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Do Not Grow Weary, Hebrews 12: 1-4 Part 1
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Feb 19, 2025
Welcome back to our study of the book of Hebrews, today we'll be looking at Hebrews 12:1-4 part 1-Do not grow weary. Last week we talked about the triumph of faith and chapter 11 was entirely dedicated to explain what faith is in the life of the believer. According to the word of God, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word. We saw that faith was a gift of God and is a pre requisite to pleasing God. We also saw that being pleasing to God doesn't prevent us from going through struggles. For some of us, God is glorified through our suffering and death ( Abel) while for others He is glorified through their deliverance. in Chapter 12, the writer will tell us how God works in us so that we exude the type of trust that pleases Him, so gird up your loins
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hello good morning and uh welcome back
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to our study of the book of hebrews
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today we're going to begin chapter 12
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and we're only going to look at verses 1
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through 4. last week we ended ended
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chapter 11 and we talked about the
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triumph of faith and in the whole
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chapter 11 the writer painted a picture
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of what faith was like so we begin by
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saying that faith comes by hearing and
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hearing by the word of god basically god
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is the one that birthed faith in our
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lives
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and then we did the writer also gave us
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many examples of the sense of old we
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talked about abraham we talked about
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jacob we talked about isaac we talked
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about moses we talked about his mom we
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talked about sarah and then we talked
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about abel and we talked about enoch we
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talked about several uh saints of old we
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even talked about rahab the prostitutes
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and basically the reason why the writer
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mentions all these elements and all
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these people are faith is because if you
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look at their lives they all exuded the
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type of faith that pleases god in a
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sense that each of them did not live
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according to their own word they lived
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according to the word of god and the
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word of god bore fruit in their lives so
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we also saw that just because we have
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faith doesn't mean that we are not going
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to struggle because if you look at abel
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abel died as a result of his faith in
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god but god said that abel was pleasing
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to him enoch on the other hand did not
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die so that strain of tough is that
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strain of thought is completely
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reminisce is completely um followed
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through in chapter 11 where the writer
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wants to make sure his listeners
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understand that just because you have
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faith doesn't mean that you're not going
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to struggle you're not going to be
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persecuted because god chooses to
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to work in his children in different
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ways for some of us we are going to be
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glorifying god through our suffering
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through our death and for other people
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that are going to be glorifying god
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through their deliverance so it is
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different for each one of us and god
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reserves the right to do that so in
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chapter 12 he is going to be talking
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about how
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faith is established in the life of the
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saints so today we're gonna look at
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verses one through four and i entitled
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uh today's study do not grow weary so
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we're gonna be looking at hebrews
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chapter 12 verses one through four
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so let me get to the passage now so
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basically i'm going to read it and then
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we are going to be
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understanding what the lord is trying to
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tell us
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so the scripture says in hebrews 12
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verses 1 through 4
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therefore
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since we are surrounded by so great a
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cloud of witnesses
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let us lay aside every weight and sin
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which clings so closely
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and let us run with endurance the race
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that is set before us
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looking to jesus the founder and
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perfecter of our faith
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who for the joy that was set before him
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endured the cross despising the shame
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and is seated at the right hand of the
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throne of god
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consider him who endured from sinners
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such hostility against himself so that
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you may not grow weary or faint-hearted
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in your struggle against sin you have
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not yet resisted to the point of
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shedding your
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blood and we are going to stop here and
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then see what the author is trying to
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tell us
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in his original readers
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now in verse 1
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we read the following again
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therefore
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since we are surrounded by so great a
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cloud of witnesses let us lay aside
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every weight and sin which clings so
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closely and
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let us run with endurance
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the race that is set before us
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again we need to remember that when the
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writer of the hebrews
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was spending down this letter there was
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no chapter division and last week when
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we ended chapter 11
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we saw that it was ended but that
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doesn't mean that the authors chain of
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thought completely seized and now he
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begins with something new now he
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continues with his strain of thought
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there is like a certain continuation and
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that doesn't just stop because we are in
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chapter 12.
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so basically chapter 12 is a
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continuation of chapter 11. and that's
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how that's how we ought to read the
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entire letter to the hebrews and the
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bible in general we have to read it not
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a chapter divisions but it is a is a
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continuation of whatever thoughts are
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being conveyed by the holy spirit
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through the writers so we have to say
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that way the chapter division can
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sometimes
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cause us to forget and to
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to not really follow what is going on so
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in this case we are not going to do that
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we are going to understand that there is
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a response that that is needed as a
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result of chapter 11. this is why the
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verse 1 begins with therefore
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so in the last verses of chapter 11 we
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talked about the triumph of faith and
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then chapter 12 begins with the word
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therefore which basically means that
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in light of everything that has been
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said about faith
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a decision has to be made that's the
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question and if you go to romans 15
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verse 4 that will help us to understand
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this verse better in romans 15 4 the
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scripture says for whatever was written
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in the former days was written for our
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instruction
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that through endurance and through the
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the encouragement of the scriptures we
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might have hope
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basically the account of the men and
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women of faith mentioned in chapter 11
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was recorded for us so that we can learn
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from them they serve as what a great
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cloud of witnesses the scripture says
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because by the testimony of their lives
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the writer says that his readers and us
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can learn how to live to please god this
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is the whole reason chapter 11 was given
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and god himself as we saw when we were
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studying chapter 11 brought witness that
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they were pleasing to him for they lived
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by what they lived by faith so for me i
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absolutely love the old testament
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because it tells us about the changed
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lives of like regular people like you
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and i
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with the same um nature like ours
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folks that we can relate to if you go to
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james 5 17-18 the scripture says
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elijah
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was a man within nature like ours
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and he prayed fervently that he might
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not reign and for three years and six
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months it did not rain on the earth
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then he prayed again and heaven gave
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rain and the earth bore its fruit
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and this is exactly the point of the
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writer when he uses the phrase so great
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a cloud of witnesses
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he's using the sense of old as a model
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of faith
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a faith-filled life that his readers and
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us today can learn from and this is why
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the scripture says that they are a great
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cloud of witnesses
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because the right the writer is saying
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for all these reasons for everything
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that i told you before
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something must be done
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and it was that's something that must be
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done he's going to tell us now if you
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look at the next a phrase he goes we
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must lay aside
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every weight
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and sin which clings so closely in order
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that we may run with endurance the race
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that is set before us because he's
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saying listen i said in light of
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everything that i've told you in chapter
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11 that's not what he was saying in his
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head but in light of everything that has
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been said
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in chapter 11
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about faith
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something has to be done we must lay
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aside
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every weight and the scene
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which clings so closely and run with
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endurance the race that is set before us
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this is a command and the holy spirit is
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commanding the original readers and you
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and i to do that this is a call to
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examine ourselves to see
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what distractions are keeping us from
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serving god wholeheartedly
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okay let me repeat that again this is a
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call to examine ourselves to see
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what distractions are keeping us from
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serving god with our whole heart
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okay
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and the writer here mentions two
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different things the first thing is what
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every weight
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so i'm assuming that the weight may not
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necessarily mean something sinful
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because if you go to first corinthians 6
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verse 12 listen to what paul says
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all things are lawful for me
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but not all things are helpful
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all things are lawful for me but i will
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not be dominated by anything and that is
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a thought that is being conveyed here
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the weight can be any distraction that
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is not beneficial
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i'm not sure what that meant for the
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original readers it could be comfort it
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could be the pursuit of goals that
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really do not have any eternal value
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those could be any weight you can look
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in your own life to see what those
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weights are if you're an athlete you
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want to run and and basically you know
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if you're sprinting let let me just give
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you an example if you put on you strap
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on a bunch of dumbbells on you you're
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not going to be able to run correctly
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you're going to be slow so basically you
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have to remove and strip yourself of
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anything that is weighty even athletes
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now have to design certain suit or
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so they are out there they the outfit
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that they run with it has to be
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aerodynamic so that they can run you can
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give them an advantage so basically
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that's the thought that's been that is
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being conveyed here
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anything that will keep us from running
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with endurance the rate that the race
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that is set before us must be set aside
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so that we can focus so the idea is to
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focus to be completely sold out for the
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gospel to be completely sold out for
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what we believe to be true and this is
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the actual truth true truth
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okay
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so the weight can be any distraction
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anything that can send set uh stand in
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the way of us serving god with our whole
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heart now the second thing that can
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prevent anyone from serving god
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is what sin now we're going to see what
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that particular sin is in this case now
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the writer uses a very interesting word
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to describe the devastating
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deceitfulness of sin and he uses the
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word clinging
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basically sin has a way of what wrapping
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us up
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entangling us in a web of lies deceit
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and
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unproductivity so again sin
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separates us from god that's just the
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thing sin will separate you from god and
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you can't hear from the lord when you
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are living in sin you cannot be thinking
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clearly
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there's so much stuff that go on that
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you can't see clearly so the first thing
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is weight any weight that stands any
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distraction and the second thing is sin
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and the scripture tells us that blessed
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are what the pure in heart for they
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shall see god and in first john we are
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told to confess to confess our sins
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daily
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why so that our fellowship with god may
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not be broken
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it is very important because unconfessed
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sins can our walk with the lord
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if you go to first samuel 13 verse 1
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let's listen to what the scripture says
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listen the boy samuel ministered before
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the lord under eli
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in those days
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the word of the lord was rare there were
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no there were not many visions
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see the problem at the time of samuel is
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the people did as they saw fit eli sons
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were supposed to be the role models they
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were supposed to be priests of the lord
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but he didn't care they served
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with no regard to the things of god the
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scripture tells us how they misbehaved
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and as a result you know
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visions were rare they couldn't see
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clearly so they would be because of sin
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in their lives and that's what happened
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with us when we don't live
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correctly before the lord our judgment
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is clouded because god is not he's not
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going to speak to us because the
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scripture tells us without holiness no
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one will say the lord no one will
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experience the presence of god so
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personal holiness is important and sin
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can our work
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and the reason why the writer wants his
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readers and you and i to let aside
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any weight and sin is so that we can run
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with what perseverance the race that is
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set before us see the christian life is
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a pilgrimage
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it's not really like a hundred meters
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flat uh sprint now
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it is a pilgrimage is a is it's a daily
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thing so no sooner than we gain victory
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over a sin are we confronted are
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confronted with another sin in our life
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so god does it gradually it doesn't just
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kill us right away with a bunch of stuff
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in our lives no it's a gradual thing
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and the sanctification process is
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lifelong on this side of eternity and
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paul understood that i mentioned it in
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romans 8 verse 18 to 25 let's listen to
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what the scripture says in romans 8.
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listen
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verse 18 to 25 17-25
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but listen to what scripture says
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for consider that the sufferings of this
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present time
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are not worth comparing with the glory
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that is to be revealed to us
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for the creation waits with eager
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longing for the revealing of the sons of
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god
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for the creation was subjected to
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futility
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not willingly but because of him we
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subjected it in hope that the creation
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itself
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will be set free from its bondage to
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corruption
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and obtain the freedom of the glory of
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the children of god
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for we know that the whole creation has
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been groaning together in the pains of
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childbirth until now
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and not only the creation but we
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ourselves who have the first fruit of
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the spirit
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growing inwardly
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as we wait eagerly for adoption our sons
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the redemption of our bodies for in this
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hope we were saved now hope that is
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saying is now hope for hope for what he
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sees but if we hope for what we do not
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see we wait for it with patience so you
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can see how this kind of ties up with
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what we have been told in the book of
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hebrews in chapter 12 here see
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we are in the marathon not a sprint this
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is a
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a long-term process and in this
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particular passage the main sin that the
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writer was mentioning is the sin of what
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on belief
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not trusting god
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so that sin can easily
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like clings to us and when that happen
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we lose our productivity because we lose
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our trust in god and we begin to just do
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as we see fit and when i and in that
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moment our judgment is clouded
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and we can't see clearly
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and our life just becomes just a
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downward spiral of just doubt after
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doubt and we no longer have any
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directions and that's when we are
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susceptible to all kinds of false
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uh
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interpretations of whatever we see and
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we leave with no clear sense of
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direction
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so the writer spent
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the entire entire chapter 11
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talking about the antidote to unbelief
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chapter 4 and 10 warned us against
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unbelief we saw it in the lives of the
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children of israel when they were in the
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wilderness god swore in on his wrath
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they would not enter his rest so he can
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easily cling to us and we have to be
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extremely careful and he's given us here
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the
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the antidote and if you look at the
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second portion of verse 2 the scripture
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says
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look into jesus the founder and
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perfecter of our faith who for the joy
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that was set before him and ordered the
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cross despising the shame and is seated
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at the right hand of the throne of god
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so verse 2 gives us pretty much how to
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run this reign this race with endurance
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so
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we're gonna learn from our master jesus
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the first steps we're given in verse one
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the first thing is what remember the
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sense of old we need to remember them
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because they are a great cloud of
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witnesses they served as a testimony and
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god used them so that we can learn from
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them now the second thing we must do is
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what lay aside any weight any known
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weights or any sins in our lives in this
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case the sin was the sin of unbelief i
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don't know what that sin is in your life
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but unbelief is very dangerous and
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destructive as we saw in chapter four
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and as we saw in the whole book of
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hebrews
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now the question is but even doing that
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doesn't mean that we won't grow weary
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okay and the writer was well aware of
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that when he was addressing his readers
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so he gives them again the antidote
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against discouragement because is is we
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can we can
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no any any distractions in our life and
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we can set it aside we can know sins in
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our life and set it aside but and then
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we can also
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believe trust in god but that doesn't
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mean that we won't grow weary and in
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this case of the
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the people the writer was addressing i'm
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sure there was wariness they were being
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discouraged
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and when discouragement come
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seeds of doubt begin to to settle in so
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he's telling them listen i'm gonna give
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you the antidote against that okay so he
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has been saying since the beginning of
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his letter that the readers are not to
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what they ought not to neglect the great
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salvation that was wrought for them
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by god through jesus
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let me say that again since the
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beginning the writer was saying do not
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neglect this great salvation that jesus
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worked on our behalf so he's going to
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reiterate this point here by saying that
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what
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look into jesus meaning what keeping
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one's gaze on jesus keeping one's focus
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on jesus looking intently to jesus
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considering jesus
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but why should we do that you know he's
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going to give us the reason why
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because jesus is the author
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and perfecter of our faith
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he is the author and perfecter of our
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faith you hear that he just not only
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authors our faith but he's also the
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perfecter
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so what does this mean
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the scripture tells us that it is god
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who does what works in us both to will
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and act according to his good purpose
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basically the writer is telling his
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readers that to run with endurance
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we must be totally
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dependent totally totally be dependent
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on jesus we must be totally be dependent
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on jesus because he birthed our faith
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and he will see to it that his purposes
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for our lives are accomplished so this
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is why we must look to jesus because
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he's the author and he's also the
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perfecter of our faith
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okay
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jesus told his disciples in john 15
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verse 1 to 5. listen to what he says
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i am the true vine and my father is the
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vine dresser
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every branch in me that does not bear
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fruit he takes away and every branch in
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me that does bear fruit he prunes that
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he may bear more fruit already you are
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clean because of the word that has
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spoken to you
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abide in me and i in you as the branch
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cannot bear fruit by itself unless it
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abides in the vine
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neither can you unless you abide in me
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i am divine you are the branches whoever
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abides in me and i in him he it is that
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bears much fruit for apart from me
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you can do
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nothing did you hear that apart from me
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you can do nothing
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so this is the same idea that the author
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is trying to tell us here he's saying
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what
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look to jesus the founder and perfecter
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of your faith who for the joy that was
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set before him and draw the cross so we
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must look to jesus he endured the cross
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so the only way the readers
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and us are going to live a life of
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victory is if we all depend totally on
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jesus
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he endured the cross he despised the
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shame and because of what he
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accomplished god gave him the highest
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the highest place of honor and seated
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him as at his right hand we read in the
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scripture and jesus himself says in john
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6 16 33 i've said these things to you
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that in me you may have what you may
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have pieced but in the world you will
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have tribulation
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but take heart i have overcome the world
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so this is the same idea that's been
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conveyed here he's telling us jesus told
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us in john 16 33 take heart for i've
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overcome the world look to me
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look to him because he's the author and
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he's also the perfecter of our faith and
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he perfects this faith in us through the
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tribulations
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as we read in james 1 verse 1 to 2. so
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jesus was set on accomplishing the work
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of the work the father had given him and
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he did not allow any weight
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or sin to stand in the way let me say
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that again
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he was set on accomplishing the work of
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the father
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so he did not allow any weight or any
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sin to stand in the way he suffered the
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ultimate shame by being nailed on the
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cross being the son of god but even that
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did not stop him from fulfilling the
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will of god
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dying as the lamb of god to take away
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the sins of the world
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so he is our ultimate what example and
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role model and he has not left us to
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fight this fight in our own strength and
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this is the beauty of it he has given us
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a part of his spirit
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so that we may overcome like he overcame
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it's not like jesus just said well
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you'll see what i did and do the same
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thing but do it in your own strength
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that's not what jesus did
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he did it he accomplished it for us and
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now he has given us of what of his
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spirit so that we might be able to be to
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do that because apart from the spirit of
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god we can't live this life of victory
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we cannot
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live a life of faith without the spirit
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of god paul says in romans 8 verse 10 to
22:08
11
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but if christ knew
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but if christ is in you
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although the body is dead because of sin
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listen to what the next thing says the
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spirit is life because of righteousness
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if the spirit of him
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raised jesus from the dead dwells in you
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he who raised christ jesus from the dead
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will also give life to your mortal
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bodies through his spirit who dwells in
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you
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let me repeat that again if the spirit
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of him raised jesus from the dead dwells
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in you
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he who raised christ jesus from the dead
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will also give life to your mortal
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bodies through his spirit who dwells in
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you so basically it is not up to us to
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live this life of victory
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jesus has given us off his spirit so the
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condition is
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if christ is in you if the spirit of him
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will raise jesus from the dead dwells in
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you so if those conditions are met
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then we are promised what
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victory we are promised that we will be
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able to run this race
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with endurance with perseverance the
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condition is does the spirit of christ
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live in you if the spirit of christ does
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not live in you then you are not a child
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of god and you are not going to be
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living this life of victory you cannot
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do it without the spirit of god
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so from verse 1 to four
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this set the stages for more things that
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we're going to talk about next week but
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the initial conditioning does the spirit
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of god
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live in you does he live in me if the
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spirit of god lives in me then yes i'm
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going to be able to what
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to know
23:53
the weights that are sending that are
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that are standing in the way to know the
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sin of unbelief that if he's standing
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the way the spirit of god will do what
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he will search my heart and you bring it
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to the surface and tell me haib this
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needs to be changed
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but if the spirit of god does not live
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in you you are not going to see that
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and the spirit of god uses the word of
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god for conviction
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on to what repentance so we must repent
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constantly this is why god has given us
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of his spirit his spirit searches our
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hearts
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and then tells us this needs to change
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and we are told in romans chapter 12 be
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transformed by the renewing of your mind
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so to be able to live like christ did we
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must have the mind of christ
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to be able to endure
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so that's the whole process this is why
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we must look to jesus and the spirit of
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god was given to us for that purpose
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that we may have that victorious life
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so this is the key so next week we're
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gonna talk about the discipline of the
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lord how god accomplishes uh those
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things in our life okay
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thank you and i'll see you next week