give remission of sins i don't think anyone would argue that point with me and john's baptism was for the remission of sins it had to be in prospect because jesus hadn't given his blood yet so how do you explain that his baptism was for the remission of sins that means it had to be by the blood of jesus nothing else could give the remission of sins and so if you had already accessed the blood of jesus for the remission of sins why would you be baptized for the remission of sins again that doesn't make sense i think it's something like this this is the comparison that i think of have you ever have y'all have y'all ever heard of something called kickstarter kickstarter is a a company that's out there today and if somebody's going to create a new device what they will do is they will say we don't really have the money to create this yet so we're going to say if you want to invest money in it before it's even created then you're already vested and then when it's created you automatically get one you don't have to pay because you've already paid you're already taken care of and so you have paid in advance and so when it's done you're already in it everybody else will come in after the fact i think that's what we've got with with john's baptism john preached repentance baptism for the remission of sins and so when jesus died bam the blood of jesus is applied to those people on the day of pentecost they are set in the church they didn't have to be baptized for the remission of sins because they'd already been baptized for the remission of sins yes sir that is an excellent question yes i will hold that thought for just a minute and um i will comment on that because acts 19 is uh something well let's go ahead since you brought it up let's go ahead and talk about acts 19. in acts chapter 19 why is he asking about acts chapter 19 because in acts chapter 19 paul comes into the region of ephesus in fact before we get i got to say this just hold that thought because acts 19 is a really great thing to bring up but here's another thing that i want you to consider there is no record of any people who were baptized under john's baptism being baptized again hold the acts 19 thought on the day of pentecost the people were told to repent and be baptized those people who were baptized under john's baptism had already repented they had already been baptized we read that in mark chapter 1 and verse 4 and we don't see peter and the apostles being baptized again they had been baptized under john's baptism you don't see them on the day of pentecost saying okay we need to be baptized first and then someone else baptizing us and if the people under john's baptism had been baptized again what was their baptism for they had already been baptized for their mission of sins which means the blood of jesus christ had already covered them and if they had to be baptized again what advantage did they have over those who had rejected john's baptism seems like they're in exactly the same condition as those who rejected john's baptism now again this is not a fellowship issue if you would like to study this some more i would recommend to you there i have some old gospel advocates from 1960 where brother gus nichols spent a lot of time on this he argues people under john's baptism did not have to be baptized again brother wayne jackson has done some writings on this and i have scanned all of this i've got it in a digital form if you want to read this in a more lengthy study give me your email and just write it down i'll send you wayne jackson and gus nichols stuff because they can explain it a lot better than i could all right what about the acts 19 question great question why did he ask that question in acts chapter 19 the apostle paul goes into ephesus and he meets some people there who had been baptized under john's baptism and he baptizes them again now i just said i don't believe people under john's baptism were baptized again so how do you explain this here's the explanation four verses before their re-baptism in acts chapter 19 we are told about a man in ephesus whose name was apollos apollos had been teaching john's baptism do you remember who corrected apollos i hear somebody saying it aquila and priscilla they come into the synagogue and they hear apollos teaching john's baptism and they call him aside and they said you probably don't know this but john's baptism's not valid anymore why did they call him aside and teach that in acts chapter this is acts chapter 18 that they call him aside and teach him the gospel what year was it that the church came into effect in acts chapter 2 where we're studying right now what year is that anybody know around 30. about 80 30 some people would argue 80 33 doesn't really matter sometime between 80 30 and 80 33 when you get to acts chapter 18 do you know what year this is i don't know exactly but we are almost positive it is past ad43 you know what that means at least 10 years after the church had gone into effect apollos is still teaching john's baptism now i want you to think about this let's put this in perspective john was teaching a baptism unto repentance to prepare a people for the lord to prepare people for the church on the day of pentecost christ's baptism went into effect you've got to repent and be baptized for the mission of sins we are buried with christ in baptism buried into his death that like as he was raised from the dead we should be raised to walk in newness of life romans 6 so let's say the day before pentecost john's baptism is still in effect let's say the day after pentecost somebody goes out and preaches john's baptism would that be legitimate let's say six months later somebody's still teaching john's baptism let's say a year later somebody's still teaching john's baptism let's say 10 years later somebody's still teaching john's baptism is john's baptism legitimate 10 years later that is a good point toby because aquila and priscilla took him aside and said um apollos and we're told apollos was mighty in the scriptures he is an eloquent speaker they took him aside and the bible says they corrected him they set him straight on this they in fact it says they taught him the word of god more perfectly is what the king james says and when he heard it he corrected it and he started teaching the baptism of christ how did this happen i don't know he's in ephesus so he's a long way away from jerusalem apparently at some point he had learned about the baptism of john and he's been teaching it he's been teaching it effectively he's been baptizing people lots of people he is powerful he is mighty in the scriptures he's baptizing people the day of pentecost passes he keeps preaching the baptism of john one year passes he's teaching two years back 10 years more than 10. i don't know how many years 15 years later approximately he's still teaching the baptism of john is that valid could you preach the baptism obviously it's not valid because aquila and priscilla got him aside and said hey you can't do this now here's the question 15 years after the day of pentecost and he's teaching the baptism of john and he baptizes people in the baptism of john did that baptism do them any good now here's the question here's the difference here's someone who's baptized in the baptism of john prior to the day of pentecost for the remission of sins to be prepared for the lord the day comes they're set in the church somebody after pentecost is taught the baptism of john that baptism is expired if you want to use that word that baptism is no good what you find is apollos in fact uh flip over to acts chapter 19 in fact let me see if i can throw that up on the board here i think with this software i'll be able to do that if i can figure out how to do it all right let's go here acts chapter 19. well apparently i can't figure out how to do it all right well let's go to acts chapter 19. i'm gonna have to go the old-fashioned way and actually look in the bible here some i try not to use it as much anymore because it is harder for me to read i've got this old dixon bible which i used to write notes in it uh 25 years ago when i first got it and i've realized now i can't even read these notes anymore they're so small all right listen to acts chapter 19 and i want you to listen very carefully to the beginning of this and acts 18 is when apollos is teaching the baptism of john 15 years too late aquila and priscilla take him aside teach him the word of god more perfectly he changes acts chapter 19 and it came to pass that while apollos was at corinth paul having passed through the upper regions came to ephesus and found certain disciples and he said unto them have you received the holy ghost since you believed and they said unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be a holy ghost and he said unto them and to what were you baptized and they said john's baptism then paul said unto them john verily baptized a baptism of repentance saying that you should believe on him who should come after him that is jesus christ when they heard this they were baptized in the name of the lord jesus and paul laid hands on them they received the holy ghost they began to do miracles what do we have we are told here is apollos teaching the baptism of john 15 years after it's expired then we're told that paul comes into a region where apollos had been teaching and he meets some people who only knew about the baptism of john and he says can i lay hands on you and give you the holy spirit they said what are you talking about paul starts wondering what is this all about how do they not know this and he says tell me about your baptism and they said you know the baptism of john he says ah and then he says let me tell you about the baptism of christ what you have in acts chapter 19 is the same thing you have in acts chapter 18 that is aquila and priscilla taught apollos about the baptism of christ because he was believing a baptism that had expired in acts chapter 19 you've got people who had been baptized under the baptism of john after it had expired and paul corrects them you've got a correction in acts 18 and a correction in acts 19. and so that is what i believe is the explanation of acts chapter 19. all right any questions or comments about that that's a great question toby after the day of pentecost that's exactly right uh-huh okay um yes sir yes great question to some you said somebody confronted you with that here's the parallel to that i want you to think about any jew who lived under the old testament system the jews who lived and died under the old testament system did they have their sins washed away did any jews go to heaven okay what can wash away my sin nothing but the blood of jesus did the blood of bulls and goats wash away their sin what washed away the sins of the jews under the old testament blood of jesus christ did now how is that the lord decides who is going to be washed by the blood of jesus christ and he decides how today he says i will apply the death of christ the blood of christ if you repent and you're baptized a jew living under the old system what he said was you will offer these animal sacrifices and what happened was each year their sins would be rolled forward rolled forward rolled forward but the blood of bulls and goats never washed away their sins what happened the lord said as you do this and you remain in compliance when jesus died have you ever heard it said this way the blood of the cross flowed backwards and it flowed forwards the jews had their sins washed away by jesus christ when they were in compliance with the old testament system they were forgiven in prospect but not until the day of pentecost or not until the cross and then that blood was applied back to them the same thing would be true for jews who under the system uh complied with the baptism of john you know this great question any other thoughts about um john's baptism or about this does it make sense i think it's pretty simple when you think through it wow all right well that got me off the hook oh we got five more minutes don't we okay i'm not off the hook yet any other questions all right well let's keep going then uh let's go to uh what verse or let's go to acts 2 42. and they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers okay the christians 3 000 people now are christians they're in jerusalem the bible says they continued steadfastly steadfastly means literally what it means in the greek is to be strong at something it carries with that the idea they persistently did this and then it's gonna list four things they continued steadfastly number one and the apostles doctrine that is in the teaching they strongly persistently followed the teaching number two oh incidentally what that would mean is there is a standard of authority in the new testament they had a standard of authority christianity is not a do your own thing religion it is based on a pattern it always has been they continued steadfastly number one in the apostles doctrine number two it says in fellowship this is not what you might think it is the word fellowship is from a greek word coinonia this word frequently is translated in the new testament to refer to money to a contribution in romans 15 26 you've got an example of that second corinthians 9 and verse 13 galatians 6 and verse 6 it refers to money that was given to financially support them what does that mean they continued steadfastly number one in the teachings of the apostles number two in quinonea it is probably a reference to the contribution number three they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread what is that a reference to yeah that's a reference to the lord's supper now i want to show you this i put this together today acts 2 42 they continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine in fellowship now notice this and in the breaking of bread i even pulled up the greek so that you could see you've got the word tane in the greek that is the definite article the why is that significant when it says they continued steadfastly in the breaking of bread that is significant because when you get to verse 46 notice what it says so continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart there you have the breaking of bread but it doesn't say the breaking of bread it's just breaking a bread why is that significant because notice in verse 46 it says they broke their bread daily from house to house what is that referencing they made a meal it means christians got together on a daily basis and they ate together just like we do in fact it adds the comment they broke their bread from house to house and ate their meat or ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart verse 42 is different verse 42 says they continued steadfastly in the apostles teaching and in giving and in the breaking of bread and in which would be the lord's supper and in prayers what he's listing is the worship of the new testament church they got together and they did these things why is the definite article the significant breaking of bread is the same phrase but it's used generically to mean they ate their food but when he says the breaking of bread and you've got the definite article tame thee it is a reference to the lord's supper that is very significant because i have heard people argue i remember years ago when i was a student at faulkner university there was a congregation of the lord's supper kind of a left-leaning congregation they had a radio program and on that program they argued that you can partake of the lord's supper any day of the week where did they get that you know where they went acts 2 46 it says they broke bread daily from house to house brother you got to look at the context and you got to look at some key things like this they were absolutely misusing that so what do you have here you have the early church continued steadfastly in teaching that is they followed the pattern that was given by the apostles fellowship they gave to the church the breaking of bread interestingly if they continued steadfastly that means regularly persistently in the breaking of bread how often did they partake of it how often do many denominations did they partake of lord's supper once a year yes and sometimes twice a year what would the two times be christmas and easter would you say they continue steadfastly persistently once a year does that even make sense they continued steadfastly persistently acts 20 and verse 7 says upon the first day of the week okay we'll stop there thank you for your participation i appreciate um these are the days of elijah [Music] moses righteousness being restored and though these are days of great trials of famine and darkness the way of the lord behold he comes running on the clouds until salvation comes these are the days of ezekiel and these are the days of your of service and these are the days of the harvest [Music] [Music] until salvation comes i graduated from heritage christian university back in may of this year and it was a really good experience and it was really great for me to sit at the feet of people and try to learn more and more and try to help myself develop and grow especially when it came to principles in the bible and just day-to-day living as well and one of the things that i noticed with heritage is even though i've graduated they offer they actually offer this to anybody like if you wanted to do this you could do it anybody can do this you can register online and you can choose to audit a class in other words you can sign up for a class and you get to sit and be a part of the class or just watch the recording of the class but you're not obligated to do any homework any assignments any research papers or any tests it's it's solely a free thing you can do so that you can learn about whatever this class is i thought you know since my experience was so well with heritage i'm gonna go ahead and do this this this semester too so i signed up for two classes that i'm not doing any of the obligatory work to it i'm just there for learning purposes one of the classes that i signed up for was addiction counseling and so i i go into the first class i signed online to the first class excited to see what this was going to be about and the first day this guy says all right here's what we're going to do we're going to do a 12-week abstinence program you got to pick one thing you've got to give up for 12 weeks now for those that are actually enrolled in the class for for a grade each week they have to write a one-page reflection paper on how it's going on the thing they're giving up so i thought you know i'm not obligated to do this i don't have to do this but then i was like but if everybody else in the class is going to do it i guess i might as well do it so then i was torn about what i was going to have to give up for 12 weeks because anything i could think of wanting to give up i'd go so far and say uh i don't know if i could give that up for 12 weeks so i finally decided to settle on coffee for 12 weeks which was a terrible choice having a newborn terrible choice but that's the choice i made i'm about five weeks into it and i tell you it really pulls at you when there is something you're trying to give up and you're trying not to do and yet your body just wants it your body craves it your body desires it after the first week i logged on and the teacher asked how's it going well there was one guy in particular who said he was going to give up sodas for 12 weeks and he was so in tune with drinking sodas that he woke up in the middle of the night one night went to the fridge opened the fridge popped open a can of coke started drinking and said what am i doing didn't even realize he was drinking it until it hit him i'm not supposed to be doing this because he was just accustomed to doing that one guy said he was giving up sweet tea and just in one week he couldn't believe the withdrawal symptoms he was having in his body because he wanted to give up sweet tea now let me ask you a question if you had to give up something for 12 weeks what would you give up now you're probably in your mind thinking i don't know what i would give up and then you know i think i'll do this and then you think about it and then you think about you're like that's a lot to ask in genesis chapter 6 god was upset because the intentions of man were evil our human nature is that we have these inclinations within us don't we we have these inclinations within us that pull at us they kind of overtake us in different regards and sometimes it's so hard to have peace because there are things that your body craves not necessarily physically but spiritually that you know you shouldn't be doing but yet for whatever reason it has a hold of you and wants to hold you to it you have to fight it then you have to fight it then you have to fight it in john chapter 8 jesus said to those jews who believe in him if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free they answered him we are abraham's descendants and have never been admonished to anyone how can you say you will be made free jesus answered them most assuredly i say to you whoever commits sin is a slave of sin and a slave does not abide in the house forever but a son abides forever therefore if the son makes you free you shall be free indeed inclinations cravings desires can't tell you how many times in just five weeks i just wanted one sip of coffee but i'm trying to hold myself accountable because the rest of the class is and guess what i'm not even getting graded on this i really don't have something that's saying hey you've got to do this or otherwise this is the consequence you're gonna have i don't even have that but what about when it comes to sin in 12 weeks you can't say i can't wait for my 12 weeks to be over because then i can participate in it again no it's a it's an ongoing life decision and think about people who in a physical sense do struggle with something that maybe the next time they mess up it's life it's life or death in a spiritual sense that's what we're talking about here and jesus is saying that of all the things that we're inclined to these desires that we have they they enslave us and they pull us away from our spiritual things and they pull us away from god and jesus is saying look if you want to be free of those things it's right here i will make you free from those things how many truths do we avoid when it's the very thing that will set us free what if one nagging thing could cost you everything including your soul inclinations desires things that pull up pull at us here's here's the irony in me giving up coffee i'm 33 years old and i hated coffee until i was 30 years old and the thing is it's not that it's not that i just avoided coffee i actually kept trying coffee because i wanted to like coffee and finally after like the tenth time i tried coffee it just stuck and then i tried it some more and then i tried some more now my body just craves coffee it's interesting that what you put in your body your body will crave and desire want the truth you want to feed on the truth then do that so that you will be set free from the things that enslave you tonight it's always an opportunity to be gathered together as brothers and sisters in christ to see one another to uplift one another to edify one another to praise god to open up his word and tonight we always want to offer the invitation to anybody who is enslaving sin and wants to become a child of god we also have the opportunity to pray with your brothers and sisters in christ for any struggles you may have if you're already a christian if there's anything we can do for you not please come while together we stand and sing and you must give an answer for something you must do [Music] what shall your answer be [Music] what will you do with jesus [Music] no more what shall it be what shall your answer with be [Music] good evening we hope everyone had a great wednesday today and we would like to welcome everyone to our bible study that we had this evening we hope that it was uplifting and a benefit to each and every one of you visitors if you are visiting we're so glad that you can make it our way and if you wouldn't mind hang around let us meet you greet you and uh please be back with us at the next opportunity we do have a few announcements before we dismiss before our final prayer we extend our sympathy to stacy brewington and the family in the death of stacy's father david burington stacy is an elder at the double springs congregation we also extend our sympathy to wanda king in the death of her son doug king this morning no funeral arrangements are available at this time if you would like to contribute to the gift card for chief savage that's uh chris and carrie chris and karen savage's new grandson please see peggy king or vicki stockton on sunday september 26th by sunday september 26 excuse me willow willow meals uh menus for september are posted please sign up uh to prepare a dish care groups uh one and two please check your master list on the visitation desk out here on the foyer and select the contact to make this month remember to fill out the form on the table in the foyer by october 1st if you would like to participate in secret sisters we are uh accepting monetary donations for the waverly flood victims through this sunday september 19th uh please see the handout or bulletin for details i'm gonna have to hold this one up this is a long one okay bible bowl saturday is the big day remember we are doing our bible bowl here in the auditorium this year please be here between 9 30 a.m to 9 45 to have to have time to get with your coaches to find your seat and be ready for the first question at 10. t-shirts were given out tonight during class time if your child doesn't have theirs please get with their t their coach or let debbie know if you ordered any extra t-shirts and didn't get those from your child's class tonight your child's coach tonight please come to classroom number two after dismissal tonight to pick up those to to pick to pick those up and to pay for those extras we will be having our annual bible bowl presentation this sunday sunday morning after our morning worship before we dismiss to sunday school classes teachers who are teaching the fourth quarter in the children's classes please come to the by the work room and pick up your curriculum notebooks the new quarter begins sunday october 3rd and wednesday october 6th please check your handout and bulletin for additional information and if you would please stand for the final prayer would you battle with me our gracious and loving heavenly father we come for you this day thanking you for the blessings of life thanking you for being able to provide for our families and to help us always to strive to do better help us always strive to do what is right i pray that we will be able to say that it has been good to be here and that we have learned something we can put into our lives to be better servants for thee pray that you will go with us the remainder this week pray that you'll help us to be back at the next point in time help us to make plans and help us to always strive to do your will forgive us when we don't have a stop and defeat us and the things that we do that is not right pray that you always guarding god and drugged us and we pray in jesus name amen you

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Length: 64min 6sec (3846 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 16 2021