WEBVTT

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The Call of Jesus

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

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In this lesson I talk about my new book
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
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.
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 
and longed for more?

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Longed to walk as Jesus did 
and see what Jesus saw?

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

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in what has become the "normal"
Christian life.

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

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I will never be the same after
reading this book!

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This is the very simple gospel written 
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 
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
we read about in the Book of Acts?

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

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I really encourage you to see 
the whole series

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that will come out every second or third day
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
on our church culture.

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We need to build on Christ
and His word.

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It's Christ first, and then mission,
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
mission inside that church box,

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so we forget Christ.

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

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We also looked a little that the Bible says
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 
to stop doing what we are doing,

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

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

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I want to start with reading something
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
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
to be willing to pay a high price.

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This is something we do not often like
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,
we don't like to talk about it.

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We don't like to talk about that we need to
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
and be willing to pay the price.

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

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When we talk about Jesus' call,
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,
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,
the truth is, everyone is called, but...

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It's only a few who are, actually,
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,
there are two people in the Bible,

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you can see very clear,
that Jesus called.

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There were many people, but there
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.
You can read about that in Matthew 9.

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Jesus walked and He saw him and
He called him, and right away Matthew

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left everything behind
and followed Jesus.

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And Jesus used him mighty.

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Jesus really used Matthew
in an amazing way.

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He was even the one who wrote
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 
and he said "yes" to Jesus' call.

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But, in Matthew 19 you read about
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
as He called Matthew.

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Come and follow me.

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But the rich young ruler 
was not willing to pay the price

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and he ended up going away
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 
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
everything behind and follow Jesus.

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And that person experienced 
an amazing life with Jesus.

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That person experienced so many things.
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
was the same,

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but the response was different.

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

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

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

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But the response people give
is different from person to person.

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And you need to choose
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
or if you are like rich, young ruler.

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

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In Mark 4 we read the parable
about the sower.

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And in this parable we see that there was
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, 
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 
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,
but it does not go down in their hearts,

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so Satan comes right away and steals
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,
maybe you'll see this video series,

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

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

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One day you will stand in front of Him
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
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,
so it comes up quickly,

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

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

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but then when persecution comes in,
they fall away.

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

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So, when persecution comes
they fall away,

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because they are not truly willing
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
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.
Jesus, I want to obey You.

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

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you will experience persecution.

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You know, you can be in church
your whole life

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without experiencing persecution.

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

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cast out demons, and especially 
lead people to Christ...

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Satan hates it, you will have an enemy,

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and you will experience
great, great persecution.

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And what happens?

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Many people fall away
when that happens.

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So, before you look at the call
Jesus has given you

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and before you really move on,
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 
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. 
It's your decision.

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

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where He says that seed fell
among thorns

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and thorns grew up together
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
is the thing that is growing up around us,

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and that is the worries of this world,
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,
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:
Jesus, I want to follow You.

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But what happens?

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There are so many things around them,
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
stealing that call.

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

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

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And then he left sad.

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But thankfully, there are also those people
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 
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 
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,
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
who said: Jesus, I want to follow You?

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But then persecution sets in
and you fall away right away

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because you are not willing 
to pay the price.

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

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I want to follow You.
I want to be good ground,

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

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

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And therefore you don't bear fruit.
Or worries.

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

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

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

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It's not my choice.
My life - my choice.

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Your life - your choice.

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You need to choose what ground
you want to be.

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

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Everything is shaking. 
The virus, economy, our freedom.

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But that is, actually, not bad
for the church.

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That is, actually, good.
Why?

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Because the time like this reveals 
what ground we are.

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

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

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

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

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persecution really sets in,
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
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,
they start to compromise,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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That they are not that good ground.

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Where are you?
Who are you?

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I really believe and hope that...

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the book "The Call of Jesus"
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
what it is Jesus has called you to.

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But, it's only those who take His words,
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,
some of you will hear this teaching,

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some of you will hear what Jesus
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.
Some of you do other things.

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So please stop and decide, 
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.
I want to be like Matthew.

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

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And if you say like that,
if you think like that,

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

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

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and you will stand in front of Jesus
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:
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!
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 
himself and take up the cross and follow Him.

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

00:15:32.965 --> 00:15:39.457
but the one who lays his life down for
my sake is going to win it.

00:15:39.907 --> 00:15:43.573
So, it's amazing time we are living in.
I'm very excited.

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Yes, we have been shaken,

00:15:45.470 --> 00:15:49.726
but it's time to stop up,
it's time to examine ourselves,

00:15:49.726 --> 00:15:51.698
it's time to see where we are.

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

00:15:55.269 --> 00:15:57.255
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 
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,
because of persecution,

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

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You need to help the church.
The church is not ready.

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And I knew that persecution will come
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 
will come so fast.

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

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in the world today, I'm excited
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
and His word.

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

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where we are going to go deeper into
Luke 10.

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

00:16:58.485 --> 00:17:01.261
You can get it for free,
if you write to TheLastReformation.com,

00:17:01.261 --> 00:17:03.264
if you don't have the money to buy it
on Amazon.

00:17:03.264 --> 00:17:05.696
And let's take this journey together,

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where we together, step by step, 
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
and willing to obey Him,

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and we do this together,
and then together

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

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God bless you!
See you next time! Bye-bye!

00:17:29.723 --> 00:17:31.117
The Call of Jesus