Welcome back...
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before the Break,
we made the observation
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that
justification is pardon from sin
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and sanctification
is power over sin.
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Now, sometimes we get into
this argument of either or...
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justification or sanctification
is a power or pardon...
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but here's a case
where it's not either/or
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it's actually both/and...
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just like we use the analogy,
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"Is it more important
to be born or to grow?"
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It's actually both...
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now, I want to
use this illustration
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from planetary motion.
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In the year 1605,
Johannes Kepler was studying
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planetary motion
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and he noticed that the
planets were orbiting the sun
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not in a perfect circle
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but it was actually what
we would call an ellipse.
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Johannes Kepler was
studying planetary motion
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and the numbers did not add up
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and prior to
that, everyone assumed
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that the planetary motions
were in a perfect circle,
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but he came to the conclusion
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that it was actually something
that we call an ellipse.
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Now, what is the difference
between an ellipse and a circle?
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Well, it's very simple
actually when you look at it,
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a circle centers
on one central point
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while an ellipse centers on two.
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Now, I have on the
screen an illustration of this
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and you can have
two central points
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and draw a circle around it
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and that is what
an ellipse looks like,
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and this is the way
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that our planets
actually stay in balance...
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not centering on
one central point
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but actually centering on two.
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Now, if this is the way our
solar system stays in balance,
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I believe that
this is an analogous way
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for us to understand
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that this is a way
of keeping our theology
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in balance as well.
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In other words, rather than
focusing on one central point
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like justification and pardon,
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to the exclusion of
power and sanctification,
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we must look at these
not as a circle as it were,
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but rather, take
an elliptical approach
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saying that both
are to be essential
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to the Christian experience.
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You get into problems
when you start to say,
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"It's justification to the
negation of sanctification... "
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and you also
get into the problem
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when you
emphasize sanctification
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to the negation... or to
the neglect of justification.
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You need both.
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Now, there are certain tensions
in Christian theology...
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one of them has to
do with Christology...
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the study of Christ
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and there's two tensions
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that theologians
have been haggling over
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and arguing over for centuries,
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going all the way back to
the beginning of Christianity
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in the first century...
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and the idea
that they battled over
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was whether Jesus
was human or divine
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and they would
go back and forth...
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one group would come and say,
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"Jesus is human but
He was not divine. "
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Another group
would come and say,
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"He was divine but He
wasn't really human. "
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Now, if you camp out
in either one of these,
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whether you
say, "Jesus was human
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to the neglect of His divinity"
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or whether He was divine to
the neglect of His humanity,
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you have what you call heresy...
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in other words, when you
emphasize one central point
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to the negation
of the other one,
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you have an
imbalanced theological framework
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and what I contend here is that
the actual way of approaching
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things like Christology,
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where you look at the humanity
and divinity of Jesus Christ,
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it's not either/or
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it's both/and
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and there's a mystery in
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the divinity and the
humanity of Jesus Christ
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that we need to
be comfortable with,
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and say, "Look,
we won't understand
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even when we get to heaven
all the dynamics I believe
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of the mystery of Godliness,
of how God became a man...
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and here is another
tension in Scripture
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that is brought up beautifully
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in the Courtyard
and the Holy Place
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it's not justification
or sanctification...
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in actuality it is both
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We need to take an elliptical
approach to the gospel
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and this keeps us centered
and balanced in our theology.
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Here's a quotation from
"Steps to Christ" page 63,
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"Our only ground of hope is
in the righteousness of Christ
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imputed to us,
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and in that
wrought by His Spirit
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working in and through us. "
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Now, what is she
talking about here?
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The righteousness of Christ
imputed to us is justification.
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That is our "Born
Again" experience.
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The righteousness of
Christ, working by His Spirit
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in and through us
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is actually sanctification.
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That is Christian growth
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and notice, she brings so
beautifully these two together,
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by-the-way, if there's a
book that you should read
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and I do... every single year,
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it is the book,
"Steps to Christ"
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because it brings out
the beauties of the gospel
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in very plain, simple
language that we can understand.
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So we come into the
Courtyard, we are born again...
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we are justified...
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and then God brings
us into the Holy Place
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into a growing
relationship with Him
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and as we noted earlier,
it's not about how far you get,
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it's about being in the process
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and you come to that
first article of furniture...
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you receive the
assurance of salvation...
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and then God says, I
want you to walk with me...
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I want you to grow with me...
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I want you to go through
a process of sanctification
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this process
which is of a lifetime
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to grow up in
Christ as a Christian.
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Proverbs
chapter 4 verse 18 says,
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"The path of the righteous
is like the morning sun,
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shining ever brighter
till the full light of day. "
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Here, in Proverbs,
the Bible brings out
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that the Christian
experience is like the sun...
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the sunrise.
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Now, when the sun comes up,
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it doesn't immediately
go to the height of noon,
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it is gradual...
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there is a process...
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this has implications
for a Christian experience,
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in other words, when
you become a Christian,
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you are born again
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and there is
this process of growth
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and it is a process...
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just as though a
baby's born into the world,
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he doesn't learn
how to walk immediately,
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he doesn't learn
how to talk immediately,
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it is a growth path of maturity
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and just as you watch...
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or you can't watch grass grow...
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it's a painful process... not
a good investment of your time,
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many times, our own
growth is imperceptible.
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We don't even know
that we are growing
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but we're growing in grace
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and in knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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So, as you are born again,
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many times, there
will be this unconscious...
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you're not even aware
that you're changing...
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but as you look back on
your Christian experience,
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you will notice that
there has been growth...
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there has been development...
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there has been this
trajectory of movement.
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Now, I have this
graph here on the screen
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to illustrate
justification and sanctification
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and notice that
birth is a point,
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just like when
you're born into this world,
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there is a birth day...
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there's a point in
which your life began.
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That is justification
in Christian birth.
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After birth...
there is Christian growth.
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Now I have it in a trajectory
headed toward a certain point,
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but in reality, the
Christian experience
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can be kind of more like
the New York Stock Exchange,
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it kind of goes up and down,
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but it's the trend of the life
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that is the
most important thing.
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It's the trajectory...
it's not the occasional misdeeds
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it is the trend of the life.
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Furthermore, you can
never come to the place
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in your Christian experience,
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where you say, "Look,
I've arrived, I'm perfect... "
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quite the contrary...
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if you think
that you've arrived...
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if you think
that you're perfect...
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if you think that you're
all mature and full grown...
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that actually shows you
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that you're further
back from the process
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than you actually are,
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because the
closer you get to Christ,
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the more sinful you will feel.
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Now, this is not to say
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that you'll dwell
on your own sinfulness,
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but the closer
you come to Christ,
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you will have a
sense of your unworthiness
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as you focus on Him,
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so, you have
Christian birth which is a point
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you have Christian growth
which is the work of a lifetime.
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I believe that we
will be continually growing
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even in heaven.
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Now, this is not to say
that we'll be sinful in heaven,
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but there will be
development in heaven.
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I believe that's
what makes heaven fun.
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You will always be growing,
you will always be developing,
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you will always be
coming more and more like Jesus
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in character because
even as God is infinite,
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you can never come to
the place where you say
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that you've arrived.
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That was one of my
favorite quotes from the book,
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"Christ's Object
Lessons" Page 65,
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"At every stage of development
our life may be perfect
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yet if God's
purpose for us is fulfilled,
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there will be
continual advancement.
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Sanctification is
the work of a lifetime. "
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In other words, as
long as you are alive,
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as long as you
are walking in Christ,
00:10:04.13\00:10:07.20
you will always be growing,
00:10:07.24\00:10:09.97
it doesn't matter if you've been
a Christian for 50, 60, 70 years
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you should still
be growing in Christ.
00:10:13.58\00:10:17.31
In other words, you
can never come to the place
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in your Christian experience,
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where you say, "I've arrived...
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I'm there... I don't
need to grow anymore"
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quite the contrary...
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you will always
be growing in Christ
00:10:28.66\00:10:31.69
as long as you are alive.
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"The closer you come to Jesus,
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the more faulty you'll
appear in your own eyes,
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for your vision will be clear,
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and your
imperfections will be seen
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in distinct contrast
with His perfect character.
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Be not discouraged,
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this is an evidence
that Satan's delusions
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are losing their power. "
00:10:49.74\00:10:51.81
You can never come to
the place where you say,
00:10:51.88\00:10:54.65
"Look, I am sinless...
00:10:54.68\00:10:56.08
I've grown so much that
I don't need sanctification
00:10:56.12\00:11:00.69
and Christian growth anymore. "
00:11:00.72\00:11:02.06
Quite the contrary, the
closer you come to Jesus,
00:11:02.09\00:11:06.19
the more keenly will
you sense your unworthiness.
00:11:06.23\00:11:10.53
This is the paradox of
how sanctification works
00:11:10.57\00:11:14.80
because even
though you're becoming
00:11:14.84\00:11:16.97
more and more like
Jesus in character,
00:11:17.01\00:11:19.21
in your own
heart... in your own sense...
00:11:19.27\00:11:21.41
you recognize that it
is not your righteousness
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but it's the
righteousness of Christ.
00:11:25.21\00:11:27.88
You see, the more
you become like Jesus,
00:11:27.92\00:11:30.52
the less pride and
sufficiency take up residence
00:11:30.55\00:11:35.32
in your own heart
and in your own life.
00:11:35.36\00:11:37.83
When you look
at the illustration
00:11:37.86\00:11:40.70
of how Jesus dealt with
this woman caught in adultery,
00:11:40.73\00:11:44.83
can you imagine
what that felt like
00:11:44.87\00:11:46.94
as these rough
men took this woman
00:11:46.97\00:11:49.00
and dragged her before
Jesus and set her before Jesus
00:11:49.04\00:11:53.27
and said, "What are you
going to do with this woman?"
00:11:53.44\00:11:55.51
And Jesus looked
at those men and said,
00:11:55.54\00:11:59.31
"He who has no sin among you,
may he cast the first stone. "
00:11:59.35\00:12:02.88
And the Bible
tells us that one by one
00:12:02.92\00:12:05.05
beginning with the
oldest to the last...
00:12:05.09\00:12:07.19
they all
departed from that place
00:12:07.22\00:12:09.06
and the Bible says...
00:12:09.09\00:12:10.43
it was just Jesus and
that woman standing there.
00:12:10.46\00:12:14.46
Notice what Jesus
said to that woman
00:12:14.50\00:12:16.90
that was caught in
the very act of adultery
00:12:16.93\00:12:19.60
and here you see the beauty
of the gospel in what He said,
00:12:19.63\00:12:22.97
He said,
"Neither do I condemn you,
00:12:23.00\00:12:27.08
go and sin no more. "
00:12:27.11\00:12:30.38
Right there in that
phrase, you have pardon...
00:12:30.41\00:12:33.95
"Neither do I condemn you"
00:12:34.02\00:12:35.68
and then you have
power, "go and sin no more... "
00:12:35.72\00:12:40.29
and that is the exact
way that Jesus relates to us.
00:12:40.32\00:12:44.83
Have you sinned?
00:12:44.86\00:12:46.23
I have...
00:12:46.26\00:12:47.93
I have things in my
life that I'm not proud of
00:12:47.96\00:12:50.50
and I'm so thankful
that I can come to Jesus
00:12:50.53\00:12:53.03
just the way that I am
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and Jesus looks at me,
just like He did with that woman
00:12:54.94\00:12:58.31
and says,
"Neither do I condemn you,
00:12:58.37\00:13:02.21
"go and sin no more. "
00:13:02.24\00:13:05.71
The way that Jesus
relates to this woman
00:13:05.75\00:13:08.38
is the way that
Jesus relates with us.
00:13:08.42\00:13:11.02
Won't you come to Him today?
00:13:11.05\00:13:12.69
Won't you accept Him as
Savior and Lord of your life?
00:13:12.72\00:13:16.36
Won't you accept the
provision and the righteousness
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that Jesus has provided for us?
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I appeal to you
to accept Him today.
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Let us study again
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as we look at the sanctuary,
salvation and our Savior.
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