Latest / End-Time Revival Ministries, USA / Episode 115 - Servant Stewardship

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Episode 115 - Servant Stewardship · End-Time Revival Ministries, USA

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Blessings, Blessings, blessings once more and again to each and every one of
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you. We welcome you again to this another edition of End Time Revival Ministries
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USA podcasts. For those of you who are listening by way of our audio
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podcasts, which by the way, can be heard through many different media outlets.
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So we certainly welcome you to Google Search in your browser of choice.
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End Time Revival Ministries US a podcast and you will locate Amen the podcast for
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this Amen Ministry. We certainly invite you to become a subscriber, and certainly
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please share it with someone else. And we also welcome those of you who
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are listening by way I'm sorry, listening by way of a podcast, but
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also viewing us by way of our YouTube channel. The handle of our YouTube
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channel is at one VW that is One Voice in the Wilderness, Amen.
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One Voice in the Wilderness is our YouTube channel. And again we certainly welcome
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you to become a subscriber, and please please by all means share it with
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someone else. And today, of course, we continue in our study of
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First Corinthians, Amen, the apostle Paul writing to the church at corinth And
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we are today going to be in chapter number four, and we're dealing with
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a man servant stewardship, servant stewardship, and of course, as always,
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before we begin, we want to amen, invote the presence of the Lord,
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and ask his blessings upon every obedient heart, every listening. Year.
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Father, again, we just want to thank you for this glorious, beautiful
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day that you have made. We shall rejoice and be glad. And you,
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who are the God of our salvation, we thank you for life,
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health, strength, and thank you for all of your blessings that you've bestowed
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upon us. Lord. We are not worthy, but we thank you and
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we give you praising. We even pray now that someone somewhere hear the voice
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of the Savior and come running amen to the foot of the cross, to
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be delivered from the power of darkness, from the power of sin, from
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the power of death, from the power of Satan without glorified. And all
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that we say and do in Jesus name, we pray you thanks for all
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things. Amen and Amen. All right again, we are going to be
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in the First Letter to the Corinthians, chapter number three, and before we
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began reading there, I'm only going to be dealing with the first five verses
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of First Corinthians number four on today again speaking and kind of dealing with this
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subject of stewardship, a man, faithful stewardship of which we are all,
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a man responsible and accountable to the Lord for. And one of the greatest
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struggles in our world that is so detrimental to our to our well being is
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this persistent deification of man, mere mortal men. And we deify people far
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above what or who they really are. And this has also been problematic even
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in the Church and and throughout all of human history, and and again in
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the Church and amongst people of God, who ought to know better a man
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than to exalt man above what he is or who he is. But we
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get caught up in this spirit of idolatry. And the nation of Israel and
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man they did so repeatedly throughout their history, beginning, if you will,
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with Moses and of course other great leaders that arose. Some of the judges
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and kings, they gazed upon these mere mortals with their eyes of flesh and
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saw them, and again, in many cases some cases dedified them above what
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they or who they really were. And to this very day, of course,
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with the nation of Israel, there's the mosaic veil, if you will,
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that is still upon their hearts and minds, and and and there are
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millions of people today, gentiles, if you will, who venerate, for
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example, the papacy, the pope, and other leaders in the church,
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spiritual leaders, bishop's apostles, people that we certainly should respect and honor.
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I'm not again downgrading or you know, minimizing anyone's status as it were in
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the church. But again we have to be careful with crossing over into idolatry.
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And this is what happened, uh, And this was what was problematic
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in the Corinthian Church. They had venerated certain individuals and and and and in
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this sort of idolatry, I'll just call it, I believe that's what it
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was, a spiritual idolatry. Paul. I am of Paul, I'm Apollos,
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I'm a Sephist, and some will say I'm of Christ. But it
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allowed a man or it rather opened the door, uh, to all kinds
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of divisions and strife in the church. And again this is something we have
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to be very careful about because you see, their eyes were on again these
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individual leaders, these persons, and they should have had their eyes. And
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we should also, of course have our eyes continually focused on Jesus, who
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is our savior, who is the one, a man who has redeemed Us,
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who is the one who has given himself for us. Amen. And
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so our eyes are to be not in the natural, but in the spiritual,
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not in the carnal, not in the fleshy, not of this world.
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Amen. But we are to be focused on Jesus, a man who
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is the author and the finisher of our faith. Amen. So we won't
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stumble in the race that is set before us. So we won't falter.
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And so we won't of course get disappointed. And you will, you will
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be disappointed. I guaran here it man will disappoint you. So keep your
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eyes on Jesus. Amen. And and and and our perception, our perspectives
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and our judgment won't be skewed and and uh misaligned. Uh and so doing
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again, that's if we keep our eyes on Jesus and our focus on the
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Word of God, and be guided by the scriptures, the knowledge of Jesus,
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the knowledge of the Word of God. And again, this is one
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of the things that was problematic in the church that we're going to see in
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these first five verses. Toward the latter end, of course, is that
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the Corinthian people also lost their ability uh in in idolatry uh to judge correctly.
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They lost their ability to judge correctly. And again, this is what
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happens when we take our eyes off of Jesus and put them on people,
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and trust in people, and look to people, and deify people and exalt
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people above who and what they are. And it's it's it's is sin.
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It really is is spiritual idolatry, and it is sin. First Corinthians,
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chapter number four. I'm going to read the first couple of verses, and
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then I'm going to a man Paul's, of course, to give some uh
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some words of of insight, if you will, toward what the apostle is
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teaching us here. First Corinthians, chapter number four. Beginning verse number one,
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Paul says, let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and
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stewards of the mystery of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that
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one be found eightful, amen, there's falls there, and please understand,
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and just gonna set forth these basic fundamental principle things that are right here in
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the scripture. Amen, we are servants of Christ. That's what Paul says.
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Amen. We are servants of Christ first and foremost. And we are
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also stewards of the mysteries of God. We have been entrusted, Paul says,
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with what God has revealed to the church. Amen. In these Amen,
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latter times, in these last days, we are messengers. We are
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spokesmen. We are ambassadors for Christ. We are preachers of the gospels,
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of the Gospel, we are carriers of the message of the Cross. And
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that's what we preach. Amen. And it's not about us, as we
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don't preach ourselves. Amen. But we preach Jesus Amen, and him crucified
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a man. And we are called of God God, and we have been
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commissioned by God Amen, uh to declare and proclaim His truth. Amen.
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And and and and again. We are as those entrusted with the word of
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God to be found faithful stewart. That's what the Bible teaches here, Amen.
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And Paul says here basically saying, do not exalt us, Amen,
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don't don't lift us up, don't don't think of us more highly than you
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ought to think. Amen. We are mere, mortal men. And this
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is how we are to be seen. We're to be seen that way.
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We're to be understood as being mere mortal men. Amen. And And one
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of the things that Jesus taught is that the servant or the disciple is not
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above his master. Amen. And if they persecuted me, they've rejected me,
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if they've hated me, so they will with you also. And so
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we should not amen, look to be above or treated above, or exalted
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above, or received above what Jesus was. Amen. If Jesus was again
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hated and despised and rejected of men. And we are christ like, if
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we're to be like Jesus, and the Bible tells us by the way,
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those that will live godly in Christ Jesus, they will suffer persecution. And
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man, if we truly are christ Like in this world, Amen, people
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are not going to like us and deify us and exalt us and lift us
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up. They're gonna seek to tear you down. Amen. More so far
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more so, Amen. If you are more and more like, the more
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and more we are like Jesus. Let me put it that way. And
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we are We're just simply required. The Bible tells us to be faithful stewards.
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Amen. And one of the first stewards, by the way, mentioned
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in all of the scriptures, is this man by the name of Eliezer,
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a man who was a man, the entrusted stuart over the estate or the
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household of Abraham and man. And you can see very well in one,
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I believe, chapter twenty five of Genesis, I believe it is where it
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is where he was sent on a mission to find and to find a bride
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a wife for Isaac, who, by the way, who was the heir
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a man, the rightful heir, the son of Abraham and Isaac. I'm
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sorry of his mother, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, come on,
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come on, come on, mom. Abraham and Sarah a man,
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had one son who was the heir of Abraham's house. And before if you
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know the scriptures, before Isaac was conceived and born, Eliezer stood to be
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the heir of Abraham's house. And he was, of course a faithful servant,
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a faithful stewart, and the Bible again in Genesis, I believe Chap.
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Twenty five gives us an example a very good picture of his faithfulness to
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his master Abraham when he was sent on this mission to find a bride for
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Isaac, who, by the way again took his place, as it were,
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as the heir of Abraham's house. Amen. And the very first steward,
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by the way, in the Bible, in the Word of God,
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is Adam, the man Adam. And Adam was of course entrusted with all
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of the earthly domain of God's creation, the earthly ram. Amen. And
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he was given dominion, he was given responsibility, he was given duties.
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Amen. He was given commands and all he had to do, of course,
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And this is, by the way, what is required of a steward
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to be faithfully obedient amen to their master, faithfully obedient. This is where
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Adam failed, Amen, in his obedience, and therein failed in his stewardship.
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Because you fail to obey, you're no longer a steward, You're no
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longer a servant. You are you are you are? You are a rebel.
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Who is what you are? You are a man, one who has
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a man abandoned your responsibility, your duty, your servant to your master.
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And this is where again Adam failed in the Garden of Eden in this responsibility.
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Noah, of course, was also a steward. Uh. And then
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the again the aforementioned Abraham. He was also a stewart, a man.
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And God said of Abraham, by the way I know Abraham, that he
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will command his children after me, I I I know the heart of Abraham.
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A man in Abraham, of course, was the father of the faith,
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a man. He was faithful to God, a man uh and he
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grew in his faith. And faith is faith is a journey. Faith is
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is something that we move from faith to faith. We grow in faith.
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And we are to all a man as stewards of God, a man grow
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in our stewardship and our obedience and our responsibilities and duties, a man of
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again, being faithful to God in what he has, a man given to
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us. And you know the parable that Jesus gave of those servants who had
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received talents. One had received five talents, one it received two talents,
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and another received a single talent. And all were a man servants. All
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were given the responsibility and the duty according to his ability. And of course
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you know the outcome, how that the one who had received one talent produced
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nothing, He did nothing with what had been given to him, and he
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was severely punished. And the Bible says Jesus said, cast into the out
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of darkness where there's weeping in national teeth. And so please understand that as
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a man, one who is born into this world, a man who comes
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into this world as a tree occupying space as it were in the garden of
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God. That's who we are. We are trees as it were, occupying
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space territory in the garden of God. Because God is the owner a man
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and sovereign ruler over the earth, and we are responsible, We are accountable
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to him, and we are stewards over what God has granted to each and
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every one of us. First and foremost, he has given to us life,
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and He's given to us a man, his word. A man's given
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to us the opportunity to turn a man back to him, of course,
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through Jesus Christ, in order to be redeemed from our fallen state into which
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Adam Amen the first man a man, plunge us in two a man.
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And the Bible teaches very clearly to whom much is given, much is required.
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And when our eyes have been opened to the truth of God, to
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the word of God, to the revelation of God, to who Jesus is,
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and we've been brought into the light out of the darkness, a man
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exposed to the scriptures, a man the word of God, tasted of the
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of the power of the ages to come, and so forth and so on.
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We're no longer to be ignorant babes, a man feeding on milk.
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We're to grow up into him. We are to move on from the elementary
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things, as it were, a man. When I was a child,
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pastaid, I thought as a child, I understood as a child, And
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when I became a man, I put away the childish things a man.
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And that's what stewardship is all about, is growing and maturing in Christ Jesus.
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And these Corinthians had in essence falling into a spiritual idolatry, and even
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now had passed judgment on the apostle Paul as somehow being in some respects I
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guess, inferior to some of these false teachers, some of these false prophets
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who had sought to impress them a man with their charisma, with their a
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man false credentials that had brought to the church. And Apostle Paul had to
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defend his own apostleship. And you see that in the first and second letter,
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second letter, primarily to this church. Amen. And again he was
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being judged by mere mortal men, by people in the church even and this
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happens all It happens all the time, Amen, And it's unfortunate. But
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this is what the apostle. Paul goes on to address here a man,
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this judging of a man, particularly one another. And he gets to this
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a little bit later. Also, and Jesus, by the way himself also
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taught that we are to judge, not lest we should be judged. And
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first Corinthians chapter four, in the letter which we're looking at, verse number
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three. List is what the Bible says here. But with me, Paul
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says, it is very It is a very small thing that I should be
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judged by you, my stewardship, my apostleship, my credentials, my calling,
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Amen, is not to be judged by you. Amen, there's a
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small Listen what he says. This is a very small thing that I should
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be judged by you, by a human court for that matter, he says.
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In fact, he says, I do not even judge myself, most
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of us. Of course, if we judged ourselves, we're gonna judge ourselves
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and deem ourselves worthy. We're gonna lift ourselves up. We're going to think
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more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. In most most cases,
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most people are going to do that. So we don't even get the chance,
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if you will, UH, the opportunity or the privilege of judging ourselves.
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And again this is as it pertains to more or less our stewardship,
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our calling uh, and our response to a man to what God has commanded
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and called us to do. Verse number four, Paul says, for I
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know of nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this. But
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he who judges me is the Lord. God is the judge. Oh,
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Lord, help us. Jesus helps Jesus. Therefore what he says verse five
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and final verse I'm going to read. Therefore he says, judge nothing before
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the time until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden
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things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the heart. Then each one's praise
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will come from God. That's first Corinthians, chapter four, verses three through
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five. Now, listen to the Bible teachers very clearly here, the apostile
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teachers very clearly here that we are not to be judged by men. We
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are not to judge one another. We are not to judge anything before the
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time. We're not to even be judged by a court of this world.
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And now I'm talking about spiritual things. I'm not talking about if you break
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the law, if you violate the law. The Bible is very clear about
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those things. And we're not to even judge ourselves. Amen, judge nothing
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before the time. The Apostle makes clear here because God is the supreme judge
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and the final judge, and the Bible says, when the Lord returns as
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the judge. Amen. And of course we know that the judge of all
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the earth is going to judge justly. He's going to judge rightly a man.
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He's going to do what is right. His judgment is just a man.
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He judges in truth and righteousness. His throne is established in truth and
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righteousness. Amen. And so when he returns as the judge, and by
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the way, he's coming back not as your savior, He's coming back as
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your judge. Now is the time of salvation. Now is the time a
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man of repentance of turning to the Lord. Because when Jesus comes back again,
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he's coming back to judge. And this is what the apostle Paul,
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by the way, was preaching. A man in a magnificent sermon, a
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man in Athens Mars healed Amen when he spoke about Amen, the creation,
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Amen, the Cross, and again the eminent return of Jesus Christ, who
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has been appointed the judge of the quick and the dead. Amen, and
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he's coming back. And Jesus, by the way he said about spoke about
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this of his Amen return. I believe it's in the Gospel of John chapter
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five when he said the time will come. The time is coming when all
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who are in the grave are going to hear the voice of the Son of
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God, and you're going to live. You're going to come back. Amen,
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whether you are saved or unsaved. Every living person, every person that's
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breathed and walked up on this planet, is going to live again. If
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you're in the grave, you're coming out. And man, of course,
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the saints now are coming out. Amen. At the rapture of the Church,
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the Saints of God, the Church of the Living God. Those who
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are dead in Christ are going to be raptured, are going to be taking
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out, taken out in the Amen. Rapture of the Church but again,
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and all who are in the graves will come forth. Amen. Jesus said,
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all will hear the voice of the Son of God and live because he
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is the resurrection, He is life, he is the source of life.
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In him we live and move and have our being. Amen. And so
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amen, You and I have a responsibility as Stuart, as creatures of God.
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Amen, to be faithful in what God has a man appointed us too,
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because he's coming back as the judge, and we are to judge nothing
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before the time and God. List is what the Bible says, will bring
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to light all of the hidden things. This is, this is the motive.
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This is the attitude. Amen, this is this goes to the secret
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things again that men can't see that men, no, no, no,
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no, no, we don't see these things. The man looks on the
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outward appearance, we're doing, the Bible says. But God looks at the
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heart. God sees the motives He sees on the inside. Amen. All
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of the motives of the heart again, that are unforesillable, unforeseeable by us.
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Amen. All of the works of the darkness, everything that's been done
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in secret, everything that's been hidden from us. Amen, that we don't
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see it again that we don't know. Amen. Things that people have gotten
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away with, Amen, with the justice systems of this world have failed.
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Amen. God sees it. God knows it. Amen. Everything that's done
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in the darkness is going to be brought to the light. Everything that's done
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in secret's going to be revealed by the light. Amen. Nothing. The
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Bible says, everything that we do, everything that we say. God knows
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our thoughts, even far off. Amen, And he sees all. He
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knows all, and he is the supreme judge. Man, and all that
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stands up in the light, a man as pure a man will be shown
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and will be praised, will be commended by God. That's what the Bible
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says. Here. Each one will received praise from God. And this is
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what we are striving for as the people of God. We want to hear
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the Lord say these words, well done, good and faithful servant. You
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have been faithful over a few things. That's what he said. By the
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way to those a man two servants in the parable, the aforementioned parable,
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a man who had received the talent, the one who had received five talents,
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went out and produced. He was fruitful, he multiplied, and by
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the way. This is what God is requiring each and every one of us,
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fruitfulness a man fruitfulness. God is expecting fruitfulness. And in the parable,
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Remember of Jesus came not the parable the story. When Jesus came,
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we did. It was a parable. When it came to uh, this
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this husband and that that that had this vineyard. And there was this tree
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in the vineyard that was occupying territory, that was eating up the ground as
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it were occupying space, and and was was was absorbing, fertilized and absorbing
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the rain and soaking in the sunshine. And it was not producing. And
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and the Lord said, why why why does this tree continue to occupy territory
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in my vineyard when it when it is not producing? And the husbandman,
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the keeper, if you will, this is this is where Jesus has intervened
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for us, y'all, This is where Jesus has intervened for us. He
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said, let let let it, let it alone for just a little while.
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This is why we all got to be intercessors, by the way,
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interceding, pleading for the mercies of God. Amen, for those who are
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yet outside of the ARKI of sact. He said, let it alone,
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Let me dig around it a little more. Let me fertilize it, let
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me work with it, let me prune it and see if it will be
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productive. And if not, after a season, then you may cut it
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down. Amen. But listen, please understand that God is expecting fruitfulness.
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He's expecting a return of his investment. In other words, our stewardship.
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We're all stewards of God. We're all as his creatures, responsible to be
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productive, be fruitful, and multiply and replenished. Earth is the command that
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the Lord gave to Adam. Amen. And so when Jesus comes back,
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I want to be as the apostle Paul when he was ready to and he
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knew that this time had come. He says, I have fought a good
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fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. And
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now there is laid up for me a crown of life, which the Lord,
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the Righteous Judge, will give to me. And not only to be,
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he says, but to all them who are faithful stewards. Amen,
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who are found faithful. Be thou faithful unto death, Jesus said, and
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I will give you a crown of life. Lord help us today, Lord,
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impress upon us, impress upon our hearts, Amen, the responsibility,
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the importance of Amen, our stewardship, Amen, our duty to your kingdom,
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to your amen, your majesty, to your glory, Lord, so
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that we can be found a man faithful in that day. Lord, hearing
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your voice, say again, well done, good and faithful servant. Be
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thou glorified in all we say and do. Order our steps and you,
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oh Lord, and we shall not falter. We thank you now in advance
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in Jesus, the Christ of Cavalry's name, we pray and give thanks.
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Amen and amen. All right, God bless you in Jesus' name