WEBVTT

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 Peter, and you'll remember that the book of 2 Peter is a letter. It's a letter written by a man

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 named Peter, and he writes it to a church somewhere in the Roman Empire in the 60s AD.

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 And he writes it with one hope, one goal. He wants these people to grow. And you know by now he wants

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 them to grow in two ways. He wants them to grow in grace, and he wants them to grow in knowledge.

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 We're near the end of chapter 3. Today we have only two Sundays left in 2 Peter, this Sunday

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 and next Sunday. And so we're coming to Peter's conclusion. Remember we've been talking about the

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 false teachers in chapters 2 and 3. That's why knowledge and grace are so important to Peter,

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 because both of those things are under attack by the false teachers. And the last two weeks we've

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 taken a look at the end of the world. Two weeks ago I asked you what is the end of the world going to

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 look like, and we saw that it's going to include the world being stripped down and then remade.

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 And then last week we asked not what is the end of the world going to look like, but why do we care?

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 About the end of the world. Of course the answer was that the end of the world is part of how we

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 think about and what propels us to live lives of holiness and godliness. Peter is finishing his

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 letter now, and he's going to give us his final thoughts. In fact, we already kind of saw one of

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 them in verse 14, because one of his final thoughts is that we would be diligent to be found without spot

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 or blemish. Now we're moving on to verses 15 through 17. And in 15 through 18, the very end to this

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 letter we're going to see two basic thoughts that Peter gives us. This week it's going to be negative,

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 next week's positive. In other words, this week it's what we don't do, next week it's what we do do.

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 This week, don't be carried away. Verse 17. Next week, verse 18, grow.

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 Now of course we understand why he would tell us not to be carried away, right? Because we've seen in the

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 last two chapters we have these false teachers. So we want to make sure if there's false teaching,

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 we're not taken in by it. However, there's a problem that comes up in this section. We've seen

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 right at the beginning of chapter 3 that we look to the Bible as our ultimate authority,

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 but what happens when people look to the Bible as their ultimate authority and come to different

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 conclusions about it? How do we know that something is false teaching or not? How do we know if someone

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 is, what Peter refers to here, as twisting? There are some things, verse 16 he tells us,

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 that the unstable twist to their own destruction. And so we see this principle here, people twist

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 the scriptures. How do we know when that's happening? What do we do with the fact that many

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 people read the Bible and come to all sorts of different conclusions? What do we do with all

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 the different denominations? In fact, if you were to Google right now, any pastor who's prominent,

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 and then add the words false teacher, there's probably someone out there who thinks he's a false

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 teacher. It's not hard to find. In fact, that's what happens when you become famous. Someone attacks you as a

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 false teacher. And so how do we sort through all that? What do we do with that? How can we avoid

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 twisted interpretations? How can we stand firm? I might add another question to this. How are we

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 supposed to pick a church? How do we know this is a church that's going to allow us to stand firm,

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 that we're not being taught things that are false and incorrect? Now, you might be thinking,

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 why would I need to know that? I've already picked a church. I trust the doctrine, hopefully,

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 of this church. I don't listen to other teachers. Well, I want you to think about a few things.

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 First of all, some of you are going to move. I'm going to say something shocking and radical.

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 In five years, many of us won't be here. When you move, you may have to pick a new church.

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 I also want you to do the thought experiment of how many people in this room will be here in five years?

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 How many of you were here five years ago?

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 What does it take to keep a church on track, teaching the right doctrine?

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 Well, it takes us over and over again, time and time again, returning to what it is that we believe,

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 protecting what God has given us in his word.

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 And so it's with that that we're going to head into this section. Now, sometimes when we head into

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 tougher sections like this one, I give you my strategy coming up, and here's our strategy going in.

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 We're not going to talk about verse 15. The reason we're not going to talk about verse 15 is we've

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 already covered it earlier in this chapter. It's just talking about the idea that God's delay in

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 coming is not a delay, but it's due to his patience. We covered that extensively earlier in chapter 3.

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 What we are going to do is focus on verses 16 and 17, and we're going to look at two things.

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 First of all, number one, there are people who twist the scriptures.

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 There are people who twist the Bible. Number two, we need to stand firm.

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 Those are the two things we're going to look at this morning. Some people twist the scriptures.

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 We need to stand firm against that. I'm going to give you a little bit of explanation

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 and a lot of application. And so as with that, I invite you to turn with me to 2 Peter chapter 3.

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 We're going to start at verse 15, and as we come to this, you can turn in your Bible.

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 It's printed near the end of your worship guide. Maybe you can bring it up on your phone.

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 Regardless of where you are reading, remember that this is God's word.

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 And Proverbs chapter 30 verse 5 tells us that every word of God proves true.

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 He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

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 And so that's why we read now, starting at verse 15.

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 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you

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 according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks of them of these matters.

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 There are some things in them that are hard to understand,

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 which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures.

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 You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people

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 and lose your own stability.

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 I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

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 Our Father in heaven, we thank you again for your word that you've given to us.

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 And we ask you again for your help, that you would speak clearly through your word,

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 that you would show us our need for your grace and the gospel,

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 that you'd show us how you meet us at that point of need,

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 and most of all, that you would show us Jesus Christ,

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 that we would see Him as more beautiful and more glorious than we did before we came here this morning.

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 We thank you that we don't have to earn these things from you or prove anything to you,

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 but instead we ask simply in the name of our mighty Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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 If you are a runner or a cyclist or you're someone who likes to hike,

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 you might be familiar with the phone app called Strava.

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 And what this app does, it's all around the world,

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 and it's an app that allows people to track their activity.

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 So if you go out, turn it on, everyone can see how many miles you went,

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 how fast you are going, they can pull up your exact route and see where you ran.

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 And so people enjoy this, right?

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 It's sort of its own form of social media for people to encourage each other

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 and impress each other with what it is that they're doing to stay active.

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 Now, if we have this, of course, there's a tremendous amount of data

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 about where people are out doing all sorts of activities.

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 And a couple years ago, in 2018, Strava, this app,

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 decided they were going to release a heat map.

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 In other words, they were releasing a map of the world

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 that shows the places where people were using their map

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 and the routes that they were taking.

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 Now, some of you might realize where this is going.

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 If you're in the military,

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 there was a lot of heat in places that the U.S. government

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 did not want anyone to know about.

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 There were soldiers going out on secret army bases,

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 forward operating bases,

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 and they were using this app and recording their activity.

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 And suddenly, those installations were exposed to the world.

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 In fact, there were some CIA black sites that became public.

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 People were at these sites.

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 They decided to go for a run, recorded it on their watch.

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 Now, this happened to occur mostly to West.

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 It wasn't just the U.S.

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 There were some other militaries that got exposed by this.

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 And surprise, surprise, it was mostly Western armies

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 who fell prey to this.

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 Turns out that the Taliban,

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 when they go out on their exercise runs,

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 they don't turn on their app to track it

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 so they can share it with other jihadis.

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 And so the military world was very embarrassed by this

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 because their secret installations had been exposed.

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 It also highlights something good for us, right?

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 A heat map shows us where people have gone

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 over and over and over again.

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 It shows us what's reliable.

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 If there's a place where people are running

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 over and over again,

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 that must be a good route, right?

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 That must be a place we can trust.

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 Either for good or for bad,

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 heat maps show us where there's a focus,

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 where there's something that happens

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 by people over and over again.

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 As we come to this passage,

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 we have two principles.

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 Remember I told you in our principle,

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 our first one is that there are people

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 who twist the scriptures.

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 Verse 16, we're talking about Paul.

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 He says there's things that Paul writes

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 that are hard to understand.

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 Many of us agree with that.

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 And there are some things in these letters

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 that are hard to understand,

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 which the ignorant and unstable

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 twist to their own destruction.

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 In other words, there are people

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 who interpret the Bible in a way that's wrong.

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 And it's not just that it's wrong,

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 it's dangerous.

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 And so that raises a question for us.

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 How do we know if the Bible is being interpreted

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 in a way that's dangerous or not?

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 Who should we trust?

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 Who should we not trust?

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 And I'm gonna suggest to you this morning

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 as people who live in 2021,

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 one of the primary ways that we determine

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 whether we trust an interpretation of the Bible,

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 whether we know something's being twisted or not,

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 is whether or not there's a heat map to back it up.

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 And I'll explain that to you in a few ways.

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 First of all, when someone's interpreting the Bible for us,

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 we should ask ourselves,

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 when they provide this interpretation, this doctrine,

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 is this something that the church has agreed about

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 throughout time and around the world?

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 Is there heat around this interpretation?

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 Is this what the church has believed

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 throughout the centuries?

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 Is this what the church around the world believes?

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 If not, we should be suspicious of it.

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 If not, we should have some humility.

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 Why is it that we are suddenly smarter

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 than everyone else who's ever lived?

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 How are we more competent than other Christians?

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 How are we the ones who have this special insight

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 that the Holy Spirit, for some reason,

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 has never caused anyone else

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 in the history of Christianity to see?

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 There needs to be, when we look at doctrines,

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 when we're assessing whether something's true or false,

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 there needs to be a heat map around it.

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 We want to see other Christians at other times

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 and other places in agreement with us.

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 And so, I'll give you some examples, right?

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 Remember, in this letter,

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 these false teachers are attacking the idea

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 that Jesus is coming again to judge the world.

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 They are attacking the idea that there's a place

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 that's called hell that exists,

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 that's a real place where people are going.

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 Well, how do today we counter that?

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 One of the ways we counter it is we say,

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 look, that's actually not what the church

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 has historically believed.

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 That's not what the church around the world has believed.

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 That's not what the church throughout history has believed.

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 And so, this is a novel interpretation, right?

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 This is something that's been rejected by the church

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 over and over again.

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 People will say things like this,

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 well, that's just your interpretation, right?

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 Yeah, that is just my interpretation.

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 It's also the interpretation of the church

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 throughout the centuries.

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 So, chew on that.

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 There's a subset of the heat map as well.

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 So, we have our heat map when it comes to the church

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 around the world and throughout history.

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 We also have our heat map when it comes to

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 whether there's an overlap between the heat

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 that someone's giving you and the heat of our culture.

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 In other words, there's a temptation.

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 One of the reasons we might take up an interpretation

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 of the Bible that pulls away from what the church

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 has normally taught is because our culture

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 is also attacking that very same truth.

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 So, for example, it just so happens that we live

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 in a culture that is very egalitarian

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 and is obsessed with sexual freedom.

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 So, surprise, surprise, it might happen

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 that someone interprets the Bible in such a way

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 that's very egalitarian and pushes

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 for all sorts of sexual licentiousness, sexual immorality.

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 Remember, that's another issue that's huge

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 in the book of 2 Peter.

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 Well, we need to be suspicious of that, right?

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 We can see the heat overlap.

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 We can see the overlap between what our culture is teaching

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 and what the interpretation that these people are giving the Bible.

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 It's very convenient when you come up with a new interpretation

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 that somehow agrees with the idols of your culture.

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 So, that's another way we look at the heat map.

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 We assess whether someone is a false teacher or not.

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 We assess, remember, we're pulling all of this from verse 16,

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 whether they're twisting the scriptures or not.

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 We should be suspicious of interpretations of the Bible

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 that happen to please and love everything our culture loves.

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 Now, I'll give you a caveat.

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 Because we live in a world that's filled with people

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 who are made in God's image,

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 there's times when our culture is going to love things

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 that the Bible also loves.

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 So, this is not a uniform rule.

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 I'll give you one example.

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 Right now, we live in a culture that is very opposed to racism.

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 Guess what?

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 The Bible is also very opposed to racism.

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 So, we don't just say, well, the culture likes this,

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 therefore, we're going to throw it out, right?

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 We have to do both heat maps.

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 What we do is we look and we say,

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 has the Bible always cared about that?

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 And we can see, when it comes to races,

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 God's the one who created diversity in the very beginning,

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 Genesis 1 and 2.

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 We see slavery as something that the Bible speaks about,

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 even in places like Exodus, chapter 21.

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 There's a ban on man stealing.

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 We see it in the New Testament.

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 Philemon gives us hints of where the Bible is headed

00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:55.139
 in terms of these things.

00:13:55.539 --> 00:13:58.000
 So, we don't always say, well, the culture loves that,

00:13:58.060 --> 00:13:58.580
 so it's wrong.

00:13:59.460 --> 00:14:01.340
 But if the culture loves something,

00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:03.379
 and someone's going to an interpretation

00:14:03.379 --> 00:14:04.659
 that also loves that,

00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:07.219
 and it goes against, again, our previous heat map

00:14:07.219 --> 00:14:09.379
 with the Bible and the church has taught for centuries,

00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:11.339
 we need to be very suspicious.

00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:14.679
 That's a sign we're dealing with someone

00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:16.839
 who is twisting the scriptures.

00:14:19.319 --> 00:14:20.860
 Another way we can suspect it,

00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:22.459
 remember, again, these are things that are aligning

00:14:22.459 --> 00:14:24.860
 with what these false teachers are doing in 2 Peter.

00:14:25.399 --> 00:14:26.699
 Those are two things they're attacking.

00:14:26.839 --> 00:14:28.279
 They're attacking Jesus' second coming.

00:14:28.600 --> 00:14:30.759
 They're attacking the sexual ethics of the Bible,

00:14:30.860 --> 00:14:32.000
 what Jesus himself taught.

00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.720
 Well, another thing we can do

00:14:34.720 --> 00:14:36.799
 is we can look at what people have to gain

00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:37.679
 from their teaching.

00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:40.100
 So, I had a professor in seminary

00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:41.360
 who said one test you can do

00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:43.799
 is see what non-Christians, who are scholars,

00:14:44.179 --> 00:14:45.259
 believe the Bible is teaching.

00:14:45.419 --> 00:14:47.259
 Now, this is going to sound a little bit counterintuitive,

00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:49.379
 but I want you to track the logic with me.

00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:50.240
 If you're a Christian,

00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.620
 and you believe that the Bible is your authority,

00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:55.519
 sometimes you have an incentive

00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.080
 to interpret it incorrectly.

00:14:58.740 --> 00:15:01.240
 Because then you get out of the moral bind, right?

00:15:02.659 --> 00:15:04.360
 I believe the Bible is authoritative,

00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:06.200
 so I have an incentive to believe

00:15:06.200 --> 00:15:08.139
 that it doesn't teach something that's hard,

00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:09.440
 because then I get out of it.

00:15:10.379 --> 00:15:12.779
 If someone doesn't believe the Bible is true,

00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:14.019
 it doesn't really matter

00:15:14.019 --> 00:15:15.700
 whether the Bible teaches something hard or not.

00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:17.519
 So, they can say,

00:15:17.639 --> 00:15:20.000
 yeah, yeah, Paul actually did teach this

00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:20.919
 about sexual ethics,

00:15:20.980 --> 00:15:21.720
 and I don't care,

00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:23.360
 because Paul has no authority in my life.

00:15:24.500 --> 00:15:24.720
 Right?

00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:25.980
 There's actually sometimes an integrity

00:15:25.980 --> 00:15:28.159
 that comes with people who study the Bible

00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:28.879
 who are not Christians.

00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:30.340
 Now, I have to be careful about that,

00:15:30.340 --> 00:15:31.759
 because we've talked about before

00:15:31.759 --> 00:15:32.940
 in 1 Corinthians 2,

00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:33.820
 there's some things

00:15:33.820 --> 00:15:35.560
 only the Holy Spirit can help us understand.

00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:37.560
 But what this professor pointed out

00:15:37.560 --> 00:15:39.740
 is that when it comes to hard texts

00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:41.480
 about gender and sexuality,

00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:43.300
 people who are non-Christians

00:15:43.300 --> 00:15:44.920
 are more likely to interpret it

00:15:44.920 --> 00:15:45.820
 in a traditional way.

00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:46.780
 Why?

00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:47.680
 Because they don't really care

00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:48.840
 what the end result is.

00:15:48.899 --> 00:15:50.060
 They're still going to do whatever they want.

00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:53.540
 And so there's a variety of tests,

00:15:53.639 --> 00:15:54.580
 things that we can use

00:15:54.580 --> 00:15:58.660
 to figure out where true teaching is.

00:15:59.860 --> 00:16:01.379
 These are tools that we use

00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:03.420
 when people come and they say things like,

00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:04.480
 well, you know,

00:16:04.520 --> 00:16:05.639
 there's just a variety of ways

00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:06.379
 of thinking about it.

00:16:06.420 --> 00:16:07.800
 And that's just your interpretation,

00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:09.020
 but I have a different interpretation.

00:16:09.300 --> 00:16:09.379
 Right?

00:16:09.400 --> 00:16:11.680
 We all enjoy different flavors of ice cream.

00:16:12.400 --> 00:16:13.780
 And I'm just going to line up

00:16:13.780 --> 00:16:15.560
 the options of biblical interpretation,

00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:17.120
 and I'm going to pick the flavor I like most.

00:16:18.420 --> 00:16:19.920
 Well, no, that's not how the Bible works.

00:16:19.920 --> 00:16:20.080
 Right?

00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:21.300
 There's a true interpretation

00:16:21.300 --> 00:16:23.639
 and a false interpretation.

00:16:24.540 --> 00:16:25.800
 Now, these false teachers,

00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:26.620
 as we've seen,

00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:28.320
 give us another test

00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:29.860
 for how we identify false teaching,

00:16:29.980 --> 00:16:30.840
 and that is the teachers

00:16:30.840 --> 00:16:32.560
 have something to gain from it.

00:16:33.340 --> 00:16:34.639
 Remember, we saw earlier

00:16:34.639 --> 00:16:35.900
 these false teachers are greedy.

00:16:36.940 --> 00:16:38.759
 They are getting money somehow

00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:39.860
 from their false teaching.

00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:42.520
 And so that's another question

00:16:42.520 --> 00:16:44.120
 you can ask when you're trying to discern

00:16:44.120 --> 00:16:46.040
 whether someone's a false teacher.

00:16:46.140 --> 00:16:47.180
 Do they have something to gain?

00:16:47.180 --> 00:16:49.120
 Sometimes this takes two directions.

00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:50.860
 Either they're loosening

00:16:50.860 --> 00:16:52.320
 the requirements of Scripture

00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:53.960
 or they're tightening

00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:55.179
 the requirements of Scripture.

00:16:55.860 --> 00:16:57.039
 Someone who's loosening it

00:16:57.039 --> 00:16:58.000
 has a lot to gain.

00:16:58.379 --> 00:16:59.039
 They're going to be able

00:16:59.039 --> 00:17:00.139
 to do whatever they want, right?

00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:02.740
 They're doing what's called

00:17:02.740 --> 00:17:03.539
 tickling ears,

00:17:03.639 --> 00:17:04.720
 so they're going to get a following.

00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:05.839
 There's people who are going to want

00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:07.019
 to hear what they have to say

00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:08.359
 because it will allow them

00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:09.319
 to do whatever they want.

00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:12.019
 The other thing false teachers do,

00:17:12.539 --> 00:17:12.799
 and this is,

00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:14.160
 so the first example I gave you,

00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:14.980
 that's what the false teachers

00:17:14.980 --> 00:17:16.099
 in 2 Peter are doing.

00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:17.299
 They're loosening

00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:18.619
 the requirements of the Bible.

00:17:19.779 --> 00:17:20.359
 Sometimes, though,

00:17:20.399 --> 00:17:21.259
 false teachers do

00:17:21.259 --> 00:17:22.419
 the opposite thing.

00:17:22.819 --> 00:17:23.759
 They increase

00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:25.079
 the requirements of the Bible.

00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:26.719
 You might ask,

00:17:26.799 --> 00:17:27.279
 what does that person

00:17:27.279 --> 00:17:28.219
 have to gain from it?

00:17:28.959 --> 00:17:30.619
 They gain a lot of power.

00:17:32.199 --> 00:17:33.659
 In fact, this is how cults work.

00:17:34.659 --> 00:17:35.559
 There was a cult,

00:17:35.799 --> 00:17:36.319
 I won't name,

00:17:36.379 --> 00:17:37.139
 that was very active

00:17:37.139 --> 00:17:38.279
 in the 70s and the 80s

00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:38.939
 and the 90s,

00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:40.819
 and I was in a Presbyterian church,

00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:41.639
 and there were some people

00:17:41.639 --> 00:17:42.839
 who were involved in that cult.

00:17:43.539 --> 00:17:44.839
 And I've met people since then

00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:45.719
 who were involved in that cult.

00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:46.200
 There seemed to be

00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:47.000
 kind of an overlap

00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:48.660
 between some of the churches

00:17:48.660 --> 00:17:49.460
 in our denomination

00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:50.380
 and this organization.

00:17:50.819 --> 00:17:51.620
 What they would do

00:17:51.620 --> 00:17:52.319
 is they would give

00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.940
 very detailed prescriptions

00:17:53.940 --> 00:17:55.420
 for every element of your life.

00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:57.799
 They created a new law,

00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:58.220
 essentially.

00:17:59.079 --> 00:17:59.539
 And of course,

00:17:59.600 --> 00:18:00.900
 these teachers gain power from that.

00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:01.860
 Who are you going to find out

00:18:01.860 --> 00:18:02.740
 the new law from?

00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:04.680
 It's going to have to be them.

00:18:05.579 --> 00:18:06.519
 Who are you going to pay

00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:07.600
 to find out the new teaching?

00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:09.160
 It's going to have to be them.

00:18:09.480 --> 00:18:11.079
 What happens if they're the only ones

00:18:11.079 --> 00:18:11.980
 with the secret knowledge?

00:18:12.380 --> 00:18:12.900
 Well, you're going to have

00:18:12.900 --> 00:18:14.519
 to listen to them, right?

00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:16.599
 So we're wary of false teachers

00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:18.640
 when they violate

00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:19.259
 what I'd call

00:18:19.259 --> 00:18:20.620
 the narrow gate principle.

00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:21.960
 What I mean by that is this.

00:18:22.039 --> 00:18:22.819
 Jesus tells us

00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:23.860
 in Matthew chapter 7,

00:18:24.460 --> 00:18:25.579
 enter by the narrow gate.

00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:27.259
 For the gate is wide

00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:28.299
 and the way is easy

00:18:28.299 --> 00:18:29.500
 that leads to destruction.

00:18:30.019 --> 00:18:31.519
 And those who enter it are many.

00:18:32.120 --> 00:18:33.259
 For the gate is narrow

00:18:33.259 --> 00:18:34.779
 and the way is hard

00:18:34.779 --> 00:18:35.759
 that leads to life.

00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:37.660
 And those who find it are few.

00:18:38.599 --> 00:18:39.120
 In other words,

00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:39.779
 the Christian life

00:18:39.779 --> 00:18:40.759
 is a narrow path.

00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:42.480
 There are some people

00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:44.299
 who gain by making it less narrow.

00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:46.099
 There are some people

00:18:46.099 --> 00:18:47.839
 who gain by making it more narrow.

00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:50.359
 That's one of our tests

00:18:50.359 --> 00:18:51.099
 of false teaching.

00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:52.200
 So we have a variety of things.

00:18:52.259 --> 00:18:52.980
 We've got our heat map

00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:53.700
 we're looking at, right?

00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.039
 Is there a lot of heat

00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:56.019
 around this teaching

00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:57.480
 throughout the history

00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:57.879
 of the church

00:18:57.879 --> 00:18:58.539
 and around the world?

00:18:58.759 --> 00:18:59.579
 There's a lot of heat.

00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:00.619
 There's a chance,

00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:01.839
 you know, we should probably trust

00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.559
 that interpretation

00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:03.299
 at some level.

00:19:03.379 --> 00:19:04.039
 That doesn't make

00:19:04.039 --> 00:19:05.339
 church history authoritative.

00:19:05.640 --> 00:19:07.319
 It makes church history a guide.

00:19:07.879 --> 00:19:08.839
 Gives us some humility

00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:10.059
 as we interpret scripture.

00:19:10.059 --> 00:19:10.679
 Remember, scripture

00:19:10.679 --> 00:19:11.779
 is our absolute authority.

00:19:12.779 --> 00:19:13.599
 We also need to see

00:19:13.599 --> 00:19:15.159
 if there's a cultural element

00:19:15.159 --> 00:19:16.000
 that's causing people

00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:16.899
 to interpret scripture

00:19:16.899 --> 00:19:17.579
 in a new way.

00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:19.460
 That's another kind of heat map.

00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:20.179
 Is there an overlap

00:19:20.179 --> 00:19:21.259
 between cultural heat

00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:22.339
 and that person's

00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:23.379
 interpretation of scripture?

00:19:23.700 --> 00:19:24.159
 If so,

00:19:24.419 --> 00:19:25.279
 we should probably be

00:19:25.279 --> 00:19:26.440
 a little bit suspicious of it.

00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:27.799
 Doesn't mean it's always wrong,

00:19:28.359 --> 00:19:29.339
 but that's going to be

00:19:29.339 --> 00:19:30.159
 a test for us.

00:19:30.879 --> 00:19:31.460
 Is it something

00:19:31.460 --> 00:19:32.419
 that encourages sin?

00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:33.299
 Is it going to let

00:19:33.299 --> 00:19:34.960
 this teacher live

00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.500
 a lifestyle that's different

00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:37.059
 from the Bible,

00:19:37.179 --> 00:19:38.220
 what the Bible prescribes?

00:19:39.059 --> 00:19:39.400
 And finally,

00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:39.779
 we kind of have

00:19:39.779 --> 00:19:40.799
 this gate principle.

00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:42.180
 Is this teacher

00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:43.140
 making the gate

00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:45.539
 the narrow way super wide,

00:19:45.579 --> 00:19:46.039
 or are they making

00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:47.240
 the narrow way even narrower?

00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:49.920
 Now, you might wonder

00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:50.539
 what this has to do

00:19:50.539 --> 00:19:51.240
 with this passage.

00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:52.400
 What I'm doing

00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:53.240
 is I'm giving you

00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:54.519
 a little bit of explanation

00:19:54.519 --> 00:19:55.460
 and a lot of application.

00:19:55.940 --> 00:19:57.079
 How we assess

00:19:57.079 --> 00:19:58.120
 what's twisted scripture

00:19:58.120 --> 00:19:58.559
 is going to be

00:19:58.559 --> 00:19:59.360
 slightly different

00:19:59.360 --> 00:20:00.259
 than the people

00:20:00.259 --> 00:20:01.180
 receiving this letter

00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:01.880
 because we don't live

00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:03.100
 in the 60s AD anymore.

00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:04.399
 And so we actually

00:20:04.399 --> 00:20:05.139
 have the privilege

00:20:05.139 --> 00:20:06.159
 of many years

00:20:06.159 --> 00:20:06.819
 of church history

00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:07.519
 to look back on.

00:20:07.939 --> 00:20:08.759
 We have the privilege

00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:10.279
 of seeing the Holy Spirit

00:20:10.279 --> 00:20:12.059
 at work for millennium.

00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:14.179
 And so we're able

00:20:14.179 --> 00:20:15.299
 to use this variety

00:20:15.299 --> 00:20:16.159
 of ways to look

00:20:16.159 --> 00:20:16.539
 and say,

00:20:16.659 --> 00:20:17.639
 okay, is this person

00:20:17.639 --> 00:20:18.359
 twisting scripture?

00:20:19.179 --> 00:20:20.039
 Is this person

00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:21.980
 pulling me astray?

00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:22.439
 And of course,

00:20:22.500 --> 00:20:24.259
 we see the importance

00:20:24.259 --> 00:20:26.199
 of doing this

00:20:26.199 --> 00:20:27.059
 because we're told,

00:20:28.019 --> 00:20:28.699
 verse 16,

00:20:28.819 --> 00:20:29.419
 when they twist

00:20:29.419 --> 00:20:29.919
 the scriptures,

00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:30.480
 they do it

00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:31.779
 to their own destruction.

00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:34.860
 There's a dangerous element

00:20:34.860 --> 00:20:35.880
 to twisting the Bible.

00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:37.420
 And so we need

00:20:37.420 --> 00:20:38.140
 to have these principles

00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:38.680
 in mind

00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:39.200
 so that we're not

00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.120
 taken off guard

00:20:40.120 --> 00:20:41.220
 when someone comes

00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:42.380
 and wants to try

00:20:42.380 --> 00:20:43.319
 to pull us away

00:20:43.319 --> 00:20:44.000
 by some new

00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:44.799
 and novel teaching.

00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:46.480
 So we're getting,

00:20:46.660 --> 00:20:46.860
 again,

00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:48.279
 at Peter's summary

00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:49.079
 at the end of his letter.

00:20:50.019 --> 00:20:50.799
 He's giving us

00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:51.640
 a negative command

00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:52.360
 to make sure people

00:20:52.360 --> 00:20:53.180
 aren't pulled away

00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:54.000
 by false teaching.

00:20:54.339 --> 00:20:54.920
 Next week,

00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:55.440
 he's going to give us

00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:56.400
 a positive command

00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:57.380
 that we run after

00:20:57.380 --> 00:20:58.620
 good teaching.

00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:00.380
 So that's our first

00:21:00.380 --> 00:21:00.720
 principle.

00:21:00.800 --> 00:21:01.500
 Our first principle

00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:02.500
 is there are people

00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:03.300
 who twist the scriptures.

00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:05.740
 There's a variety

00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:06.920
 of ways that we use

00:21:06.920 --> 00:21:07.560
 to figure out

00:21:07.560 --> 00:21:08.140
 whether someone's

00:21:08.140 --> 00:21:08.880
 twisting the scriptures

00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:09.420
 or not.

00:21:09.840 --> 00:21:10.300
 There's a lot of

00:21:10.300 --> 00:21:11.080
 helpful tests

00:21:11.080 --> 00:21:11.980
 that we can apply

00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:13.540
 as we navigate

00:21:13.540 --> 00:21:14.360
 what's right

00:21:14.360 --> 00:21:15.320
 and wrong.

00:21:16.400 --> 00:21:16.940
 I haven't said

00:21:16.940 --> 00:21:17.320
 everything.

00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:17.640
 Of course,

00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:18.220
 there's a lot

00:21:18.220 --> 00:21:18.960
 of other ways

00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:19.620
 we could assess

00:21:19.620 --> 00:21:20.220
 false teaching.

00:21:20.780 --> 00:21:21.160
 I haven't said

00:21:21.160 --> 00:21:21.560
 everything,

00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:22.440
 but I've said something.

00:21:22.600 --> 00:21:22.960
 Some of those

00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:23.760
 are the most helpful

00:21:23.760 --> 00:21:24.640
 low-hanging fruit

00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:25.160
 for us

00:21:25.160 --> 00:21:26.220
 when it comes

00:21:26.220 --> 00:21:27.060
 to figuring out

00:21:27.060 --> 00:21:27.420
 if someone

00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:29.800
 is a false teacher.

00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:31.159
 I'll say this as well.

00:21:31.299 --> 00:21:32.079
 We've talked about

00:21:32.079 --> 00:21:32.700
 this before.

00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:33.919
 In 2 Peter,

00:21:34.059 --> 00:21:34.599
 false teachers

00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:35.480
 hate accountability.

00:21:37.059 --> 00:21:37.759
 So you look

00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:38.399
 at the heat map,

00:21:39.079 --> 00:21:39.639
 there's not going

00:21:39.639 --> 00:21:40.039
 to be a lot

00:21:40.039 --> 00:21:40.659
 of other people

00:21:40.659 --> 00:21:42.759
 there keeping tabs

00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:43.500
 on what they're teaching.

00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.460
 If you're at a church,

00:21:45.899 --> 00:21:46.799
 there's no transparency

00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:47.819
 about the finances.

00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:48.579
 No matter how good

00:21:48.579 --> 00:21:49.159
 the teaching is,

00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:49.500
 you should have

00:21:49.500 --> 00:21:50.039
 some questions.

00:21:51.139 --> 00:21:51.740
 You're at a church.

00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:52.919
 This person's

00:21:52.919 --> 00:21:53.879
 a wonderful teacher,

00:21:54.139 --> 00:21:55.279
 not accountable

00:21:55.279 --> 00:21:56.440
 to any denomination,

00:21:56.599 --> 00:21:57.139
 not accountable

00:21:57.139 --> 00:21:57.559
 to elders,

00:21:57.639 --> 00:21:58.079
 not accountable

00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:58.819
 to other churches.

00:21:59.480 --> 00:21:59.819
 You should probably

00:21:59.819 --> 00:22:00.480
 have some questions.

00:22:01.419 --> 00:22:02.539
 Go back to my reference

00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:03.179
 about there's something

00:22:03.179 --> 00:22:03.639
 to gain.

00:22:03.720 --> 00:22:04.339
 There is something

00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:04.980
 to gain

00:22:04.980 --> 00:22:06.199
 by having no accountability.

00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:07.980
 Okay,

00:22:08.019 --> 00:22:08.759
 so that's another way

00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:09.859
 we discern false teachers.

00:22:10.299 --> 00:22:11.079
 People talk a lot

00:22:11.079 --> 00:22:11.879
 about the falls

00:22:11.879 --> 00:22:12.939
 that happen in the church

00:22:12.939 --> 00:22:13.659
 and the scandals

00:22:13.659 --> 00:22:14.579
 that have happened recently.

00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:16.039
 I won't say all of them,

00:22:16.099 --> 00:22:16.899
 but many of them

00:22:16.899 --> 00:22:17.539
 have occurred

00:22:17.539 --> 00:22:18.619
 and been committed

00:22:18.619 --> 00:22:19.399
 by people who had

00:22:19.399 --> 00:22:20.419
 little to no accountability.

00:22:21.460 --> 00:22:22.639
 It's not fail-proof.

00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:23.259
 It doesn't mean

00:22:23.259 --> 00:22:23.599
 that someone

00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:24.939
 with accountability

00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:25.559
 is always going

00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:26.100
 to be perfect

00:22:26.100 --> 00:22:26.900
 or won't have

00:22:26.900 --> 00:22:28.580
 a scandal.

00:22:29.080 --> 00:22:29.700
 It just means

00:22:29.700 --> 00:22:30.080
 the odds

00:22:30.080 --> 00:22:30.759
 are a lot lower.

00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:33.860
 So that's our

00:22:33.860 --> 00:22:34.380
 first principle.

00:22:34.860 --> 00:22:35.360
 People twist

00:22:35.360 --> 00:22:35.799
 the scriptures,

00:22:36.340 --> 00:22:36.640
 beware.

00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:39.240
 Our second principle,

00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:40.240
 verse 17,

00:22:40.600 --> 00:22:41.900
 do not be carried away.

00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:42.820
 We're told this,

00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:43.259
 you therefore,

00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:43.580
 beloved,

00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:44.559
 knowing this beforehand,

00:22:44.680 --> 00:22:45.299
 you've been warned,

00:22:45.620 --> 00:22:46.259
 you know everything

00:22:46.259 --> 00:22:46.980
 I just told you,

00:22:47.059 --> 00:22:47.740
 you know there are

00:22:47.740 --> 00:22:48.240
 people out there

00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:48.700
 who are looking

00:22:48.700 --> 00:22:49.559
 to twist the scriptures

00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:51.140
 for their own gain

00:22:51.140 --> 00:22:52.460
 and to align

00:22:52.460 --> 00:22:53.000
 with the culture

00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:53.579
 around them.

00:22:54.420 --> 00:22:55.160
 Take care

00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:56.100
 that you are not

00:22:56.100 --> 00:22:56.900
 carried away

00:22:56.900 --> 00:22:57.860
 with the error

00:22:57.860 --> 00:22:58.920
 of lawless people

00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:00.420
 and lose your own stability.

00:23:00.940 --> 00:23:01.579
 So we're aware

00:23:01.579 --> 00:23:02.160
 of the threat,

00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:03.900
 we need to make sure

00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:04.539
 we're on guard

00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:05.140
 against it.

00:23:06.299 --> 00:23:06.799
 And that's our

00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:08.120
 second principle.

00:23:08.539 --> 00:23:09.100
 Principle one,

00:23:09.460 --> 00:23:10.279
 people twist the scriptures.

00:23:10.460 --> 00:23:11.059
 Principle two,

00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:12.500
 be on guard.

00:23:13.579 --> 00:23:14.720
 You know there are people

00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:15.500
 who are looking

00:23:15.500 --> 00:23:16.460
 to take advantage of you,

00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:17.740
 don't be carried away.

00:23:18.539 --> 00:23:19.340
 Don't be fooled,

00:23:19.579 --> 00:23:20.400
 don't be deceived.

00:23:20.400 --> 00:23:22.320
 Again,

00:23:22.380 --> 00:23:22.720
 I'm going to give you

00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:23.500
 that principle.

00:23:23.940 --> 00:23:24.300
 We're going to have

00:23:24.300 --> 00:23:25.040
 a lot of application.

00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:25.920
 Application one,

00:23:26.040 --> 00:23:26.940
 simply apply everything

00:23:26.940 --> 00:23:27.680
 I've already told you.

00:23:28.640 --> 00:23:29.519
 Think critically

00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:30.360
 about what people

00:23:30.360 --> 00:23:30.820
 are teaching

00:23:30.820 --> 00:23:31.400
 about the Bible.

00:23:31.540 --> 00:23:32.360
 You should ask yourself,

00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:32.900
 does this person

00:23:32.900 --> 00:23:33.280
 have something

00:23:33.280 --> 00:23:34.160
 to gain from this?

00:23:34.480 --> 00:23:35.080
 Are they making

00:23:35.080 --> 00:23:35.780
 the narrow way

00:23:35.780 --> 00:23:36.360
 less narrow?

00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:36.880
 Are they making

00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:37.500
 the narrow way

00:23:37.500 --> 00:23:38.120
 more narrow?

00:23:39.060 --> 00:23:39.720
 Is this person,

00:23:39.780 --> 00:23:40.580
 have they capitulated

00:23:40.580 --> 00:23:41.759
 to some of the idols

00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:42.440
 of our culture?

00:23:42.840 --> 00:23:43.860
 Are they coming up

00:23:43.860 --> 00:23:44.580
 with an interpretation

00:23:44.580 --> 00:23:45.840
 that doesn't really appear

00:23:45.840 --> 00:23:46.960
 on the heat map

00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:47.560
 of Christianity?

00:23:48.440 --> 00:23:49.600
 It's not always good

00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:50.579
 for someone to tell you

00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:51.039
 something new

00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:51.519
 and exciting.

00:23:53.139 --> 00:23:54.459
 Sometimes it's very helpful

00:23:54.459 --> 00:23:55.399
 for someone to tell you

00:23:55.399 --> 00:23:56.379
 something old

00:23:56.379 --> 00:23:57.319
 and boring.

00:23:58.819 --> 00:23:59.379
 I'll give you

00:23:59.379 --> 00:23:59.939
 some other ways

00:23:59.939 --> 00:24:00.899
 that we can stay

00:24:00.899 --> 00:24:01.439
 on guard,

00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:02.579
 we cannot be carried away.

00:24:02.699 --> 00:24:03.359
 One of them comes

00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:03.799
 to the way

00:24:03.799 --> 00:24:04.939
 that we pick our churches

00:24:04.939 --> 00:24:05.980
 and the way we run

00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:07.319
 our churches.

00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:09.359
 The lowest hanging fruit

00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:10.299
 would probably be this,

00:24:10.439 --> 00:24:11.459
 do they believe

00:24:11.459 --> 00:24:11.980
 that the Bible

00:24:11.980 --> 00:24:12.759
 is God's word?

00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:14.879
 Does the church

00:24:14.879 --> 00:24:15.559
 that you're in

00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:16.539
 believe that it has

00:24:16.539 --> 00:24:17.059
 authority,

00:24:17.579 --> 00:24:18.519
 that it's without error?

00:24:18.519 --> 00:24:20.279
 Is the church

00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:20.799
 that you're in

00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:22.000
 holding fast

00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:22.740
 to that truth?

00:24:23.539 --> 00:24:23.799
 Remember,

00:24:23.859 --> 00:24:24.460
 we're talking about

00:24:24.460 --> 00:24:25.359
 twisting scriptures.

00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:27.680
 One of the first steps

00:24:27.680 --> 00:24:28.359
 in going downhill

00:24:28.359 --> 00:24:28.980
 is believing

00:24:28.980 --> 00:24:29.519
 that the Bible

00:24:29.519 --> 00:24:30.259
 is something

00:24:30.259 --> 00:24:31.059
 that's a suggestion.

00:24:31.240 --> 00:24:32.099
 It's man's record

00:24:32.099 --> 00:24:32.920
 of his experience

00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:33.400
 with God,

00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:34.720
 not God's actual words.

00:24:35.859 --> 00:24:36.500
 So we need to hold

00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:37.859
 that as a foundational truth.

00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:39.460
 There are churches,

00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:39.759
 right,

00:24:39.799 --> 00:24:40.720
 that we disagree with

00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.099
 on a bunch

00:24:41.099 --> 00:24:42.220
 of secondary issues,

00:24:42.339 --> 00:24:43.139
 and we also have

00:24:43.139 --> 00:24:43.700
 a lot of unity

00:24:43.700 --> 00:24:44.139
 with them

00:24:44.139 --> 00:24:44.940
 because we agree

00:24:44.940 --> 00:24:46.079
 on primary issues.

00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:46.700
 One of them

00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:47.420
 is the authority

00:24:47.420 --> 00:24:48.360
 of the word of God.

00:24:49.600 --> 00:24:50.580
 What does the church

00:24:50.580 --> 00:24:51.140
 that you're in,

00:24:51.200 --> 00:24:51.759
 what does the church

00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:52.380
 that you're picking,

00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:53.660
 believe about the Bible?

00:24:54.779 --> 00:24:54.960
 Okay,

00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:55.240
 I'm going to give you

00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:55.860
 a second way

00:24:55.860 --> 00:24:56.740
 that we stand firm,

00:24:56.800 --> 00:24:57.279
 and this is something

00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:58.519
 we practice in our church.

00:24:58.980 --> 00:24:59.840
 Does this church

00:24:59.840 --> 00:25:01.560
 have consecutive,

00:25:01.940 --> 00:25:02.539
 or what's called

00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:03.140
 sequential,

00:25:03.320 --> 00:25:04.259
 expository preaching?

00:25:04.640 --> 00:25:05.220
 In other words,

00:25:05.259 --> 00:25:06.080
 does this church

00:25:06.080 --> 00:25:07.259
 pick books of the Bible

00:25:07.259 --> 00:25:08.440
 and preach everything

00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:09.220
 in that book?

00:25:10.860 --> 00:25:11.759
 That's why we're going

00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:12.380
 through the book

00:25:12.380 --> 00:25:13.620
 of 2 Peter slowly.

00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:15.800
 We've had multiple sermons

00:25:15.799 --> 00:25:16.720
 on various sections

00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:18.099
 because we're committed

00:25:18.099 --> 00:25:18.819
 to preaching

00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:19.819
 through entire books

00:25:19.819 --> 00:25:20.339
 of the Bible.

00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:22.200
 That protects us

00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:23.579
 from being carried away

00:25:23.579 --> 00:25:26.240
 in a couple ways.

00:25:26.359 --> 00:25:26.899
 First of all,

00:25:27.319 --> 00:25:28.740
 we can't avoid hard things.

00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:31.220
 Almost every book

00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:31.779
 of the Bible

00:25:31.779 --> 00:25:33.299
 includes sections

00:25:33.299 --> 00:25:34.240
 that are really hard

00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:34.720
 to preach.

00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:36.500
 Almost every book

00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:37.399
 of the Bible includes,

00:25:37.399 --> 00:25:37.940
 maybe I could say

00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:38.680
 every book of the Bible,

00:25:38.940 --> 00:25:40.319
 includes commands

00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:41.119
 that we don't want to hear.

00:25:42.379 --> 00:25:43.399
 When we commit

00:25:43.399 --> 00:25:43.899
 to preaching

00:25:43.899 --> 00:25:44.899
 through a whole book,

00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:45.660
 we're committing

00:25:45.660 --> 00:25:46.860
 to not being carried away.

00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:48.820
 We're committing

00:25:48.820 --> 00:25:49.980
 to not cherry picking

00:25:49.980 --> 00:25:51.240
 only the passages

00:25:51.240 --> 00:25:52.200
 that we want to hear.

00:25:52.580 --> 00:25:53.620
 Remember I told you earlier

00:25:53.620 --> 00:25:54.280
 when we talked about

00:25:54.280 --> 00:25:54.980
 the false teachers,

00:25:55.120 --> 00:25:55.640
 their negative

00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:56.680
 was that they were

00:25:56.680 --> 00:25:58.040
 downplaying hard doctrines

00:25:58.040 --> 00:25:59.080
 or denying them.

00:25:59.160 --> 00:25:59.800
 Our positive

00:25:59.800 --> 00:26:00.560
 is to make sure

00:26:00.560 --> 00:26:01.380
 that we're teaching

00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:02.200
 challenging

00:26:02.200 --> 00:26:03.300
 and difficult doctrines.

00:26:03.840 --> 00:26:04.759
 We know that we're

00:26:04.759 --> 00:26:05.860
 not being carried away.

00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:06.820
 We know that we're

00:26:06.820 --> 00:26:07.800
 in a place that's firm

00:26:07.800 --> 00:26:08.580
 and stable.

00:26:09.180 --> 00:26:10.300
 Not 100% guarantee,

00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:11.040
 but our odds

00:26:11.040 --> 00:26:11.740
 are much higher

00:26:11.740 --> 00:26:13.019
 when we're in a place

00:26:13.019 --> 00:26:13.579
 where the Bible

00:26:13.579 --> 00:26:14.700
 is regularly preached

00:26:14.700 --> 00:26:15.700
 through an entire book.

00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:18.279
 It's not always exciting.

00:26:19.579 --> 00:26:20.599
 We have passages

00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:21.559
 that are more exciting

00:26:21.559 --> 00:26:22.019
 than others,

00:26:22.319 --> 00:26:23.920
 and it's also

00:26:23.920 --> 00:26:25.059
 how we expose ourselves

00:26:25.059 --> 00:26:26.220
 to the whole counsel

00:26:26.220 --> 00:26:26.700
 of God.

00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:29.579
 Another way,

00:26:30.299 --> 00:26:31.000
 is there a confession

00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:31.500
 of faith?

00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:32.500
 Does this church

00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:33.579
 summarize their doctrine

00:26:33.579 --> 00:26:33.900
 somehow,

00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:34.579
 or is it just up

00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:35.539
 to the pastor each week

00:26:35.539 --> 00:26:36.240
 to get up front

00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:36.740
 and decide

00:26:36.740 --> 00:26:37.539
 kind of what he believes

00:26:37.539 --> 00:26:38.180
 from that passage?

00:26:38.859 --> 00:26:39.700
 That goes along

00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:40.259
 with there being

00:26:40.259 --> 00:26:41.720
 accountability.

00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:41.880
 accountability.

00:26:43.339 --> 00:26:44.039
 Is the church

00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:44.980
 personality based?

00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:46.720
 If it's based around

00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:47.559
 one person

00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:48.319
 and their ideas,

00:26:48.420 --> 00:26:49.279
 that's also dangerous,

00:26:49.380 --> 00:26:49.559
 right?

00:26:49.600 --> 00:26:50.460
 That person could decide

00:26:50.460 --> 00:26:50.860
 they believe

00:26:50.860 --> 00:26:51.519
 something different.

00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:52.740
 There's a reason,

00:26:52.880 --> 00:26:53.400
 there's thought

00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:53.980
 and intention

00:26:53.980 --> 00:26:54.740
 behind a lot of the

00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:55.339
 things that we do

00:26:55.339 --> 00:26:55.779
 as a church.

00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:56.380
 There's a reason

00:26:56.380 --> 00:26:57.000
 that I don't pray

00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:57.680
 the congregational

00:26:57.680 --> 00:26:58.460
 prayer every week.

00:26:58.940 --> 00:26:59.480
 We have elders

00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:00.039
 coming forward.

00:27:00.120 --> 00:27:00.920
 A variety of elders

00:27:00.920 --> 00:27:01.860
 pray the congregational

00:27:01.860 --> 00:27:02.220
 prayer.

00:27:02.600 --> 00:27:03.660
 We do that intentionally

00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:05.019
 because we want

00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:05.759
 to communicate

00:27:05.759 --> 00:27:07.059
 that there's a lot

00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:07.880
 of spiritual leaders

00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:08.539
 in this church.

00:27:09.079 --> 00:27:09.839
 There's not one

00:27:09.839 --> 00:27:10.519
 spiritual leader.

00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:12.059
 And we do that

00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:12.500
 because it's

00:27:12.500 --> 00:27:13.200
 spiritually healthy.

00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:14.000
 It protects us

00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:15.019
 from being carried away.

00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:16.799
 We're held accountable

00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:17.900
 to one another.

00:27:18.299 --> 00:27:19.039
 There are multiple

00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:20.039
 shepherds in this church,

00:27:20.099 --> 00:27:20.200
 right?

00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:20.799
 This church doesn't

00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:22.039
 rise or fall on me.

00:27:22.779 --> 00:27:23.220
 If we have a

00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:24.440
 personality based church

00:27:24.440 --> 00:27:25.759
 that's a dangerous place,

00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:27.079
 it's a place

00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:27.819
 where we're more likely

00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:29.599
 to be carried away.

00:27:32.639 --> 00:27:33.720
 I'll simply say this,

00:27:33.900 --> 00:27:34.879
 in all of those things,

00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:36.099
 those are our core,

00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:36.740
 our foundation,

00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:37.039
 right?

00:27:37.059 --> 00:27:38.039
 There's lots of things

00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:38.579
 that make churches

00:27:38.579 --> 00:27:39.059
 attractive.

00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:39.819
 Lots of reasons

00:27:39.819 --> 00:27:40.500
 that people are drawn

00:27:40.500 --> 00:27:40.960
 to a church.

00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:41.899
 Maybe there's good music.

00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:43.500
 It's a wonderful thing.

00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:44.240
 We want good music.

00:27:44.799 --> 00:27:46.700
 Maybe there's a wonderful nursery.

00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:47.579
 That's a wonderful thing.

00:27:47.639 --> 00:27:48.700
 We want a wonderful nursery.

00:27:49.559 --> 00:27:50.759
 But the question is this,

00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:51.619
 at the end of the day,

00:27:51.819 --> 00:27:53.279
 is this a church

00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:54.259
 where I will be able

00:27:54.259 --> 00:27:55.000
 to stand firm?

00:27:55.639 --> 00:27:56.740
 Or is this a church

00:27:56.740 --> 00:27:58.019
 where I'll be carried away?

00:27:59.019 --> 00:27:59.519
 I want you to think

00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:00.079
 about it this way.

00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:01.000
 If you're buying a car,

00:28:01.319 --> 00:28:01.779
 I think I've used

00:28:01.779 --> 00:28:02.740
 this illustration before,

00:28:03.159 --> 00:28:04.019
 there's a lot of wonderful

00:28:04.019 --> 00:28:04.879
 things about a car

00:28:04.879 --> 00:28:05.420
 that you might buy.

00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:06.079
 It might have wonderful

00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:07.200
 cup holders that can hold

00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:08.740
 the largest cup from 7-Eleven.

00:28:09.980 --> 00:28:11.480
 It might have heated seats,

00:28:11.660 --> 00:28:12.259
 which is wonderful

00:28:12.259 --> 00:28:13.220
 in the Colorado winters.

00:28:14.779 --> 00:28:15.460
 It might have

00:28:15.460 --> 00:28:16.140
 wonderful upholstery.

00:28:16.200 --> 00:28:16.860
 There might be tons

00:28:16.860 --> 00:28:17.480
 of storage room.

00:28:17.539 --> 00:28:18.259
 It might have a hatchback

00:28:18.259 --> 00:28:18.660
 in the back,

00:28:18.700 --> 00:28:19.840
 so it's easier to throw in

00:28:19.840 --> 00:28:20.500
 big packages

00:28:20.500 --> 00:28:21.319
 from certain stores.

00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:22.660
 Maybe it's a pickup truck

00:28:22.660 --> 00:28:23.480
 and you love the bed.

00:28:24.519 --> 00:28:25.480
 But at the end of the day,

00:28:25.539 --> 00:28:26.500
 the question is this,

00:28:27.620 --> 00:28:29.319
 can the car drive?

00:28:31.500 --> 00:28:32.440
 Can it take you

00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:33.799
 from point A to point B?

00:28:33.799 --> 00:28:34.440
 If not,

00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:35.360
 nothing else matters.

00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:36.220
 There are many

00:28:36.220 --> 00:28:36.900
 wonderful things

00:28:36.900 --> 00:28:37.720
 that we want to be true

00:28:37.720 --> 00:28:38.400
 of our church, right?

00:28:38.420 --> 00:28:38.860
 We want to have

00:28:38.860 --> 00:28:39.400
 wonderful music.

00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:39.920
 We want to have

00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:40.579
 a great nursery.

00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:41.180
 We want to have

00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:41.920
 vibrant community.

00:28:42.460 --> 00:28:43.640
 All of those things matter

00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:44.620
 and at the end of the day,

00:28:44.680 --> 00:28:45.460
 the question is this,

00:28:45.539 --> 00:28:46.839
 is this a faithful church?

00:28:47.600 --> 00:28:48.860
 Are we holding true

00:28:48.860 --> 00:28:50.000
 to the Word of God?

00:28:51.140 --> 00:28:52.100
 Are we teaching

00:28:52.100 --> 00:28:53.600
 the same things

00:28:53.600 --> 00:28:55.480
 that the Bible teaches?

00:28:57.460 --> 00:28:57.960
 I'll just say,

00:28:58.039 --> 00:28:58.480
 as an aside,

00:28:59.140 --> 00:29:00.059
 some people will be

00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:00.480
 in churches

00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:01.259
 that are unfaithful

00:29:01.259 --> 00:29:01.720
 and they'll say,

00:29:01.720 --> 00:29:02.779
 well, I'm just staying there

00:29:02.779 --> 00:29:03.640
 just to be a witness.

00:29:03.880 --> 00:29:04.500
 I'm just going to try

00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:05.500
 to change things

00:29:05.500 --> 00:29:06.160
 from the inside.

00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:07.779
 Don't do that.

00:29:09.059 --> 00:29:10.220
 Don't overestimate

00:29:10.220 --> 00:29:11.319
 your ability

00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:12.539
 to not be carried away.

00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:14.240
 There's a social element,

00:29:14.299 --> 00:29:14.440
 right?

00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:15.299
 There's a social element

00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:16.079
 to what we believe.

00:29:16.660 --> 00:29:17.559
 We can't help

00:29:17.559 --> 00:29:18.279
 but be influenced

00:29:18.279 --> 00:29:19.420
 by the people around us.

00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:20.960
 So we want to be

00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:21.460
 in a church.

00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:22.359
 Don't overestimate

00:29:22.359 --> 00:29:22.920
 your ability

00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:24.500
 to stand in the wind.

00:29:26.539 --> 00:29:27.440
 In terms of churches,

00:29:27.539 --> 00:29:28.359
 I'll also say this,

00:29:28.480 --> 00:29:29.400
 there's no perfect church.

00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:31.440
 So it's not that

00:29:31.440 --> 00:29:32.000
 we're in a church

00:29:32.000 --> 00:29:33.299
 that does everything correctly.

00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:34.960
 It's that we're a church

00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:36.000
 that holds true

00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:37.400
 to our primary doctrines.

00:29:37.859 --> 00:29:38.079
 In fact,

00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:38.980
 we have a confession

00:29:38.980 --> 00:29:39.880
 of faith at this church

00:29:39.880 --> 00:29:40.680
 and that confession

00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:42.180
 of faith says explicitly

00:29:42.180 --> 00:29:43.980
 the purest churches

00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:44.539
 under heaven

00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:45.039
 are subject

00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:45.759
 to both mixture

00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:46.200
 and error.

00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:48.839
 So we believe

00:29:48.839 --> 00:29:49.319
 as a church,

00:29:49.400 --> 00:29:50.059
 part of our confession

00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:50.440
 of faith

00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:51.240
 is that we've gotten

00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:51.859
 some things wrong.

00:29:53.579 --> 00:29:54.220
 If we knew

00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:54.759
 what those were,

00:29:54.819 --> 00:29:55.519
 we would correct them.

00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:57.200
 Right?

00:29:57.319 --> 00:29:58.140
 No one of us

00:29:58.140 --> 00:29:59.140
 understands the Bible

00:29:59.140 --> 00:29:59.579
 perfectly.

00:29:59.720 --> 00:30:00.299
 No one of us

00:30:00.299 --> 00:30:01.380
 gets everything right.

00:30:02.740 --> 00:30:04.460
 And there's a path

00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:04.980
 that's correct.

00:30:05.059 --> 00:30:05.720
 We can stay away

00:30:05.720 --> 00:30:06.579
 from false teaching.

00:30:08.099 --> 00:30:08.819
 Okay, so both are true.

00:30:08.859 --> 00:30:09.960
 We don't demand perfection.

00:30:10.559 --> 00:30:11.359
 We also look

00:30:11.359 --> 00:30:12.299
 for help.

00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:14.859
 Okay, finally,

00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:15.480
 standing firm,

00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:15.839
 you've picked

00:30:15.839 --> 00:30:16.500
 the right church.

00:30:16.740 --> 00:30:17.140
 What do you need

00:30:17.140 --> 00:30:17.640
 to do next?

00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:20.799
 You need to show up.

00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:24.099
 We get strong

00:30:24.099 --> 00:30:25.339
 little by little.

00:30:26.279 --> 00:30:26.940
 You know

00:30:26.940 --> 00:30:27.920
 that you can build,

00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:28.940
 you can grow fat

00:30:28.940 --> 00:30:29.440
 in a week.

00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:30.619
 If I decided this week

00:30:30.619 --> 00:30:31.419
 that I wanted

00:30:31.419 --> 00:30:32.559
 to gain 10 pounds,

00:30:32.739 --> 00:30:33.599
 I'm confident

00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:34.479
 I could make it happen.

00:30:36.839 --> 00:30:37.959
 Like, I don't need

00:30:37.959 --> 00:30:38.859
 to think very carefully

00:30:38.859 --> 00:30:40.000
 about what my plan is.

00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:41.319
 I'd go to Walmart,

00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:42.079
 I'd buy a ton

00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:42.739
 of ice cream,

00:30:43.099 --> 00:30:43.599
 and I would just,

00:30:43.679 --> 00:30:44.279
 I'd be disciplined.

00:30:44.399 --> 00:30:44.479
 You know,

00:30:44.479 --> 00:30:45.579
 I'd be focused every day,

00:30:45.719 --> 00:30:46.739
 making sure I ate enough.

00:30:47.079 --> 00:30:47.899
 I could probably

00:30:47.899 --> 00:30:48.759
 show up next Sunday

00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:49.759
 and have gained 10 pounds.

00:30:50.579 --> 00:30:51.359
 I don't think

00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:52.019
 it would be that hard.

00:30:53.219 --> 00:30:53.919
 What if I wanted

00:30:53.919 --> 00:30:54.679
 to gain 10 pounds

00:30:54.679 --> 00:30:55.119
 of muscle?

00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:59.119
 It would be impossible

00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:00.219
 for me to do that

00:31:00.219 --> 00:31:00.659
 in a week.

00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:02.659
 There's no way.

00:31:03.819 --> 00:31:05.239
 The same is true,

00:31:05.399 --> 00:31:05.979
 brothers and sisters,

00:31:05.979 --> 00:31:07.279
 for us as Christians.

00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:08.859
 We become strong

00:31:08.859 --> 00:31:10.159
 little by little

00:31:10.159 --> 00:31:11.439
 week after week.

00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:13.299
 We become strong

00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:14.119
 as we are exposed

00:31:14.119 --> 00:31:15.539
 week after week

00:31:15.539 --> 00:31:17.039
 as we're fed

00:31:17.039 --> 00:31:17.959
 over and over

00:31:17.959 --> 00:31:18.699
 by what God

00:31:18.699 --> 00:31:19.479
 has to say

00:31:19.479 --> 00:31:20.119
 in His Word.

00:31:20.199 --> 00:31:21.259
 We do not come to church

00:31:21.259 --> 00:31:22.159
 to have our ears tickled.

00:31:23.059 --> 00:31:24.279
 We're not here only

00:31:24.279 --> 00:31:25.299
 when we're in exciting

00:31:25.299 --> 00:31:26.259
 passage of the Bible.

00:31:26.980 --> 00:31:27.660
 I want you to think

00:31:27.660 --> 00:31:28.099
 for a second

00:31:28.099 --> 00:31:28.639
 you're having

00:31:28.639 --> 00:31:30.480
 a brain surgeon

00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:31.299
 operate on you

00:31:31.299 --> 00:31:32.660
 and you find out

00:31:32.660 --> 00:31:33.119
 this surgeon

00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:33.920
 only showed up

00:31:33.920 --> 00:31:34.599
 for the exciting

00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:35.619
 classes in med school.

00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:38.279
 And when he found out

00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:38.799
 they were covering

00:31:38.799 --> 00:31:39.960
 a topic that was boring

00:31:39.960 --> 00:31:40.660
 or he sort of already

00:31:40.660 --> 00:31:41.420
 felt like he knew it,

00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:42.160
 he just skipped out.

00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:44.220
 Do you want to see

00:31:44.220 --> 00:31:44.740
 that surgeon?

00:31:47.220 --> 00:31:49.359
 Life is a dangerous place.

00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:52.319
 We need all

00:31:52.319 --> 00:31:53.539
 of God's counsel

00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:54.819
 as much as we can

00:31:54.819 --> 00:31:56.039
 get on our journey.

00:31:56.220 --> 00:31:57.379
 If we do not want

00:31:57.379 --> 00:31:58.759
 to be carried away

00:31:58.759 --> 00:32:00.359
 then we know

00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:01.180
 that repetition

00:32:01.180 --> 00:32:02.659
 is what gives us strength.

00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:04.359
 This is what

00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:05.799
 every bodybuilder knows,

00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:06.059
 right?

00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:07.619
 You don't get strong

00:32:07.619 --> 00:32:08.879
 by going to the gym

00:32:08.879 --> 00:32:09.500
 once a month.

00:32:10.559 --> 00:32:11.279
 That's not how

00:32:11.279 --> 00:32:11.779
 I'm going to build

00:32:11.779 --> 00:32:12.639
 10 pounds of muscle.

00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:14.899
 I get strong

00:32:14.899 --> 00:32:15.720
 showing up

00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:16.799
 week after week

00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:17.559
 doing the work

00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:18.339
 with a discipline

00:32:18.339 --> 00:32:19.200
 and a practice

00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:20.079
 and a focus.

00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:21.079
 not because

00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:22.220
 I'm a legalist

00:32:22.220 --> 00:32:23.699
 but because

00:32:23.699 --> 00:32:24.460
 I know

00:32:24.460 --> 00:32:25.379
 that is how

00:32:25.379 --> 00:32:26.159
 I stand

00:32:26.159 --> 00:32:27.000
 firm.

00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:29.519
 And so the same

00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:30.439
 is true for us.

00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:31.220
 We are not

00:32:31.220 --> 00:32:31.939
 carried away

00:32:31.939 --> 00:32:32.899
 when we know

00:32:32.899 --> 00:32:33.519
 the whole counsel

00:32:33.519 --> 00:32:34.000
 of God.

00:32:34.419 --> 00:32:35.279
 We know the whole

00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:36.039
 counsel of God

00:32:36.039 --> 00:32:36.980
 when we're in a church

00:32:36.980 --> 00:32:37.939
 that is giving us

00:32:37.939 --> 00:32:38.939
 that week after week

00:32:38.939 --> 00:32:39.879
 when it's exciting,

00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:41.539
 when it's boring,

00:32:42.019 --> 00:32:43.159
 when it's new,

00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:44.579
 when it's repetitive,

00:32:44.980 --> 00:32:45.579
 when it's things

00:32:45.579 --> 00:32:46.379
 we don't know,

00:32:46.879 --> 00:32:47.480
 when it's things

00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:48.140
 we do know.

00:32:49.039 --> 00:32:50.200
 We are coming back

00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:51.480
 because we want

00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:52.799
 this to be true of us.

00:32:52.900 --> 00:32:54.079
 We want to take care

00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:55.079
 that we're not

00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:55.720
 carried away

00:32:55.720 --> 00:32:56.360
 with the error

00:32:56.360 --> 00:32:58.099
 of lawless people.

00:33:00.079 --> 00:33:00.559
 Of course,

00:33:00.620 --> 00:33:01.200
 our Lord Jesus

00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:03.319
 tells us the same thing.

00:33:04.180 --> 00:33:04.680
 He tells us

00:33:04.680 --> 00:33:05.819
 in Matthew chapter 7

00:33:05.819 --> 00:33:07.720
 that building our lives

00:33:07.720 --> 00:33:08.539
 on His word

00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:09.180
 is like building

00:33:09.180 --> 00:33:10.200
 a house on a rock.

00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:10.519
 He says,

00:33:10.620 --> 00:33:11.240
 Everyone then

00:33:11.240 --> 00:33:12.220
 who hears these words

00:33:12.220 --> 00:33:13.160
 of mine and does them

00:33:13.160 --> 00:33:14.420
 will be like a wise man

00:33:14.420 --> 00:33:15.500
 who built his house

00:33:15.500 --> 00:33:15.980
 on the rock.

00:33:16.400 --> 00:33:17.220
 And the rain fell

00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:18.180
 and the floods came

00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:19.360
 and the winds blew

00:33:19.360 --> 00:33:20.220
 and beat on that house

00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:21.200
 but it did not fall

00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:21.880
 because it had been

00:33:21.880 --> 00:33:22.880
 founded on the rock.

00:33:23.500 --> 00:33:24.380
 And everyone who hears

00:33:24.380 --> 00:33:25.279
 these words of mine

00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:26.120
 and does not do them

00:33:26.120 --> 00:33:27.440
 will be like a foolish man

00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:28.779
 who built his house

00:33:28.779 --> 00:33:29.519
 on the sand.

00:33:30.039 --> 00:33:31.180
 And the rain fell

00:33:31.180 --> 00:33:32.579
 and the floods came

00:33:32.579 --> 00:33:34.140
 and the winds blew

00:33:34.140 --> 00:33:35.380
 and beat against that house

00:33:35.380 --> 00:33:36.039
 and it fell

00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:38.079
 and great was the fall of it.

00:33:39.259 --> 00:33:41.620
 We know what the rock is.

00:33:43.299 --> 00:33:44.720
 Jesus has given us

00:33:44.720 --> 00:33:45.319
 the incentive,

00:33:45.460 --> 00:33:46.100
 the motivation,

00:33:46.099 --> 00:33:47.799
 the power that we need

00:33:47.799 --> 00:33:49.699
 to follow His commands,

00:33:49.799 --> 00:33:50.919
 to not be carried away,

00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:51.879
 to not be taken in

00:33:51.879 --> 00:33:52.859
 by things that are twisted

00:33:52.859 --> 00:33:53.759
 because we know

00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:55.819
 we want to be on the rock.

00:33:56.899 --> 00:33:58.279
 There's all kinds of people

00:33:58.279 --> 00:33:59.019
 all the time

00:33:59.019 --> 00:34:00.179
 who are trying to tell you

00:34:00.179 --> 00:34:02.539
 what the next big investment

00:34:02.539 --> 00:34:03.480
 is going to be, right?

00:34:03.639 --> 00:34:04.679
 You might see these ads.

00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:06.139
 If you had invested

00:34:06.139 --> 00:34:08.299
 in Amazon.com in 1999,

00:34:08.940 --> 00:34:10.079
 you would be

00:34:10.079 --> 00:34:10.920
 this kind of millionaire.

00:34:11.659 --> 00:34:12.460
 If you'd invested

00:34:12.460 --> 00:34:13.960
 in Walmart in 1992,

00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:15.980
 you'd be now worth this.

00:34:16.380 --> 00:34:17.339
 And if you pay us

00:34:17.339 --> 00:34:18.000
 the appropriate amount

00:34:18.000 --> 00:34:18.299
 of money,

00:34:18.380 --> 00:34:18.819
 we'll tell you

00:34:18.819 --> 00:34:19.719
 the next stock to pick,

00:34:19.779 --> 00:34:19.980
 right?

00:34:21.699 --> 00:34:22.839
 Those are predictions.

00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:25.719
 What God gives us

00:34:25.719 --> 00:34:26.980
 is not a prediction

00:34:26.980 --> 00:34:28.339
 but a promise.

00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:32.039
 If we knew now,

00:34:32.279 --> 00:34:33.179
 if we knew then

00:34:33.179 --> 00:34:33.880
 what we knew now,

00:34:33.940 --> 00:34:34.119
 right,

00:34:34.139 --> 00:34:34.940
 we would have invested.

00:34:34.940 --> 00:34:38.320
 We already know now

00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:39.000
 what will be true

00:34:39.000 --> 00:34:39.700
 in the future.

00:34:40.200 --> 00:34:41.000
 That God

00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:41.940
 and his word

00:34:41.940 --> 00:34:42.880
 is the rock

00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:44.420
 that we build upon.

00:34:44.659 --> 00:34:46.179
 How much more

00:34:46.179 --> 00:34:49.119
 should we be eager

00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.019
 to build for it?

00:34:50.119 --> 00:34:51.119
 How much more

00:34:51.119 --> 00:34:52.300
 should we invest in it?

00:34:52.559 --> 00:34:53.679
 How much more

00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:54.679
 should we want

00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:55.440
 to stand firm?

00:34:55.440 --> 00:35:00.940
 There's a couple

00:35:00.940 --> 00:35:01.380
 of movies

00:35:01.380 --> 00:35:02.079
 that have come out

00:35:02.079 --> 00:35:02.519
 recently.

00:35:02.760 --> 00:35:03.019
 One of them

00:35:03.019 --> 00:35:03.220
 is called

00:35:03.220 --> 00:35:03.900
 The Dawn Wall.

00:35:04.019 --> 00:35:04.500
 The other is called

00:35:04.500 --> 00:35:05.099
 Free Solo.

00:35:05.700 --> 00:35:06.260
 And they're about

00:35:06.260 --> 00:35:07.039
 two climbers,

00:35:07.179 --> 00:35:07.619
 each of whom

00:35:07.619 --> 00:35:08.659
 is trying to climb

00:35:08.659 --> 00:35:09.619
 El Capitan

00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:10.599
 and Yosemite.

00:35:11.739 --> 00:35:12.539
 And in Dawn Wall

00:35:12.539 --> 00:35:13.339
 it tells the story

00:35:13.339 --> 00:35:14.239
 of Johnny Caldwell

00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:14.799
 and he takes

00:35:14.799 --> 00:35:15.739
 seven years

00:35:15.739 --> 00:35:16.559
 to figure out

00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:17.739
 the appropriate route

00:35:17.739 --> 00:35:18.920
 to actually be able

00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:20.119
 to climb this wall

00:35:20.119 --> 00:35:21.159
 all the way to the top.

00:35:23.839 --> 00:35:24.599
 Now if you're going

00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:25.440
 to climb this wall,

00:35:26.639 --> 00:35:27.719
 which route

00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:28.519
 are you going to take?

00:35:29.799 --> 00:35:30.559
 Are you going to take

00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:31.319
 the route that's

00:35:31.319 --> 00:35:32.579
 already been planned out

00:35:32.579 --> 00:35:34.299
 or are you going

00:35:34.299 --> 00:35:34.920
 to take a new

00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:35.579
 novel route?

00:35:35.659 --> 00:35:35.960
 Are you going to go

00:35:35.960 --> 00:35:36.799
 try to figure out

00:35:36.799 --> 00:35:37.539
 your own path?

00:35:39.619 --> 00:35:40.980
 Brothers and sisters,

00:35:41.099 --> 00:35:41.519
 when it comes

00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:42.299
 to the Christian life

00:35:42.299 --> 00:35:42.920
 there are people

00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:44.139
 promoting and following

00:35:44.139 --> 00:35:45.779
 all sorts of routes.

00:35:47.380 --> 00:35:48.900
 But when we follow

00:35:48.900 --> 00:35:49.940
 after our Lord

00:35:49.940 --> 00:35:50.460
 and Savior,

00:35:50.639 --> 00:35:51.239
 Jesus Christ,

00:35:51.319 --> 00:35:52.159
 what we do

00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:53.299
 is we take hold

00:35:53.299 --> 00:35:54.019
 of and grasp

00:35:54.019 --> 00:35:54.639
 the trusted

00:35:54.639 --> 00:35:55.380
 and firm,

00:35:55.559 --> 00:35:56.339
 reliable route.

00:35:56.659 --> 00:35:57.199
 The route

00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:58.000
 that we find

00:35:58.000 --> 00:35:58.799
 in God

00:35:58.799 --> 00:35:59.799
 and His Word

00:35:59.799 --> 00:36:01.099
 that has been proved

00:36:01.099 --> 00:36:02.039
 by Christians

00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:02.799
 before us

00:36:02.799 --> 00:36:03.619
 for millennia

00:36:03.619 --> 00:36:04.960
 and around the world.

00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:06.219
 We go with

00:36:06.219 --> 00:36:07.239
 what is true

00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:08.400
 because we want

00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:08.819
 the route

00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:09.660
 that is proven

00:36:09.660 --> 00:36:10.840
 and safe.

00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:13.280
 We want to build

00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:14.140
 our lives

00:36:14.140 --> 00:36:15.539
 not on sand

00:36:15.539 --> 00:36:17.160
 but on the rock.

00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.960
 So that's why

00:36:19.960 --> 00:36:21.680
 we take care

00:36:21.680 --> 00:36:22.860
 that we're not

00:36:22.860 --> 00:36:23.559
 carried away

00:36:23.559 --> 00:36:24.280
 with the error

00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:25.360
 of lawless people

00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:26.480
 and lose

00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:27.700
 our own stability.

00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:29.600
 I invite you

00:36:29.600 --> 00:36:30.160
 to pray with me.

00:36:31.460 --> 00:36:32.519
 Our Father in Heaven,

00:36:32.660 --> 00:36:33.680
 we thank You

00:36:33.680 --> 00:36:35.019
 that Your Word

00:36:35.019 --> 00:36:36.039
 is our safe route.

00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:36.079
 God,

00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:37.320
 we ask that You

00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:38.619
 would protect us

00:36:38.619 --> 00:36:39.400
 and this church

00:36:39.400 --> 00:36:41.079
 from false teaching

00:36:41.079 --> 00:36:41.639
 and that You

00:36:41.639 --> 00:36:42.500
 would grow us up

00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:44.340
 to love Your Word

00:36:44.340 --> 00:36:45.179
 and to know it

00:36:45.179 --> 00:36:46.259
 when it tells us

00:36:46.259 --> 00:36:47.340
 things that are easy

00:36:47.340 --> 00:36:47.940
 and popular

00:36:47.940 --> 00:36:49.300
 and when it tells us

00:36:49.300 --> 00:36:50.239
 things that are hard

00:36:50.239 --> 00:36:51.219
 and unpopular.

00:36:51.719 --> 00:36:52.320
 We ask that You

00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:52.880
 would do this

00:36:52.880 --> 00:36:53.559
 by helping us

00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:55.099
 to look to Jesus

00:36:55.099 --> 00:36:55.759
 who we know

00:36:55.759 --> 00:36:56.539
 is our rock

00:36:56.539 --> 00:36:57.420
 and our foundation

00:36:57.420 --> 00:36:58.699
 and we ask these things

00:36:58.699 --> 00:36:59.579
 in His mighty name.

00:37:00.019 --> 00:37:00.239
 Amen.

00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:00.380
 Amen.

00:37:00.380 --> 00:37:00.400
 Amen.

00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:00.440
 Amen.

00:37:00.440 --> 00:37:00.460
 Amen.

00:37:00.460 --> 00:37:00.480
 Amen.

00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:00.500
 Amen.

00:37:00.500 --> 00:37:02.440
 Amen.

00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:02.500
 Amen.

00:37:02.500 --> 00:37:02.519
 Amen.

00:37:02.519 --> 00:37:04.440
 Amen.

00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:04.500
 Amen.

00:37:04.500 --> 00:37:04.539
 Amen.

00:37:04.539 --> 00:37:05.500
 Amen.