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Recognising God in the Paths of Life · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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in at verse 5. Proverbs 3 at verse 5, trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your
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own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.
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Proverbs is such a marvelous book in the way that it actually weaves the whole topic of wisdom
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into every avenue of life. Every single thread of wisdom that you find in the book of Proverbs and
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it's largely a book about wisdom and a definition in many ways of what wisdom is, where you find
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wisdom, how beneficial wisdom is and so on, the various descriptions that you find of it. But it's
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obvious that wisdom, the wisdom that God gives is something that's designed for every situation in
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life so that we can be the kind of people that bring glory and honor to God in the way we live
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out our lives in this world. And it's interesting as well, significant I think, that you find the
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figure of wisdom portrayed by the beautiful elegant woman that's sometimes mentioned throughout
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Proverbs and in chapter 31 especially is the figure of the woman who has such wonderful abilities
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and yet opposite to that you find the dark and the dangerous woman, the immoral woman, the woman
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foolishness, who is loud. And each of them in their own way call people to themselves and each of them
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find people responding to their call. That's why you see in the likes of chapter 9 here that the writer
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is actually setting that out in such a way after that a chapter dealing so specifically with wisdom.
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Wisdom has built her house. She has made a provision for a banquet. Whosoever is simple, let him turn
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in here. Come, she says, eat of my bread, drink of the wine I've mixed. Leave your simple ways and live and
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walk in the way of insight. And as you go on down, you find at verse 13 then, the woman folly or foolishness
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is loud. She is seductive. She knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house and she calls those who pass by.
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Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. In other words, you have there really in that one chapter,
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the contrast between wisdom and foolishness. And what you find really is the practical aspects of
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wisdom and foolishness built into the whole book of Proverbs. And it's really saying to us, this is what
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you're facing in the world. And this is the kind of situation for which you need wisdom because you have
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these voices calling you in different directions. And the Lord gives the wisdom that we need to have
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and follow for our lives to be as they should be. Well, here you have a trust in the Lord with all
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your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight
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your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes. We often take these verses, rightly so, to be verses that are
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that are connected with guidance, the guidance that we seek from God, the guidance that we look for in our
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lives as they go on from day to day. But they're not specifically or they're not primarily verses about
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guidance, but they are verses that are filled with wonderful promises in regard to those who turn to
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God for their wisdom and follow the ways of wisdom as he actually brings them into our notice.
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Now, you see this word acknowledge in all your ways. Acknowledge him. You come across words like that,
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of course, in the Bible. And you maybe first of all think of how do we use this word acknowledge in
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ordinary language in an everyday sense. The word acknowledge has a different meaning in different
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contexts. For example, you acknowledge a letter. We should acknowledge a letter. If it's a letter,
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especially an official letter, we send an acknowledgement that we've received it.
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Mostly nowadays, I'm sure it'll be text messages or emails, but the acknowledgement says, yes, I've received
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it. I acknowledge receipt of it. Also use the word acknowledge when somebody comes and says hello to
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you. Even if you don't know them well, if they say hello to you, know who you are, you know them. So you
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say this back and you're there for acknowledging them. You're acknowledging receipt of their welcome or
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whatever it is. And acknowledge too has the idea of sometimes used in the sense of actually admitting
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something. You'll find in a court situation, for example, for reports of events in courts,
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somebody will come to acknowledge that they did this, acknowledge their guilt. So acknowledge is used
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there in terms of confessing something. And it's interesting that in the Gaelic translation of the Bible,
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that's actually the word that's used, adiha, confess the Lord. And that's a perfectly good translation of it as
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well. But the word acknowledge, as strictly speaking, comes from a Hebrew word, the Hebrew verb to know, which
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itself has a lot of various ways in which it's used in the Bible. But what the word acknowledge, you can see the word
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know, is actually in the middle of the word there. Acknowledge really means to get to know or to come to
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a familiarization with something. You acknowledge something, you get to know it, you become familiar
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with it. It's far more than just a casual acquaintance. It's far more than something that you just do by way
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of formal acknowledgement or confession. In other words, what it's really saying in verse 6 to us here is,
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in all your ways, take the knowledge of God with you or get to know God. In all your ways, recognize him.
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That's another way of putting it. In all your ways, recognize the Lord. Give place to the Lord. Give him
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his rightful place. Acknowledge him. All of those shades of meanings, you could say, come into the use of the
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word acknowledge in that context. And the promises given to it are significant as well. He will make
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straight your paths. Now, we take the two verses together, indeed the first part of verse 7 as well,
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because we'll notice that there's a balance going on in these verses between one side of thing and
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another in terms of a contrast. Or sometimes it's just in relation of what's following on if you do a
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certain thing. First of all, there's recognizing God in the paths of life. Recognizing other need
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to recognize God, to get to know God, to acknowledge God in the paths of life. In all your ways,
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acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. In other words, as we acknowledge him,
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the promise is that we will be directed by him in the paths of life, but in a way that makes these
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paths straight. We'll see what that means in a moment. So recognizing God in the paths of life.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. And it's put in the form
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of an imperative in the shape of a command. Do this. Trust in the Lord. Do not lean on your own
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understanding. Acknowledge him. And the fact that it's put as an imperative adds really a sense of
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urgency to it, doesn't it? When you come across something in the Bible that's put in the form of an
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imperative, you immediately say, well, there's an importance attached to this, and I ought to actually
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get down to reckon with it, to deal with what it's saying to me immediately. But you see, it's also
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not just an imperative. It's also repeated. In all your ways, go on acknowledging him. Trust in the Lord.
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Do not lean on your own understanding. It's not something you do once in a while.
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It's not something you do once, and then it follows on from that, even if you don't repeat it.
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When it says, do trust in the Lord with all your heart, it means go on trusting in the Lord.
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When it means, in all your ways, acknowledge him, it means do this all the time. Go on doing this.
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It's part of the fabric of life. It applies to every circumstance. So what's involved in
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acknowledging the Lord in all our ways? What's involved? How does it relate to trusting in him
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with all our heart? Well, they're closely linked, these two verses. In fact, there's a balance in
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them. You can see there that the opposite of trusting in the Lord with all our heart is
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leaning on our own understanding. So the two things are put side by side so that you'll see them in a
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balance, and you'll see that on the one hand, it's the right thing to do. On the other hand,
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it's the opposite. It's the wrong thing to do. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
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Do not lean on your own understanding. Not only that, but there's a balance in the following
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as well. In all your ways, acknowledge him is really an explanation of trusting in the Lord
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and not relying on your own understanding. The whole thing is wonderfully put together so that
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you find these different relationships between the different parts of the verse. So trust in the
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Lord with all your heart, in all your ways. You notice a repeating of the word all as well. Trust in the
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Lord with all your heart and in all your ways. Acknowledge him. There's a comprehensiveness
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about the whole thing as well. So when you come to put all that together, what you really find is
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the wisdom that God gives us that we seek from God is a wisdom that delivers you from self-trust,
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from leaning upon your own understanding. And it's an altogether easy thing to do, to lean
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on our own understanding. To actually come and say, well, this is really something I think
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I should do in this way, or this is a decision I think I'm perfectly capable of taking,
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and just leaning upon our own understanding and our own wisdom. Ever since we fell in Eden,
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when we fell from the state in which God created us, we have that proneness to self-understanding,
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that proneness to our own human wisdom. And this is the counter to it. It's really a very practical
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verse. The counter to it, since leaning on our own understanding, is not just foolishness,
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but it's rebellion against God. In many ways, you can see the seed of that, at least, if not more,
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in the way that they succumbed, Adam and Eve. Eve first, then Adam succumbed to the devil's
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temptation. Here was the devil coming with this alternative to what God had laid out for them,
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and both she and Adam afterwards leaned on their own understanding, leaned on their own understanding,
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and sought to use their own understanding instead of trusting in God. Trusting in the Lord with all
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your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. And ever since then, this is what we actually find
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ourselves prone to do. And in fact, that's what you find when you're seeking to set out as a witness
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to the gospel, when you're witnessing to Jesus, when you're taking your Christianity and confession
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into the world. What you're facing all the time is people using their own understanding.
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And in fact, you can't actually have anything but the wrong understanding,
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until in Christ and in succumbing and giving yourself to Christ, you actually move away from
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relying on your own understanding. And you come to follow the understanding of the Bible,
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the understanding of God himself, the understanding of the mind that has actually put the scripture
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together for us, the mind that is itself absolute wisdom. And that absolute wisdom is what's put this
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Bible in front of us and given us this word as a word of wisdom to us, the whole of it in its entirety.
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And when you come to face those things in the world that tonight you know very well
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are so vehemently against the gospel, whether it's in human relationships, whether it's in human identity,
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whether it's in sexuality or identity in all of these aspects of human life,
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what you find in everything that's against the gospel, against the Lord's own description of God's word
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as to what actually gives people, human beings, their identity, what gives them maleness or femaleness,
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whether it's man or woman, there's the two. But when you find opposition to the Bible's teaching on that,
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what you're getting all the time is human wisdom. It's people leaning on their own understanding,
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and thinking, this is the only rule I need, this is the only understanding I need, and I'm perfectly
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capable of following this out, and I have every right to do it. See, that's the rebellious aspect
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of it as well. It just dismisses the Bible as in any way relevant to human life or to public life.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
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In all your ways, acknowledge him, know him, give him the recognition, and he will make straight your paths.
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Now, you see, it is, as we said, in all your ways, acknowledge him.
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We cannot be selective about it. It's not just coming to the Lord whenever we find the going really difficult.
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It's not just coming to him when we have perplexed about a decision we have to take,
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or we think of it as a major decision compared to some other decisions of a lesser caliber, we might think.
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We can't be selective.
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Every single step of life, everything along the path of life,
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the paths that he's talking about here that he will make straight,
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for all of that, for every step, we need the wisdom of God.
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We need to be an acknowledgement of God, living in a knowing relationship with him,
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so that he will actually come and direct our path in the right way.
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In other words, the wisdom that Proverbs, that's why the book of Proverbs
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talks about wisdom, presents wisdom to us,
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as something that is really imperative for the church,
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for our place in the church, for our role in the church,
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for wherever we are at work, whether we're employed or not,
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for family life, for leisure, for holidays,
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for every single aspect of life, every area of life.
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Proverbs is saying, this is God's provision for you.
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This is the wisdom.
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This is the acknowledgement of God that you take with you,
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so that you apply the wisdom that he himself has set out for us.
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Our relationship with the Lord involves every aspect of life.
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We carry it into every situation.
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We don't leave it behind when we leave church, church meetings.
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You know all of this already, of course,
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but the Bible so often repeats things or reiterate things for us
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or re-emphasizes things for us, things we know very well.
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And in fact, that's what the preaching of the gospel has to acknowledge.
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It mustn't come and say, well, I preached on that maybe,
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or on that theme, preached on that maybe last month or the week before.
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If it's a theme that's prominent in the Bible,
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we need to keep coming back to it.
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We need to come back to remind ourselves of its importance.
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And wisdom, this practical application of wisdom, is so important.
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In other words, recognizing God means actually recognizing and accepting his arrangement of life,
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his arrangement of the events of life, of each individual life.
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Remember Martha and Mary at the time that Lazarus, their brother, died.
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Jesus stayed for four days.
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He remained four days where he was, and eventually he made his way to them.
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And when he spoke to Martha, you remember her words very well.
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If, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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I just think what that's saying.
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She wasn't finding fault with him.
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I don't think there might have been a little element of that,
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thinking that he could have made his way there earlier,
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but I don't think that's the main emphasis of it.
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What he's really saying, what she was really saying was,
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it would think things would have worked out differently if only you had been here.
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Now, that's something that we ourselves apply so often in areas of life where we've got difficulty,
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trauma, tragedy, whatever.
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We would like it to have been otherwise.
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If it had been left to our own arrangement, it would have been otherwise.
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If God had left us to actually decide how things took place and what things took place
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and how they were arranged in our lives,
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if the tapestry of our life had been left to our own wisdom,
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and if it hadn't quite been so difficult and so trying and so traumatic,
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well, wouldn't that have been better?
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No, God is saying, I'm the one whose wisdom has put it all together for you.
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And even though you know it as something that's trying and testing and difficult and challenging and hurtful,
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yet it belongs in the whole tapestry, as Donnie mentioned,
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the tapestry that God is weaving in the weaving of our lives.
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And the tapestry, the underside of which appears somewhat confused to us,
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the underside as we look at it, as we are only able to look at it really from that point of view in this life,
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we would say, well, if only things were arranged differently,
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if only the pattern of my life was different.
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Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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But then the Lord reminds us, well, we need to acknowledge him in all our ways.
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We need to give him the recognition.
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We need to give him his place.
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We need to give him what's due to him.
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We need to remember that we're not the wise ones running our own lives,
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though sometimes we may feel that it might have been better.
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Of course it wouldn't have been better.
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Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
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Do not lean on your own understanding.
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In all your ways acknowledge him.
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And he will direct your paths.
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One of the wonderful things about Jesus,
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the Son of God in our nature,
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as you read about him in the Gospels,
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one of the wonderful things that are brought to us,
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to our notice about him,
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is how as a human being,
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he actually gave himself to the will of the Father.
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And not only that, but he gave himself,
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when he was a boy,
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even to the rule and the authority of his parents.
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Remember, when he was lost,
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as far as his parents were concerned,
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Joseph and Mary, his mother and husband Joseph,
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there he was in the temple disputing with the doctors of the law.
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And as they went to find him,
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they scolded him somewhat.
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Why was he?
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Why had he not gone?
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Why did he delay it?
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Why did he not come with them?
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Do you not know?
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He said that I must be about my father's business.
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How does that chapter end though?
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Here he is telling them authoritatively what he's about,
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that he's actually in charge of the situation,
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that he's able in disputing with these doctors
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to show just something of his identity.
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How does the chapter end?
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He went home and was subject to them.
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He went home and he was subject to them.
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He lived the life of a growing boy,
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subject to the authority of his parents,
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although he had the authority that was his as God.
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And that's our example.
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That's the life that is directed by wisdom,
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by the practical effects of living
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in a way that does not lean on our own understanding,
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but actually trusts in the Lord with all our heart.
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So recognizing God in the paths of life,
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it's a huge challenge.
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It's a very difficult thing at times to do.
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It's a very difficult thing to acknowledge him
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in all our ways, to give him his place
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and to do so unreservedly.
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This is what it's calling on us to do.
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And the promise to that is we will be directed by him.
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He will make straight your paths.
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The words to make straight there literally mean
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to clear a way or to clear a route for somebody.
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It was a phrase used very often of important dignitaries
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or kings in Old Testament times.
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When they would be traveling somewhere,
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they would very often make sure that the way was clear,
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that there were no obstacles there that would endanger them
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or in any way be hampering their progress.
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Make the way straight.
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Doesn't mean necessarily in a straight line at all,
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but it does mean make it straight
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in the sense of enabling progress to be made in it.
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And really that's what it means spiritually as well.
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You remember Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 3
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is a verse taken up by John the Baptist
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in his preliminaries before Jesus himself began his ministry.
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What did John say about himself?
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Well, he actually said about himself
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using these words from Isaiah chapter 40.
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I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.
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Make straight the paths of the Lord.
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Prepare the way so that he will make progress in it.
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That's how it is spiritually as well.
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The very emphasis here is on God.
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He will make straight your paths.
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In all your ways, give him his place.
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Acknowledge him, know him, depend upon him,
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lean upon him, on his wisdom,
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and he will make straight your paths.
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He will actually make sure that you progress,
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that your life goes on positively and purposefully.
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That doesn't mean that the way is going to be smooth.
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The straight way in which we make progress
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is not the way always filled with comfort,
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not the way that's filled with things
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which really cause us little trouble.
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What it does mean is that he will ensure
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that as we trust in him
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and lean not on our own understanding,
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he will ensure that we do make progress
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even through and due to the difficulties.
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He will bless these to us.
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He will actually make sure that these,
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as we acknowledge him in them
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and give him his recognition
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and give him his rightful place,
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well, his promise is then,
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I will bless you even through these difficulties.
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I will make them productive in your life.
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All of that is packed into what he really says here.
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It means that he will ensure we don't fall
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and come to ruin.
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He will make straight your paths.
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And he there in the text is emphatic.
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In the Hebrew text of the Bible here,
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in all your ways acknowledge him
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and he will make straight your paths.
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And that's such a forceful emphasis on that word,
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he, he will make straight your paths.
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Later in the chapter,
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you'll see it as we read through it.
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You'll have noted how in verse 11,
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my son, do not despise the Lord's discipline
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or be weary of his reproof.
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For the Lord reproves him whom he loves
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as a father of the son in whom he delights.
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These words, as you know,
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are taken up in Hebrews chapter 12,
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which refers to chastening or chastisement,
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where the Lord in his providence
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brings things about in our experience
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that do really hurt us,
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that cause us pain,
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that sometimes may even bewilder us
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with unexpected or sudden events.
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But Hebrews 12,
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picking up this passage,
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these verses in verse 11 and 12 there,
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actually assure us that
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no chastening for the present
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seems to be joyous,
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but grievous.
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It does not feel
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as if this is going to be profitable.
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It does not really
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appear obvious at all
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how it fits into the Lord's way
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of directing us
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and making out paths straight.
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But Hebrews goes on to say,
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no chastening seems
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for the present
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to be joyous,
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but grievous.
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Nevertheless,
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afterwards,
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it yields the peaceable
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fruit of righteousness.
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And what then?
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To all those
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who are exercised thereby.
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To all those
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who are exercised
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during the times
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that they find difficult
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in this life.
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They are exercised.
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And because they're exercised,
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they're exercised
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in the sense of trusting
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in the Lord,
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acknowledging him
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in all their ways,
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not leaning on their own understanding.
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And that exercise
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really means that God follows
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at some point
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with the blessing
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that makes straight our paths.
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Martin Lloyd-Jones,
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the late Martin Lloyd-Jones,
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Dr Lloyd-Jones
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wrote a small book,
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a very valuable book.
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And it's a book
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which deals
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with the likes of Hebrews,
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chapter 12,
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that passage of it
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dealing with
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the reproof of the Lord.
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And in that,
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if I remember rightly,
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that particular
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passage in Hebrews,
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he entitles the chapter
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in the Lord's gymnasium,
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in God's gymnasium.
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The book itself
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is called
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Spiritual Depression.
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And he deals
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with certain aspects
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of spiritual depression.
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And one of them,
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in one of these chapters,
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as I say,
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he takes this passage
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from Hebrews,
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acknowledging
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that it's chapter 3
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as well of Proverbs,
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and he calls it
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in God's gymnasium.
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And he lays
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particular emphasis
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on the fact that
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as you're in a gymnasium,
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in a gym,
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to actually exercise
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and to actually benefit
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from the exercise,
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so he is saying
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this is how we benefit
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from the Lord
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and acknowledging
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his ways
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and giving him
27:49
his place
27:49
and giving him
27:50
his due.
27:50
He will make
27:51
straight our paths.
27:53
We will be fitter
27:54
coming out of the gymnasium
27:56
than we're going into it.
27:58
And this could do
27:59
with a bit of
27:59
gymnasium work
28:01
physically as well,
28:03
I'm sure.
28:03
But this is,
28:04
in a spiritual sense,
28:05
so important
28:06
that in the gymnasium,
28:09
in God's providence,
28:10
in the events of life
28:11
as God arranges them,
28:13
it's a place of exercise.
28:16
And it's a place of exercise
28:17
where we don't lean
28:18
on our own heart,
28:19
on our own understanding,
28:21
where we trust in the Lord,
28:22
where we acknowledge him
28:23
in all our ways,
28:24
in all of these ways,
28:25
and the promises
28:26
he will make
28:27
straight our paths.
28:29
The purpose of God
28:31
is to make straight
28:32
paths for us.
28:33
And you could say
28:34
that that really,
28:35
in many ways,
28:36
is an aspect
28:37
of what Jesus
28:38
called the narrow way.
28:41
To enter through
28:42
the narrow gate
28:43
into the narrow way.
28:44
And the narrow way,
28:45
in many respects,
28:47
means some restrictions.
28:49
It means some challenges
28:51
that causes painful thoughts
28:54
and decisions
28:54
compared to the broad way
28:57
where anything goes.
28:59
That most people walk in,
29:01
as Jesus said,
29:03
not easy to walk in,
29:04
the narrow way,
29:05
as you very well know.
29:07
It's a place of exercise,
29:11
a place of challenging,
29:12
a place where faith
29:13
is tested.
29:16
But the purpose of God
29:17
is to make straight
29:19
our paths,
29:21
to enable us to progress,
29:23
to enable us to grow
29:24
spiritually,
29:25
to enable us
29:26
to be of benefit
29:27
to others,
29:28
to enable us
29:28
to comfort us,
29:30
as 2 Corinthians 3 puts it,
29:32
to comfort those
29:33
who are themselves afflicted.
29:34
Because we have been
29:35
comforted by God
29:37
in our afflictions.
29:38
What do we do
29:39
with that comfort?
29:40
We don't keep it
29:40
to ourselves.
29:41
We don't just
29:42
speak into our own hearts.
29:44
We actually use it,
29:45
hopefully,
29:46
in such a way
29:46
that will benefit others.
29:48
We come alongside of them
29:49
in order that they,
29:51
too,
29:51
may receive the comfort
29:52
which we ourselves
29:53
have received
29:54
from the Lord.
29:57
So here is
29:57
recognizing God
29:59
in the paths of life
30:01
and also coming
30:03
to be directed by God
30:05
in the paths of life
30:06
as all of that
30:07
fits together.
30:09
Trust in the Lord
30:10
with all your heart.
30:13
Do not lean
30:13
on your own understanding.
30:15
In all your ways,
30:17
acknowledge him
30:17
and he will make straight
30:20
your paths.
30:22
May he bless these
30:23
words to us tonight.
30:24
Let's pray.
30:26
Lord, our God,
30:27
we acknowledge
30:28
at all times
30:30
our need of your help.
30:32
We thank you
30:33
for the way
30:33
in which your wisdom
30:34
has arranged
30:35
all things in the world
30:37
that we belong to.
30:39
And though, Lord,
30:39
sometimes
30:40
and very often
30:41
we find it
30:42
so frustrating,
30:44
so difficult
30:44
at times
30:45
to make sense
30:46
of things
30:46
that happen
30:47
around us,
30:48
we also, Lord,
30:49
know that
30:50
in our own
30:50
personal experiences.
30:53
We have experiences
30:54
of pain,
30:56
of trouble,
30:57
of difficulty,
30:58
of losses
30:58
that we find
31:00
at times
31:01
difficult to accept.
31:03
Forgive us,
31:04
Lord,
31:04
we pray,
31:04
when we lean
31:05
on our own understanding.
31:07
Forgive us
31:08
when we fail
31:09
to trust in you
31:10
with all our heart.
31:12
Forgive us
31:12
when we
31:13
go aside
31:14
into what we
31:15
ourselves
31:16
might think
31:16
would be the best way.
31:17
and grant to us,
31:19
Lord,
31:19
daily that we
31:20
will come
31:21
to lean upon you
31:22
and to trust in you
31:23
and to commit
31:24
all our way
31:25
to you.
31:26
We pray that you'd
31:27
continue to make
31:28
our paths straight.
31:30
Help us to progress
31:31
from all that happens
31:32
in life.
31:33
Help us to progress
31:34
spiritually and morally.
31:36
Help us, Lord,
31:37
we pray,
31:37
to be more
31:39
as we should be
31:40
in our closeness
31:42
of walk with you.
31:43
Help us to be
31:44
of help to each other.
31:46
Help us, Lord,
31:47
to be of support
31:49
to those we live
31:50
with in this life,
31:52
whether it be
31:52
in our own
31:53
domestic situation,
31:55
in our place of work,
31:56
or in the church.
31:57
We thank you,
31:58
Lord,
31:58
for all that you
32:00
provide for us
32:00
to enable us
32:01
to know your wisdom
32:03
and to know
32:03
understanding.
32:05
Hear us then,
32:06
we pray.
32:07
Hear the prayers
32:07
of your people
32:08
everywhere tonight
32:09
where your people
32:10
gather,
32:11
where people have
32:12
called upon your name,
32:13
as well as here,
32:14
O Lord,
32:14
we pray that you
32:15
would hear the prayers
32:16
of all those
32:17
who were not heard
32:18
in their prayers
32:19
audibly,
32:20
yet prayed,
32:22
and go on
32:22
praying to you.
32:23
We pray that all
32:24
our prayers,
32:25
Lord,
32:26
will be recognized
32:27
by you,
32:28
and that you will
32:28
come and answer us
32:30
and show us
32:31
so much good
32:34
as you have done
32:34
already,
32:35
so that we may
32:36
in straight paths
32:38
progress onwards
32:38
in our lives.
32:40
Hear us,
32:40
we pray,
32:41
in Jesus' name.
32:42
Amen.
32:43
We're going
32:46
to come
32:51
in.
32:56
We're going to come
33:03
in.