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and uh welcome back to our study of the
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book of hebrews today we're going to
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just look at 11 chapter 11 verses 4
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through 7 and the title of the study is
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faith in action part one now if you were
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here last week we quickly introduced on
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the concept of faith and we talked about
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the description of faith according to
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the scriptures so basically
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uh in our intro i'll kind of introduce
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we introduce it again so basically we
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talked about the concept of faith and
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now when the writer of the the letter to
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the hebrews was talking to his uh
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listeners in chapter 10 he
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kind of introduced the concept of faith
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to help them combat waving and then
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shrink shrinking back into judaism so
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that's one of the reasons why he
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mentioned faith because a lot of them
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were under persecution and the
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temptation to go back to the old system
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was always lurking around so he told
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them listen you have need of faith
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and our faith as we saw in uh last week
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was the assurance of things uh hoped for
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and the conviction of things not seen
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and we quickly and we actually defined
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faith not to be wishful thinking and
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faith is not just something that you can
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kind of muster up manipulate or
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face is not something that you imagine
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or some kind of feeling no no no
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we save faith what is what is the
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assurance of things hoped for and the
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conviction of things not seen and then
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the object of our faith is god because
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god has given hope to his people through
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his word and he gave him he gave them
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and gave us today an oath as a way to
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give us security about his promises so
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faith our faith is in god and he has
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proved that he is faithful and worthy of
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our praise and we can trust him because
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his word always come to pass because his
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word his word can be trusted so we've
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seen evidence of that in chapter
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six seven eight we've talked about the
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faithfulness of god and how god's word
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so we talked about the faith that the
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writer was mentioning
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comes from the word of god because we
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defined faith has been what
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faith comes by hearing
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and hearing by the word of god so faith
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is birthed by hearing and hearing by the
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word of god so the word of god is the
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author of faith so god is the one who
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produces faith in a person okay through
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his word and we talk about isaiah 55 10
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when god says that his word will not
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return to him void or will accomplish
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the purpose for which he send it so
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from the word of god and is god that
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works in us both to will and act
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according to his purpose so we cannot
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produce faith on our own is a work of
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the spirit of god that uses the word of
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god and applies it in our life and we
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receive it by faith and we act upon what
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is being said by god now so today we're
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going to talk about faith in action and
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we're going to look at three separate
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individuals we're going to look at able
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we're going to look at uh enoch and then
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we're going to look at noah and then
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we're going to conclude so we're only
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going to talk about verses 4 through 7
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today so first let me read uh
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the scripture and then we're going to
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talk about how faith works the faith
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that they got the writer is talking
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about we want to talk about how that
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works in a person that believes in god
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so if you go to hebrews chapter 11
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verses 4 to 7 okay now the writer has
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just defined faith okay if you look go
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to verses one through three which i just
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mentioned earlier he said now faith is
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the assurance of things hoped for
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and the conviction of things that sin
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for by it by what by faith the people of
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old the ancient the patriarchs and the
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sense of old received the recommendation
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from god the scripture says because by
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faith we understand that the universe
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was created by the word of god so that
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what is seen was not made out of things
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that are visible so that's the first the
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beginning of our faith is believing that
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god created all things from his word
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okay so things don't come out of nothing
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god spoke and things happened so that's
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the first introduction of faith and to
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come to that realization it is by faith
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is god that produces the faith in us to
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believe in his word and to believe in
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his creation order okay
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now the faith now is an action and we're
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going to look at verses 4
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through 7 this is the object of our
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contemplation today okay so scripture
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by faith abel offered to god a more
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acceptable sacrifice than cain through
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which he was commanded as being
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righteous god commanding him by
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and through his faith though he died he
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now the next person by faith enoch was
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taken up so that he should not see death
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and he was not found because
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god had taken him now before he was
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taken he was commanded as having pleased
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and without faith it is impossible to
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please god for whoever will draw near
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god must believe that he exists and that
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he rewards those who seek him by faith
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noah been warned by by god concerning
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event as yet unseen in reverent fear
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constructed an ark for the saving of his
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household by this he condemned the world
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and became an heir of the righteousness
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that comes by faith now we're going to
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analyze all these verses and then we're
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going to wrap up after that so
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the first example of faith that we are
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from the book of genesis
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okay this is the story of abel and we're
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so we're gonna find out what happened
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between abel and cain
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let's go to genesis i want to read the
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scripture and then we're gonna we're
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gonna talk about it verses uh one
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through eleven the scripture says
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now adam knew his wife and she conceived
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and bore cain saying i've gotten a man
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with the help of the lord and again she
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bore his brother abel now abel was a
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keeper of sheep and cain a worker of the
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groud in the course of time cain brought
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to the lord an offering of the fruit of
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the ground and abel also brought of the
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firstborn of his flock and of their fat
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portions and the lord had regard for
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abel and his offering but for cain and
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his offering he had no regard
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so cain was very angry and his face fell
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and the lord said the cane why are you
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and why has your face fallen if you do
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well will you not be accepted
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and if you do not do well sin is
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crouching at your door its desire is
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contrary to you but you must rule over
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cain spoke to abel his brother and when
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they were in the field cain rose up
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against his brother abel and killed him
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then the lord said cain where is abel
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your brother and cain responds
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am i my brother's keeper and the lord
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said what have you done
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the voice of your brother's blood is
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crying to me from the ground
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and now you are cursed from the ground
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which has opened its mouth to receive
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your brother's blood from your hand so
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now what does that have to do
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with this chapter of hebrews so first
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thing we need to understand abel was the
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believer to die for his faith now in the
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new testament it was stephen the first
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martyr but in the old it was able to die
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for his faith okay and his account was
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recorded in genesis 4 for our sick and
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for the sake of the readers
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now cain killed his brother abel because
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were evil and his brothers were
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righteous that's what we are told in
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first john 3 verse 12 okay
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from these verses we can make some
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inferences okay god had prescribed how
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according to the text of genesis if you
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go to verse 6 the scripture says the
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why are you angry and why has your face
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fallen if you do well
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will you not be accepted and if you
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don't do well sin is what crouching at
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your door is desire is contrary to you
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but you must learn to rule over it so
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we can make that strong inference the
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lord had prescribed how to be worshipped
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and he had prescribed what the earthing
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was supposed to be the first one of the
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flock and their fat portion but
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scripture tells us cain did not obey the
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instruction of the lord again it's not
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the scripture doesn't say that but it's
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we can make that implication it's
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implied because god tells him why are
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you angry if you do what is right will
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you not be accepted but if you don't do
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what is right sin is scratching at your
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kid didn't obey the instruction of the
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lord and we need to know why see he
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would have required him to go to his
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brother able to ask for a sheep but he
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didn't want to do that because his pride
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was standing in the way so we also
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learned from the scriptures that cain
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was not in talking terms with his
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brother in verse 8 scripture tells us
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that cain spoke to abel his brother now
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if you read the french version it
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communicates this better it says cain
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finally addressed his brother which
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abel he was not okay so really if you
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look if you look at his verse cain is
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okay and he takes it out on his brother
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that's the thing and scripture tells us
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like whoever claims to love god yet hate
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his brother the love of god is not in
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him right i'm just making this a side
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but what does that have to do with uh
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chapter verse 4 hebrews 11 see abel was
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commanded as righteous before god
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because he obeyed the instructions of
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the lord by faith jesus said that men
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are not to live what by bread alone but
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by every word that proceeds from the
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mouth of god see abel heard instructions
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and he generated an action in him and
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that is to offer the firstborn of the
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flock in accordance with the word of god
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and as a result god commanded him as
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being righteous and he died for his
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okay he did what was right
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now the scripture tells us through his
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faith though he died he still speaks
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now how he informs us that what trusting
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in god doesn't mean that we won't suffer
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even when we are doing what is right
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and that's consistent with second
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and verse 12 the scripture says indeed
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all who desire to live a godly life
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in jesus christ will be persecuted now
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listen to how this is resonating with
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the listeners okay see evil still speaks
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to all of us today about this faith
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meaning faith in god doesn't mean
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exemption from trials okay sufferings
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and persecutions and the readers they
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needed to hear that and we need to hear
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just because you believe in god doesn't
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mean everything is going to be pitchy
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just because you love jesus doesn't mean
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that your life is going to be smooth
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sailing that's not how it is oftentimes
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the scripture tells us that in this
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we will have tribulations we will be
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persecuted we will have trials because
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listen the prince of this world
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dominates this world and the people of
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this world they don't like you because
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they don't like god and because you're a
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child of god then their anger is going
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to be directed at you and you are going
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to suffer i'm going to suffer that's
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just how it is okay even peter tells us
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in first peter 4 12 listen to what peter
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don't be surprised at the fiery trials
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when it comes upon you to test you as
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though something strange was happening
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to you i am preaching to myself
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going through trials right now
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there's nothing strange it's like why
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well god appointed us for those things
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we've been appointed for suffering it's
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just gonna happen that's just how it is
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and we learned this from able okay
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what can we what can we like infer
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as far as like the readers and what they
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were listening to if you read this
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scripture abel's account
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showed the readers that even though abel
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was worshiping correctly because he was
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doing what was right he was persecuted
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and killed by his own brother
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okay cain insisted on his own way of
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worship and was rejected by god he
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wanted to worship god in on his own
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terms that's why he brought the fruit of
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the ground and god rejected it the
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scripture tells us that able gave his
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gift in faith meaning god spoke a word
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he heard it and he gave according to the
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word of god see in the case of the
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jewish believers like the writer was
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addressing they were being persecuted
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for their profession of faith in jesus
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by the judaizers who insisted on
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pursuing the old testament rituals and
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practices that were obsolete
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those people that were being persecuted
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represented abel and the persecutors
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if you if you're listening you you're
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listening to this and this is this
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letter from the book of hebrews you go i
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we are going through persecution right
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now we are just like able
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okay we are going to be persecuted some
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of us might get killed
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but that doesn't mean that god has
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forgotten he has not forgotten
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god is still reigning god is still
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sovereign but for us now this is what
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because it's suffering
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and i don't like to suffer and nobody in
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their right mind like to suffer i mean
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if you like to suffer don't lie to
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yourself don't deceive yourself nobody
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likes to go through hard times but in
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those times this is when we we get
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those fiery trials have a way of what
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refining our faith it's not easy
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i don't like to talk about trials and
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sufferings and stuff like that but this
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is part of the reality we are living in
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faith doesn't mean that we are exempt
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but even though they come god is still
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faithful in the process
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and the next thing we're going to talk
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is verses five through six enoch now
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enoch brings something totally different
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which we're gonna talk about and
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by faith enoch was taken up so that he
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should not see death
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and he was not found because god had
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taken him now before he was taken he was
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commanded as having pleased god
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and without faith it's impossible to
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please god for whoever will draw near
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the god must believe that he exists and
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that he rewards those who seek him
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so what can we learn from enoch see
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abel died for his faith
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but enoch did not experience death he
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was translated into heaven just like the
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and the writer tells us that before he
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was taken up god gave the following
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testimony about enoch he pleased god
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and the writer reminds his readers and
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us today that the only reason why enoch
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pleased god is because he lived by faith
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how do we define faith we say that faith
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is birthed right faith comes by hearing
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and hearing by the word of god so enoch
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was called by god and believed god and
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walked with god and sought god in
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everything that he did the scripture
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tells us he walked with god so scripture
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tells us that whether we eat or we drink
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we ought to do it all for the glory of
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the lord so if i'm talking to you this
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evening and i'm not doing it by faith
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then i'm displeasing to god so it has to
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be an appointment from god it has to be
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god that decided that i should be
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speaking to you this evening if it's not
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from god then i am not doing what i'm
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supposed to be doing
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see and paul says whatever is not from
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faith is sin so if you do something and
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this is not fine that thing that you're
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doing does not find its roots in the
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word of god or in the mind of god then
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you are not living by faith because
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live by bread alone but by every word
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that proceeds from the mouth of god the
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scripture tells us in deuteronomy you
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shall love the lord your god with what
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all your mind all your strength all your
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and every answer of your being okay
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initiated by the spirit of god see but
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what do we learn from enoch
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god reserves the right to do anything he
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desires and everything god does is right
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and just see abel died for his faith but
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enoch's physical life was preserved and
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death on the side of eternity but they
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were equally commanded for being
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righteous so god has a different plan
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for each one of us we trust in him some
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may suffer more than others some may not
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i shouldn't say at all because
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everybody's gonna go through some type
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of persecution but the level the level
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to which you feel it is gonna be
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and i'm you know you have to ask
17:43
yourself why is he juxtaposing these two
17:45
accounts together he's trying to tell
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i'm gonna give you these two
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diametrically opposed uh outcome for of
17:52
faith in god to just show you that god
17:54
is the one who decides who
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what happens for some people they may
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for some people they may not experience
18:02
this kind of death they may experience
18:04
more suffering than others but the
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scripture also says that and without
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faith is impossible to please god for
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whoever will draw near the god must
18:12
believe that he exists and that he
18:13
rewards those who seek him in james we
18:15
are told if you lack wisdom ask god who
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gives wisdom to all without finding
18:22
fault when you when you ask do not doubt
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because he would doubt he is like
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the waves of the sea is tossed here and
18:29
and thereby everything that man should
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not think that he will receive anything
18:33
from god because he's double minded
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you see we can't even go to god unless
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god enables us because god says
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somewhere in the scripture that no one
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can come to him unless what the father
18:44
was in heaven draws him so we don't even
18:47
but the person that goes to god the
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person that draws near god has believed
18:52
in the goodness of god and that's only
18:54
possible because god himself through his
18:57
spirit has what changed the disposition
19:00
of our heart and we receive his love we
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say we want to know what the lord has in
19:07
so this is how it works so everything
19:09
begins with god and ends with god and
19:12
and if you are doing anything right
19:13
today it's because of god because
19:19
comes from who the father of love does
19:21
not change like shifting shadow so
19:22
whatever you do in your life that is
19:24
praiseworthy that is where you have the
19:27
name of god is because god has enabled
19:29
you through his spirit to do it and you
19:32
are doing it by faith because you heard
19:33
the word the word that came from god and
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you are responding by faith
19:39
okay so you see faith in action
19:42
now we're going to go to verse 7 and
19:45
now the scripture says
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by faith noah being warned by god
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concerning event as yet unseen in
19:53
reverent fear constructed an ark for the
19:55
saving of his household by this he
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condemned the world and became an heir
20:00
of the righteousness that comes by faith
20:03
and what do we learn from noah again
20:05
this is another exceptional example
20:07
of faith in action see in noah's time
20:10
those people are never experienced a
20:12
flood or even a rain storm they've never
20:14
seen that before they have never seen it
20:16
so what made the noah stand out of the
20:18
crowd so you need to understand that
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all of them were there they heard the
20:23
same thing no i heard but noah responds
20:25
differently in verse 8 of genesis 6 we
20:32
found favor in the eyes of the lord what
20:35
does that mean it doesn't mean that noah
20:38
did something exceptional
20:41
is the one who chose
20:43
noah god chosen god elected him okay and
20:47
this election resulted in faith in
20:50
noah's heart so it wasn't like noah was
20:52
seeking after god is god who worked in
20:55
noah to achieve that end so god prompted
20:58
his heart by giving him a warning about
21:00
the flood and noah received the word in
21:05
see he didn't play with god's word he
21:08
heard the word he heard a warning and he
21:10
began to build an ark and based on the
21:12
scripture it took about 120 years to
21:15
finish the project but he kept doing
21:17
perseverance okay and doris in the
21:21
meantime the people of his age of his uh
21:25
his contemporaries they were ridiculing
21:27
him laughing at him they displayed what
21:31
so noah just like the rest of people had
21:35
but he believed the word of god and
21:37
acted upon it he acted upon what was
21:39
told him so noah's faith in some way
21:41
condemned the word the whole world
21:44
because he revealed what their own
21:47
he revealed their unbelief
21:50
while noah believed they did not believe
21:53
and why did noah believe because he
21:55
found favor in the eyes of god because
21:57
god chose him god elected him
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so the flood in some way proved that
22:03
noah was right because what he had heard
22:04
from the lord was true
22:07
so jesus used the account of noah to
22:10
about his return in matthew 24 and
22:13
verses 36 to 42. let's listen listen to
22:16
what jesus says here
22:18
but concerning that day and hour no one
22:20
knows that when when he comes back no
22:23
not even the angels of heaven nor the
22:25
but the father only for us were the days
22:29
so will be the coming of the son of man
22:32
for as in those days before the flood
22:34
they were eaten and drinking
22:36
marrying and giving in marriage until
22:38
the day when noah entered the ark
22:40
and they were unaware until the flood
22:42
came and swept them all the way so will
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so will will be the coming of the son of
22:49
man then two men will be in the field
22:51
one will be taken and the other left two
22:54
women will be grinding at the mail one
22:56
will be taken and one left therefore
22:58
stay awake for you don't know
23:00
on what day your lord is coming
23:03
so it's going to happen
23:05
it's not if it's when it happens so the
23:08
writer is using this very valid argument
23:10
as a way to strengthen his readers and
23:13
see just like noah we haven't yet
23:16
experienced the return of christ but
23:18
based on the evidence of scripture and
23:20
the word of god prompting our heart
23:22
we believe in jesus words and we live in
23:26
of his second coming see i'm sure there
23:28
were times when noah was like he had a
23:30
share of doubts he's like is this ever
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going to happen i've been building this
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thing for like 120 years
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the spirit of god continued to work in
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him to wield and act according to the
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word of god so in the same way the
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writer of the hebrews
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to the hebrews is encouraging his
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readers to continue to trust in the
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promises of god and the word of god
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because god's word what he never fails
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he always will come to pass a god's own
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appointed time so we can put our trust
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so these are people that were growing
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wary okay but i'm sure these god-given
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to them and to us today will change
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their their attitude and my perspective
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because that's what needs to change and
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we all need to be reassured and
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encouraged in times of like trials i
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don't know about you but
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when you're going through through uh
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trials when you begin to that's when you
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reach out to the promises of god because
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those are the times when you you go
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i must believe this but again we said
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you can't believe unless the holy spirit
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prompts your heart and those words
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become life in you because jesus himself
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said my words are what spirit and life
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so the word of god causes faith the word
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of god produces faith we see it and we
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believe it and we hold on to it and
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we we stay the course okay
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so in conclusion my question to you will
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uh the first thing that we learn is
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faith in god doesn't always mean that we
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won't suffer or even die
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something that we need to come to grips
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with okay second long-suffering and
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endurance is the fruit of the spirit and
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all believers will experience
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suffering we all will okay it isn't if
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it will happen is well when it happens
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god has a different plan for everyone we
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trust in him abel died for his faith
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enoch never died he never tasted death
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he was translated into heaven so not all
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believers will experience the same
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levels of trials and sufferings he's
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going to be different
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but god is faithful and you know let us
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be tempted beyond what our abilities to
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bear but with every temptation or trial
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you make a way of escape so that we
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might be able to bear it so god is
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faithful in that way
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and then finally from noah we learned
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that though it might take a long time to
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never fails and we may not see it
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but that doesn't mean that god has
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forgotten because in due time he will
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what can you take free away from from
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today's study um it's just
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i don't know how what to say to you but
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what i'm gonna say is we're trusting god
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you know when things don't make sense
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continue to trust in god
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his word is what we have
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i don't know what kind of word you need
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to hear but i'll say just go to the word
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of god he will guide you with because
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scripture says that the spirit of god
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will guide us into all the truth so i
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also continue to hold on to those
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whatever they may be because he has a
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rhema word for you i don't the word that
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he speaks to you is not going to be the
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same he speaks to me but we have the
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general revelation in the bible
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it's going to direct you to the word to
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the right passage to read to give you
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and we are not exempt from trials
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you know it's hard that's just part of
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but he promises to strengthen us in the
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process again i told you i'm going
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through trials right now i'm still in it
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how long will it take i don't know
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there are times when i'm like
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there's the lord here does the lord hear
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my prayers and i see how he works
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he speaks we just have to have a
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paying attention because god speaks
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all the time we just don't catch because
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our senses are too dull we don't catch
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it because our minds are not prepared
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the scripture tells us to be sober
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minded for the sake of your prayers
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god always speaks but because we are so
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absent-minded we don't see things from
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his perspective we see that we want to
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see it and i pray that god will begin to
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just mold our thinking and change our
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mind so that we are the same way of
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length as he is so that we can live
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that's what it's all about to be
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arrested to be in a state of rest
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knowing that god is in control now i am
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that's the point okay so i look forward
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to seeing you next week have a wonderful