Welcome to Faith Chapel.
My name is Gordon Arruda.
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I'm the head elder of the
Roseville Seventh-Day Adventist
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church in Sacramento CA.
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Today we are going to be
studying a topic that is very
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dear to my heart.
God's amazing gospel.
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It is a truth that has
changed my life and set me free.
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I have never been the same since
I first came to believe on the
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Lord Jesus Christ and
there's a reason for that.
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I didn't have the explanation
for it at the time it happened
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but as I study God's word I
began to see God's amazing plan
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and how He can bring a sinner
to repentance and to faith.
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And so today I'd like to take
you on a little journey on God's
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amazing gospel. To
open the study lets turn to
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the book of Romans 1:16-17
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When it came time for God
to give the perfect revelation
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of His truth, for God to fulfill
everything that was spoken of
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in the law and the prophets, to
sweep away the darkness and the
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misconceptions that humanity had
of himself God did an amazing
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thing, He didn't give them more
prophets, He didn't give them
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more laws, He didn't give
them more rituals, He gave
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them himself.
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It says in Romans that the
gospel is the power of God for
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salvation, notice it doesn't
say it has power, although that
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it does, but that
it is the power of God.
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And it tells us why in verse 17.
Its because it is there in the
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gospel that the righteousness
of God is revealed.
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Now what do we mean by
the righteousness of God?
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It primarily means
His character, His person,
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His righteous nature, the
tenderness and the truth of
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His heart, where He's coming
from what His desires are and
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what He wants, all this
the gospel reveals and when the
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Holy Spirit can take that
truth and that revelation and
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present it to a mind that
has been darkened by sin and
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mutilated by a life of sin
it is then that this truth,
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this revelation has power to
save and we're going to see why.
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for something to be revealed
it needs to be demonstrated and
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when the fullness of time came
for God to reveal Himself He
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sent forth His son. His son
didn't come as a king, He didn't
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come as a rich man, He didn't
come as a influential person.
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He came in humble beginnings,
He came where barely anybody
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ever recognized the event, and
in all this as the demonstration
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of God's goodness and
righteousness was being revealed
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Something emerged that revealed
something about the heart of God
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that astonished even the
angels Lets first see how this
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righteousness was demonstrated.
Lets go to 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
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The demonstration was more than
simply words of wisdom, stories
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that revealed insight and
had wisdom, the demonstration
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was in a powerful life that gave
glory to God alone and rejected
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any form of selfishness
or self gratification.
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God who was eternal and had
glory from eternity chose to
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confine himself within the
body of a human being, of a man.
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And there in those
humble beginnings reveal a truth
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that will astonish
anyone who has the eyes to see
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and to behold.
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God was pouring out himself in
a vessel that to human eyes did
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not appear to be anything to
take notice of and yet in that
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life there was a truth that
had been hidden from past ages.
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The angels beheld it and they
began to see something that they
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had never before understood
about God's character even
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though they lived in His
presents in heaven and they
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worshipped Him and they saw
His glory and His brightness
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but this revelation, this they
had never known or seen before.
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And this is exactly
what God wanted to reveal.
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In this demonstration the
scripture says that Christ died
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and was buried and that
He was raised from the dead.
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Now why should this be anything
different than maybe some other
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religious philosophy of a great
man? Its because its why He
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died and its what He meant
for us when He was raised again.
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This is a truth that cannot
escape us and if we are to
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understand it and to receive
it it can mean the difference
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between life and death.
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Lets go to the next scripture
as we further study it in
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2 Corinthians 5:21
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This is something that God
does that nobody ever expected.
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When He chose to come and
live among us as a human being
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it was an infinite humiliation
to be clothed with a fallen
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humanity and yet
this is what He did.
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He gave up his place in
heaven, He turned aside from the
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adoration of the worship of the
angels and in order to reveal
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something that was burning
in His heart He humbled himself
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to become a man and to live
a life not as a king or a ruler
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but as a servant. He says I
do not come to be served but to
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be the servant of all.
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Is this what God wanted us
to understand about himself?
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Is this what God wanted to
reveal so that we could truly
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see what lye
deep within His heart.
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Oh brothers and sisters can
you imagine the eternal God in
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position of all glory and power
and yet when it comes time for
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Him to make Himself known to us
in a way He wants to be known.
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He chooses to be a servant and
not just a servant, a servant to
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all, a servant for
you and a servant for me.
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When the angels in heaven beheld
this it was something they had
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never seen before.
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How can our powerful Lord
our commander the creator of the
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universe do this but the
humbling doesn't stop there
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He embraces the very sin
that you and I were born with.
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and becomes the very thing that
He hates. He hates sin because
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it destroys us and it
separates us from Him and yet He
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chose to become the very thing
He had content for and took it
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to the cross and put it
to death for you and me.
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He lays in the tomb perfectly
submitted to the will of
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the Father never even
expecting to come back to life.
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And yet even in death He chooses
not to raise Himself from the
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dead but to humble Himself
to the will of the Father and to
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stay in that condition
of eternal until the Father
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calls Him to glory.
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And indeed He did.
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Raised the third day He
raised with a glorified humanity
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with a humanity that is now
eternal, with a humanity that
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has overcome, with a humanity
that is righteous and holy
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perfectly obedient to God,
and with a humanity that will
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last forever.
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This is the demonstration
that God wanted us to see
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that the great God in heaven
the creator is not pompous
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arrogant and prideful
not exacting and demanding
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but at heart is a servant that
it is His joy to share Himself
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with you and me. It is
His burning desire to serve us
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so that we might be exalted.
This is what is revealed
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in the life of Christ and
this is why Jesus could say that
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He has been faithful
in revealing the Father.
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Can you see a God in this light?
Can you see a God going to the
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cross humiliated because He
wants to put to death the sin
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that only brings
destruction to you.
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Can you see the God being raised
from the dead according to the
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will of the Father and being
raised into glory forever being
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your intercessor and even
there He serves humanity by
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confessing you and me
before the universe rebuking the
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accusations of the evil
one and keeping us in His bosom
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safe and secure.
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This is a truth that no
other religion in the world has
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ever encompassed or even thought
up. It could never have come
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from the philosophy of men, it
could never have been invented
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because every time humanity
creates a religion its only
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after the image of himself but
this truth this gospel is not
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of human origin. It comes
from heaven because it is the
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revelation of God Himself.
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This is the truth
that God wants us to see.
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Lets turn again
in 2 Corinthians 5:21
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Not only did He become our sin
and in death take our sin and
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put it away but now in His
life we become His righteousness
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Can you believe this? That we
being steeped in sin determined
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to do things our own way
determined to have nothing to do
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with God, God now does something
that brings upon into our
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humanity that brings into us a
righteousness that is not of our
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own, a life that we could
not ever live, a life that
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we could never offer to God
and yet this is what Christ has
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become for us a righteousness
that stands before God perfectly
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representing you and me. This
is a gift that is beyond measure
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Why would God give such a gift
for those who did not even ask
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for it, for those who would
not even consider God being that
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gracious and good and for maybe
those who didn't even care.
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But yes brothers and sisters our
God in heaven came here died the
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death we deserved and lived
the life we needed to live.
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For us to have something that we
could never produce of our own.
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A gift from heaven, a
gift that comes from God alone.
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Lets go to Romans 3
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This is an amazing gift. God
doesn't give us a new religion
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He doesn't give us a new set
of codes a new way of thinking
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to follow after, God
gives us himself, He gives us
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Himself in Jesus Christ. In the
Lord Jesus Christ He lives the
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life that you and I could
not live. He humbles himself
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not only to God but He even
humbles before humanity as a
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servant and in this act of
humility in this act of profound
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humbleness God and His glory
are being revealed. He's showing
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that it doesn't matter how
dark, how sinful, how unfaithful
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we are He is determined to be
the righteousness of God for us
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He is determined to love us
at all cost, He is determined to
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serve us so that we may be
exulted so that our eyes may
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be open so that we may believe
and this righteousness that is
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being lived that has been
lived for us all that it entails
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is given as a gift to
those who believe in Him
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This is something we do not
deserve. I know in our human
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minds and our hearts we always
want to do something to earn
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something. We always
think what's the catch?
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What do I have to really do?
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What do I have to
give up? That is up to God.
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But what God wants first
of all from us is our hearts.
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He wants us from our
hearts to believe the testimony
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demonstration and the witness.
He Himself has given to us
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in Jesus Christ. He wants
us to see that in those acts of
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obedience in that
perfect surrendered life that
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worship God from His heart
in spirit and in truth always
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obedient to the will of
the Father that that life
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is now to be given to you
as though you have lived it
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as though you were the righteous
one as though you were the one
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that lived a holy life.
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God is not content with anything
less. He lived His fullest
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of His heart in Jesus Christ
and now He wants to give the
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fullness of His heart to you.
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That holy life that was unique
that was lived 2,000 years ago
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given to a trembling sinner
through repentance and faith
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now receives the revelation
that the Holy Spirit brings.
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This life was witnessed
by the law and the prophets.
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The prophets foretold of Him
spoke of Him, the law looks to
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the life of Christ and sees
no fault sees there in a perfect
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man and now upon a believer God
bestows this same perfect life
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to you and me as a gift. We did
nothing to earn it, we can do
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nothing to deserve it but we can
believe upon it and receive it
00:19:06.03\00:19:11.64
for ourselves, this is the heart
of our God, this is the God
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who loved us, this is the
God we never knew until we came
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and was confronted with the love
of Jesus Christ, this is the God
00:19:21.01\00:19:24.78
who desperately wants to be part
of your life to share Himself
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with us so that we can grow,
learn to love Him more deeply
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learn what it means to
live eternal life and learn
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what it means to share the glory
that has been so generously
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offered and given to us.
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This goes deeper. We go
further into the book of Romans
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Can we see what the scripture
is saying? We talk about what
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happened to us when we believed
and that is a miracle its
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powerful, we talk about the
change that happened in our life
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and a change indeed has happened
but this is what the gospel says
00:20:30.62\00:20:37.16
before that change happened
before that miracle occurred
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in a place where we did not
care where we were stubborn and
00:20:42.58\00:20:50.70
purposeful in pursuing a life
of self centeredness God did
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something for you and me,
God did something that we had no
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idea was even available to us
God poured himself out in Jesus
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and died the death on the
cross. It says while we were yet
00:21:09.03\00:21:13.86
sinners Christ died for us. This
even goes beyond what ever human
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being could ever even conceive.
You know, the word to describe
00:21:23.14\00:21:28.60
such love is a unique word
in the Greek language, agape.
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It was so rarely used that the
Greeks never gave it much notice
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Its because the only love they
were familiar with was human
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love but the apostles especially
the ones who wrote scripture
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were adamant and persistent in
naming the kind of love properly
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agape, the kind of love that is
Bestowed when it is not deserved
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the kind of love that is
unwavering and does not change
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The kind of love that is
faithful regardless of what we
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do and who we are. God
demonstrated this agape love
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at a time and place when we were
all in darkness while we were
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all astray and separated from
God. It is then in that state
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that God gave Himself to be the
righteousness that we did not
00:22:25.68\00:22:30.11
deserve, to be the death that
we did deserve and to provide
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for us everything we need
pertaining to eternal life
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with Him. This is the depth
of the gospel. It goes on to say
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in Ephesians 2
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Do you get it folks? Do you
see what this amazing gospel is
00:23:30.75\00:23:35.75
to us? The gospel isn't
isn't something that God does
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for us when we believe. Its not
about the miracle of the Holy
00:23:40.90\00:23:46.92
Spirit and the transformation
that takes place, the gospel
00:23:46.95\00:23:51.24
is what God did for us before
we believed. It is before we
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believed steeped in our
sin that God revealed His love
00:23:57.79\00:24:02.27
When we didn't care, he went to
the cross. We see this written
00:24:02.30\00:24:08.63
in the gospels, the very people
who crucified him were the
00:24:08.66\00:24:13.43
people He was dying for. They
didn't appreciate it at the time
00:24:13.44\00:24:17.92
and oh my brothers and sisters
so long in my life neither did I
00:24:17.95\00:24:21.84
But God knew that in my life
when I was to come into this
00:24:21.87\00:24:26.41
world and when you all were
to come into this world God knew
00:24:26.44\00:24:31.56
you were going to need a
sacrifice you were going to need
00:24:31.59\00:24:36.14
a revelation that you could
believe in, you were going to
00:24:36.17\00:24:39.66
need a life that you could never
live and before we even had
00:24:39.69\00:24:45.43
a chance to recognize the
goodness of God He demonstrates
00:24:45.46\00:24:51.06
this holiness He demonstrates
His love by doing everything
00:24:51.09\00:24:55.28
necessary for our salvation. Not
only does He die the death that
00:24:55.31\00:24:59.76
we deserve not only does
He experience total separation
00:24:59.79\00:25:04.11
and supreme darkness so much so
that travail of His heart killed
00:25:04.14\00:25:09.96
Him, literally burst from the
anguish and the torment on the
00:25:09.99\00:25:14.40
cross but the scripture says
here that He was raised from the
00:25:14.43\00:25:19.65
dead we were raised with
Him. When we were sinners
00:25:19.68\00:25:26.05
When we were in darkness He
raised us with Christ and took
00:25:26.08\00:25:32.34
us into glory with him.
This is the love of our God.
00:25:32.37\00:25:36.68
This is what God does for
us even before we believe.
00:25:36.71\00:25:41.06
and as the scripture so
rightfully conclude if this is
00:25:41.09\00:25:45.16
what He does before we believe
how much more will this power be
00:25:45.19\00:25:50.96
manifested to
those who do believe.
00:25:50.99\00:25:54.62
I remember the night that I
gave my heart to Jesus Christ.
00:25:54.65\00:26:01.55
I was raised a Roman Catholic
and I heard several truths
00:26:01.58\00:26:05.87
about the Christian religion
and the Christian faith I heard
00:26:05.88\00:26:09.81
about Jesus I knew
about the cross but this night
00:26:09.84\00:26:14.29
when the preacher lifted up
Jesus Christ and asked me to
00:26:14.32\00:26:20.73
behold the nail prints in
His hands and then asked this
00:26:20.76\00:26:24.69
pointed question to my heart if
Jesus was standing in front of
00:26:24.70\00:26:29.38
you today could you say
no to Him? When I finally saw
00:26:29.41\00:26:34.88
the truth of this amazing gospel
I would be a fool not to give
00:26:34.91\00:26:42.32
my heart to Him. What could
I say about my life were I to
00:26:42.35\00:26:47.46
reject such a love? How could
I say no to a savior who poured
00:26:47.49\00:26:51.91
Himself out that I might live?
How could I say no to a Father
00:26:51.94\00:26:56.63
who loved me and saw all my
fault and saw all my humiliation
00:26:56.66\00:27:01.38
even before I was born and yet
provided for me something that
00:27:01.41\00:27:06.94
would rescue me. I could
no longer say no to this God
00:27:06.97\00:27:11.21
I could no longer say no to
Jesus Christ and on that night
00:27:11.24\00:27:16.08
a night I will never forget
I gave my heart to Jesus Christ
00:27:16.11\00:27:21.29
and I have been thanking Him
ever since. He changed my life
00:27:21.32\00:27:26.09
and He continues to change
it and He can change yours. Lets
00:27:26.12\00:27:32.88
pray. Father in heaven thank
you for the gift of Jesus Christ
00:27:32.91\00:27:36.45
for the gift of His
righteousness and eternal life
00:27:36.48\00:27:39.57
let our hearts receive Him
and to be obedient to Him always
00:27:39.60\00:27:44.48
in your precious
name we pray amen.
00:27:44.51\00:27:47.13
Thank you for attending
Faith Chapel I hope you've been
00:27:47.16\00:27:51.58
blessed by the presentation.
God bless you and goodbye.
00:27:51.61\00:27:56.00