Colossians 3:1-17
Notes
Transcript
12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
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In chapter 2 / ‘you received Christ’ - the appropriate reaction to receiving X?
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walking in His ways.
Being firmly established in HIm
Abounding in the giving of thanks.
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Basically… if you believe in Jesus, you should follow up that commitment of faith… with a commitment to be strengthened spiritually… and equipped to face the attacks which are coming at you..
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And what happens if we do not walk, get established and give thanks? We will… not might.. WILL… be taken, like a prisoner or a hostage… by things that sound moral and convincing, but are actually empty and deceptive.
This is what Paul tells us, in chapter 2 - You have received Jesus… therefore, you should now respond appropriately.
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We currently live in a world, where empty, deceptive philosophy is taking believers captive in droves… by blasting them constantly, through social media.
… and as the truth of Jesus is being shamed out of their willing minds… the elemental spirits of the world, are filling those minds up, with deceptive, empty, and sometimes, flat out evil philosophies.
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Paul goes on to say..
You have received Christ...
That means… you were once dead… living according the desires of your flesh… but now you are alive… no longer held captive under a debt you could not repay, or a legal demand, you could not satisfy.
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The gist of this… - is basically - YOU NEED TO REALIZE HOW BIG OF A DEAL THIS IS. THIS IS LIFE AND DEATH KIND OF STUFF. - The PRIVILEGE THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU FREELY, THROUGH JESUS… should call for an appropriate response, of living differently.
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Not because some letter of the law demands it...
But rather, because grace is, what grace is, and if you don’t see grace for what grace is… you will continue to live like a spiritually dead person… doing things that spiritually dead people do.
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You received Christ.
You were dead, spiritually… but in Him, you are now alive spiritually.
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But, since we are talking about matters of life and death..
In vs. 20… Paul said…
If you are alive, spiritually, to Jesus. You are, in turn… dead, to the things your flesh desires, that are contrary to Christ.
The flesh desires a moral philosophy that satisfies our sentiments and our feelings. The flesh desires rules that deceive us into thinking we are good. The flesh desires phrases and antidotes that makes us sound wise. The flesh desires those things, that promote the flesh.
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IN all of this… Paul is talking about identity.
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You received Jesus… you have a new identity… therefore, to live according to your new identity… you should respond appropriately.
You were once dead spiritually, living according to the desires of your flesh. That was your old identity. That is who and what you once were.
You are no longer that person. You have a new identity.
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And you should no longer live, like you once did… when you were dead.
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If there’s any confusion on this matter… Paul takes it to a new level in chapter three..
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This new identity, is not just something you give a nod to occasionally on Sunday morning.
This new identity is not something you keep hidden at home.
This new identity is not a private matter.
This new identity… is something you should actively ‘put on’. -
You actively, PUT AWAY… the things that made the old person what the old person was… and you PUT ON… actively… your new identity.
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This is the concept that we are diving into today.
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But… Paul takes a short intermission on the practical behavior stuff… to reenforce the privilege again....
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It is not a loss… to give up the “LIFE LIVED FOR ME”, in exchange for a life lived in Christ… - Paul gives us… again, the privilege.
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1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
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We are raised with Christ - Which means… because He rose again, from the grave, and conquered sin and death… WE TOO… have the great privilege of being made alive, eternally and spiritually… with Him.
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What should this privilege motivate us to do?
“seek the things that are above”
Specifically… seek the things, that are where Christ is… and He is seated at the right hand of God.
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Now… Paul means something by this… and it’s something we generally just brush over, because this high minded spiritual talk is hard to get a handle on.
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But Paul is telling us, that Jesus is sitting on a throne. Which means, Jesus has claimed authority and power…
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In Eph. 1:20-22 / Jesus sits at the right hand of God… - and from that throne, He is above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named.
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These are terms that Paul uses to describe the powers of darkness. Christ is superior to them. Their authority over the Gentile nations is nullified… - THEREFORE, because of this position on the throne… all the people of the world can be released from the dominions they were spiritually held captive in… They are now invited into God’s Kingdom.
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in 1 Peter 3:22… Jesus is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers having been subjected to him.
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This really hits home when we think about the opening line of the Great Commission. - It’s not, GO THEREFORE AND TEACH ALL NATIONS.
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The opening line to the great commission is:
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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The disciples… and every Christian who reads and acknowledges this scripture… has been given a commission, based on the authority that Jesus has… sitting on that throne.
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The authority that powers, principalities, and dominions once had over the Gentile nations… is nullified in Jesus.
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Therefore… we, the believer in Jesus, are told to go to those people… and invite them in… to make disciples from them… and call them out of the darkness, and into the light.
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When we set our minds on things that are above.. we aren’t being told, to ‘take the high road’… or ‘behave better’… or “be nice”… - We are being told, to recognize the authority that Jesus has… and what that authority accomplishes.
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Jesus has made a way, for people to find salvation… to find freedom… to find redemption… - The powers and principalities that once ruled them, are defeated… - This is where our minds need to be set. Jesus has won, and we have been commissioned to go into that world, where the spiritual rulers are defeated… and make disciples.
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The people who received these letters, understood this. They, as Gentiles, understood the darkness and the idolatry that they lived under… and they recognized what the authority of Jesus accomplished for them.
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This is where we set our minds...
In the authority, and the victory of Jesus.
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We don’t set our minds upon the consequences of bondage to darkness, here on the earth.
We don’t set our minds, upon the things that are on the earth.
Why?
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Because we have died (vs. 3).. Paul has already explained what this means. We look at the things that this world is all about… in terms of religion, and in terms of carnal indulgence… - And we are to acknowledge, that we are dead to these things.
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Where is our life now? Vs. 3 goes on to say… it is hidden w/Christ, in God.
Where is Christ?
On the throne… declaring and sharing… His authority, with those who are hidden with Him.
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Much of this, is what the Bible teaches as being ‘spiritual warfare’. The culture and traditions of our church says that spiritual warfare is a matter of chanting certain phrases, or screaming loudly at demons…
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But warfare, is a matter of one Kingdom going up against another Kingdom. God’s Kingdom, is going up against the kingdom of this world… and the Great Commissions calls us into that work, as soldiers… His authority gives us a safe passage through the front lines of the enemy… to declare freedom to the captives…
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Vs. 4 supports this… - “when Christ appears… “ - What did this mean? Christ would appear? What is the context of this promise?
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To them, it is the same, as for us… He will appear to bring judgment upon powers of darkness… and declare victory on behalf of His Kingdom.
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When this, great Day of The Lord happens… we will appear with Him.
What an encouragement! We know He’s coming in power. We know He will defeat His enemy. We know He will set up His rule and reign… We know, He does all of this with unchallenged, and unmoving authority… AND WE… who are hidden in Him… will appear with Him.
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Verses 1-4… are about privilege and promise.
Set your mind, upon the victorious one. He has the authority… all of it… and you are hidden in Him… and eventually… when He brings that authority to bear upon this world… you will be with HIm.
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What a great promise.
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Because of this promise… we are called to appropriately respond.
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5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
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These things listed in verse 5 were often grouped together when speaking to or about the Gentile people. These were common issues for the nations outside of Israel… - And, as we see in reading the OT… these are the issues that led Israel to rebel against God over and over again.
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Every one of these, in verse five, is contextually of a sexual nature. Even the idolatry part… since worship in this culture often involved temple prostitutes.
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However, these are also general behaviors, found in every day life.
These are the behaviors that rise up in a culture, when people do not commit to the ways of God, and instead, make up their own systems of belief. These are the behaviors that accompany the ancient pagan religions… and the practice of idolatry… and these are the behaviors that are rampant in any culture where people are more given to the desires of their flesh… than to the ways of God.
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It’s not hard to see how far we as a nation have wandered from the truth… when you consider that one of the most lucrative industries in America is pornography.
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In fact… the word, ‘sexual immorality’ is a Gk work… ‘porneia’… which refers to any sexually inappropriate behavior including sex outside of marriage.
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In fact… the Jews accused Jesus of being born of porneia, of ‘sexual immorality’… trying to discredit Him. -
41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”
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So, it was known… - the circumstances of Mary and Joseph… and how she was pregnant during their betrothal. - Word got out. And the religious leaders threw it back at Jesus…
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But this is where Jesus probably said, “I’m rubber, you’re glue, what bounces off me, sticks on you.” and told them, ‘they are of their father, the devil....”
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So back to Colossians… this was probably a new, and culturally strange thought… but they were being told, that pre-marital sex was an earthly thing that they needed to put to death… along with passion, evil desire and covetousness…
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Why should they have no part of this?
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Because… vs. 6.. Jesus will return and pour out the wrath of God… because of these things.
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This “pouring out of wrath”… ties back to vs. 4 … where Jesus will appear in glory… which ties back to the authority that He has, in vs. 1… which ties directly to us, as believers…
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We are hidden in Christ… appearing with Him in glory… - We are intimately on the side of victory. - THEREFORE… for us to participate in the deeds of verse 5… or for us to walk in the attitudes and actions of vs. 8… would be down right… treasonous.
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he reminds us in vs. 7… - We once walked in this stuff… we once lived in this stuff… but this stuff will be destroyed… and we are to have no part of it.
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In vs. 9 and 10… Paul uses a picture to describe this change… - You have put off the old self. - literally, you have undressed yourself, of the former self. - and then, vs. 10… you have put on… clothed yourself… with the new self.
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The old self… is set for destruction.
The new self… is being renewed in knowledge.
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11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
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The Jews always considered themselves unique to the nations… and rightly so. They were God’s inheritance. They had the privilege of God’s Word, teaching, direction, and government in their lives.. - The other nations… did not have this.
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So, the Jews looked upon the Gentiles with contempt… and the Gentiles… they knew of this contempt. - They all knew they were different… living under different gods… different practices… different mindsets.
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The Gentiles were identified by deeds of vs. 5. That was part of their culture… that was part of their religion...
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But Paul makes it clear… in Christ… they are now all the same. They are all setting their sights upon His authority. They are all, hidden in Him. They are all, set free from a life of bondage to that old lifestyle… They will all appear with Him… they will all, put on the same, new life in Jesus.
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Paul now, moves on into vs. 12… giving greater understanding to this thing that they are to clothe themselves with… what does this new identity look like? How does this new identity express itself?
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We have put off the immorality, the anger, the slander, the obscenity… now, what do we put on?
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12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
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Here is what I am seeing with people in the current world we live in.
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You are not allowed to disagree.
One side creates a new social morality.
They prop that new social morality up so high… making it on par with hate, rape, murder, and slavery…
That now… if you disagree… if you see things differently, you are the worst kind of human being… because you have trespassed the newly constructed morality.
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so now, we have a world… where sins and injustices, which might not even be real… are propped up as being truth… so that one side can feel empowered by their views… and the other side, can be labeled as racists… nazis… and the whole list of phobias…
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We have become… the most divided… and hateful… and judgmental group of people… with our polarizing politicians on both sides of the isle… and our polarizing media… and now, our polarizing common folks.
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and the church has not been exempt from this.
Now more than ever… the church needs to clothe herself… with these old school concepts of goodness… which, in the world we now live in… would be considered, down right revolutionary.
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Want to be change in your world?
Do something that is foreign to the culture you live in.... have a compassionate heart. Show kindness. Practice humility and meekness… be patient.. - Here’s a hard one… ‘bear with one another’… literally… endure through the hardships that others are enduring. -
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And here’s the big daddy of all..
if one has a complaint… forgive them.
Don’t demand that they change their views. Don’t demand that they denounce their allegiance to the politician you hate. Don’t demand that they quote your phrase or declare their endorsement of your thing.
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Listen… you don’t need people to agree with you, to give them your forgiveness. If we practiced this in the current world we live in… it would be revolutionary.
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and above all, put on love...
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This doesn’t mean, that we demand that others act out, according to our definition of love. - It is not love, to demand that others display love.
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The act of love… is what you do.
It is sacrifice. It is humility. It is a consideration of the betterment of others.
I know we like to shame other people into doing things, socially, that we think they should do, by holding the ‘love card’ over their heads.
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but, it is not love… to demand that others cater to your opinions.
It is love… to set yourself aside, for others.
And for this to be a “perfect harmony” kind of thing… - It is something that goes… both ways.
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15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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If the peace of X is in you… you will participate in acts and expressions of thanksgiving.
If the word of X is in you… you will participate in things that edify.
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If you have wisdom… share it… in love and humility.
If you sing songs… let them be songs that teach truth… songs that are sound and correct.
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And… if you do ‘whatever’...
Anybody here, do ‘whatever’?
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In whatever you do… in word or deed… do it in the name… or the way, the truth, the teaching, the word, the identity.... of JESUS.
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conclusion.
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This has been one of those… moral behavior kinds of messages. If you grew up in a legalistic fundamental type of church… all the sermons were like this.
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If you grew up in a liberal or legalistic church… none of the sermons were like this..
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And if you didn’t grow up in church at all, well… this might come off as being some heavy stuff.
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But these letters were written with a purpose. The recipients found themselves in certain situations, that merited just such a correction. They needed to be told these things…
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We might not be in a place, where we need to be told these things. If that’s the case, hopefully, our belief system is bolstered and affirmed, and our grip on the truth remains firm.
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But maybe, the ways of the world have crept in. Maybe… you are still living after the motivations of something, that is supposed to be dead. Maybe the deeds of vs. 5 are all too common.... maybe the attitudes of vs. 8, are a constant companion. Maybe… the dark powers and principalities that once ruled over you… are being given a free pass.
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They don’t have authority in your life… the doors to that prison cell are torn off the hinges and they can’t touch you anymore… - but, for some reason, you keep walking back into that prison, and lying down on the bunk of that cell.
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Your mind is not set, upon the authority and the victory, that your new identity is hidden in.
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If that’s the case, for you… and you know it… and the conviction of the HS upon you is real right now… then I challenge you today, as we close… to pray for God’s powerful and miraculous intervention.
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close.