The NXR Podcast - March 12, 2023


SUNDAY SERMON - Sheep, Goats, & The Great Shepherd

Topics
hell and victory proclamation nature and providence regeneration precedes faith new covenant net
Hosted by
Joel Webbon Harrison Smith Antonio Griffith Dale Partridge Wewsley Todd Calvin Robinson
Mentioned
Abraham Noah Hebrews Jesus Christ Peter Lazarus Gentiles Joseph Isaiah Isaac Jacob Apostle Paul R.C. Sproul Joe Biden Timothy Jude
DAILY TRUTH - The Best Way To Love Your Grandchildren DAILY TRUTH - This Is The #1 Biblical Doctrine That Big Eva Hates!

Episode Stats


Length

1 hour and 14 minutes

Words per minute

126.2

Word count

9,356

Sentence count

337

Harmful content

Toxicity

6

sentences flagged

Hate speech

33

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

In Hebrews 13:20-25, we see Jesus referred to as the "Great Shepherd" of the sheep. This is the first and only time in the entire book of Hebrews that Jesus is described as a shepherd.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00 all right listen guys i get it many of you are unable to financially support this ministry
00:00:04 because you're spending your cash and your lives on raising young children in the fear and
00:00:09 admonition of the lord praise god for you and that endeavor however algorithms are a thing
00:00:15 shadow banning sadly is a thing and one major way that you can help to expand the reach and
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00:00:28 leaving us a five-star review also perhaps even more effective than that you can share our podcast
00:00:35 with a friend we hope you'll take the time to do so thank you so much god bless one final time our
00:00:41 text for today is hebrews chapter 13 verse 20 through 25 the bible says this now may the god
00:00:48 of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood
00:00:55 of the eternal covenant equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in us that
00:01:02 which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen
00:01:09 I appeal to you brothers bear with my word of exhortation for I have written to you briefly
00:01:16 you should know that our brother Timothy has been released with whom I shall see you if he comes
00:01:23 soon. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who come from Italy send you greetings.
00:01:30 Grace be with all of you. This is the word of the Lord. All right, please be seated. Let's go ahead
00:01:37 and dive right in. I've taken our text and exacted from it what I believe are three of the most
00:01:44 primary and significant points. The first is the great shepherd. The great shepherd. In your notes,
00:01:52 I've written the following. This is the first time and only time in the whole book of Hebrews
00:01:57 that Jesus is referred to as a shepherd, much less as the great shepherd. Hebrews chapter 13,
00:02:06 namely verse 20. As the author finishes his letter, he wants to assure his readers that they are in
00:02:12 good hands. Christ will lead us. Christ will protect us. And most importantly, Christ has
00:02:19 promised to never lose us the author to the hebrews who i believe was the apostle paul
00:02:26 regardless this apostolic author inspired by the holy spirit has written to the hebrew christians
00:02:33 of his day many stark warnings we think of hebrews chapter 6 when repentance is impossible
00:02:42 for those who have once tasted of the heavenly gift once been enlightened for those who have
00:02:49 experienced certain covenantal realities in an external sense should they turn away or fall away
00:02:58 it is impossible for them to be brought back to repentance that's hebrews chapter 6 we talked
00:03:04 about that at length spent multiple weeks on that particular passage in this letter also hebrews
00:03:11 chapter 10 talks about trampling the blood of the covenant we talked about what it is to trample the
00:03:19 blood of the covenant what what it is to go apostate what it is to fall away and to have no hope of
00:03:27 return to the fold there are many stark warnings in the book of hebrews there are also many
00:03:34 descriptive passages about those who have compromised their faith have turned back to
00:03:40 Judaism have turned back to the priestly animal sacrificial system in Jerusalem and those who can
00:03:47 expect nothing else but judgment by fire and so it's fitting here at the end of our letter 0.96
00:03:54 that the apostle would leave us with words of comfort consolation and hope encouragement that
00:04:03 although there are severe judgments for those who resist and reject the promise of the gospel
00:04:09 for those who have faith in jesus by way of contrast they can expect that the same grace
00:04:15 that saved them will be faithful to keep them to the very end and this is because jesus is
00:04:23 the chief shepherd and the responsibility for keeping the sheep falls primarily and we could
00:04:31 also say exclusively not upon the sheep themselves but upon the shepherd who watches their souls
00:04:39 Jesus is the chief shepherd the great shepherd the good shepherd chief shepherd in first Peter
00:04:47 chapter 5 the great shepherd in Hebrews chapter 13 the good shepherd of John chapter 10 Jesus is
00:04:56 the one who sees fit that not one of his own are lost these are the words of christ in john
00:05:05 the gospel of john chapter 10 verse 25 through 30 jesus answered them i told you and you do not
00:05:14 believe the works that i do in my father's name bear witness about me but you do not believe
00:05:22 because you are not among my sheep.
00:05:26 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
00:05:32 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish,
00:05:37 and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
00:05:41 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
00:05:44 and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
00:05:49 I and the Father are one.
00:05:54 There's a lot of misunderstanding, I believe, among evangelicals today in regards to what is a sheep, who is a sheep.
00:06:05 I think we often think in terms of conversion that someone was previously not a sheep.
00:06:14 They were not a sheep belonging to Christ,
00:06:16 and then they become, they're transformed,
00:06:19 transitioned into a sheep.
00:06:22 That is not the principle of the Scripture.
00:06:26 That's not what the Bible teaches.
00:06:29 In salvation, in conversion,
00:06:32 by grace alone, through faith alone,
00:06:34 in Christ alone,
00:06:36 a person does not become a sheep.
00:06:39 That person who is truly saved
00:06:41 was always a sheep. 0.92
00:06:44 The difference in conversion is that they were once a lost sheep, but now are found.
00:06:51 They were outside of the fold, but have now been found by the great shepherd and brought into his care.
00:07:00 So it's not that someone was a goat and in conversion has now been transformed into a sheep.
00:07:08 it is that this person was always a sheep but they were once lost outside of the fold but have now
00:07:16 been gathered by the good shepherd the chief shepherd the great shepherd and brought into
00:07:21 the pin of security and safety jesus says my sheep know my voice they hear my voice
00:07:31 they respond to the voice of the shepherd they come at his bidding and he speaks of
00:07:40 the unbeliever who is not merely unregenerate you and I Ephesians chapter 2 says and such
00:07:49 were some of you we were not physically born into this world as Christians we were not physically
00:07:56 born in this world as regenerate saved individuals but we were always if you are truly in Christ we
00:08:07 were always his sheep there are some who are not merely unregenerate but will be saved and converted
00:08:16 by the power of the gospel later on lost sheep who will become found sheep now there are also some
00:08:24 who are the reprobate the non-elect who are not lost sheep soon to become found sheep
00:08:33 no they are not sheep at all they are goats they will never respond to the voice of the shepherd 0.66
00:08:42 they hate the shepherd they respond to the voice of wolves not not the shepherd this is precisely
00:08:52 what Jesus says in John chapter 10 he said I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in
00:09:00 my father's name namely his miracles bear witness about me they prove that I am exactly who I say
00:09:08 I am but you do not believe why because there's not enough evidence because the preaching of
00:09:17 christ is not persuasive enough because raising lazarus from the dead a publicly verified miracle
00:09:27 is not convincing enough no you do not believe because you are not among my sheep my sheep hear
00:09:37 my voice and i know them and they follow me jesus is speaking of sheep not merely saying christians
00:09:46 those who are already converted already born again already regenerated with new hearts by
00:09:53 the power of the holy spirit and endowed sovereignly by god with the gifts of faith
00:09:58 and repentance they are now sheep and therefore they now are able to hear my voice and respond
00:10:05 that's not what he's saying jesus is saying essentially that i am performing mighty signs
00:10:11 and wonders to a large audience, namely the people of Israel, to Jews and Gentiles also,
00:10:22 but primarily the people of Israel. I'm performing these signs and wonders in front of thousands.
00:10:29 Jesus fed the 5,000 men, easily 15, 20, 25,000 people. He also fed the 4,000. These are two
00:10:38 separate accounts. It is not a textual variant where the numbers are right in one account and
00:10:44 off in the other. No, Jesus did this miracle of multiplying food twice. And he did it not just
00:10:52 for a few dozen people in someone's living room. He did it on a mountain, on a hillside, outdoors,
00:10:59 where there were tens of thousands of people present twice. And yet what Jesus is saying is
00:11:07 that as he ministers with miracles, signs and wonders,
00:11:12 validating him as the Christ, as the Messiah,
00:11:15 validating his message,
00:11:17 but also not just doing miracles, but preaching.
00:11:20 As Jesus preaches and teaches and performs signs and wonders,
00:11:24 none of this is done in a remote, obscure corner of the world.
00:11:29 These are publicly validated teachings,
00:11:33 preachings and signs and wonders seen by thousands of people and what Jesus is essentially saying is
00:11:41 this that the only difference in how people respond to the public ministry of Jesus is not
00:11:51 because he does something convincing for one group of people and then something unconvincing for
00:11:57 another. It's not because one group of people were privy to Lazarus and his resurrection and
00:12:05 another group of people didn't see it. No, it's not because one group of people gets the good
00:12:11 sermons of Jesus, right? Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the Sermon on the Mount, and then somebody else got
00:12:17 the snickle fritz. That's not what's going on. What's going on is this. Everyone hears the same
00:12:23 preaching, sees the same miracles. Some recognize him as the Christ. They hear his voice, they come.
00:12:31 Others reject him. Why? Because some are sheep and some are goats. Some are sheep and some are goats.
00:12:42 For the unbeliever, their hang-up is not merely that there's a lack of evidence pointing towards
00:12:50 the reality and the existence and the truth of the triune God. 0.51
00:12:56 The reason why people reject Christ is because they hate him. It is not an intellectual
00:13:03 deficiency. The problem is not evidence. The problem is not logic. The problem is not
00:13:11 intellect. The problem is moral. It is a moral hang-up. Some people will never respond to
00:13:19 Christ because they can't. They can't. They are unable and unwilling. Romans chapter 8 says that
00:13:32 the mind of the sinful man is hostile, not merely uninterested or indifferent, but hostile towards
00:13:42 God and his law he does not submit to him nor can he that is he will not and he cannot he will not
00:13:55 and he cannot Jesus told a parable of a poor beggar named Lazarus and a rich man that Lazarus
00:14:04 used to long to eat the crumbs that fell from this man's table Lazarus furthermore in addition
00:14:11 to starvation. He was afflicted by many wounds and sores. The rabbit dogs of the first century
00:14:21 world were not domesticated cute pets like we have today. This generation of people and culture
00:14:31 opted for children instead of chihuahuas and purses. So the dogs were wild, licking his sores.
00:14:38 he was in misery and agony but eventually he died and Jesus says in this parable the angels carried
00:14:48 him to Abraham's bosom and the rich man also dies and he is carried to hell now it's important to
00:14:59 understand that before the cross in terms of chronological human history when people died
00:15:06 both the righteous and the wicked they both went to what the bible describes as the place of the
00:15:13 dead hades we use this language in our confession of faith each lord's day in our liturgy that
00:15:23 jesus died and was buried he descended to hades now there's a debate over the original language
00:15:32 of the Apostles' Creed, whether it says hell or Hades, in either case, we've opted for the term
00:15:40 Hades, realm of the dead. We see this in Peter's epistles, that Jesus descended to the realm of
00:15:49 the dead and preached. He preached to spirits held captive. Now, this is not Jesus going to hell
00:15:59 after his crucifixion and burial before his resurrection during this three-day period as
00:16:06 his body is laid in the tomb in his spirit Peter says he goes to the realm of the dead and preaches
00:16:12 to spirits held captive this is not to say that Jesus goes and preaches the gospel
00:16:18 as a second opportunity for people in hell to believe and to then go to heaven
00:16:26 No, Jesus is pronouncing his victory.
00:16:29 He's not going to the realm of the dead to preach an opportunity.
00:16:34 He's going to the realm of the dead to announce his victory
00:16:39 and to rub it in his enemies' faces. 0.87
00:16:43 Once you die, that's it, brothers and sisters. 0.99
00:16:46 There is no second opportunity.
00:16:49 And there is no end to the conscious torment of hell.
00:16:54 The Bible does not teach annihilationism.
00:16:59 Hell will never end.
00:17:01 The worm will not die.
00:17:04 It will be a conscious torment
00:17:06 under the white-hot wrath of God forever.
00:17:10 And it's important that we understand
00:17:12 that what makes hell so terrible
00:17:14 is not because God is absent in hell.
00:17:18 What makes hell so terrible
00:17:20 is that God is present.
00:17:23 And the torment that those who rebel against Christ and reject his offer of salvation,
00:17:31 the torment that they will experience, is the torment of God's wrath.
00:17:36 What is absent in hell is not the presence of God, but the goodness of God.
00:17:42 What is absent in hell is the kindness of God, the grace and mercy and love of God. 0.79
00:17:50 for the non-elect this world and this life is the closest they'll ever get to heaven 0.82
00:17:58 and for those of us who are in christ this world and this life is the closest we'll ever get 0.85
00:18:05 to hell if by grace through faith in christ you have been saved and the suffering you experience
00:18:14 in this mist of a life, this vapor of a life, your mere 70, 80, 90 years,
00:18:23 the suffering that you experience here is the worst it ever gets.
00:18:29 It's all better from here on out. 0.76
00:18:34 But for the non-elect, the joy that they experience in this life is the best they'll ever get.
00:18:41 it's the closest to the goodness of God that they'll ever experience and so Jesus descends
00:18:49 to the realm of the dead and in the realm of the dead some old scholars believe that it was a
00:18:56 physical realm actually deep within the belly of this world in a literal sense and whether that's
00:19:05 true or not. I lean towards not, but I really enjoy a good conspiracy, especially because most
00:19:15 of them come true these days. So whether it's physically in the belly of the earth or whether
00:19:21 it was a spiritual place, the point is this, that there are two sections of Hades, hell and Abraham's
00:19:31 bosom so jesus when he dies his body physically is buried in the tomb and in the spirit he descends
00:19:40 to hades and in hades he proclaims his victory preaches to spirits held captive he is proclaiming
00:19:51 his victory over demonic spirits and human souls reprobates who rejected him even the days of noah
00:20:01 is what Peter says. Remember, Noah was a heralder of righteousness, is what the New Testament
00:20:07 apostles say, that Noah for 120 years preached. He was not just an architect, a construction worker
00:20:20 building an ark, but he was a preacher. Noah preached for 120 years as God waited patiently
00:20:28 with the sins of wicked, vile people. 0.70
00:20:34 God waited and Noah preached. 0.71
00:20:38 When the Bible says elsewhere
00:20:40 that God has numbered man's years to be 120,
00:20:46 we know that Moses lived to be 120. 0.55
00:20:49 I believe that that is a coincidence. 0.76
00:20:53 I believe that the numbering of man's years,
00:20:57 120 years is not to say that if you're righteous, if you trust the Lord, if you're obedient,
00:21:04 you will die on your 120th birthday. The 120 years, man's years, that were set and limited by God
00:21:13 is referring to the days of Noah. That there were 120 years left until they all died. Until God
00:21:22 flooded the world and for 120 years Noah built an ark which is a type of Christ that the righteous
00:21:32 would be taken up into the ark and notice that in this narrative this historic account
00:21:38 that it's the Lord himself Noah builds the ark but it is the Lord himself I believe a theophany
00:21:46 the second member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, before his incarnation, but Christ in the Spirit
00:21:53 with a physical, not incarnation, but a physical manifestation of the spiritual Christ who comes
00:22:01 and physically closes the door, seals these eight righteous persons, Noah, his wife, three sons,
00:22:09 and their three wives, seals them up in the ark as a picture of the gospel. And for 120 years,
00:22:15 Noah imaged Christ in the type of the ark and he preached Christ and these people rejected
00:22:26 Christ and when Christ dies and his body is physically buried in the tomb in the spirit
00:22:32 he descends to Hades not hell but Hades that is the realm of the dead where there is a great
00:22:39 chasm separating two sections of the realm of the dead Abraham's bosom for the righteous who had
00:22:46 faith in Jesus even before his earthly ministry before his incarnation that's Abraham and Isaac
00:22:52 and Jacob and Joseph the patriarchs all of them in Abraham's bosom and across this great chasm
00:22:59 all those who rejected Christ and Christ goes to the realm of the dead namely Hades and in Abraham's 0.65
00:23:06 bosom with the righteous he preaches across that chasm condemning all those who rejected him 0.71
00:23:14 declaring his victory over them and that includes human reprobate souls it also includes certain
00:23:22 demons that are so dangerous that they were not permitted by god to roam the earth but they were
00:23:29 locked, Jude speaks of this, in gloomy dungeons because they would wreak far too much havoc.
00:23:38 These are some old school interpretations of scripture today,
00:23:41 which I'm much more interested in Christianity yesterday than Christianity today. I think
00:23:48 Christianity tomorrow has a bright future for the record. I don't think it's all downhill,
00:23:53 but I think we're living in one of those moments where when I hear, you know, evangelicals say,
00:23:58 we need a new translation. I'm like, let's let's let our grandkids do that. I don't think you guys
00:24:03 are qualified. Like this is just, this is not, this is just not the generation to do any serious 1.00
00:24:09 exegetical work. You're all compromised. You're all woke. You're all feminist. Just, just sit a
00:24:18 play out, purchase some more dogs. Conservatives will have children. And then 80 years from now,
00:24:26 our grandkids, you know, can build some new seminaries and do some serious work. So all that
00:24:32 being said, Jesus descends to Hades, the realm of the dead. He proclaims his victory, and then he
00:24:37 takes certain captives, liberates them, namely those in Abraham's bosom, the righteous. Abraham, Isaac,
00:24:45 Jacob, Joseph. He takes these individuals and brings them now to heaven because his atoning work
00:24:54 at calvary is now finished and therefore can be particularly and practically applied
00:25:01 that's the historic teaching of jesus descent the descent of christ to the realm of the dead
00:25:12 now all that being said the point is that there are some people who will never ever receive christ
00:25:23 And the parable that Christ tells of Lazarus, this poor beggar, and the rich man who is in hell, Hades, hell category, Lazarus, Hades, Abraham, bosoms category, this rich man, he says, send Lazarus to dip his finger in cold water and touch my tongue to quench my thirst for I am in agony here.
00:25:50 i'm in agony and jesus says in this parable that that there's no way to cross this great chasm so
00:25:59 that even if someone did wish to go from one side to the other it would be impossible impossible
00:26:07 and furthermore the rich man then says well if you can't ease my torment
00:26:15 Then send Lazarus back.
00:26:17 He just has this constant mindset that Lazarus is still a servant.
00:26:21 He doesn't really recognize that their hierarchical positions have been turned.
00:26:27 He's in agony now.
00:26:29 Lazarus is not his servant.
00:26:31 He's not going to quench his thirst.
00:26:32 He's not going to do his bidding.
00:26:34 But this man says, I have five brothers that are still living.
00:26:38 And I don't want them to come to this place of torment.
00:26:42 So send Lazarus back from the dead.
00:26:45 Because they'll believe, I didn't believe, but they'll believe if someone rises from the dead.
00:26:52 Jesus says in this parable, Abraham speaking, that they have Moses and the prophets.
00:27:00 Meaning they have God's law, God's law word.
00:27:07 And all of it, types and shadows pointing towards the Christ.
00:27:11 The sole object of saving faith.
00:27:15 all that is available to them.
00:27:18 And if they don't believe Moses and the prophets,
00:27:20 they will not believe even if one should rise from the dead.
00:27:27 Essentially what Jesus is saying is this.
00:27:31 There is no degree or amount of evidence
00:27:37 that is capable of convincing someone of the truth of Christ.
00:27:42 it is a moral problem people who go to hell are not people who say i just i didn't know
00:27:51 or or i wasn't raised in a christian home or i met some christians that preached the gospel but
00:27:58 they god they had they just they had a nasty tone and it turned me off and so therefore my
00:28:05 rejection of you because of these christians bad tone that justifies me for rejecting you right
00:28:11 No. No. No, it's not a mere matter of evidence. It's a matter of the heart.
00:28:22 The person who receives the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a person who has a new nature.
00:28:29 They're making a choice that no one else makes because they have another nature.
00:28:37 Your choices are limited by your nature.
00:28:41 There are certain things that an ox will do
00:28:45 and certain things that an ox will not do.
00:28:49 There are certain things that a lion will do
00:28:52 and certain things that a lion will not do.
00:28:56 Because these creatures are bound by the confines of their nature. 0.99
00:29:01 The notion that human beings have limitless free will is a naive and foolish notion. 0.92
00:29:13 You cannot will yourself to fly. 0.98
00:29:17 You cannot will yourself to be nine feet tall.
00:29:22 There are certain things, no matter what you want, will not happen because your nature does not allow for it to happen. 0.97
00:29:31 You cannot will yourself as a man to become a woman. 0.99
00:29:37 You cannot will yourself as a woman to become a man.
00:29:44 Our choices, which we do have,
00:29:47 they are bound by our nature
00:29:50 and furthermore, they are bound by providence.
00:29:57 I chose to wear a black shirt today,
00:29:59 But I did not make that choice from limitless options.
00:30:06 I did not have limitless options because I'm not a millionaire.
00:30:11 I have 10 dress shirts to choose from.
00:30:18 Most of them aren't clean.
00:30:22 Providentially, my spectrum of choices is now narrowed even further.
00:30:27 And within these choices, there's all these other multiple variables and circumstances, my preference and personality, my nurture as well as nature and upbringing and all the things that brought me here today to wear a black dress shirt.
00:30:47 when you go and choose what seat to sit in in a movie theater you are not making that choice
00:30:55 with half the freedom as you suppose you're making that choice based off of the size of
00:31:03 your prostate and how often you think you're going to have to get up and use the restroom
00:31:08 you're making that choice dependent on the age of your children and if they're with you
00:31:15 and whether or not they had a nap that day
00:31:18 and how loud they'll be.
00:31:20 You're making that choice based off of the distance
00:31:23 between you and the screen and viewer visibility,
00:31:27 what seats were already taken by other people
00:31:30 and which ones are left and available.
00:31:36 You are not autonomous.
00:31:39 There is only one autonomous being in all the universe
00:31:42 and that is the triune God.
00:31:45 He alone has true freedom of the will.
00:31:50 He alone has what we would call true autonomous freedom.
00:31:56 Creatures have freedom, but the will of creatures is strictly bound.
00:32:04 Human beings, the pinnacle of earthly creatures made in the very image of God,
00:32:09 have greater wider spectrum of freedom than animals do which are governed predominantly by
00:32:18 instinct but even our freedom is likewise limited just by strictly trying to avoid the laws of
00:32:29 non-contradiction just within a logical argument much less a biblical one you cannot have
00:32:38 two autonomously free beings
00:32:42 in the same context,
00:32:45 in the same universe.
00:32:48 If one being is autonomously free,
00:32:53 then the other being,
00:32:54 by virtue of this one's autonomous freedom,
00:32:57 the other one cannot be.
00:33:00 Their autonomy would contradict
00:33:03 and limit the autonomy of the other.
00:33:06 When we say that God is sovereign, we should take note and acknowledge that by way of consequence, we are also saying that man is bound.
00:33:20 If God has sovereign freedom in all creation, then all creatures are bound by his sovereignty.
00:33:31 Bound.
00:33:34 No one is neutral.
00:33:36 Because all of us are creaturely, physical, finite, and most importantly, in the spiritual and moral realm, fallen.
00:33:49 Both your finitude and your fallenness severely limit your choices.
00:33:57 What you're actually able to do.
00:34:00 And what the Bible teaches in regards to that last category of fallenness, not just physical hindrances, creaturely hindrances, finite hindrances, but moral hindrances, spiritual hindrances, namely the sin nature, a fallen nature.
00:34:23 nature one of the choices that your fallen nature if you are not in christ not born again not
00:34:31 regenerate with a new heart by the power of the holy spirit one of the choices that is off the
00:34:36 table for you is belief in the son of god you will not trust him indeed you cannot trust him
00:34:49 and that is why the heartbeat of the reformation and reform theology is namely this
00:34:57 regeneration precedes faith regeneration precedes faith in order to enter the kingdom of heaven
00:35:09 per the gospel of john chapter 3 much less even see the kingdom of heaven according to christ
00:35:17 you must be born again.
00:35:22 You cannot exercise faith in Christ 0.98
00:35:26 unless you first be born again,
00:35:30 unless you first be given a new heart,
00:35:34 a.k.a. a new nature.
00:35:38 What does the Apostle Paul teach
00:35:40 in his epistles to the Corinthians?
00:35:43 That if any man is in Christ,
00:35:45 he is a new creature, a new creation.
00:35:52 And as a new creature, he has a new nature.
00:35:56 And with a new nature, he has a new spectrum of choices available to him.
00:36:04 And the new nature, one of the choices that is made available
00:36:08 to those who have a new nature,
00:36:10 we are new creatures with a new heart endowed with the gifts of faith and repentance one of
00:36:18 the choices available to us now is faith in christ and true repentance of sins and not only
00:36:27 is the choice of faith in christ made available to us now but it is the guaranteed option that
00:36:36 any new creature in Christ Jesus will undoubtedly choose. This is presuppositionalism. Everyone
00:36:48 has a presupposition. In other words, everyone has a bias, and that includes the Christian. 0.87
00:36:57 In fact, you could perhaps argue that the Christian is most biased of all, and that
00:37:03 That's not immoral.
00:37:05 There's nothing to be ashamed of.
00:37:08 The bias of the Christian is that Christ rose from the dead.
00:37:15 That's the bias.
00:37:17 That is our basic underlying presupposition. 0.94
00:37:24 And the Christian should approach all of life with that bias,
00:37:29 with an allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ, 0.83
00:37:33 that he lived he died he was buried he descended he was resurrected and ascended to the right hand
00:37:44 of god the father almighty and that he is currently ruling and reigning not merely in a spiritual sense
00:37:51 in the 17th dimension but over this tangible physical literal blood-bought world he is king
00:37:58 jesus and it all belongs to him and the christian as a subject in christ's kingdom with allegiance
00:38:07 to christ as king approaches all of life with that basic presupposition and likewise
00:38:16 on the other side of the coin the unbeliever approaches all of life with their bias their
00:38:24 presupposition, which is hatred for the triune God. So it is not as though all people are sheep
00:38:35 and all people are presented with varying degrees of convincing and persuasive arguments and signs
00:38:44 and symbols of the lordship of Jesus, and some are persuaded and others are not. Some of these sheep
00:38:53 become found sheep and others remain lost sheep. Now Jesus says plainly on the final day of judgment
00:39:00 he will separate the found sheep from the lost sheep. No. The sheep from the goats.
00:39:08 The sheep will be at his right hand and everyone who is a sheep and everyone who ever was a sheep 0.78
00:39:14 they'll all go to glory and everyone who was ever a goat will always be a goat 0.67
00:39:24 and will be condemned to outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth
00:39:30 so the illustration that christ provides for us on the pages of scripture
00:39:37 of the doctrine of conversion
00:39:40 is not a goat being transformed into a sheep.
00:39:46 It is a lost sheep who has always been a sheep
00:39:49 but is now found by the shepherd.
00:39:54 Jesus in John chapter 10 again says,
00:39:58 I told you and you do not believe.
00:40:01 The works that I do in my Father's name
00:40:03 bear witness about me,
00:40:05 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.
00:40:13 Elsewhere, there's a time in Christ's earthly ministry
00:40:18 where his own disciples questioned him after one of his public teachings.
00:40:24 They asked Jesus, why is it that you always speak in parables?
00:40:29 There are times that later you'll provide plain speech
00:40:33 an interpretation of the parables for us, your closest disciples, in private.
00:40:40 But to the people in public, you exclusively speak in parables.
00:40:48 And Jesus responds to their question by quoting Isaiah, the prophet,
00:40:54 and says this is to fulfill Isaiah's prophecy,
00:40:58 that they would be ever hearing but never listening ever seeing but never perceiving
00:41:08 that their hearts would be darkened and never receive understanding in other words although
00:41:15 there are many today who say you know pastors should preach more like jesus jesus used parables
00:41:21 And parables are helpful illustrations that make things more sensical.
00:41:28 They take something that may be harder to understand and provide a story, an illustration, an example,
00:41:36 and make these things that are difficult to understand more palatable and easy to understand.
00:41:42 That's not Jesus' definition of a parable.
00:41:46 Jesus says, I speak in parables to make sure that people are always confused.
00:41:50 i speak in parables to make sure that the truth of the kingdom is something they miss
00:41:59 i speak in parables so that isaiah would be fulfilled that they would hear but never listen
00:42:08 see but never really perceive and that their hearts would remain in a state
00:42:14 of not understanding because they're not mine they're not mine they're not my people
00:42:26 they're not my flock they're not my sheep my sheep even with the parable
00:42:34 we understand parables as illustrations they're better to be understood as riddles
00:42:39 even with speaking in code and riddles and parables my sheep they'll come regardless
00:42:48 because they recognize the shepherd's voice they can't help but come just as a literal shepherd
00:42:56 could be out with his flock and he could be speaking english or he could be speaking
00:43:03 whatever mandarin and all of a sudden his sheep they recognize not so much the actual word and
00:43:15 what it means but they recognize the dialect the inflection the tone the style the voice
00:43:25 of the shepherd. I have no idea what he's saying, but that's our shepherd. I hear him
00:43:33 and I'm going to come to him. Notice that's even what the 12 do. When Jesus in John chapter 6, 0.99
00:43:41 he had just fed the 5,000 in the previous chapter, John chapter 5, and now they've come and found
00:43:48 him again on the other side of the sea. And Jesus calls them out and says, you're not here for my
00:43:54 preaching you're here for another free lunch you ate the loaves and had your fill and you want to
00:44:02 be fed again and so then he preaches about that jesus has fantastic church shrinking strategies
00:44:09 if you ever want to know how to shrink a church jesus is the master he says unless you eat my
00:44:17 flesh and drink my blood you have no part in me and you could almost hear the 12 in that picture
00:44:26 saying please give a disclaimer please provide some nuance if you could only be just a little
00:44:37 more winsome tell them that you're not being literal jesus you're okay you're not a cannibal
00:44:45 are you tell them that and jesus just kind of sits back and they all the text says leave
00:44:56 except for the 12 now notice the difference is not that everyone leaves because they don't
00:45:03 understand that jesus is being symbolic rather than literal but the 12 stay because they
00:45:08 understand now jesus is is preaching in mandarin and none of them speak mandarin including peter
00:45:15 in the twelve so what's the difference why do the twelve stay because they understood what jesus
00:45:22 meant and therefore are not offended no it's what a person does when they're offended it's not
00:45:30 whether you're offended it's what you do when you're offended particularly when you're offended
00:45:37 by jesus i have been offended by jesus many times in my life because i am a very great sinner
00:45:48 the difference by his grace alone not to boast in myself but the difference is that when i've
00:45:56 been offended by jesus the words of jesus the teaching of jesus the person and work of jesus
00:46:03 like the 12 instead of departing from christ i lean in further to christ and i say with peter
00:46:15 where else can we go you have the words of life i don't know what you mean eat your flesh and
00:46:24 drink your blood i don't like it frankly i'm a little bit disgusted by that sermon jesus
00:46:30 but you're the only preacher there is where else are we going to go we don't have any alternatives 0.75
00:46:39 there's no alternate option so offended or not we're sticking with jesus
00:46:47 we're sticking with jesus why because we're his sheep we're the sheep of his pasture
00:46:57 we know his voice
00:47:00 we don't always like what he says
00:47:03 but we know that voice
00:47:06 it's the voice of life
00:47:10 and he preaches the words of life
00:47:14 even when we don't like them
00:47:15 and there is salvation nowhere else
00:47:21 in heaven or on earth
00:47:23 but in the name of Jesus
00:47:26 so at the end of this epistle the author encourages his listeners by saying that although many have
00:47:36 fallen away and you've watched their apostasy you've watched them come with you for a short
00:47:42 while but then turn back to judaism turn back to jerusalem turn back to the temple turn back 0.51
00:47:51 to the ceremonial rituals and codes,
00:47:54 hedging their bets,
00:47:56 putting partial trust in Jesus,
00:47:59 but not really hedging their bets.
00:48:03 You've seen many fall away.
00:48:07 And although there are serious warnings
00:48:10 that should be given,
00:48:11 and these warnings have been given
00:48:13 throughout the entirety of this epistle,
00:48:16 here at the end,
00:48:17 the apostle, the final nail,
00:48:21 is not one more warning about trampling
00:48:24 the blood of the covenant underfoot,
00:48:26 going apostate and having no opportunity to repent.
00:48:29 No, that's been said.
00:48:31 It needed to be said.
00:48:32 It has been said.
00:48:34 The final nail in his coffin is not another warning,
00:48:37 but it is an infallible and unbreakable consolation
00:48:43 that my sheep, they can't lose themselves
00:48:49 even if they tried.
00:48:51 if you belong to me you will always belong to me
00:48:57 because as deuteronomy says the people of god who've been saved truly saved by grace through
00:49:06 faith in christ alone they are his treasured possession that when it comes to your relationship
00:49:14 with christ the best term that's ever used to describe us is bride that's the best term and
00:49:24 even that one's offensive for every man in the room everything else besides bride is like sheep
00:49:32 and then some of them are sheep would be a step in the right direction some of them are just
00:49:39 inanimate objects like you're like a lost coin okay great is it at least a silver dollar like
00:49:49 what kind what coin are we talking about how much value is there like you know like
00:49:52 but deuteronomy says you are his treasured possession he owns you your property
00:50:02 and here's the immense comfort in being property of the lord jesus christ because if we're his
00:50:11 property and he is the owner then the full onus of stewardship falls on him and not us
00:50:21 the question is does jesus not can a christian lose christ if that was the proper theological
00:50:29 question can a christian lose christ then the answer would be certainly yes because christians
00:50:38 born again as we are with new hearts as we have as new creatures as we are all those things be
00:50:44 they as they might a christian is still at the end of the day a finite creature and a sinner
00:50:51 if the question is can christian lose christ a christian can lose anything
00:50:57 But the proper question is, can Christ ever lose a Christian?
00:51:03 And the answer to that question is a resounding no.
00:51:09 Christ doesn't lose his sheep.
00:51:12 Try as we might to get lost, Christ doesn't lose his sheep.
00:51:20 He is the great shepherd.
00:51:23 going on the new covenant we can be sure of the efficacy of the new covenant because god does not
00:51:32 leave us without the proper resources to do his will many will agree that god generously provides
00:51:39 resources but they insist that christians are left alone by god to put those resources into use
00:51:47 on their own. In other words, many Christians believe that the new covenant is only as sure
00:51:53 as we are strong. And yet, the author wants to leave his hearers with abundant certainty
00:52:00 that their covenantal relationship with God is eternally secure. Therefore, he reminds them
00:52:08 of the premier characteristic which makes the new covenant not just different, but actually
00:52:15 superior to the old covenant. Namely, that God holds up both sides of the bargain. God promises
00:52:24 not only to thoroughly equip his people with the necessary resources for doing his will, but he
00:52:31 actually works in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. That's verse 21 of our
00:52:41 text and this is not the only place in scripture that espouses this principle philippians chapter
00:52:49 2 verse 12 through 13 therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed so now not only as in my
00:52:57 presence but much more in my absence work out your salvation with fear and trembling
00:53:04 There is a responsibility, a weighty responsibility upon the Christian
00:53:11 to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.
00:53:16 That's often where we stop reading the text.
00:53:21 But although that is true, in the same breath it is simultaneously true,
00:53:26 verse 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure
00:53:37 God requires he resources us by his spirit with new natures new hearts faith repentance
00:53:49 spiritual gifts the Holy Spirit himself the third member of the Trinity given as a deposit
00:53:55 guaranteeing our inheritance that is to come all those resources and he still doesn't even stop
00:54:01 there he then further requires us with all that we've been given to work our out our salvation
00:54:08 and fear and trembling but then he begins to work in us that which is good and pleasing in his sight
00:54:15 he works in us both to will that is to choose and to work to live for his good pleasure
00:54:23 god works in the christian both their life and their choice of trusting in jesus
00:54:32 there is a condition for salvation the late great rc sproul used to say it like this
00:54:41 you say i'm sick and tired of hearing people say that god's love is unconditional unconditional
00:54:47 love of God the reckless love of God if God's love is unconditional then why does he set the
00:54:54 condition to repent yes and amen R.C. Sproul further goes on to say and yet in his mercy
00:55:03 there is a condition and God sets the condition and he also meets the condition
00:55:11 There are terms.
00:55:14 What I'm saying, brothers and sisters, is that there are terms of the covenant.
00:55:20 There are terms of the covenant.
00:55:23 There are always terms with the covenant.
00:55:27 Covenants are always made in blood.
00:55:31 There are always benefits, always judgments, penalties.
00:55:36 And there are always terms on both sides.
00:55:41 But the beauty of the new covenant is not that it comes to us without conditions.
00:55:47 The beauty of the new covenant is that there is the condition to trust and obey.
00:55:55 And God meets that condition in us.
00:56:00 The new covenant is not merely bigger than the old in terms of its breadth and scope.
00:56:07 But the new covenant is better than the old.
00:56:11 in terms of the depth of its promises.
00:56:15 The new covenant is superior to the old
00:56:18 because it is founded upon better promises.
00:56:22 It is not merely that the new covenant is for you and your children as the old,
00:56:27 but also for those who are far off,
00:56:30 having a wider audience.
00:56:31 That would be an improvement, and it is.
00:56:35 But the new covenant is better not merely that it has a wider audience,
00:56:39 but it also has deeper and better promises.
00:56:45 And the premier, better, superior promise of the new covenant to the old
00:56:50 is not that it comes without conditions,
00:56:53 but that it comes with the promise of God to fulfill the conditions on both sides.
00:56:59 The benefit of the new covenant that makes it superior to the old
00:57:04 is that the new covenant has a 100% retention rate.
00:57:09 The new covenant allows for no one to fall through the cracks.
00:57:17 The new covenant not only brings people in, but it keeps them in.
00:57:26 This grace that saves us keeps us.
00:57:32 And at this point in my ministry, that's pretty much the only reason I'm still technically a Baptist.
00:57:39 is because I believe that the new covenant
00:57:43 allows for no apostates.
00:57:48 That there are stricter judgments
00:57:50 for those who break the covenant.
00:57:53 But that what's so beautiful about the new covenant
00:57:56 is that there are no covenant breakers.
00:57:59 Because God holds up both sides.
00:58:03 God does not allow for the covenant to be broken.
00:58:07 i still certainly have covenantal categories outside of the new covenant even in this gospel
00:58:16 age the invisible and universal new covenant church but beyond that the visible church
00:58:24 the church institute beyond that further the kingdom of god which i believe is an even larger
00:58:31 category that is covenantal in a sense that's even beyond the visible church you see the parable of
00:58:38 jesus about fishing with a net and all these fish come into the net but then they're they're separated
00:58:45 after the fishing is done after they've been caught some are bad fish and they're thrown away
00:58:50 some are good fish and they're kept what is that net jesus says this is what the kingdom is like
00:58:57 that net doesn't represent the new covenant that some in the new covenant are truly internal
00:59:06 covenant members with the decretal elect but others are merely external new covenant members
00:59:13 that will be judged even more strictly as covenant breakers and ultimately prove apostates that's not
00:59:21 the parable the parable is not the new covenant that some are actually in and some aren't really
00:59:27 in now the parable is describing not the new covenant but the kingdom and the kingdom catches
00:59:33 eventually progressively throughout history the kingdom will catch all the fish all the nations
00:59:42 will flock to him all the fish in the world will be caught by this net of the kingdom
00:59:50 not all necessarily will be regenerate a part of the new covenant by faith but all under the
00:59:59 banner of chrysidom and we've seen this just in the last thousand years of chrysidom in western
01:00:05 civilization we have so many people still to this day even though we're coming off of about
01:00:12 a hundred hundred and fifty years of chrysidom being eroded in the west even despite this recent
01:00:19 erosion, there are still unbelievers and pagans that have commonalities and agreements with us
01:00:26 about certain things, even though they hate Christ. They're not new covenant members, but they are in
01:00:32 this kingdom net. They can't help but be in this kingdom net. They presuppose certain things that
01:00:39 are only true because Jesus is Lord. That are only true, not because classical liberalism
01:00:47 and principled pluralism are viable options. No. They believed certain things because our nation
01:00:55 wasn't founded on atheism and polytheism, but because our nation was founded on the principles 0.99
01:01:01 of the Bible, and the fumes of that Christian society are still there, and so it made it appear 0.81
01:01:10 as though classical liberalism or libertarianism were viable options, when reality, these things 0.98
01:01:16 were propped up by chrysidom and as chrysidom further erodes we find out that principled
01:01:23 pluralism gets you drag queen story hour that's what that gets you
01:01:29 which is why i'm a christian nationalist i prefer the term general equity theonomist
01:01:37 or mere chrysidome like wilson would say post-millennial jesus wins it all nanny nanny
01:01:44 boo-boo that would be a great title too whatever fill in the blank but christian nationalists will
01:01:48 suffice the whole world is going to be caught up in this net of the kingdom but that is a different
01:02:00 net a different covenant in a sense than the new covenant the beauty brothers and sisters of the
01:02:07 new covenant, is that that net, it only catches good fish. There's no bad fish in that net.
01:02:18 There's no goats in that net. There's only sheep. So that if someone is truly born again by grace
01:02:29 through faith in Christ alone, if they're truly a member of the new covenant,
01:02:34 there is no apostasy there are no covenant breakers
01:02:42 the same grace that saves them will be faithful to keep them god sets conditions
01:02:49 but he meets those conditions by working in us both our will and our lives our choice and our work
01:03:01 to keep us in that covenant so here at the end of hebrews we see that jesus although there are
01:03:11 stark warnings for those who fall away we see that jesus is the great shepherd who will not
01:03:18 lose his own and we see furthermore in verse 21 which says he has equipped us with everything
01:03:29 good he's thoroughly resourced us that you may do his will but he not only resources us so that
01:03:37 we can do the right thing but he further is working in us that which is pleasing in his sight
01:03:44 so jesus is the great shepherd who will not lose his sheep that's the headline the principle
01:03:51 how he accomplishes keeping his sheep is that he resources us but he also works in us the old
01:04:00 covenant resourced israel god did not fail israel according to the flesh that was not god's
01:04:10 negligence or oversight god resourced national israel with everything they needed
01:04:19 he resourced them with all the specificity of the tabernacle and the temple and the the levitical
01:04:25 order and the priesthood and and all the way down to their robes and tassels and garments
01:04:31 his law written on tablets of stone his prophets everything they needed everything the problem with
01:04:38 the old covenant remember the vast majority of israel died in unbelief you want to talk about
01:04:44 retention rates. The retention rate of the old covenant is, is it well over 90% of them go to
01:04:50 hell. It's not a good rate, but that's not because God didn't resource them. He gave them everything.
01:04:59 He, he wrote his law even on the hearts of all men. This is a imago Dei doctrine, not just
01:05:07 particular to Israel or to Christians. All people, Gentiles, that's Romans 1, that's Romans 2.
01:05:13 Even Gentiles, all people made in the image of God with God's law written on their hearts, 0.68
01:05:18 the conscience that testifies to the glory and holy moral standards of God. God has resourced 0.92
01:05:24 all men in his common grace. And he particularly resourced Israelites under the old covenant.
01:05:34 And they go to hell. What God does in the new covenant is he doesn't just give us better 0.90
01:05:40 resources he makes us succeed he leaves us with no option he says here's all the resources
01:05:52 and i'm going to work in you the faith and obedience that i require
01:05:58 i will not let you fall i won't
01:06:05 so in conclusion throughout the book of hebrews christ has been portrayed to us
01:06:12 as the final perfect and clearest revelation of god that was hebrews 1 verse 2 the one who is
01:06:21 superior to the angels and worshiped even by them that was hebrews 1 verse 6 through 10
01:06:26 the pioneer of our salvation who was made perfect through suffering hebrews 2 verse 10
01:06:33 the one who became flesh that by his death he could free us from the fear of death that was
01:06:42 Hebrews 2 14 the one who is superior to Moses just as a son is superior to a servant that was
01:06:50 Hebrews 3 5 the sympathetic and merciful high priest who makes a way to the throne of grace
01:06:57 that's Hebrews 4, 14 through 16, the mediator of a new and better covenant which engraves God's
01:07:04 laws on our hearts, that's Hebrews 8, 10 through 12, the one who purifies our consciences, that's
01:07:13 Hebrews 9, verse 14, the one who ended all sacrifices by becoming the final and perfectly
01:07:20 sufficient sacrifice. Hebrews 9 26. The author and perfecter of our faith. That's Hebrews 12
01:07:28 verse 2. And lastly, the one who will never leave us or forsake us, but will be faithful to help us
01:07:35 forever. That was Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 and 6. In other words, Christ is enough.
01:07:44 the overarching singular point of the epistle to the hebrews is this jesus is sufficient 0.90
01:07:53 the hebrew christians were being tempted to hedge their bets and return back to the old covenant
01:08:01 the apostle writes to them and says jesus is sufficient everything that you want to use
01:08:09 to hedge your bets everything you want to use to supplement your salvation jesus provides that
01:08:18 in a superior fashion jesus is a better sacrifice than bulls and goats he's a better priest than
01:08:26 levitical order he's forever a priest in the order of michelzadek he's more compassionate
01:08:32 and sympathetic and simultaneously more holy and righteous. He's a better priest. He's the
01:08:40 better temple. He's a better sacrifice. He offers a better covenant. He's a better shepherd. So
01:08:48 don't go back to Jerusalem because if you do, it won't be that you lose your salvation,
01:08:57 but it'll be proof that you never had it your desire to hedge your bet is proof not that you
01:09:06 have too little faith in jesus but then in real terms speaking of genuine saving faith
01:09:14 you have no faith in jesus the demand of jesus upon the christian upon all people because the
01:09:22 gospel is a command for the record. The command of Jesus upon all people is that they believe in him
01:09:31 and that they do not trust in anything else. That's it. All Jesus asked for is your complete
01:09:40 undying allegiance. That's all he asked for. He's the water without price. There's no cost.
01:09:52 There's no price.
01:09:54 You get to walk into the store
01:09:56 and pick up Jesus, as it were,
01:10:00 and walk out without spending a dime.
01:10:03 The trick is, you only can pick up Jesus.
01:10:08 And everything else in the store has to be left behind.
01:10:13 When you put it in those terms,
01:10:16 the gospel is the freest offer ever given.
01:10:20 and yet undying allegiance to christ is the tallest order we could ever imagine
01:10:27 but the beauty is that he wills and works in us that faith that trust and that obedience
01:10:38 so that we love christ above all else let's pray father we thank you for your words we thank you
01:10:46 for this season in the life of our church seeing the person and work of jesus seeing the superiority
01:10:54 the finality and the sufficiency of christ we are not first century jews tempted by judaism
01:11:05 as the immediate audience was for this letter but the principle and concept remains the same
01:11:14 each of us are tempted in a myriad of ways every day to hedge our bets,
01:11:21 to think that we'll trust in Jesus,
01:11:23 but we really need to also trust just a little bit in something else too.
01:11:30 Father, we repent of that sin.
01:11:34 We pray, Lord, that you would grant to us fidelity,
01:11:39 that Covenant Bible Church would not be a spiritually adulterous church,
01:11:44 that we would be a faithful bride,
01:11:47 that we would trust in Christ alone,
01:11:50 we would be wise and prepared for the difficult season
01:11:52 that very likely is before us,
01:11:55 politically, culturally, morally, economically,
01:11:58 that we would not be fools in our faith,
01:12:01 but that our faith would be genuine,
01:12:04 that we would prepare for the future,
01:12:07 but that we would not trust in idols,
01:12:10 that we would not trust in princes,
01:12:14 or chariots or horses that we would trust in Jesus alone to the praise of your glorious grace
01:12:23 and for our eternal good it's in Jesus name that we pray these things amen can I be frank with you
01:12:31 for just a second right here at the end look some of you guys you're financially supporting this
01:12:36 ministry and from the bottom of my heart I say thank you I cannot thank you enough however some
01:12:43 of you, you just, you can't afford it. In fact, some of you, you shouldn't afford it. Let's be
01:12:50 honest. I mean, we're living in Joe Biden's ridiculous economy. Our nation and our totalitarian 0.97
01:12:57 political elites lost their minds over the last three years due to COVID. We have written checks
01:13:05 that we simply cannot cash. It doesn't matter if people change the definition of a recession.
01:13:11 We are living in a recession right now, regardless.
01:13:16 Some of you are struggling to afford a carton of eggs at the grocery store.
01:13:21 You cannot support financially this ministry at this time, nor should you, but you could
01:13:27 still help us tremendously.
01:13:30 I am asking you, please, if you're willing to do so, take one minute of your time.
01:13:35 Leave us a five-star review on your favorite podcast platform, iTunes, Spotify, whatever that
01:13:42 might be. This is the way the system works. We want to be innocent as doves but shrewd as vipers.
01:13:49 We need to be strategic. You leave us a five-star review and our podcast shows up for more people.
01:13:56 And the Word of God and courageous theology applied in practical ways to every realm of life
01:14:03 gets out there. Help us get it out there. Thanks for tuning in.