Latest / CCC West Covina / The Godly Man, Part 1

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The Godly Man, Part 1 · CCC West Covina

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  There is an epidemic that has infected every country in the
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  world. Not only every every country,
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  but every culture. Not just every culture, but
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  every community, every class of people.
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  An epidemic that is infected even the churches across our
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  country and in the world, it's an epidemic that has not handled
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  or dealt with will continue to spread from generation to
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  generation. And it's interesting to note
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  that that epidemic has been going on for centuries, all
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  throughout the history of man, and yet so many people don't
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  seem to listen to take notice as to how to handle that epidemic.
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  It's summed up very simply in in one verse in the Psalms.
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  It's our topic for today, and by the time before me it looks like
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  it'll be our topic for next week as well.
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  But the psalmist said this in Psalm 12 verse #1 Help Lord, for
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  the godly man ceases to be, and for the faithful disappear from
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  among the sons of men. This epidemic that has infected
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  not just this generation, but subsequent or previous
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  generations and maybe even subsequent generations.
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  From here on out, the psalmist cries, Help Lord, for the godly
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  man ceases to be. Where is the godly man?
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  Where has he gone? Why can't we find them?
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  Why are they so difficult to to uncover?
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  Where is the godly man in our countries, our cultures?
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  Where? Where's the godly man in our
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  churches? Where's the godly man in our
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  families? Where are the godly fathers that
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  lead their families? The psalmist summed up very
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  well. Help Lord the godly man.
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  He ceases to be. He ceases to be.
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  So not only listen carefully was it difficult for the psalmist to
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  find a godly man, So too it was difficult for God himself to
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  find a godly man. Now think about that.
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  Listen to what the Bible says in the book of Second Chronicles 16
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  verse #9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout
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  the earth, that He may strongly support those whose heart is
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  completely His. But you have acted foolishly in
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  this, that the Lord is looking for, for hearts that are devoted
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  to Him. His eyes run to and fro
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  throughout the earth. Where is the man whose heart is
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  completely devoted to me? Because I'm going to strengthen
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  that man. To the prophet Ezekiel, the 22nd
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  chapter, the 30th verse, the Lord says, I search for a man
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  among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap
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  before me for the land so that I would not destroy it.
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  But I found no one. Here is the Lord saying, I I'm
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  looking for just one man to stand in the gap. 1 godly man to
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  be strong, one godly man to be steadfast. 1 godly man that will
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  do for me what only he can do. But I found no one among the
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  leadership in Israel. If you go back to the the book
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  of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 5, Jeremiah says the same thing,
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  chapter 5 verse #1 Rome to and fro through the streets of
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  Jerusalem. And look now and take note and
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  seek in her open squares. If you can find a man, if there
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  is one who does justice, who seeks truth, then I will pardon
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  her. Just give me one man in
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  Jerusalem. Find one godly man, Jeremiah.
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  If you can just find one of them, I will pardon Jerusalem.
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  All I need is 1 godly man. And although they say as the
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  Lord lives, surely they swear falsely.
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  O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth.
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  You have smitten them, but they did not weaken.
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  You have consumed them, but they refuse to take correction.
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  They have made their faces harder than rock.
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  They have refused to repent. Then I said, they are only the
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  poor. They are foolish, for they do
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  not know the way of the Lord or the ordinance of their God.
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  I will go to the great man. I will and will speak to them,
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  and they know the way of the Lord and the ordinance of their
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  God. But they too, with one accord,
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  have broken the yoke and burst the bonds.
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  I couldn't find one among the poor.
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  I couldn't find one among the lowly.
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  But let me go and find someone among the great men of the city.
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  Surely there's a godly man who keeps the ordinances of
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  ordinances of God. Surely is there's a there's a
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  man in leadership someplace that's a godly man that you will
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  pardon Jerusalem. But there was none, none to
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  find. So the psalmist says, help Lord,
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  the godly man ceases to be. Isaiah chapter 59, verse one.
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  Behold, the Lord's hand is not short that it cannot save, nor
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  is his ear so dull that it cannot hear.
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  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your
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  God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that he
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  does not hear. For your hands are defiled with
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  blood and your fingers with iniquity.
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  Your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters wickedness.
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  No one soothes righteously, and no one pleads honestly.
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  They trust in confusion and speak lies.
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  They can see mischief and bring forth iniquity.
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  The Lord says, listen, I want to save.
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  I, I want to redeem. I, I, I, I want to protect you.
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  My hand is not so short that I cannot save, but your sins have
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  separated you from me. Verse 15 Now the Lord saw, and
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  it was displeasing in a sight that there was no justice.
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  And he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there
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  was no man to intercede. It's no wonder the psalmist
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  said, help Lord, the godly man ceases to be.
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  See, this is an epidemic that has infected every country,
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  every culture, every community, every church.
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  Where is the godly man? Not just any man, but the godly
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  man. And the unique thing about this
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  is that God for centuries warned his people.
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  He warned them over and over and over again, but they did not
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  listen to the words of the Lord. Let me show you.
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  Go back with me in your Bible to the book of Exodus, Exodus
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  chapter 20. You know about the 10
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  commandments. You know about what God says
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  about. There shall be no God than me.
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  I am the one true God. You should only worship me, and
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  you should have no other gods before me.
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  And how you worship me is very, very important because I want
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  you to worship Me in spirit and in truth.
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  So the Lord says these words in Exodus chapter 20.
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  He says in verse #5 You shall not worship them or serve them.
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  For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the
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  iniquity of the fathers on the children on the 3rd and the 4th
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  generation. To those who hate me, God makes
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  it very clear as he gives the 10 commandments to Moses and he and
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  he proclaims them to the people of Israel.
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  Listen, there's only one God. I am the true God.
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  You shall have no other gods before me.
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  You should only worship me. And when you worship me, you
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  need to worship me the right way.
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  Because if you worship me the wrong way, it's going to affect
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  your children. It will affect the next
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  generation of children and the following generation of
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  children. So make sure you worship me the
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  right way. Why?
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  Because God is saying listen to worship God the wrong way or to
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  have another God before the one true God.
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  To be an idolater is going to affect this generation and the
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  corruption of the father is going to be an epidemic that
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  affects the next generation and the following generation.
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  Why? Because he demonstrated that he
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  doesn't love me but that he hates me.
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  Go over to the book of Exodus, same book, the 34th chapter.
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  And Moses, he wants to, he wants to see the glory of the Lord.
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  And you, you know this chapter because we've covered it many
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  times over the years. And, and, and the Lord says,
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  I'm, I'm not going to show you my full glory because you'd be
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  incinerated. You, you die.
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  You just can't see me and live Moses.
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  So I'm going to hide you in the Cliff of the rock.
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  I'll let my glory pass by you and let you see the afterglow of
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  my glory. It says in verse #6 or verse #5
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  The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as the
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  Lord called upon the name of the Lord.
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  Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed the Lord,
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  the Lord God, compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and
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  abounding, and loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving
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  kindness to thousands, Who forgives iniquity, transgression
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  and sin. Yet he will by no means leave
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  the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the
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  children and on the grandchildren to the third and
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  4th generations. That 2 verses, verses 6 and
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  seven of Exodus 34 is quoted 27 times in the Old Testament 27
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  times. Because God says, look, you need
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  to realize that as fathers, your corruption is going to have a
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  supreme effect on the succeeding generations.
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  If you don't live according to my word and follow my word and
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  understand what I have said, it is going to affect your children
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  and your children's children on down the line because you've
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  shown that you will not listen to me, that you will end up
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  hating me. So turn with me, if you would,
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  to the book of Zechariah. Zechariah Zechariah comes out of
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  captivity with some 43,000 Jews from Babylon.
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  And Zechariah's name means God remembers.
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  And the book of Zechariah is a unique and and special book of
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  prophecy. But but the first 6 verses help
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  us understand Israel's problem and verse #1 gives us the theme
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  of the book when it says in the eighth month of the second year
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  of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet,
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  the son of Berechiah and the son of IDU.
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  Berechiah was his father. IDU was his grandfather.
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  Berechiah's name means God will bless.
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  IDU means at the appointed time. And Zachariah's whole theme is
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  that God remembers to bless Israel at the appointed time and
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  he will. That's the theme of the of the
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  book of Zachariah. It's wrapped up in the names of
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  the young man Zachariah, his father and his grandfather.
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  Verse 2 The Lord was very angry with your father's.
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  Therefore say to them, Thus says the Lord of hosts, return to me,
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  declares the Lord of hosts, That I may return to you, says the
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  Lord of hosts, Do not be like your father's, to whom the
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  former prophets proclaimed saying, Thus says the Lord of
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  hosts, return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.
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  But they did not listen or give heed to me.
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  God says, I do not want you to be like your Father's.
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  You can change the course of a generation, You can change the
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  way things have been by understanding that if you just
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  return to Me, if you just repent of your sins, I will return to
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  you and everything will be different.
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  Do not be like your Father's because their iniquity has has
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  brought you or did bring you into captivity.
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  You were there for 70 years, and So what you have before you is a
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  historical illustration of the sins of the Father being part of
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  the corruption of the next generation that led them through
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  the effects of their father's sin into Babylonian captivity.
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  He says don't be like them. You can be different.
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  You can return to me. You can repent of your sins.
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  You, you can follow me. But he says your father's didn't
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  listen. I said the exact same thing to
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  them. The same message was given to
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  them that I'm given to you, but they did not listen.
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  They would not listen. So I love, love Psalm 81 so much
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  because in Psalm 81, the Lord says in verse #8 here, O my
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  people, and I will admonish you, O Israel, if you would just
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  listen to me. He says, let there be no strange
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  God among you, nor shall you worship any foreign God.
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  He goes all the way back to Exodus chapter, chapter 20.
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  There's only one God. There ought to be no foreign
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  gods. You're the only worship me.
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  You're not to be an idolater. You're not to involve yourself
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  in iniquity. I the Lord am your God who
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  brought you up from the land of Egypt.
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  Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
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  But my people did not listen to my voice, and Israel did not
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  obey me. So I gave them over to the
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  stubbornness of their own heart to walk in their own devices.
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  Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in
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  my ways. I would quickly subdue their
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  enemies and turn my hand against their adversaries.
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  Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him, and
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  their punishment or time of punishment would be forever.
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  But I would feed you with the finest of wheat and with honey
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  from the rock. I would satisfy you.
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  But they did not listen. They would not listen.
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  So God says to the prophet Zechariah, tell my people to
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  return to me. Tell My people not to be like
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  their fathers. They can turn the course of a
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  generation by following Me, by being godly people, by obeying
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  My word. That's all they need to do.
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  Return to me and I will return to you.
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  Just listen to my voice, because your father's did not listen.
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  They did not heed. They did not obey that.
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  That's why we're spending time with your children on stage.
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  Why? Because what you're doing right
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  now is the highest participation of your worship ever.
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  You're listening and are you listening well to what God says?
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  Are you listening quickly? Are you listening expectantly?
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  Are you, are you, are you listening for God to to speak to
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  you today? Because his word speaks
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  profoundly to every single one of us in the auditorium.
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  And God is saying, if you just listen to me, if you just return
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  to me, if you just repent of your sins, that's all I'm asking
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  you to do. That's all He ever asked Israel
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  to do for centuries, warning them over and over again that if
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  you continue in sin, you show that you hate me.
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  And that corruption will be passed to the next generation
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  because they will feel the effects of your sin against me,
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  and they will bear the consequences of your sin against
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  me. And not just that generation,
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  but succeeding generations. So the Lord says these words,
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  verse 5 of Zechariah one, your father's, where are they?
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  Great question. God doesn't need an answer.
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  He knows the answer. He's asking Israel, do you know
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  who your father's are? They're dead.
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  They're all dead. I mean, if they didn't die when
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  Nebuchadnezzar came in and sacked Jerusalem and
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  slaughtered, and then they probably died in Babylonian
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  captivity. And therefore understand this,
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  ask yourself what happened to your father's if they didn't
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  die? They went into captivity.
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  Why? I warned them over and over
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  again. I warned them if I could find
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  one godly man in Jerusalem. I'll pardon your iniquity.
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  I'll protect you from from the invasion if I just find one.
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  But I found none. Found none.
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  Where are your Father's? This is this.
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  And the prophets, do they live forever?
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  No, nobody lives forever, but God is talking about the
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  impartiality of his judgement. Think of think of Moses the
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  great, the great leader of Israel, Israel's quintessential
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  leader. They look to to Moses as the
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  leader of Israel, the man, right.
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  But God said to Moses, listen, you speak to the rock, do not
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  strike it, you speak to the rock.
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  And Moses out of anger struck the rock, and water still gushed
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  out. God still took care of his
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  people. But God said to Moses, didn't
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  listen to me. I told you to speak to the rock,
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  not strike the rock. But you decided not to speak,
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  but to strike. No promised land for you.
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  You're done. I said.
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  Why? That's just so harsh.
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  It was like you committed immorality, adultery, some kind
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  of fornication, some kind of idolatry.
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  Come on, Lord, give Moses a break.
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  You see, Moses is the leader, and leadership requires
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  godliness. Leadership requires listening
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  and obeying the Lord. And leadership requires a higher
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  accountability than anything else.
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  And if you fail in your leadership, you lead the people
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  the wrong way. Moses, if you don't listen to
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  me, then why should the people listen to me?
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  And because you didn't listen to my word, no promised land for
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  you. That's the way it goes.
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  And Moses felt the consequences of his own sin.
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  So God through the pin of Zacharias says, where are your
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  father's? Where are the prophets?
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  You know they're all going to die because everybody dies.
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  But how will you die? So he says verse 6.
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  But did not my words and my statutes, which I commanded, my
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  servants, the prophets, overtake your father's?
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  That's just such a great phrase. Overtake your father's.
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  It's a phrase that describes being suddenly overtaken by that
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  which is pursuing you, but you weren't aware of it.
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  You see a lot, a lot like us today.
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  We think that the consequences of our sin are way behind us,
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  that they're not going to catch up to us, that we can sin and
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  get away with it, that we can sin and everything will be OK.
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  That way behind us are the consequences.
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  They're not going to catch us and then all of a sudden they
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  overtake us and we experience the consequences of our sin.
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  Israel. Israel's leaders, the nation
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  itself, the fathers, he says. I told him I was coming.
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  I warned them over and over again.
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  I warned them about their iniquity.
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  I warned them about the consequence of sin.
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  But you know what? They didn't believe me.
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  They didn't think I was serious. They didn't think that I would
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  do what I said I was going to do.
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  And in His mercy and his patience and His loving
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  kindness, He allowed them to continue in their sin.
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  He gave them over to their stubborn heart.
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  He allowed them to continue going down the wrong path by His
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  grace and by His mercy. But he warned them, judgements
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  coming, you need to follow, need to repent.
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  And they didn't. And it overtook them and it
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  gobbled them up because they didn't think that God was going
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  to do what God said He was going to do.
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  And so it says these words. Then they Israel repented,
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  repented and said as the Lord of hosts purpose to do to us in
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  accordance with our ways and our deeds, so he has dealt with us.
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  They said the Lord is sovereign. This is how the Lord's chosen to
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  deal with us. This is how he is dealt with us.
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  He they're they're claiming the sovereignty of God, the
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  Providence of God in in orchestrating all the events
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  that have taken place in their lives.
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  And and I know you were your Bible says repent, but but the
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  word really should be returned. It should be.
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  Then they returned and said why? It's a play on words.
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  If you go back to verse #3 and verse #4 God says return to me
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  and I will return to you. Return to me.
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  So it's a play on words. Return to me.
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  He says, why? I want you to return to me
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  physically from Babylon, which they had done.
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  Now I want you to return to me spiritually and repent of your
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  sins and follow me and serve me. It's a play on words.
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  And he says, I need you to return back to me.
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  And they said we return, we repent because what you did was
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  true, what you did was right. God, you are sovereign.
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  You warned us and we did not obey, we did not listen.
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  And we need to follow you. And the book of Zachariah is all
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  about how God remembers, remembers to bless his people,
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  Israel at the appointed time. The unfortunate thing is this is
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  that what they said did not hold true over time and they continue
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  to depart from the true and living God.
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  Oh yeah, they went back to Jerusalem and they rebuild the
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  walls around the city and they rebuilt the temple and they were
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  back there. But when the Messiah came, they
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  they completely missed him and they just did not want that king
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  to rule over them. So they crucified him.
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  And so they continued in their non repentant state, but God had
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  warned them over and over again. Today I ask you this question on
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  this Father's Day 2025, are you a godly man?
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  If God was to search our church, would he find a godly man?
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  If you was to search your family, would you as a father be
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  a godly father? Would you be a godly man in your
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  workplace? Would you be a godly man in your
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  school, in your classroom? Would you be that godly man that
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  if God searched for, he'd say, that's the one whose heart I
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  want to strengthen. That's the one who will stand in
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  the gap for me. That's the one who intercede on
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  behalf of his family, on behalf of his people.
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  To me, that's the man, the hope. The hope is that a generation
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  can be turned by 1 godly man following Christ and honoring
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  him. I I've told the story a numerous
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  times of of my father who was raised by an alcoholic father
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  and mother. And so he very easily followed
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  in his father's footsteps and became an alcoholic and became a
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  train smoker like his father was.
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  In fact, he he drank so much that on the eve of his wedding
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  to my mom, he was so drunk that my mother had to take him home
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  and almost decided not to marry him.
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  Glad she didn't make that decision.
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  I wouldn't be here. But they got married the next
• 29:00
  day anyway. And soon after they were
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  married, my my father realized that in order to change the
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  course of a generation, something had to change his
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  life. He was called overseas during
• 29:15
  the Vietnam War. He gave his life to Christ in a
• 29:18
  charismatic camp in Thailand led by two women pastors believe it
• 29:24
  or not, who took him aside and said you need to know the Lord.
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  He gave his life to Christ, came back from the Vietnam War,
• 29:35
  changed man. At the same time.
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  My mom was in in Washington, KS, small town, about two hours from
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  Topeka, KS. If you wanted to know.
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  If you don't care, that's OK too.
• 29:51
  And she was giving her life to the Lord by a Baptist preacher.
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  You can imagine the conflict that arised when my father came
• 30:00
  back with all these charismatic ideas and my mom was saved by a
• 30:03
  Baptist preacher. Nonetheless, it all worked
• 30:06
  itself out and God was good. So in case you want to know, my
• 30:11
  roots are in the charismatic church.
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  All that being said is that my father knew that he had to
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  change the course of a generation to do so.
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  He gave his life to Christ. And you know, I think of my dad
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  and I think of, wow, what a, what a godly man.
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  He was just such a godly guy. He wasn't a great man.
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  He wasn't a popular man. He wasn't a prominent man.
• 30:38
  He was a faithful, godly man who wanted his family to know the
• 30:43
  Lord. That's it.
• 30:46
  He had two kids, one daughter, one son.
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  That's it. And his greatest joy was to know
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  that his children walked in truth, that was that was
• 30:53
  everything to him. That's what he wanted.
• 30:58
  He changed the course of a generation.
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  He would go back and, and witness to his father and before
• 31:05
  his father died that that that man who was an alcoholic, that
• 31:09
  man who was a train smoker for for 60 plus years, 70 plus
• 31:15
  years, gave his life to Christ before he died.
• 31:21
  His mother, she never did, but his stepmother did.
• 31:28
  She gave life to Christ. But he was so bound and
• 31:33
  determined to change the course of a generation that he, he
• 31:36
  wanted to do whatever he could possibly do to, to make sure his
• 31:39
  children knew the Lord and followed the Lord and honored
• 31:45
  the Lord. And I praise the Lord for a
• 31:50
  father who was a who was a godly father.
• 31:52
  I didn't know him very well when he was ungodly because I was too
• 31:55
  young. Only memory I have of my father
• 31:59
  is sitting with him in church and him singing at the top of
• 32:04
  his lungs. And my dad had a good voice.
• 32:07
  And I was asking, why do you sing so loud?
• 32:09
  Dad, why do you sing so loud? He was leaning over sick because
• 32:14
  I love the Lord. Start singing son.
• 32:17
  And and he would sing loud, but he changed the course of
• 32:21
  regeneration. I say that because so can you.
• 32:25
  There's always hope, and the hope to cure that which infects
• 32:35
  churches, countries, cultures, and communities is a godly man.
• 32:46
  Just one, Just one. And I wonder if you're that kind
• 32:53
  of man. I have an outline.
• 32:58
  I not going to get through it today.
• 33:02
  I'll do it next week. But let me give you the point #1
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  because I do have a couple of minutes left.
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  Ask yourself, am IA godly man? I'm going to give you the
• 33:16
  characteristics of a godly man. Number one.
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  He goes to God incessantly in prayer.
• 33:29
  He goes to God incessantly in prayer.
• 33:38
  Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 4, verse 3.
• 33:52
  But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for himself.
• 33:56
  Isn't that great? God has set apart the godly man
• 34:00
  for himself and the Lord years when the godly man calls to him.
• 34:09
  Nick great, the Lord hears when the godly man calls to him.
• 34:18
  How about Psalm 32 verse #6 Therefore let everyone who's
• 34:23
  godly pray to you in a time when you may be found surely in a
• 34:28
  flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
• 34:31
  You are my hiding place. You preserve me from trouble.
• 34:34
  You surround me with songs of deliverance.
• 34:37
  Let everyone who is godly come to you in a time of need.
• 34:44
  See, the godly man knows that in order to maintain his godliness,
• 34:48
  there is a a communion with God that needs to be present, that
• 34:54
  he wants to commune with his God on a daily basis.
• 34:56
  He wants to to pray without ceasing.
• 34:59
  First Thessalonians 516, Ephesians chapter 5, James
• 35:03
  chapter 5. The effectual fervent prayer of
• 35:05
  a righteous man availeth much there there's a fervency there
• 35:09
  there's a, there's a, a tenacity that's there.
• 35:11
  There's a, a commitment to prayer.
• 35:14
  Oh, prayer is such a, a taxing work.
• 35:19
  It's not easy. Satan wants to keep you off of
• 35:22
  your knees because if he keeps you off of your knees, he can,
• 35:28
  He can tempt you in ways that will cause you to fall greatly.
• 35:35
  And our Lord wanted his men to pray, so he taught them how to
• 35:39
  pray. He always was praying.
• 35:43
  And a godly man is one who who goes to God incessantly in
• 35:47
  prayer. Job was a godly man.
• 35:54
  Job was a unique man. He was unlike others.
• 36:06
  Job was the kind of guy that that understood godliness, It
• 36:17
  says in Job one there was a man in the land of us that the man
• 36:23
  was not an ordinary man. The man was an extraordinary
• 36:28
  man. There was a man in the land of
• 36:33
  us, and the whole book of Job was about this man, Job, and how
• 36:39
  God is sovereign over his life, whose name was Job.
• 36:46
  And that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning
• 36:48
  away from evil. That's a godly man.
• 36:53
  Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
• 36:57
  His possessions were also or also were 7000 sheep, 3000
• 37:01
  camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many
• 37:05
  servants. And that man was the greatest of
• 37:08
  all the men of the East. The great man sons used to go
• 37:14
  hold a feast in the House of each one on his day, and they
• 37:19
  would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink
• 37:21
  with them. And when the days of feasting
• 37:24
  had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them,
• 37:29
  rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings
• 37:33
  according to the number of them. All.
• 37:36
  For Job said, Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in
• 37:40
  their hearts. Thus Job did continually he
• 37:48
  would OfferUp burnt offerings on behalf of his children.
• 37:55
  He would pray for his children. Burnt offering symbolize a a
• 38:00
  total surrender. In other words, he was he was
• 38:03
  surrendering all of his children to the Lord.
• 38:07
  These are your children. God, you gave it to me.
• 38:09
  I'm going to offer these burnt offerings because the offering
• 38:12
  is going to be totally consumed because I have totally giving my
• 38:15
  children to you. Little did he know that God
• 38:18
  would take and snatch his children from him in an horrific
• 38:23
  store. Didn't know that in advance.
• 38:29
  We know because we read the story.
• 38:30
  But Joe didn't know said God, these children are yours.
• 38:35
  I'm offering up to you are offering them up to you because
• 38:37
  if they have sinned, Lord, I I want to, I want to plead with
• 38:41
  them. I want to intercede on their
• 38:42
  behalf, as was told in the prophet Isaiah.
• 38:48
  Is there anyone to intercede on behalf of those who commit
• 38:52
  iniquity? Job says I'll intercede.
• 38:58
  Is there a man who was standing in the gap whose heart I was
• 39:02
  strengthened? Job says I'll be that guy.
• 39:05
  I'll do that. I'll live an upright life, a God
• 39:08
  fearing life, a blameless life. And I'm going to turn away from
• 39:11
  evil and I'm going to pray for my family.
• 39:15
  I'm going to pray that God raises them up and strengthens
• 39:17
  them. And little did he know that God
• 39:20
  would take them all away. But in all this, Job did not
• 39:25
  sin. Nobody turned his back on the
• 39:28
  Lord Jesus because he was a godly man, a man of prayer.
• 39:36
  Interesting that that nobody who came to to minister to Job ever
• 39:40
  prayed with Job before Job. They came to give him a counsel,
• 39:46
  but they were miserable counselors.
• 39:49
  But none of them sat and held his hand, mainly because it's
• 39:51
  too full of sores and pus and and nasty stuff.
• 39:55
  They didn't want to hold his hand for fear that they might
• 39:57
  get what he had. Then we get too close to Job.
• 40:01
  But none of them offered a prayer for Job.
• 40:03
  But at the very end of the the Book of Job, it says.
• 40:07
  And Job prayed for his friends. And when Job prayed for his
• 40:12
  friends, God turned the captivity of Job.
• 40:19
  God turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his miserable
• 40:23
  comforters, when Job got his eyes off of himself.
• 40:28
  Because that's what godly men do.
• 40:30
  They get their eyes off of themselves.
• 40:32
  They get their eyes on everybody else around them.
• 40:34
  They forget about their needs, their pain, their problems, and
• 40:37
  they pray for others. And that's what Job did.
• 40:40
  And God turned everything in Job's life around when he prayed
• 40:46
  for his friends. That's just a great testimony.
• 40:52
  It's just speak volumes to us not to be so consumed about our
• 40:57
  problems and our pain. And believe me, none of you had
• 41:00
  the pain that Job had. None of you have the isolation
• 41:03
  that Job had. None of you had the problems
• 41:05
  that Job had. None of you have lost everything
• 41:07
  like Job did. None of you have.
• 41:11
  And yet Job got his eyes off his own self and said I need to pray
• 41:15
  for my friends. And boy, God turned all that
• 41:18
  around and said, Job, you're the man because he prayed
• 41:25
  incessantly. What a godly man.
• 41:29
  How about you, do you go to God incessantly in prayer on behalf
• 41:36
  of your wife, your children, your family?
• 41:41
  We, we gathered together on Sunday mornings and we, we bow
• 41:44
  together on our knees. And you have your children
• 41:46
  bowing together with you. You have your wives bowing
• 41:50
  together with you in the Pew as you go and beseech the Lord of
• 41:53
  mercy. Well, what a great opportunity
• 41:57
  when it comes to worship to have your family together in church,
• 42:01
  bowing down before the throne of God and praying to God, asking
• 42:06
  God to do a great and mighty work.
• 42:08
  But that's just the beginning. That's just the impetus.
• 42:10
  That's the trampoline that leads you into more prayer with your
• 42:13
  family and for your family. That's what the godly man does.
• 42:20
  He prays incessantly because he knows that prayer is everything.
• 42:27
  He can't change his children, can't change his marriage.
• 42:31
  He can't change his work environment.
• 42:33
  He can't change anything. He can influence some things,
• 42:36
  but he can't change. And only God can change.
• 42:40
  God doesn't. So the godly man recognizes
• 42:43
  that, says so he goes to God, says, Lord, you know how to do
• 42:47
  this, You can do it. So I'm going to let you do it,
• 42:51
  but I need you to do what only you can do.
• 42:55
  And he prays to God. That's a godly man.
• 43:00
  He goes to God incessantly in prayer #2 got to come back next
• 43:16
  week. So if you brought your Father on
• 43:18
  Father's Day, bring him back again next week.
• 43:21
  If he was with your other brother or sister today, you can
• 43:24
  bring him back next week. But let me pray with you.
• 43:28
  Can I do that, Father? I pray for the men of our
• 43:36
  church. They'd be godly men.
• 43:44
  I pray, Lord, that they would recognize that their ungodliness
• 43:50
  only infects their children negatively, but their godliness
• 43:58
  will affect them positively. So I pray for every man that's
• 44:05
  here today, men who are fathers, men who are grandfathers, men
• 44:09
  who want to be fathers. I pray, Father, that you would
• 44:15
  raise up godly men. Job was a godly man.
• 44:22
  He attended no church. He attended no men's ministries.
• 44:27
  He read no books on ministry for your family.
• 44:34
  All he had was you. He listened and obeyed and
• 44:40
  follow through. His accountability was you.
• 44:45
  It wasn't another person or another group of people or a
• 44:48
  church. His accountability was you, and
• 44:53
  he was blameless, upright, God fearing and turning away from
• 44:56
  evil. They prayed for his children.
• 45:03
  Lord, I pray for the men of our church.
• 45:08
  You'd raise them up to be strong men of God, men who who don't
• 45:13
  back down from those who would come against their God.
• 45:21
  Men who would stand strong amidst adversity and conflict,
• 45:28
  men who would be pure and holy before you.
• 45:33
  Lord, you're a great God, and you warned Israel over and over
• 45:39
  again about the sins of the fathers.
• 45:43
  They just did not listen. Lord, we have in illustration
• 45:49
  all throughout the Old Testament that tells us beware, listen to
• 45:56
  the words of the Lord, return to him, follow him, obey him, and
• 46:04
  see what God will do. That's my prayer for for every
• 46:09
  Man today.