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Transcript

A Message For Those Who Have Stumbled | Pastor Daniel Batarseh | New Year’s Day · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Good afternoon. I was planning to go into Mark
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today with you, but will be change of plans just for this
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special occasion. I really just want to speak from
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my heart. I just want to speak to you from
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the word of God. Not my own ideas, or my own
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experiences, of course, from the word of God.
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But something that's been placed on my heart just through prayer
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that I hope will bless you and encourage you as you pick
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yourself up and Advance into this new year, And so this is
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not going to be a structured sermon for say.
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There's not going to be three points or five points.
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It's just going to be one. Thought that I pray will be
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driven into your soul and Infuse a strength into your being, that
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will be able to help you and carry you.
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Not just for this year but I pray for the rest of your life.
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I pray that this word will have such an impact on you and so I
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want us to pray and ask the Lord for help.
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I don't know how long this will be.
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It can be anything from 20 minutes to an hour and 20
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minutes. I don't know.
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But I just want to trust the Lord to leadership and ask you
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to join me in faith to ask the Lord to lead us, exactly how he
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would to benefit us in our sanctification.
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Would you join me as we pray? Louis, thank you.
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That your word has been made available to us.
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And that it is your voice, the living voice of God.
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And Lord in this moment. You know what, we need more than
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what we know. And we're we just humble
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ourselves in your presence. And we express our hunger for
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righteousness. We want to be righteous.
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We want to know about your righteousness.
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Rescue us from our slumber. Rescue us, Lord from our sin.
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Deliver Us Lord from our apathy. Anything that would hinder us
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from doing exactly what we heard from first Thessalonians 4 and
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that is to go higher in you. To do so more and more.
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And so Lord we just ask that you would have mercy on this vessel.
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And have mercy on all the vessels who are here ready to be
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filled. We give you thanks in advance
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for your goodness. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.
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Amen. Meet me briefly and Philippians
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chapter 3. Philippians 3, verse 13.
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This is just a launching pad for a time together today.
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So, in well-known scripture, the scripture is probably one of the
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most popular ones when it comes to this time of the year.
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But I just want to pull out one. Thought for you.
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Before we continue, here's Paul in Philippians 3:13 speaking to
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the church. A Philippine he writes Brothers.
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I do not consider. That I have made it my own but
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one thing I do one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and
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straining forward to what lies ahead.
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I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
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God in Christ Jesus verse 15. Let those of us who are mature
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think this way And if anything you think otherwise God will
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reveal that also to you only let us hold true to what we have
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attained. So much can be said of these
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verses but the one thing I want to underscore is that Paul
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through these instructions is revealing what spiritual
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maturity really is. What spiritual maturity looks
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like and includes many things. Yes, persistence pressing on
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believing God moving forward, but I love what he says early
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on. He says one thing that I do
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forgetting One of the disciplines of maturing
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spiritually is learning how to forget.
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I'm sure you've heard that before but it's clear.
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It's here. Forgetting forgetting.
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What lies behind? And moving forward to what God
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has in store ahead. Now, when we think about
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forgetting we often think about our failures that is true but
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Paul also includes his success See, he wasn't like one of the
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churches in Revelation who had a reputation of being alive, but
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was dead who was just riding based on what has been or what
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has been done, or what he did do or what they did do for God.
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No, there's more land to cover, there's more land to explore.
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There's more things to be accomplished for the glory of
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Christ. and we can touch on that, but peripherally thinking
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about this, I've realized that one of the most crippling things
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to people's Spirit spirituality is in fact the inability to
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forget The success part? Yes, that's one group and we're
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not going to address that group. Today, we're going to address
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those who can't forget what has been done in terms of their
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failures. And their sin.
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And their shortcomings and their inconsistencies name it,
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whatever it is, whatever it is, that does not glorify God.
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Not being able to forget not being able to move on not being
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able to trust in the Forgiveness of Jesus Christ.
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As one of the most crippling things to a person spirituality.
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There are some believers who are in love with the Lord, but they
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are, there are haunted by things that they have done.
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I'm not talking about things before you met.
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Chris, I'm talking about the things after you met Christ,
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after you made those vows, I've never failing him, never
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disappointing. Him after making all these
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promises of the man you were going to be in your single
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years. The woman you're going to be in
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your singers. The man you're going to be.
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Once you got married, the woman you were going to be.
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Once you got married, the father, you're going to be.
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Once you had children the mother, you're gonna be once you
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had Shield, I'm talking about What the failures?
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That, you know, in your heart. Is extra strong because you
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never thought you would do it, you never thought that you would
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fall. So short, those kind of
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failures, the ones that are nagging the ones that can't let
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you go, the ones that have brought you to a place where you
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have no motivation anymore. Because what's the point I had
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motivation at one point here I am this is just a waste of time.
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And people look at their sanctification, like a New
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Year's resolution. They get excited.
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But after after time goes on, after you live long enough, you
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just stop making resolutions because you just know what's
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going to happen. Two weeks into the new year. and
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so they just coast along and they just go through the motions
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and then just they just try to survive.
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They just they just try not to mess up even more and even if
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they do, then what can I do? I already got this far.
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This could be for one person, it's going to be 45.
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I don't know. I just want to trust that the
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Lord will speak to our hearts today as we reflect upon the
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mercy of Jesus Christ. And trust and believe that he is
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more loving than you can imagine.
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He is more gracious than you can fathom.
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He is beyond good. He is gloriously good.
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And to understand that he is, he is a God who does not give up on
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us, we give up on ourselves, much easier than he does.
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I was just thinking about this. I mean, I know these are not
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profound thoughts, but I just thinking about this past week
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and just praying just pockets of time throughout the week and the
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strangest text came to mind. A text that you would not
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consider. To find some kind of Jewel.
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In relation to the goodness of God, the mercy of God, the God
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who gives more than Second Chances, a billion of them. 1st
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Corinthians 15. Would you meet me there in 1st
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Corinthians? 15 briefly.
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Let's begin together. And verse 3.
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There's a buzzing, I don't know if it's me or if it's if you
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guys hear if it's a buzzing in my own head but if somebody can
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help with that, buzzing sound, that'd be great.
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In First Corinthians, 15:3. Read for I delivered to you as
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of first importance, what I also received that Christ died for
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our sins in accordance with the scriptures that he was buried,
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that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the
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scriptures and that he appeared to cephas then to the twelve.
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Then he appeared to more than 500 Brothers.
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At one time, most of whom are still alive, though.
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Some have fallen asleep then He appeared to James then all the
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apostles last of all as to one untimely born, he appeared also
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to me to me. This is a text in which Paul
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seeks to build the faith of the Corinthian Believers to really
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believe that there is a bodily resurrection.
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And what he does is he points to a list of names who have been
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eyewitnesses to that account of how Christ did.
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In fact, raise he did arise, he did conquer death, and he still
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had the same scars. Of the body that was nailed to
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that tree. And what's?
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So encouraging here is that we have a historical reliability
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for our faith. That's what people usually come
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to this text for to see that. There was multiple multiple
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multiple people who had with their own eyes with their own
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hands, beheld. Him recognized him, heard him
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seen him, that's great. But we can't fail to seize that
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when Paul is writing this account when he is making a
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case, he's doing so in chronological order, he's
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writing the sequence of the appearances of Jesus, though,
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not including everyone. And there's a reason for that.
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It doesn't include the woman who first saw Christ and that we
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don't have the time to get into why he is really trying to
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authenticate the apostleship of some of the Corinthian Believers
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that they admired. Including Peter and so he's
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writing a Chronicle chronological order.
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And what's fascinating here is who he mentions first.
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Who he mentions first and verse five.
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And that he appeared to cephas. That is Peter and so, Paul by
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the spirit is letting the church know and us know that when Jesus
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rose from the grave, one of the first people that he was on a
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mission to manifest himself to Was the Apostle Peter?
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To me it is beyond just the fact that Peter was a leader not just
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a leader in the church but a leader among the apostles and so
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it would have been a comforting truth to know that the leader of
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the Apostles had that experience for himself.
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I think it's far greater than that though that is important.
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out of all the people that you would reveal yourself to Lord
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first, Peter is not on my top list.
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Because we know what Peter did before Christ died.
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Denied him, horribly horrific lie and what's even more
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painful. About those denies has that it
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was followed by this boast. It was preceded by this, this
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claim of faithfulness and he fell on his face miserably.
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And Peter here. apparently, Was one of the ones that Jesus made
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a priority to visit, once he conquered the grave.
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We don't have we don't have that account in scripture.
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We didn't know the ones in the house, all we know that it was
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after he revealed himself to Mary.
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And before he revealed himself to the 12, even those two on the
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road to Emmaus, when they had their own experience of the
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resurrected Christ, they ran back to the disciples and they
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said he has risen indeed and he has revealed himself to Simon.
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So, somewhere in between those moments, Peter experience Christ
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resurrected, get this alone. We have limited Peter's
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experience of the resurrected Christ in John 21 when he was on
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that fishing trip with his boys. But according to First
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Corinthians 15, there was this period.
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There was this appointment that Jesus had with Peter one on one.
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One on one. Did he deserve it?
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Here's my honest answer. No.
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No. I could see us thinking to
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ourselves. If we were in the shoes of
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Jesus, I'm gonna wait till the last person.
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Peter being the last one that I will reveal myself to let him
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sit a little bit and think about what he has done.
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Let him let him simmer and let him be sobered by his failure.
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Let him wallow in the mire a little bit longer just so he'll
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never forget and not think that you can just open his mouth
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whenever he Wants to let him just be there and then I'll
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come, it makes sense to come to those who are at least a little
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bit more faithful. And then come to the one who
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really really, really messed up. it would make sense to us in the
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flesh for Jesus, to be reluctant to come to Peter and yet He was
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the first. He was the first.
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He was the first. Did he deserve it?
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No. Did he need it?
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I think so. think about this, when Christ comes out of that
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tomb, And when he breaks the chains of death, and when he
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makes a statement of victory that is resounding today, one of
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his top desires was I must see Peter.
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And I must comfort him as he's enduring the pain of his
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shortcoming and his failure. And he does just that.
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And the fact that Jesus appears to Peter as a priority, not only
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emphasizes the grace of Jesus Christ because that's exactly
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what we're seeing here. it highlights his quickness, his
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swiftness to forgive he's not slow.
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He doesn't dangle our failures over us.
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And how and just cause us to hop, and to LEAP into, try to do
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anything in our strength, eliminate those memories, he
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doesn't do that, nor does he withhold the possibility of
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reconciliation for the repentant. know when Peter was
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shattered in his heart and when his eyes were weary from weeping
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Jesus shows up then, I wish we had that encounter in the
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scriptures. What was it like for Peter to
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see him alone? What were his words?
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What were the words of the master?
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Doesn't just emphasize his grace.
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It emphasizes his swiftness to forgive Christ is so quick, so
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quick. To come to clean and to restore.
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And we see it here even in the most unlikely place in a place
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where Paul is trying to make a case for the resurrection.
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We see also a message of the goodness of God And Jesus.
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Planned this because Jesus knew what Peter was going to do
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before he did it. Here's the thing.
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Christ isn't just appeared to Peter with a priority to restore
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and reconcile him. Yes John 21.
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That's something else. That's his commissioning into
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the ministry. This is a personal thing.
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This is this is for Fellowship sake.
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But he doesn't just bring him in.
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He doesn't just draw him close to his heart again.
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Turn with me to Luke quickly in 22.
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And I want you to see what Jesus said to Peter.
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Just moments before he would disappoint his master.
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Luke 22 verse 31. Simon Simon You know, Peter
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acted like Simon a lot more than he didn't act like Peter Simon.
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Simon. Behold Satan demanded to have
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you that he might sift. You like wheat?
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But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
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And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers
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Strengthen your brothers Peter. You are going to fall.
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You are going to stumble. And he could have stopped there,
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he could have just predicted it. And he could have said, and when
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you turn again, I'll be right here.
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Ready to forgive, not, let me pause here and say this a
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message, like this, Will stir the True Believer to Greater
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holiness. You know, people get worried of
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preaching messages like this because they think it will
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encourage the one who has a false Faith to continue in their
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sin and that is true. But the difference between the
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believer who has truly experienced salvation and the
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one who thinks they have been having is that when you hear
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what I'm about to say that Christ is ready to forgive when
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you fail, The believer will say though that I would never fail
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him. Oh that I would love if he is
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like that. I want to love him with
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everything within me. The unbeliever will say, well if
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this is who Jesus is and let's eat and drink and be merry for
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tomorrow. He forgives Jesus.
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Says, when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers,
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he could have said, when you turn again, I'm right here to
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forgive, but he goes beyond that, he says, Peter when you
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turn I still have use of you. I still have a purpose for you.
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Your brother still need you. I've put something in you that
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will bless the others. And so, even in the cry, in the
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mind of Christ, his Redemptive power.
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The reconciliation that he offers in those nail-pierced
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hands is able to recycle our failures and bless others
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through it. And so, he even tells him in
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advance. It's gonna happen.
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You will fall. But I am here, and I'm not just
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here to restore you. I'm here again, to launch you
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and to propel you and to use you for my namesake.
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We don't think that when we fall short, that's why it's in here.
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And listen, I know some of you perhaps are still trying to just
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fight to stay awake but bear with me.
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Okay, bear with me. There could the failure of your
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life in the past few years, it cannot just be like, it doesn't
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have to be this huge gross immorality.
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It could be the failure to be fervent for him.
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It could be just a failure to be zealous and consistent.
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It could be you finding other Loves.
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You Still Love Jesus, but you don't love him above all things.
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I'm talking about any kind of failure that has convinced you
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to say. I'm not like look, it's been a
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year. It's been two years, three
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years. I'm not changing.
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I'm Lord, just put me on the Shelf.
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I'll see you in glory. I want you to break free from
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that. Because here, we see a man who
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monumentally fails and Christ. Still tells him it.
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Consoles him in advance, I have use of you.
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I say I want to use, I want to do things through you.
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Strengthen your brothers. Because in Christ's mind when he
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forgives and when he restores, even those things that have
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severed us from enjoying his fellowship or of crushed us or
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have or have hindered us from experiencing Ministry, fruitful
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Ministry. Christ believes that.
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Even those things that we dread, that makes us shrink with shame.
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Can be used, go and comfort, your brother's going, encourage
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them, go warn them. After you have failed to take
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heed to my warning, gather all of those pieces, and let me put
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them together and use it as an instrument for my glory.
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And Peter obeyed. He might have forgotten what
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Jesus said immediately because he did fall.
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I mean, if you hear that, if you hear such a prophecy or Christ,
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looks you in the eyes as you're gonna, you're gonna fail.
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You're going to fall short, you're not going to totally be
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destroyed in your faith. He says, that clearly, Satan
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would love that. Wouldn't that make you fall on
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your knees and say, Lord, just have mercy on me, let it not.
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Be a Peter doesn't even register that.
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He's so self-confident that he just brushes it off.
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But I believe with all my heart, then after everything was said
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and done, he did remember the command of Jesus strengthen your
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brothers. Strengthen your brothers.
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Pick yourself up? Come before the cross laid at
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the foot of this cross? And then from that, move on.
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Go. There are people still need to
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be touched. There are things that still need
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to be accomplished. And when you just take a glimpse
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at the Epistles of Peter, you get the strong impression that
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he really did take this command. Seriously from his master, look
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with me quickly just to get an idea and first Peter one want
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you to see with your own eyes. And 1st Peter.
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Let's go to chapter 5 very quickly.
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You know this passage very well. What did you say here?
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And verse 6 of First, Peter 5, humble yourselves, What, you
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know why Peter failed because you didn't humble himself?
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I won't deny you. They might do it.
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I won't here. He is.
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Humble yourselves. Therefore, under the mighty hand
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of God? So that the proper time, he may
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exalt. You casting all your anxiety on
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him because he cares for you. Be sober.
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Minded Peter was not sober minded Peter wasn't sober minded
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when Christ predicted his fall and he wasn't sober minded
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because of his failure to pray. But Be sober-minded Be watchful
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your adversary, the devil prowls around, like a roaring lion
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seeking someone, Want to devour is pure inspired by the spirit,
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absolutely but the spirit is using Peters experience.
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Peter can remember that night in that Garden when his pride cause
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them to sleep when it's Pride cause I'm not see the necessity
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to pray and Be watchful and the devil was right there to devour
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his faith. And so now he writes to the
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church has Hey listen, if there is an enemy out there this
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Warfare It's bigger than you can imagine.
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Trust me. So Be watchful be sober minded
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and look what he says here in his Second Epistle and 1:10,
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second, Peter, 1:10, therefore Brothers.
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Therefore brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your
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calling and election for a few practice these qualities you
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will never fall. You will never fall.
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Here's a fallen brother who has fallen telling other Christians.
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I want to tell you how you you cannot fall and the preceding
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throughs are there given by the spirit and he dishes these
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things out. I mean, what kind of Grace are
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we talking about for a fallen disciple to tell other
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disciples, how not to Fall. Peter. when you turn again,
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strengthen your brothers, I have Ministry for you.
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I have people in mind that your personal life, your testimony,
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even the things that you're ashamed of, because you've
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repented, because you have brought it to me.
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Will do much good. But the extent of Peter's
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experience, the extent of his willingness to obey, the Lord
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goes beyond, just the Epistles that he's written.
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It is more personal than just corporate letters.
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And we see that in a very interesting place.
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In second Timothy 411. Just scroll back in your Bibles
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and go to 2nd Timothy with me. Second Timothy, 411, Paul and
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his dying moments makes final requests.
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And there is a surprising appeal that he makes to his spiritual
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son. Timothy and verse 11 of 2nd,
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Timothy, for Luke alone is with me.
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Get Mark. Get Mark and bring him with you
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for he is very useful to me for Ministry.
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I love the way, the ESV puts it very useful.
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Are you sure Paul is talking about the same, Mark the same
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Mark, that Paul refused to give a second chance to in Acts 15
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when they were ready to go on another missionary circuit and
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Barnabas brings the Sheepish young man and the presence of
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this Mighty Lion of an apostle. And Request that we give John
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Mark another chance and Paul a do-or-die kind of leader.
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He doesn't play games. Are you kidding me?
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Do you remember what he did in Acts 13 abruptly?
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Just left us and you want to bring him again?
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And here's Barnabas I can just imagine the conversation.
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We got to give him another chance.
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You know that the son of encouragement.
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Let's come on, Paul. Let's just he's willing.
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I mean look he's young. We here's Paul saying no way.
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This is not Sunday school stuff. Barnabas.
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We're going out into the front lines.
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We can't afford to be discouraged again.
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We don't know why. John, Mark left an extra team,
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but it was enough to frustrate this man of God.
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It was enough for him to say I've lost all trust in this man.
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Yes he's a Believer. He's a young man.
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He's a fine young man but he's not cut out for this thing
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called Ministry. And yet it is the same mark.
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We're years have gone by and Paul in his final moments,
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looking to be ministered to and to give final instructions for
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Ministry. Beyond his life says get that
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Mark. For his very useful to me.
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In the ministry. Many years have passed between
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acts 15 and second Timothy chapter 4.
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What happened to Mark? Well, the clear observations
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that, he grew, he matured and and it was enough to convince
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the Apostle Paul at this time to say, you've changed, you've
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grown God has stretched you. And you have laid your life down
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again, to allow him to stretch you And so, there was something
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observable. There was something measurable
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to Paul who again, did not play games, who didn't flatter and he
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says, I want you something happened to you come But what
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was it? Exactly?
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What was the instrument of change?
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Yes. Obviously his own personal
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accountability to the Lord, but could it be that the Catalyst?
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Could it be that the launching influence and John Marks life?
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Was how he was poured into how he received encouragement and
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how he received attention and mercy for him to find the wind
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and the grace again, to say, okay, I'm going to go for this
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again. I'm going to believe God, again,
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I didn't just fail. God, I failed the people of God.
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I failed my Ministry, I failed my local church.
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I've disappointed them, I didn't show up when I was supposed to
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show up. I didn't serve when I was
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supposed to serve. I took my Ministry lightly,
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maybe, maybe this. Is helping now, maybe this is
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coming home a little bit. And so what what happens is high
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believe with just the evidence of scripture with people like
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Barnabas in his life, who ended up taking, John Mark with him,
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and that Ministry team was severed for a moment.
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And said, let's let's do this. I'm with you.
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But I believe it was more than just barnabas's influence.
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I believe it was more than his presence and his encouragement,
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and I'll tell you why. Go back to 1st Peter 5 quickly
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with me. And look how Paul concludes his
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epistle. And verse 13. he writes, she who
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is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you, greetings and
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so, does Mark My son so does Mark my son, physical sun?
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No, spiritual son. Yes.
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The same Dynamic, I believe that Paul had with Timothy Peter had
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with this Mark. That's not very hard to see.
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It seems as though Peter had a special place and John Marks
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life even in the book of Acts you see that Peter Knew
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instinctively how to go to the House of Prayer in Acts 12.
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That was Mary's house seeking the Lord on his behalf for his
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imprisonment which was the house of John.
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Mark. Seems as though he was familiar
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with his family seems as though there was a special relationship
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that this particular Apostle had with this unit, which included?
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John Mark. and some believe that it was Peter, who led John Mark
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to the Lord that is not for certain about what is for
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certain that at some point the Apostle Peter adopted Mark as a
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spiritual son and raised him up in the Lord, raised him up in
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the Lord where he can say he's my son.
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He's my son. And based on this many, if not
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all have come to the conclusion that the gospel written
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according to mark. Was heavily influence and
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supplied by the eyewitness testimony of his spiritual
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Father. Peter And so, you can just
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imagine, here's John, Mark, sitting with Peter, who would
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make frequent visits to his home and perhaps, even after his
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failure, where he comes back to Jerusalem, aborting the mission,
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Peter still stays in touch with them.
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You can just imagine the times together, where he would tell
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him of the eyewitness accounts. He would tell them of the
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personal testimonies that would eventually Supply.
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And give us what we are studying as a church, the gospel of Mark.
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And I think that is quite special.
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And I believe there's internal evidence for that because only
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Mark has a detail. If you were there for the first
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message of the Gospel of Mark study, you'll remember this only
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Mark has a detail about the resurrection that all the other
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gospel accounts. Oh, mint.
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And it makes sense, right? If Peter was the spiritual
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father of Mark and he was getting all that he needed from
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this man as his main source. Then this detail is just it's
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heartwarming it's in the last chapter of Mark, Mark 16 verse
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7. Matthew.
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And we have Mark. Mark 16.
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Here's the angel. And in verse six, young men who
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is sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe.
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He said to them do not be alarmed.
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You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.
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He has risen, he is not here. See the place where they laid
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him, but go tell his disciples and who Peter Did he is going
34:26
before you to Galilee? There, you will see him just as
34:30
he told you. Go tell the disciples and Peter
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go tell the disciples and Peter. Wasn't Peter disciple.
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Absolutely, but I have a hunch. He didn't feel like a disciple
34:43
at this point. and so here's a messenger from Heaven who's been
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given specific instruction and the instruction was passed along
34:52
to this group and he tells this group when you go to those, when
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you go to those men who are hiding for their life, let them
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know that he has risen, but make sure that you named Peter
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separately. Make sure you say to the
35:14
disciples and Peter highlight. Peter.
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Why? Because Peter needed to hear his
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name, Peter needed to know that even as he was sitting in his
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failure, Christ has him in mind and wants to see him.
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Can you imagine what it was like for Peter to share that with
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Mark? When he wrote it down?
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Mark listen, when the angel did come He said go and tell his
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disciples. And Mark get this, he singled me
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out. Make sure you mention that he
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said my name. Disciples and Peter.
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By the spirit, Mark, the soul. And all of this is starting to
36:04
make sense. Now met here, is Mark at the end
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of Paul's life, who is very useful to his ministry and you
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see in another place that Peter was his spiritual father and
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surely, there's some kind of connection to the growth had to
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do with the influence of this men and his life.
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And it makes sense for Peter to take the time to bring in Mark
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and to pour into him because he himself was restored.
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He himself knew what a second chance can do.
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He himself knew the power of compassion and forgiveness, and
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mercy and kindness. Do you know who are the
36:42
Christians who forgive those who have been forgiven and know it,
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you know, do you know the Christians that that are willing
36:54
to open their arms and bring in those who have even disappointed
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them? Those who know that?
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They I've lost the number of times that they have
37:03
disappointed their lord and yet Christ, every time says come
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back to me. Forgiven people forgive people.
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Merciful people have tasted Mercy.
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Those who don't give up on others even when they have
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turned their back on you and rejected you in a failed.
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You are those who live under the Revelation?
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I've done worse to my Lord and He Still Loves Me.
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And so here, we see Mark very useful because of a man who felt
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useless was reminded when you turn again, strengthen your
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brothers, strengthen your brothers, It's amazing.
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How meditating on our own failures.
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Can either crippled us into 2023.
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And just keep us in the same place or even worse than before.
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Or like Peter. It can make us much more
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forgiving. Make us much more soft and
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tender. and willing to say, yes, willing to say no matter what
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you've done, I'm ready to forgive you Peter knew how to
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patiently work with Mark, because he saw the patience of
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Jesus. And the fragments of marks,
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life, give us the hope and obliterates that cynical
38:40
attitude. That looks at others and says,
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they'll never change. They'll never change.
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The miracle of Mercy is that even the most unlikely can
38:52
change. and even those who are sitting in the pool of their
38:59
regret, Can soar again for the glory of Jesus Christ. 20:22 for
39:12
some of you, perhaps, for many of us could have been a terrible
39:17
record. Of how we live for the glory of
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Jesus Christ. And that can either cause us to
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just be numb. And go back fishing.
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And just do life. Or it can cause us to say, Lord
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are you serious that even even in my idolatry even in my shame
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even in my unfaithfulness, you are still willing to say turn
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again. And let me clothed.
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You and Empower you and Turn you back and push you into a life
39:55
that is beyond your imagination. Is that really you?
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Lord, it is him. It is him.
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So maybe you didn't pray like you were supposed to pray in
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2022, maybe in 2022, you didn't know it.
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But you got a new vacuum and it was your Bible because it's just
40:12
collecting dust. Maybe.
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Maybe you have really hurt others, not just the Lord like
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John Mark, you've hurt good. Men, Godly men Godly woman.
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And you just want to be hidden and sneak in and out.
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And just make sure that you get into those Gates even though
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your clothes might smell like fire.
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I'm telling you that this Jesus is ready.
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To cleanse you. To look past all of that.
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To not just hold you for eternal life to make much of you in this
40:57
life. Make much of you in this life.
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He's not dangling, your failure of 2022 as you enter in 2023
41:05
Series. Yeah I know you're going to do
41:07
the same thing. Look at you.
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Ah, no, not you. There was people way more
41:13
faithful than you and 2022. Thank you but you just stay
41:17
there. Stay quiet.
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Don't mess up. More than you already have.
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I'll see you at the Judgment seat of Christ.
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That's not Jesus. That's not the Lord.
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He makes it a priority to restore those who have fallen he
41:34
first appeared to cephas. If that is the heart of Christ,
41:41
as I see it. Then who Christ is drawn to In
41:45
This Place. Whoever is listening who does
41:48
not have much to boast about. We don't at all. who has more to
41:53
be ashamed of such as the person that the Lord desires to
41:58
manifest himself to To fill your fresh with the Holy Spirit.
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And to so cause you to Marvel at his Mercy.
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You would know his strength like you've never known before.
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I pray that today, you would forget. forget in a way that it
42:18
would not hinder you from growing and maturing in the Lord
42:22
for getting in the way that Jesus forgets, the omniscient
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one who doesn't delete his memory but the never holds what
42:28
you've done against you ever again, when you ask for that
42:31
forgiveness, I pray that you would grow more and more and
42:37
letter the revelation of the goodness of Jesus Christ and how
42:40
fitting, as we come to remember his mercy and these emblems And
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rehearse over our souls that it's what he has done for us.
42:51
It's the rejoicing of his love for us and not our love for him
42:54
necessarily. Could you prepare your hearts
42:57
with me as we just meditate on these truths together?
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Oh, Lord. We're just amazed, we are
43:43
amazed. As we are in the presence of
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Jesus, the Nazarene. And we just ask for one simple
43:55
thing. Just a Touch.
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Of your mercy. To heal us again.
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And to motivate us again unto righteousness and faithfulness
44:13
to you. You just pray Lord that if
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anybody here has been overwhelmed.
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Anything in between gross iniquity.
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Or just spiritual laziness. We just pray that they would
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sense The Nearness of your presence.
44:39
Coupled with the truth. That you are Beyond us.
44:46
In your willingness to forgive and restore.
44:50
That you take Delight in restoring us that it actually
44:54
brings you pleasure to reposition Us in you again.
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And so Lord At the beginning of this new year. let Faith arise
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to trust that you have great things in store for each of us
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and that you do not hold any sin that has been repented of
45:20
against us moving forward. and with that truth Lord, even as we
45:26
partake of the bread and the cup Maybe like Peter extend the
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mercy that we have been shown. Be willing to forgive others.
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And to believe that our willingness to give others a
45:42
second chance, could be the very thing that causes them to be
45:45
very useful to you. As they experience your love
45:49
through us. And so Lord, we thank you for
45:53
the cross. We thank you.
45:55
That that Crimson flow is endless.
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In that it is able to constantly wash us.
46:05
Over and over again, that Fountain never runs dry and
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though, our sins may be many your mercy is more.
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It is more. It is always always more.
46:22
And so Lord this afternoon, we come broken, we come broken and
46:26
we confess our failure. And our unfaithfulness and are
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distractions and idolatry and we just everything that has been
46:34
gathered up to this point and we just bring it to this moment and
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we say Lord I put it all aside and give it to you.
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I ask that you, you just take it all away and Lord, please, as I
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turn again to you. Use me.
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Use me. Use me.
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We ask these things in Jesus name.
46:59
Amen, We Stand. Let's Worship the Lord together.