Latest / HBCWestminster / Reverse the Curse • Mark 1:12-13

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Reverse the Curse • Mark 1:12-13 · HBCWestminster

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  Weren't you guys blessed by the music this morning?
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  Man, during first service, in between the songs when there were kind of lulls in the volume
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  and as we were finishing one chorus and going into the next and you could hear there was a little boy over here,
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  maybe six months old, new family to the church.
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  His name is Beckham, six months old, maybe a month or two older than that, but not more than that, pre-walking.
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  And anytime there was a lull, he would just chime in and you could hear him.
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  And just, I mean, just at the top of his lungs, he thought, if you guys are done, I'll pick it up.
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  I mean, you could tell he was just doing whatever, what he thought everybody else was doing
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  and what he thought he was supposed to be doing.
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  And I just thought, what? I was so blessed by that.
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  Not only as I could hear the congregation all singing,
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  but then hearing this six-month-old little dude being discipled.
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  And trained in the way that he should go.
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  Man, you parents who have young kids, make no mistake.
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  If you want to train your kids to be worshipers, then be a worshiper yourself.
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  They will sing like you sing.
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  They will worship the God that you worship.
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  That will happen. You don't even have to worry about it.
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  If you will teach them from the time that they are young
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  and set that example of the absolute joy that it is to serve the Lord,
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  man, they will follow you in that path.
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  It'll be for them the path of least.
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  There is no point in doing that to yourself.
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  When Hallie and I were first married, we attended a church
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  where not only was coffee not allowed in the sanctuary,
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  which I thought just by coffee colored carpet
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  and then nobody has to worry about it,
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  which is what we've done here.
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  But not only were caught was coffee, not allowed, but neither were kids.
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  Kids weren't allowed.
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  There was kids ministry for them.
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  And although we provide a kids ministry for kids,
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  there's nothing says you have to put them over there.
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  You want to bring your kids in?
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  We don't mind, honestly.
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  And it actually blessed me that, when we got married, we were married. And the man spoke some Bangla.
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  us because we get to hear the future generations singing their hearts out, man. I love hearing
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  two-year-olds sing. It is the best. They don't always get the words right. When my son Chase
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  was really, really little, I could hear him singing one time and he sings with his whole heart.
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  He is a worshiper of the Lord. He's 15 now, but when he was really, really little, I could hear him
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  bless the Lord. Oh, my sword. What? He said, I worship the hole you made.
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  What? What? He had no idea. He didn't know. He just knows this is the song we sing.
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  The words were so fun. And when you guys have little, little ones, man, start writing that
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  stuff down. Don't miss opportunities. Write it down because you will forget the funny things
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  that they say and sing. But man, just listen to it.
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  be blessed by the fact that you're you're making disciples the place that you're called to make
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  disciples first is in your own home and make disciples of them and then go out into all the
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  nations and i've titled our series let the nations be glad because it is our honest goal to share
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  with others the same joy and peace that we experience in christ isn't it i've said that
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  we above all people we who are the adopted sons and daughters of the most high king we of all
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  people should be glad we should be the people who are the happiest people on earth we should be the
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  people who rejoice most frequently this is why philippians 4 says rejoice in the lord always
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  always we always have reason to rejoice why because we know our creator and we were where
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  we were at once at odds with him now we are unified together reconciled to him and we have
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  been entrusted with that
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  man's
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  message of gladness to share with the nations. And last Sunday, we studied Christ's baptism.
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  It was an event which we said was more than meets the eye. We talked about the heavens being torn
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  and that tearing of the heavens became the sign which the people were desperately waiting for.
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  They knew that when the heavens are torn, the Messiah would appear. We talked about the Spirit
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  of God anointing Christ, letting people know that the supernatural power of God was about to be
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  unleashed. We talked about the significance of the Father's voice declaring that this conquering
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  King would declare victory through personal suffering. I've been preaching the Word of God
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  for 25 years. I have never in those 25 years had such eager and immediate application of any sermon
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  I've ever preached, as happened last Sunday. The number of people who reached
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  out to me came in saying,
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  out to me, the number of text messages, emails, phone calls, responses after the service that I've
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  received was the most immediate response I have ever received in 25 years. But it's probably not
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  like what you're imagining. I think I got 40 different text messages, just in text messages
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  that said, great sermon. Where's that burrito place? I'm not kidding. Raise your hand for just
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  a second. If you ate a breakfast burrito or had chili rellenos this last week, I'm telling you,
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  people did. It's all this side, apparently. People did. They heard that and they were like, hey,
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  where's that burrito place? I had three or four more today. I know you just made fun of us, but I
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  do want to know where that burrito place is. It's really funny. I myself went this week and got a
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  breakfast burrito. It was good. Really? We'll stick to this. If you want to find out, you come up and
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  talk to me afterwards. I'm happy to.
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  But listen, it was such a funny response. I just over and over and over was replying, yeah,
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  you know, whatever, here it is, whatever. But joking aside, I hope and pray that we as a people
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  are equally eager to apply the spiritual principles we encounter.
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  I mean, when we find out about a new burrito place, awesome. I love it. It's great. I don't
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  mind at all. Chili rellenos are good. I told you, they're good. But I hope that we are also eager
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  to make those applications to the inner man.
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  To make those applications to our soul. I hope and pray that we are eager to make the changes,
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  which will more clearly bring our hearts, our souls, our minds into alignment with God's word
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  and church friends. Don't forget what we're doing here. We've just worshiped the name of the Lord
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  most high, right? We don't just sing. We worship. There's a difference. And the scriptures say that
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  when we're worshiping, the Lord actually inhabits,
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  lives in the praises of his people, which means when we gather as a church and we pour out our
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  hearts in worship to the King, he is with us here. His presence abides with us. And we're about to
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  look to his holy and eternal word. And we know that the grass withers and the flowers fall,
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  but the word of God endures forever. And by the promises given to us in this book and through
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  the blood of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of the rot which resides in each of our hearts.
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  Amen.
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  Boy, that's good news. We've been redeemed. We can walk in newness of life, a life filled with joy
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  and peace and victory. And so with that in mind, would you open your Bibles to Mark chapter one,
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  Mark chapter one, I'm going to read verses 12 and 13, Mark chapter one, verses 12 and 13 will be
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  our text. And when you've found it in your copy of God's word, would you stand in honor of God's
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  word? As I read it,
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  Mark chapter one and verse 12, the spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness
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  and he was in the wilderness 40 days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals
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  and the angels were ministering to him. And Lord God, we stand this morning in the promise that
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  you have overcome the world, that our death has become your death, that your life has become our
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  life, that your victory, Lord Jesus is our victory. And as we study this, we're going to be able to
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  be magnified. Our prayer is more of you, Jesus, and less of us. We pray these things in your holy
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  name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. Well, do you believe in curses? I'm a
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  sports fan. Sports fans are notoriously superstitious. Sports fans believe in curses.
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  You're like, no, we don't. Yes, you do. Do you guys watch the Broncos game on Thursday?
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  It was atrocious. Do you watch it? 10 to seven over the two and six Raiders.
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  We're eight and two. The Broncos are eight and two, but don't be fooled.
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  They're not actually playing that well. Do you guys know, honestly, this, I'm not kidding. Do
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  you guys know what they're attributing the eight victories to? Don't say defense. It's not defense.
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  Do you know what's getting the credit for the eight?
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  Victories. The Denver Broncos have this season. Do you know what it is?
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  It's the jerseys they're wearing. Have you guys heard this? They're wearing the throwback
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  orange crush jerseys. And while they're wearing those orange, you know, the bright orange ones,
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  when they're wearing those, they are undefeated, undefeated wearing the orange crush jerseys.
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  And it is all over sports headlines. They can't be beat when they're wearing the orange crush.
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  And I promise you Broncos fans, they will keep on wearing those things.
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  Until they lose because they have not been playing well. And yet they're still
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  winning. Broncos fans will even curses. A funny thing happened in the year 2016
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  in major league baseball world series, where we had a clash of two curses.
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  One was called the curse of the Billy goat, 1945, the owner of Billy goat tavern, just down the
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  street from Wrigley field, whose name was Billy had a goat for a pet whose name was also Billy.
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  And this is the curse of the Billy goat tavern. And this is the curse of the Billy goat tavern,
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  Billy owner used to bring the Billy goat to Chicago Cubs games at Wrigley field, but the
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  goat started getting out of line and started eating people's stuff. And so the fans began
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  to complain. And the Billy goat was not only ejected from Wrigley field, but was actually
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  banned. This guy, Billy Sianis was his name. The owner of Billy goat tavern was told you can't
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  bring your goat in anymore. And so on the way into the 1945 world series, he was told you got
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  to leave the goat outside. He chained up the goat out of the parking lot. As he's coming out of the
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  stadium, he says, and I quote them Cubs, they ain't going to win anymore. And they didn't for a
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  long time, a long time. It's called the curse of the Billy goat. In 1960, the Cleveland Indians
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  traded their best player, an all-star player named Rocky Colavito to another team. And in 1960,
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  Cleveland Indians fans decided that that was not good. And they believed that they were cursed and
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  the Indians stopped winning. And so the Cleveland Indians traded their best player, an all-star player,
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  they've done all kinds of stuff to try to get to winning, changing their mascot, changing their
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  logo, eventually even changing their name. It hasn't worked. In 2016, an interesting thing
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  happened because the curse of the Billy goat, the Chicago Cubs met up with the curse of Rocky
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  Colavito, the Cleveland Indians in the world series. It was the Cubs versus the Indians.
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  And so one of those curses had to end. Which one was it? It was the Cubs. The curse of the Billy
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  goat was finally broken. The Indians apparently are still cursed.
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  The most famous sports curse, of course, was the curse of the Bambino.
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  The Boston Red Sox were unstoppable in the 19-teens, but they sold their best and who would
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  become the most famous baseball player, maybe whoever lived, Babe Ruth, to the New York Yankees
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  in 1918. And that would lead to decades of world series struggles for the Boston Red Sox. It led
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  to decades of world series dominance for the New York Yankees, all because of what they called the
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  curse of the Bambino. And so the Boston Red Sox were unstoppable in the 19-teens, but they sold
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  Bambino when that curse was finally broken in 2004. Do you believe in curses? If you believe in
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  the Bible, then you should. Because the scriptures say that every single one of us, because of the
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  sin of Adam, our forefather, every single one of us is cursed. We're cursed. Adam, as our
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  representative, cursed all of mankind.
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  And this little two verses, this little tiny summary of what was actually a very significant
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  event in the life of Christ, these two little verses, this little story, this little vignette
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  represents an undoing of Adam's curse. You could even call these two verses how Christ
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  reversed the curse. And we all believe that there is victory in Jesus. Amen?
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  But don't be too quick to jump straight to the end of the story with the crucifixion and resurrection
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  to declare victory.
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  Certainly, that is what provides forgiveness of sin. No doubt. Christ was our perfect substitute
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  on the cross. Amen? Amen? How do you know that he was perfect? You've heard him called the spotless
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  lamb of God or the blameless representative. You've heard him called those things that he
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  was sinless. How do we know that the crucifixion worked? It wasn't because of his faithfulness to
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  the cross. It was because of his victory.
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  The cross was the acceptable sacrifice, but that acceptable sacrifice was proven
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  long before Jesus was crucified. Our text this morning is most often called the temptation of
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  Jesus. That's probably the caption above verse 12 in your Bibles. I don't particularly like that
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  title. And it's not because Christ wasn't tempted. He most certainly was, but rather that
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  title was proven long before Jesus was crucified. Our text this morning is most often called the
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  title focuses our attention on the work of Satan. I actually think it gives him more credit than he
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  deserves. Now, as we discussed last week, the focus of our attention, the subject of the story
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  is Christ and no one else. And if the focus is Christ, then the title, I think, should be more
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  appropriately called the victory of Jesus against the feeble efforts of the devil, the victory of
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  Christ over the devil. And that is not to diminish the title. It's not to diminish the title. It's not
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  to diminish the title. It's not to diminish the title. It's not to diminish the title. It's not to
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  But this story is a declaration that what Adam broke, Christ fixed. The curse has been reversed.
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  You say, well, how did Christ do it? Notice first, Christ reversed the curse by conquering
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  the wilderness, by conquering the wilderness. And look again at verse 12. Notice the repeated
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  word wilderness in verses 12 and 13, the spirit,
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  immediately drove him into the wilderness and he was in the wilderness for 40 days
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  remember mark's audience was roman the romans were people similar to americans in many ways
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  they were ignorant of the old testament as many americans are they hadn't read the hebrew
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  scriptures if they had their bible in a year plans probably pooped out right about the third week of
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  january like many of ours do if they were like us they'd probably read the first portions of
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  genesis maybe gotten through the whole book of genesis maybe even dipped into exodus a little
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  bit they'd probably read that beginning part of the story every january many many times but then
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  had no idea what the old testament said from leviticus to the prophets and so our author here
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  with the use of one word makes a brilliant move he summarizes the
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  the
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  , creation account and not only that but also the fall of man in just one word and making it
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  simpler for an ignorant audience to understand and honestly very few of us probably even realize
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  that he's doing it like when our moms used to sneak vegetables into something we were eating
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  and then not tell us we did this all the time with our kids mommy can have a fruit smoothie
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  of course you can but you're getting some other stuff
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  in there right and it's going to come out cold and yummy and purple but i will promise you there
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  is kale in that smoothie right don't be fooled there is something going in there that is healthier
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  it's protein supplements it's something going into that fruit smoothie and your mom never told you
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  but i will promise you it's in there and that's kind of what the author does here he sneaks in
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  this word that is very intentional and communicates volumes and here's what i mean we're going to hold
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  our fingers in mark chapter one go all the way back to the beginning
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  go back to genesis chapter three genesis chapter three in the beginning of the story we'll pick up
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  in verse 22 genesis chapter 3 and verse 22 recall genesis chapter 1 is the creation all was good
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  perfect as it should be everything that had been created the animate the inanimate were all working
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  like clockwork like clockwork all according to their design chapter 2 is a retelling of certain
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  aspects of creation including more detail
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  about the creation of eve adam's wife and then about the institution of marriage
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  but then in chapter 3 sin is introduced and for the first time creation steps out of alignment
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  with god's design and perfect will the enemy whom we know as the devil satan and lucifer
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  rebelled against his creator was banished from heaven and in perfect hatred and anger
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  he lashed out at whatever
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  in creation most reminded him of God himself and that was the pinnacle of God's creation
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  that which was and the only thing which was made in God's image which means when you saw Adam and
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  Eve you saw the fingerprints of God Lucifer Satan the devil took the form of a serpent
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  and unleashed his wrath against mankind and in what is now the most famous story in the world
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  he tempted both Adam and Eve to follow him in his rebellion by partaking in the one fruit the only
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  thing which was forbidden by the Lord and so sin entered not only the human race but sin actually
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  entered the world all of creation was cursed that day even the very ground upon which we stand the
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  woman was cursed the man was cursed the earth was cursed the serpent was cursed and pick up in
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  chapter 3 and verse 22 the Lord God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit
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  God said behold the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil we were never intended
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  to experience evil we were designed to be innocent of it ignorant of it it was never designed to be
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  a part of our lives we were supposed to be removed from it but the sin and rebellion of Adam invited
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  it into humanity and all of creation was cursed
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  notice he continues now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and
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  live forever therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from
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  which he was taken he what does verse 24 say you guys all see it what does it say he drove out the
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  man and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that
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  turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life the Lord in his infinite grace
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  banished Adam and Eve and all of their descendants you and I from the garden of Eden
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  and he sent them he drove them it says into the wilderness
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  remember Adam's original job was to tend the garden to create order from chaos even the naming
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  of the animals was an ordering of God's creative work but instead of ending chaos Adam's sin flung
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  up into the wilderness and he sent them he drove them it says into the wilderness and he sent them
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  us all into chaos into the very wilderness God had never intended for any of us to go the sin of
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  Adam turned the garden into a wilderness and this is exactly where Mark's gospel picks up
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  it has Genesis's fingerprints all over it and so go back now to Mark chapter 1
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  Mark chapter 1 notice this repeated word it is the same word
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  that Genesis uses it's got those fingerprints all over it Mark chapter 1 and verse 3 says the
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  voice of one crying where in the wilderness John Mark chapter 1 and verse 4 John appeared
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  baptizing in the wilderness you look over at verse 12 immediately drove Christ into the
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  wilderness he was in the wilderness for 40 days it actually uses a variation of the same word at the
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  end of verse 13 he was with it says the wild animals the wild animals the wilderness represents
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  the chaos that mankind was thrust into following the fall and it becomes one of the major themes
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  in scripture you see wilderness everywhere Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden into the
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  wilderness they begin to have kids Cain and Abel are born in the wilderness and this is where Genesis
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  chapter 4 you get the first
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  murder as Cain kills his brother you know the people were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years
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  the Lord redeemed them from Egypt in the exodus remember all the plagues the parting of the sea
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  the graham crackers raining down from heaven he leads them all the way up to Mount Sinai where he
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  gives them the law and a new covenant and then he takes them directly to Kadesh Barnea
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  a river crossing the crossing from the wilderness into the promised land and he says go to the
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  desert go and take it remember they send in the spies the spies all come back and say what
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  we can't take it there's giants in there you can imagine the Lord telling the people
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  am I not a giant you've got me what do they have no they're way too big Lord we're not
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  going and so the Lord banishes them from the promised land and sends them where into the wilderness
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  wilderness for 40 years. Remember Moses, after killing the Egyptian, fled to the wilderness for
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  40 years. David fled to the wilderness when his son Absalom was trying to kill him.
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  He wrote a whole bunch of Psalms out there. Psalm 63, oh God, you are my God. Earnestly, I seek you.
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  My soul thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you. Why? Because I'm living in the wilderness in a dry
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  and weary land where there is no water. Psalm 29, the voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
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  The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness. The Lord shakes the wilderness at Kadesh. It's that
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  same border crossing, Numbers 13. Psalm 78, a very simple question that people ask the Lord.
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  In the wilderness, can God spread a table in the wilderness? Will God provide for us in the
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  wilderness? Can we eat in the wilderness? Can we eat in the wilderness? Can we eat in the wilderness?
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  And according to this temptation account in Mark chapter one, God's answer to that question is what?
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  Yes. Can God provide for his people in the wilderness? The answer is yes. You can eat
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  from the bread of life. Why? Because he has conquered the wilderness. Jesus reversed the
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  curse by confronting the wilderness head on and reclaiming what Adam lost. But that's not the only
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  thing it says.
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  About the conquering King. Notice second Christ reversed the curse by becoming our scapegoat.
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  Notice here again, Genesis language becoming our scapegoat. Verse 12 says the spirit
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  immediately. What does it say? Drove him into the wilderness. Do you see it? It's the same
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  language that drove Adam and Eve out of the garden and into the wilderness. Same language.
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  The word is forceful. The word is unique to Mark's gospel. Mark is the only gospel that uses
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  that word. Matthew and Luke both say that he was led by the spirit into the wilderness.
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  And yet Mark uses this word drove, which is the same word used when Christ exercised demons.
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  When Christ encountered demons, he drove them out. So why would Mark use that word in reference to that word?
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  To Christ's departure to be tempted. Jesus has just been thrust. It's the same word thrust into the wilderness without even a moment to catch his breath following his baptism. Why that word when he could have used so many others? I think this imagery is reminiscent of the day of atonement and Leviticus 16. And if you want to turn there, you can. I'm going to read a larger portion of scripture. Leviticus 16. It will also be on.
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  The screen behind me. If you just want to follow along up there, that's okay. But Leviticus chapter 16 describes one day per year when the, when the high priest of Israel had some very interesting jobs to perform. Okay. One day per year called the day of atonement and the high priest had to do very specific things. And I think it's making reference here to Mark chapter one and Jesus being driven from the people into the desert.
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  Luke 16.
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  In verse six, Aaron, Aaron was the high priest of Israel. He was the first high priest of Israel. He was also Moses's brother. Moses's older brother, Aaron was the first high priest. Aaron, it says, shall offer the bowl as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. So first thing you do on the day of atonement, Aaron, take a bowl, sacrifice it. That is going to become the offering, cleansing your sin as well as the sin of your family. That's simple enough so far.
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  Verse seven, then he shall take two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, flip a coin, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel.
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  Now Azazel is a word that we don't really know the definition of. There's some speculation about what it means. Maybe it's referring to a specific place. I think it's probably referring to this idea of a scapegoat. And I'll talk about that, why I think that in just a minute.
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  Okay. So one goat is going to go to the Lord. The other is going to become this special goat and Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away. What does it say? Into the wilderness. Aaron shall present the bowl as a sin offering for himself, shall make atonement for himself and for his house.
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  He shall kill the bowl as a sin offering for himself. And he's going to take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord and take two handfuls of sweet incense, beaten small and bring it inside the veil. Put the incense on the fire before the Lord. So you can imagine it getting all smoky and smelling like incense and the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony so that he does not die.
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  And he shall take some of the blood of the bowl and flick it, sprinkle it with his finger.
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  On the front of the mercy seat on the east side and in front of the mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. And then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people. Remember as the lot fell to the one that would be sacrificed, take that goat, kill it, bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bowl, sprinkling the blood of that goat over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. And thus he shall make atonement for the holy place.
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  Because of the uncleanness of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness.
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  No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the holy place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.
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  Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it.
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  He shall take some of the blood of the bowl and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around.
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  And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the people of Israel.
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  The high priest, one day a year of the day of atonement takes a bowl and he takes two goats.
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  He kills the bowl.
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  The blood of that bowl covers his sin and the sin for his family.
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  He flips a coin, whichever lot it falls on.
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  He takes one goat.
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  He kills it.
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  That death represents the people's sin.
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  The sin goes on to that goat and he takes it all in there and he spreads that blood all over the place.
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  But you still got one living goat.
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  Everybody following?
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  Okay, look what it says.
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  And here's the key.
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  And when he has made an end of atoning for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat.
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  So here's the high priest.
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  There's this goat and he's putting his hands onto this goat and it says he shall confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sins.
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  Here's everything we've done.
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  Lord, he is as the high priest, as the representative of the nation of Israel, he is taking the sins of the people and transferring them onto the goat.
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  Okay.
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  And he shall put them on the head of the goat.
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  And then what does it say?
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  You guys with me?
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  I know we're getting a little heady here.
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  Okay.
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  What's he supposed to do with the goat?
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  Send it away.
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  Where?
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  Into the wilderness.
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  Drive it into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
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  He's got some apprentice or assistant standing nearby who takes that goat and he starts pushing that thing out into the desert.
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  Go way, way out of town.
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  Go out into the wilderness and leave it out there and verse 22 says the goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.
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  That's where we get this idea of a scapegoat.
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  That is what a scapegoat is.
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  It's somebody who takes the blame upon himself as opposed to letting the blame go on the people.
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  This goat takes the transgressions of the nations out.
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  Into the wilderness.
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  And that is what Jesus did for us in the temptation.
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  He takes the sin of the people as the scapegoat out into the desert.
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  And can we just take a moment here and rejoice in the sin offering the Lord has provided?
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  Because whatever guilt you feel because of your sin, you don't need to feel it.
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  The scapegoat has taken it.
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  And if there's any shame that you feel over your sin, if you are in Christ, you don't need to feel it.
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  The Lord really has taken the sins of his people into the wilderness.
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  He's taken it off of us.
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  Into the wilderness.
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  The Lord has provided a sin offering for us.
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  He reversed the curse by becoming our scapegoat.
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  And notice, finally, point number three, and we'll go back now to Mark chapter one.
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  Notice, finally, Christ reversed the curse by conquering the three sins, which are common to man.
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  Did you know you can boil all of sin down into three major categories, three major buckets.
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  Every sin you've ever committed can be filed away in three different files.
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  And Satan himself tempted Christ in those same three ways.
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  We know the story.
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  We're going to hear about them.
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  We're going to hear them in just a minute.
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  But Satan himself tempted Christ in these three ways.
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  Appealing to his flesh.
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  Remember, turn the stone into bread.
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  By appealing to his eyes, I will give you the kingdoms of the world.
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  By appealing to his pride.
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  Trying to convince Christ that God the Father would actually do his bidding.
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  You can tell God what to do.
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  His attack included a strike against the will of God and also against the word of God.
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  Mark's gospel does not go into detail regarding this portion.
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  So let's turn to Luke chapter four.
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  Notice Luke's telling of this event.
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  It's much more in detail.
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  Luke chapter four in verse one, Jesus full of the Holy spirit returned from the Jordan was led by the spirit into the wilderness for 40 days being tempted by the devil.
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  And he ate nothing during those days.
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  And when they were ended, he was hungry.
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  Like, well, duh, he hasn't eaten for 40 days.
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  And the devil said to him, so here's what happened in that temptation.
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  The devil meets him after a month and a half.
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  The devil meets him.
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  And says, if you are the son of God, command this stone to become bread.
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  Jesus answered him.
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  It is written.
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  Man shall not live by bread alone.
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  And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment in time and said to him, to you, I will give all this authority and their glory for it has been delivered to me.
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  And I give it to whom I will.
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  If you then will worship me, it will all be yours.
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  And Jesus answered him.
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  It is written.
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  You shall worship the Lord, your God and him only.
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  Shall you serve?
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  And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down from here for it is written.
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  He will command his angels concerning you to guard you.
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  And on their hands, they will bear you up.
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  Lest you strike your foot against a stone.
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  And Jesus answered him.
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  It is said, you shall not put the Lord, your God to the test.
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  And when the devil had ended and make sure you catch this word, what does it say?
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  Every temptation.
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  By using those three temptations, he got all three major categories, the entirety of temptation, right?
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  All three big ones.
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  When he had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
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  This three pronged attack is the exact same approach the devil used on Adam and Eve that day in the garden.
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  The exact same picture in your mind's eye that day.
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  So long ago, Adam and Eve walking in perfect harmony with the creator and the world he had made.
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  The devil slinking in and tempting the first people, the world's first people.
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  Genesis chapter three says this way.
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  When the woman Eve saw notice the three categories that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, that the tree was desired to make one wise.
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  She took its fruit and ate the flesh, the eyes and pride.
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  Eve was maybe thinking I am hungry and the fruit does look good.
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  Did to eat.
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  If it will make me wise, then how could it be bad?
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  Flesh, eyes and pride.
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  And what's interesting is this is the exact same approach the devil uses against us today.
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  He has not changed in his temptation.
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  Look at first, first John chapter two.
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  Do not love the world.
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  It says with the things in the world.
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  If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world.
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  Here, there are the three big categories of temptation.
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  The desires of the flesh.
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  The desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the father, but it's from the world.
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  The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
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  The enemy's approach hasn't changed.
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  And this beloved friends gives us the advantage.
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  My guess is that you probably tend to struggle with the same two or three or four things over and over and over.
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  Honestly,
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  I'm about to turn 50 years old.
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  And honestly,
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  I haven't been creative in my sin for decades.
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  I send the same way over and over and over.
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  The devil has figured out that temptations that work against me.
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  And it is one of those three big ones.
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  I don't even struggle with all three.
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  It typically comes the same way.
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  And I don't know if you're sin boils down that way, but if it does, if you typically struggle with the same two or three major sins over and over.
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  and over and over the same struggle, then you have the advantage because you know how he will
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  attack you next. You know that there are certain people you shouldn't hang out with that are not
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  good for your soul. You know that there are certain places that you shouldn't go because
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  you're weak when you get there. You know that there are certain activities that you cannot
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  participate in because although the activity itself may be very innocent, you also know how
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  susceptible you are to one of those three things, eyes, flesh, or pride. And so knowing
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  that our enemy is incredibly predictable, why not head him off at the pass?
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  Why not? You already know how you're going to sin. Why not avoid those things which will cause
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  you to fall at all costs in order to ensure your spiritual success? It may take
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  something to do with it, but it may take something to do with it. It may take something
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  sacrifice. I know that Jesus said, cutting off hands and gouging out eyes, right? But don't
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  forget the promise that he gives after that. It's better to go to heaven blind and with no hands
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  than to go to hell and intact. I know that it takes sacrifice, but again, Jesus said,
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  what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but what forfeits his soul?
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  That doesn't make any sense. Our souls, which are so much more valuable,
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  he says, preserve those, ensure our spiritual success, even if it means sacrificing certain
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  things. Well, friends, do you believe in curses? I'll bet you do now. We've all been cursed,
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  but the universal curse of sin was broken by our perfect substitute. Long before the cross,
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  Jesus succeeded where Adam failed. His worth was,
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  was proven in the wilderness and Lord. Thank you for this text again, which is so simple and so
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  short and yet so profound. And God, I pray, I pray that we would really honestly reflect
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  on your goodness and giving us a scapegoat that we would not wallow in shame and misery and guilt
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  Lord, because those things have no place in a believer's life. Our scapegoat really has taken
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  our sin into the wilderness and succeeded. And Lord, thank you for this reminder.
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  That the enemy of our souls is just not creative at all. He's been doing the same three things
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  for thousands of years. And Lord, knowing that gives us the advantage. God, I pray that we,
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  knowing ourselves, knowing our own flesh would head him off at the past, that we would put
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  strategies in place, which would ensure our spiritual success. If that's just being with
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  your people more Lord, then we just commit to do that. If that's singing praises to your name,
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  if that's,
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  being more often in your word and just committing to do that. But Lord, if that's also removing
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  certain things, the things that we watch and the things that we listen to, which we know are
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  poisoning our souls, then Lord, would you give us the conviction and strength and courage to make
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  those changes? Lord, we know that we are not profited at all. If we gain the whole world and
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  yet lose our souls, Lord, may we prioritize our souls above all other things in Jesus name. Amen.