1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,440 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located 2 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:16,680 in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship 3 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:21,920 Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism, 4 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:27,300 discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church 5 00:00:27,300 --> 00:00:31,880 and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be your 6 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,420 host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages are a blessing 7 00:00:36,420 --> 00:00:47,080 to you and bring you closer to God. 8 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,600 Welcome back to the podcast. My name again is David Bickford. I'm the pastor at the 9 00:00:51,600 --> 00:01:00,800 Salmon Arm Potter's House. Today's message is entitled, Haters Going to Hate, or subheading 10 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:07,440 is Do You Have What It Takes? The text that we will be using today is Matthew 5 verses 11 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:13,480 43 through 48. You can go ahead and turn there if you are following along in your Bible. 12 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:21,520 This message, even off the title, you get an idea of where we are in society today. 13 00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:26,000 You probably even heard that term. It's a little bit of a dated term at this point, 14 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:33,120 Haters Going to Hate. The idea behind it is, as we look at leaders, as we look at people 15 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:38,840 who do amazing things, often times they are looked at negatively in the time that they 16 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,960 actually live. It takes a lot of courage to live up to God's Word. It takes a lot of courage 17 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:52,520 to live up to a statute that is bigger than oneself. Often times in society today we see 18 00:01:52,520 --> 00:02:00,400 people who are going to just go with the crowd because they would rather be not seen or they 19 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:06,380 would rather just be kind of in the masses rather than stand out, even if that means 20 00:02:06,380 --> 00:02:14,640 standing on a moral high ground or standing upon the Word of God. 21 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:20,360 An illustration I came across that I think is perfect for this is Abraham Lincoln, the 22 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:27,400 President Lincoln. He's routinely voted as one of the top tier presidents of the United 23 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,740 States. He's sometimes number one, sometimes George Washington is number one. I personally 24 00:02:32,740 --> 00:02:37,400 would vote for Washington as number one for the primary reason that he was offered to 25 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:46,480 be king of the United States. He turned it down and it was a big move. He was the first 26 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:52,860 president as well. He set the statute that held for a long time that presidents should 27 00:02:52,860 --> 00:02:58,040 only run for two terms and then they should go back to their own lives. He did that. He 28 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:04,820 set that precedent. It was all the way up until when President Roosevelt, during World 29 00:03:04,820 --> 00:03:12,440 War II, decided to continue to run for office even though he was fairly feeble a body towards 30 00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:19,060 the end of his term and he actually died in office. You look at what happened with that 31 00:03:19,060 --> 00:03:26,900 situation and even his own party aligned with the opposition party to make a constitutional 32 00:03:26,900 --> 00:03:32,040 amendment so that no other president can stay past two terms. 33 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:37,120 That goes back to George Washington. That's a little bit of American history for you there 34 00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:42,060 and George Washington, again, he's my pick for number one but Abraham Lincoln is definitely 35 00:03:42,060 --> 00:03:49,640 solidly in there for second place. A lot of Americans felt very differently about President 36 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:55,520 Lincoln when he was in office. Unlike George Washington who had the support of pretty much 37 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:00,860 everybody in government at the time, again, they wanted to make him king. When President 38 00:04:00,860 --> 00:04:07,860 Washington was there, he was already coming off of the victory of the Revolutionary War, 39 00:04:07,860 --> 00:04:12,740 being thrust into service one more time as president, having the support of everybody, 40 00:04:12,740 --> 00:04:20,820 all parties in the most part. That's a much different situation than what you see with 41 00:04:20,820 --> 00:04:29,500 Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln oversaw the United States during this huge schism that 42 00:04:29,500 --> 00:04:34,540 was happening within the country, this fracturing between the North and South. It wasn't just 43 00:04:34,540 --> 00:04:40,940 Southerners who didn't like Abraham Lincoln to some extent but that is usually what you 44 00:04:40,940 --> 00:04:47,340 end up hearing about mostly. While Lincoln won the presidential election, 45 00:04:47,340 --> 00:04:54,980 the electoral college votes rather, he won 180 out of the 303 electoral college votes. 46 00:04:54,980 --> 00:05:01,380 He only received 40% of the popular vote. Now, this might seem a little funny to those 47 00:05:01,380 --> 00:05:07,940 in Canada listening to this because it's pretty routine in Canada for a prime minister to 48 00:05:07,940 --> 00:05:14,780 get elected with only at these days 34% of the people voting, not even for him but for 49 00:05:14,780 --> 00:05:21,220 his party because it's a parliamentary system and it's different than a presidential election. 50 00:05:21,220 --> 00:05:29,100 But this is pretty unusual in the United States, the fact that only receiving 40% of the popular 51 00:05:29,100 --> 00:05:33,240 vote because you even hear that today where they'll say, well, so and so won the popular 52 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:38,340 vote but they didn't win because of the electoral college. The whole purpose of the electoral 53 00:05:38,340 --> 00:05:46,780 college is to give each state voice in who's going to govern the whole. Whereas in a parliamentary 54 00:05:46,780 --> 00:05:54,640 system, it's just the majority or the plurality rather, not even the majority but the plurality 55 00:05:54,640 --> 00:06:00,100 get to control who runs the country. You're getting actually a little bit of a better 56 00:06:00,100 --> 00:06:07,740 result because the provinces can get left out in Canada and you can end up with government 57 00:06:07,740 --> 00:06:13,740 that doesn't have to do anything for certain provinces. They're not in favor with the parliamentary 58 00:06:13,740 --> 00:06:19,900 leadership. Whereas in the United States with the electoral college, even like all the states 59 00:06:19,900 --> 00:06:27,500 are getting a voice in who's going to govern them in the presidential office. 60 00:06:27,500 --> 00:06:32,420 I'm rambling here with a little bit of background because I think it's relevant for people to 61 00:06:32,420 --> 00:06:39,080 understand what's going on in today's day and compare and contrast that to how things 62 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:44,480 were run in the past because we do live in a precarious time on the precipice of a lot 63 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:52,940 of division and tearing apart of the social fabric that has made countries like Canada 64 00:06:52,940 --> 00:06:58,460 and the United States so strong in the past. I don't want people to just think, oh, it's 65 00:06:58,460 --> 00:07:04,660 so bad right now that they overlook the fact that we have come through some pretty harsh 66 00:07:04,660 --> 00:07:11,540 times in society. Again, when Lincoln won, he had 180 out of 303 electoral votes, but 67 00:07:11,540 --> 00:07:18,900 he only had 40% of the popular vote. The Salem Advocate, an Illinois newspaper, wasn't very 68 00:07:18,900 --> 00:07:24,300 impressed with the new president saying, he is no more capable of becoming a statesman, 69 00:07:24,300 --> 00:07:33,380 nay even a moderate one, than the braying ass can become a noble lion. Pardon the language, 70 00:07:33,380 --> 00:07:38,580 they're obviously calling him a donkey rather than a lion in this situation. This is, again, 71 00:07:38,580 --> 00:07:43,740 this is a northern newspaper at the time, so the Illinois newspaper. That's even from 72 00:07:43,740 --> 00:07:52,580 his own state. They had very little faith that this upstart, Abraham Lincoln, was going 73 00:07:52,580 --> 00:08:00,220 to amount to much of anything at all. Then as civil war kicked off and the war progressed, 74 00:08:00,220 --> 00:08:06,820 he still got terrible news reviews of his 1863 Gettysburg Address. It got panned by 75 00:08:06,820 --> 00:08:12,080 the Pennsylvania Patriot News, again, a northern newspaper, which you'd think would have been 76 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:19,140 more sympathetic to Abraham Lincoln. But no, they said, we pass over the silly remarks 77 00:08:19,140 --> 00:08:23,820 of the president, the article said, for the credit of the nation, we are willing that 78 00:08:23,820 --> 00:08:29,540 the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated 79 00:08:29,540 --> 00:08:36,420 or thought of. On the 150th anniversary of this, the paper decided to issue a retraction 80 00:08:36,420 --> 00:08:44,900 because clearly as time progressed, Abraham Lincoln's reputation had achieved such a high 81 00:08:44,900 --> 00:08:52,180 level that it was almost a mark against the newspaper to be thinking so little of Abraham 82 00:08:52,180 --> 00:09:02,180 Lincoln. It's not like the public liked him much more than even these newspapers at this 83 00:09:02,180 --> 00:09:06,500 time. You've got to remember, you're being ripped apart. The country's being ripped apart 84 00:09:06,500 --> 00:09:12,780 by civil war and there was hundreds of thousands of casualties, roughly 600,000 casualties 85 00:09:12,780 --> 00:09:18,780 that happened in the civil war when you count for both sides. This is a traumatic time. 86 00:09:18,780 --> 00:09:25,620 This is a horribly bloody time for the United States of America. In the draft rights of 87 00:09:25,620 --> 00:09:34,340 1863, it looks pretty likely that President Lincoln might have lost his reelection campaign 88 00:09:34,340 --> 00:09:39,300 against George MacLennan, his old general. If it weren't for General William Sherman's 89 00:09:39,300 --> 00:09:45,120 march to the south, that would have given him a little bit more support and given people 90 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:50,940 more of a reason to stand behind him as the war was turning in the favor of the Union. 91 00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:58,500 Then later on, on April 14th, 1865, when the civil war ended, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln. 92 00:09:58,500 --> 00:10:04,380 This assassination started the reassessment of Lincoln. People started looking at Lincoln 93 00:10:04,380 --> 00:10:09,660 in a different way. As times went on, people saw him as the great emancipator who saved 94 00:10:09,660 --> 00:10:15,100 the Union. Several states even celebrated Lincoln's birthday. That being said, none 95 00:10:15,100 --> 00:10:22,660 of those states were in the south. It's a very interesting thing to think of when you 96 00:10:22,660 --> 00:10:27,300 look at the history of Abraham Lincoln. You think of this great man who's standing in 97 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:33,440 the gap for a nation, who's now considered to be the great emancipator who freed the 98 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:39,540 African American slaves. At the time that he was living, he was derided. He was off 99 00:10:39,540 --> 00:10:47,580 and people would attempt to shame him or even belittle his intelligence or his capabilities. 100 00:10:47,580 --> 00:10:55,500 He had to be able to focus through on blocking those ideas out, blocking out that rest of 101 00:10:55,500 --> 00:11:00,420 the world and living according to the standards that he had set for himself. It's an amazing 102 00:11:00,420 --> 00:11:05,780 thing that he was able to do what he did, but he didn't get any of the rewards for it 103 00:11:05,780 --> 00:11:12,940 largely during his time on earth. As we look at our text in Matthew 5 verses 43 to 48, 104 00:11:12,940 --> 00:11:17,580 let's go ahead and read that now. It says, love your enemies. You have heard that it 105 00:11:17,580 --> 00:11:22,380 is was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love 106 00:11:22,380 --> 00:11:27,840 your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father 107 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:33,080 who is in heaven, for he makes his son rise on the on the evil and the good and sends 108 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,860 rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do 109 00:11:37,860 --> 00:11:44,020 you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same. And if you greet only your brothers, 110 00:11:44,020 --> 00:11:49,140 what more are you doing than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same. You therefore must 111 00:11:49,140 --> 00:11:55,540 be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. So I like to believe that Abraham Lincoln 112 00:11:55,540 --> 00:12:02,340 understood the spirit of this verse of scripture, this portion of scripture, because even after 113 00:12:02,340 --> 00:12:09,060 the Civil War ended, you know, there there there was an immediate stance from him to 114 00:12:09,060 --> 00:12:13,420 say we need to heal the nation. And some of the people who derided him even at that time 115 00:12:13,420 --> 00:12:17,900 after the Civil War was coming to a close, that was their big complaint with him was 116 00:12:17,900 --> 00:12:27,060 the fact that he was trying to heal the nation from the horrendous war that had just happened. 117 00:12:27,060 --> 00:12:32,980 But we we have other examples of people who in their own time are being derided by the 118 00:12:32,980 --> 00:12:38,420 people there, they're the very people they are there to serve. Jesus was hated because 119 00:12:38,420 --> 00:12:43,860 he knew who he was. During the life of Jesus, he had a way of causing others to dislike 120 00:12:43,860 --> 00:12:48,580 him. Actually, from his birth, there were people who hated the very idea of him. They 121 00:12:48,580 --> 00:12:54,580 hated him enough to call for his death as a young child. In Matthew 2 16 through 18, 122 00:12:54,580 --> 00:13:00,420 we see the story of Herod wanting like plotting to kill the children just for the opportunity 123 00:13:00,420 --> 00:13:06,660 to potentially kill Jesus. It says then Herod when he saw that he had been tricked by the 124 00:13:06,660 --> 00:13:12,940 wise men became furious. And he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and all 125 00:13:12,940 --> 00:13:18,660 of the region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had spoke ascertained 126 00:13:18,660 --> 00:13:24,500 from the wise men, then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, a voice 127 00:13:24,500 --> 00:13:30,980 was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused 128 00:13:30,980 --> 00:13:36,820 to be comforted because there are no more. The reality of Jesus is that he he that his 129 00:13:36,820 --> 00:13:43,100 coming was meant both a celebration for those who are waiting, searching or living an expectation 130 00:13:43,100 --> 00:13:50,980 of a Messiah and to be a challenge for those who oppose the world or the word and the rule 131 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:55,220 of the living God. It is important to remember that the people of Israel had been looking 132 00:13:55,220 --> 00:14:02,080 for a warrior king that would bring back the golden age of King David and King Solomon. 133 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,420 They were looking for a political and military leader that would free them from the tyrannical 134 00:14:06,420 --> 00:14:11,620 rule of the Romans. They were not looking for a Messiah to come and be the Redeemer 135 00:14:11,620 --> 00:14:18,100 of the world. They allowed their earthly desires to jade their perspectives and many of them 136 00:14:18,100 --> 00:14:24,700 missed Jesus' purpose entirely. Even after Jesus Christ was crucified and rose from the 137 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:31,820 grave, the Jewish people in large could not see and still cannot see Jesus Christ as the 138 00:14:31,820 --> 00:14:38,300 Messiah. In Psalm 118-22 it says the stone that the builders rejected has become the 139 00:14:38,300 --> 00:14:44,900 cornerstone. Jesus knew this and he used the scripture himself and you can see that in 140 00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:52,820 Mark 12-10 and later on in Luke 20-17 and Matthew 21-42 as well. This is at the core 141 00:14:52,820 --> 00:14:59,060 of the Christian faith. Jesus is the Messiah regardless what anyone else thinks and believes 142 00:14:59,060 --> 00:15:06,700 and we can see this as Peter hones in on it in Acts 4 11-12. He says this is or this Jesus 143 00:15:06,700 --> 00:15:12,100 is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders which has become the cornerstone 144 00:15:12,100 --> 00:15:17,700 and there is salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given 145 00:15:17,700 --> 00:15:25,460 among men by which we must be saved. Paul continues on in 1 Corinthians 3 11 for no 146 00:15:25,460 --> 00:15:33,740 one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ. It is in truth 147 00:15:33,740 --> 00:15:40,260 and on this foundation that brings many to hate Jesus, to despise the light he shines 148 00:15:40,260 --> 00:15:45,860 in the world and on our own souls. It is only through the revelation of his divinity that 149 00:15:45,860 --> 00:15:51,420 we can turn to him in repentance and receive the gift of grace and salvation through him. 150 00:15:51,420 --> 00:15:58,140 This message is jarring and so it is so definitive that it shakes us to our core and that is 151 00:15:58,140 --> 00:16:06,020 the point. Let's look at three reasons that caused people to hate Jesus during his time 152 00:16:06,020 --> 00:16:12,820 and even now. The first one is confronting the status quo. We already discussed this 153 00:16:12,820 --> 00:16:17,700 point at a high level but let's dig into it a little bit more. We will also reframe this 154 00:16:17,700 --> 00:16:24,420 within our current cultural context. Jesus was and still is the OG counter culture poster 155 00:16:24,420 --> 00:16:31,540 boy if you will. Now he is not counter God's culture but he is the original person being 156 00:16:31,540 --> 00:16:39,280 counter culture to the religious paradigm and to the governing body that was ruling 157 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:43,660 in Israel at the time. A lot of people like to say that Jesus is a rebel and I don't like 158 00:16:43,660 --> 00:16:49,840 that because it paints Jesus in the light of having no authority. Jesus has all authority. 159 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:57,760 He is God. He is the son of God and therefore his emissary and he is the benchmark that 160 00:16:57,760 --> 00:17:03,740 all of us will be judged by. So that is being said. Let's look at how he dealt with the 161 00:17:03,740 --> 00:17:09,780 empty religion that he found when he was born in Jerusalem. In Matthew 23 1-3 and then in 162 00:17:09,780 --> 00:17:16,140 27-28 we read, Then Jesus said to the crowds and to the disciples, The scribes and the 163 00:17:16,140 --> 00:17:22,780 Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. So do and observe whatever they tell you but not the works that 164 00:17:22,780 --> 00:17:28,900 they do for they preach but do not practice. How often do we see people today preach the 165 00:17:28,900 --> 00:17:36,900 word of God but not live it in practice? We see that in all parts of society people who 166 00:17:36,900 --> 00:17:43,540 if you want to even touch on non-religious things like political things we have leaders 167 00:17:43,540 --> 00:17:47,540 like the world wide that tell us that we need to reduce carbon emissions while they fly 168 00:17:47,540 --> 00:17:55,340 around in private jets expending countless amounts of carbon that they tell us is killing 169 00:17:55,340 --> 00:18:02,420 the planet but yet they do not live a life of example ship. They live a life of telling 170 00:18:02,420 --> 00:18:07,820 us one thing and then living to a different standard themselves. So when Jesus came on 171 00:18:07,820 --> 00:18:12,500 the scene he saw the same thing. He sees the scribes and the Pharisees preaching the law 172 00:18:12,500 --> 00:18:19,100 but not living according to the spirit of the law. In verse 27 it says, Woe to you scribes 173 00:18:19,100 --> 00:18:25,620 and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful 174 00:18:25,620 --> 00:18:33,040 but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly 175 00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:38,020 appear righteous to others but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. So 176 00:18:38,020 --> 00:18:42,660 again it's a bit of a silly analogy but if you look again at people like the rich and 177 00:18:42,660 --> 00:18:47,260 the famous and the political elites they fly around the world expending tons of amounts 178 00:18:47,260 --> 00:18:50,580 of carbon that they tell us is killing the planet and then what do they do? They say 179 00:18:50,580 --> 00:18:56,340 oh we're going to pay penance, we're going to pay carbon offsets for the travel that 180 00:18:56,340 --> 00:19:02,180 we do. They do that because they have an abundance of wealth and they can play this game and 181 00:19:02,180 --> 00:19:08,940 try to say well you shouldn't do it but I can because I'm better than you. And they 182 00:19:08,940 --> 00:19:13,460 don't come out like some of them do come out and strictly say that but most of them try 183 00:19:13,460 --> 00:19:19,620 to hide behind the idea that well I'm doing this for your benefit and that's what you 184 00:19:19,620 --> 00:19:26,380 see the Pharisees and the Sadducees doing in the time of Jesus is they would say these 185 00:19:26,380 --> 00:19:32,700 beautiful things and appear outwardly to be very pious but they would be making new rules 186 00:19:32,700 --> 00:19:37,580 for themselves so that they can rather than honoring their father and their mother they 187 00:19:37,580 --> 00:19:43,420 can be paying to the church an additional duty if you will so they don't have to honor 188 00:19:43,420 --> 00:19:49,500 their father and their mother. They were outwardly trying to appear righteous but inwardly they 189 00:19:49,500 --> 00:19:55,340 were full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. In today's world we see many that claim Christ 190 00:19:55,340 --> 00:20:01,060 or claim understanding but in the same breath they deny Christ's teachings. They make a 191 00:20:01,060 --> 00:20:06,060 mockery of his message by their unwillingness or by their willingness rather to water it 192 00:20:06,060 --> 00:20:12,020 down. In doing this they render it devoid of hope and salvation. You cannot take the 193 00:20:12,020 --> 00:20:17,460 hard truths of Christ away from the gospel without reducing the gospel to nothing. If 194 00:20:17,460 --> 00:20:23,340 you take away the sinfulness of man then you take away the need of a savior the sacrifice 195 00:20:23,340 --> 00:20:31,180 of the lamb. The Pharisees and Sadducees strictly enforced the traditional laws of the Old Testament 196 00:20:31,180 --> 00:20:38,260 but then they also made laws to enforce those laws on top of the laws that they were attesting 197 00:20:38,260 --> 00:20:45,020 to. These enforcers of the laws had a problem though they were hypocritical in spirit they 198 00:20:45,020 --> 00:20:50,020 elevated the law while ignoring its purpose. They stripped Judaism of the compassion that 199 00:20:50,020 --> 00:20:55,920 was intrinsic to God's purpose. They also elevated themselves above that law. When Jesus 200 00:20:55,920 --> 00:21:00,380 came on the scene he was not shy at pointing out the emptiness of the religion and how 201 00:21:00,380 --> 00:21:05,780 the law had become hollow in the hearts of leaders. The law's purpose is to point man 202 00:21:05,780 --> 00:21:11,020 towards a relationship with God. It shows us our sinful nature and our need for salvation 203 00:21:11,020 --> 00:21:16,200 from God. The religious leaders were not using it to redeem people but rather to elevate 204 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:22,960 themselves and condemn people. They made the temple a marketplace to enrich themselves 205 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:28,700 and to cast dispersions on those who could not pay for the redemption that they were 206 00:21:28,700 --> 00:21:34,820 offering. We see that in certain areas of society today and again like if you look at 207 00:21:34,820 --> 00:21:42,760 the carbon credits that's an idea that well you can assuage your guilt for using carbon 208 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:50,100 if you pay this tax. Where does that tax go? It's similar to this kind of temple marketplace. 209 00:21:50,100 --> 00:21:58,840 You're paying for redemption that keeps up or uplifts this life of the people of the 210 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:04,100 temple market and the Sadducees and Pharisees in a way that was never intended to. They're 211 00:22:04,100 --> 00:22:11,980 enriching themselves off your guilt. That's not what the law was there for. The law was 212 00:22:11,980 --> 00:22:19,060 there to show you the need for sacrifice and the temple, the priests, the Sadducees, the 213 00:22:19,060 --> 00:22:25,860 Pharisees were there to bring you back into relationship with the Lord through keeping 214 00:22:25,860 --> 00:22:31,940 yourself clean in the law and using sacrifice to cover your sin. They weren't providing 215 00:22:31,940 --> 00:22:37,140 a service to you. They were rather guilting you into something that was not necessary 216 00:22:37,140 --> 00:22:45,220 in the first place and taking advantage of your guilt. In Matthew 21 12-16 Jesus cleanses 217 00:22:45,220 --> 00:22:50,440 the temple and it says, And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and 218 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:55,420 bought in the temple and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats 219 00:22:55,420 --> 00:22:59,620 of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, It is written, My house shall be called the 220 00:22:59,620 --> 00:23:04,600 house of prayer, but you make it a den of robbers. And the blind and the lame came to 221 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:10,020 him in the temple and he healed them. But when the chief priests and scribes saw that 222 00:23:10,020 --> 00:23:14,580 the wonderful things that he did and the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the 223 00:23:14,580 --> 00:23:19,500 son of David, they were indignant and they said to him, Do you hear what they are saying? 224 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:24,140 And Jesus said to them, Yes, have you never read out of the mouth of infants and nursing 225 00:23:24,140 --> 00:23:31,420 babes, babies, have you have prepared praise? So they tried to get him and stick it to him 226 00:23:31,420 --> 00:23:35,860 and say, Hey, you shouldn't be letting them say this to you. And he again called to his 227 00:23:35,860 --> 00:23:42,780 his own understanding of who he was, which infuriated them even more. So the next thing, 228 00:23:42,780 --> 00:23:50,660 right, the next way that that Jesus would cause people to hate him or cause people to 229 00:23:50,660 --> 00:23:57,740 dislike him. This second point is tax collectors, drunkards, brawlers and prostitutes ministering 230 00:23:57,740 --> 00:24:03,700 to those in need was a huge trademark for Jesus. When we look back on the earthly minister 231 00:24:03,700 --> 00:24:08,140 Jesus, it can be uncomfortable for many of us. Jesus went out of his way to bring his 232 00:24:08,140 --> 00:24:14,020 message to some of the most unseemly groups of people. These people would have been ostracized 233 00:24:14,020 --> 00:24:23,180 by the Jewish leaders. In fact, the idea or the term poor in in the the time of Jesus 234 00:24:23,180 --> 00:24:29,260 or even in the earlier times in Israeli society, poor didn't necessarily only mean poor because 235 00:24:29,260 --> 00:24:33,660 you didn't have a lot of money. It could mean poor in stature because you were of a lower 236 00:24:33,660 --> 00:24:39,740 caste in the society or a foreigner. It can mean poor in spirit because you were you were 237 00:24:39,740 --> 00:24:47,220 unclean. Right, but he you know, because the tax collector would be considered to be poor, 238 00:24:47,220 --> 00:24:50,460 but they were not, you know, poor because they didn't have money. They actually were 239 00:24:50,460 --> 00:24:59,020 very well off fiscally, but they were considered poor because of their standing in society. 240 00:24:59,020 --> 00:25:02,280 So these people would have been ostracized by the Jewish leaders. There was this common 241 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:07,820 understanding that once you fell into a life of sin, you were counted as lost. Now that 242 00:25:07,820 --> 00:25:13,940 is not scriptural, of course, but rather it became the practice to write people off, write 243 00:25:13,940 --> 00:25:20,580 off certain people in certain groups in the in Israeli society. Jesus challenged this 244 00:25:20,580 --> 00:25:26,100 mindset head on in the Gospel of Mark, we can see that Jesus was judged for eating with 245 00:25:26,100 --> 00:25:31,300 sinners. Mark 2 16 through 17 says, And the scribes and the Pharisees when they saw that 246 00:25:31,300 --> 00:25:35,780 he was eating with sinners and tax collectors said to the disciples, Why does he eat with 247 00:25:35,780 --> 00:25:41,940 tax collectors and sinners? And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, Those who are well 248 00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:48,160 have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I came not to call the righteous, 249 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:53,620 but the sinners. Later in the chapter, Jesus was judged for not strictly adhering to the 250 00:25:53,620 --> 00:26:01,500 Pharisees view of the Sabbath. Mark 2 23 through 27 says, One Sabbath he was going through 251 00:26:01,500 --> 00:26:05,560 the grain fields and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck the heads of 252 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:12,820 grain and the Pharisees were saying to them, Look, why are you doing what is unlawful on 253 00:26:12,820 --> 00:26:18,280 the Sabbath? And he said to them, Have you never read what David did when he was in need 254 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:23,340 and he was hungry? He and those who were with him, how they entered the house of God in 255 00:26:23,340 --> 00:26:28,380 the time of Abiathar, the high priest and ate the bread of the presence, which it is 256 00:26:28,380 --> 00:26:34,060 not lawful for any but the priest to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him. 257 00:26:34,060 --> 00:26:38,860 And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son 258 00:26:38,860 --> 00:26:44,100 of man is Lord even on the Sabbath. So I want to point out here that what the disciples 259 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:49,700 were doing was not unlawful in any legal sense. In fact, the law does allow for the gleaning 260 00:26:49,700 --> 00:26:54,620 of the fields. The point here is that there was a clear breach with the purpose of the 261 00:26:54,620 --> 00:27:01,300 law and its implementation by the ruling elites. It also challenges us today to be more compassionate 262 00:27:01,300 --> 00:27:08,340 for those around us. Jesus spent a good amount of time with the sick and needy. And this 263 00:27:08,340 --> 00:27:14,780 was not typical for religious leaders of the time. They like the likes the limelight and 264 00:27:14,780 --> 00:27:19,780 the prestige of their office. It was an offense to have such a popular teacher to the people 265 00:27:19,780 --> 00:27:25,500 like Jesus taking away their attention. And I want to consider with you here again, it's 266 00:27:25,500 --> 00:27:31,500 just a personal idea, your thought, the idea of plucking the grain, because they were hungry 267 00:27:31,500 --> 00:27:38,340 as they walked down the road. How's that any different than you actually eating a meal 268 00:27:38,340 --> 00:27:43,860 on the Sabbath in your house, you're still eating. So the idea of, you know, you're walking 269 00:27:43,860 --> 00:27:48,660 through a field, and you take something, you rub it in your hands, so you can have the 270 00:27:48,660 --> 00:27:55,660 grain to eat and you'd eat it as you walk. They were looking at that as labor. But they 271 00:27:55,660 --> 00:28:02,500 wouldn't be looking at eating their meal at home as labor, but they saw it as a way of 272 00:28:02,500 --> 00:28:08,500 attacking the disciples of Jesus Christ. It's just an interesting thought to think how far 273 00:28:08,500 --> 00:28:18,100 down the road people can go to try to make an argument when God's on the move, but they 274 00:28:18,100 --> 00:28:23,580 want to stop it because it doesn't jive with their theology. And we have to be careful 275 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:30,540 with that as Christians in a larger sense. We have to be very careful with judging other 276 00:28:30,540 --> 00:28:40,460 people for stuff that's not a major threat of theology. Obviously, they're key tenants. 277 00:28:40,460 --> 00:28:45,900 But for example, there's moves within different groups of Christianity that say, well, you 278 00:28:45,900 --> 00:28:50,380 should only have this kind of music or you should have only this kind of, you know, that 279 00:28:50,380 --> 00:28:55,420 kind of music. But if the music is there to glorify God, then maybe we should just be 280 00:28:55,420 --> 00:29:00,940 a little bit more careful on how we judge things as long as it's not, you know, directly 281 00:29:00,940 --> 00:29:08,020 going against the scripture. But that's an aside. That's something you could discuss 282 00:29:08,020 --> 00:29:14,260 with me offline if you ever wanted to. But getting back into the message that we have 283 00:29:14,260 --> 00:29:21,080 in front of ourselves, I want to just focus in on how these these sadducees and Pharisees, 284 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:26,780 they were really just upset that Jesus was getting the attention that they wanted for 285 00:29:26,780 --> 00:29:31,700 themselves. So this isn't the main reason that Jesus was disliked by the sadducees and 286 00:29:31,700 --> 00:29:37,180 Pharisees. If all he did was challenge the status quo and minister to sinners, there's 287 00:29:37,180 --> 00:29:41,580 little doubt that he that we would not even know the name of Jesus. The real reason that 288 00:29:41,580 --> 00:29:48,200 Jesus was hated and crucified was because of his deity. In the end, Jesus is the son 289 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:55,260 of God and he knew it. So Jesus, this brings me my final point was that Jesus is the only 290 00:29:55,260 --> 00:30:00,580 way. And this is the whole crux of it. This is really what we get down to even in our 291 00:30:00,580 --> 00:30:06,080 own life is this coming to the personal understanding, the personal relationship with Jesus as our 292 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:12,340 Lord and Savior. In Matthew 27, we pick up with Jesus being handed over to Pilate, the 293 00:30:12,340 --> 00:30:16,780 religious leaders, Judah did not have the power to perform capital punishment. And that 294 00:30:16,780 --> 00:30:22,580 is what they intended for with Jesus. In this chapter, we see the pilot knew that this was 295 00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:28,460 a power play by the Jewish elites to remove a rival that they were envious of. Matthew 296 00:30:28,460 --> 00:30:35,100 27, 73, 18 says, So when they handed or so when they gathered, Pilate said to them, whom 297 00:30:35,100 --> 00:30:40,460 do you want me to release for you? Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ? For he knew 298 00:30:40,460 --> 00:30:45,340 that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Then after they called for the release 299 00:30:45,340 --> 00:30:51,580 of Barabbas, they called for the crucifixion of Jesus. And then we pick up again in 20 300 00:30:51,580 --> 00:30:57,420 verses 22 and 23. Pilate said to them, then what shall I do with this Jesus who is called 301 00:30:57,420 --> 00:31:05,060 the called Christ? They said, let him be crucified. And he said, why? What evil has he done? And 302 00:31:05,060 --> 00:31:11,180 they shouted all the more, let him be crucified. How did the leaders of the Jewish people get 303 00:31:11,180 --> 00:31:17,180 here? How did the ministry of Jesus stoke such so much anger, hostility and hate? I 304 00:31:17,180 --> 00:31:22,820 will not deny that this was demonic at its root, but there there is something else, something 305 00:31:22,820 --> 00:31:29,860 here that is very important for us to understand. Christ is the only way. I'm gonna say it 306 00:31:29,860 --> 00:31:37,860 again. Christ is the only way. There is no other way, no other road or path to salvation. 307 00:31:37,860 --> 00:31:43,580 Jesus is the son of God and his God. His divinity is the reason the rulers of Israel were so 308 00:31:43,580 --> 00:31:49,300 adamantly against him and his ministry. This is the thing that separates Christianity from 309 00:31:49,300 --> 00:31:56,340 the other faiths that come from Abraham as well is is our recognition that Jesus is the 310 00:31:56,340 --> 00:32:04,260 son of God and that he is the lamb of sacrifice for all of us. His divinity is the reason 311 00:32:04,260 --> 00:32:09,140 that the rulers of Israel were so adamantly against him and his ministry. The reason that 312 00:32:09,140 --> 00:32:16,160 Jesus was hated was because of who he is without any room for for movement. He is the Messiah 313 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:23,840 and and it was his claim of godness that challenged the world. It says, recognize me and I will 314 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:29,880 wash away your sins and you will be saved. Deny me and there is no other way to the father 315 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:36,420 and you are condemned. The solid the solid concrete statement leaves no room for the 316 00:32:36,420 --> 00:32:42,920 priests to maneuver. They had to either accept Christ or deny Christ, but in denying Christ, 317 00:32:42,920 --> 00:32:48,680 they would also have to give up their authority and submit to him. Pride played this huge 318 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:54,420 part in the role and it still does in our world today. And then I go back, you know, 319 00:32:54,420 --> 00:33:01,780 when Christ was ministering to sinners, he gave them the same the same opportunity. He 320 00:33:01,780 --> 00:33:09,500 said, send no more and follow me. It's the acceptance of his deity and the turning away 321 00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:15,200 and repenting of sins that brings you into the Lamb's Book of Life. And it's such a challenge, 322 00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:21,580 even in our own society, that people will do everything in their power to deny it because 323 00:33:21,580 --> 00:33:27,400 they want to hold on to what they feel is their own control and react. And in reality, 324 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:34,100 it's their pride. In fact, pride is everywhere today. The world today is proud of all sorts 325 00:33:34,100 --> 00:33:39,540 of things that Christ tells us to turn away from. He tells us to turn away from our pride 326 00:33:39,540 --> 00:33:46,340 and to lay it at his feet, to go and sin no more and be saved by his grace. In the end, 327 00:33:46,340 --> 00:33:52,100 the crucifixion was necessary. Jesus had to be sacrificed so that he could overcome death 328 00:33:52,100 --> 00:33:58,260 and rise again and prove his divinity. And we know that this has been proven and that 329 00:33:58,260 --> 00:34:05,140 his divinity is assured because there were so many eyewitnesses seeing Christ after his 330 00:34:05,140 --> 00:34:12,140 crucifixion to show that he had the power that he claimed and that he can forgive the 331 00:34:12,140 --> 00:34:17,540 sins of the repentant sinner. That is why he had to die and rise again, that we all 332 00:34:17,540 --> 00:34:24,100 can turn to him no matter our condition and be redeemed. So as we close, if Jesus was 333 00:34:24,100 --> 00:34:30,820 so vilified, how can we expect anything less for ourselves? I believe that we are not pushing 334 00:34:30,820 --> 00:34:35,800 the boundaries of our society closer to God than we are allowing it to be pulled away 335 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:44,780 from God. Just like Abraham Lincoln, if he wouldn't have stood solidly on keeping the 336 00:34:44,780 --> 00:34:50,140 union together, then the union would have pulled apart and you wouldn't have a United 337 00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:55,940 States of America anymore. You would have had maybe a smaller United States of the United 338 00:34:55,940 --> 00:34:59,860 Northern States of America and then you would have had a Confederate Southern States of 339 00:34:59,860 --> 00:35:06,180 America. And who knows how much longer the American slave trade would have gone on had 340 00:35:06,180 --> 00:35:11,500 Abraham Lincoln not been successful and stand upon his principles. What kind of horrors 341 00:35:11,500 --> 00:35:18,980 would we have in the world because of that decision not to stand on the solid ground 342 00:35:18,980 --> 00:35:27,200 that he did? Because we have a lot of world wars that came after the American Civil War. 343 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:31,340 Who would have won World War I? Who would have won World War II? What would have happened 344 00:35:31,340 --> 00:35:38,920 with history if not for Abraham Lincoln keeping the United States of America together? Society 345 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:43,660 has a lot of issues currently, but we have to be strong enough to stand for something 346 00:35:43,660 --> 00:35:50,580 that matters. We need to be resolute and stable and we can find the necessary firmness and 347 00:35:50,580 --> 00:35:57,420 stability in Jesus Christ. But it does come with a cost. In the Marine Corps when you 348 00:35:57,420 --> 00:36:04,060 get saved, it was a typical thing that you were immediately going to be tagged Bible 349 00:36:04,060 --> 00:36:09,600 thumper if you truly were getting saved. That doesn't mean like the guy who goes to mass 350 00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:14,080 or the guy who goes to church and then goes out and parties that evening with the boys 351 00:36:14,080 --> 00:36:19,240 or that week with the boys. But when you were a Christian and you truly gave your life to 352 00:36:19,240 --> 00:36:25,260 Jesus Christ, you would get immediately tagged with the term Bible thumper. This moniker 353 00:36:25,260 --> 00:36:30,800 was meant to ridicule you. It was also meant to put a target on your back. People would 354 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:36,980 try and get you to swear, try and get you to drink or do something un-Christian so they 355 00:36:36,980 --> 00:36:41,580 could ridicule you. They would do this because they wanted to see you fail. A lot of people 356 00:36:41,580 --> 00:36:49,020 want to see you fail. A lot of people do fail because they can't handle the persecution, 357 00:36:49,020 --> 00:36:54,980 they can't ridicule. That is why we need to have a real relationship with Jesus Christ. 358 00:36:54,980 --> 00:36:59,100 That is why we have to pray. That is why we have to read our word. That is why we have 359 00:36:59,100 --> 00:37:06,020 to find a Bible-believing church, go on outreach and gather with the brethren and preach the 360 00:37:06,020 --> 00:37:14,820 gospel. We do these things because it instills in us a solid foundation built on Christ. 361 00:37:14,820 --> 00:37:20,400 The foundation is Christ, rather, and then you are building your house on that foundation. 362 00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:25,380 The more we share in the ministry of Jesus Christ, the closer we are able to get to understanding 363 00:37:25,380 --> 00:37:32,540 the weight of His sacrifice. It brings us back to our text in Matthew 5 verses 43-48 364 00:37:32,540 --> 00:37:37,420 about loving your enemies. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbors 365 00:37:37,420 --> 00:37:42,140 and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute 366 00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:47,020 you so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise 367 00:37:47,020 --> 00:37:51,020 in the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you 368 00:37:51,020 --> 00:37:55,740 love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the 369 00:37:55,740 --> 00:38:01,220 same and if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not 370 00:38:01,220 --> 00:38:08,900 even Gentiles do the same. You therefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. 371 00:38:08,900 --> 00:38:12,780 So as I close, if I could have every head bowed, every eye closed, if you are driving, 372 00:38:12,780 --> 00:38:20,980 obviously keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes open. We need to remember the stance 373 00:38:20,980 --> 00:38:29,460 that Abraham Lincoln made because it harkens back to the stableness of his mindset to say, 374 00:38:29,460 --> 00:38:38,620 no, what is right is this. And just because nobody else agrees doesn't mean that it isn't 375 00:38:38,620 --> 00:38:46,180 right. And that's why we rely on Jesus Christ. We rely on the Word of God for our own lives 376 00:38:46,180 --> 00:38:52,460 because Jesus came and confronted empty religion. So therefore we can't live a life of empty 377 00:38:52,460 --> 00:38:58,660 religion. We need to pour ourselves in with reading the Word of God in prayer so that 378 00:38:58,660 --> 00:39:05,660 way we can pour ourselves out and show the outcasts of society, the love of Jesus Christ, 379 00:39:05,660 --> 00:39:12,900 to show them that Jesus loved you and died for your sins. We can't do that if we're 380 00:39:12,900 --> 00:39:16,660 living in empty religion. We have to fill ourselves with the Word of God. We have to 381 00:39:16,660 --> 00:39:21,900 pray, have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ so that way we can exemplify Jesus' 382 00:39:21,900 --> 00:39:28,540 love to the outcasts. And we can bring them the message of the gospel, showing them that 383 00:39:28,540 --> 00:39:34,940 he is willing to forgive sinners who are willing to turn and repent and sin no more. And then 384 00:39:34,940 --> 00:39:42,540 as they accept him as the only authority, they will be saved and set free. And that's 385 00:39:42,540 --> 00:39:49,780 what I preach today, is a message of salvation. A message of salvation that yes, haters are 386 00:39:49,780 --> 00:39:57,740 going to hate as the title of the sermon indicates. But do you have what it takes to stand up 387 00:39:57,740 --> 00:40:07,260 to this world's hate and to live a life that exemplifies Jesus' sacrifice? Jesus died 388 00:40:07,260 --> 00:40:14,500 for you. He died for me. He died for you. And it's by his grace that you can be set 389 00:40:14,500 --> 00:40:20,120 free from the bondage of sin. So if that's you this morning and this message is resonating 390 00:40:20,120 --> 00:40:26,700 with you and you're feeling a tug on your heart because maybe you've been dancing around 391 00:40:26,700 --> 00:40:30,940 the message of the gospel, you've been dancing around with Jesus, you need to give it in. 392 00:40:30,940 --> 00:40:36,700 You need to give in to him. You say, you know what, you know, God, I'm going to do it your 393 00:40:36,700 --> 00:40:42,340 way. And if that's you, you can signify that uplifted hand. I can't see it, but God sees 394 00:40:42,340 --> 00:40:49,940 it. And if you mean it, then that's got impact, far reaching impact that you just don't have 395 00:40:49,940 --> 00:40:55,980 any way of contemplating at this moment. But if that is you, then repeat after me, dear 396 00:40:55,980 --> 00:41:00,740 Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, 397 00:41:00,740 --> 00:41:06,860 that he died for my sins. And I accept him as my Lord and my Savior and I repent of my 398 00:41:06,860 --> 00:41:13,540 sins in Jesus name. Amen. Simple prayer. You're accepting that you're a sinner. You're repenting 399 00:41:13,540 --> 00:41:18,820 or turning away from your sin and you're accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That's salvation. 400 00:41:18,820 --> 00:41:22,740 Your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You might've heard terms like baptism, 401 00:41:22,740 --> 00:41:28,620 things of that nature. That's great. You can be baptized as a public showing of your acceptance 402 00:41:28,620 --> 00:41:35,620 of Jesus Christ. And that's a great and powerful thing. But grace comes the second you do that 403 00:41:35,620 --> 00:41:45,180 with an open heart and you do that honestly, just like the thief on the cross. So don't 404 00:41:45,180 --> 00:41:51,380 be discouraged, but move on in your new life in Christ and read your Bible. Get a Bible 405 00:41:51,380 --> 00:41:57,460 and you can download any number of apps that have a good translation, King James, NIV, 406 00:41:57,460 --> 00:42:07,700 ESV, you name it. Read the Word of God. Pray. Pray out to Him. Find a Bible-believing church. 407 00:42:07,700 --> 00:42:12,820 If you need help finding a Bible-believing church, I'm in Sammon Arm. Come to our church. 408 00:42:12,820 --> 00:42:19,180 Reach out the contact info is in the show notes. But if you're not in Sammon Arm and 409 00:42:19,180 --> 00:42:24,180 you need to help finding a church, we have over 3,500 churches globally. We've got them 410 00:42:24,180 --> 00:42:28,900 all over the place. Be more than happy to put you in contact with one of our churches 411 00:42:28,900 --> 00:42:35,140 because gathering with the brethren is a very powerful thing. And it helps you with your 412 00:42:35,140 --> 00:42:41,540 relationship with Jesus Christ. It gives you power to dive in. It gives you something solid. 413 00:42:41,540 --> 00:42:44,740 And so I just want to thank you for listening to me today. And if you can do me a favor, 414 00:42:44,740 --> 00:42:50,820 if this message has impacted you, like it, share it, subscribe, because we're trying 415 00:42:50,820 --> 00:42:54,700 to get the message of Jesus Christ out of as many people as we can. And it's always 416 00:42:54,700 --> 00:43:00,500 going to be a simple message that Jesus came to earth, died for your sins so that you can 417 00:43:00,500 --> 00:43:05,140 be saved in His name. Thank you again and I can't wait for you to come back next time. 418 00:43:05,140 --> 00:43:06,140 God bless. 419 00:43:06,140 --> 00:43:14,380 Thank you for listening to the PHA Potter's House Sammon Arm podcast. Be sure to follow 420 00:43:14,380 --> 00:43:18,940 us on Instagram at pottershouse underscore Sammon Arm to keep up to date on what we're 421 00:43:18,940 --> 00:43:45,940 doing. 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