Sermon
Episode 52: Christianity in one word
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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In the name of the Glorious Trinity.
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Father and Son and Holy Spirit forever.
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Amen. Glory be to the Everlasting
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mercies which sent you to us. Oh, Christ the light of the
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world and the life of all give us wisdom by your law and
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Enlighten our impulses, by your knowledge sanctify, our souls by
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your truth and Grant that we may be obedient to your words and
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may fulfill your Commandments at every hour.
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O you who enlightens the rationale with the knowledge of
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your greatness? Do Enlighten?
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Oh my Lord, our thoughts that we made meditate upon your holy and
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divine scriptures at all times O Lord of all Father and Son and
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Holy Spirit. Sometimes I'm asked to Define
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Christianity in one word and there's one word that always
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comes to mind and we throw it around here and there and
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everywhere is the word. Grace Christianity is a religion
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of Grace, the grace of God, through Jesus Christ, and Grace
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is defined as an extension of the love compassion and mercy of
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God. In Romans, The five verses, 89
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Saint, Paul writes here, God demonstrates his love for us.
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Because, if, when we were Sinners, that means deserving of
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Eternal damnation. That is the privation of a
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relationship with God, Eternal punishment in Hell.
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The Messiah Christ died for our place, in our place or died for
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us. How much more, therefore, would
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we all more be justified Now by his blood?
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That is the blood of Jesus Christ and be delivered.
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The Wrath by him. This is Grace.
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Beloved Grace is not when you show love to someone who loves
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you. Grace is not when you love
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someone, who is your friend, your family or relative Grace is
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showing love and charity to a person that is hurt.
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You that has wronged you or even you don't know.
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So while we were yet, sinners when we were Sinners Jesus
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Christ, the son of God died, add on our behalf and that's the
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grace of God. One of the gifts of the grace of
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God is that he has one of many and one that really strikes me
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is that he has declared us to be.
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Now, listen to this us, meaning Christians, those who have
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believed in Jesus Christ, and have been baptized in his name,
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in the name of the Trinity and a received his holy spirit, God
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has declared us to be sharers. Of the divine nature.
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We have a divine nature. That's what we are called, God's
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we to our God. We too are Christians
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christ-like. We to ungodly Godlike and this
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all by Grace. We read this in Second Epistle
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of st. Peter 1:4.
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So the question is, how do we respond to Grace?
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What is Our obligation to this Grace?
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What is it that we have to strive in order to appease lack
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of a better term? Appease the grace of God.
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Second Peter chapter 1 verses 5 to 7.
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Peter goes on to say and when this has happened that we are
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sharers of the divine nature, Now we need to bring all
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diligence and add to your faith. Listen to these words.
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We're going to talk about these add to our faith virtue.
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Meaning believing that Jesus Christ.
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God, his father has saved us through the blood of his Christ
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by his grace believing that we need to add to that Faith.
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This is the response to Beloved virtue.
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We're going to talk about these, excuse me, and onto our virtue
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knowledge, and onto knowledge, perseverance, and onto
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perseverance patience. And to patience the worship of
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God. But on to the worship, that
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means fear and love of God, the affection of the Brotherhood but
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onto affection of the Brotherhood.
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He ended up with love. Let's define this beloved.
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And here, I'm going to refer to the commentaries of the Blessed
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theophil Act of quoted him and mentioned him a few times.
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The Blessed, the awful Act was a Byzantine Archbishop of awkward
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or accreta. What is known Bulgaria now and
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this is circuit. 1050 1108, he writes this in second Peter one.
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Saint Peter. Lays out the Order which we
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ought to follow to come into full maturity.
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Our response to the grace of God, our reaction to the grace
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of God, first comes comes Faith, obviously Faith, which is the
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foundation and source of all good works, Romans 10:9.
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Saint Paul writes. And if you will confess with
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your mouth, our lord Jesus, and you will believe believe in your
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heart that God has raised him from the dead.
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You shall have life. That is new life with Jesus
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Christ. There's another simple equation.
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We talked about this last episode about.
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Excuse me. How to how to what actions to
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take. When someone has wronged you
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this is another equation. Not just build merely believe in
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Jesus Christ Mellie. Many believe in Jesus.
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Some believe that he was a very good profit.
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No, he was not just a very good profit.
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He was a perfect prophet. He was the prophet of the
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prophets, some believe that Jesus Christ was the nice and
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the good brother of Satan. Satan was the bad brother.
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This is blasphemy. This is heresy.
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And, and, you know, I only mention it as ridicule.
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So believing in Jesus Christ is great, is the first and
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foremost, but we must believe this is this is the, the essence
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of Christianity beloved. And you must believe in your
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heart that God has raised him from the dead because of Jesus
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was not raised from the dead. Then our faith.
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Saint Paul says, is invalid. There's nothing in our faith.
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That's why we must believe. There is a reason why you must
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believe. We believe in the resurrection
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of Our Lord. So that we confirm our own
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Resurrection. This is what we need to believe
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in. Jesus Christ, the son of God,
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Lord Christ, praise be trees, name the Lord, the Christ, the
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son of God, but also believe in our hearts that God has raised
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him. Why Romans 10, sorry, Romans
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6:3, 24 verses 32, for those of us who were baptized into Jesus,
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the Messiah. That is the Christ.
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Were baptized into his death. Listen to this, we were buried
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with him in baptism into death for as Jesus.
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The Christ arose. From among the dead in the glory
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of his father. This is why we ask believe in
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our hearts, that Jesus was resurrected by God, his father
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in this way. We also shall walk in New Life
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that we have a new life with Jesus Christ, and that new life
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will extend into the Kingdom of Heaven.
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If we remain steadfast in our life and we continue to appease
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him and to follow him and to believe him and to trust him and
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to live in his life because he is the way the truth and life
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St. John chrysostom writes about
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baptism. Listen to what he says, what
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does being baptized into his death?
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Mean that it is with a view to our dying as he did for baptism
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is the cross. So what the cross and burial is
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to Christ that baptism has been to us even if it if not in the
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same respects, why for he Jesus died himself.
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He wasn't. It wasn't a sinner.
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He wasn't worthy of death, death wasn't proclaimed upon him.
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No, it was proclaimed on, man. That's why you took our flesh.
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For, he died, himself and buried in the flesh.
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But we have done both to sin, but yet it is the death of Jesus
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Christ, and the resurrection, which we must believe.
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So, first and foremost comes, faith and st.
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Paul writes, the two amazing. Specs of faith, that Jesus
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Christ is Lord, but we must also believe in his resurrection in
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the Nicene Creed. We continue that.
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Not only, we believe in Jesus Christ who died and suffered in
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the died and was buried and rose and third on the ascended, I was
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sorry, I'm sorry rose on the third day is ascended into
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heaven. If we stay and remain there, our
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faith is flawed but we believe that he will return.
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This is the faith that we need. So you believe that you believe
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Jesus is the son of God. Meaning God himself, praise be
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to his name sinless. Perfect took on our flesh.
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Fulfilled his ministry for three years and was captured and
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wrongly judged and was beaten battered.
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He suffered, he was crucified. He died, he was buried, he rose
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on the third day ascended into heaven after 40 days.
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And then we'll come back again. Great, that's first step.
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The Blessed. The old select goes on to say,
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now this is our response to the grace of God, having faith.
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Next comes virtue. Excuse me by, which means good
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works for without good works, our faith is dead, it's so
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simple. So simple.
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Please read James 2:26 and of correct st.
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James, if we believe the scriptures are breathe and
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inspired by the Holy Spirit of Kur.
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Same James to justify our own ideology or our own
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understanding of the Holy scriptures.
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No, James put, it very simply faith without Deeds is dead, our
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Good Deeds, beloved, our Good Deeds, which are essential and
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necessary, why? They also assure as assure us,
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that we have been created in Jesus Christ.
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Listen to what Paul writes to the Ephesians 2:10.
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For we are his creation worker who are created in Jesus, the
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Christ for good works. Those things which God had from
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the first prepare that we should walk in them virtue.
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Shabbir, dobar a well-mannered, good works morality ethics.
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Then next comes on to Virtue knowledge.
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That is an understanding of the secret things hidden in God, the
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Mysteries, which are not revealed to everyone.
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Beloved, you know, many people cannot cannot see the, the the
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mystery in Jesus Christ. The Mystery of the Incarnation,
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The Mystery of the Resurrection, The Mystery of the miraculous
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birth. Why?
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Because Only those who continue Faithfully in the works already
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mentioned about. They to those will be revealed
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the mysteries of God. We are to increase knowledge.
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In what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing to God.
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Romans 12:2 So after virtue comes knowledge to increase on
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none upon our knowledge abstinence Temperance and
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self-control. Why why does some Saint Paul
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include self-control? So that when we do possess the
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virtues and knowledge and the face?
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So that we are not puffed up, we are not haughty.
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We're not arrogant, we're not disdain lack of respect as a
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result and many people do fall into that Temptation into those
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snares because they notice how to quote scriptures, you know,
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some people Define Christianity, as when you're when you can
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quote scriptures left, right? And Center sometimes out of
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context and sometimes those scriptures are not relative to
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what you're talking about or what the what the topic of the
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situation is. So when we do have faith, we
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have virtue, we know the, the mysteries of God have been have
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been revealed to us. We need to have self-control All
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to Humble ourselves. Always always be humble.
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Beloved, there is not one person that has walked the earth.
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That is all knowing that can do everything that is everywhere.
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Omniscient, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent the Lord
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Jesus Christ. Yet, he humbled himself to the
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point where he washed his disciples feet.
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And he took the spittle, and I always said, because In Sunday's
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the Madden's the prayers that was mentioned, that he's telling
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Jesus tells Simon that. I took that spit on your behalf
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right yet, he humbled himself but he was all-knowing
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omnipresent omniscient and omni-benevolent have to think
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about those. I'm sorry so to Humble
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ourselves. Taff self-control. if we know,
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As much as we know we should always declare that we know
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nothing because every day beloved God puts us to shame
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when we think we know and God reveals something to us, we
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crumble away and think oh why didn't know that yeah God's
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telling you listen don't puff up and be haughty you know nothing
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you think you know me you think you know of me you know nothing
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of me because no man can know complete me.
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A of me and who I am or what I am no but what is revealed to
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you in the mystery and that according to the will of the
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Holy Spirit, then comes patience.
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Which is an attribute of the 1. Corinthians chapter 13, lab.
1 Corinthians 13 chapter mention
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We're going to talk about that. Next, episode patients follows
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next because it takes time. Beloved to acquire Temperance,
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it takes time for you to grow in faith.
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It takes time for you to increase your virtues to gain.
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Virtues The Good Deeds to fulfill the Good Deeds.
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It takes time to know the mysteries of God and he also
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takes time to build self control.
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Sometimes we rush ourselves sometimes because I'm not like
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my friend is in faith in his knowledge and his virtues.
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We tend to discuss be discouraged, but be patient.
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God is patient with you, you know, God is so patient with us.
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It is us who are impatient with ourselves.
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We want to rush things if we're a little bit at Heron and we
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listen to the word of God and the voice of God.
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He is telling us don't, I'm not, I'm not rushing with.
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You impatient with you? I understand your flaws.
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I had missed and your weakness. You have been given an ability
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to take your time. Someone else has that capability
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know to to get it as soon as they hear it.
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You know I have to sometimes read, I'm reading a news article
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or even the scriptures or the church fathers commentaries.
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I have to read a sentence, maybe three or four times and it maybe
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I've Go back and read it word by word if you okay he's talking to
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me are such as okay. This is what I ended.
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I understand it but there are some people will read it and off
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the bat, they understand it. But that doesn't mean that.
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I don't know. And I don't have faith, I don't
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have virtues time be patient with yourself.
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First of all, with god with yourself and with others were
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going to talk about that next. Next episode His beloved
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increases our trust in God. Writes the Blessed theophil acts
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which is why godliness then comes first the more we are like
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God the more we become like God with our faith virtue is
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knowledge abstinence patients. The more we are like God, there
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are we trust in God, the more we are patient, we trust in God,
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which is why godliness is next to increase on your patience
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godliness. And as I said, The more we are
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like God, the more we are compelled by that likeness to to
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do what to create another world. No.
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To, you know, give salvation to another who can introduce people
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to Christ. Through whom is only salvation,
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no to brotherly love, which is the next on the list.
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Brotherly, love the 1 Corinthians 13.
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Love patient. Long-suffering and sweet
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pleasant. Kind love the an envious love
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the non upset and puffed up love the Shameless selfless.
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Well-mannered moral love the Revocable and clean minded.
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Love the evil hating love the truth loving.
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Love an enduring believing hopeful and bearing love
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beloved. Why?
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Because God is love, and The Godly must also, portray and
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reflect that love writes, the Blessed the effect.
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So this must be our response to Grace.
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Not only to In it. No need to use it to to
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sometimes. And you know, I'm sorry to say
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to condemn people to hell because they don't know Grey's,
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they don't understand Grace. No, you leave that to god.
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Let's leave hell and heaven to God beloved.
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Let's leave the righteous Judgment of God to the righteous
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judge. Not you and no one else because
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God is the only righteous God who judges without partiality.
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What you and I need to do is in order to understand Grace, is to
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have a response to this grace. And that is number one to
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believe in that Grace on our faith to increase that virtue.
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Good Deeds because of the grace of God and on the Good Deeds,
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the knowledge that is to know the mysteries of God and then to
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abstain have Self-control not to be buff, puffed, up and have
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patience so that we can be patient with ourselves and
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others. And God, firstly and then on
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patience godliness, that means being more like God and ending
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it with brotherly. Love, this should be our
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response. This should be our, our
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gratitude, to the grace of God because when we Face the
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ultimate judgment God God is not going to ask you.
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When I to define grace, just knowing what Grace he is, and no
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one should dare to say. I understand it fully no, no,
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knowing what Grace is and who Graces from and who threw, I'm
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sorry, and who gave us the grace, which is God through his
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son, knowing it is like the person who he is the word of
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God, and does not fulfill it in Jesus, liking that person to a
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foolish person but when we he the grace of God and we have a
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understanding enough for us to move in faith, virtue knowledge,
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and what we have been speaking about and the God of all love
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and constellation will grant us his Blissful Kingdom when the
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day comes to judge us according to his perfect righteousness,
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righteousness, praise and glory. Be to his name now in at all
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times of wherever I'm at We hope you enjoyed this week's
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message. Please don't forget to rate and
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Until next time, God bless you all.