Gen Hope with Andrew Richardson
Old Truths. New Voices. One Hope. This podcast is meant to be a source that Christians of all ages can use to learn, grow, and be edified. To explore biblical concepts, to be able to spread the gospel, to examine ourselves, and to explore how we as individuals can grow closer to God. Enjoy!
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Gen Hope with Andrew Richardson
Episode 2: Blue Collar Faith Pt. 1
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β What is faith? What are works?
Can we be saved by faith alone through grace alone? Or is faith without works truly dead?
ποΈ In this episode of Generation Hope, we go deep into the Word of God to answer these crucial questions. Together, weβll explore what Scripture says about salvation, obedience, and the kind of faith that endures.
Come, let us reason together.
π Verses covered include:
Hebrews 11:1β3 | John 3:16 | Romans 5:6β10 | James 2 | Acts 2:38β39 | Matthew 7:20β27 | Romans 10:11β13 | Luke 13:23β28 | Ephesians 2 | Colossians 3:9β11 | and more.
π Sources for further study:
β’ Godβs Love Verses β BibleStudyTools
β’ Apologist.AI β Christian Q&A
β’ Relevant video teaching
π Available now on all platforms:
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π² Instagram: @_generationhope_
π Facebook: @genhopear.podcast
π§ Email: generationhopear@gmail.com
#FaithAndWorks #ChristianPodcast #BiblicalFaith #GenerationHope #Salvation #FaithInAction #GraceAndTruth #ApostolicFaith #ComeLetUsReason
π§ Thanks for listening to Generation Hope
If this episode challenged or encouraged you, consider subscribing, rating, and leaving a review β it helps us reach more people with the message of hope.
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ποΈ Keep walking in truth, purpose, and hope β one step at a time.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders attained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Hebrews 11, 1 -3 Hello, my name is Andrew, and this is Generation Hope. The podcast where we dive deep into God's word to equip and challenge and encourage every believer. Whether you're just starting your walk with God or you've been in faith for years. Today, we're going to talk about one of the most fundamental aspects of Christianity and really any religion. But we're going to focus on Christianity. And that's faith. So what exactly is faith? Why does it matter? How do we live it out? Well, by the end of the session today, I hope I can help answer some of those questions. So, with that said, let us begin. What is faith, really? Faith is more than just belief. If you were to look it up in the dictionary, it defines it as a complete trust and confidence in someone or something. whatever doctrine or denomination you describe yourself to, or even if you claim to be agnostic or atheistic. The truth is, everyone has a measure of faith. We have faith that when we go to sleep, we'll wake up the next morning. We have faith that when we put the key in our car and turn it, that the ignition will start. You know, we have faith that when we... close and lock the doors to our houses that no one will enter through those doors and you know come in and do stuff that they're not supposed to and that is an example of an everyday faith in the and the materialistic things of life but what does biblical faith look like what does it look like to have complete trust in god even when things are falling apart what does it mean to have faith Not just in general, but as a Christian. We're going to look at faith in a couple of different ways."
"So, we're going to look at faith and its relation to our walk with God. So, as Christians, as believers, our goal isn't just survival. It isn't just to make it day to day. It's not just to barely make it from Sunday to the next Sunday. It's to make it to heaven. And when we go to heaven, we want to hear Jesus say those words. Well done, my good and faithful servant. But you can't be a faithful servant without faith. Faith is the foundation of obedience. Look at it this way. You obey those that you trust. You have trust in your parents, or hopefully you have trust in your parents. You trust in your doctors. You trust in teachers and employers. And because of that trust we have in them, we act based on that trust. Even when they're giving us instruction that may seem contrary or contradictory to our limited point of view. And it's the exact same way with God. John 3 .16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Romans 5 .6-8 tells us, For when we were yet without strength, In due time Christ died for the ungodly, but God commendeth his love towards us. and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. John 1 .4 .16 reminds us, And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. So we see from just those few verses, and there's many more I could bring up, but it's clear. you know, both in the Old and New Testament, that God indeed has a love for us. And, you know, it's more than just a love for us. He has our best intentions or our best interests at heart. Romans 8 .28 says, And we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose. And Jesus said, If you love me, you would keep my commandments. So we see that God works all things together. That doesn't mean all things will be good, but all things will work together towards good. All things are going to work to bring us to the ultimate will and desire of God and his purpose in our lives."
"And if you need some more. You know, affirmation from this. Jeremiah 29, 11 says, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end. All right. So we see there that God loves us and he wants the best for us. So is that enough to. trust in God and have faith in him. What about when we go through trials and tribulations? Let's look at examples of faith during trials and difficult times. So, John 16:33 says, These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. So we have that confidence that no matter what we go through, that we can put our faith in Jesus. Because, you know, whether it's sickness or financial struggles or, you know, whatever your situation looks like, Jesus has overcome that. James 1, 2 -4 says, patience and in proverbs 24 and 16 it says for a just man falls seven times and rises up again and the wicked but the wicked shall fall into mischief
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uh and when it says he falls seven times that
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doesn't mean that at the eighth time you know
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he's all done you know there's no hope for him
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but that seven is the number of completion so
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in your walk with god You're going to fall, but
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you're going to fall to completion. When you
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get back up, when your faith is stronger than
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the situation that you're going to go through,
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your faith should allow you to rise up again
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and again and again. That fall can look like
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sickness. That fall can look like someone in
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your life trying to persecute you and come against
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you. Whatever that fall may be like, just like
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we read earlier, today all things work together
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for good so um first corinthians 10 13 says there
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hath no temptation taken you but such as is common
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to man but god is faithful who will not suffer
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you to be tempted above that ye are able so not
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only should we have a faithfulness towards god
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But to an extent, God has a faithfulness towards
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us. And whatever he gives us is not more than
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we can bear. It's not bigger than how he can
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deliver us out of it. Because he's overcoming.
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Jesus said himself. Psalms 34 .19 says, Many
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are the afflictions of the righteous, but the
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Lord will deliver him out of them all. We're
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seeing that not only does God have a love towards
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us, but God is faithful towards us. And he works
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all things together for our good to bring us
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to an expected end. And whatever he gives us,
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whatever we go through, not only has he overcome
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it, but it's never going to be anything more
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than you can handle. So, you know, when you're
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going through a tough time, in your walk with
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God, and it feels like your faith is in vain,
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I just want to tell you to not give up, you know,
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because Jesus has promised that he has overcome
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all those things. He's promised that he'll never
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give us more than we can handle. And he's going
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to bring us to an expected end. I can think of
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a time in my life where I was working, I was
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a captain of a bus route. and we would go out
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to neighborhoods for I think like three months
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and we would try to pick up kids and all that
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stuff and invite families to church and for I
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think it was three or four months uh we never
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picked up more than three people at a time meanwhile
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you know all the other bus routes had you know
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10 20 30 kids that they were picking up and you
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know at one point I was I was at the stage where
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I was considering, you know, giving up. You know,
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I put in all these hours and stuff like that
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and passed out so many church flyers and invitations
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and all this stuff. And, you know, I was almost
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to a breaking point one time where we went out
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to pick up kids. We went out to pick up our usual
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kids and none of them came. You know, it was
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very discouraging when that happened. But, you
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know, I felt like God called me to do it. And
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I just kept pushing forward. And the very next
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week, we picked up eight kids. And then the week
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after that, we picked up 15 kids. And, you know,
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skipping ahead a bit, you know. Several of our
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kids that we picked up have received the baptism
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of the Holy Ghost. One of them has been baptized
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in Jesus name. And, you know, many other awesome
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things are happening on the bus route. But, you
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know, I had to have faith that if God called
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me to do it, that he was going to equip me and
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he was going to equip my team with the capacity
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to do it. to bring the increase but without faith
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you know i wouldn't have stuck it out so i guess
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i guess that's my testimony for today but um
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moving forward i want to discuss how faith and
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works uh work together no pun intended um i understand
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that within christianity as a whole throughout
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the many doctrines when it comes to faith and
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works there are there's a school of thought that
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you're saved by grace alone through faith alone
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and it's not of works lest any man should boast
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and actually let me go ahead and read it so ephesians
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2 and this is where they get that um concept
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from ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 verses 8 through
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10 It says, For by grace are you saved through
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faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the
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gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
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boast. For we are his workmanship, created in
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Christ Jesus unto good works. So, yes, we are
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indeed saved by the grace of God. God's grace
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is unmerited or undeserved. or unearned favor
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that God gives us, that we cannot do anything
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to, like, there's no goodness in and of ourselves
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that we should receive it. So, many of you might
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think, well, that's the end of that conversation,
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or some of you may be saying, you know, I know
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that there's more to that, but how can I explain
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it? You know, how can I use the Bible? to explain
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that it's not just grace alone through faith
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alone that saves us, but there's something deeper
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to it. Well, let's dive into it. So, we're going
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to look at James chapter 2, and we're going to
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begin at verse 14. You know, James chapter 2,
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and really the book of James in particular, I
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believe it was John Calvin that created the doctrine
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of eternal security, or once saved, always saved.
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And from what I heard, from what I understood,
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he actually tried to exclude the book of James
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out of the canonical Bible entirely because of
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what James says in chapter 2 and how contradictory
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it was to John Calvin's belief. Um, because I
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mentioned that there's that school of thought
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where it's grace alone through faith alone, but
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there's another school of thought which John
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Calvin left, which is all these ritualistic and
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all these, you know, rituals and, uh, uh, I can't
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think of the word for it, but all these things,
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all these, you know, works, quote unquote, that
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you have to do like prayer beads and rosaries
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and, you know, all that stuff. And I'm not going
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to get super deep into it. But I want to keep
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the main thing the main thing. So, James chapter
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2, starting at verse 14. What doth it profit,
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my brethren, though a man say he have faith,
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and have not works? Can faith save him? So keep
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that in the back of your mind. If you have faith,
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but you don't have works, can faith save him?
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And we're going to tie this together with Ephesians
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2, 8 -10. So, continuing onward. If a brother
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or sister be naked and destitute of daily food,
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and one of you say unto him, depart in peace,
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be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give
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them not those things which are needful to the
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body, what doth it profit? Even so, faith, if
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it hath not works, is dead, being alone. So,
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you see there, What James is saying is that,
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you know, faith, you know, is great, but it can't
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just be faith alone. Faith, if it have not works,
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is dead, being alone. And in the Greek, it actually
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says, faith without works is worthless. So, that
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should give, I hope that gives you a little bit
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of a more clear picture of the reality of faith
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without works. Because, you know, if you look
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at it from a biblical standpoint, Faith is more
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than just believing. You can believe that, you
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know, if your brother comes to you and says he
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needs X, Y, and Z, you can believe all you want
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to that he's going to receive it. But, you know,
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if you don't help him out, you know, if you don't
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work with him or, you know, work towards a way
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for him to get that, then it profits him nothing.
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You know, if you send him away saying, you know,
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be blessed, you know, and all that stuff, But,
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you know, you give him not the things which are
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needful to the body. What does it profit? You
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know, and that doesn't mean that you, you know,
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can't pray with him and all that stuff. But it
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just means that, you know, there's a little bit
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more that goes into faith than just pure belief.
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Belief isn't by itself. So, verse 18 says, Yea,
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a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works.
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Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will
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show thee my faith. by my works so um continuing
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onward uh thou believers that there is one god
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thou doest well the devils also believe in tremble
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but wilt thou know oh vain man that faith without
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works is dead so i believe it's right here in
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the greek uh faith in the greek is pistis i hope
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i'm saying that right p -i -s -t -i -s pistis
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um, apart from works, uh, uh, and, and the, uh,
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Greek, that word works is ergon, so, which makes
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me think of energy, uh, because I believe that
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the Greeks do have a word for that, um, but anyway,
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continuing onward, uh, ergon means deed to works,
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um, but yeah, it goes on to say that faith without
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works is dead, so, verses 21 and 22 say was not
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abraham our father justified by works when he
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had offered isaac his son upon the altar seest
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thou how faith wrought with his works and by
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works was faith made perfect and so we see right
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there because you know abraham One of his monikers
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is the father of faith. But even still then,
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when it came time to go through the test that
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God had given him, he had to work. He had to
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take Isaac up the mountain. He had to put him
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onto the altar. And had it not been for God stepping
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in, he would have laid down the knife and killed
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his son. No. would have stabbed his son and some
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people might be thinking you know why would he
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do that you know how could he do that you know
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when it comes to his son i mean that's the promise
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that god gave him you know he's over 100 years
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old at this point and aside from ishmael uh who
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wasn't the promised child that god had given
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him uh it's just isaac but some people believe
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scholars believe that His faith in God was so
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strong that he thought that even if he had killed
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Isaac, God would have simply brought him back
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from the dead. Because he knew of the promise
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that God had made to him that he would increase
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and multiply and that his seed would be as multiplicitous
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as the sand on the beaches and the stars in the
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sky. He knew that God had made a promise. And
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his faith wrought with works, said, this situation
00:20:11.859 --> 00:20:15.740
looks dire. This situation, you know, God's commandment
00:20:15.740 --> 00:20:19.859
to me looks contradictory to the end goal that
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he promised me. But I'm going to continue on
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in what he has instructed me to do. And that's
00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:31.240
an example of the trust that Abraham had in God.
00:20:31.900 --> 00:20:34.319
You know, because Abraham, he didn't know how
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.980
it was going to turn out. You know, he didn't
00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:38.559
know what was going to be on the other side,
00:20:38.599 --> 00:20:41.019
but what he did know was the end goal that God
00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:47.880
had promised him. So, verse 23. And the scripture
00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.460
was fulfilled, which saith, Abraham believed
00:20:50.460 --> 00:20:53.779
God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness,
00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:57.039
and he was called the friend of God. Ye see then
00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:01.779
how that by works a man is justified, and not
00:21:01.779 --> 00:21:09.430
by faith only. And so, continuing on, likewise
00:21:09.430 --> 00:21:13.369
also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works
00:21:13.369 --> 00:21:17.509
when she had received the messengers and had
00:21:17.509 --> 00:21:23.309
sent them out another way? For as the body without
00:21:23.309 --> 00:21:27.509
the spirit is dead, so faith without works is
00:21:27.509 --> 00:21:38.019
dead also. that Christians talk about is the
00:21:38.019 --> 00:21:42.720
work of Jesus on the cross you know there's some
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:44.579
people that believe that it's God that does the
00:21:44.579 --> 00:21:51.220
work and I guess we just we just obey him but
00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:53.720
even that obedience is a work that we do and
00:21:53.720 --> 00:21:58.440
I'm not saying that we are you know that we save
00:21:58.440 --> 00:22:01.640
ourselves in the sense of we become good enough
00:22:02.190 --> 00:22:05.349
Or we become worthy enough somehow. That's not
00:22:05.349 --> 00:22:09.849
what I'm saying. But it is our faith tied with
00:22:09.849 --> 00:22:14.089
our works and our obedience to God that justifies
00:22:14.089 --> 00:22:18.950
us, that saves us. So, who is faith for exactly?
00:22:19.289 --> 00:22:24.349
Well, faith is for everyone. Ephesians 2 .13
00:22:24.349 --> 00:22:28.289
says, But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
00:22:28.289 --> 00:22:33.259
were afar off are made nigh. by the blood of
00:22:33.259 --> 00:22:37.359
christ so jesus tore down those walls that separated
00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:40.079
us from him it doesn't matter where you're from
00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:43.900
your race or your background your past doesn't
00:22:43.900 --> 00:22:49.039
disqualify you you know whether you know you
00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:52.059
you're poor or you're rich or you grew up one
00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:54.259
religion or this religion or that one you know
00:22:54.259 --> 00:22:57.220
everyone is given an opportunity to have faith
00:22:57.220 --> 00:22:59.720
you know even those who you know may live in
00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:03.660
it remote village out somewhere no there's a
00:23:03.660 --> 00:23:07.960
desire towards god then god will work things
00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:10.920
out and he will work things out for your good
00:23:10.920 --> 00:23:17.180
so um romans 10 12 through 13 says for there
00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:19.779
is no difference between the jew and the greek
00:23:19.779 --> 00:23:23.920
for and it skips a little bit but for whosoever
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:26.200
shall call upon the name of the lord shall be
00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:30.390
saved so whoever so Whether you're black, white,
00:23:30.670 --> 00:23:32.890
what's the song? Red and yellow, black and white,
00:23:32.970 --> 00:23:35.869
they are precious in his sight. So no, no matter
00:23:35.869 --> 00:23:41.690
who you are, you know, if you are faithful towards
00:23:41.690 --> 00:23:47.670
God, you can be saved. So Galatians 3, 26 through
00:23:47.670 --> 00:23:51.369
28 says, for you are the children of God by faith
00:23:51.369 --> 00:23:58.470
in Christ Jesus. So if you got faith. And God
00:23:58.470 --> 00:24:02.750
works. You're a child of God. So, for as many
00:24:02.750 --> 00:24:09.230
of you as have been baptized into Christ, have
00:24:09.230 --> 00:24:14.089
put on Christ, ye are all one in Christ. So,
00:24:14.109 --> 00:24:16.990
let's look at some biblical examples of faith.
00:24:17.369 --> 00:24:21.650
What I'm going to do is I'm going to dive more
00:24:21.650 --> 00:24:24.930
deeply into Hebrews 11, which is where this next
00:24:24.930 --> 00:24:29.140
part of the episode starts. Like all these examples
00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:30.880
I'm going to bring up, that's where I got them
00:24:30.880 --> 00:24:33.059
from, Hebrews 11. But I'm going to make that
00:24:33.059 --> 00:24:37.140
a separate episode because I kind of want to
00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:39.720
dive more deeply into that one. But I'm just
00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:44.500
going to give you just the rundown. So, according
00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:48.640
to Hebrews 11, by faith, Abel offered God a better
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:52.940
sacrifice than Cain. Even in death, you know,
00:24:52.940 --> 00:24:55.779
God esteemed him higher than he esteemed Cain.
00:24:56.250 --> 00:24:59.269
by faith enoch was taken up he didn't even see
00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:03.430
death why because he pleased god and we're reminded
00:25:03.430 --> 00:25:06.849
afterwards without faith it is impossible to
00:25:06.849 --> 00:25:09.730
please him for he that cometh to god must believe
00:25:09.730 --> 00:25:13.450
that he is and he and that he is a rewarder of
00:25:13.450 --> 00:25:16.910
those who diligently seek him so if you're diligently
00:25:16.910 --> 00:25:20.289
seeking god you know all of your relationship
00:25:20.289 --> 00:25:23.430
with god your foundation is built on desire you
00:25:23.430 --> 00:25:26.680
know your desire To know God and to follow God
00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:30.400
has to be greater than your desire to follow
00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.779
after and chase after the things of this world.
00:25:33.460 --> 00:25:35.920
You know, without faith, it's going to be hard
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:37.539
to please him. Actually, it says impossible.
00:25:37.940 --> 00:25:42.599
By faith, Noah built a boat, even though they'd
00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:45.900
never seen rain up to that point. By faith, Abraham
00:25:45.900 --> 00:25:48.420
left everything he knew, not even knowing where
00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:52.259
he was going. By faith, Sarah received the strength
00:25:52.259 --> 00:25:55.380
to have a child when she was way past her childbearing
00:25:55.380 --> 00:26:01.079
years. By faith, they lived as strangers in the
00:26:01.079 --> 00:26:03.940
land, but they were looking for something better,
00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:09.640
a city whose builder and maker is God. Now, no,
00:26:09.680 --> 00:26:12.339
I didn't quote it exactly. Like I said, I'm going
00:26:12.339 --> 00:26:14.720
to dive deeper into Hebrews 11 in a separate
00:26:14.720 --> 00:26:18.380
episode. But these examples that Hebrews 11 gives
00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:21.799
us. These people aren't superheroes. You know,
00:26:21.859 --> 00:26:24.119
they were just regular people like us. But they
00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:27.599
believed in God. And because of that belief in
00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:30.740
God, they took action and obeyed the voice of
00:26:30.740 --> 00:26:36.440
God in their lives. And that is what makes them,
00:26:36.460 --> 00:26:40.299
you know, part of the Hall of Faith, as some
00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:44.660
people call it. You know, some of them didn't
00:26:44.660 --> 00:26:47.079
even see their promise fulfilled within their
00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:50.750
lifetime. You know, Abraham was dead by the time
00:26:50.750 --> 00:26:53.549
the Israelites went to the promised land and
00:26:53.549 --> 00:26:57.190
conquered it and then were able to multiply bigger
00:26:57.190 --> 00:27:00.470
and all that stuff. You know, and there's many
00:27:00.470 --> 00:27:04.529
more examples in the Bible where God blessed
00:27:04.529 --> 00:27:08.130
people and God blessed people according to his
00:27:08.130 --> 00:27:10.410
promise he made to them, even after they died.
00:27:11.230 --> 00:27:13.410
And sometimes it's going to be like that in your
00:27:13.410 --> 00:27:15.470
walk with God. God's going to promise you something
00:27:15.470 --> 00:27:18.779
you may not see it in your lifetime. But you
00:27:18.779 --> 00:27:23.319
got to have that faith. So we saw the kind of
00:27:23.319 --> 00:27:27.140
faith that the heroes of faith had. But what
00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:31.119
about the kind of faith that sacrifices? So when
00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:33.859
we look at Abraham, Abraham didn't just walk
00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:38.019
by faith. He laid down his son on the altar because
00:27:38.019 --> 00:27:41.200
he trusted that God was going to work it out
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:44.319
somehow. He didn't know how, you know, he didn't.
00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:50.039
know all the details all the you know the plan
00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:52.380
the blueprint or whatever but he trusted that
00:27:52.380 --> 00:27:57.880
god was going to work it out so um if you look
00:27:57.880 --> 00:28:03.720
at let's see let's look at hebrews 11 27 it says
00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:06.980
by faith moses gave up a palace for the pain
00:28:06.980 --> 00:28:10.559
of god's people he chose afflictions over sins
00:28:10.559 --> 00:28:13.539
temporary pleasures he saw something greater
00:28:14.039 --> 00:28:17.500
He saw someone greater. And it says he endured
00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:22.480
as seeing him who is invisible. So Moses was
00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:25.480
willing to sacrifice his status and sacrifice
00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:31.019
everything he had for his faith in God. And so
00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:34.980
we can look at even more examples. You know,
00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:39.000
Israel crossed the Red Sea on dry ground because
00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:42.420
of their faith. Jericho's walls fell. flat after
00:28:42.420 --> 00:28:45.099
seven days and walking in circles because of
00:28:45.099 --> 00:28:49.640
faith you know and Rahab was saved and her whole
00:28:49.640 --> 00:28:54.119
household was saved and she even I believe and
00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:55.900
I could be mistaken I believe that she ended
00:28:55.900 --> 00:29:00.140
up being in the lineage of Jesus because of her
00:29:00.140 --> 00:29:02.859
faith and I'll have to double check that but
00:29:02.859 --> 00:29:05.859
I'm pretty sure she was in the lineage of Jesus
00:29:05.859 --> 00:29:11.319
because of her faith towards God And towards
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:15.480
his promise. And like I said, these weren't perfect
00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:18.359
people. They had flaws. They had major failures.
00:29:18.599 --> 00:29:25.920
But they also have faith. So, we've seen what
00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:31.119
faith can look like in sacrifice. We've seen
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:37.359
what faith can look like in terms of... you know,
00:29:37.359 --> 00:29:39.980
our walk, like our day -to -day walk with God,
00:29:40.099 --> 00:29:43.700
you know, we've seen how faith looks like with
00:29:43.700 --> 00:29:47.079
works, and we've seen that faith is for everyone,
00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:51.660
but what about the kind of faith that suffers?
00:29:53.099 --> 00:29:58.059
So, if you look at Hebrews 11, and actually,
00:29:58.180 --> 00:30:08.910
let me go ahead and bring up, so, Hebrews 11.
00:30:10.430 --> 00:30:39.089
It said, They were sawn asunder, they were tempted,
00:30:39.309 --> 00:30:42.809
were slain with the sword. They wandered about
00:30:42.809 --> 00:30:46.029
in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute,
00:30:46.150 --> 00:30:50.250
afflicted, and tormented, of whom the world was
00:30:50.250 --> 00:30:55.509
not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains
00:30:55.509 --> 00:30:59.390
and in dens and caves of the earth, and these
00:30:59.390 --> 00:31:03.450
all have obtained a good report through faith,
00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:09.539
The promise of God. Or sorry. Receive not the
00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:13.839
promise. God. Having provided. Some better thing
00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:17.200
for us. That they without us. Should not be.
00:31:17.779 --> 00:31:27.140
Made. Perfect. So. I want to look at that line.
00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.880
In Hebrews 11 38 again. Of whom the world was.
00:31:31.059 --> 00:31:35.920
Not worthy. They may not have received the promise.
00:31:36.589 --> 00:31:40.410
that God had given them in their lifetime. But
00:31:40.410 --> 00:31:44.309
they didn't give up. You know, you got to look
00:31:44.309 --> 00:31:47.430
beyond your circumstances when it comes to faith.
00:31:47.609 --> 00:31:50.369
You know, if God has promised you something,
00:31:50.890 --> 00:31:56.829
he's going to see it through. You know, God's
00:31:56.829 --> 00:32:01.529
faithfulness is a faithfulness like no other.
00:32:01.930 --> 00:32:06.259
You know, and... There's been times in my life
00:32:06.259 --> 00:32:10.859
where I asked God for something, and I prayed
00:32:10.859 --> 00:32:14.579
about things, and I was not sure how it was going
00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:20.279
to work out. But God, in all his faithfulness,
00:32:20.519 --> 00:32:26.460
saw to it that it was done. But you can't give
00:32:26.460 --> 00:32:29.180
up. You can't give up no matter how hard your
00:32:29.180 --> 00:32:32.420
situation looks like, no matter what it looks
00:32:32.420 --> 00:32:39.869
like. So, I think this episode is going to be
00:32:39.869 --> 00:32:45.049
a two -parter. Because there's a little bit more
00:32:45.049 --> 00:32:47.109
that I want to talk about. I want to talk about
00:32:47.109 --> 00:32:51.430
imperfect faith. But I'm going to save that for
00:32:51.430 --> 00:32:53.410
the next episode. And it'll probably be shorter.
00:32:53.890 --> 00:32:57.130
But I'm going to end this episode with this.
00:32:58.450 --> 00:33:02.130
If you're going through a struggle. If you're
00:33:02.130 --> 00:33:04.579
going through a trial. or tribulation right now,
00:33:04.660 --> 00:33:08.700
I want you to know that God is going to work
00:33:08.700 --> 00:33:11.720
it out. You know, just keep working. You know,
00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:14.140
just keep having faith. You know, if God has
00:33:14.140 --> 00:33:16.960
given you a commandment, you know, your faith
00:33:16.960 --> 00:33:22.079
and works are going, they are what justify you.
00:33:22.220 --> 00:33:25.400
You know, they are what, those things are going
00:33:25.400 --> 00:33:29.200
to help lead you to the promises of God. You
00:33:29.200 --> 00:33:32.160
know, the Israelites had to walk to the promised
00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:36.579
land. They didn't just appear there because they
00:33:36.579 --> 00:33:41.140
believed. They had to walk there. David spent
00:33:41.140 --> 00:33:46.000
14 years on the run from Saul after he was promised
00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:49.539
to be king. And in spite of it, he still fought
00:33:49.539 --> 00:33:55.259
and protected the people of God. And his relationship
00:33:55.259 --> 00:33:59.059
with God was so powerful that after David had
00:33:59.059 --> 00:34:04.069
died, The kingdom was given to Solomon. Solomon
00:34:04.069 --> 00:34:06.509
had lost the kingdom and God said that he was
00:34:06.509 --> 00:34:08.889
going to split it into 12 parts. But he said,
00:34:08.969 --> 00:34:12.250
I will keep two of them together for the sake
00:34:12.250 --> 00:34:16.329
of my servant, David. And this is long after
00:34:16.329 --> 00:34:18.369
the whole thing with Bathsheba happened. This
00:34:18.369 --> 00:34:21.570
is long after, you know, the many things that
00:34:21.570 --> 00:34:25.610
David has done. But I believe David was also
00:34:25.610 --> 00:34:30.340
justified by faith in his works. You know, and
00:34:30.340 --> 00:34:33.679
he was even in the lineage of Jesus. You know?
00:34:34.360 --> 00:34:37.420
So, if you're going through something right now,
00:34:37.539 --> 00:34:41.340
keep the faith. Keep holding on. Keep pushing
00:34:41.340 --> 00:34:44.420
forward. And God is going to do great things
00:34:44.420 --> 00:34:48.019
in your life. So, this has been Generation Hope.
00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:52.800
This episode, I'm going to call it Blue Collar
00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:57.230
Faith. I thought it was cool. Part two will be
00:34:57.230 --> 00:35:00.949
coming out as soon as possible. But until then,
00:35:01.050 --> 00:35:03.250
have a blessed day. Bye -bye.
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