Transcript

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Well, welcome. Welcome to Maranatha Conference,
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Shabiba, all that you want to call it Year #25.
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Yes, Amen. My first time here was in 2014,
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and I have to, I have to be honest from the beginning that I
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don't remember a more awake, passionate, excited opening
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service than this one tonight. Yeah, man, yeah, that's that's
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how my person. You might disagree, but that's
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what I sensed. So I'm excited, and I also want
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to let you know from the beginning that because you chose
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to come here and I I pray and trust that you came here for the
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Lord primarily, the Lord will reward you, because when we do
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seek Him, He does bless us. And so you're you're not wasting
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your time. This weekend you didn't
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sacrifice much, I'm sure. Maybe in the natural feels that
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way. But the Lord will reward us for
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seeking him in this way. And so I'm eager to see how He
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will bless us as we seek his face.
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You might have noticed these tshirts, the tshirt that I'm
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wearing, tshirt that the priest he was wearing, some other
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people sprinkled around. You might have noticed what is
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said on the back. And if you don't know what's
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said on the back, I won't turn around.
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But I'll tell you, something greater is here, something
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greater is here. Now that's not a phrase that we
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came up with. That is a statement that Jesus
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Christ himself made. And I want to show you in the
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Bible very quickly where Jesus said it and how many times he
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said it in the same context for you to see what he was trying to
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declare about himself. So turn with me briefly to
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Matthew chapter 12. And I want you to see here
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beginning in verse 6, Matthew 12, Jesus was going through
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grain fields on the Sabbath with his disciples.
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They were hungry. They began to pluck heads of
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grain and they ate. And the Pharisees were there to
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spy on Jesus. Try to find something wrong with
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Jesus and his followers. And they thought they got him
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somewhere in these fields. And Jesus corrects their
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understanding of the Sabbath, and he proclaims his authority
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in this way. Verse six, he says to them, I
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tell you, something greater than the temple is here, something
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greater than the temple is here. That's Jesus's first statement.
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But then you continue and you see in the same context as he
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engages with the religious leaders.
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In verse 41 of the same chapter, he says the men of Nineveh will
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rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it.
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For they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold,
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something greater than Jonah is here number two.
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And immediately right after, in verse 42, Jesus gives his third
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and final reference concerning himself and his superiority.
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Where he says, the Queen of the South will rise up at the
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judgment with this generation and condemn it.
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For she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of
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Solomon. And behold, something greater
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than Solomon is here, Something greater than the Temple is here,
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Something greater than Jonah is here, something greater than
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Solomon is here. Now, out of all the things that
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Christ could have referred himself to, out of all the
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things that Christ could have referenced, why these three
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identities? Why these three realms, so to
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speak? Well, for one, the Jew would
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have understood very well what Jesus was trying to communicate
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by contrasting himself more than contrasting, towering over these
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things that were highly prized and treasured by the people of
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Israel. More specifically, what Christ
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is trying to say is that he is the fulfillment of the three
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great offices that were in operation during the Old
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Covenant. And so by saying that he was
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greater than the temple, he's actually declaring that his
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priesthood is more significant and more effective that his
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offering as a High priest pleases.
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God satisfies his justice, satisfies his demands, and makes
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a one time offering that never has to be repeated and seals
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your salvation forever. Something greater than the
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temple is here a greater priest, and that priest is also the
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sacrifice. Something greater than Jonah is
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here. Here's Christ expressing that he
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occupies the office of the prophet.
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And not only was he sent by the Father to proclaim the word of
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God, he is the perfect expression and the fullest
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revelation of God. He is the radiance of the glory
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of God, and he's the exact imprint of his nature.
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Something greater than Jonah is here.
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Yes, we understand the immediate context is because he's going to
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perform a miracle that was foretold by Jonah.
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But more than that, the office itself.
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I'm the prophet of prophets. I am the.
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Word of God. And lastly, he says something
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greater than Solomon is here. Now we're talking about what?
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What do you think it is his role as what?
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King. King.
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And so he is declaring that he is king.
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Not just king, but king of kings, governing not just one
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nation, one people, but governing the world, the
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universe who knows how to display and demonstrate perfect
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righteousness and execute true justice.
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And he also knowing how to rule and oversee the hearts of men
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perfectly, perfectly, as he is the king of the Kingdom now and
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will usher in that Kingdom here on earth, forever and ever and
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ever. And so you have Jesus saying, I
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am greater than the temple because I am a greater priest,
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and I have a greater sacrifice. I'm I'm greater than Jonah
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because I am the fullest expression.
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Of the word of God, the nature of God, the character of God.
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And I am the king of kings, the long-awaited son of.
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David, who will occupy the throne for eternity?
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Now, that's more than just a clever, crafty way of
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interpreting Jesus's words. Why is it significant for us to
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understand Jesus declaring himself to be superior in these
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areas? Because how you view Christ will
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determine how you honor Christ. You see, Jesus said these things
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to his immediate audience because they refused to
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acknowledge his authority. They reserved their repentance
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and they would not give him the awe that he deserved as king.
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None of a repented when a man much more inferior to Jesus gave
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a very brief sermon. And here's Christ who was giving
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the words of spirit and life, and these men hardened their
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hearts even more. Solomon, as fabulous as he was,
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was flawed in many ways. And here is the king who
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beautifies wisdom, who perfects it, who has not one thing wrong
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with him, and they wouldn't bow the knee.
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Here's the one who did not sin, and they try to find sin in him,
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and he declares that he is greater than the temple and they
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would not acknowledge his position.
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How you view Jesus Christ is the most important thing about your
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life. It's the most important thing.
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Not your job, not your hairstyle, not what you do in
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your retirement, what you study. The most important thing about
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your brief mist of life is how you perceive the.
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Person of Jesus Christ, Jesus says unless you believe that I
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am He, you will die in your sins if you have a wrong view of
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Christ that will determine your eternal destination.
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This is not a matter of opinion. This is not a subjective
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sparring that we can do. No, it's a matter of eternal
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life. How you view Christ will
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ultimately determine where you spend eternity.
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And if you if you are a person who says, I see him as the high
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priest, I see him as the Word of God Incarnate, I see him as the
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King of Kings. How you view Christ will also
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determine the depth of your sanctification doesn't just stop
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at you expressing your belief in him.
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It's ultimately you, something that you continue to discover
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about him, how great he is more and more and more do you see and
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perceive it. And that has an impact and how
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you're conformed to the very same image of his greatness, of
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his moral greatness especially. And so how you view Christ and
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the goal here today is we would need so many meetings to touch
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on each of those components of his nature and of his work.
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And so we're going to stick with Solomon for this weekend.
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Why Solomon personally? Because in reading about Solomon
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and 1st Kings a few months back, I saw the great detail that the
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Holy Spirit gave concerning him as king and his accomplishments
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and what he was able to do and his abilities.
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And what was ringing in my mind as I was scaling through First
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Kings chapter 2-3 all the way up to 10 and 11 all through that,
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as as you were just you're just reading this blueprint of this
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man's amazing capacity. Jesus is greater.
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Jesus is greater. Jesus said I'm greater than even
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him. So I thought to endeavor to say,
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Okay, Lord, I know you're greater.
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That's my theology, right? It's wrong to say that Jesus is
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not greater. But show me how you're greater.
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Let me see it. Let me behold it.
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And I hope that you would behold it with me and that you would
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see it for yourself. Here's where I'll end in this
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brief introduction. When we get, when we get
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together, when this is organized year after year, our desire is
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many things. One that people who don't know
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Christ would come to know Christ.
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That happens, I believe, every year it's happened.
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Or at least one person has given their life to Christ, which is
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amazing, right? To organize all that for that
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goal is, is, is something that God would approve of.
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Obviously for Saints to be encouraged to be built up, to
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meet one another, to be refreshed in a very dark and
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deprived world, absolutely. But there is a specific goal in
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this, in this conference, at least in my prayers, and that is
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this, that every single person here.
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Would leave with a ferocious desire to master.
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The word of God, if there's anything that we're hoping for
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and praying for, is that you would leave here with this new
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ambition to devour the Bible for yourself.
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To not be content with looking at just some things, but to.
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But to ask God to open your eyes to see all that he wants to show
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you in his written word. And one way of being able to
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hopefully stimulate that is to see how one verse can take up a
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conference is to see how one statement that Jesus makes
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Behold, something greater than than Solomon is here, would
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cause you to say this word is inexhaustible.
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Where does this well end? And I'll give you a hint it
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doesn't. And that you would for the rest
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of your days draw from this well, as we take Matthew 1242
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and try to ring out as much as we can from it, which we won't
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for you to say, if that's what can happen with one verse.
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Lord, I want to know all that you have to say to me, and I
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want to show you what's at cost. Just one example.
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What's at cost if you and I as believers do not value?
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The word of God. Do not seek to know all that God
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has said. At least familiarize yourself
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with it. Let me give you an example.
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Turn with me to Luke 24, Luke 24 and go to verse 13 says here in
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Luke 2413 that very day. Two of them.
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We're going to a village named Emmaus, about 7 miles from
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Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these
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things that had happened. While they were talking and
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discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with
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them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
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And he said to them, what is this conversation that you were
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holding with each other as you walk?
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And they stood still, looking sad.
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And one of them, named Cleopas, answered him.
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Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the
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things that have happened there in these days?
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And he said them want things. And they set them concerning
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Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and
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word before God and all the people, and how our chief
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priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and
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crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the
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one to redeem Israel. Yes.
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And besides all this, it is now the third day since these things
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happened. We have two sad disciples
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walking towards Emmaus. Jesus camouflages himself.
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Does it make himself known? How true is it that as you're
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walking, Christ doesn't necessarily show himself all the
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time He camouflages himself and he.
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He wants to hear. He already knew their
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conversation, but he wanted them to open up and see what was the
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reason for their sadness. And they do they they open up
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and they say are you? Did you just walk in here?
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Did you not hear the news is everybody knows what just
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happened. This mighty prophet that we were
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hoping was a fulfillment of the prophets.
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He disappointed us. They killed them and our hopes
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are dashed. Now here's Jesus inquiring the
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source of their sorrow. Now, what would what would you
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do if if you were a pastor? You probably put your arm around
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these these disciples, say it's okay, and try to comfort them
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and try to give some kind of assistance to their heavy
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hearts. Here's what Jesus does verse 25.
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And he said to them, Oh, foolish ones.
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That seems kind of insensitive, doesn't it?
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Oh, foolish ones. I have a feeling that you're not
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going to get that inseminary for your counseling course, but this
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is Jesus. His ways are perfect, he said to
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them. Oh, foolish ones, Let me say it
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one more time. Rebuke is necessary sometimes in
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the Christian walk, oh foolish ones, and slow of heart, to
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believe all that the prophets have spoken.
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Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these
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things and enter into his glory? What is Christ getting at here?
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He's diagnosing the real source of their problems.
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The source of the problems is not that they believed the right
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things and what they believed did not come to pass.
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It was that they did not believe everything.
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They were ignorant of all that the prophets had spoken.
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Either they were willfully and selectively interpreting the
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word of God, or they were negligent, and that is their
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responsibility. Nonetheless, look what Jesus
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says carefully, oh foolish ones, slow of heart, to believe all
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all that the prophets have spoken.
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You believed some you're familiar with a fraction.
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Your heart was drawn to the political Messiah, the Redeemer
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of the oppression from foreign nations, the prosperity that was
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once known under Solomon's reign.
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Perhaps this is what you were drawing, and that was a that was
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a common problem for all the Jews.
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Some people are sympathetic towards the Pharisees because
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they thought, well, maybe maybe the word of God was a little bit
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complicated, and that's why they didn't understand all that Jesus
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said. That's not true.
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And that's that's that's what we see here with Christ.
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He blames them. The scriptures were clear.
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You just chose to turn your eyes away from all that God had to
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say. About myself and I think the
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problem for the Jews is the problem of many Christians
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today. Let me put it this way.
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There is much confusion, frustration, depression, dare I
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say, and all these spiritual maladies based on one main
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thing, a bad spiritual diet with.
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The word of God. What's the reason why they were
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sad? Jesus made it clear you didn't
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take in all that God said. Just some, not all.
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And we look across the lens and we see perhaps very weak
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Christians. We see people who are
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frustrated, people who are roller coaster with their
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devotion. And I would say that the main
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cause is the very same reason what Jesus brings up here.
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A lack of willingness to embrace all that God has to say, a lack
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of willingness to investigate all that God has to say.
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And because of that, there is weakness where there doesn't
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need to be weakness. And there was sadness where
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there doesn't need to be sadness, and there's brokenness
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where there doesn't need to be brokenness, and there's fear
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where there doesn't need to be fear.
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The word of God is the answer. Say prove it.
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Look what Jesus does. How does he solve this?
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How does he treat this wound? Verse 27 This is what Pastor
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Jesus does. And beginning with Moses and all
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the prophets, he interpreted to them and all the scriptures the
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things concerning himself. How does the Lord treat their
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sadness? He opens the scriptures to them
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because he knew that the reason why they were sad is because
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they didn't open up all the scriptures for themselves.
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And so let us save ourselves from unnecessary pain and seek
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to know all that God has to say. That's my prayer.
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That's my desire. And I hope that's your desire
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for yourself as well, that you would leave this place excited
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to know that God speaks through this and that something happens.
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The more you discover, the more you inherit, the more that you
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glean something happens to you. Let me prove it to you.
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This is my last verse. And James, this is one of my
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favorite verses concerning the power.
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Of the word of God. I quoted often, so forgive me if
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you're hearing it again in such a short span of time.
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Look at these words from James and James, Chapter One.
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And this was where we will sign off for this introduction.
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James one and look here with me in verse verse 21.
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James 121 therefore put away all filthiness and rampant
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wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word
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which is able to save your souls.
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What is significant charge? Receive the implanted world.
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If it's implanted, it's already received, isn't it?
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What are you asking me to do, James?
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Continue to receive that which you received initially in
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salvation. Continue to open up your heart
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to indulge and accept and explore what the word of God has
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to say, and notice what he says which is able to save your
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souls. He's talking to Christians.
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What do you mean, save your souls?
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You're already saved. Yeah, but there's another saving
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that needs to take place. A continual saving, a perpetual
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delivering in your life. You know it, right?
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You know that when you get saved, you're not instantly made
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perfect. Join a local church and you'll
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figure that out within a few months.
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Nobody is. And yet there is a promise.
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There is a guarantee that to the degree that you expose yourself
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and receive the word of God, you will know as saving in your own
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soul. From trauma, from
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disappointment, from sin, from wrong world views, from
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temptation, from bondage, from strongholds.
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It's the word of God that saves and cleanses and washes and
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uproots all the things that perhaps you've had from the
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earliest memories of your life. That's the word, and that's what
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it can do. So here's one thing that we can
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guarantee. Here's one thing that you can
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guarantee every single time you go to the word of God for
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yourself that you sit under the preach word.
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And This is why this weekend is excited.
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Because we have a condensed time where you're just going to
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receive the word of God as those coming from a fire hydrant.
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People are going to be saved. If it's received with meekness,
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we will know it's saving. I'm not talking about salvation,
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I'm talking about a renewing of the mind.
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I'm talking about a redirecting in your affections.
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I'm talking about an empowerment that will make you leave this
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place stronger than you came in. That's what the Word of God can
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do. And we're going to see it
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through Jesus saying something greater than Solomon is here.
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What does that mean, Lord? We're going to figure it out
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together. Let's pray, Father, we give you
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glory even from the opening night.
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Thank you for the joy in this place.
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Thank you for the openness in the hearts of every soul in this
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House. Thank you, Lord, for people who
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decided to take up this weekend. Though it might be a difficult
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weekend in the year to dedicate few days to be with God's people
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and to seek the God of these people.
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We asked, Lord, that we would know the very saving that you
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promised in James that we would know a new ambition to have a
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complete grasp, a growing grasp with the word of God, so that we
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would be rescued from unnecessary sorrows.
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And, Lord, we asked from the beginning that by the power of
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your Holy Spirit you would open our eyes to behold how Christ,
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your Son, is greater than that great man's Solomon.
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It may cause us to give him the worship and the honor and the
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praise that the King of Kings rightly deserves.
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Lord, bless our hearts, our minds, protect us from head to
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toe. Let everything about this
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weekend, from the messages to the singing, to the activities
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to the eating. May it all be led by your
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spirit. May we sense your presence
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wherever we go, for we are here for you above all else.
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In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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Amen. Amen.