Unfinished
projects, we all have them.
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The ongoing task,
assignment, or job can
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sometimes be overwhelming.
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We're not always
finishers, but Jesus says,
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"and we are His house
and He is the builder. "
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Hello friends, I'm James
Rafferty, your co-host, with
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Ty Gibson and we are
studying the Books of the Book.
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We are in the books of Hebrews,
and we are in Chapter 3.
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Ty how long have
we known each other?
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Let's see, I guess we have
known each other for I say,
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about 20 to 23
years, since I was about 10.
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And when we first met it seemed
as though, I mean in our young,
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enthusiastic
fervor in Jesus Christ,
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because we met in Jesus Christ.
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It seems as though
we felt we were pretty
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much finished products.
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But over those 23 or so years,
I think that we have realized
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that there is a lot of
unfinished parts in the home,
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the building that
Christ has been working on
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in each one of us.
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And we have seen a lot of that.
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Do you have any less confidence
that Christ can finish
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the work that He
has started in us?
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I don't have any less confidence
that Jesus can finish the
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work, but you are right, James.
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It's incredible the more
you learn, the less you know.
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More imperfect you
see yourself to be.
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That's why I really
appreciate Hebrews 3.
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Because Hebrews 3 pictures
Christ as a home builder,
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as the one who is building us.
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We have been introduced to
Christ as God and Christ as man.
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Now we move into Chapter
3, where we see Christ as the
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builder, we are encouraged
to have confidence in Him.
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Let's ask our viewers to open
their Bibles with us, if they
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have them to Hebrews Chapter 3.
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This is an incredible chapter
James, because the Apostle
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Paul is drawing conclusions
from what he has developed in
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Chapters 1 and 2.
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He begins again, as he does
often, in the book of Hebrews
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with the word, "therefore".
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Which of course is
referring back to ground
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he has already covered.
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He drawing conclusions
now from points that he has
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developed, "therefore!"
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"Considering these
things that we have covered holy
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brother, partakers of the
heavenly calling, consider the
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apostle and high Priest of
our confession Jesus Christ. "
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This is amazing, James,
because what we see here, first
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of all is Paul is addressing
the believers in Christ,
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that whatever stage of growth
and development they are at,
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as holy brethren.
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And we tend to want to
say, who is he talking to who,
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is that who are the holy
brethren and sisters that
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are being addressed here?
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Which is very clear in the
context of Hebrews, because we
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find a lot of imperfections.
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And lot of unfinished work.
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As Paul continues to
address this group of people,
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Christianity in general,
and so it is very enlightening
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for us to recognize that
what Paul is doing here, is he
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looking at us
as we are in Jesus.
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As we are through Christ.
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As we are with Him
as our Master Builder.
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One of the great truths
of the Gospels James, is that
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once we become partakers
of heavenly calling, once we
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recognize our position in
Christ and by faith come to
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Him, it's incredible
that God looks upon us.
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Not because He's ignorant,
or because He's deceived, but
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because God is love.
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He looks upon us in such
a way as He allows His love
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to cover a multitude of sins.
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In other words, He
knows we're sinners.
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But He relates to us as
if we've never sinned, as if,
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in fact, we are holy brethren
and sisters that in fact
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are not holy, but He
recognize us as such.
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The Apostle Paul develops
this in a number of places.
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But I think in 2 Corinthians,
Chapter 5, where he says
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that the way God reconciles
us to Himself is by not
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imputing our trespasses unto us.
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Or another version
says, not counting men's
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sins against them.
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I was going to ask you, do
you do that from a different
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version, that imputing,
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it's kind of a complicated
word, not counting men's sins
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against them and this is
what we see in Hebrews 1 and 2.
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In fact, in doing this it seems
to me that God has given us
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something that
causes us to trust Him.
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You know you can't really
follow some one, even consider
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someone, even be open and
listen to what they have to say,
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unless you have a little bit
of confidence or trust in them.
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And so Paul has first
introduced us to God in a sense.
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He has encouraged us to
have some confidence, to have
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some trust in Him and in
doing that, we are opening our
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hearts to listen now to
more and understand more about
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this plan of salvation.
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And the way in which
that trust builds momentum,
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and strength and
becomes more vital and alive
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is in this word.
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The secret of that strengthening
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is in this word "consider".
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Here the Apostle is telling
us that the way in which we,
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as fallen human beings,
who have now come into Christ,
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and become partakers of
the heavenly calling, he says,
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Here's what I want
you do, I want to give you
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some practical advice.
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I'm not going to leave this
theoretical I'm going to tell
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you exactly what you need
to, do you need to consider Him.
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Which means you need to
contemplate, you need to think
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about, you need to ponder
the Lord Jesus Christ, in all
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that He is and all
that He means to you.
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Paul does says
this in other places.
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Later on in Hebrews, instead
of the word consider, but the
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same concept, he says in
Chapter 12, "looking unto Jesus,
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the author and
finisher of our faith",
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in 2 Corinthians 3: 18,
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he uses the word behold the
glory of God, in Christ Jesus.
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In Revelation 5, "behold
the Lamb of God". 1 John 1:29,
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"behold the Lamb of God".
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Yes, so if this process of
considering, this process of
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beholding, which is exactly
what we are doing here as
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we study the Word of God,
is the process by which we
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become more and more grounded
in our position in Christ.
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We become more and
more appreciative of
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all that we see in Jesus Christ.
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And on a practical
level, we partake more and more
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fully of Christ.
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Absolutely, and now
Hebrews Chapter 3, continues on
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here and talks about, in the
context, talks about in these
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few verses, about this better
house that God is building.
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He is the builder of this house,
and then he does something,
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that I think is again indicative
if of the idea that Paul
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is the author of Hebrews,
he uses an illustration that is
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used in other
places in Paul's writings.
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He parallels Moses and his
house to God or Christ and the
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house that He is building us.
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And then begins to talk
about Moses and talk about the
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wilderness sojourning of
God's people, the wilderness
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wandering of God's people.
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There Israel in the Old
Testament and draws history
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lessons, parallels to us
today that we can learn from.
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Well, we all know that
according to the Gospel account.
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Jesus was builder.
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Jesus was a carpenter, but
He didn't come just to build
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furniture and houses, as He was
no doubt educated to do by his
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father, Joseph, as
he was raised there in
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the village of Nazareth.
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Jesus got down to business,
got down to what He really came
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for when He entered into
Ministry, and His ministry
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James, was no less
a building project.
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Right.
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In any carpentry endeavor,
He is building a spiritual
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house, as He is building
souls, and spirits up in Himself
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to become the full stature
of men and women in Christ.
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So all of us really
are unfinished projects.
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And some of us
are real projects.
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I don't know if you've ever
tried to build a house or ever
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started from scratch.
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I have and let me tell you Ty,
I was not experienced at all.
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In fact, I didn't even
know how to square a wall when I
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first started building a home.
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As I move through this
process I learned as I went,
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from other people
and got a lot of help.
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Jesus is building human beings.
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He is restoring them to
the image of God, and some of
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us are real projects.
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Some of us are real
restoration projects.
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But we can be confident of
this one thing, Philippians 1,
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tells us that, "he who
has begun the work is able to
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finish the work
until the very end. "
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Yeah, I ventured into a
building project myself James.
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I built my own house and I will
never forget it because just
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the time it let alone
the energy and all the things
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that I had to learn.
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It took myself and my
three children and my wife
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occasionally helping us,
it took us two years and eight
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months to build that house
until we can finally move in.
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Just lay down on the carpet
and say it is finally done.
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Jesus is engaged in a
spiritual building project
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with every one of us.
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Ephesians Chapter 2, is
a parallel Scripture that
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explains that not only are
we as individuals a building
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project that the
Lord is engaged in
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perfecting and developing.
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But there is a sense, a
corporate sense James, in
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which the Church
and all of its members
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are a building project.
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There is a unified sense
in which together you and me,
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and our brothers and
sisters in Christ form a
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living temple for the Lord.
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In Chapter 2 of Ephesians,
and specifically verses 19 to 22
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"Now, therefore you are no
longer strangers and foreigners
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but fellow citizens with
the Saints and members of the
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household of God. "
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Verse 20. "Having been
built upon the foundation of the
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apostles and prophets Jesus
Christ Himself being the chief
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corner stone and in whom",
and this is the key, "in whom
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the whole building being
fitly framed together grows into
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a holy temple in the Lord in
whom you also are being built
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together for a dwelling
place of God in the spirit. "
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We are being built as a
house for the indwelling
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of God's Spirit.
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God in Revelation, God
points out the bride of Christ.
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And the bride of
Christ, it says there in
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Revelation 19, is a city.
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And you think, a city
why is it a city, because the
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city symbolizes
God's people, God's church.
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The city has 12 foundations,
each one has the name of
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one of the apostles.
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The city has 12 gates
each one has the name of
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one of the tribes.
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those tribes, those apostles
foundation gates of the city
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represent the place in
which God's people are going to
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dwell for all eternity.
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Every single one of the
redeemers will have a place,
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a mansion and we are told.
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in John Chapter 14, a
place in that city, and we are
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going to be
welcomed there in that place.
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And it's incredible,
because it is not just a big
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impersonal place to live,
but very clearly the sense
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in Scripture, like Paul
says in Ephesians 2 text,
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we are members of
the household of God.
00:11:08.12\00:11:10.26
I like a translation of
the text in John 14, where it
00:11:10.30\00:11:14.74
says that we have mansions
that are being prepared for us.
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It is very interesting
because one version says,
00:11:17.56\00:11:19.97
"in my father's
house are many rooms".
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Many rooms, I mean, there
are definitely going to be
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glorious rooms on a mansion
level, according to scripture.
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This will be incredible, but at
the same time, they are not just
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mansions, the emphasis is
not on the material stuff.
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It's not just a, posh
apartments where I be walking on
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gold in heaven.
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And there's pearly
gates, but in that place the
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real issue is not
the gates of Pearl.
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It's not the streets of gold.
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Is not the mansions.
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The emphasis is, we are going
to dwell in God's household.
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We are going to have
rooms in the household of God.
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Yes, we are going to be family.
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There is going to
be a place for us.
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And if I'm going to prepare
a place for you, Jesus says in
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John 14, if I have a place
for you, I'm going to come back,
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and I am going to take you
where I am so that we can be
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there together for ever.
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You may be with Me, He says,
and we all know from our human
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experiences and this is a
great way to think about it
00:12:10.71\00:12:13.36
in order to
really get the point.
00:12:13.39\00:12:14.81
It is that, we all know,
as human beings that there are
00:12:14.85\00:12:18.01
individuals, maybe a
friend, maybe a wife or husband,
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or grandma or
grandpa, uncle and aunt.
00:12:21.20\00:12:23.56
Just somebody who is a
good friend on some level.
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There are individuals who
we just enjoyed being with.
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We just want to
be in their presence.
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We would just want
to hang out with them.
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We can even hangout with
them on a long drive and be
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silent and be perfectly
content and feel like our
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journey is just a
higher-quality journey,
00:12:38.50\00:12:41.42
because we are
with those that we love.
00:12:41.45\00:12:44.29
And here Jesus comes
to us, and He doesn't say,
00:12:44.33\00:12:47.53
I just want to save you,
He pleads in John Chapter 17,
00:12:47.57\00:12:51.19
He says Father, "I pray
that those whom you have given
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me may be with me where I am. "
00:12:54.86\00:12:58.37
He wants us to be sharers
in fellowship with Him for all
00:12:58.40\00:13:03.17
eternity future as
members of the household of God.
00:13:03.20\00:13:06.00
It's the same in this
world friends this world is full
00:13:06.04\00:13:08.67
of a material attractions
and sometimes we get distracted.
00:13:08.71\00:13:11.86
We get so filled up and so
focused on the material things
00:13:11.89\00:13:14.64
that we think are going to
fill our souls and our hearts,
00:13:14.67\00:13:17.39
and they don't.
00:13:17.42\00:13:18.39
They do not in the end bring
us the joy and satisfaction
00:13:18.40\00:13:21.08
they are empty without people
and personal relationships.
00:13:21.12\00:13:24.06
So the whole book of
Ephesians excuse me, of Hebrews
00:13:24.10\00:13:26.81
along with the rest of
the Bible is pointing us to a
00:13:26.85\00:13:29.53
personal
relationship with Christ.
00:13:29.56\00:13:30.99
Even if you are a Christian.
00:13:31.02\00:13:32.59
Even if you are religious.
00:13:32.63\00:13:34.13
Even if you do many
wonderful things in miracles
00:13:34.16\00:13:36.75
in Christ's name.
00:13:36.78\00:13:37.75
If you don't know Him
as your personal Savior,
00:13:37.76\00:13:40.43
all that becomes insignificant.
00:13:40.46\00:13:42.70
God wants to inhabit us.
00:13:42.74\00:13:45.40
He wants to have a
relationship with us.
00:13:45.43\00:13:47.24
He wants to abide with us.
00:13:47.28\00:13:48.40
He wants to walk with us
as He did the Garden of Eden.
00:13:48.44\00:13:51.55
This is going to be our
focus as we continue our
00:13:51.58\00:13:54.02
study in the book of Hebrews.
00:13:54.06\00:13:55.59
Don't go away because
we'll be right back after this.
00:13:55.62\00:13:59.18