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Refined | Pastor Darren Palmer | Faith Church · Faith Church Podcast

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  I've got three things that I want to share this
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  morning. And the first one is a word for maybe
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  one or two people here. But the Lord put this
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  on my heart last night as I was praying for the
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  service. And I want to share this with you. Your
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  season of laughter is coming. Will you receive
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  that? Your season of laughter is coming. Now
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  I want to read some verses from Genesis chapter
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  21. Verse 1. Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah
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  as he had said. And the Lord did for Sarah what
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  he had promised. And I want to remind you, and
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  you can remind the person sitting next to you
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  right now, God will do what he said he would
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  do. God will do what he said he would do. Amen?
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  So just tell that to the person next to you right
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  now. God will do what he said he would do. Sarah
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  became pregnant. and bore a son to Abraham in
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  his old age. At the very time God had promised
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  him, there it is again, Abraham gave him the
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  name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him. And when
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  his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised
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  him as God commanded him. Abraham was a hundred
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  years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
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  And listen to what Sarah said. Sarah said, God
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  has brought me laughter. And everyone who hears
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  about this will laugh with me. Hallelujah. Now
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  you need to understand something, that this was
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  after a lifetime of grieving. She had been married
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  to Abraham for a long time. They had the promise
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  that God had given to Abraham for 25 years when
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  she was 65. And so she was living, believing
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  for a long time. And now she's 90. Her womb is
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  dead. But God woke up her womb. so that she could
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  receive and bear a miracle son. Hallelujah. Now,
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  the year before, when the men came sent from
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  God to bear that message, Sarah laughed. Do you
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  remember when Sarah laughed? You can read the
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  story, Genesis 17, 18, right in there. And Sarah
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  laughed because she was doubting. And she was
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  embarrassed that she laughed. In fact, Abraham
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  asked her, why did you laugh? And she lied. And
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  she said, I did not laugh. And you see, the first
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  laughter that was connected to this miracle was
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  the laughter of doubt. But God is faithful even
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  when we are not oftentimes, amen? And he was
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  faithful to Sarah. And Sarah, bore a child, and
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  God turned her laughter of doubt into the laughter
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  of abundance. Hallelujah. And she freely, before
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  she lied about it and she said, no, I didn't
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  laugh. No, I didn't doubt. No, I didn't do any
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  of those things. But now she has been given a
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  son. The promise has come to her. And she is
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  freely laughing in front of everybody. And she's
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  saying that the God that made me laugh is going
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  to make everybody else laugh when they hear my
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  story. Hallelujah. Now, some of you have been
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  standing, believing God for a long time. And
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  God says this morning, your season of laughter
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  is coming. Hallelujah. And so I want to pray
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  over you right now. I want to pray over you because
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  there's a couple of people in this room that
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  that went into. And you say, I'm latching on
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  to that word. If that's you, lift up your hand
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  right now. You're latching on to that word. Hands
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  up all over this room. Father, in the name of
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  Jesus, I thank you for the hands that are up
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  right now just representing the promise of God
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  being fulfilled in their lives. They're believing
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  you. They're standing. And for some of them,
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  it has been a long, long season. God, I'm asking
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  right now all over this room. that the season
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  of laughter will come forth in the name of Jesus.
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  You say, how Lord can it be done? How Lord can
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  it be done? But we join with Mary and say with
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  God, all things are possible. Lord, when Elizabeth
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  gave birth to John, the Bible says that everyone
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  rejoiced with her. Hallelujah. And God, I thank
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  you for the miracles that are coming to these
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  hands that are lifting up right now in Jesus'
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  name. I thank you for the breakthroughs that
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  are coming. I thank you for the answered prayer
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  that is coming in the name of Jesus. I thank
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  you for the healing that is coming in the name
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  of Jesus. And I ask, Father, that the season
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  of laughter will come in Jesus' name. Hallelujah.
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  Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Okay, you can
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  tell I haven't preached in a while. Sermon number
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  two. Sermon number two is in Joshua chapter 24.
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  And these are for some people to strengthen their
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  hand in their family. To strengthen their hand
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  in what God has called you in your family. And
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  you remember Joshua had just, he had won all
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  the battles. The land was being settled. And
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  he was giving a victory speech to the Israelites
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  before they split up and all went their way.
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  And he was warning them about serving other gods.
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  And he said in verse 14 of Joshua 24, 24 -14,
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  Now fear the Lord and serve Him with all faithfulness.
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  Everybody say, all faithfulness. Throw away the
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  gods your ancestors worshipped beyond the Euphrates
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  River and in Egypt and serve the Lord. But if
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  serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then
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  choose for yourselves this day whom you will
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  serve, whether the gods of your ancestors, they
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  serve beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the
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  Amorites in whose land you are living. But as
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  for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.
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  Hallelujah. And that's a declaration I felt the
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  Lord put in my heart. This is all aside from
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  my ever -shortening sermon that's about to come
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  up. I believe that that word was to be released
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  this morning over somebody here to have... courage
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  to stand up for your household and say, as for
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  me and my house, we're not going to go the way
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  the world. We're not going to do the things that
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  the world does. We're not going to operate the
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  way the world operates. We're not going to be
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  in love with the things that the world is in
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  love with. We're not going to spend our money
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  the way the world spends its money because as
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  for me and my house, we're serving God. Hallelujah.
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  Hallelujah. How many of you will with a fresh
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  declaration today? Whether you are single, living
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  by yourself, that is your household. Or whether
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  you are a grandparent and all of your kids are
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  gone and you're there by yourself now, that is
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  your household. Amen? Or whether you have kids
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  in your home, whether you're a full family in
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  your home right now, man of God, woman of God,
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  will you stand up in the Spirit? And will you
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  say, as for me and my house, we will serve the
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  Lord. Hallelujah. The spirit of Joshua come upon
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  you in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. If that's you,
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  lift up your hand before the Lord right now.
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  God, all over this room, people standing up saying,
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  as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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  God, we declare that with our whole heart. God,
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  we just embrace the declaration Joshua made.
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  Joshua knew that others would go the other direction.
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  And there might be people at work or even our
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  friends that have gone the wrong direction. But
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  we declare with something fresh in our hearts
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  at the beginning of this summer, God, we declare
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  that as for me and my house, we will serve the
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  Lord. We declare that in the name of Jesus. Ooh,
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  hallelujah. Hallelujah. God, just in the midst
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  of this, we declare our, we just recognize that
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  we're imperfect, that we are being made holy.
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  We are holy and we're being made holy. We are
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  sanctified, but we're also being made sanctified.
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  That you are working in our lives. We ask for
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  your help in this, your grace. God, it's not
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  just about following rules better because we
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  fall short. It is about leaning into Jesus and
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  the power of the Holy Spirit and trusting God
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  day by day to be our strength. We declare, as
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  for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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  Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Isn't that good? Praise
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  God. Praise God. And then finally, this morning,
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  in 1 Peter 1, if you would turn there with me.
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  1 Peter 1. And we're going to be celebrating
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  with baptisms right after this time. I want to
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  talk for a moment about the refiner's fire. And
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  I want to ask you, is the refiner's fire burning
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  in your heart? The refiner's fire. And we're
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  in 1 Peter chapter 1, and I want to read from
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  verses 6 through 9. In all this you greatly rejoice,
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  though now for a little while you may have had
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  to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. so that
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  the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater
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  worth than gold, which perishes even though refined
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  by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor
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  when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have
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  not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you
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  do not see him now, you believe in him and are
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  filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy
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  for you are receiving the end result of your
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  faith, the salvation of your soul. Hallelujah.
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  Give God praise for that. That's powerful. The
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  refiner's fire. And Peter alludes to the refining
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  of gold the same way that God tests your faith.
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  Refiner's fire. Let me read to you some verses
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  that you can write down if you're taking notes.
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  Proverbs 17, 3. The crucible for silver and the
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  furnace for gold. But the Lord tests the heart.
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  The Lord tests the heart. So you and I, and this
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  obviously is not your physical heart. This is
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  the heart of your faith. The internal spiritual
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  heart, God tests. He does not test it so that
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  you will fail. He tests it so that you will pass.
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  He's not a cruel teacher that wants most of his
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  students to fail, like my freshman English teacher.
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  I barely passed. Oh, God wants you to pass the
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  test. And so the fire that you have been in,
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  the trial, is to... increase your faith in Christ.
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  Amen? And so there are different ways that the
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  Lord tests us. Let me just walk through a couple
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  of them quickly. Here's another proverb, Proverbs
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  27, 21. The crucible for silver and the furnace
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  for gold, but people are tested by their praise.
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  Wow. Did you know that? When people tell you,
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  you did a great job, guess what's happening in
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  that moment? Your heart is being tested. What's
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  in your heart often comes out when people praise
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  you. Whether you have a woe is me attitude, Which
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  God wants to burn out of you because sometimes
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  when people praise you or give you a compliment,
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  you have so much woe is me -ism in you that you
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  can't even receive what they're trying to say.
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  And you just outright reject what people are
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  saying to you. Or whether you are inflated with
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  pride. And so you have... pride that grips your
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  heart when you are praised and when somebody
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  compliments you and pride just swells up and
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  you go, oh no, that's all God, but inside you're
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  saying, oh yeah, that's me. Praise tests your
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  heart. It's a fire. Here's what you ought to
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  do when somebody praises you. you ought to first
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  say, thank you. That's encouraging. Right? In
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  fact, let's all say that together. Thank you.
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  That's encouraging. That's a great thing to say.
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  And then do you know what you do? You give glory
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  to the Lord. You give that praise to God because
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  you know and I know that if I do something well
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  and somebody says thank you or that was a great
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  job, Darren, you know and I know that that only
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  happens because of the goodness of God in my
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  life. And the same is true for you. It happens
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  because of the goodness of God. operating in
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  your life. And so you and I cannot take the glory
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  for that praise. You and I cannot take the accolades
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  for that praise. We can't do it. We've got to
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  give glory to God. We've got to give glory where
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  glory is due. Because it is only Him working
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  in my life that I am what I am. Amen? And so
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  we say thank you, that's encouraging. And then
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  we give God the glory for that thing in our lives.
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  Amen? We give Him glory. We are tested when we
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  are praised. How do you respond when people praise
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  you? If you have a woe is me attitude, you need
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  to repent of that in Jesus' name. Because that
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  is the opposite side of pride. And it is the
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  constant putting down of yourself which God does
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  not do. And you need to stop it in the name of
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  Jesus. And you need to say, God, thank you. I
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  recognize the giftings and the good things that
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  you've done in my life. I recognize those things.
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  I don't have to deny them to be humble. I can
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  recognize what God has done in my life, and I
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  can give Him praise for that. Amen? That's good
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  stuff. Praise the Lord. The second thing that
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  God refines us with, which we've already touched
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  on, is affliction. affliction. It's difficulty
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  in life. And Jesus said, in this world you will
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  have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome
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  the world. And the psalmist said in Psalm 66
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  10, for you God tested us, you refined us like
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  silver. You refined us like silver. You brought
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  us into prison. Now this was because of Their
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  lack of repenting. They would not repent. You
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  brought us into prison and you laid burdens on
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  our back. You let people ride over our heads.
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  We went through fire and water. But you brought
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  us to a place of abundance. I want to read that
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  again because that was exciting to me. If it
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  was exciting to nobody else. Verse 12. This is
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  Psalm 66, 12. You let people ride over our heads.
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  We went through the fire and water, but you brought
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  us to a place of abundance. You see, the refining
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  and the testing is not to get you to fail and
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  fall and be destroyed. It is ultimately to bless
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  you and bring you into the place of abundance.
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  But they had to say yes to the time. of trial.
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  That's Psalm 66 10. Isaiah 48 10. God says through
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  Isaiah, see I have refined you, though not as
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  silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
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  Wow. Zechariah 13, 8 and 9. In the whole land,
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  declares the Lord, two -thirds will be struck
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  down and perish. This is a prophecy. Yet one
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  -third will be left in it. Verse 9. This third
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  I will put into the fire. I will refine them
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  like silver and test them like gold. They will
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  carry on my name and I will answer them. I will
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  say they are my people and they will say the
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  Lord is. our God. You see, when silver and gold
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  is refined, if you've ever watched the process,
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  you can watch it on YouTube. As it heats up,
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  what happens is all the impurities in it come
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  to the surface. And the gold is so hot that when
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  the impurities hit the surface, and they come
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  in contact with oxygen, then they burst into
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  flame and they are burned up. And this is what
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  God wants to do with the dross in our lives.
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  It's called dross. The dross comes up to the
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  surface and it burns up so that what is left
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  in your life... In that bowl is pure silver and
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  pure gold and is not mixed with anything else.
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  Now that's a simplified version of the purification
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  process. But what does it take? Heat. It takes
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  heat. And so you go through things in life. And
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  you know what it does? It puts heat underneath
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  you so that the impurities draw out. Amen? The
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  impurities are drawn out. You hit your thumb
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  with a hammer. And guess what? The impurities
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  can come out. I'm just telling you. And you might
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  discover there's more I need to repent of. You're
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  laughing because you know it's true. Frustrating
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  things happen. no matter how saved you are, frustrating
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  things will still happen. And why do they happen?
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  Because God is purifying our hearts. So do you
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  know what the solution is? To surrender to the
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  refiner's fire. The Holy Spirit has not just
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  been given you to empower you so that you always
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  live on cloud nine. He has come so that you can
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  be a strong witness for the kingdom of God. But
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  one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to
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  burn like a fire so that you and I walk refined
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  before Him. Refiner's fire. And so as I close
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  here, the psalmist learned to pray. And so if
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  you can, turn to Psalm 139 with me, and we're
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  going to close with this prayer in Psalm 139.
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  There's actually multiple places in the Bible
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  where people pray something similar, but... I'm
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  just going to read this one as I close this morning.
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  In verse 23, the psalmist says, Search me, God,
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  and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious
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  thoughts. See if there is any offensive way.
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  in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Isn't
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  this a great prayer? Do you know what this is?
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  This is a surrendering to the refiner's fire.
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  God, I recognize that there's places in my life
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  that I can't even see. I have blind spots that
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  others can see often, but even some, God, that
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  only you see. And the psalmist says, God, here's
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  what I want you to do. I want you to burn the
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  dross off of my life. I want to be pleasing to
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  you in your sight. Search me, O God, and know
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  my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts.
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  What he's praying here is not just that they
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  would be exposed, but that they would be transformed
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  and changed. And what the psalmist did not have
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  revelation of that you and I have revelation
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  of is the cross of Calvary. That you and I can
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  pray this, and as we pray this, we... can come
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  to the cross. Hallelujah. We can come to the
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  cross where Jesus shed His blood. And we can
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  say, God, search me. Know me. Try my anxious
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  thoughts. I bring them to the cross for You to
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  deliver me and set me free. Hallelujah. And God
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  will do that. What is that vice that has you?
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  That perhaps you were once freed from, but you
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  went back to it. What is that internal thought
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  that you constantly have that you know is not
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  from God? What is that thing that you struggle
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  with that you know that God needs to burn out
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  of your life? Holy Spirit, search my heart. Know
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  me. God, my desire is that if there is any offensive
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  way in me, That God, it be out of my life. And
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  that I walk in the way everlasting. I want to
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  bring you pleasure, God. I want to bring you
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  pleasure. And so before we move to the baptisms
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  this morning. I just want to respond. And you
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  might want to come down to the altar. You might
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  build an altar right there where you are. You
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  might just close your eyes. But I want to respond
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  with a song that just says, Refiners fire, have
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  your way in me. Have your way in my life. Refiners
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  fire. Move in me. Thank you, Jesus.