Transcript

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And a personal welcome from me. Welcome to Maranatha Conference
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2024. Amen.
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Out of pure curiosity, I see so many familiar faces, but I am
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curious to know who might be here for the very first time.
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Can you lift your hand if you're here for the very first time?
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That's wonderful and I am aware that there are people here from
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all over the world. We have people here from Sydney,
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Australia. It's right.
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We have people here from Melbourne, Australia.
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Yes, we have people here from Canada.
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Yes, we have people here from Lebanon and we have people here
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from all around this glorious land, the United States of
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America, and of course, all the people from Chicago.
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How can I forget about this Chicago?
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Did I forget anybody else that I'm in California?
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All across the states? I don't want to start naming all
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the states, so I just want to make it a summary.
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Look, I got to tell you, my heart has been overflowing with
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Thanksgiving to God the past few weeks, especially today.
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I couldn't help it. It was just gushing, especially
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in my time before the service for many things.
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And the main thing is that oftentimes it's our disposition
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as humans to think just because we plan for things, pay for
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things, invest in things, that they will automatically succeed
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or that they will occur. But that's a great mistake
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because James tells us that even for those in the business world,
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you are to always keep in the forefront of your mind that it
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is the Lord's will. And even what you plan for
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tomorrow cannot be permitted, cannot be realized unless God
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wills it. And so I found myself thanking
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God for him allowing us, granting us the grace to be here
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for another year. It's it's a gift from him.
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Every good and perfect gift is from above.
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And I am also thankful to the Lord for all of you, for those
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who are sacrificing and serving to make this weekend possible,
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for those who've traveled from so far to be here.
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But also because every year we pray fully as a church and
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people from different churches, we pray to hear from God for
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this weekend. That's the main reason for this.
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We're in a beautiful sight. We meet with beautiful people
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who love the Lord. But mainly we're here to meet
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with a beautiful Savior, with Christ.
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But we want to hear from him. The only way we can hear from
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Him is we ask for His voice. And so every year we seek the
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Lord and ask him, what would you want us to say?
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And he has been so good to us in the years past, including this
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year, to give us direction of where we ought to go in the Word
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of God so that we can experience him because we experience him in
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the Word of God. This book is alive.
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This book breathes because God is the author of it.
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And it's usually on this night where we kind of give people an
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indication of where we're headed for the rest of the weekend.
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And prayfully, what we will be discussing in our time together
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is about the life of the apostle Paul, the life of the apostle
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Paul. And it is my duty to give you
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the answer to why dedicating a conference entirely to the life
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of Paul. The man is a remarkable human
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being, remarkable. And not only is it remarkable
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because of his conversion, his calling, his towering intellect,
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his incredible, relentless faithfulness to the Lord, but
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he's an incredible human being because he has been called by
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God not just to be a transmitter of the doctrines that would be
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the foundation of the church. Because he's also been sought,
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set apart by the Holy Spirit to be a practical model for
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Christians of all ages. And that is not something that
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is inferred upon by some readers or commentators or theologians
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of the Bible. That is something that the
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apostle Paul was very conscious of and laid out as a standard in
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the Word of God as he was led by the Spirit of God.
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And so one of the most obvious verses that we all know by
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heart, specifically from one translation where Paul says what
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in First Corinthians 11/1. Follow me as I yeah, and the ESP
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would say be imitators of me as I imitate Christ.
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But I want to turn your attention briefly to another
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verse in First Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 16 where
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Paul says it in a different way. He says in First Corinthians
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416. I urge you, I urge you then be
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imitators of me. Now that word imitators in this
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verse and in First Corinthians 11/1 in the Greek is the Greek
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word mimet S where we get the English word mimic.
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And so essentially what Paul is calling for Christians to do is
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to copy him. Now, it would be erroneous and
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even dangerous to assume that what Paul is asking of believers
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is to try to be an apostle and to mirror his gifting and to try
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to force yourself into his calling.
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Wrong. Because the same Paul who said
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imitate me taught in First Corinthians 12 that we all, as
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members of one body, have been equipped with certain and unique
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gifts and callings. So then what does Paul mean when
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he says imitate me? He's speaking about
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transferable, imitatable attributes, affections, frame of
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mind, convictions that are really achievable for all of us
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who are in Christ. So he lived in a certain way.
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There were principles that he had adopted that the Holy Spirit
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energized him for, that we are to look at and say this is what
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God wants for my life, not just for Paul.
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And I want to point out that Paul says in this verse with
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urgency that we ought to study and we ought to pursue his way
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of life. He's urgent, I urge you.
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So this isn't optional. This isn't just for the VIP
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Christians. This isn't just for a select few
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who really want to be serious. This is the standard for all
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believers of all time. And you might think, well, isn't
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it strange for a any Christian really to ask other Christians
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to imitate them? Kind of feels awkward, doesn't
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it? Can you imagine somebody coming
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up here saying, I want you to imitate me?
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What would you think? This guy's kind of arrogant.
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I'm supposed to imitate Christ. Paul's really a spirit filled
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apostle, wouldn't he say? Look to Christ while he says
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that in other places? But the Spirit inspired him to
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say that, so he's not, he's not wrong.
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What is he saying in essence? Well, God knows that one of the
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ways in which we are very much helped in our practical
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sanctification is by putting before us real flesh and blood
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people who are walking in a worthy manner so that we can, as
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fellow fleshly human, say it's possible.
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It's possible then, is it not? Here's a man with a sinful
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nature like mine, a dreadful past, maybe even a more
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traumatic past, same temptations and problems.
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And yet he is able to walk in this way.
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And it's not because of his personality.
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It's not because strength that he has mustered up.
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It's not because of his own discipline.
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It's because of something else that he has touched and tasted.
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And whatever he's got, I want it.
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That's why God essentially put Paul before us in the
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Scriptures. Not so that you would be
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intimidated by Paul and excuse him off as an apostle, but that
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you would be inspired by him. He would say if it was possible
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for this terrorist to come to Christ and not just come to
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Christ, but to walk in this way for Christ, then surely the same
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Spirit who energized him can also animate me.
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And the Saint Paul who said imitate me shows that this
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invitation was an exclusive to himself.
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So again, you might feel like it seems strange for Paul to almost
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make this claim that he is our ultimate example, but he doesn't
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say that. Let me give you an example.
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So he tells the Thessalonians, for example, right?
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And 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 14, he praises this
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church. He praises this church for their
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imitation, and not because they imitated him.
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This is what he says to this church.
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For you brothers became imitators, not of me, Paul, but
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of who? Of the churches of God in Christ
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Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffer the same things
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from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews.
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So here Paul, by his letter, is applauding the Thessalonians
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because they were walking in the same courage and steadfastness
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not of Paul, but of the churches in Judea.
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In other words, it is totally possible for any believer, or
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for any group of Christians in a local church setting to walk in
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a manner that is worthy of emulation.
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Here's what I'm trying to say. Paul is not making a claim that
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he has monopoly on inspiration. Anybody is capable, if they walk
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with the Lord, to cause others to want to walk in the same way.
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But the point of this time together is that Paul walked so
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intensely, so intimately with the Lord that he bids us to walk
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in His steps. Because if we do you ready for
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this, it comes with a reward. This is what stirred me because
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can I, can I say something? Studying Paul the past few weeks
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has been one of the most beautiful and painful
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experiences. See.
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What do you mean beautiful? Because again, you're seeing
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what God can do with a man who is yielded to him.
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Painful because when you get past the obvious things that you
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know about Paul from Sunday school or from surface level
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studies of him. It's just it stirs you what this
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man had in his heart what he did for other Christians, his
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intoxicating love for Christ. See past the fact that he's an
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apostle and realize that he was a man that was so enamoured with
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the gospel and you can't help but because the Bible is a
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mirror to look at yourself and say Lord do something in me.
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Please, please do something in me.
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It's been sobering that a lot of time of prayer studying Paul but
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Paul gave a promise, a staggering promise and I want
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you to see it. This, this is not a full sermon,
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by the way. This is just an introduction.
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So I want you to please, if there's any verse that you can
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turn to at this time as Philippians 49, look what Paul
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says here in Philippians 4/9. And this will answer why we
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should have this time together studying this man's life.
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Philippians 4/9 He says to this church, what you have learned
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and received and heard and seen in me.
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Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you.
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Can you imagine? Let me say this again.
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Can you imagine any man saying this to Christians?
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What you've seen, what you've heard, what you've learned,
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whatever you've seen in me, if you actually practice these
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things, you will unlock a certain blessing in your life.
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The God of peace will be with you.
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Now notice there's two things. We got a group here.
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What you've learned and received, that's one category.
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You know what that category is? His doctrine, his theology, his
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preaching. So he's saying my instruction,
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the authoritative Apostolic instruction, learn and receive.
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But not just that heard and seen.
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What's that? It's not theology.
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That's practice, that's conduct, that's attitude, that's outlook.
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That's how learn and receive lives out in flesh and blood.
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So what you've learned and received, that's one group, the
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Bible truth, but also what you've heard and seen in me.
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If you practice these things, the God of peace will be with
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you. Well, hold on.
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I thought God was with all of us.
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He is with all of us, if you're a true Christian.
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But you know what this means. Not every person who belongs to
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Christ experiences Christ the same way.
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That's what he means. If you walk in the way that I've
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walked, you will know a special relationship, dare I say
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experientially, with the God of peace.
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This taught me something. You know, I have people who ask
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sometimes, can you pray that I would have peace?
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Well, yeah. He says earlier, you know, that
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if anybody be anxious about anything, you know, do not be
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anxious, but by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving,
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present your request to God. He says that earlier right
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before this, right, Why is it that some people who are praying
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for peace are not experiencing peace, at least the peace that
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God gives? Well, there's two reasons.
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Because earlier he says do not be anxious about anything, but
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in everything with prayer and supplication, present your
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requests with God to God. And then he talks about the
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peace of God guarding your hearts and minds in Christ
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Jesus, right? He says the peace of God.
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And then here he talks about the God of peace, not the peace of
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God, the God of peace. So one reason why there are
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people who want a peace from God don't have that peace is because
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they don't know the God of peace.
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So you're looking for something that can only come with
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relationship with God. And that's why this world is
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going cuckoo. They're trying to look for peace
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on every sphere, on every level, and they're not going to get it.
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You know why? Because you, you got to get the
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God of peace first. But there are also, I'm talking
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about Christians now who want the peace of God, but they're
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not getting it. They want a closer experience of
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the God of peace, but they're not getting it.
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Why? Well, you might.
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You can pray till you're blue in the face.
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You can have the godliest ministers lay hands on you and
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drown you in oil, and you're still not going to get it.
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Can I tell you why? Because if you pray about it,
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but you don't practice certain things, you'll never know it.
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So pray all you want, but you got to practice certain things
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and I want to present to you, though we can't do it in a whole
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weekend. Some ways in which Paul presents
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himself, what he taught, how we live.
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I can bring us that much closer to the God of peace.
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Here's where I'm ending, just even preparing just how to
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introduce this. I thought, Lord, I want to
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imitate. I want to imitate this man, not
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because Paul had certain principles that were exclusive
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to him, things that he conjured up, because the ways of Paul
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were the ways of Christ, the ways of Christ, right?
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This is the idea. So he's not putting a fair, say,
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close spotlight on him because he has low self esteem and he
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wants some kind of approval. He wants some kind of adulation.
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No, he's saying I'm walking in the ways of Christ.
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All I'm doing is just obeying what he's saying.
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And you have a model for you in me.
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And here's how I want to try to imitate.
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Paul says something remarkable as a preacher, as an apostle, he
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said this and and this is really my prayer, my prayer for this
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time. He says in 2nd Corinthians 124,
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you don't have to turn there, Just listen to these words.
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If you're a leader in any capacity here, especially within
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the church, recognize what Paul says here because it's a model
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for ministers. He says, not that we lorded over
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your faith, but we work with you for your joy for you.
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Stand firm in your faith. You know what a true minister
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does. He preaches, he counsels, he
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prays, he lives, he exemplifies, he serves with the ultimate goal
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of glorifying God and close to it, for the joy of God's people.
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What an amazing standard for ministers and what an exciting
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thing for those who are called to be under leadership in the
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church. Glorious things can happen when
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you have a leadership that says we're here for your joy and when
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the people who are under that leadership believe it, believe
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it. Maranatha Conference 2024 in
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light of preaching on this topic is for your joy, for your joy.
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I, I love God's Providence so much.
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So you're going to hear about it at least in one of these
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sessions. Sessions.
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So I'm reading the book of Isaiah, just personally not
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sermon prep, not preparing meals for other people, meals for this
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soul here, right? And I stumble upon this.
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This is the last verse tonight because I want you to have faith
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for your joy. It's an Isaiah 29 verse 19.
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And this is one to actually highlight.
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I would recommend it. Isaiah 29, verse 19.
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Look what God says about joy. The meek, that's the humble, the
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lowly, the meek. Look at this phrase.
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I got so excited when I read it was two days ago.
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The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord.
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Isn't that a glorious phrase? Fresh joy, That's just joy.
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Not joy from yesterday, Not joy from when you got saved.
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Fresh, fresh joy. Other transitions would say will
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increase in joy. So reading that two days ago I
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said that's going to be my prayer point for this weekend.
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Here's my prayer, our prayer for every person here that you would
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know fresh joy, fresh joy only in one container though, in the
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Lord. It's going to be in the Lord for
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the Lord from the Lord. So even Paul, who says we're
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working for your joy, a minister, a preacher, a praise
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team, a godly St. that you know can work with you for your joy,
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but they can't give you joy. There's a giver of joy that they
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point you to with truths that you sing about and truths that
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you hear preached about and counselled about.
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He's the giver of fresh joy. He grants it.
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Now, can you read that and actually think to yourself, this
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is theoretical. This is no, it's real.
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You'll, you'll know it, you'll taste it, you'll taste it.
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And I am convinced that this man who said he worked for the joy
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of God's people, as we examine him, as we study, as we consider
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his ways, we're going to know fresh joy.
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We're going to know real fresh joy that you would leave here,
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not just full with this joy, but spilling over so that somebody
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else can taste it, wherever you come from, even Australia.
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So here's how we're going to, and I'm going to ask the praise
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team to come up. I'm going to ask us to just ask
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the Lord, Lord, please help us know fresh joy as we come to
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study this man's life that you've placed with and before us
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and believe that wherever you come from, whatever circumstance
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you're returning to, whatever country your citizenship lies
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in, that you would return with a supernatural fresh joy.
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Can we pray that together let's do it?
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Lord, we thank you that You have something in store for us this
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weekend. We believe it with all of our
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hearts. Lord, if there would be
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anything, a cheap substitute, a sinful substitute that would try
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to convince us that it has joy to offer.
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Lord, we pray that tonight it would die.
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It would shrivel up and lose its grip on us.
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Instead, Lord, we pray that we would all, each of us in here,
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especially, Lord, in these tumultuous times, these dark
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times, disappointing times, we pray that we would know a fresh
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joy. And so, Lord, with every sermon
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about the apostle Paul, may there be no condemnation.
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May there be no sense of intimidation.
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Lord, if anything, may we sense the glorious invitation of a way
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of life that will allow us to walk closer with the God of
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peace. So, Lord, we pray that our faith
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would grow strong for the rest of this weekend, that we would
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come with hunger and thirst, and that you would meet it.
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Though we love you and we want to honor you because we believe
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that you are here with us and that you'll be here with us for
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the rest of this time. In Jesus name we pray.
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Amen. Amen.
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Let's stand in worship.