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hi and welcome to the channel So today
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we're going to be looking at four
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beliefs that the early church had which
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modern day Evangelical churches do not
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believe anymore so why is it important
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to look at what the early church
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believed because the early church was
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operating very close to the time Jesus
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and his disciples were alive so they
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would naturally practice and believe
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what they had been handed down by Jesus
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and the disciples and the early
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Apostles so I'm only looking at four
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major differences there are many more
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but I think that these four are
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extremely important because it's I think
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these are areas where our modern day
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church has uh lost its way to a certain
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extent so the fourth belief that I'm
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going to be discussing is to me the most
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concerning because today's Church by not
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teaching what the early church taught
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could be put in millions of people at
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risk of losing their salvation or not
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actually truly being saved
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because Jesus may tell them on the last
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day away from me I knew you not and send
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them to hell so the first thing I want
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to look at is that the early church had
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a radical view on wealth and possessions
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many Evangelical churches today believe
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that wealth and prosperity is a sign of
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of God's blessing but that actually
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can't be furthered from the truth of
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what the early church believed so the
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early church believed unanimously that
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wealth was dangerous and it could
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threaten your salvation if you who
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pursued wealth and they believe that
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followers of Jesus should live simply
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and care for the poor I just want to
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read you a quote from Clement of
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Alexandria ad1 195 he wrote it is not
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the one who has and keeps but the one
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who gives away who is Rich for it is by
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being liberally benevolent that one is
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wealthy and not by mere
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possession tatulian in ad 200s condemned
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the love of money and he said nothing is
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more foreign to Christians than the
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things of the world we renounce riches
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and possessions that we may not be
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enslaved by them cyprian of Carthage in
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a250 said the prosperity of the rich
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holds them in Chains they think they
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possessed but they are possessed slaves
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to their wealth they are not masters of
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their money but its servants we want to
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compare this to today's Evangelical
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culture where many desire wealth and
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reject it and many see wealth and
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possessions as blessings from God
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majority of Evangelical Christians
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believe that working their way up the
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career ladder getting bigger houses
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bigger
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cars more material possessions the
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latest gadgets the best tech in their
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house the children going to the very
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best schools having enough money to you
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know travel see the world do all the
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things they want to do they see that as
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a blessing from God whereas the early
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church Christians would have seen that
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as extremely dangerous and something
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that eventually might even risk your
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salvation it's harder for a camel to go
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through the eye of a needle than for a
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rich man to enter Heaven Acts 2 44-45
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says and all the Believers were together
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and held all things in common they sold
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property and possessions and shared with
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anyone who was in need I have never been
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to a church there anything like that in
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the 30 years since I became a Christian
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this leads us on to the second belief
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that the early church had that most
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evangelicals today do not have and that
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is the early Christians believe that
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they needed to die to themselves to pick
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up their cross and follow Jesus whereas
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we look if we look at the message given
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by today's Evangelical churches this
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often emphasizes self-improvement
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happiness and success but the early
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church believed that suffering for
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Christ was a blessing completely the
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opposite to what most Evangelical
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Christians believe today tulian in ad2
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200 said the blood of the martyrs is the
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seed of the church cyprian in ad250 said
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the world has grown old in avarice and
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pride let us stand apart from it as
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strangers and bear the Cross of Christ
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the early church expected suffering
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while modern churches expect blessings
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and ease Jesus said in Luke 9:23 whoever
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wants to be my disciple must deny
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themselves take up their cross and
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follow me so these teachings stem from
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the Prosperity Gospel which began to be
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taught about I think it's about 30 years
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ago originally and if you go into most
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churches now it seems a sign of God's
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blessing if you're healthy and you're
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wealthy and everything is going well for
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you if you're poor and you're not
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healthy it's seen as somehow a curse on
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your life uh maybe something that you're
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entertaining sin in an area which you
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haven't repented of or you're not having
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enough Faith I've seen people condemned
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when I've been going to church for not
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having enough faith I remember a time I
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watched a lady being prayed for who was
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I think she was elderly in her mid-70s 8
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late 7s maybe I was just in a corridor
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watching her being prayed for and the
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person that prayed for her I remember
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her saying to her you need to have more
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faith um and this lady had um an ongoing
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issue health issue which was not going
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to be cured um and she suffered from it
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for many years and had many treatments
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and had many people praying for her and
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afterwards when the lady who was praying
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for her walked away she just looked
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across at me and she sort of smiled a
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weak smile and rolled her eyes and I
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knew that she'd
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been subjected to that kind of prayer
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over and over again whereas God probably
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wanted to meet her in her need and do a
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deeper work within her to reveal more of
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himself to her suffering is a mark of
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the Cross and it's something that we
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should bear not so much with the joy but
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knowing that actually we are marked by
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Jesus as his the when we suffer in this
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world for
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him whereas today's Evangelical Church
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sees it sees it completely opposite to
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that we are marked as his when we are
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blessed when we are rich when we are
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prosperous when our businesses do well
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when we have mean maybe God gives us a a
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bigger house and a bigger car or even an
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airplane so now I want to look at the
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third area where the modern Evangelical
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Church has strayed far from what the
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early church believed and I want to look
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at the area of marriage divorce and
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remarriage and what the early church
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believed and what modernday Evangelical
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churches believe today so the early
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church unanimously believed if you
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married again while your first spouse
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was still alive you would be committing
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adultery and that went for both husbands
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and wives there are many verses in the
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New Testament that support this belief
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I'll just read a few of them so Luke
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16:18 whoever divorces his wife and
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marries another commits adultery and
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whoever marries her that is divorced
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from her husband commits
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adultery Mark 10 11-12 and he said to
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them whoever divorces his wife and
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marries another commits adultery against
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her and if a woman divorces her husband
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and marries another she commits adultery
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Roman 7 2 to 3 the woman which has a
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husband is bound by the law to to her
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husband as long as he lives but if he is
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dead she is loose from the law of her
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husband so then if while a husband is
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alive she marries another man she will
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be called an
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adulteress 1 Corinthians 71021 and unto
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the married I command yet not I but the
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Lord let not the wife depart from her
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husband but if she departs let her
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remain unmarried or be reconciled to her
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husband and let not the husband divorce
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his wife so there we have some Bible
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verses and now I want to give you some
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quotes from the early church fathers on
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divorce and remarriage so hermas in 140
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ad said if a wife or a husband separates
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they must remain unmarried or be
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reconciled tulan around 200 ad said we
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maintain that it is not lawful to marry
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while the former husband or wife is
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living Olen in 248 ad said a woman is an
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adulterous even though she seems to be
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married to another man if her first
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husband is still alive hermus also
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said when he was asked the question
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about an adulterous
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wife let the husband divorce her if she
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commits adultery but let him after abide
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alone because likewise he commits
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adultery if he marries again Justin Mar
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said all that are twice married in human
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law are in the eye of our Master Sinners
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so we can see that the Bible and the
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early church teaches that to marry again
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while your first pass is alive is
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adultery so the early church interpreted
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Matthew
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199 as meaning that a man could divorce
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his wife if she committed
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fornication but if he married another he
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would commit adultery whereas today's
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Church interprets his first to say that
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you can divorce your husband or wife if
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they commit adultery and you can REM Mar
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and that's okay but if we look at the
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construction of this verse it says
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whoever divorces his wife and then in
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commas accept it be for
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fornication and shall marry another
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commits adultery so the accepted beef of
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fornication modifies the first part of
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that verse doesn't it so whoever
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divorces his wife except it be for
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fornication so the early church believed
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that a man could divorce his wife for
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forn ation but it doesn't modify the
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second part of the verse so basically
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what it's saying is whoever divorces his
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wife except for fornication so you could
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divorce fornication but then it says and
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marries another commits adultery so they
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believe that this verse meant you could
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divorce your wife for fornication but
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you still couldn't marry again it would
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still be adultery if you married again
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which is not how our modern day
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evangelical church now interprets that
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verse and also there are some
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interpreters that believe that this
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verse is speaking specific specifically
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to the betral period because in the in
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in jesus' days there was a custom called
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the betral which is a bit like our
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engagement so you got betrothed and to
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your wife to be a year before you
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actually got married and in that betral
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period you were called husband and wife
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even though you hadn't officially got
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married and been through the ceremony
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yeah if we look in Matthew 1 19 we can
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see that Joseph was considering uh
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divorcing Mary because he thought she'd
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commit a fornication because she was
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pregnant they were only betrayed they
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weren't officially married they hadn't
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been through the marriage
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ceremony so in those days a betr couple
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were called husband and wife and so
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therefore many believe that this verse
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could that's what this verse could be
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speaking to because Matthew was written
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to the Jews but for either of those
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interpretations this verse does not
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allow for remarriage and as I said
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unanimously none of the early Church
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believe that you could marry again after
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divorce and if you did they believed it
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was adultery so if we look at the
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evangelical church today it allows for
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divorce and remarriage for any reason
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you you can just divorce your husband or
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wife because you just don't like them
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anymore or you don't you just don't you
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just want to be free um you you just
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want to marry your adultery partner
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uh you you know you're not attracted
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them to them anymore maybe um you just
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don't like their personality or they're
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not earning enough money or you just see
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someone you like like better you can
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divorce for all those reasons and marry
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again in the church and no one will bat
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an eyelid so this is another area where
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the modern day Evangelical
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Church his beliefs are far different
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than the early church beliefs so we can
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trace the allowance for divorce and
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remarriage back to Martin Luther in the
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Reformation because that that time he
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stated that you could divorce and Remar
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if your husband or wife had uh committed
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adult Tre or abandoned you whereas this
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nowhere in scripture does it say this so
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the final belief I want to look at the
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fourth belief I want to look at is on
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the in the area of Salvation which I
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think is the most critical area because
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if you are at risk of losing your
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salvation or not being truly converted
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in the first place you can look at it
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either way then this is really important
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this is something that the modern day
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Evangelical Church has gone astray on in
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it teaching and it it can be affecting
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the lives of millions of people who may
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think they are saved but actually
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according to scripture they're not so we
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would call it today the uh once saved
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always saved Doctrine the idea that once
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you accept Jesus your salvation is
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secure no matter what the early church
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completely rejected this idea so Clement
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of Rome in ad 96 said this let us
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therefore be humble Brethren laying
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aside all boasting and arrogance and
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foolishness foolishness and anger and
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let us do that which is written for the
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holy spirit says let not the wise man
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boast in his wisdom but let him boast in
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the Lord that he seeks him and does
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Justice therefore it is right on holy
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for a man to be constantly doing good
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works and to walk with righteousness for
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this is required by
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God Justin Mar ad 150 said those who
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have once been enlightened and have
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tasted the heavenly gift and then have
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fallen away it is impossible to renew
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them again to to
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repentance uranius in ad180 said Christ
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will not die again on behalf of those
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who now commit sin because Death Shall
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no more have dominion over him therefore
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we should not be puffed up but fear L we
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fall from his kingdom so the idea of
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once saved always saved didn't exist in
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the early church at all it began much
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later and was especially brought to the
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for during the Reformation
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Martin Luther in 1520 wrote faith alone
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is the saving and efficacious use of the
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word of God the soul when it has a word
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of God is Rich and it lacks nothing
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Luther's emphasis on being saved by
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faith through grace alone was a response
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to the Catholic teaching that
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indulgences and good works contributed
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to
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salvation but he went too far I don't he
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went too far in the other to the
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opposite extreme it's understandable
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that he wanted to speak out against the
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Catholic teaching of indulgences and
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paying people paying the priests so that
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you could be forgiven for your sin I
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it's understandable that he wanted to
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speak out against that but he went too
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far the other way to what we have today
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in most Evangelical churches is you're
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saved by grace through faith alone and
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there's nothing else you need to do
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after that you don't need to worry too
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much about sin because Jesus has paid
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the price he's covered it all nowhere
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does the bible teach this the Bible
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teaches that Jesus has set us free from
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his death and Resurrection he set us
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free from the power of the enemy we come
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out of under the power of the enemy and
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into the grace of God but as we move
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into that we are supposed to work out
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our salvation with fear and trembling
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James says faith without works is dead
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Works don't save us but works are
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evidence that Jesus is going to be
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looking
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on the last day to prove that we mean
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what we say that we truly believe in him
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and that we truly are following him a
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true Christian a True Believer will work
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very hard to eradicate known Sin from
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their lives you do not entertain sin in
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your life if you're a True Believer
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because the holy spirit will not let you
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do that so if you're a Christian and you
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continue
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to commit sin over over and over again
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the same sin without any real care about
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that because you think that you're
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covered and that you're safe and it's
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okay you could be in trouble on the last
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day because the Bible's clear that there
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are certain sins that are going to keep
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you out of Heaven I think it's one
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Corinthians 6:9 do you not know that
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wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom
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of God do not be deceived neither
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fornicators nor idolators nor adulterers
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nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the
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greedy nor drunkards nor Slanders
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slanderers nor swindlers will inherit
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the kingdom of God and that was what
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some of you were so Paul understands
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that some people used to live like that
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before they were saved but once they are
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saved once they become a Christian they
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no longer live like that and it's clear
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here that if you are continuing in any
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of those practices then you will not
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inherit the kingdom of God Matthew 7:22
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says on the last day that there will be
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many who say Lord Lord and Jesus will
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say to them away from me I knew you not
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you workers of iniquity we are expected
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to clean up our lives and the Holy
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Spirit will give us a power to do that
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to bring our lives in line with the
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revealed will of God that we've all got
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we can all read that in the Bible there
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isn't really any excuse for not knowing
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when Jesus says to the many away from me
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I knew you not he's talking about those
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who continued in persistent sin even
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though they were aware of it I do
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believe that if you truly belong to to
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God you will persevere until the end and
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God knows who are his and he will
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endeavor to make sure that you do not
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die in any of those sins we've all been
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involved in sins in our lives me too and
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I look back and I think what if I died
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then I don't think I would have gone to
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heaven but we have to trust God that
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those of us are truly his and truly born
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again and truly living to obey his
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revealed will but he will make sure that
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we are not going to be dying in
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persistent sin we are not going to be
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dying in committing any sins that are
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actually going to keep us out of Heaven
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this is not something you'd ever hear
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taught in the evangelical church today
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it's not something I've ever heard
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taught in this way in 30 years but this
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is what the uh but this is what the
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Bible says and it's also what the early
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church believed they believed that Faith
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was a lifestyle not simply a belief
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Jesus himself said if you love me you
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will obey my Commandments this has been
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lost to the modern evangelical church
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today where mostly what you see is a a
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lukewarm response basically to the
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teachings of Jesus and to obeying jesus'
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commands and to living moral pure and
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holy lives because if you've been taught
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as much of the Evangelical Church has
00:19:22
that the righteous you're covered by the
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righteousness of Christ and Jesus has
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paid all your price for all your sins
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past present and future
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why why would you have any need to to
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try and CLE clean up your life and
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repent from known sins there's not that
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much incentive is there Augustine
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himself wrote extensively about the need
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for good works he believed as the early
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church did that salvation was a work of
00:19:47
Grace but that Grace was seen in
00:19:49
transformed lives that bore the fruit of
00:19:52
obedience to Christ so I think I'll
00:19:54
leave it there I've just covered four
00:19:57
areas where the beliefs of the early
00:19:59
church differ from today's Evangelical
00:20:01
Church I'm sure there are many more um
00:20:03
if you do want to leave me a comment
00:20:05
below uh feel free uh thanks for
00:20:08
watching anyway
