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Four-Words-That-Keep-Us-Going · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: That capture the essence of our walk with Him and
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Speaker 1: the yearning of every human heart. These words are joy, love, faith,
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Speaker 1: and peace. I'd like to read for you today an
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Speaker 1: extended portion of John sixteen. I'm referring to John sixteen,
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Speaker 1: verses sixteen to thirty three. In this passage, we hear
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Speaker 1: Jesus teach his closest companions about these four essential values
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Speaker 1: that will sustain them after he leaves. I want you
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Speaker 1: to listen carefully and reverently as I read, and I'll
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Speaker 1: be reading from the New Living Translation. Beginning at John sixteen,
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Speaker 1: verse sixteen, Jesus says, in a little while, you won't
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Speaker 1: see me anymore, but a little while after that you
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Speaker 1: will see me again. Some of the disciples ask each
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Speaker 1: other what does he mean when he says, in a
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Speaker 1: little while you won't see me, but then you will
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Speaker 1: see me and I am going to the Father. And
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Speaker 1: what does he mean by a little while? We don't understand.
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Speaker 1: Jesus realized they wanted to ask him about it, so
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Speaker 1: he said, are you asking yourselves what I meant? I said,
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Speaker 1: in a little while you won't see me, but a
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Speaker 1: little while after that you will.
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Speaker 2: See me again. I tell you the truth. You will
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Speaker 2: weep and mourn.
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Speaker 1: Over what is going to happen to me, But the
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Speaker 1: world will rejoice. You will grieve, Your grief will suddenly
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Speaker 1: turn to wonderful joy. It will be like a woman
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Speaker 1: suffering the pains of labor when her child is born.
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Speaker 1: Her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought
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Speaker 1: a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now,
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Speaker 1: But I will see you again. Then you will rejoice
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Speaker 1: and no one can rob you of that joy. At
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Speaker 1: that time, you won't need to ask me for anything.
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Speaker 1: I tell you the truth. You will ask the Father directly,
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Speaker 1: and he will grant your request because you use my name.
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Speaker 2: You haven't done this before.
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Speaker 1: Ask using my name and you will receive, and you
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Speaker 1: will have abundant joy. I have spoken of these matters
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Speaker 1: and figures of speech, but soon I will up speaking
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Speaker 1: figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father.
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Speaker 1: Then you will ask in my name. I'm not saying
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Speaker 1: I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the
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Speaker 1: Father himself loves you dearly. Because you love me and
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Speaker 1: believe that I came from God. Yes, I came from
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Speaker 1: the Father into the world. And now I will leave
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Speaker 1: the world and return to the Father. Then his disciples said,
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Speaker 1: at last, you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. Now
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Speaker 1: we understand that you know everything, and there's no need
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Speaker 1: to question you. From this, we believe that you came
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Speaker 1: from God. Jesus asked, do you finally believe? But the
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Speaker 1: time is coming. Indeed, it's here now when you will
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Speaker 1: be scattered, one going his own way, leaving me alone.
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Speaker 1: Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.
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Speaker 1: I've told you all this so that you may have
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Speaker 1: peace in me. Here on earth, you will have many
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Speaker 1: trials and sorrows, but take heart, because I have overcome
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Speaker 1: the world.
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Speaker 2: The date was January third, nineteen fifty six. The place
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Speaker 2: was a mission station named shell Merra, southeast of Quito, Ecuador,
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Speaker 2: by a number of miles. The hour was long before dawn.
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Speaker 2: Five men sat around a kitchen table, talking in low
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Speaker 2: tones and then finally praying. Their wives waited in the
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Speaker 2: shadows of that room, eager to listen to what they
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Speaker 2: had to say that day. They had a single goal
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Speaker 2: in mind. These five men did. Their names had become
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Speaker 2: a legend in the history of Christian missions. Jim Elliot,
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Speaker 2: Pete Fleming, Nate, Saint ed McCauley and Roger Euderian prayed
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Speaker 2: together and then finished the prayer with a song. Their
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Speaker 2: goal of the day was to reach the unpredictable Alca
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Speaker 2: Indians the deep interior of Ecuador. They had seen them
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Speaker 2: and had made contact, but it had not been face
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Speaker 2: to face, not sufficient enough to establish the Gospel in
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Speaker 2: their hearts, and that was their great goal. The men
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Speaker 2: were living on Barra time. They were only forty five
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Speaker 2: minutes away from their desk nation along the kure Rai River,
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Speaker 2: but it seemed the eternity away as they prayed. When
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Speaker 2: the prayer ended, they closed the time with the singing
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Speaker 2: of a hymn they had learned to love in college.
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Speaker 2: We rest on THEE, our shield and our defender. Thine
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Speaker 2: is the glory, and Thine shall be the praise. When
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Speaker 2: passing through the gates of Pearly's splendor, victors, we rest
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Speaker 2: on THEE through endless days. The hymn was prophetic. In
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Speaker 2: a matter of minutes they were airborne, and in a
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Speaker 2: matter of days they were dead. The five men were
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Speaker 2: found alongside and in the river in Alkaland, and I
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Speaker 2: remember it as though it were yesterday. It was a
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Speaker 2: deep impression in the history of the church. It was
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Speaker 2: an occasion in which once again the names were written
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Speaker 2: in blood for the cause of Christ. I was reminded
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Speaker 2: of all of this just last month when I was
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Speaker 2: sitting alone late one evening and reading a Christian periodical
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Speaker 2: and read the names of the five widows and their
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Speaker 2: locations and their lifestyle today. I closed the magazine at
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Speaker 2: the end of that particular article, and I closed out,
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Speaker 2: turned off the lights, and I looked out the window.
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Speaker 2: I looked up into the sky, and I asked myself
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Speaker 2: who was the hero The ones who went were the
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Speaker 2: ones who stayed. Sometime it is harder to stay than
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Speaker 2: it is to go. It certainly is harder to be
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Speaker 2: left than to be taken. And I think that God
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Speaker 2: gave the answer that it's true they both were. The
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Speaker 2: heroines were the ones who stayed back. The heroes were
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Speaker 2: the ones who went, And in God's infinite plan, he
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Speaker 2: chose to take their lives that the Alcus might be
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Speaker 2: reached and that men like me might give full attention
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Speaker 2: to the ministry. It was that particular event that turned
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Speaker 2: my life around and rearranged my career. As I got
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Speaker 2: into the ministry. God led one of the ladies to
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Speaker 2: write a book entitled Through Gates of Splendor, and another
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Speaker 2: a little later, a sequel entitled Shadow of the Almighty.
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Speaker 2: You really should read both of those books if you
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Speaker 2: haven't already. They're moving accounts of true events, some of
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Speaker 2: them simply excerpts from the journal of a man whose
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Speaker 2: heart wanted to walk close with God. But both of
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Speaker 2: these books put together carry a full force for Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 2: the likes of which are rarely found in Christian books today.
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Speaker 2: I've thought much about that event. I have thought about
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Speaker 2: the women who waited those six days, that awful time
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Speaker 2: of silence, until finally they were given the facts concerning
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Speaker 2: their husband's homegoing and the terrible pictures that accompanied it.
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Speaker 2: Some of them even impaled on the Alka spirs. I
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Speaker 2: think that their lives were sustained by four words sung
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Speaker 2: by the men before they left that day we rest
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Speaker 2: on thee. Those words must have rung through their minds
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Speaker 2: at the t time of a funeral, and in the
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Speaker 2: way king a king. Years that passed till God finally
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Speaker 2: helped them rearrange themselves and move back into full service.
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Speaker 2: Nineteen centuries before there were other people gathered around a
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Speaker 2: table in the early hours of the morning. There were
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Speaker 2: twelve altogether, whose names are legends today. Eleven of them
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Speaker 2: are the disciples, and one of them is, of course,
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Speaker 2: Jesus of Nazareth. While Jesus Christ was with his men
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Speaker 2: for that last night together, they too listened to words,
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Speaker 2: and they also sang a hymn and went out. I've
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Speaker 2: often wondered what hymn they sang, Probably one of the
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Speaker 2: psalms put to music. Which ones they chose were not told.
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Speaker 2: But I have a feeling that their psalm that they
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Speaker 2: chose was a psalm of hope, which is what they
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Speaker 2: had been given that day by the Lord. He was
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Speaker 2: only hours from the cross, and surely that was a
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Speaker 2: moving experience to get up from the table and walk
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Speaker 2: down the steps that led to Gathsemone and onto Calvary.
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Speaker 2: God led one of those men to write an account
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Speaker 2: of what happened that night. His name is John, and
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Speaker 2: in the record the Gospel of John, we have a
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Speaker 2: statement by statement record of what Jesus said and what
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Speaker 2: the disciples said in response the night that they were together,
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Speaker 2: And we're engaged in a study of that. These Sunday mornings.
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Speaker 2: We have come to the end of the discourse this morning,
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Speaker 2: the last eighteen verses of the Gospel of John, and
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Speaker 2: we find in these verses four words that kept those
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Speaker 2: men going. They are woven into the verses, and they
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Speaker 2: do not stand out as largely as the hymn we
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Speaker 2: mentioned earlier, but they are there nevertheless, each one giving
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Speaker 2: hope and giving light. Begin with me at verse sixteen,
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Speaker 2: as we relive the confusion of the disciples. Remember it's
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Speaker 2: harder at times to be left than to be taken.
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Speaker 2: A little while and you will no longer behold me,
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Speaker 2: and again a little while and you will see me.
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Speaker 2: It sounds like a riddle unless you realize he was
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Speaker 2: referring to the resurrection. They did not understand the whole
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Speaker 2: plan of prophecy. They had very little insight, far less
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Speaker 2: than we have looking back twenty centuries. At the time
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Speaker 2: it was given, it was all one great puzzle. It
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Speaker 2: was clouded, it was mysterious. It was something like Churchill
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Speaker 2: describing the Russians. They're a mystery wrapped in an enigma,
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Speaker 2: inside a riddle. The words of Jesus were very much
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Speaker 2: like that. To the disciples. They heard words, but they
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Speaker 2: didn't make a sense to them as they tried to
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Speaker 2: put them together. As we read in verse seventeen, some
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Speaker 2: of the disciples said to one another, what is the
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Speaker 2: thing that he's telling us? What is a little while
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Speaker 2: and you will not behold me? And again a little
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Speaker 2: while and you will see me? And because I go
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Speaker 2: to the Father, they did not understand. Verse eighteen tells
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Speaker 2: us we do not know what he is talking about. Now.
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Speaker 2: That may seem strange to you, because you have had
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Speaker 2: the years to think it over. But this was the
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Speaker 2: only time they ever heard those words. They hadn't kept
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Speaker 2: the pencil record of what had been said. They hadn't
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Speaker 2: been reviewing their notes from week to week. As Jesus
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Speaker 2: explained the whole event, the whole conversation took no longer
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Speaker 2: than thirty minutes, and they were on their way to
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Speaker 2: get smony. It was a confusing bit of revelation. They
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Speaker 2: didn't understand. Let's be patient with them. They didn't put
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Speaker 2: it all together. Jesus graciously answered their confusion. John Milton
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Speaker 2: Gregory has written an excellent book on teaching. It's entitled
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Speaker 2: The Seven Laws of Teaching. The fourth of the seven
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Speaker 2: is this the law of the lesson. It goes like this,
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Speaker 2: The truth to be taught must be learned through truth
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Speaker 2: already known. That's true, isn't it. If you want to
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Speaker 2: learn something new, you must begin where you are and
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Speaker 2: go from there to the unknown. If you want to
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Speaker 2: illustrate something to someone who is not aware of this
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Speaker 2: particular truth, you have to give them, in the illustration,
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Speaker 2: a familiar set of circumstances, and from there catapult into
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Speaker 2: the new revelation. Jesus does the very same thing here
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Speaker 2: in this passage. He takes them from the known to
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Speaker 2: the unknown, from the familiar to the unexperienced. He goes
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Speaker 2: from that groundwork where they were living into whole new
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Speaker 2: vistas of truth that they needed to hear. I've divided
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Speaker 2: it into four subjects, or four areas, sorrow, access, knowledge,
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Speaker 2: and separation. All four were whirling in their minds that day,
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Speaker 2: and they were trying to put together how they could
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Speaker 2: handle their sorrow, how they could pray to a god
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Speaker 2: they had never prayed to in the name of Jesus,
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Speaker 2: how they could learn and continue to grow without Jesus' presence,
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Speaker 2: how they could handle life while they were separated from
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Speaker 2: the Master. He took them from the four known areas,
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Speaker 2: and he introduced four new words that would keep them going.
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Speaker 2: For example, they could handle their sorrow through permanent joy.
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Speaker 2: Joy is the first word he gave them good verse nineteen.
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Speaker 2: Jesus knew that they wished to question him, and he
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Speaker 2: said to them, are you deliberating together about this that
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Speaker 2: I said a little while and you will not behold me?
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Speaker 2: And again a little while and you will see me.
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Speaker 2: Are you? Are you wondering in your mind what that's
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Speaker 2: all about? Said Jesus, Let me tell you something. I
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Speaker 2: have new truth for you to claim today. Man, Truly, truly,
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Speaker 2: I say to you, you will weep and lament, but
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Speaker 2: the world will rejoice before we go on. He's referring
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Speaker 2: there to his death. When I am put on that cross,
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Speaker 2: and my hands and feet are nailed to that beam,
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Speaker 2: and when they put me in a grave, the world
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Speaker 2: will applaud They've won a victory. They will rejoice. You
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Speaker 2: will lamit. It will be the darkest day of your life.
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Speaker 2: You will sorrow as those with no hope. Then he
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Speaker 2: goes on verse twenty. You will be sorrowful, but your
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Speaker 2: sorrow will be turned to joy. There's the new hope,
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Speaker 2: you will have a new joy, implying when I come
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Speaker 2: back to this earth, when I am resurrected in living
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Speaker 2: bodily form, you will have a joy that you've never
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Speaker 2: had before. Lenny illustrates it verse twenty one. Whenever a
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Speaker 2: woman is in labor or travail, she has sorrow because
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Speaker 2: her hour has come. A woman who is carrying a
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Speaker 2: child and comes to term with that child is in anguish.
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Speaker 2: She is in physical pain. Birth is near. But when
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Speaker 2: she gives birth to the child, she remembers the anguish
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Speaker 2: no more. Why because of joy that a child has
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Speaker 2: been born into the world. Mothers here this morning you
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Speaker 2: can identify with that without any further explanation. Who can
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Speaker 2: ever know the pain of childbirth? But who can never
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Speaker 2: forget it so fast as a mother who has just
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Speaker 2: experienced it, but is given the reward of a new
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Speaker 2: baby in her arms. Now, Jesus says, the same kind
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Speaker 2: of anguish will overwhelm you men when I leave this earth.
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Speaker 2: But in a few days you will have joy like
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Speaker 2: you've never had it before. Verse twenty two. Therefore, you
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Speaker 2: too now have sorrow. But I will see you again,
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Speaker 2: and your heart will rejoice and no one takes your
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Speaker 2: joy away from you. Please observe the last few words.
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Speaker 2: When the Lord gives joy, no one takes it away.
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Speaker 2: It is permanent, It has staying power. It applies even
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Speaker 2: when situations are desperate, when there is very little around
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Speaker 2: to make you happy. Jesus says, you will have joy
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Speaker 2: and it will never be taken away from you. Read on.
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Speaker 2: In that day, you will ask me no question. Truly, truly,
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Speaker 2: I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything,
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Speaker 2: he will give it to you in my name. Until
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Speaker 2: now you've asked for nothing in my name. Ask and
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Speaker 2: you will receive that your joy may be made full.
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Speaker 2: There's the word again. It's been there three times, verse twenty,
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Speaker 2: verse twenty two, verse twenty four. He keeps coming back
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Speaker 2: to them with that promise of joy. Now, technically speaking,
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Speaker 2: they have not prayed through Jesus's name to the Father.
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Speaker 2: That may surprise you. Whenever they had a need they
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Speaker 2: came to the Savior. He was visible, and they asked
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Speaker 2: it of him, and he asked the Father. That's why
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Speaker 2: when they saw him praying at times, they said, Lord,
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Speaker 2: teach us how to pray like that, and they never
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Speaker 2: could master it. He was present. Why pray to God
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Speaker 2: in heaven when you have God on earth. But Jesus says,
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Speaker 2: when I'm gone, you will pray in my name, and
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Speaker 2: the Father will hear you, and he'll give you things.
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Speaker 2: You will pray in my name and your joy will
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Speaker 2: be full. Let me say that there are times where
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Speaker 2: just a very brief period of time spent in prayer
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Speaker 2: is rewarded with incredible joy. I was studying the life
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Speaker 2: of doctor R. A. Tory this past week, and in
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Speaker 2: reading of his life, he was the founder of the
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Speaker 2: Bible Institute of Los Angeles, And we're not surprised to
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Speaker 2: read that and to know that because of the man
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Speaker 2: of God he was, he and his wife were saints.
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Speaker 2: They were honed by God, and the crucible of pain
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Speaker 2: they lost, for example, their twelve year old daughter through
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Speaker 2: what the world called an accident at just the prime
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Speaker 2: of her life. The funeral came on a rainy day,
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Speaker 2: and they stood there beside that hole in the ground,
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Speaker 2: surrounded by loved ones, and the rain was coming down.
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Speaker 2: It was dark, and it was dismal, and missus Tory
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Speaker 2: could be heard saying to her husband, I'm so glad
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Speaker 2: Elizabeth is not in that box. Their grief increased until
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Speaker 2: finally walked away and went home that night and tried
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Speaker 2: to sleep. Doctor Tory got up the next morning and
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Speaker 2: made his way toward the study, walking down the streets
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Speaker 2: of Los Angeles. He could walk no longer. All of
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Speaker 2: a sudden, sudden, he claimed, the whole thing broke over
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Speaker 2: him anew, the loneliness of her absence, the terrible feeling
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Speaker 2: that they would never hear her laughter again, never see
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Speaker 2: her face, never witness her growth. He couldn't take it.
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Speaker 2: And he leaned against the street light, and he looked
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Speaker 2: up and he began to pray. This is what he experienced.
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Speaker 2: A quote. And just then the fountain the Holy Spirit,
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Speaker 2: whom I had in my heart broke forth with such
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Speaker 2: power as I think I had never experienced before. And
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Speaker 2: it was the most joyful moment I had ever known
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Speaker 2: in my life. Oh, how wonderful is the joy of
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Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit. It is an unspeakably glorious thing to
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Speaker 2: have within you. A fountain ever springing up, springing up,
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Speaker 2: springing up, ever, springing up three hundred and sixty five
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Speaker 2: days in every year, springing up under all circumstances. Isn't
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Speaker 2: that beautiful? Where is the joy? Where's the joy that
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Speaker 2: is to be in your heart? Child of God? Tory
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Speaker 2: had no corner on the joy of the spirit. I'll
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Speaker 2: tell you where it is. It isn't waiting. It waits
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Speaker 2: in the wings of heaven. Ask for it. The next
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Speaker 2: time it seems all hell has broken loose, the rug
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Speaker 2: is pulled out, and you're pressed in the crucible. Pray,
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Speaker 2: Oh God, right now, I cannot take it anymore. You
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Speaker 2: bring that joy. I have talked to people on the
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Speaker 2: brink of despair who have had a joy the likes
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Speaker 2: of which the world would never understand. I've talked to
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Speaker 2: people who are destitute but have had joy, have lost
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Speaker 2: their closest loved one, but they have joy. I've talked
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Speaker 2: to those that have failed or been through an experience
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Speaker 2: that the oh, we could not believe, but there was
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Speaker 2: joy there. That's what Jesus is speaking of here. It
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Speaker 2: keeps you going. It is that marble that God gives,
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Speaker 2: which is never temporary and never partial. It is a
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Speaker 2: joy that is beyond our circumstances. Jesus said to those men,
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Speaker 2: when you pray, the Father will give it. You know,
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Speaker 2: there's a psalm that I think perhaps you ought to remember.
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Speaker 2: It is the fifth verse of Psalm number thirty. It says,
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Speaker 2: weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in
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Speaker 2: the morning. The New ASB says, a shout of joy
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Speaker 2: comes in the morning. You may have a time of grief,
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Speaker 2: but when you turn the corner and it's dawn, it's
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Speaker 2: remarkable how a shout of joy can come. Let's go on.
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Speaker 2: The issue of access was introduced with the subject of prayer.
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Speaker 2: How can a disciple go directly to the Father Verse
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Speaker 2: twenty five. These things I've spoken to you in figurative language.
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Speaker 2: An our is coming when I will speak no more
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Speaker 2: to you in allegory, sir, figurative language, but will tell
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Speaker 2: you plainly of the Father in that day, meaning after
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Speaker 2: my resurrection, after I have left the earth, after you've
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Speaker 2: gotten the Holy Spirit. In that day you will ask
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Speaker 2: in my name. And I do not say to you
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Speaker 2: that I will request the Father on your behalf, for
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Speaker 2: the Father himself loves you. There's the word. How can
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Speaker 2: I have access to the Father without visibly seeing the
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Speaker 2: Lord Jesus? Because the Father loves you. Love will keep
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Speaker 2: you going. That joy when you have sorrow, will keep
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Speaker 2: you going. That reminder of the Father's love. When you
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Speaker 2: question the things of the Lord, We'll keep you going
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Speaker 2: because the Father loves you, and because you have loved me,
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Speaker 2: have believed that I came forth from the Father. That's marvelous.
28:15
Speaker 2: I don't know how often you have stopped to really
28:18
Speaker 2: ponder the fact that God loves you, But you need
28:24
Speaker 2: to do that from time to time. Doesn't sound very
28:28
Speaker 2: deep or profound, but it has profound ramifications. I read
28:34
Speaker 2: this past week of a pastor who traveled with his daughter.
28:38
Speaker 2: He wanted to teach you some of the techniques of
28:40
Speaker 2: how to get on when you travel, how to handle yourself,
28:44
Speaker 2: what to do. Taught her some things during that time
28:47
Speaker 2: about waking up and how to go to sleep in
28:52
Speaker 2: a strange place. Thought it was clever what he said
28:55
Speaker 2: about waking up. He said, honey, has given us three things.
29:01
Speaker 2: He's given us a body. He's given us a soul,
29:05
Speaker 2: which is like our attitude. It's that part of us
29:09
Speaker 2: that touches the other people within. And he's given us
29:13
Speaker 2: a spirit where he lives. When you wake up in
29:16
Speaker 2: the morning, you need to touch all three in a
29:19
Speaker 2: special way. For your body, you need to stretch, take
29:24
Speaker 2: a good stretch It gets the body going. For your soul,
29:29
Speaker 2: you need to smile. It starts your life off with
29:33
Speaker 2: a bright note in the morning. And for your spirit,
29:38
Speaker 2: you need to say God loves me. When's the last
29:47
Speaker 2: time you said that to yourself? I know that you
29:51
Speaker 2: know that when of you said it? Are you satisfied
29:58
Speaker 2: that your mate simply you? Or does it make you
30:02
Speaker 2: feel good at times to have your mate tell you
30:05
Speaker 2: shocking Though it may seem at times that mate really
30:09
Speaker 2: does love you, it's always good to hear it. A
30:14
Speaker 2: scholar traveled around the world, came back home and was asked,
30:17
Speaker 2: what was the deepest thought you had en route? He said,
30:21
Speaker 2: the deepest thought I had was Jesus loves me. This
30:26
Speaker 2: I know the Bible tells me. So it does something
30:33
Speaker 2: marvelous to you. It keeps you going when you remember
30:38
Speaker 2: God loves you. He's not waiting in heaven to club
30:43
Speaker 2: you when you step out of line. He is waiting
30:47
Speaker 2: in heaven to give you his best gifts. And they're waiting.
30:53
Speaker 2: They're waiting to be asked. He loves you. He's on
30:59
Speaker 2: your team. Better still, you're on his. My how important
31:09
Speaker 2: it is to be reminded of Paul's words. What shall
31:13
Speaker 2: we say then to these things? If God be for us,
31:19
Speaker 2: who can be against us having trouble at school? God's
31:26
Speaker 2: for you, who can be against you at work? God
31:32
Speaker 2: is for you. He loves you right now in a
31:37
Speaker 2: deep relationship problem with someone, Listen, God's on your side,
31:42
Speaker 2: child of God. He votes yes for you. He speaks
31:49
Speaker 2: in your favor. And the Lord told these men, look,
31:54
Speaker 2: because the Father loves you, you have that direct access.
31:59
Speaker 2: I will no longer be there to pass on the word.
32:02
Speaker 2: You pass it on for yourself. I'll bless it with
32:05
Speaker 2: my name. You just tell him what's on your heart.
32:11
Speaker 2: You know what I think. I think sometime we get
32:13
Speaker 2: so all fired heavy in our faith that we miss
32:20
Speaker 2: some of the simple, blessed things of the Christian life.
32:26
Speaker 2: He loves me. He wants me to pray. He will
32:30
Speaker 2: give me what is best. He wants me to be grateful.
32:36
Speaker 2: Look at what the Lord says, very plain words in
32:38
Speaker 2: verse twenty eight. He said, I'm not going to speak
32:40
Speaker 2: in figurative language anymore. I'll lay it on you straight. First,
32:45
Speaker 2: I came from the Father. That's the kenosis. I gave
32:49
Speaker 2: up the glory. Second, I have come into the world
32:54
Speaker 2: that's the incarnation. I took up flesh, took upon me flesh.
33:00
Speaker 2: I am leaving the world again. That's the resurrection, the ascension.
33:05
Speaker 2: I'm going to the Father. That's Satian. I am seated
33:09
Speaker 2: at his right hand. There is no more complete single
33:13
Speaker 2: verse on the experience of the Lord Jesus Christ than
33:17
Speaker 2: verse twenty eight. I came from the Father. I came
33:20
Speaker 2: into the world. I'm leaving again. I'm going to the Father.
33:25
Speaker 2: Look at the disciples, they're just great men. I just
33:30
Speaker 2: love them. Right here, they say, now you're speaking plane.
33:34
Speaker 2: You're not using figure speech. Isn't that great? Now we've
33:39
Speaker 2: got a handle on it. Now we can understand it.
33:42
Speaker 2: There's nothing that motivates you like understanding spiritual truth. They
33:48
Speaker 2: now put it together. He came from the Father. He
33:53
Speaker 2: has been among men for a temporary period. He's going
33:56
Speaker 2: back to the Father. It isn't in vain and go on.
34:02
Speaker 2: The Father loves us just as he loved you. He said, yeah,
34:07
Speaker 2: but there's more. Verse thirty. They answer, now we know
34:13
Speaker 2: that you know all things, and we have no need
34:18
Speaker 2: for anyone to question you. By this, we believe that
34:24
Speaker 2: you came from God. The third word is believe or faith.
34:30
Speaker 2: It's directly related to knowledge. They make a statement of
34:35
Speaker 2: faith and verse thirty. Don't miss it. They're saying to
34:41
Speaker 2: the Lord, we know one thing. You know all things,
34:50
Speaker 2: and we don't have any reason to question you. We
34:54
Speaker 2: believe in you. I want to talk about this more
34:58
Speaker 2: when I deal with the subbject of moses tragic act
35:03
Speaker 2: of rage, when he struck the rock and lost his
35:07
Speaker 2: temper before the people. I want to talk about how
35:11
Speaker 2: the whole area of disobedience is connected with a lack
35:15
Speaker 2: of faith. On the other hand, the whole area of
35:19
Speaker 2: knowledge is connected with faith. Some of you might say,
35:22
Speaker 2: I wonder why I've begun to be stagnant in my
35:25
Speaker 2: growth in Christ. I wonder why, all of a sudden
35:28
Speaker 2: I was moving along so well. Then suddenly I've begun
35:32
Speaker 2: to drift. My knowledge has reached a plateau, and my
35:37
Speaker 2: delight in the things of God it's even begun to wane.
35:43
Speaker 2: Check the area of faith, they said, Lord, we know this,
35:48
Speaker 2: You know all things, and we believe in you. I
35:53
Speaker 2: think it's all connected with knowledge. The extent of one's
35:57
Speaker 2: faith will measure the depth of one's knowledge. They go together.
36:04
Speaker 2: It's hard for you to really grow in somebody that
36:07
Speaker 2: you don't trust. When you stop trusting them, you stop
36:11
Speaker 2: listening to them, you don't care that much anymore with
36:14
Speaker 2: what they have to say. Let me ask you something.
36:19
Speaker 2: You really believe that the Lord knows all things. You
36:26
Speaker 2: really believe he knows you through and through, that he
36:30
Speaker 2: really knows why you are here and where you have
36:32
Speaker 2: been this week, and where you are going and what
36:35
Speaker 2: the outcome will be. Then you would have very little
36:40
Speaker 2: difficulty believing that He is in charge of your life.
36:46
Speaker 2: You would have very little difficulty going to a passage
36:49
Speaker 2: of scriptures such as this and gleaning from it the
36:51
Speaker 2: truth that will give you the courage to go on,
36:55
Speaker 2: because you have believed that He is in touch with
36:59
Speaker 2: every moment of your life. There are times when my
37:04
Speaker 2: faith wanes, and during those times my knowledge is reduced.
37:10
Speaker 2: When my knowledge has increased, my faith has increased by
37:14
Speaker 2: the same measure. They go hand in hand. Jesus said,
37:19
Speaker 2: he will teach us his word, and the disciples respond,
37:23
Speaker 2: we believe that you came from God. We have that faith. Now,
37:29
Speaker 2: Jesus answered, do you believe? Do you really have that
37:33
Speaker 2: kind of faith? It'll be put to the test There's
37:36
Speaker 2: one more area that was known to them, and that
37:39
Speaker 2: was this imminent separation. Look at verse thirty two. An
37:44
Speaker 2: hour is coming and has already come. You see, the
37:48
Speaker 2: mob had already lit the torches to find their way
37:51
Speaker 2: to get Semone. Judas had already made his act a
37:55
Speaker 2: completed fact. He was all ready to lead them to
37:58
Speaker 2: the side of Jesus. He says, this hour has come,
38:05
Speaker 2: and you will be scattered, each one to his own home,
38:09
Speaker 2: and you will leave me alone. That's a tragic picture,
38:13
Speaker 2: Jesus alone in the garden and the disciples running toward
38:17
Speaker 2: the trees, running to hide away behind the olive trees
38:21
Speaker 2: in the garden, and on over the hill beyond the
38:24
Speaker 2: valley to hide in the streets of Jerusalem. You'll separate
38:29
Speaker 2: yourself from me, and I'll stand there alone, not really alone,
38:35
Speaker 2: because the Father is with me. Well, how will you
38:39
Speaker 2: go on with our separation being a reality? Verse thirty three.
38:44
Speaker 2: Here's your answer. In these things I've spoken to you,
38:48
Speaker 2: these things, I've spoken to you that in me you
38:51
Speaker 2: may have peace. There's the word peace in the world.
38:56
Speaker 2: You have tribulation. But take courage. I've overcome it. Jesus says,
39:02
Speaker 2: there will be a day by day peace, even though
39:06
Speaker 2: we're separated from each other, and it's not the kind
39:09
Speaker 2: of peace the world can give. Before the first service
39:14
Speaker 2: began this morning, a knock came at my door. It
39:17
Speaker 2: was about twenty minutes till eight. I opened the door
39:21
Speaker 2: and there was a broken man, almost ready to dissolve
39:26
Speaker 2: in tears. He was hunched over and he said I
39:30
Speaker 2: need help, I really need help. Of course invited him
39:37
Speaker 2: in and asked Ken to work with him as we
39:39
Speaker 2: went on to begin the service. Ken told me later
39:43
Speaker 2: that the man just this morning had been wrestling for
39:48
Speaker 2: a number of months with an alcoholic wife, and this
39:54
Speaker 2: morning there was a great fur in the home and
39:58
Speaker 2: she had in fact called the pol on him when
40:02
Speaker 2: he was relatively innocent of anything wrong. The police came
40:07
Speaker 2: and realized that he wasn't the problem, but in fact
40:10
Speaker 2: she was, and they had taken her to a hospital
40:15
Speaker 2: to begin to work with her. And the man just
40:18
Speaker 2: put his head in his hands and just sobbed. His
40:23
Speaker 2: world had crumbled in on him. What can I do?
40:29
Speaker 2: Ken had the delightful privilege of leading the man to
40:35
Speaker 2: faith in Jesus Christ just before the service started, to
40:42
Speaker 2: tell the man that he could know a joy and
40:45
Speaker 2: a love, and a faith and a peace regardless of
40:51
Speaker 2: his situation at home. And the man said, I want that.
40:59
Speaker 2: I want that now he received Christ. There are times
41:05
Speaker 2: that a hymn just seems to say it better than
41:07
Speaker 2: anything else. It came to me this past week when
41:10
Speaker 2: I heard day by day and with each passing moment
41:15
Speaker 2: strength I find to meet my trials here, Trusting in
41:19
Speaker 2: my father's wise bestowment, I have no cause for worry
41:25
Speaker 2: or for fear. He whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
41:30
Speaker 2: gives unto each day what he deems best lovingly. It's
41:36
Speaker 2: part of pain and pleasure, mingling toil with peace and rest.
41:46
Speaker 2: Do you have that joy that can't be taken away?
41:52
Speaker 2: Do you know the love of God that God is
41:56
Speaker 2: for you? How about that that faith, that trust that says, Lord,
42:03
Speaker 2: you know everything, and I'm not questioning you any longer.
42:09
Speaker 2: Or peace peace that that man longed to have but
42:14
Speaker 2: could never have outside of Christ. These things keep you
42:19
Speaker 2: going when you have nothing else to hold on to.
42:25
Speaker 2: You See, these are virtues that don't have to live
42:30
Speaker 2: in a house with a lovely roof and a nice
42:33
Speaker 2: car with a garage are nice accessories. You can go
42:39
Speaker 2: on with joy and faith and love and peace without
42:45
Speaker 2: all of those things. If I could somehow put myself
42:51
Speaker 2: inside the skin of those disciples and relive what it
42:55
Speaker 2: must have been like to get up from the table
42:57
Speaker 2: and have the Lord lead in prayer as he did
42:59
Speaker 2: in John seventeen, and then walk down those steps and
43:03
Speaker 2: find my way to gainst semony, I believe there would
43:05
Speaker 2: have been two thoughts that would have just continued to
43:09
Speaker 2: go back in my mind over and over again, two
43:13
Speaker 2: culminating thoughts at the end of this discourse. The first
43:17
Speaker 2: is this, his life may not have been long, but
43:21
Speaker 2: his death was not a mistake. That's the first thing
43:24
Speaker 2: I'd remind myself of as I made my way toward
43:28
Speaker 2: geth simone, and I would know that death was coming
43:31
Speaker 2: for him. I would say, his life may not have
43:34
Speaker 2: been long, but his death is no mistake. That's what
43:38
Speaker 2: the women thought that day in shell Merrah Betty Elliott
43:45
Speaker 2: and Olive Fleming, Marge Saint Barbara Eodarion, Mary Lou McCully
43:54
Speaker 2: carrying their yet unborn child. Their lives may not have
44:00
Speaker 2: been long, but their death was no mistake. What is it?
44:05
Speaker 2: Jim Elliott wrote, he is no fool who gives what
44:08
Speaker 2: he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. The
44:14
Speaker 2: second thing I would think of, I believe is my
44:16
Speaker 2: life may not be easy, but I can go on.
44:21
Speaker 2: My life may not be easy, but I can go on.
44:27
Speaker 2: That's what Jesus wanted those men to think of that day.
44:32
Speaker 2: I promise you, in this world it's going to be hard,
44:35
Speaker 2: but I've overcome the world. You can be more than
44:39
Speaker 2: conquerors because of my power. Say, I want to ask
44:45
Speaker 2: you something. What if God's plan for you would be
44:51
Speaker 2: just as traumatic as it was for those five men,
44:56
Speaker 2: maybe not as heroic, but as brief. What if, for
45:01
Speaker 2: some untold reason, an unknown reason, your life is snapped out,
45:08
Speaker 2: snuffed out before this week runs its course. What about
45:12
Speaker 2: that It can happen in a flash. Incredible things can happen.
45:21
Speaker 2: We had a fire drill in the nine thirty service.
45:24
Speaker 2: As we walked out, I stood by a couple who
45:26
Speaker 2: said they were visiting a friend over at Saint Jude's
45:28
Speaker 2: and a man went to sleep in the Saint Jude's
45:31
Speaker 2: hospital with a cigarette and his bed caught on fire.
45:35
Speaker 2: He was covered with flames, third degree burns. Who would
45:40
Speaker 2: have ever expected it in a lovely safe metropolitan hospital
45:48
Speaker 2: that you'd wake up in flames. You don't know what
45:52
Speaker 2: a day will bring forth. My life is continually brought
45:58
Speaker 2: face to face with surprising deaths. They're never planned by man.
46:07
Speaker 2: The words I hear most often it was so sudden,
46:10
Speaker 2: it was so surprising, she was so young. But there's death.
46:20
Speaker 2: We have no promise of a long life, but we
46:24
Speaker 2: have promises of life beyond the grave. And that's what
46:29
Speaker 2: makes us a message of joy. Jesus actually delivered his
46:35
Speaker 2: own funeral address. I promise you joy, love, faith and peace,
46:49
Speaker 2: regardless of how long or short your life may be.
46:53
Speaker 2: Let's bow together this morning. Let me let you think
46:59
Speaker 2: about that for a moment. Will you try to put
47:05
Speaker 2: everything else out of your mind? What would you have
47:09
Speaker 2: to hold on to if, in God's plan, he chose
47:13
Speaker 2: to take from your side the one who means the
47:17
Speaker 2: moment