Latest / CCC West Covina / The Legacy of John the Baptist, Part 2

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The Legacy of John the Baptist, Part 2 · CCC West Covina

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Take your Bible if you would please, and turn to John Chapter
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1. And we are looking at the legacy
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of John the Baptist. It's a lasting legacy.
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It's lasted some 2000 years because what John lived before
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the world, he left behind for all of us to read and see and
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hear and understand. His legacy made a tremendous
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impact. Although his ministry was only
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for 18 months, but this is the greatest man ever born of a
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woman. And so if that's the case, what
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kind of legacy did he leave behind?
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And how do we evaluate our life in light of his life that we
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might understand our legacy today?
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The Bible tells us that that John came to testify to the
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light, came to give a testimony about the light.
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He said I am not the light, but I've come to testify about the
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light. And six times in John chapter
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one it talks about His testimony, how He would testify
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before the world. Jesus would sum it up this way.
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In John 5 verse #33 says you have sent John or you have sent
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to John, and He has testified to the truth.
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Verse 35 He was the lamp that was burning and was shining, and
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you were willing to rejoice for a while in His light.
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John was burning brightly. John was shining splendidly.
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There was something about John that that made him the man that
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he was as he came to testify. And he would become the first of
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eight witnesses in John's Gospel that John would refer to.
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The Apostle John would refer to when it came to a testimony
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before the world, and John was that great prophet, that great,
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that great priest, that that great protester of life.
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He was a prophet. Everyone who knew he was a
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prophet that gave him credibility.
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He was in the line of of the priesthood.
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Everybody knew his father Zacharias, who was a priest.
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And so for all practical purposes, John was a priest that
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gave him believability, but he was a protester.
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He lived a life that was the antithesis to the religious
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establishment of the day. The way he dressed, the way he
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spoke, the way he lived was a protest against all of that.
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And that that gave him integrity, which allowed him to,
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to be the kind of testimony, the kind of witness that would speak
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volumes for the claims of Christ.
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So this is the man John the Baptist and his legacy can be
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wrapped up in 3 words, 3 words that you can apply to your life
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as you will see as we go through this, this week or last week,
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this weekend and next week, of course, to help you understand
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the legacy of, of John the Baptist.
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The first word is simply presentation.
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Second word is preparation, and the third word is proclamation.
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He presented #1 the preeminence of the light #2 He prepared the
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pathway to the Lord, and #3 he was the one who proclaimed.
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He proclaimed the person of the Christ.
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That is the legacy of John the Baptist, but it all begins with
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the presentation. Because he was the one who
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presented the preeminence of the light.
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He was the one who would show how great the light was and he
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would shine brightly. He would shine splendidly as he
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lived his legacy. So the question we asked last
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week was how did he present the pre eminence of the light and
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why did he present the pre eminence of the light?
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Those are the two questions we ask.
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So the first question, how we began last week.
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But by showing you that he presented it lovingly and
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longingly, that there was a, a, a, a loving message that John
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would give. Love is giving people what they
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need, not what they want. They needed the gospel.
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They needed to know who the king was.
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They needed to know that the Kingdom was upon them.
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They needed to know what it meant to be in the Kingdom.
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When you love people, you tell them the truth about the King
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and his Kingdom. So he gave it to him lovingly
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and he gave it to them longingly because there was a longing in
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his heart, in his soul, because he had waited a long time, some
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30 years to present the Messiah and he was longing for the
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Kingdom to come. He would say repent, for the
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Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Like every Jew was longing for
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the King to come and and set up his Kingdom.
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That's why in Luke 3 it says they were, they were living a
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life of expectation. They were expecting the the
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coming one, the expected one to arrive the Messiah so that the
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Kingdom would come. And that's why they, they came
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down from Jerusalem and from all Judea in in the thousands to be
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baptized by John of the Jordan River that they were expecting
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the king and his Kingdom. And so John who, who longingly
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was, was wanting to present this king to them.
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He had lived in anticipation his whole life for this very moment,
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not knowing that it would only be 18 months.
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He had no no clue that would be the length of his ministry.
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Just think, spending 30 years preparing to be the forerunner
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for the Messiah, only to last 18 months and then be beheaded.
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That was his life. And yet he would present the
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preeminence of the light lovingly and longingly.
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He would do it #2 instinctively and incessantly.
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Talked about these last week. Instinctively, because he was
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filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.
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He was controlled by the Spirit of God.
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It became part and parcel to his everyday living.
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So by by by natural instinct, he would, he would just bring forth
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with the gospel because the Spirit of God would move him to
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do so. He would do it incessantly.
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We showed you last week where in John one there are three days in
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succession, in John one day, one day, 2 day three, and every day
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this is what he was doing. Why?
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Because this is what he did all the time.
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John just gives us a glimpse of his daily routine.
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This is something he did incessantly.
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It was something he did just once a week or or once a month.
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It was something he did every single day.
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This was his ministry. This was his life.
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For him to shine brightly, he had to shine every single day.
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So he did it lovingly and longingly.
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He did it instinctively and incessantly, and he did it
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graphically and gracefully. Graphically, he would say in in
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Matthew chapter 3, when he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees
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coming to him, he would call them a brood of Vipers.
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You, you pack of snakes. That's a very graphic way to to
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describe the the religious establishment of the day.
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He would tell them who warned you to flee from the wrath to
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come. Why?
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Because I baptize you with water.
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But there's one who's going to come and baptize you with with
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fire, and you need to be careful.
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He would call out Herod in a sin.
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Herod was the king, but he would call out his immoral
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relationship with his wife that he stole from his brother and
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said that you're living in sin. And Luke's account tells us that
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he reprimanded the king. Why?
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Because he would graphically expose the sin that was before
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him. You know, we don't do that
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today. We, we want a soft coat sin.
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We instead of calling adultery adultery, we call it an affair,
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as if to, to give it some kind of soft coding to sin.
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We, we don't, we don't call homosexuals homosexuals.
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We call them people with an alternate lifestyle, but the
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Bible calls them homosexuals. The Bible calls them effeminate
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persons. The Bible calls out the immoral
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person. It calls out the the the
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slanderer and the gossip. In fact, it says in in Ephesians
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5 and in Galatians 5 and in Revelation chapter 22, it gives
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the list of those who who will not inherit the Kingdom of
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heaven. And they're named graphically in
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the Scriptures. In fact, this is what Jesus
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says. I think this is very interesting
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about our our Lord. In Matthew 23 He says woe, woe
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to you scribes and and Pharisees hypocrites, for you clean the
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outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full
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of robbery and self indulgence. The blind Pharisee first clean
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the inside of the cup and of the dish so that the outside of it
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may become clean. Also.
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Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you
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are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside appear
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beautiful, but in the inside they are full of dead men's
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bones and all uncleanness. So you 2 outwardly appear
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righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and
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lawlessness. Jesus called out sinners because
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of their hypocrisy. John would do the same thing, so
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when he would shine the light, he would do it graphically
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because man needs to know that he's separated from God, that
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that he's a Sinner. For without knowing that, you'll
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never see your need for a Savior.
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You must understand that you are separated from God and that your
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works are are worthless before him.
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And John made sure of that instead of Jesus.
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But he did it gracefully. He didn't do it arrogantly,
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proudly. He didn't do it in a way that
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that would that would be harsh, but he did it in a way that
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would show grace. Why?
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Because Herod needed to repent. Herod needed to know that his
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relationship was immoral, that he was an adulterer.
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So he called him out the Pharisees needed to know that
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they were hypocrites that they lived one way on the outside,
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but on the inside they were like dead men's bones and they they
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needed to know the truth and and grace is is showing them that
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look it once you know that you're a Sinner, it's only God's
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grace that can save you. That's it can't save yourself.
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That's what I love what it says over in in the book of
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Colossians the the 4th chapter when Paul would say these words.
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Colossians 4 verse #5 Consider yourselves with wisdom or
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conduct yourselves, excuse me, with wisdom toward outsiders,
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making the most of the opportunity by redeeming the
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time. Let your speech always be with
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grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how
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you should respond to each person.
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Graceful speech is grace that is is seasoned with salt.
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And salt's a preservative salt, salt's a purifier.
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But salt also causes great pain in open wounds.
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And so when you speak the truth and love, and you speak the
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truth gracefully, those whose wounds are open, it's going to
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sting badly. And yet they need to understand
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the truth about how our Lord has come to save them from their
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sin. That was all of last week.
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That's John the Baptist. How did he do it?
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Lovingly, longingly. He did it instinctively,
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incessantly. He did it graphically and
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gracefully, but he also did it heartily and humbly.
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Heartily and humbly. He he was crying in the
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wilderness. John didn't do things half
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heartedly. He did them full heartedly.
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He was all heart. He was all in.
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He he wasn't partially into his ministry.
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He wasn't partially into into into preaching the gospel.
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He was all in for the Messiah. He was all in and what God
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called him to do. So you do it with all of his
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might. That's what Solomon says in
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Ecclesiastes 9 verse #10 whatever your hand finds to do,
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do it with all of your might, all your might.
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Paul would say it this way in the book of Colossians,
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Colossians chapter 3, verse 23. He says, whatever you do, do
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heartily. As for the Lord, not unto man,
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knowing that you will receive a reward from the Lord heartily
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with all of his heart. So when he came as a voice
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crying in the wilderness, when he would speak forth the truth
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of the gospel, he did it in such a way that he would, he would
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shout the truth. He wanted people to know the
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truth, and so he did it with all of his heart.
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But he did it humbly. Humbly.
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He says I'm just a voice. I'm just a voice.
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He never referenced his father as a priest to give him some
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kind of clout with the other priests.
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He could have done that. Well, I'm a son of a priest,
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just like, just like you are. No, he didn't say that.
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So I'm just a voice of one crying in the wilderness.
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He says. I'm not worthy to to loosen the
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straps of my Savior sandals. I'm not even worthy to do the
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most menial task. And in John chapter 3 verse #30
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he says he must increase and I must decrease.
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What a great testimony. The reason he he he would shine
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so brightly is because he didn't want the light to be focused on
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himself. He wanted the light to be
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focused on the Christ. He wanted to put forth the
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Christ today. We, we, we get so enamored with
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us. You know, I'm always leery of
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those people who name their ministries after their own name,
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that that's a very dangerous thing to do.
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Shouldn't do that because it's not about you.
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It's about the ministry of Christ.
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It's about putting Christ on display.
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There's so many times we want to take credit for someone coming
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to faith or take credit for someone's spiritual growth or or
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take credit for this or take credit for that.
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You can't take credit because it's a spiritual work done by
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the Spirit of God in a supernatural kind of way in the
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lives of people. We are just voices in the
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wilderness. We are just vessels to be used
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by God. And here is John very heartedly,
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but yet very humbly presenting the preeminence of the Messiah.
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And then, then lastly, he did it truthfully and tenaciously
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truthfully. The Bible says in in Luke 3 that
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he, he preached the gospel. What's the gospel?
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The gospel is about the king of his Kingdom.
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And so he, he spoke the truth about the king.
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He spoke the truth about the Kingdom.
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He spoke the truth about entry into the Kingdom.
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You got to repent and he was the one who who with many
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exhortations. The Bible says in in Luke's
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account that he would speak to the people he would he would
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quote Isaiah 40 verse #3 Why? Because He wanted to speak
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truthfully as to what he was doing and why he was doing it,
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that he had the support of the authority of Scripture behind
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what he was doing. And so John was one who who came
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to speak the truth. That's why in John 533 we read,
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we read earlier that Jesus said that John came to testify to the
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truth. By the way, in John 1837, Christ
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before Pilate said these words, I've come to testify to the
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truth. You see, when you shine brightly
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for the Lord, it's all about the truth.
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And Christ came and John came to testify to the truth.
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The truth about what? Truth about heaven, Truth about
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hell, Truth about mercy and grace and justice, the truth
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about sin and salvation. The truth about the Christ
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Christ is the truth. So you want to present Christ as
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the truth. So John would, would shine
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brightly, truthfully as well as tenaciously.
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In other words, he never backed down, he never quit, he never
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gave up. He was resilient, he was
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tenacious. He, he was holding on for dear
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life because as John one says, he came to testify to the light
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so that all may believe. And he knew that if he didn't
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stand strong and didn't live a courageous life and speak forth
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the truth tenaciously, without reservation, without backing
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down, it would not be effective. That's how he did it.
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He came to testify as a prophet, as a priest, as a protester.
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How? By By speaking lovingly and
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longingly. By speaking instinctively and
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incessantly, graphically and gracefully, heartily and humbly,
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truthfully and tenaciously, you want to leave a lasting legacy.
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You need to present the pre eminence of the lights.
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Let's see the second question. Why?
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Well, using the same outline LIGHT, if you were following
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along and you didn't get that, I'm sorry, you should have got
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that, but use the same word, light, LIGHT.
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Let me show you how he did this and why he did it.
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Why did he do it #1 because he loved.
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He loved the person of God. He loved his God.
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Paul would say that the love of Christ compels me.
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Paul knew Christ. I mean, excuse me, yeah.
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Paul didn't know Christ, excuse me, but he didn't know Christ.
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But John knew Christ. John was the cousin of Jesus.
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He was his cousin, so John knew him.
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I'm sure that they would get together as they were growing up
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at different times. The Bible didn't tell us that,
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but because they were related. I'm sure that the different
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times that they got together, but he loved them outside of a
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familial relationship. He loved them because of who God
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himself was. He loved the person of God.
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That was his motivation. Why would he do all this?
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Why would he speak against the religious establishment?
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Why would he protest against all that was that was taking place?
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Why? Why would he speak so loudly and
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so graphically against sin? Because he loved the Lord, he
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loved him. We love him because he first
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loved us and John loved the person of God.
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You know one of the the greatest hindrances to to you and me in
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presenting the preeminence of the light is there is there a
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lack of love for the Lord? If you love him, you want others
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to love him. You want others to see him as
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you see him, know him as you know him because you love him so
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and so you tell others about him.
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This is John. He loved his God.
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He wanted others to love him and that that's why, that's why at
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the end of Christ's ministry, after his death, burial,
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resurrection, he appeared to, to Peter on the on the shore of the
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Sea of Galilee. And he asked him, what question,
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Peter, do you love me? Why Peter, you're going to be
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carrying the gospel to the Gentiles, to the Jews.
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You're going to open the door to the Gentiles.
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But I got to know, do you love me, Peter?
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Because if you don't love me, your, your motivation is going
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to wane. You're not going to be able to
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stand strong for me. Do you love me, Peter?
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Because I want you to follow me. You're going to die for me.
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But you got to represent me. Do you love me?
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And that's what Christ asked us. Do you love me enough to present
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me the light in a World of Darkness?
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Because if you want to leave Alasia Legacy, that's what you
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got to do. But you won't do it if you don't
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love the Lord with all your heart and all your soul, all
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your mind and all your strength. That's why Christ said in
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Matthew's Gospel, the 10th chapter, that he who loves
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father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.
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He who loves son or daughter more than me is not is not
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worthy of me. Do you love someone else more
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than you love me? Because if you do, you're not
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going to present me accurately, you're not going to present me
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graphically, you're not going to present me truthfully because
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you don't want to upset anybody, but I need you to love me more
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than anything else. Christ asks.
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Christ demands. This was John.
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The Bible says in Luke 144 that when Mary came to Elizabeth,
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when Elizabeth was six months pregnant, that John would leap
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in his mother's womb. I mean, that is a unique and,
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and supernatural kind of thing, but but he would leap in his
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mother's mother's womb. He was saying, John 134, this is
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the Son of God. This is not, he's not my cousin,
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somebody I'm related to. This is the Son of God.
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He, he, the Son of God, is the Lamb of God.
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He understands the the importance of the atonement.
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He understands the importance of sacrifice.
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He understands the importance of the fact that this one he grew
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up with is God in the flesh. He loved the person of God #2 He
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was inspired by the call of God. He was inspired by the call of
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God. You can even say he was incited
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by the call of God. The word of the Lord came to
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John where in the wilderness. The word of the Lord came to
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John and God would call him into the ministry like Jeremiah, like
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Elijah, like Isaiah, those great prophets of old, they they were
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called by God into the ministry and and knowing that John had
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been personally called by the living God to now go preach
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about the king and his Kingdom, present the preeminence of the
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light. This is your job, John, Go do
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it. It would inspire him because He
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was simply called by God. The Bible tells us that we had
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to proclaim the excellencies, excellencies of Him who has
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called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.
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The reason we do it is because of Our Calling, hand picked,
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hand chosen by God to be used by Him.
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That in and of itself is a motivating factor.
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This is why John did it. He was inspired by, by, by the
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call of call of God upon his life.
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We told you earlier that that the Bible says that that call is
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a heavenly calling. Hebrews 31.
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It's a holy calling. Second Timothy one verse #9 and
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it is a high calling. Philippians 3 verse #14 we've
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been called with the heavenly high and holy calling that
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should inspire everyone of us to present the preeminence of the
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light. And this was John, John the
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Baptist. Romans 11 verse #29 says that
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the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.
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God has gifted you and called you.
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He's not going to go back on that call.
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Thank you. If He's called you into His
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Kingdom, He's going to use you for His glory, because that call
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is irrevocable. So #1 he loved the person of God
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#2 he was inspired by the call of God, and #3 he was guided by
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the Spirit of God. He was guided by the Spirit of
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God. This is how He did it.
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This is why He did it. Why?
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Because he was filled with the Spirit of God from his mother's
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womb. No other creature, no other
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individual has ever had that happen to them, but John has.
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But when you, when you are called by God into his Kingdom
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and you're born again, the Spirit of God infuses you.
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The Spirit of God takes up residence in you and therefore
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we we have this spirit, Paul says and second Timothy one
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verse #7 God has not given us the spirit of timidity, but but
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of power and of love and of of sound mind or self-discipline.
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Will we have this spirit that's one of power, this spirit that's
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one of love and self-discipline and it moves and and guides us
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each and every step of the way. That's why the Bible says walk
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in the spirit so you don't fulfill the lust of the flesh.
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We are to be filled with the Spirit of God.
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Ephesians 518 controlled by God's spirit, dominated by God's
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Spirit under the the operation of the Spirit of God.
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Because when God's spirit is guiding us, everything around us
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changes because we are to respond to people in the way the
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Spirit will respond to them. Here's John filled with the
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Spirit from his mother's womb. Remember the Old Testament, the
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Spirit of God would would come upon people in the Old Testament
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to do certain things and accomplish certain objectives,
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but didn't dwell them. But in the New Testament, the
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whole mystery that was concealed in the old but revealed in the
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newest Christ in you, the hope of glory that the triune nature
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of God dwells within us and lives within us and moves us to
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action. This is how we we know we can
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accomplish what God's called us to do.
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He's given us all the resources to accomplish the objective
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because He is the resource. The Spirit is God himself who
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lives within us. It doesn't.
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It's not a spirit of timidity, of fear, but one of power, one
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of love and one of self-discipline.
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That was John. He was guided by the spirit of
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the living God because he was inspired by the call of God.
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But the heart of it all, he loved the person of God.
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But know this number four, his hope or he hoped in the promises
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of God. He hoped in the promises of God.
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Hope is a is a is a word of anticipation, knowing that God
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will fulfill his promises. If you go back to to Luke's
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gospel in Luke chapter 1, remember the the song of
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Zacharias. It was all about the fulfillment
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of prophecy. It was all about the hope of
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Israel. It was all about the hope of the
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Davidic covenant and it's fulfillment, the Abrahamic
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covenant, it's fulfillment, the new covenant and it's
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fulfillment. The king is coming.
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He's coming to present the Kingdom, and my son is a
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forerunner to the king and his Kingdom.
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That means Davidic truth is going to come about.
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That means Abrahamic truth is going to come to fruition.
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That means that the new covenant is here.
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That's how he speaks. So he says in verse 68 of Luke
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1, blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us
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and accomplished redemption for his people.
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He's visited us. That was the hope that the
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Messiah would come. And it's raised up a horde of
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salvation in the House of David His servant, as He spoke by the
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mouth of the holy prophets from of old salvation from our
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enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
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To show mercy toward our fathers and to remember His holy
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covenant, The oath which He swore to Abraham our Father, to
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grant us that we being rescued from the land of our enemies,
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might serve Him without fear in holiness and righteousness
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before Him all our days. And you, child, will be called
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the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the
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Lord to prepare His ways, to give to His people the knowledge
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of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins, Because of the
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tender mercy of our God, with which the sunrise from the High
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will visit us to shine upon those who sit in darkness in the
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shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
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All that was in hope of all the promises that God had given the
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Old Testament. And so John is is raised that
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way. He knows his father son song.
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I'm sure by now John is John's father is, is not alive.
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I mean, John's father was in his 80s when he was born.
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So 30 years later, that would make him over 100 years of age.
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I'm not sure that Zacharias lived that long.
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And so he would remember the, the, the song of his father.
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He'd remember the words of his father.
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But as he studied the Old Testament, he would know during
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those 10 years plus in the wilderness and communion with
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his God, he would begin to understand the great prophetic
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fulfilment of the coming king. This Kingdom he was inspired by,
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by hope. He hoped in the promises of God.
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He believed in the promises of God.
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The king is here. He's coming with his Kingdom.
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Repent and believe in him. And This is why in Luke 7, John
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was so confounded. When he's in prison, he says the
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disciples to to ask Jesus are are you the Messiah?
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Are you the expected one? Are you the coming one?
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Or should we look for somebody else?
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Why? Because he was so certain that
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that the Messiah was there and the Kingdom would be presented
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and he would establish his Kingdom.
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But John did not know about how they would slay the one he
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pointed to. John didn't understand the whole
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second coming of the Messiah. He just knew about the coming
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King. This Kingdom, you and me, we
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present the premise of the light.
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Why? Why?
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Because we hope in the promises of God.
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That's why we pray. Our Father, who art in heaven,
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hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come.
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We're in hope of the coming Kingdom, the promises of God.
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We are in hope of his, his return again.
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That's that's why we, we tell others about, about the Christ.
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We want them to be a part of that coming Kingdom.
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We want them to know that Christ is going to come again.
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And so we tell them with passion, with drive and with
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sincerity, the King is going to come.
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He could come at any moment. Are you ready for him to arrive?
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That's how John and why John was so strong in this presentation
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of the King's Kingdom. We live in anticipation of the
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coming of the king. We long for his coming again.
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Our our hope is rooted in God. He is the God of hope and he
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gives us this glorious promises that tell us what's going to
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happen when he arrives again. Those are things that that move
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us to present the pre eminence of the light so important.
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So here is John. Why did he do what he did?
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He loved the person of God. He was inspired by the call of
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God. He was guided by the Spirit of
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God. He hoped in the promises of God.
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And lastly, he trusted in the Word of God.
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He would trust that God's Word would not return void.
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He trusted that what he would say concerning the king of this
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Kingdom would bring forth grapefruit.
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He trusted in God's Word. He believed what God's Word said
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I I love what what the Bible says and Psalm Psalm 39, verse
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number 7 and now Lord for what do I wait my hope is in you.
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John's hope was was in the Lord, but but he trusted in the word
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of the Lord. Remember Psalm 119, verse 4042?
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I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, for I trust
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in your word. Psalmist.
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Do that trust in the Word, verse 66 of Psalm 119.
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Teach me good discernment and knowledge, for I trust in Your
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commandments. Verse 1114 of Psalm 118.
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You are my hiding place in my shield.
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I trust Your word. I trust Your word Over in Second
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Samuel chapter 22 verse #31 David says As for God, his way
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is blameless. The word of the Lord is is
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proven, tested. He is a shield to all who take
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refuge in him. I would I would assume that John
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the Baptist knew about King David and knew about the words
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of Second Samuel 22. He could read them in the
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scrolls and he would trust in the word of the Lord.
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How about you? You want to leave a a lasting
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legacy. You got to shine bright for the
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Lord. You got to you got to present
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the light as preeminent in your life.
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And how do you do that? You do it lovingly and
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longingly. You.
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You do it instinctively and incessantly, graphically and
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gracefully. You do it in a way that's
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heartily and humbly, truthfully and tenaciously.
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Why? Why would you do that?
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Because you love the Lord. The love of Christ compels you.
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You love the person of God you're inspired by by the call
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of God, and you're guided by the Spirit of God.
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Therefore, you hope in the promises of God and you trust in
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the Word of God. You're not trusting in yourself,
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you're not trusting in your presentation, you're not
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trusting in the brightness of your light.
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You're just trusting in the Word of the living God, and you will
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be well on your way and leaving a lasting legacy that will last
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for generations to come, simply because you have presented the
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preeminence of the light #2 you prepare the pathway of the Lord.
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How do you do that? That's next week.
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Let's pray together, Father. We thank you Lord for today and
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the opportunity to give us to come before you.
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Our prayer, Lord, is that we would be the kind of people that
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present you brightly if you are preeminent.
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We are not your king, we are your subjects.
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Maybe we used by you in a way that honors your name until you
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come again, as you most surely will in Jesus name, Amen.