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The Call of Jesus

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Welcome to this third video in the series[br]called "The Call of Jesus".

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In this lesson I talk about my new book[br]and want to give you a taste of it,

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give you some teaching, and so on.

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I have the new book here.

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It's the first time I got a copy myself.

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Now we start to see the response.

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We start to get response from people[br]who have read the book

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and how it changed their lives.

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One of the responses I want to read here.[br]One person wrote:

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This is for every Christian.

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That person wrote this on Amazon:

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"Have you ever read your Bible [br]and longed for more?

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Longed to walk as Jesus did [br]and see what Jesus saw?

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What Torben writes in this book[br]is the answer to what is missing

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in what has become the "normal"[br]Christian life.

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I have ached in my soul for more,[br]for as long as I can remember.

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I will never be the same after[br]reading this book!

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This is the very simple gospel written [br]in a way that everyone can understand.

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This is a MUST read for EVERY Christian!"

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These are beautiful words one person [br]wrote on Amazon, and I want to say:

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Have you longed for more?

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Have you longed to live the life[br]we read about in the Book of Acts?

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Then I really believe that this book and this [br]video series could be something for you.

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I really encourage you to see [br]the whole series

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that will come out every second or third day[br]and get the book if you can do that.

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Until now we have looked at

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how important it is not to build[br]on our church culture.

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We need to build on Christ[br]and His word.

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It's Christ first, and then mission,[br]according to Him,

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and then we end up with church.

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Not church first, and then we put[br]mission inside that church box,

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so we forget Christ.

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These are some of the things [br]I talked about until now.

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We also looked a little that the Bible says[br]that we should obey Jesus,

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as the first disciples did.

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The truth is that our focus has changed.

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Our way of doing church has changed.

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But Jesus is forever the same.

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It's really time that you and me take the time [br]to stop doing what we are doing,

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and then look at Jesus and [br]what He has called to do.

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Today we are going to look at the chapter[br]called "Being The Good Ground".

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I want to start with reading something[br]from my book.

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"Jesus' call to follow Him is for everyone,

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but the sad truth is, not many are willing[br]to take up the cross

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and pay the price to follow Him.

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To follow Jesus is a calling where you need[br]to be willing to pay a high price.

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This is something we do not often like[br]to even talk about,

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let alone do,

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but those who are willing to pay the price..."

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Yes, this is so true.

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We don't like to talk about it.

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We don't like to think about it,[br]we don't like to talk about it.

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We don't like to talk about that we need to[br]pay a price to follow Jesus.

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It costs everything to follow Jesus.

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And it's something we need to talk about.

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You need to be aware of it[br]and be willing to pay the price.

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Otherwise you will not be able[br]to do what Jesus has called you to do.

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When we talk about Jesus' call,[br]I want to say, again,

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that this is for everyone.

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His call is for all of us.

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If you are old, if you are young,[br]if you are a man, if you are a woman.

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Jesus has called you.

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But, as we looked at before,[br]the truth is, everyone is called, but...

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It's only a few who are, actually,[br]willing to take up the cross

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and pay the price to follow Him.

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If we take and look at the Bible,[br]there are two people in the Bible,

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you can see very clear,[br]that Jesus called.

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There were many people, but there[br]were two people I want to talk about.

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One person Jesus called was Matthew.

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He was a tax collector.[br]You can read about that in Matthew 9.

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Jesus walked and He saw him and[br]He called him, and right away Matthew

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left everything behind[br]and followed Jesus.

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And Jesus used him mighty.

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Jesus really used Matthew[br]in an amazing way.

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He was even the one who wrote[br]one of the gospels.

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Matthew was used by God.

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Why? Jesus called him and he was willing [br]and he said "yes" to Jesus' call.

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But, in Matthew 19 you read about[br]another man,

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the rich young ruler.

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Jesus also called him

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with the same call[br]as He called Matthew.

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Come and follow me.

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But the rich young ruler [br]was not willing to pay the price

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and he ended up going away[br]very sad.

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And we don't hear more about him.

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So, here we have two people in the Bible.

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We have Matthew [br]and we have the rich young ruler.

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Both of them were called.

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But only one of them was willing to leave[br]everything behind and follow Jesus.

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And that person experienced [br]an amazing life with Jesus.

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That person experienced so many things.[br]God used him mighty...

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and the other person left sad.

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And we don't hear more about him.

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Who of those two are you?

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Who are you?

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Because the call Jesus has given[br]was the same,

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but the response was different.

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This is what you have to understand,[br]if we look at the call of Jesus,

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I'm going to go through this video series[br]and in my book,

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that that call to follow Jesus[br]is the same for all of us.

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But the response people give[br]is different from person to person.

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And you need to choose[br]before we move on

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and look at what it is Jesus is saying.

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You need to choose who you are.

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If you are like Matthew[br]or if you are like rich, young ruler.

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Another place where it also becomes[br]clear is in Mark 4.

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In Mark 4 we read the parable[br]about the sower.

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And in this parable we see that there was[br]a farmer who went out to sow his seed.

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The seed is the Word of God.

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Or, let's say it like this, [br]the seed is the call of Jesus,

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the call Jesus has given.

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But the call falls in four different grounds

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and gives four different results.

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The first ground we read about is the ground [br]where the seed fell on the side of the road.

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And birds came right away and devoured it.

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They are those people who hear the word,[br]but it does not go down in their hearts,

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so Satan comes right away and steals[br]what was sowed in the heart.

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I don't know if this is you.

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Maybe you will read my book,[br]maybe you'll see this video series,

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and maybe you will look at[br]what Jesus is saying to you,

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but it will just goes in one ear[br]and out the other.

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One day you will stand in front of Him[br]and you have not been faithful.

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You have not received Him.

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That is the truth.

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The second ground we read about[br]in Mark 4

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is when seed fell on the stony ground

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and there is not a lot of moist earth,[br]so it comes up quickly,

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but then the sun comes and scorch it,[br]so it veins and dies.

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There Jesus said that these are those[br]people who hear the word and receive it,

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but then when persecution comes in,[br]they fall away.

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They fall away because the word[br]did not go deep enough in their hearts.

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So, when persecution comes[br]they fall away,

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because they are not truly willing[br]to pay the price to follow Jesus.

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I don't know if that is you.

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Many people will listen to the call[br]of Jesus and His words,

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and they say: Jesus, I want to follow You.

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I want to obey You, Jesus.[br]Jesus, I want to obey You.

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But you know, as soon as you start[br]to obey Christ, His words,

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you will experience persecution.

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You know, you can be in church[br]your whole life

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without experiencing persecution.

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But I promise you, in that moment[br]you start to heal the sick,

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cast out demons, and especially [br]lead people to Christ...

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Satan hates it, you will have an enemy,

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and you will experience[br]great, great persecution.

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And what happens?

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Many people fall away[br]when that happens.

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So, before you look at the call[br]Jesus has given you

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and before you really move on,[br]you need to stop up and say to yourself:

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What ground am I?

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Am I ground number two?

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Will I just fall away and give up [br]as soon as it becomes hard?

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Or, will I keep going no matter what?

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It's your choice. [br]It's your decision.

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The third ground Jesus is talking about[br]in Mark 4:7,

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where He says that seed fell[br]among thorns

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and thorns grew up together[br]with the seed and quenched it,

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so it did not bear the fruit.

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The third ground Jesus is talking about here[br]is the thing that is growing up around us,

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and that is the worries of this world,[br]the deceitfulness of riches

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and the longing for other things.

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Many people hear the Word of God,[br]hear the call Jesus has given,

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but are like the rich young ruler.

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They hear the word and say:[br]Jesus, I want to follow You.

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But what happens?

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There are so many things around them,[br]like the deceitfulness of riches,

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the worries and longing for other things,

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and all of those things come and end up[br]stealing that call.

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They are like the rich young ruler[br]who said: Jesus, I want to follow You.

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Or say: Jesus, what can I do to inherit[br]the eternal life?

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And then he left sad.

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But thankfully, there are also those people[br]who are the forth ground,

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the good ground, who bear a lot of fruit.

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And those people do not only bear [br]a little fruit, but a lot of fruit.

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We are talking about 30, 60 or 100 fold.

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I will ask you: Who are you?

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Are you Matthew [br]or are you the rich, young ruler?

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Who are you of those two?

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What ground are you, of those four?

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Are you ground number one,[br]who just hears the call of Jesus,

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but never response to it?

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Are you ground number two[br]who said: Jesus, I want to follow You?

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But then persecution sets in[br]and you fall away right away

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because you are not willing [br]to pay the price.

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Or, are you like ground number three:[br]Jesus, I want to follow You.

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I want to follow You.[br]I want to be good ground,

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but you also wants so many other things[br]in your life.

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And you are deceived by the deceitfulness[br]of riches and all other things around you.

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And therefore you don't bear fruit.[br]Or worries.

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Or are you the good ground[br]who bears a lot of fruit?

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What we need to understand, it's not something [br]we talk a lot about in the church,

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but we need to really understand[br]that it's your choice.

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It's not my choice.[br]My life - my choice.

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Your life - your choice.

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You need to choose what ground[br]you want to be.

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And right now we are living in a time [br]where the world is getting crazy.

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Everything is shaking. [br]The virus, economy, our freedom.

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But that is, actually, not bad[br]for the church.

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That is, actually, good.[br]Why?

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Because the time like this reveals [br]what ground we are.

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A time like this reveals[br]what is inside of a person.

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If we look at the church today,[br]and just be honest,

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most people in the church today[br]are ground two and three,

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but they don't see they are two and three [br]before...

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persecution really sets in,[br]and before the economy being shaken,

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and fears and worries come,

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and then it reveals what ground they are.

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It reveals that many of those people[br]have not really been willing to suffer

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and pay the price it costs to follow Jesus.

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So, as soon as persecution comes,[br]they start to compromise,

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and for the sake of peace, [br]or, as soon as persecution comes,

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they start to deny Christ.[br]It ends up, actually, denying Christ.

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No, no, no, no. [br]We don't need to obey Him like that.

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Or, as soon as the economy being shaken,[br]like they are ground number three,

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they say: Yes, Jesus, I want to follow You.[br]But then it costs everything to follow Him,

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and worries and longing for other things,[br]and it reveals who they are.

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That they are not that good ground.

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Where are you?[br]Who are you?

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I really believe and hope that...

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the book "The Call of Jesus"[br]and this video series can help you.

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I really believe, when we look at Luke 10,

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that it will give you revelation[br]what it is Jesus has called you to.

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But, it's only those who take His words,[br]and are willing, and obey it,

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who will bear a lot of fruit.

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So, some of you, sad to say,[br]some of you will hear this teaching,

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some of you will hear what Jesus[br]has said

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and it will go in one ear and out the other.

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Some of you will fall away.[br]Some of you do other things.

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So please stop and decide, [br]check yourself and decide -

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I want to obey Jesus no matter what.

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I want to be His disciple.[br]I want to be like Matthew.

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I want to be willing to take up my cross.[br]I want to follow Him not matter what.

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And if you say like that,[br]if you think like that,

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if you are willing, you will, like Matthew, [br]experience an amazing life,

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where God will use you, and you will be able [br]to change many people's lives,

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and you will stand in front of Jesus[br]as a good and faithful servant one day,

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who has been faithful in small things.

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But if not, Jesus will ask you:[br]Why do you call me: Lord! Lord!

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If you don't do what I say?

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Why do you call me: Lord! Lord![br]If you do not do what I say?

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What we need to understand also is that

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a disciple is really somebody who needs to deny [br]himself and take up the cross and follow Him.

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Jesus said that the one who holds on his life[br]is going to lose it,

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but the one who lays his life down for[br]my sake is going to win it.

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So, it's amazing time we are living in.[br]I'm very excited.

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Yes, we have been shaken,

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but it's time to stop up,[br]it's time to examine ourselves,

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it's time to see where we are.

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Are we like Matthew,[br]or are we like the rich, young ruler?

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It's time to see what ground we are.

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Are we ground one, two, three or four?

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Are we the good ground [br]who bears a lot of fruit?

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I will end up saying that...

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when we, a year and a half ago left Denmark,[br]because of persecution,

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God spoke to us and said:[br]Torben, the church is not ready.

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You need to help the church.[br]The church is not ready.

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And I knew that persecution will come[br]and it will be a hard time for the church,

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but I did not know it will go so fast.

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I did not know that the shaking [br]will come so fast.

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At the same time, with everything, like[br]you are shocked what is happening

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in the world today, I'm excited[br]what is happening in the world today.

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Why? Because Jesus is building His church.

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Jesus is building His church.

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Jesus is calling people back to Him[br]and His word.

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So, I hope you will follow in this teaching,[br]when I move on in the next lesson,

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where we are going to go deeper into[br]Luke 10.

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I hope if you haven't done it,[br]get my book, read it.

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You can get it for free,[br]if you write to TheLastReformation.com,

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if you don't have the money to buy it[br]on Amazon.

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And let's take this journey together,

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where we together, step by step, [br]by step, by step,

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go into what it is Jesus is saying,

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and we are willing to pay the price

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and willing to take up the cross[br]and willing to obey Him,

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and we do this together,[br]and then together

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we are going to see amazing fruit, [br]like we read in the Book of Acts.

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God bless you![br]See you next time! Bye-bye!

0:17:29.723,0:17:31.117
The Call of Jesus