Christian Military Outreach: Bible Studies for Military Families

Understanding what Jesus did for us as his children

The comfort of knowing God as our heavenly Father

The responsibility to prove our family tie with God

The freedom from slavery to Satan through Jesus Christ

We are going to launch into this word today and discuss what our precious Lord Jesus Christ really did for each one of us who is called his child and who would be included in his royal family of love for eternity. You must look at this word for yourself first before you could even begin to find it an encouragement for others. As believers and followers of Jesus, we need to vividly understand what he did for us personally. That is, what he did in paying the cost to become your eternal life and for God, Almighty Father of all light, to call you his child. You must understand, as a follower of Christ, you are called to know Him, to truly know Him. And you cannot sit back and do nothing in this relationship and yet say, you do know Him. Because the Bible says, if we do this, we are called liars. I pose this question to you. How can you follow one whom you do not know? Why would you want to follow anyone whom you do not know? But Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice and follow me. Dear Church, Jesus is so great because of who he is and what he has done and what he has provided for each and every one who chooses him as the hope of eternal life. Isaiah 43.1 In Isaiah 43.1, the word declares, But now, O Israel, the Lord who created you says, Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name, and you are mine, saith the Lord. And when you go through deep waters and great troubles, I will be with you. And when you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. the King James translation declares verse 1 to say thou art mine sayeth the Lord I don't know about you but when I read these words I feel the preciousness of God in them and the experience of his wonderful presence all over me and I can only tell you the sensing that I have from this is I believe that I am experiencing His love and His jealousy over me as His child. Just as a good parent is watchful over their child and jealous for their safety, this is how our Heavenly Father is over you and me as we abide in His Son, who paid a high cost for each one of us to be called his child. Thou art mine. I have purchased you and ransomed you from the darkness, and the darkness shall not have you again, my precious child, for you are mine. What comfort the word of God brings as we are faithful to his Son in following Him as our shepherd would lead His sheep. What fatherly love and care and warmth embraces those who love Him and His Son. There is a song that reminds me of this love that God has for us. It is called, You Call Me Child. And this song speaks of the initial understanding and acceptance of the love that God has for us, even with all of our imperfections. The song goes like this. Lord, it doesn't take much for my heart to break, and you have done it for what seems the millionth time. Whenever I hear of your saving grace and how you gave your life in exchange for mine, Sometimes I wonder why you even love me and why you ever chose to call me child. Then I remember it's by your sacrifice I can say that I am yours and you are mine. It doesn't take much for me to shed a tear, and you have done so many things to make me cry. whenever I think of all I have done wrong and everything you have done to make it right. Sometimes I wonder why you even love me and why you ever chose to call me child. Then I remember it by your sacrifice and your saving grace that you are mine and I am yours and you call me child. It is wonderful to know that you know that you know God as your heavenly Father and His Son Jesus as the hope of eternal life. To know that you know, dear church, means that you carry the responsibility to prove this family tie. You will prove by your faithfulness to God's precepts that you are his child, with the understanding that he is with you only as you by faith in God's grace work out these results. God does not force us against our wills. We are his creation, but we are given free will. As his child, we are given commands to follow in order to experience his grace and love. Just as any orderly family has rules for the children to obey, God in his family lays out quite clearly the ways that his children will conduct themselves if we are to be called his child. You are mine, the Lord declares. Isaiah 43, 1. Isaiah 43, 1. But now, O Israel, the Lord who created you says, Do not be afraid. I've ransomed you. I've called you by name, and you are mine, saith the Lord. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be there with you. and when you go through rivers of difficulties, you will not drown. And when you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. I am your Savior. We are called the ransomed of the Lord. We've been redeemed from the long captivity of darkness, of death, and eternal gloom. And what comfort to know we are given jealous protection of our Father in heaven, His protecting angels watching over us, and our Savior giving the command to the angels to position the protecting walls all around us. You are mine. You are mine. Hallelujah, hallelujah. How possessive that sounds and how wonderful that sounds. We are freed, men and women, from the bondage of the evil one as we learn to forsake all that we once enjoyed in Satan's dark world. That is the lust of the eye. lust of the flesh and the pride of our lives we are free only as our wills conform to our heavenly father's will we are free only as we deny the vices of the past that is those things that we coveted the things that would please our bodily senses passions of the flesh sensual desires fantasies of the mind, lying to get ahead or keep a face or mask to look good, greedy longings or excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain, and the all-consuming passion to be known among men by leaving legacies or titles or, put in simple terms, to be somebody, To all these, we are slaves to Satan, and we are not free in Christ. Satan can certainly say to those who profess to belong to Christ, but live in this double standard which opposes godliness, You are mine. Indeed, Satan can. He has every right to claim these people as his. You are mine. All these vices belong to Satan and his dark kingdom. But dear one, this is why Jesus came. He came to rescue you and me and all others who would choose him as their hope of eternal life. He came to ransom you from this slavery and to set you free. if the son shall make you free you are free indeed and he calls you his child hallelujah hallelujah and he has said to you when you answered the call of salvation you are my child and i will teach you in the way that you shall go now according to my terms so that you will learn of my heart desires for your life. You will learn of my love for you. And you will learn to walk victoriously in my power and might as you take up my word and make it yours. When we hear God's voice, dear church, our hearts must respond. This is your responsibility. Your mind, your intellect, the admiration of your own understanding, or even the passion or intense feeling of your own imagination will not suffice in meeting God's ways for you to respond. God speaks to your heart, and he has given you his spirit when he ransomed you from the clutches of Satan, and he impregnated you with the life of his very own spirit and by doing this he has called you his own. You are mine. I have given you my very own life through my Holy Spirit living in you. My son lives in you through my spirit. Does that move you, dear one? Does that cause you to shudder? Have you truly realized that God's Spirit lives in you? Do you or have you taken that lightly? Oh, that Christ Jesus may dwell in the power and understanding in your heart. Oh, that you may understand and know that His voice, His word living in you is to soften your heart. God your Father wishes for you and me to be delivered totally from hardness of heart, so we will not be guilty of treading on or walking all over his sweet Holy Spirit, nor grieve him or be guilty of blaspheming him. your heavenly father wishes for you to be truly delivered from the dullness of your own perceptions and misconceptions from your ingratitude from pride from insincere repentance from lukewarmness and from self-seeking unrest so that you may truly catch the revelation of his love and beauty through Christ's work on the cross to truly call you His child. His blood-bought, blood-washed, sanctified, consecrated, set-aside-from-sin child whom He died for. When we receive God's Word in our hearts, when we acknowledge our sin, when we adore God's mercy, when we desire God's fellowship, when we see Jesus who is the God who spoke all things into existence and understand that he came to this earth to serve us and die for us, to call us his child. This should break our hearts somehow and cause a softness and a tenderness towards him and his father for such a wonderful plan of total redemption and salvation. This should somehow make us eternally grateful and desire to know our Lord more as the hope of eternal life and our hope of glory. Jesus made possible for us to have true and bitter repentance from our sin. He made the living hope possible for us to soar to the highest places in Him. Jesus made possible for us to cry out in prayer and intercession and be heard by His Father in Heaven. He made all things possible for us to have broken and contrite and tender hearts. that could fall deeply and passionately in love with him and his Father. Do we dare, continued in any hardened way, taking what our Christ did personally for us, by thinking of ourselves, me, myself, and I, or being discontented with our lot in life, or being envious or unforgiving, living in worldly mindedness and restlessness unbelief is the mother of all sin if you do not respond to the words of the Father once you hear them and put them into practice you can be guaranteed to walk in unbelief. Since all sin begins in the heart, and the deep air of the heart is unbelief, when at first God speaks to us through his word, the hardened heart's initial reaction is to not believe. The word says everything within the unregenerate man is opposed to godliness. But the response of the believer is to truly believe what God tells us. The hardened heart will only oppose and believe not. and it will not regard the threatenings of God promised to those who do not obey. They will not take them serious. The hardened heart cannot lean on the strength and the love of God because their unbelief is their mother. The mother of all sin is unbelief and sorrow. One can read the word daily, go to church on Sunday, Go to weekly study. Sing in the choir. Do your assigned duty in church by giving your time. But if you do not comply with God's command in conforming to his righteous standards of godliness and righteousness, you are living a lie and unbelief is your mother. And this horrendous sin leads many away in the departure from the living God. And he does not call them. his child the word of God tells us that as long as we trust God we are near him the moment we doubt him and his righteousness we depart from him because faith is in that doubt which is the mother of all sin. Faith, dear one, is the link between God's fullness and strength and our emptiness and weakness. If your soul is truly crying out, declaring, Abba, my Father, abide with me. Jesus, my Lord, come near to me. May I tell you that he will do just that. And he will say to you, oh yes, my child, only believe and stay close to me. It is not me who moves, my dear child, but it is you. God, our Heavenly Father's words ought to resound in our hearts. I am the Lord thy God. I have loved you with an everlasting love. You are mine, and I call you child if you continue in my ways and love one another. What a promise. What love. God, has provided everything we need to expect to live in and dwell within him as his child. The sufficiency of God is found in the pages of your Bible. This book defines and lays out the soul's guaranteed successful journey to our eternal home. Our scripture in Isaiah has declared, I have formed you, my child. I have redeemed you and I've called you by name. Think about that again, dear one. God has called you by name. He has called you out of the crowd, out of the multitudes of billions of people throughout every generation and desires to bring you to his holy place for such a time as this. He has already provided for you. He has made promises to you and said, When you go through deep waters in great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel. I am your Savior. Let us remember, God will not withhold any good thing from those whose walk is upright and in right standing with Him. A willful sinner should not expect a thing from God. Once sin is made known, there is no ignorance left in it. God desires for us to know our sin so that we will not walk in ignorance that is groping in the dark, in self-willed blindness. But he desires that we will come into the light of the knowledge of his truth and freedom and find our rest and peace there. A willful sinner cannot have this confidence of knowing that he or she knows, that they know that they are God's child. they cannot have this confidence that when they go through deep waters and great troubles that their father will be there for them willful sinners cannot know that when they go through rivers of difficulties in their lifetimes that they will not drown willful sinners cannot grasp hold of and hang on to the promise that when they walk through the fire of oppression that they will not be burned up and that the fire will consume them willful sinners belong to satan and his kingdom of rebellion pride presumption and greed willful sinners oppose the truth that states conformity to the righteousness of god in jesus christ willful sinners deceive themselves right into the lake of fire. There is no comfort promised for willful sinners. God disciplines those whom he loves. If you receive the discipline of the Lord and fight against it, you are a willful sinner. If you willfully refuse to conform to the righteousness of God in Christ, which is living in the obedience of that truth in every way, Not what you may wish to pick out and pet and have warm fuzzies with, just a few of God's commands, thinking that you make him happy, and therefore every promise he has made is yours too. Self-deception and self-righteousness are very dangerous sins. This was the reason, dear ones, that Jesus came. Jesus came for his sheep. And he came to gather those in every generation who belong to him. We are like those sheep who have all gone astray. But the Father in his loving kindness and mercy and his son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God all agreed in the plan that very God called the Word at the time, But Jesus in the flesh would come to the earth, divested of his glory and give his life by spilling his blood and dying a horrendous death. And would go to hell and fight to take back the keys of death and Haiti for you and me and all others who choose him as their hope of eternal life. Jesus carried in his heart a great love for you and me he carried in his bosom the undying love for the sons of men who would be the redeemed and the inheritance whom he has died for this is no small price he paid a high cost for you and me never never no never take lightly what he did for you personally he is not cheap you can't come to him thinking he owes you a thing we were deserving of death but he became what we were vile sinners so that we could become what he is he went to hell on our behalf He became sin for us. He is the example of tried and true righteousness and he is the standard for all of us. Jesus is the author of eternal life and he is the perfecter of our faith if we live in him and obey him. in john 14 15 jesus declares if you really love me you will keep you will obey my commands jesus has won the battle that we no longer need to fight he tells us to get into place in the obedience of his word because we love him you just get into place he says and i will fight your battles for you. I sit on the throne and have all power and authority over you because you are now my child. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You must remember you nor I do not become righteous because of our inherent goodness. God sees us righteous because of our identification with his son. In the book of Isaiah 53.1 we see what our precious Jesus did for us individually. You must see it individually. You must see it for yourself. In Isaiah 53.1 who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of the dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces, He was despised, and we esteemed him not. Verse 4, surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. And the punishment that brought us peace was upon him. and by his wounds we are healed. Verse 6, We all, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep before his shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth by oppression and judgment he was taken away and who can speak of his descendants for he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken verse 9 he was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death though he had done no violence nor was there any deceit in his mouth verse 10 yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering he will see his offspring and prolong his days and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand after the suffering of his soul. He will see the light of life and be satisfied by his knowing my righteous servant will justify and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will give him a portion among the great and he will divide the spoils with the strong because he poured out his life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. for he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. Dear Church, as disciples or followers of Christ, we must know about the one who died for us in order to really and intimately know him and then and then fall passionately in love with him. This is why we were created. It was part of God the Father's plan that he would send his Son to redeem fallen man to offer him eternal life and then also to call a bride out of those who were willing to pay the cost of intimately knowing his Son who is the hope of our glory. Part of this great awakening in your spirit and soul as to the awesomeness of the price that our precious Savior paid is spoken of also in Isaiah 52.13. Isaiah 52.13 See, my servant shall prosper, and he shall be highly exalted. Yet many shall be amazed when they see him. Yes, even far off foreign nations and their kings, they will stand dumbfounded, speechless in his presence. For they shall see and understand what they have not been told before. They shall see my servant beaten and bloodied, so disfigured that one would scarcely know it was a person standing there. so shall he cleanse many nations. This scripture is telling us that the face of our Savior was marred more than any man had ever been. The marred face of Jesus was prophesied to happen. his marred and disfigured face would bring healing and restoration to many peoples in many nations. You must understand that Christ's face being so marred, so brutally beaten and disfigured was the means and way by which you and I would come to be able to love him. can you understand that he went through this suffering willingly for you personally that he could call you his very own by saying that you belong to me and you are my child he was beaten so brutally and badly and his beard was ripped off his face and with this swollen and disfigured face, his heart all the while was full of love for those who were afflicting him. I must tell you this, you and I were counted among those who were standing there that day as our beloved Christ hung on the cross bloodied from the top of his head to the bottom of feet We all were involved in swinging a blow hitting him in the face in tearing at his beard and mocking and spitting into the face of the innocent lamb who knew no sin. We were all guilty of the marks and the blows to his precious face. Romans 5.6 In Romans 5.6 while we were yet in weakness powerless to help ourselves. At the fitting time Christ for in behalf of the ungodly, now it is an extraordinary thing for one to give his life even for an upright man, though perhaps for a noble and lovable and generous benefactor, someone might even dare to die. But God shows and clearly proves his own love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ the Messiah died for us. We were all unlovely sinners whom God the Father and Jesus the Son saw from the beginning of time. many times faith in scripture is symbolic of the heart inside Jesus was absolute purity with clean and white thoughts and transparent rays of beauty shot out through his gentle eyes at his persecutors they're burned within Jesus the light of peace which found itself in his expression of calm endurance like an innocent lamb going to the slaughter. Oh yes. Oh yes. He did sigh deeply in his spirit. He groaned and he was troubled. But his groaning was compassion for the souls that he had come to die for. the reason for the marring of his face which left him unrecognizable to his followers was because of the accusers when dear Jesus was standing in the presence of his accusers we read in the scripture that some of his accusers began to spit on him in the gospel of Matthew 27 27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet robe and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it upon his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him saying, Hail, King of the Jews, they said. they spit on him and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. And after they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him, and they led him away to crucify him. So many began to spit upon him that they covered his face with their spittle. spitting upon someone let alone in their face was the grossest act of contempt or insult his face was marred by their blows when they struck him with their fists and said in their mockery to him to prophesy in the account of Luke's gospel we read in Luke 22, 63 the men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him and they blindfolded him and demanded prophesy who hit you and they said many other insulting things to him they degraded Jesus as much as possible by directing their blows and insults to his face such insult and contempt was left as very visible and definite upon his appearance. Jesus's beautiful face was disfigured beyond description and even though when Jesus lived upon the earth the scriptures tell us that the average man would see no beauty in him, yet the little children were attracted to him as a a rule because of his presence and his peace and we must not forget that he is the Prince of Peace King David said of our beloved Christ that your face will I seek oh my Lord and we all look forward one day to seeing the face of our beloved Jesus his heart was to come and save his own and you must understand that your beloved pay a great cost or price for you in Psalms 22 verse 15 we read of this great cost Psalms 22 verse 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and you lay me in the dust of death. Verse 16 Dogs have surrounded me, a band of evil men have encircled me, and they've pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. People stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. But you, O Lord, be not far off. O my strength, come quickly to me. In the book of Isaiah, we see the willingness of our Savior to die for us. In Isaiah 50, verse 6. Our Messiah declares, I offered my back to those who beat me. my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard. I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, I have set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. He who vindicates me is near. Jesus took back the keys of death and hell from saint and the devil. And now he makes it possible for you and me to look upon his beautiful and lovely face and to fall passionately in love with him if you choose to do so. Every believer must know personally and appreciate and believe that Jesus did this for me. He did this for me because he first loved me so I could in turn love him. His heart is that all who follow him as children of God must understand and be reminded that this single road to God the Father was through Christ himself. We must understand that as children of God. Jesus in John 14, verse 6, declares, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. So way or path, Jesus describes here is used to refer a way of life in himself. A willful sinner's path may, God forbid, lead him to a life of forgetting God in the path of uprightness if he or she does not repent and conform to the righteousness of God found only in Christ Jesus our pattern. Job 8. Job 8.13 says, Such is the destiny of all who forget God. So perishes the hope of Godness. What he trusts in is fragile. and what he relies on is a spider web he leans on the web but it gives way he clings to it but it does not hold this is saying if our trust and hope and faith are in our minds our intellect our own abilities our finances stocks and bonds and gold and silver and not in Christ Jesus and in times of trouble and we go to lean on what we put our trust in and had faith in the support will be as flimsy as a spider web there will be great disappointment and agony and confusion and gnashing of teeth first Corinthians 319 says for The world's wisdom is foolishness, it's absurdity and stupidity with God. For it is written, He lays hold of the wise in their own craftiness. But dear one, the path of the upright will be lighted by the word of God. Psalms 119 verse 105 declares, your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light for my path I have taken an oath and confirmed it that I will follow I'll stay on your path or your way and keep your righteous laws Oh God now at this point in God's word today we need to understand the divine guidance or divine care of God is for those who have elected this path or course of living in Christ and the reverent fear and obedience of God and finding daily sustenance in the Word of God. Psalm 73, Psalm 73 verse 23, David declares, Nevertheless, I am continually with you, and you do hold my right hand. You will guide me with your counsel, and afterwards receive me to honor and glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And I have no delight or desire on earth beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the rock and firm strength of my heart and my portion forever. The precious lesson for you in this word today is this. The secret purpose of blessing for those who love God is that His divine providence or divine power will sustain and guide you into your purpose and plan that He has for you. And the great plan and hope for you and me and all other children of God is to know the hope of eternal life. If you do not catch this understanding, you can miss the real essence of why Christ Jesus died such a horrendous death for you, loving you so much in all that he went through just to call you his child. Apostle Paul gives us the purpose and essence of our Savior's death, burial, and resurrection on behalf of all sinners in Titus 1.1. Titus 1.1. I, Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle, a special messenger of Jesus Christ the Messiah, to stimulate and promote the faith of God's chosen ones and to lead them on to accurate discernment and recognition and acquaintance with the truth which belongs to and harmonizes with and tends to godliness. Verse 2. Resting in the hope of eternal life, life which the ever-truthful God, who cannot deceive, promised before the world or the ages of time began And now, in his own appointed time, he has made manifest, made known his word, and revealed it as his message through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of our God, our Savior, to Titus, my true child, according to the common general faith, grace, favor, and spiritual blessing, and heart, peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Well, Paul speaks only of the promise of eternal life in this scripture. But we must learn and see that such a promise must be regarded as including every other promise given to every Christian living in Christ. In promising eternal life, God is to be considered as promising whatsoever is required for the attaining of our eternal life. And the promise of eternal life is a sort of summary of all the promises. Every other promise has to do with something which is helpful for us in our walk and sojourn on this journey with the assistance in our Christian responsibilities or the support when we are under trial and hardship. In other words, without these promises, eternal life would not be possible or reached. Jesus, as our eternal life, has provided everything we need to make it to our eternal home, our home away from home. And who, I ask you, did Jesus make these promises to? If he promised before the world began, he must have promised before there were any human beings with whom to enter into the covenant he had made with his son. If then the promise was then made between the father and the son, who was the word, then we can see that through their agreement in this covenant that there would indeed be a family and a church to form this covenant with. There can be little debate or controversy over this, that it must have been to Christ, the second person of the blessed Trinity, that God made the promise of eternal life before the world began. Look please again at verse 2. Resting in the hope of eternal life. Life which the ever truthful God, who cannot deceive or lie, promised before the world or ages of time began. Can we see here in this word that the solemn covenant was entered in two between the persons of the Trinity, each undertaking an amazing part in the plan for our redemption? And though our mediator had not yet assumed his human form, he already acted as the head or representative of the church, engaging to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sin and receiving in return the promise that the sacrifice would be accepted and should prevail to the full salvation for all who will believe in his name and obey the covenant requirements in order to enjoy the promises and blessings and privileges of being called his child. Eternal life was promised to Christ on behalf of the church It was promised to the Church for the sake of Christ Or rather it was promised to Christ as that result of His obedience enduring the shame and the cross in the flesh, which He might then bestow on all those who should have faith in the finished work of the cross. 2 Corinthians 1.20 In 2 Corinthians 1.20, the word declares, For all the promises of God in him are yea and amen unto the glory of God by us. In him. Let us grasp this understanding that Apostle Paul was speaking of Christ and he says that all the promises of God are in him and they are yea and amen. In other words, God has promised nothing to man, but in Christ or on the account of Christ and all that has then been promised on his account has been fulfilled. In order to understand this awesome truth, we must see that Adam is the father of all men, stood in our place and represented each one of us since that time. And when the whole race had fallen in the person of their representative, that is Adam, there were not blessings, promises, or no mercy for which man could look to or for. Human nature had become so entirely exposed to God's divine vengeance or judgment that there was no room whatsoever for promise. and therefore understanding that he, God, has covenanted with another, another head, with the very one who had spoken the human race into existence and it would then be through him that the divine character and nature of God would be offered to mortal creatures and God would offer his hand of fellowship, of blessing and promise. It was God's own Son who had undertaken to be the head of humanity, and because it was therefore certain that the required ransom would be paid to the last horrendous, brutal beating and suffering that he would go through, that God would immediately open to mankind the fountain of his benevolence and deal with man as a being who stood within the possibilities of forgiveness, reaching forth to and for eternal life. God knew that Adam would fail. That didn't surprise God, precious ones. He knew that Adam would fail. God knows all things. He had already provided a substitute so that his promises and blessings could be lavished on all those he would call his child through the death of his dear son, Jesus Christ. These promises can only be enjoyed for eternity through living in Christ now. And again to remind you that God did not promise man a thing, but his agreement was with his son. It is only by living in Christ that we will have the tender care and love of God our Father who calls us his child. There could have been no promises, it appears, had not the word which was in the beginning with God and which was God who had previously engaged to become the surety for all human beings, creatures of clay, who had just woven into the fabric of their garment, their covering, laced it with death and woe and shame into their inheritance. So we learn from this word of Paul that whatsoever is now promised to man is not promised to man in himself, but to man in his representative who is Jesus Christ. So the promises and blessings are not originally given to you nor me, but he made it to his own son, his precious son, before the world began in the performing of the promise, in making good his very own word because God cannot lie. This has nothing to do with nor is it to be contingent on anything excellent in ourselves or what we might do to appease God. When Jesus dwells in your heart and when you are attached to him as the branch is to the vine, then and only then will you or I ever have the promise of eternal life. In all the benefits or the promises, the blessings arise out of this fact. Ephesians 1.3 In Ephesians 1.3 May blessings, praise, laudation and eulogy be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who has blessed us, hear this please, in Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual given by the Holy Spirit blessing in the heavenly realms. It is in Christ, dear ones. I believe it's over 300 times in the New Testament that we see this made very, very clear in Christ, in Christ. With Christ who is our eternal life and resides in our hearts, He does several key things to prepare us for eternity, using all the blessings and promises to undergird and support us on our way. He will call us child only if we allow or are allowing him presently to fulfill these promises in our hearts. The first one is he rebukes our heart. Revelation 3.19 In the rebuking of our hearts, those whom I dearly and tenderly love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chase and I discipline and instruct them. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent changing your mind and your attitude. hope could not be any clearer he rebukes our hearts so we can come near to him and the second thing we need to know is he prepares us for eternity he humbles our hearts oh yes oh yes he has his ways. In Acts 9.5 we see how he knocked Paul off of his high horse and he will knock us off of our high horses too. In Acts 9.5 and Saul said who are you Lord? And he said I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goads to offer vain and perilous resistance. Verse 6. Trembling and astonished, he asked, Lord, what do you desire me to do? And the Lord said to him, Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. The third thing, dear ones, that he sets our heart at liberty from sin and from Satan. He sets us free. Luke 4, 18. words that Jesus declared as he read the scripture. Luke 4.18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me, the Messiah, the anointed one, to preach the good news, the gospel to the poor. And he has sent me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed, who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity. He sets us free. He has provided everything we need. And the fourth point, He reveals His love to our hearts. In Ephesians 3.17, Ephesians 3.17, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Hallelujah. That's not a surprise to you, is it? By faith he will dwell in our hearts so that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width, the height, the depth, and the length, to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Fifth point, he weans our hearts from other things he calls idols. He delivers us, keeps our focus on him as we look away from those things that we once looked to and set our eyes on. The sixth point is that he strengthens our hearts. He strengthens our hearts. Isaiah 57 verse 15 declares, For thus says the High and Lofty One, he who inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place but with him also who is of a thoroughly penitent or repentant heart a humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the thoroughly penitent that means bruised with sorrow for sin truly repentant one And the seventh point is he reconciles our hearts. He reconciles our hearts. That is found in 2 Corinthians 5.19. 2 Corinthians 5.19. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses or their sins to them. and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Verse 20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God were pleading through us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. The eighth point, he fills our hearts with the hope of glory. Colossians 1.27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect or mature in Christ Jesus. You must not miss The hope of glory is Christ in you, dear one. Christ in you is the hope of glory. And our last point, the ninth point, he comes and he has fellowship or dines with us in our hearts. Revelation 3.20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears and listens to me and heeds my voice and opens the door, I will come to him and will eat with him and he will eat with me. What a privilege. What an honor that Christ has bequeathed to all who will obey, who will revere him for who he is, for what he has done, and what he has provided in the way of blessings and promises which will come out of living in Him as your eternal life. What a privilege and an honor to live in the absolute assurance and knowing that you belong to Him and He calls you His child. Dear listener, if you have never made a bold and open and courageous confession of your faith in Jesus Christ, may we encourage you to do so now. God's word declares in the book of Romans 10.9 If you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe that God raised him from the dead you will be saved for with the heart a person believes trusts in and relies on Christ and is so justified declared righteous, acceptable to God and with the mouth he confesses declares openly and speaks out freely his faith and confirms his salvation. If you would like to be saved from the darkness of Satan, the devil, and eternal death, and would like to be guaranteed eternal life in Jesus Christ, your Savior, please allow me to pray for you. Would you please repeat this prayer for yourself as your own confession of faith and salvation as I lead you? Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. saved by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ who died for me. Father, I repent and ask for your forgiveness for every sin that I have ever committed. I desire to be called your child and restored to right relationship and fellowship with you. I desire to live my life according to your precepts and holy ways. Heavenly Father, I believe and confess Jesus Christ as my Savior. I make him Lord of all, Master and Ruler of my life from this day forth. I ask for your Holy Spirit to lead and guide me every day into truth so that I may know you in a real and living way. I will be sensitive to the Spirit's leading and his convincing and convicting me of the way that I should now live. I thank you for loving me and giving the assurance that I am now your child and am made new in your sight. Dear Jesus, please lead me into the place of fellowship with your beloved brethren, where I may grow in faith and flourish and produce fruit for your eternal kingdom. Amen. Congratulations! You have made the greatest decision that you will ever have made in your entire life. Life on this earth is very short, but eternal life is forever. Welcome to the family of love, the family of God, as you are now called His child. You have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ. That means your sins of the past are as though they never were. You have a bright and hopeful future ahead of you now. Your family here at Shining Light 7 Ministries would like to invite you to visit our website as it is designed to help you grow in understanding and build you up in your most holy faith. We offer many audio teachings and Bible studies dealing with the many aspects of your Christian life and walk, and these will help you grow in a harmonious relationship in your faith commitment to Jesus Christ until the Holy Spirit leads you into a place of fellowship in a congregation of believers. us today at www.shininglight7ministries.com. Again, that is www.shininglight7ministries.com. Again, congratulations and welcome to the family of God. We would like to hear from you if this message has touched your life in some way, either by encouragement, healing, deliverance, or simply if you've been enlightened by the Word of God in an area of understanding in your Christian group, contact us and remember, your information will be kept strictly confidential. May our Lord Jesus Christ richly bless you this day. We are going to discuss a subject which is little talked about in the church these days, repentance from dead works. Repentance from dead works is our subject. And we will see in this word that the book of Hebrews speaks quite clearly of this basic truth which we need to understand in order to truly advance in wisdom and maturity in our spiritual lives and kingdom of God on this earth. So we're going to begin this word today by turning to Hebrews 6.1. Hebrews 6.1, please. Therefore, let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teaching and doctrine of Christ the Messiah, advancing steadily towards the completeness and perfection that belongs to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the same foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works and by the faith by which you turn to God. Verse 2. With teachings about purifying the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment. These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware of long, long ago. Verse 3. If indeed God permits, we will now proceed to advance teaching. Verse 4, for it is impossible to restore and bring again to repentance those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and become sharers of the Holy Spirit, and have felt how good the Word of God is and how the mighty powers of the age and the world to come, if they deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance it is impossible to bring them back to repentance because while as long as they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh as far as they're concerned and are holding Him up to the contempt and shame of public disgrace. Wow. Wow. Well Paul makes it clear, doesn't he? He makes it very clear that we need to understand this advancement in wisdom and maturity in our spiritual lives, as I had stated before. You see, all the bad things that we deserve were laid upon Jesus at the cross. And all of the blessings or the promises of the kingdom that belong to Jesus, we share in through the cross and the resurrection, the work of our Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. We must understand, dear church, that salvation is by grace. And it is by the grace of God that we can be fully accepted by him as our father and live the kind of life that pleases him. See, no matter or no amount of religious work or obedience to God's commandment on our part can buy or earn God's blessings. Jesus bought these blessings for us at the cross. He paid the price. And we can never say that through our works we merit or earn or deserve any part of God's salvation. God's salvation is freely available to us and we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ Hallelujah Hallelujah Romans 3.21 please in Romans 3.21 we're going to see this but now the righteousness of God has been revealed independently and altogether apart from the law Although actually it is attested by the law and the prophets, namely the righteousness of God, which comes by believing with personal trust and confident reliance on Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And it is meant for all who believe. Hear that? For all who believe. For there is no distinction since we have all sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives. Verse 24. All are justified and made right and in right standing with God freely and virtuously by His grace's unmerited favor and mercy through the redemption which is provided in Christ Jesus. Hear that. In Christ Jesus. Verse 25, whom God put forward before the eyes of all as a mercy seat and propitiation by his blood, the cleansing and life-giving sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation to be received through faith. Through faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance, he had passed over and ignored former sins without punishment. Verse 26, it was to demonstrate and prove at this time in the now season that he himself is righteous and that he justifies and accepts as righteous him who has true faith in Jesus. Hear that? In Jesus. Well, please, also, let's look at Ephesians 2.8. Ephesians 2.8. for it is by free grace God's unmerited favor that you are saved delivered from judgment made partakers of Christ's salvation through your faith and this salvation is not of yourselves of your own doing it came not through your own striving but it is the gift of God verse 9 Not because of works, not the fulfillment of the law's demands, lest any man should boast. It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory for himself. Verse 10. We are all God's own workmanship, his handiwork. Recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew, we may do those good works which God predestined and planned beforehand for us, taking paths which he prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, giving the good life which he has prearranged and made ready for us to live. Hallelujah! I pray that word washes over you precious ones. You see, no one can receive full peace with God who still wants to fight against him and rebel against his will. It's just that way. God's will is that we be reconciled to him. This is God's will. And this is saying that we will not fight against his will for us and rebel against his will. When his will is that we be reconciled to him completely. The repentance that we need to have is that turning away from self to God. It is here where we desire and want God to fill us, to free us, to change us, and work in us, and then work through us. Look, please, at what John the Baptist spoke in Matthew 3, 5. Matthew 3, 5. then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the country around about the Jordan went out to him and they were baptized in the Jordan by him confessing their sins verse 7 but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism he said to them you brood of vipers who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and the indignation of God against disobedience that is coming. Verse 8. Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance and let your lives prove your change of heart. Other translations say produce fruit in keeping with your repentance. In other words, prove by the way that you live that you have really turned from your sins. That's from self. And turn to God. This turning will evidence itself, precious one, in your kind deeds, your actions, honesty towards God and man, pure thoughts, love to others, in being a person of your word. and I would like you to look with me please in an eye opening account of our precious Jesus his timely work in heart for sinners whom he came and died for in Luke 24 36 I say that that it is an eye opening account and I believe if you're not ahead of me you will see why Luke 24, 36 Now while they were talking about this, Jesus himself took his stand among them and he said to them, Peace, freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as a result of sins be to you. Verse 37 They were so startled and terrified they thought that they saw a spirit. Verse 38 And he said to them, Why are you disturbed and troubled? And why do such doubts and questions arise in your hearts? See, my hands and my feet, that is, I myself feel and handle me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Verse 41. And while, since they still could not believe it for sheer joy and marveled, He said to them, have you anything here to eat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish. And he took it and ate it before them. And then he said to them, this is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything which is written concerning me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And then he thoroughly opened their mind to understand the scriptures. and he said to them, Thus it is written that Christ the Messiah would suffer and on the third day rise from among the dead. Verse 47. And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. Both repentance and forgiveness are imperative in the life of a true believer because otherwise all that we do for God will be considered amongst the category of dead works. You see, repentance is a blessing, precious church, and we should seek it both for ourselves and for others. And the reason we should seek it is because it leads to the joy of salvation, of righteousness and peace in the Holy Spirit. My prayer for you is that precious Holy Spirit will move upon your heart and that you will begin immediately to respond to everything that the Spirit of God is nudging you to do in the way of repentance. Let's look again at the scripture in Luke 24, 45 and understand this precious truth in Revelation. Verse 45, then he, Jesus, thoroughly opened up their minds to understand the scriptures. This divine and sacred truth is a statement of unspeakable value. On one hand, it expresses Christ's immediate access to the human spirit and the absolute power over it. And it also shows how the master has complete authority and ability to adjust their perspective of vision and also their permanent correction for spiritual discernment. Jesus fully opened their understanding is also saying that they had a measure of light before so that they discern the scriptures to be the true word of God and to speak of the Messiah. but they had not light enough to help them to apply these scriptures to their Lord and Master. But now, by the influence of Christ, they see not only the prophecies which pointed out the Messiah, but also the Messiah who was pointed out by these prophecies. They beheld him. They beheld him. And this wonderful book of life may be received in general as a divine revelation, but the proper meaning that is the revelation and the ability to apply the revelation of Scripture in honest and sincere Christian living can only be discerned by the light of Christ. even the plain the very plain word of god is a dead letter to those who are not enlightened by the grace of jesus and this is because the precious word of life speaks of spiritual and heavenly things and the carnal mind of reason cannot discern them let me say they who do not receive this inward teaching continue in their dark and dead existence while they live. But we read in the scripture where Jesus Christ by his spirit operates on the minds of men and women, on the minds of all that are his. He has access to our spirits and can immediately influence them. Even well-founded or sensible men and women need to have their understanding opened up. Even though they are not of darkness or belong to the dark one as they were by nature, yet in many things they are still in the dark. Even King David prayed, O God, open my eyes and give me understanding. You see, David knew that there was more. And he knew his spiritual eyes needed the illumination of God's Spirit in order to truly know God in a deep way. An apostle Paul, who knew so much about Jesus, desired and declared his need to know and learn more It was his desire It was a need within him that he professed and declared Our Lord way of working faith in the soul and gaining the throne of it is by opening the eyes of understanding to discern the evidence of those things that are to be believed. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And so, precious one, Jesus comes into the soul by the door of faith. Yes, he comes by the door of faith that you open up by faith to say, come, come in when he knocks upon the door of our hearts. This is an absolute gift of God and we need to see it that way. Never, never, never, never take this precious gift for granted. Although salvation is a gift, only those who repent and believe the gospel receive that gift. And this is not to imply that only those who are blameless in heart have access to God. I'm not implying that at all. Scripture is so full of warnings against turning back to a lifestyle of sin and rebellion after receiving a knowledge of truth. In fact, we're going to see that please Apostle Paul's heart here as he was declaring to the people in his day in Hebrews 10, 26. In Hebrews 10, 26. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we've received the knowledge of truth, no sacrifice for sin is left. but only a fearful expectation of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Verse 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be treated? A man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot who is treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the spirit of grace. For we know him who said, It is mine to avenge and I will repay. And again, the Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And also, 2 Peter 2.20 Making our point here, please, that we have the warnings about once we've known the sweetness of the truth and then we turn back and living a lifestyle of sin and rebellion. 2 Peter 2.20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and again are entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. Verse 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Verse 22. Of them the Proverbs are true. A dog returns to its vomit and a sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud. So, and therefore, our repentance from dead works does not make us deserve God's forgiveness, but is one of the two conditions for receiving that forgiveness. You cannot have Jesus as your Savior and reject Him as Lord and Master over your life. Neither can I. Jesus is a gracious and patient Master. But there are times when He makes it very clear that we cannot go on with Him unless we let go of certain things. And Jesus made it very clear to the rich man in Luke 18.18. Very clear. The one who came to him and asked him what he must do in order to inherit eternal life. In Luke 18.18. And a certain ruler asked him, Good teacher, you who are essentially and perfectly morally good, what shall I do to inherit life, to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah's kingdom. Verse 19, Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? No one is essentially perfectly morally good except God only. And you know the commandments. Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal. Do not witness falsely. Honor your father and mother. and he replied, All these things I've kept and I've done for my youth. Verse 22. And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, One thing you lack, sell everything that you have and divide the money among the poor and you will have rich treasure in heaven and come back and follow me, become my disciple, join my party and company. But when he heard this, he became distressed and very sorrowful, for he was rich exceedingly so. Verse 24, Jesus observing him said, How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. For it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. You see, the grace of God had come to this poor rich man. He had the opportunity to drop to his knees and repent, ask forgiveness for the idol in his life. But he did not. And his money, his idol, did not go with him where he went to spend eternity. See, it is by God's grace that we can be willing to repent. And it's a dangerous thing to refuse God's grace once it comes to us. And it usually comes when, by one means or another, we have Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death on the cross painted before the eyes of our heart. This selfless act is a constant reminder of his love for us. God never wants us to forget Jesus nor his sacrifice. We need to keep looking to him that this is the key to overcoming sin, precious ones. You may ask, so what is repentance? What is it about? What is it all about? I can tell you what it is not. It's not a way of dressing. And it's not a way of speaking. It is not a way of going to church. Nor is it using religious words like brother or sister. It's not walking in a certain way or saying spiritual words that sound religious. Nor is it locking yourself up in your room and pouring through books and tapes or CDs. You see, a person can do all these things and still not repent or be repentant. Repentance is not merely feeling sorry that you sinned or did wrong. Repentance is not an emotion. Emotion and sorrow for sin normally accompanies repentance, but it is possible to feel sorry, remorseful, and weep without truly repenting. So again you say, well what is it? Repentance is a serious change of mind, leading to a change of direction. Repentance is truly seeing yourself as a poor, miserable sinner. You come to where you deplore sin because it is a crime against your most holy, divine, and wonderful Lord and God. And you understand sin is contagious and it offends God. True repentance brings a sharp and serious turnaround or change of direction in your life. Dead works are not of faith, since whatever is not of faith is sin. In fact, unbelief is at the root of all sin, and it is only through faith in Jesus Christ, knowing who he is and what he has promised that we can overcome sin. Dead works are works contrary to the word of God. Dead works are not of faith, and since whatever is not of faith is sin. That's Romans 14.23. Dead works, as I said, are contrary to the word of God. And they include the works of the flesh. In Galatians 5.19, the acts of the sinful nature are obvious. sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. And I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. You know, God says that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. We just read that. So anything not done in love is a dead work. What is its motive? We must ask ourselves. Any religious work done in the power of man alone is a dead work because it is not the life of God in it. And the heartless or no life observance of religious tradition that men or women perform are all dead works. They're all dead. You see, this is where our scripture in Galatians 5.19 shows that people can even be engaged in prayer groups. praying for a move of God in their city, their state, and even the whole world, having selfish ambitions and having envy and jealousy for a brother or sister in Christ, and even caused dissensions and gossip, but are so deceived in thinking that their prayers hit the throne room of God and bring about what they petition. But Galatians 5.19, our scripture we just read, says now the works of the flesh are evident. These which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousy, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresy, envy, murder, drunkenness, revelries, and so forth. But the fruit of the Spirit, the work which His presence within accomplishes, is love. joy, gladness, peace, patience, and even temper, forbearance, kindness, goodness, benevolence, faithfulness, verse 23, gentleness, which is meekness and humility, self-control. You see, against these things, there is no law that can bring a charge. And those who belong to Christ Jesus, the Messiah, have crucified the flesh, the godless human nature with its passions and appetites and desires. Verse 25, if we live by the Holy Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit. Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another. You see, even prayer, sacrifice, and church attendance can be in the class of dead works when the heart turns away from God and His Word, which we just read in Galatians 5.19. In Proverbs 28.9 declares, if anyone turns a deaf ear to the law or God's precepts, even his prayers are detestable. See, the very basic, most fundamental repentance necessary to be right with God is the recognition that we need not only Jesus' sacrifice to deal with our sins, but we also need Jesus in our lives every day. Everyone who calls themselves a believer, is either moving towards Jesus or away from him. And when one willingly moves away from Jesus for any reason and does not reverse his tracks or course in seeking him, this individual cannot have true biblical assurance of his salvation. Yeah, if 2 Timothy 2.18 declares, nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with his inscription. The Lord knows those who are his and everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away. I'm going to repeat that. Must turn away from what? The scripture says from wickedness. And this includes jealousy and envy and gossip and dissension. As we move on with the Lord, we will come across other areas in our lives where we need to repent. God gives us time to repent. He even said of Jezebel in Revelation 2.21, I've given her time to repent of her sexual

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