Latest / Meadows Baptist Church Podcast / The Blessedness of Abraham - 5/13/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch

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The Blessedness of Abraham - 5/13/26 - Meadows Baptist Church - Pastor Charlie Branch · Meadows Baptist Church Podcast

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Welcome to the podcast of Meadows
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Baptist Church of Walnut Cove, North
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Carolina. We're so glad you joined us
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today. If you enjoy today's message, be
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sure to subscribe, follow, and share
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with your friends. Now, let's join
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Pastor Charlie Branch with a word from
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God.
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do appreciate your prayers for us in our
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travels. Was able um this past week
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there to be in that meeting there in
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South Carolina. And uh somebody asked me
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a while back about young preachers and
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how many of them there are around and if
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there are any of them left. And I was in
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this meeting uh down there. I preached
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with five other uh young preachers on
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yesterday morning and uh preached 10
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minutes a piece and uh and then after I
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got done they asked all the young
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preachers under the age of 25 to stand
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up and I guess there was probably about
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25 or 30 of us and uh uh somebody made
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the statement I believe it was brother
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Finny saying he said you know there's a
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lot of days I wonder where God's getting
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his preachers at where they're at and
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the church is sitting empty without
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pastors all across this land and he said
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I come to this meeting he said I'm
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reminded
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God's not done with us yet. And I'm
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thankful for that. And I enjoyed the
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great privilege there being there with
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those men in that meeting. I thank you
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uh church for allowing us to go. It's a
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blessing and I appreciate all that you
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do for me and my family. The Lord has
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been so good to us. Genesis 12. I want
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to begin reading in verse number one.
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And we're going to look not going to get
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out of verse number two and three. I
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know we kind of dealt with this on uh
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last time just briefly, but there are
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some things that I want to point out in
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this text um if I could this evening and
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give you a thought here uh out of this
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text concerning the life of Abraham. And
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we looked at him uh there on last week
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concerning his beginning and tonight I
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want to deal with the blessedness of
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Abraham um if I could for just a little
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while out of this text. And I notice in
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verse number one, Genesis 12:1, the
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Bible says, "Now the Lord had said unto
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Abram, get thee out of thy country, and
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from thy kindred, and from thy father's
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house unto a land that I will show thee,
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and I will make of thee a great nation,
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and I will bless thee, and make thy name
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great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and
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I will bless them that curse thee, and
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curse him that cursseeth thee, and in
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thee shall all families of the earth be
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blessed." Father, I ask you once more
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tonight that you would help us. God, I
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realize, Father, that I cannot do this
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myself and I have nothing to say.
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Father, if you don't speak through me.
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And so, God, I pray you would help me
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this evening. God, I pray for these
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precious people. I pray you'd bless them
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tonight. And God, I pray you'd help us
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to understand the blessing, Father, that
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you spoke of in this text, Lord, when
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you spoke to Abraham that day. And, God,
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how we enjoy that same blessing. Lord, I
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pray you would help us tonight. Get
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glory to yourself because we ask it in
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Jesus name. Amen. In this text tonight,
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we did mention here uh on last time the
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call of Abraham uh in this text how that
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God had called him out of the Caldes and
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he's called him again. Uh he's called
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him the call never changed. Of course,
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Abram uh when he left, his his father
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Tara uh kept him in Haran. And when
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Terara died, Abram left Haran. And the
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Bible says in verse number one that the
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Lord had said unto Abraham, "Get thee
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out of thy country." Now Abram in his
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partial obedience, he was faithful to
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leave the country of his nativity, but
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he did not leave his kindred. The Bible
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says that God had told him to leave his
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country and his kindred. And we find
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that because he was only partially
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obedient, he did not enjoy the blessing
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from the Lord. And I want to say this
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tonight to you. You understand partial
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obedience is disobedience. And we need
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to realize tonight that if we're going
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to receive the blessing from God that
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God has given to each of us, we're going
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to have to completely obey his word. And
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I know that may be redundant from what I
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said last time, but it's nonetheless
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true. And the Bible says in verse number
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one, he said, "It gets you out from thy
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country, from thy kindred, and from thy
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father's house unto a land that I will
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show thee." And then he deals with the
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promises. And we talked about the
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comparison uh between or the contrast
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rather between what Babel was doing in
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chapter 11 when they were making those
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brick and mortar trying to build the
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city and the tower and trying to build
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their religion and build their residence
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and to make themselves a name. And we
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made the statement on last time that God
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gave every Abraham everything without
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his any of his own works that Babel and
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all of that city Nimrod was trying to
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work. so hard for. And I'm thankful
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tonight that God can do in a moment more
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than we can in a lifetime of our works.
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Amen. And they spent and wasted many
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days trying to gain something that
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ultimately God was going to take away
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from them. But God blessed Abraham in
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this text and allowed him to have uh the
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everything that they could not have
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because of their rebellion. And I notice
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in this text, the Bible says in verse
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number two, "And I will make of thee a
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great nation." And notice this statement
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here. God says, "And I will bless thee."
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And I will bless thee. Now, I want to
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talk to you tonight about the
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blessedness of Abraham. Now, there's
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many things that come to my mind when I
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think about blessing. When I think about
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blessedness in the scripture as a
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description, there's a few different
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passages that come to my mind. And I'll
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give you these tonight and then I'll
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give you the message and we'll be done.
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But I I think about the blessed man
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tonight. The first passage that comes to
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my mind is Psalm 1 and verse number one.
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And many of you probably know it by
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heart, but turn there with me. You just
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keep your Bible handy tonight. And we're
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going to be using them. Psalm one.
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Listen to what the psalmist repeats here
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in the text. I encourage you to memorize
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this if you don't. It's good uh
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strengthening verses when you're dealing
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with temptation. Listen to what he says
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here in Psalm 1 and verse number one.
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What's that first word, church? Blessed.
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Blessed is the man that walketh not in
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the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
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in the way of sinners, nor siteth in the
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seat of the scornful, but his delight is
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in the law of the Lord. And in his law
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does he meditate day and night. And when
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I think about this verse, when I think
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about this text, really describing the
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whole chapter here in the text, I think
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the blessed man tonight is blessed
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number one because of his character. And
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I'll say this, character and integrity,
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we're lacking in this day more than
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anything else. Men of character, women
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of character, who when you were to look
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at their life, you don't just look at
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the outside, but if you could examine
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their heart, their heart would say the
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same thing that their life does. And
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I'll tell you this, character is who you
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are when nobody else is watching. You've
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heard it said before. And if we were to
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examine your life, if we were to examine
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my life, I know we would all find holes
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in every one of us. But we ought to
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strive to be holy in the deepest part of
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our character because really that's
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where it counts. Amen. God does not look
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on the outward appearance, but as Samuel
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said, he lookth on the heart. He doesn't
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view our stature. He doesn't view our
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standing, but he views the submission of
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our heart to his word. And with that,
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second of all, I want to say this. The
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blessed man not only has to do with
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character, but it has to do with the
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commandments. And I'm reminded of what
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Moses said. Deuteronomy 28.
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Listen to what Moses says. He's
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reminding the children of Israel here in
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the text concerning the law of God. Now,
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listen to what he says in Deuteronomy
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28:es 1 down through verse 6. He says,
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"And it shall come to pass, if thou
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shalt hearken diligently unto the voice
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of the Lord thy God, to observe and to
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do all his commandments, which I command
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thee this day, that the Lord thy God
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will set thee on high above all nations
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of the earth. And all these blessings,
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notice that, shall come on thee, and
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overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken,
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notice that again, unto the voice of the
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Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in
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the city. Blessed shalt thou be in the
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field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy
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body, and the fruit of thy ground, and
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the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of
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thy kind, and the flocks of thy sheep.
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Blessed shall be thy basket and thy
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store. Notice this in verse six. Blessed
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shalt thou be when thou comest in, and
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blessed shalt thou be when thou goest
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out. Now, I know that's a positional
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promise to the children of Israel, and
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it's a prosperity promise to the
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children of Israel, but the application
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is nonetheless the same. When you are
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faithful to obey the commandments of
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God, God says there's a blessing that'll
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follow that. Amen. And the reason why
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people don't know blessings is they
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don't they don't keep the commandments.
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Amen. If we keep the commandments,
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blessedness is promised to come our way.
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And then I think about this and and
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really this is where I tie it in to the
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life of Abraham, but I think about this.
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The blessed man doesn't only have to do
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with his character and with following
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the commandments of God, but it has to
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do with his children. And listen to what
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the Bible says in Psalm 127:5. And like
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I said, these are just a few
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cherrypicked verses that I thought about
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when I think about blessing. Psalm 127
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and verse number five. Listen to what
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the psalmist says here in the text.
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Verse number or verse number three.
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Notice this. Psalm 127 verse number
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three. Lo children are inherited of the
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Lord. And the fruit of the womb is his
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reward. As arrows are in the hand of a
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mighty man, so are children of the
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youth. Verse five, happy. That word
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happy literally translates to the word
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blessed. Happy is the man that hath his
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quiver full of them. They shall not be
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ashamed, but they shall speak with the
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enemies in the gate. Now you say,
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preacher, what does that have to do with
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Abraham? Well, the Bible says in verse
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number two of Genesis chapter number 12,
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he says, I will make of thee a great
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nation. Now, he's not just talking about
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a land. He's not talking about a
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government, but he is talking about a
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seed. He is talking about a son. He is
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talking about a savior and that nation
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that would be derived out of the loins
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of Abraham that represents the blessed
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man's children. And you think about the
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song that we sing in in children's class
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growing up. Father Abraham had many sons
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and many sons had father Abraham. How
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does it go? I'm one of them and so are
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you. Amen. And that comes by not the the
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lineage of his of his children in the
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sense of Israel but in the sense of him
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being the father of the faith. We are
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his children. And so I notice in this
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text the blessed man. We we pointed out
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the character the commandments and his
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children. Notice what the Bible says
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about Abraham here in this text. You
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find this word blessed here in this text
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several times. I believe it's about six
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times that it's mentioned in this text
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in some form or fashion. Let's read it
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again. Notice there in verse two, God
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said, "And I will make of thee a great
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nation, and I will bless thee, and make
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thy name great, and thou shalt be a
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blessing, and I will bless them that
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bless thee, and curse him that cursseeth
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thee, and in thee shall all families of
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the earth be blessed." Now I want to
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give you four things tonight describing
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the blessedness of Abraham in this text
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and really this is describing the
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blessedness of each of us. If you know
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the Lord tonight these are the blessings
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that you know as his children. So I
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would say first of all tonight what we
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discover in this text is is there is a
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rendered blessing. Notice what the Bible
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says in verse two. And I will make of
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thee a great nation. Notice the phrase,
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"And I will bless thee." Now, who's
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speaking in the text? Somebody tell me.
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>> God speaking, right? And so, this
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blessing rendered here in the text, it
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is revealed that God himself by his own
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will and in his own work is going to
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bless Abraham. Notice that I will bless
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thee. God has decided in his divine will
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to bless Abram in this text. Now we know
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uh later on his name would be changed to
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describe his ownership to God. But I'll
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say this, this rendered blessing tonight
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is the same evidence that's in our life.
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You understand salvation tonight when we
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get saved, we come to the Lord and
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repent and faith and we trust him as our
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savior. But salvation is the gift of
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God. Ain't that what the Bible says? And
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it is that rendered blessing that each
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of you and I possess. What did what did
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Paul tell the church at Ephesus? He
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said, "For by grace are you saved
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through faith and that not of
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yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
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works, lest any man should boast." And
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so the blessedness that you and I have
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tonight, or let me put it this way, the
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first blessing that you will know as a
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as a human being will be a rendered
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blessing. It'll be a blessing that's
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imparted unto you. It's a blessing
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that's imputed unto you. And what is
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that? That is the righteousness of
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Christ that's imputed into who we are.
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>> I'm reminded of what Paul said Romans
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chapter 4. I encourage you to write this
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in your margin. Paul was describing in
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Romans 4, the faith of Abraham. And he
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had this to say concerning what
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blessedness really is. Listen to this in
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Romans 4 and verse number six. The Bible
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says, "Even as David also describeth the
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blessedness of the man." Notice that.
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Even as David also described the
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blessedness, supreme happiness of the
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man unto whom God imputth what?
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Righteousness
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without works. The blessedness of this
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salvation that we are offered is that
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forgiveness has been given on terms of
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the blood. And because of that,
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righteousness is imputed without works.
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It was a rendered blessing. Verse seven,
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saying, "Blessed are they whose
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iniquities are forgiven and whose sins
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are covered." Cited from Psalm 32, verse
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number one and 2, verse 8, blessed is
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the man to whom the Lord will not impute
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sin. And so that is telling us that the
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first blessing that we receive will be a
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blessing that is given that is placed
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upon our account. I'll say this tonight.
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If you don't know that blessing, you
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don't know any other blessing.
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>> Right?
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>> Amen. You say, "Preacher, well, I'm
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alive, but you're not really living."
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Amen. I like that old song Danny
14:56
Thunderberg sang with the cathedrals. He
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said, "I just started living." Amen.
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He'd been living long before he got
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saved, but he said, "I just started
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living. I got me a brand new life." You
15:06
know what that is? That's salvation.
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>> That's a rendered blessing. Amen. I'm
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saying God has been good. Boy, I tell
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you what, that feels good, don't it?
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Amen. God has given us a blessing that
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we otherwise could never attain in and
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of oursel. And so, his blessedness is
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rendered in this text. Now, notice, not
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only there is the rendering of
15:27
blessedness to Abraham, but there is a
15:29
righteous blessing that is mentioned in
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the text. The Bible says in verse two,
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God said, "I will make of thee a great
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nation. I will bless thee and make thy
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name great. And then notice this phrase,
15:40
and thou shalt be a blessing. What I'm
15:43
interested in in this text is God has
15:45
said from this point, he says, I will,
15:47
notice that, I will make of thee a great
15:49
nation. I will bless thee. I will make
15:52
thy name great. But then he gets to the
15:55
end of this text and says, after
15:56
everything that I do for you, Abraham,
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Abram, this is what you're going to be.
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Notice this. Thou shalt be a blessing.
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Who we are tonight is directly in
16:08
correlation to what God has done for us.
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You realize that we have nothing of
16:13
ourselves. And so when God says, "Thou
16:16
shalt be a blessing," what does that
16:18
mean? Well, it's talking about that word
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blessing is a different word in the
16:22
Hebrew that's used from the word bless
16:24
and blessing that's used in the other
16:26
verses of this text. And it literally
16:28
means a benediction. It literally means
16:30
a pronounced blessing that Abraham
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himself, Abram himself would be a
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blessing to the world. You say, how is
16:39
that? Well, let's just let's just
16:41
examine this for a minute. Okay, Abram
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is the father when we think of the
16:45
physical sense of what the nation of
16:47
Israel in Isaac shall thy seed be
16:51
called. And why did God call Abraham out
16:54
of the earth of Caldes? That little
16:56
phrase in verse number two hinges all
16:59
the doctrine that we believe about
17:01
missionary work in all of scripture.
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When God said, "Thou shalt be a
17:05
blessing," he was referring to the fact
17:07
that God would introduce himself to the
17:11
rest of the world by Abraham.
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God would give this man a blessing.
17:19
Notice it again. Notice it again in the
17:21
text. I will bless thee. And then what
17:23
does he say? and thou shalt be a
17:26
blessing. Abram is the channel through
17:29
which all of God's blessing would flow
17:31
through from this day forward all the
17:33
way through the rest of history. Do you
17:35
realize that in the church of God, what
17:37
we are doing here tonight, we are a part
17:39
of the channel that has flowed through
17:41
Abraham.
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>> In Adam, there was failure. In Noah,
17:45
there was failure. But in Abram, you
17:48
know what happened out of his seed? He's
17:50
the father of what? The faith. And so
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out of him he is the blessing of the
17:56
world. And what is that blessing? It is
17:58
that righteousness. Remember this. All
18:00
right. God said, "I will bless thee."
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And we talked about what he said there
18:03
in Romans. How that the blessed man is
18:06
the man whose sins were forgiven, whose
18:08
iniquities are covered. And out of that,
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you know what we do? We are the ones
18:12
that introduce that blessing to the
18:15
world. You know how the world gets the
18:17
gospel? It's preaching, isn't it?
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>> Right? Abram is the one that God
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entrusted. You see, here's the reason
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why, and this is where we divide with
18:26
those that say salvation is only by
18:29
grace through faith. In the New
18:31
Testament church, salvation has never
18:34
been apart from grace and faith.
18:37
>> All the way to the very beginning, man
18:41
had to believe God and trust his word.
18:43
And it's by grace alone through faith
18:45
alone in the finished work of Christ.
18:48
You say, "Preacher, how is it that Abram
18:51
could believe? How is it that Abram
18:53
could believe that Jesus had to die for
18:55
his sin?" You remember what Jesus said?
18:58
Those those Pharisees came to him and
18:59
said, "You know, we have Abraham to our
19:02
father." And Jesus rebukes them. He
19:04
said, "If you were Abram's children, the
19:05
works of Abraham you would do." You
19:07
remember him saying that? You can look
19:08
in John's gospel chapter 8 and Jesus
19:11
said this about Abraham. He
19:13
said,"Abraham saw my day and was glad.
19:18
He rejoiced. What was that? God promised
19:20
him a seed. I'm getting ahead of myself
19:22
here, but God promised Abram a seed. And
19:25
when God promised Abraham a seed, you
19:27
know, he was looking at Isaac, but
19:29
farther than that, it was a lot farther
19:32
than just Isaac. It was a lot farther
19:34
than just Jacob. It was a lot farther
19:37
than just Judah and the rest of the line
19:39
through which Christ would come. He was
19:41
looking to the Messiah. And when God
19:44
promised Abram a seed, he wasn't just
19:46
looking at a seed. He wasn't just
19:48
looking at a son, but he saw the savior
19:50
and Abraham would be his father.
19:53
And out of him righteousness would
19:56
proceed from God into this world. And
19:58
the Bible says, "Thou shalt be a
20:00
blessing and the knowledge of God in the
20:02
world comes by Abraham."
20:05
You say, "How is that?" Well, you
20:07
understand that all the rest of the
20:09
world had turned on God.
20:11
What did we just talk about in chapter
20:13
11? All of those children, they had all
20:16
joined together. The Bible says in verse
20:17
one of chapter 11, "The whole earth was
20:19
of one language and of one speech." And
20:22
the Bible says, "And it came to pass as
20:24
they," the world is united together in
20:27
wickedness and out of an entire world
20:30
that's united in wickedness and sin. God
20:33
takes one man by the name of Abram and
20:35
calls him out of that wickedness. And
20:37
what does he do? He puts his name on
20:39
him. He puts his brand on him. What is
20:42
that? It's his righteousness. And
20:44
because Abraham, God blessed HIM, GOD
20:48
SAID,"ABRAM, YOU'RE GOING TO BE A
20:50
BLESSING." You know, the reason why
20:52
there's some people that profess to be
20:54
saved and they never accomplish anything
20:56
in the Christian life, the reason I
20:58
struggle with their salvation is because
21:00
they've never been a blessing.
21:03
>> If you have been blessed, you will be a
21:07
blessing.
21:08
>> Amen. If you have been given, Amen. If
21:11
you have received, you are to give. And
21:15
so this blessing, this righteousness
21:17
that's imputed, Abram would reveal. He
21:20
would be the father of the missionary
21:22
nation. Israel was supposed to bring the
21:25
gospel to the rest of the world. But
21:27
Israel failed. And so because of that,
21:30
they rejected the Messiah. And what did
21:32
Jesus do? He turned his ministry to the
21:35
Gentiles. And he would be a light not
21:38
only to light in Israel but the Gentiles
21:41
as well. And that's why Paul said in
21:42
Romans 1, he said, "I'm not ashamed of
21:44
the gospel of Christ, for it's the power
21:46
of God under salvation to everyone
21:49
>> that believeth, to the Jew first and
21:52
also to the Greek." And so it is this
21:55
blessing. It is a righteous blessing.
21:58
And you say, "Preacher, what does that
21:59
have to do with righteousness?" Well,
22:01
you understand the only way that Abram
22:03
could be a blessing is if he lived in
22:05
what God had endued him with. God had
22:08
blessed him with righteousness on his
22:11
account. God imputed righteousness to
22:14
him. Genesis 15:6. And Abraham believed
22:16
God and it was counted unto him for
22:19
righteousness. But the only time people
22:21
saw that in his life was when he chose
22:23
to live it. And Abraham failed many
22:26
times. We know that. We know that
22:28
Ishmael was born out of a failure of
22:30
Abraham. But what I'm saying is out of
22:32
his seed would be the blessing and his
22:35
righteous life would manifest the
22:37
blessing of knowing God to the rest of
22:40
the world. Notice not only this moving
22:43
quickly tonight, we see this blessedness
22:45
is rendered. We see the blessedness of
22:48
his righteousness. How that he would
22:49
share that with the world from this
22:52
text. Notice thirdly, I see not only the
22:55
right, the rendered blessing and the
22:57
righteous blessing, but I see there's a
22:58
reciprocal blessing in the text. Notice
23:00
verse three. And I will bless them that
23:03
bless thee and curse him that curse
23:06
thee. You see, this is where God sets
23:08
Abram apart. God has drawn him out of
23:12
the Caldes. He's brought him away from
23:14
his family. And God says, "Look, I'm
23:16
going to bless you. You're going to be a
23:18
blessing." And he said, ' Because of
23:20
that blessing that's upon you, I'm going
23:22
to set a wall in between you and the
23:24
world.
23:25
You say, "How does that relate to us,
23:27
preacher?" Well, you remember what Jesus
23:29
prayed in the Gospel of John? He he was
23:32
praying there and the Bible says in that
23:33
great prayer he prayed unto the Lord. He
23:35
said, "Father, I don't want you to take
23:37
them out of the world." He said, "But
23:39
you just put them in the world and keep
23:41
the world out of them." In essence, is
23:42
what he said. You know what God was
23:44
saying to Abraham in this text? He's
23:46
saying, "Look, those that bless you and
23:48
follow what you give, I'll bless them."
23:51
He said, "But those that reject you," he
23:54
said, "I'll reject them." You remember
23:56
what Jesus said in the New Testament? He
23:59
said, "Those that receive me, they
24:00
receive my father. Those that reject me,
24:03
they reject my father." And so, the
24:05
truth is tonight, the same application
24:08
applies in this text. this reciprocated
24:11
blessing is that God would bless those
24:13
who would follow in obedience to Abraham
24:16
because he is the one that blessing was
24:19
placed upon. You know, I think about
24:22
this. You say, "Preacher, well, does
24:23
that follow in this day and time when
24:25
people reject us?" Well, you just
24:27
remember we got to remember who our king
24:29
is,
24:31
>> right?
24:31
>> Jesus is king. And what was he king of?
24:34
He was king of rejection, wasn't he?
24:36
Everybody rejected him. Everybody walked
24:39
away from him. And what did he do for
24:41
all of those people? He said, "Father,
24:43
forgive them." You know, I don't think
24:45
that that was just at the cross. I don't
24:47
think that was just looking into our
24:48
day. But I think Jesus when he was on
24:50
that cross, he looked back at everybody
24:52
who had done him wrong through his
24:54
entire life and said, "Father, forgive
24:56
them."
24:56
>> Amen.
24:57
>> Because he was dying for all their sins,
24:58
all the past sins, all the present sins,
25:00
and all the future sins.
25:02
>> And God said, "Forgive them."
25:04
>> Jesus said, "Forgive them." So what are
25:06
we to do? Jesus Peter said, "How often
25:08
am I to forgive my brother?" Seven
25:10
times. Jesus said to him, "Seven times."
25:13
70. And we know that's a number. But
25:16
what was Jesus expressing? He was
25:18
saying, "Forgive him as many times as it
25:19
takes."
25:20
>> And so the truth is in this text,
25:22
blessedness and cursedness in this text
25:25
is not ours to to determine. You say,
25:28
"How is that?" Well, you just remember
25:30
when death takes place and the Bible
25:32
says to be absent from the body is to be
25:34
present with the Lord for those who are
25:36
saved. And so that is blessedness. But
25:38
you understand those that die without
25:39
God, what do they do? They go to a place
25:41
of eternal what? Judgment.
25:44
And so it's not us up to us to determine
25:47
who's blessed and who's cursed.
25:49
What did what did God say? He said,
25:50
"I'll bless them."
25:53
You know, I think sometimes we get it
25:54
wrong and and we're kind of like this.
25:56
Well, God said we ought to bless them
25:58
that bless us. Curse them that curse us.
26:01
But that ain't what Jesus said in
26:02
Matthew 5, is it? He said, "I send you
26:05
love your enemies.
26:07
>> Do good to them that hate you and them
26:09
that persecute you." He said, he said,
26:11
"Blessed are ye when men shall revile
26:13
you and persecute you and say all manner
26:15
of of a against you because of my name."
26:18
He said, "Great is your reward in
26:20
heaven." And so this reciprocal blessing
26:22
comes down to one thing. It reveals to
26:24
us the sovereignty of God. That God is
26:26
in control. God would bless those who
26:28
blessed Abram. We see that through his
26:30
entire life. Those that were that
26:32
followed him, those that supported him
26:35
in his endeavor into the land of Canaan,
26:37
they were blessed by God. But you
26:39
remember, every time that Abram steps
26:40
out of the will of God and does
26:42
something that maybe he shouldn't have,
26:43
or those trying to do something against
26:45
Abram that they shouldn't have, you
26:47
realize God cursed them. Sodom and
26:50
Gomorrah was burned alive in spite of
26:52
the prayers of God, prayers of Abraham
26:55
for them. But you know who was saved out
26:57
of that thing? Lot was. So, you know
27:00
what? God responded by the blessing of
27:03
Abraham in his life. So much I could
27:05
say. I'm trying not to get ahead of
27:06
myself in this because I want to preach
27:08
through his life. But I want to give you
27:10
this and I'll be done tonight. We've
27:12
considered the rendered blessing, the
27:14
righteous blessing, this reciprocal
27:16
blessing. He would bless those that
27:20
bless him. And let me say this tonight.
27:22
I believe that still stands.
27:25
I'm not an anti-semit.
27:29
I don't believe that. And let me say
27:31
this to you. Anybody that would spread
27:33
that to you, they want you to go to
27:34
hell.
27:36
>> They want you to be destroyed. Because
27:38
here's the thing about it. God said his
27:40
promise would stand with Israel. That's
27:42
>> right.
27:43
>> Paul said it this way in Romans. He
27:44
said, "God's not cast away his people,
27:47
>> which he forneew."
27:49
>> And so that blessing still stands. I
27:51
believe that with all of my heart.
27:53
Notice this and I'll be done. We've
27:55
mentioned here the missionary state of
27:58
Abram here and it's pointed out again.
28:00
It's reiterated in verse three. He said,
28:03
"I'll bless thee, bless thee, curse him
28:04
that curse thee, and in thee shall all
28:06
families of the earth be blessed." Now,
28:08
you've heard me say this this three-fold
28:11
truth tonight that when God promised
28:13
Abraham a nation, he promised him a
28:15
seed, he promised him a son, he promised
28:17
a savior, and where you see that's in
28:20
those two little words in verse three.
28:22
Notice that. and in thee. You see, it
28:25
was in the loins of Abraham that God
28:28
would raise up salvation. Now, we know
28:31
that that you know, we when we think
28:32
about Christ, of course, he was not he
28:34
did not have an earthly father. We
28:36
realize that. But Mary, his mother, came
28:39
through this same earthly line. She
28:41
proceeded out of that same family. Not
28:43
got time to deal with all of that. But
28:46
the truth is in this text, what that
28:47
reveals is the realm of blessedness.
28:50
And you say, "What does that mean?"
28:52
Well, God says, "In thee," notice that,
28:54
"in thee shall all families of the earth
28:57
be blessed." And so, when I think about
28:59
that, you know what? That's total.
29:02
>> That that that has to do with every
29:04
race. That has to do with every place.
29:07
Has to do with every person, all
29:09
families. So, what was he saying? He he
29:12
couldn't have just been talking about
29:14
his own personal blessing that Abram
29:16
would reign over the world. He couldn't
29:19
have just been talking about Isaac, that
29:20
one son, because Ishmael was rejected by
29:24
God. He couldn't have just been talking
29:26
about Isaac. He could not have just been
29:28
talking about Jacob because these are
29:30
all singular children.
29:33
But what would be the one individual
29:36
that in history blessedness would
29:39
proceed from one moment in time
29:40
throughout all the past?
29:42
>> Jesus
29:43
>> to all the future. It has to refer to
29:46
Christ. And when he says in thee shall
29:49
all families of the earth be blessed, he
29:52
was revealing the fact that the realm of
29:54
blessing is to all the world. You say,
29:56
"Where does that come from me preacher?
29:58
I can't bless the whole world." But you
30:00
know what? By being saved, you know what
30:02
you are? You're a blessing to the whole
30:04
world. The salvation that's in you, you
30:07
understand? We may not affect the whole
30:09
world directly, but because of salvation
30:12
that's in our heart, we are represented.
30:14
Paul said it this way. He said, "We are
30:15
ambassadors for Christ.
30:17
Do we have the potential to reach the
30:19
whole world? I believe that. Amen. That
30:22
potential is there. But I understand the
30:24
great amount of mount, the great
30:26
mountain that would stand before us in
30:28
evangelism in order to do that. But see,
30:30
that's not the principle. It's what
30:32
lives inside of us that's the blessing.
30:35
>> And as long as there's a Christian on
30:36
this earth, you know what else is here?
30:38
There's somebody who's controlled by the
30:40
Holy Ghost of God. And out of that we
30:43
are a blessing to the whole society that
30:48
exists. He said Abraham he said in thee
30:50
shall all families of the earth be
30:53
blessed. It is the promise that God has
30:56
given unto him. The realm of blessing
30:57
extends to all families. You know I
31:01
think we we've missed in this day and
31:03
time and I I've been guilty of this. you
31:06
know, my dreams are too small when it
31:09
comes to reaching the world with the
31:11
gospel. Because the truth is
31:14
there's billions. We know there's
31:17
billions of souls on this earth. But I'm
31:19
I'm convinced I'm convinced of this fact
31:22
that if we will desire to be a blessing
31:25
to all, God will desire let us be a
31:28
blessing to more than we ever could have
31:31
if we will make our desire to be a
31:33
blessing to all. You know, I think, you
31:36
know, it goes back to this same
31:37
principle people talk about. Well,
31:39
preacher, I can't be perfect.
31:42
But you know what? Here's the difference
31:44
between those who are close to God and
31:45
those who are away from God. Those who
31:48
are away from God, they realize that
31:50
they can't be perfect. And because of
31:51
that, they quit. But those who are close
31:54
to God, you know what they do? They look
31:56
at the standard and say, "By the God's
31:57
grace, I want to get there." Paul said,
31:59
"I count not myself to apprehend." He
32:01
said, "But this one thing I do." He
32:03
said, 'I pressing toward the mark for
32:05
the prize of the high calling of God in
32:08
Christ Jesus.' What was that? That was
32:09
perfection. That was completeness.
32:12
At the end of his life, he was able to
32:13
say, "I've fought a good fight. I've
32:14
finished my course." And so, this
32:17
blessedness, this realm of blessedness,
32:19
we ought to desire to reach out more
32:21
than we think is possible. Because God
32:24
told Abram before he ever even made it
32:26
into Canaan's land, notice verse four.
32:29
So, Abram departed. before he ever made
32:32
it into Canaan land, God's already told
32:34
him, "Look, you're going you're going to
32:35
bless the whole earth."
32:37
You know what? We don't know what
32:38
tomorrow holds. We ought to say, "Lord,
32:41
I know what you've invested in me is
32:43
able. You understand the spirit of God
32:45
in you is the same spirit of God that
32:47
was in Billy Graham."
32:48
>> Right?
32:48
>> Amen. And I know he wasn't perfect, but
32:51
I'm talking about all these great men of
32:52
God of days gone by. Jay Harold Smith
32:55
and Harold Sitler and Bobby Robertson
32:57
and all those guys. The same spirit of
32:58
God that was in them is in you.
33:00
>> Right?
33:01
>> And we have the opportunity.
33:03
It's there to reach the whole world and
33:06
be a blessing to the entirety of this
33:10
world. But I'll say this. I want to
33:12
remind you that being saved and living
33:14
for God is the blessing that this world
33:17
needs. Because you know what's going to
33:19
happen when the church is removed? The
33:21
influence of the spirit of God inside of
33:24
human hearts will be removed. And so
33:26
because of that, there will only be an
33:28
exterior influence of the spirit of God.
33:31
And you know, I I struggle with this
33:33
sometimes. I'll say this and I'm done. I
33:35
I don't really know whether or not after
33:38
the rapture takes place that men and
33:41
women who get saved after the rapture, I
33:43
don't know that they will be indwelt by
33:45
the spirit of God. I'm not sure about
33:47
that. But I do know this. All those who
33:50
will be saved after the rapture will
33:52
first of all have never had an
33:54
opportunity to be saved before the
33:55
rapture. But after the rapture, they'll
33:58
be saved by grace through faith the same
34:00
way. But I don't know that they'll have
34:03
that inddwelling presence of God. And
34:04
here's the reason why I say that.
34:06
Because it's going to go back to the
34:08
days of the law. And in the days of the
34:10
law, you know what happened? The spirit
34:11
of God came on men. It came on men for a
34:15
time, but it didn't live in men. You
34:17
see, we have the unadulterated presence
34:19
of God in our life and we control how
34:21
much he affects us. It's not that we
34:23
need more of the Holy Ghost. It's that
34:25
he needs more of us. That's
34:26
>> right.
34:27
>> And so when I say to you the influence
34:29
when the rapture takes place, that
34:31
influence is going to be removed. It's
34:32
going to realize just how big the world
34:34
is going to realize just how big of a
34:36
blessing the church was to society when
34:39
we're taken out of here. Because you
34:41
going to understand all chaos is going
34:43
to be unleashed. And we are a blessing,
34:47
God. We're his seed. We're Abram's seed.
34:49
We're God's seed. We're his children.
34:50
And we're called to be a blessing. And
34:53
uh I hope I hope that's a help to you
34:55
tonight. Father, thank you for this
34:57
time, Lord. Help us to be a blessing,
34:59
Lord. You've blessed us so much. And
35:02
God, it's not things. It's not stuff,
35:04
Lord. And we've got so much stuff, Lord.
35:06
But I know that that's not that's not
35:08
what blessing is, God. You have given us
35:11
your spirit, Lord. the third person of
35:14
the trinity lives in our heart. And
35:16
Lord, there is no greater blessedness,
35:18
Lord, than knowing that we're saved,
35:20
forgiven of our sin. And Lord, you have
35:22
called us to inherit a blessing. But
35:25
Lord, you've called us to be a blessing
35:27
to this world. Lord, help us to be that
35:29
blessing that you've called us to be.
35:31
Lord, I love you. Thank you for loving
35:33
us. Lord, I pray watch over us as we go
35:35
home tonight. Pray for all the needs
35:36
that's been mentioned this evening.
35:38
Bless and help in every situation. We
35:40
thank you for what you've done, what
35:41
you're going to do. We ask it in Jesus
35:43
name. Amen. I appreciate
35:45
>> Thank you for joining our service today.
35:48
We'd love it if you join us in person
35:50
the next time you are able at Meadows
35:52
Baptist Church. Our physical address is
35:55
2988 Stewart Road in Walnut Cove, North
35:59
Carolina. Our service times are Sunday
36:02
school at 10:00 a.m., Sunday morning
36:04
worship at 11:00 a.m., Sunday evening
36:07
worship at 6:00 p.m., and Wednesday
36:09
evening Bible study at 700 p.m. For more
36:12
information, visit us at
36:14
meadowsbaptisturch.com.
36:16
Thanks again for tuning in.