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Spiritual Suffocation | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  My heart is swelling with joy this afternoon and as you can
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  imagine there's so much that can be said about what the Lord has
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  done over the past year but I'm going to restrain from doing
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  that and I'm going to keep that for our time of Fellowship where
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  I will share a few words. But for now I just want to trust
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  the process that we have been going through in the scriptures
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  as we continue in our series within a series in Mark, chapter
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  4. As we study and continue to
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  survey the parable of the sower. And so this is going to be a
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  strong word today, but I'm going to trust the Lord that the
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  people here today will benefit from it.
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  And that it will be a fruit. It will bear fruit.
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  And so meet me in Mark chapter 4, and let's just look at one
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  verse together. In verse 7, Mark chapter 4,
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  verse 7. Other seed.
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  Fell among thorns. And the Thorns grew up.
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  And choked it. And it yielded no grain.
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  Other seed fell among thorns. And the Thorns grew up.
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  And choked it and it yielded no grain.
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  Lord, this is your blessed word. Now, bless our hearts. as we
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  seek to understand your mind, your wisdom, your will We plead
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  with you Lord, that you would Grant the Special Touch from the
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  Holy Spirit. That there would be his power,
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  assisting the delivery of this word and his power breaking open
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  our hearts to receive it with joy.
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  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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  You and I have now arrived at our third installment of our
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  study in the parable, the sore and the value of our time in
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  this. And what the Lord Jesus has to
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  teach us is incalculable. Its primary design is really to
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  have listeners of the word of God to cautiously Ponder not
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  just what they are hearing but how they are hearing the truth.
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  In other words, this teaching that is so familiar to us,
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  especially those who grew up in the church is a confirmation
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  from God, that any audience member from every generation
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  Will be responsible for how they assess and how they apply God's
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  revealed will to them. If the sower is faithful in his
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  delivery of the seed, he will not be guilty for the
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  fruitlessness of his hearers. At the same time, the seed will
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  never be criticized for having an inability to produce life in
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  the soul. Even even though the audience
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  may be receptive, though. Unchanged.
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  This Parable is important because the Lord Jesus points us
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  to the heart of a very complicated and debated matter.
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  Concerning the complex short-term and long-term
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  responses to the gospel. But this Parable unveils it and
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  he really simplifies it for us, the explanation for the variety
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  of reactions. Is in the attitude of the here.
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  That is where it all lies, the seed of truth will either Thrive
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  or it will die based on the condition of the inner man,
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  which varies from person to person and we have already
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  discussed the hardened heart, the hearts, who hears the word
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  like you are hearing it today. But because of different reasons
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  they are totally unresponsive to the truth.
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  And that truth ricochets off of them.
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  Making it totally easy for Satan to grab that seed.
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  Lesson might have some impact in your life down the road and then
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  we looked at the rocky soil, Different in.
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  In the sense that it was receptive.
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  Suddenly and excitingly receiving the truth.
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  Promising much fruit. Much Conformity to Christ like
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  this until the heat of persecution trials.
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  Discomfort blazed over it scorching it until it has no
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  life and no fruit to show. But today, the Lord has another
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  batch of soil to sift before us. and I believe, That this is a
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  class of professing Christians. That is unfortunately widespread
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  and Chris and them today. And the reason for that, the
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  reason why this category is so typical Even in our
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  congregations is I believe because what spoils the soil is
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  something that most of us generally tolerate Partly.
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  Because what Jesus, deems as soul damning is what our
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  culture, boldly Advocates, as ambitious.
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  As wise as aspiring. I said my herbal.
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  How many professing Christians have bought into that same idea?
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  You might be shocked this afternoon to learn what the Holy
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  Spirit defines as thorns. But if you are among those lean
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  in, now lean in. Now, if you are among those who
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  are honest enough to admit that your spiritual life has not seen
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  growth since your apparent, confession of Jesus, then take
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  heed to the words of the author of life because it may rescue
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  you from the spiritual Suffocation that you are
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  suffering from. Listen.
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  We are already at the verse. In the parable that tells us
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  about this category of listeners, but let's go to Jesus
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  explanation of it in Mark, 4, 18.
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  Mark 4:18. And others are the ones sown
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  among Thorns. They are those who hear the
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  word, but the cares of the world.
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  And the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other
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  things, enter in and choke the word.
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  And it proves unfruitful before I get to the list of perils that
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  Jesus mentions in this allow me to make a comment of the
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  uniqueness of the soil and comparison to the others.
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  Like the rocky soil, the soil with thorns, looks good on the
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  surface. But in reality, there are deadly
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  elements within it. That's contained corrupting
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  faculties neighboring organisms like brambles and weeds are
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  living there and they are prepared to accelerate and
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  growth because there was not careful purging that took place
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  beforehand in the soil. And these components have no
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  problem cohabitating with good seed.
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  They don't mind having good seed being their neighbors but they
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  are always always threatening the growth of that seed and
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  anything that tries to develop in close proximity.
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  The reason that these weeds are viciously threatening The Good
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  Seed is because they are selfish and they soak up the nutrients
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  and they steal the water and the light that is required for
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  development. And because of this, there is a
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  hindrance to the maturity of any competing Harvest.
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  Even if it's good. By alluding to thorns and the
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  imagery of thorns. Jesus is brilliant.
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  He's brilliant. he's wonderful because in this, he is
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  communicating the pitfall and it is this embracing the gospel
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  while permitting polluted preoccupations to abide in the
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  same heart. In Luke, 8, 7, and you don't
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  have to turn there. We are.
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  Told with a different detailed that this seed, Grew but the
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  Thorns grew up with the seed with it and then choked it.
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  This informs us, something very important.
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  The main lesson about this part in the parable is to point out
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  the listener who thinks that they can receive the truth and
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  accept the terms of the Gospel while allowing other aspirations
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  to coexist. Well, the Lord is not saying is
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  that there are people who because of their single-minded
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  drive for riches and promotion and luxury and other desires and
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  pleasures of this life immediately reject the truth.
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  I'm not interested, don't sign me up.
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  If you read carefully, these people are like the rocky soil
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  in that they welcome the seed. They accept the seed, they're
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  stirred by the seed, they're convinced by the seed, they
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  confessed Christ. They can articulate Theology and
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  Doctrine And they may make an appearance in the house of God
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  from time to time. But here's the main thing,
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  ultimately ultimately, they lack genuine fruit.
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  Like the fig tree that Jesus cursed from a distance that tree
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  had leaves, it looked like it had life.
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  It looked like it was the real thing, but upon close
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  examination and evaluation Jesus realized that it was a fraud.
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  And he cursed the fig tree, This is the type of plant that we are
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  dealing with. This is the type of professing
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  Christian that Jesus is addressing.
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  And if that is the case, then at what point this apostasy occur
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  with the thorny heart and here's where it is unique because you
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  can point out with the first soil that it is immediate I
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  don't want this, I reject this, okay, you come to the rocky soil
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  and what the moment, things get hard, the moment there's a price
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  to be a Christian. The moment there is pressure
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  from family. They jumped ship that's the
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  moment but when you come here to this soil, there is no
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  definitive moment. There is no clear, observable,
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  measurable Turning Point. Instead, this kind of falling
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  away, is defined by a deception that makes the ensnared soul
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  generally, unaware of the seriousness of his spiritual
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  plight. In essence, it is a gradual
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  decay. That eventually leads to a
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  practical denial of discipleship.
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  Let me show that to you and Luke's version.
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  Go to Luke with me in chapter 8, In verse 14, Luke 8:14.
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  Luke 8:14 reads and as for what fell among the thorns.
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  There are those who hear but as they go on their way, they are
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  choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life.
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  And their fruit does not mature as they go on their way.
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  Listen, don't get distracted. See how quick that can happen.
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  As they go on their way, is a striking phrase.
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  First, it means that the seed made some kind of impression on
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  the soil. There's something there or else
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  the weeds would have nothing to choke.
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  This shows that a person who has a thorny heart.
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  Is someone who has an initial interest and attraction to
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  Jesus. Unlike the hardened soil that
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  has no desire. Secondly, it shows a trajectory
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  of the soil. The person's relationship with
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  the truth is deteriorating. As time goes on, they
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  deteriorate. The more time that goes on over
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  time, it shows that there is something wrong on a
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  foundational level. And that's why Jesus says that
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  they're fruit does not mature. Have you met a professing
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  Christian who looked the same from the moment that they
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  apparently confessed Jesus? That's a scary place to be.
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  Lastly. It reveals that the smothering
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  of spiritual life happens, over an unspecified amount of time as
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  they go on their way. What happens here, is that at
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  some point at some point, such a person ends up looking as though
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  there is no see that entered into their heart even to begin
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  with. Here's the overarching statement
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  of what Jesus is trying to teach with this section of the
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  parable. One cannot know, cannot know the
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  true saving power of the Gospel unless he or she is willing to
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  surrender every other priority, every other passion to the
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  lordship of Jesus Christ. You see the main issue about the
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  way, the thorny soil receives Christ is that he accepts him as
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  pay attention a priority A priority among other cherished
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  preferences. This is starting to sound a lot
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  more like American Christianity, isn't it?
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  Instead of Christ becoming the preeminent purpose and pursuit
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  of a life. He is a shared conviction.
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  He is a shared conviction that lives in the shadows of rival
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  objectives. And this is why.
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  Becoming a true disciple of Jesus Christ is increasingly
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  becoming difficult in the west with all the freedoms that we
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  have so far. Because our culture is
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  constantly trying to sell us. So many means of contentment and
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  success and comfort. Always at the price at a true
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  commitment to Jesus always. and if you desire this afternoon to
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  know whether or not this soil speaks of you, all you have to
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  do really is be honest enough to reflect on your own heart as the
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  three things that Jesus mentions as Thorns are things that
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  determine the direction of your life.
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  Examine yourself and say, are the things that Jesus
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  illustrates as Thorns. Are these things, the true
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  Masters Of My Life. But let me give a disclaimer
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  before I move on and this is an important disclaimer.
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  Here it is, it is totally possible to know the temptation
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  of one of these Thorns, even all of them at the same time and
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  still be a true follower of Jesus Christ.
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  Jesus is not referring to being tempted by the cares of this
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  world being tempted by riches, being tempted by different
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  desires. It's easily proven just read the
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  Epistles and what will you find? Whoa.
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  Earnings to Trueblood bot. Christians about caring being
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  anxious riches so it's there it's a possible Temptation for
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  the believer but what Christ is explaining here is something
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  different how worldly cares worldly desires, worldly riches
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  upon evaluation of the professing Christian is really
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  the Lord of their lives. It's it's it's the conflicting
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  desires that completely starve, the affection and the energy
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  that must be reserved for your relationship with Christ.
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  And so, I want you to just hear what these things are and then
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  ask yourself, not am I tempted by these things?
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  But are these things truly more important, more demanding, more
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  lovely more cherished than Christ who is supposed to be my
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  Lord. And so Jesus begins in Mark
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  chapter 4 by referencing the cares of this world.
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  Another way of saying it is the day-to-day worries in our life.
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  And these things are characterized by concerns that
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  stem from life's stressful, demands and unpredictable
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  challenges. They're not necessarily fruitful
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  by sinful by the way. They're not, they're not
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  inherently evil but they can be idols and they can be Idols that
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  we excuse as you ready for this responsibilities.
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  They can be Idols that are decorated as.
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  Personal goals. when in reality, they're Thorns sticking in your
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  neck and your bleeding, and you can't even tell I will not list
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  what these cares can be because they vary from person to person
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  and there's always a danger when you get to specific
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  applications, right? The moment a preacher gets into
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  specific applications. He is walking on a razor thin
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  thread. And he can fall into legalism
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  and he can fall into Liberty and sinful Liberty.
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  And so I will try to be as general as possible, especially
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  when it comes to these things. But however, major or minor
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  these cares might be to you the heart filled with, thorny weeds
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  and bushes, permits his relationship with Jesus Christ,
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  and his fellowship with his people to be rendered valueless
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  because of them. To be rendered worthless in
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  light of these other cares. All you would never admit it.
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  Remember you accepted the seed? It's their didn't disappear,
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  burden, and coming. Pluck it up.
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  I know it's there and even from a distance, look at all that
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  green. And when you come closer, I like
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  those weeds. Oh, so Thorns.
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  Where's the fruit? But you accepted it, right?
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  You would never say that. Jesus is my all.
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  He's my everything. And yet in practice there is
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  concern. For such people.
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  There is no such thing as private devotion.
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  Private, what? Day after day goes by mourning
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  tonight, mourning tonight and not one.
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  Heavenly thought has traveled through the corridor of your
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  meditations. Oh, not even a whisper to the
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  Lord that you apparently profess.
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  And more than that, the gathering with the local church
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  is a matter of personal convenience, personal
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  convenience. I'm not speaking about
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  emergencies, I'm not speaking about irregular events.
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  I'm speaking about priorities and so is Jesus.
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  And guess what? For the thorny hearted
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  professing. Christian, the local church.
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  Ain't one of them. Meeting with the Saints on the
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  Lord's days and afterthought. Simply because there are other
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  things that I got to do, man. Come on preacher.
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  Understand where I'm coming from.
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  Oh they can be easily done on Saturday.
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  But who's going to really give up a Saturday?
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  We can always have church the skip right to hours on a Sunday
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  but we can skip it. What about Saturday afternoon
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  on? Oh no.
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  That's Girl's Day. That's this, that's that that's
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  that. I'm reminded of the words of
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  Jesus and another Parable that I believe accurately reflects the
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  mindset of those who have this kind of a heart, it's another
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  Parable. The parable of the great banquet
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  where the king sends his servant with an invitation and his hands
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  to bring a specific audience into his presence. and when the
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  servant goes out, he realizes that as he extends his gracious
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  and merciful invitation It has responded to, in the following
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  way and Luke 14 17, Luke 14 17. And at the time for the banquet,
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  he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited.
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  Come for everything is now ready.
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  But they all began to make excuses.
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  They all began to make excuses the first set them.
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  I have bought a field and I must go out and see it.
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  Please have me excused. and another said, I have bought five
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  yoke of oxen and I go to examine them, please have me excused And
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  another said, I have married a wife and therefore I cannot
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  come. You know what this Parable is
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  about, primarily procrastination with salvation.
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  Excuses to why you won't come to Jesus, but I have to admit, it's
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  not difficult to see how similar excuses are made by some when it
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  comes to their willful neglect of personal discipleship.
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  Did you notice how none of these reasons were inherently wrong?
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  I just bought a field. I just got new oxen, new cars.
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  I just married, I just married somebody that I'm madly in love
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  with. J.c.
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  Ryle. Quote says infidelity and
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  immorality. No doubt slay their thousands
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  but decent plausible smooth spoken excuses slay their tens
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  of thousands. you know, as I notice from this They're pretty
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  polite. But you notice that please have
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  me excused, please have me excused Except the one with the
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  wife, I'm serious read it. I'm not making it up when it
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  came to the field. Please have me excused when it
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  came to the ox. Please have me excused when it
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  came to the marriage now. Alright coming, that's by
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  Design. You know why?
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  Because I believe it's meant to show.
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  How there are some who she purposely justify Their
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  unwillingness to submit to the words of the king and then there
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  are others. You ready for this who are
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  outright offended when the servant of the king comes and
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  tells you about making the king's bidding a priority.
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  You see what I got going on here?
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  I'll come when I'm ready. Properties work, fashion food
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  and romantic relationships were stumbling blocks then to
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  fruitful faith and they're still there today.
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  They're still there today and I know what some of you may be
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  thinking I can feel it. Right, what kind of world do you
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  think we're living in preacher? What kind of world do you think
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  we're living in this being a Christian mean, we ignore other
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  responsibilities and duties, I got food to put on my table.
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  I got bills to pay. I got relationships to nurture.
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  I have an ill mother-in-law who needs constant attention and
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  supervision? What is this?
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  Legalism that you're proposing and let me clarify by saying
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  this that nowhere in the Bible. Nowhere in discipleship.
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  Nowhere in instructions of practical Christian Living, are
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  we told to abandon wholesome activities and or
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  responsibilities and let me add to that by saying that as a
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  Ministry. Our goal is not to keep you in a
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  church building as many days in the week as possible.
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  That's not our goal. I praise God, that we have
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  Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, my desire.
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  I wish I can see you more than that because I cherish your
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  fellowship and I cherish you, but I understand we understand
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  there's a world out there to engage with.
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  And there are responsible, there are dealings, there are things
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  that happen. That is not what I am speaking
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  about, and neither is Jesus. There's a world to engage with.
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  But if you can easily brush off your basic duties as a disciple
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  of Jesus and point two reasons that we all have to deal with in
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  life by the way. Would you check your heart and
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  see if there's any prickly Thorns there?
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  Being a Christian does not erase the cares of life.
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  Might even add some to it. Being a Christian is all about
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  how the gospel enters in. Sits on the throne of your heart
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  and then by God's good grace and love teaches you how to handle
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  those cares. Remember what we conclude about
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  the rocky soil? Remember how they rejected
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  Christ so quickly When Trials, came we learned from that that a
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  true follower of Jesus Christ does not renounce, his faith.
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  When it gets hard, those things actually bring him closer to his
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  God. And guess what?
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  It is, no different with the Christian and his worries.
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  Let me give you just a glimpse. Let me just let just peek a
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  little bit to get an idea of how a Christian deals with the cares
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  of this world, James 5:13, is anyone among you suffering, let
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  him pray. Huh, has anyone among you
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  suffering? Let him pray.
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  Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
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  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the Elders of
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  the church and let them pray over him.
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  Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
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  Two out of those three things are negative.
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  Are you suffering in any way? Are you sick and body?
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  Well, if you're suffering, then pray cast all your anxieties on
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  him because he cares for you, lay it all there.
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  She when you give your heart all to the gospel, God gives all his
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  promises and his Comforts and his mercies to you.
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  The worst thing to do is to embrace Jesus half-heartedly and
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  then be consumed by cares. The best thing to do is give
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  yourself to him and watch what he does with your cares.
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  So if you're suffering, what is the Christian do?
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  He comes to his God? Lord, I need you.
• 29:23
  I am. And I don't know where to go
• 29:24
  from here. This is overwhelming.
• 29:25
  I'm tired. I remember being in college
• 29:28
  overwhelmed with my schedule overwhelmed internship didn't
• 29:32
  have a car that the commute was so terrible.
• 29:34
  I made a vow. I will never take public transit
• 29:36
  transportation again. That's how bad it was.
• 29:41
  And I remember, I would walk home in the cold February
• 29:44
  weather stepping foot into my apartment exhausted.
• 29:50
  And you know what would come out of my mouth?
• 29:51
  The moment I have to enter in and make my terrible excuse of a
• 29:54
  meal as a college student. Lord, I missed you, this is
• 29:58
  hard, this is not easy. Well, I don't have much to give
• 30:02
  you but I'll give you what I can.
• 30:04
  I'll give you what I can. Among you sick like even Satan
• 30:11
  knew when you touch somebody's body, they really reconsider the
• 30:14
  goodness of God touch his stuff, that's one thing, touch his body
• 30:18
  and watch out he'll squeal. But as anyone you sick, what do
• 30:21
  you do? If you're sick?
• 30:23
  You don't run away from the church.
• 30:24
  You call the church. You call the pastor's all
• 30:28
  pastors, pray for me. I'm suffering here.
• 30:30
  Pray for me, I'm Ill. Pray for me.
• 30:31
  The doctor's report was not good.
• 30:32
  Have the church pray for me. Do you see what happens?
• 30:36
  You see what happens to the heart that has good soil when
• 30:38
  they do experience the cares and worries of life?
• 30:41
  It doesn't pull them away from their Master.
• 30:43
  There's a pull them away from the church, it pushes them
• 30:45
  towards them. This is what happens.
• 30:49
  Oh, but the heart filled with thorns is driven by cares.
• 30:54
  Driven by cares at the expense of totally ignoring what Jesus
• 31:00
  Christ. As Lord asks of him, But
• 31:04
  strangely there are some who when they advance in life and
• 31:07
  experience its various promotions and blessings. their
• 31:12
  faith and service to Jesus seems to only evaporate more and more
• 31:21
  As they go on their way. See, jokes them.
• 31:28
  The cares of this world and Jesus goes to the second
• 31:31
  component and deals with the deceitfulness of riches money,
• 31:37
  money money. Jesus famously said, in Matthew
• 31:43
  6:24. You cannot serve God and money.
• 31:49
  but this group of people believe you can The heart filled with
• 31:53
  thorns, believe you can. And that's why Jesus
• 31:56
  specifically said that they are. Choked by the deceitfulness of
• 32:01
  riches. Not just riches the deceit
• 32:05
  behind those riches. and these group of professing, Christians
• 32:10
  believe that a Christian can live with the same goals that
• 32:13
  almost every other ungodly person in this world has What
• 32:22
  happens? Lord didn't say you can't have
• 32:26
  God and money. He just said, you can't serve
• 32:28
  both of them at the same time, but the thorny heart hears, the
• 32:32
  gospel and become a disciple by name and then they plan.
• 32:36
  And they prioritize his today and his tomorrow's with one
• 32:40
  goal. You want to know the goal, I
• 32:42
  want to get rich, that's what I want.
• 32:46
  I want riches, I want Financial Independence.
• 32:53
  I want things at the snap of my finger, I want to get to the
• 32:56
  point in life, where no matter what I spend or what I invested,
• 33:00
  it would not even affect my day-to-day, even by the
• 33:03
  slightest, And if time in the word, check this out.
• 33:09
  If serving in the Church of worshiping Christ with God's
• 33:12
  people are investing in the advancement of the Gospel gets
• 33:14
  in the way of that Pursuit. Well, guess what, those things
• 33:16
  are going to have to suffer How do I know if money is my master,
• 33:23
  it's not hard. What do you more happy to have
• 33:26
  cash or Christ? What do you more worried about
• 33:30
  losing material, blessing, or spiritual Treasures?
• 33:35
  What dominates your long-term goals.
• 33:40
  Financial Independence or fruitfulness for the kingdom of
• 33:42
  God. The thorny heart would answer
• 33:48
  internally, I know what the Christian answer is, but look,
• 33:52
  I'm honest here, I want more. I want more and I won't be
• 33:58
  content, too late until I get it.
• 34:02
  So be it. So many examples in the Bible.
• 34:07
  So many examples. But one of the strongest
• 34:10
  examples that came to mind when I was reflecting on.
• 34:11
  This was a man in the Old Testament who who's told to be a
• 34:17
  lover of money in the New Testament?
• 34:21
  His name was Balaam. Remember Balaam, Balaam is an
• 34:25
  interesting figure in the Bible because when you read about him
• 34:27
  in numbers, there's debate about whether or not he is a good
• 34:30
  profit that went bad or if he was a fraud to begin with.
• 34:36
  And it's not until you go to the New Testament.
• 34:38
  We see that Balaam is mentioned by name three times and each
• 34:40
  time it's to condemn him as an apostate as a false teacher.
• 34:45
  And he actually becomes a prototype for false teachers
• 34:47
  today. Again, when you read about
• 34:50
  bailing The Numbers 22, when you're introduced to them, you
• 34:53
  get this sense that maybe he's a real prophet, he calls the Lord,
• 34:57
  his God balak, send some people to hire him to put a curse on
• 35:03
  the nation of Israel and he says, let me inquire of God and
• 35:06
  he inquires of God, God tells him, no, My People Israel, their
• 35:09
  bless you can't curse them. So he comes back and he says,
• 35:11
  look, I can't help you here. God said, no.
• 35:14
  They go back to balak and Bailey says up the ante.
• 35:18
  More honor more blessing go. So they come back and there's
• 35:24
  bail them again, and they said, look, paraphrasing, he's willing
• 35:28
  to give you more. And here's what Bailey does or
• 35:31
  Bailon does. Let me inquire got again.
• 35:35
  God already told you what the answer was wasn't up for
• 35:38
  negotiation, but let me go to God again.
• 35:41
  Maybe I can work something out. So he goes it's comes before
• 35:44
  God. And the Lord saw, what was
• 35:46
  really in his heart. You want to go, okay.
• 35:49
  He allows them to go. So Balaam is ready to go and
• 35:54
  curse that which God has blessed.
• 35:57
  He's ready to defy, what God had originally said.
• 36:01
  For one thing, the Price Is Right?
• 36:05
  The Price is Right. For this kind of thorny soil if
• 36:10
  the price is right. It's nice.
• 36:15
  Knowing you. Marry not the Bible Church?
• 36:19
  So, I reach you from numbers, 2222. if you want to turn their,
• 36:24
  you're welcome to Numbers. 22 22.
• 36:28
  Very easy reference. but God's anger was kindled because he
• 36:33
  went and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the way as his
• 36:43
  adversary. That's a terrifying thing.
• 36:50
  I think some people consider me their enemies, I don't
• 36:53
  personally have any enemies but I rather have the world as my
• 36:57
  enemy, then have the angel of the Lord, as my enemy just
• 37:00
  saying, Now, he was riding on the donkey and his two servants
• 37:05
  were with him. And the donkey saw, the angel of
• 37:10
  the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand.
• 37:16
  And the donkey turned aside out of the road and went into the
• 37:19
  field and Balaam struck the donkey to turn her into the
• 37:24
  road. The irony of this passage the
• 37:27
  irony of this passage is just oozing.
• 37:31
  Balaam is hired to be a prophet who has apparently unusual
• 37:37
  insight and access into the spiritual world.
• 37:41
  But he cannot see the angel of the Lord who is standing before
• 37:44
  him. You know, who does the donkey
• 37:47
  The donkey does. The donkey sees the angel of the
• 37:51
  Lord and here's this man who claims to have eyes into the
• 37:53
  Unseen World and he can't he can't see the donkey.
• 37:57
  You know, what, I take from this.
• 37:59
  Maybe you see it to, to some degree.
• 38:02
  Balaam could not see what was spiritual because he was blinded
• 38:07
  by his love for money. He was blinded by his love for
• 38:14
  money. When a person loves money, one
• 38:18
  of the dangers that he invites into his life, is that he does
• 38:22
  not have the right perception of reality, especially when it
• 38:27
  comes to perceiving the riches that are in Christ Jesus.
• 38:32
  I've talked to people who love money when you it just like are
• 38:36
  you serious? Like what are we doing right
• 38:37
  now? They don't have the right
• 38:42
  evaluation, they don't have the right estimation.
• 38:44
  They don't have the right understanding, that's what
• 38:46
  they're suffering with. And what do they do?
• 38:49
  What do people who love money do?
• 38:50
  Well, they put their security, they put their value, they put
• 38:53
  their worth, they put their joy in that, which will fail him,
• 38:58
  that which will harm him. And I admit at this point.
• 39:04
  The donkey has more spiritual Insight than Balaam and I rather
• 39:09
  be living the quality of life like this.
• 39:13
  Poor beast but see the angel of the Lord who is Christ, then be
• 39:17
  a guy like Balaam and he couldn't That's very offensive,
• 39:22
  isn't it? It's offensive to a lot of
• 39:25
  people. yeah, let me be a servant like this donkey but let
• 39:30
  me see Christ as I walk instead of being like Balaam who had so
• 39:35
  much already and wanted more but could not see the angel of the
• 39:40
  Lord. The True Believer will confess
• 39:45
  that he rather have that. The True Believer will confess
• 39:49
  that he rather have the eyes of his heart opened so that he can
• 39:53
  explore the Deep Riches of God's grace and intimacy and love than
• 39:59
  to know more and more and more and more of this world.
• 40:06
  Does God say you can't have money and God no you can't have.
• 40:09
  Both are there. Very successful.
• 40:11
  Spiritual men in this life. You better believe it, but they
• 40:15
  have money. Money doesn't have them.
• 40:18
  And you don't have to be rich to love money.
• 40:20
  You can be poor and still be riddled with this cancerous
• 40:26
  desire. It's so easy, isn't it?
• 40:31
  The deceitfulness of riches come in and suffocate.
• 40:36
  Maturity in Christ. And Jesus masterfully ends with
• 40:43
  a final Thorn when he says not just the cares of this world,
• 40:47
  not just the deceitfulness of riches.
• 40:51
  But also the desires for other things.
• 40:54
  You know why that is so masterful because our immediate
• 40:57
  reaction to that might be well, huh.
• 40:59
  Okay? What things Jesus?
• 41:02
  Lord, this very general. Can you, can you tell me the
• 41:06
  list of things that have the power to choke out fruitful
• 41:11
  faith? I would like to know so I can
• 41:12
  avoid those things. And Jesus wasn't being General,
• 41:17
  because he was being careless. Jesus was being General because
• 41:20
  he was being strategic, because when he says that the desires
• 41:24
  for other things, what he means is other things are anything
• 41:31
  Anything not just some things, anything that is inferior to the
• 41:37
  worth and value. That is found in.
• 41:39
  Jesus Christ is capable of choking faith and guess what?
• 41:46
  Is inferior to Jesus Christ. Everything Anything and
• 41:52
  everything that has primary devotion and places, God, even
• 41:58
  in second place is capable of choking your religion.
• 42:08
  To the heroes who are honest today, please listen carefully.
• 42:12
  Listen carefully. Now I'm almost done.
• 42:16
  When we present the gospel and we call you to say yes to his
• 42:20
  unbelievable Mercy. And you choose to say, yes, keep
• 42:24
  in mind that at the same time you are also confessing that
• 42:29
  Jesus Christ is more precious, more glorious, more lovely, more
• 42:33
  desirable, more honorable, more brilliant, and infinitely more
• 42:39
  worthy than anything else in this life.
• 42:43
  That's the gospel that we preach, and that's the gospel
• 42:46
  that we hope and pray. People would accept not a gospel
• 42:50
  that says I will plant you right here on the bed of my life, with
• 42:53
  all these other plants around you Jesus.
• 42:56
  Because Christ will not be a roommate in your heart.
• 43:02
  He wants all of it. He wants you to give the title
• 43:05
  deed of your life. He wants you to surrender
• 43:08
  everything from top to bottom from east to west from all that
• 43:12
  you have and all that, you know, and all that you aspire to, he
• 43:14
  wants you to surrender it at his feet when you come to the foot
• 43:18
  of that cross, nothing less. And any confession that is less
• 43:25
  than that reality. Will like the rocky soil, prove
• 43:30
  itself, eventually, to be fraudulent because it will be
• 43:34
  fruitless. I'll say this in closing.
• 43:38
  I think it's amazing how the thorn is the metaphor that Jesus
• 43:41
  chooses to describe cares riches and pleasures of this world.
• 43:46
  Why do you think that is? Have you ever had a thorn
• 43:49
  sticking to your hand? That little device can be
• 43:53
  torturous? And putting a bandaid on it,
• 43:57
  isn't going to help. Icing, it won't be numb it for
• 44:01
  so long until the pulsing ache and irritation revisits.
• 44:06
  You And Jesus said cares to live for cares and to satisfy your
• 44:14
  cares where you push out, God deceitfulness of riches.
• 44:22
  The desires for other things, it can be anything.
• 44:26
  I heard of a man who lost his ministry because he got caught
• 44:29
  up into his collection of stamps.
• 44:37
  He forsook the ministry for sick, prayer for sick,
• 44:39
  preaching. These things if you live for
• 44:44
  them like a thorn in your flesh. Will bring no goodness, only
• 44:52
  burden only frustration, only irritation.
• 44:57
  And the only solution to being liberated from the pangs of
• 45:02
  these things. Is to remove it completely.
• 45:07
  Is there any complete when a thorn goes into my hand?
• 45:10
  And I've had it coming to my foot.
• 45:12
  I don't do anything with one. Just happened in the history of
• 45:14
  my life. I have one thing in mind when I
• 45:18
  realized it. I don't want to go shopping.
• 45:20
  I don't want to take a nap. I don't want to even eat a meal.
• 45:23
  I need to get this thing out of me.
• 45:26
  See what you think you're wearing around your neck, is a
• 45:30
  necklace that beautifies your life.
• 45:33
  It's actually caller, that's choking you.
• 45:37
  And doesn't matter what you paint in there, how you decorate
• 45:39
  it in the end, that thing is just a thorn and it has one
• 45:46
  intention when you misplace its value in your life and that is
• 45:50
  to take your life. Oh yeah, outwardly you're good
• 45:54
  but spiritually, you're dying. You're already dead.
• 46:02
  You know I listen to something this past week of a very wealthy
• 46:07
  man and he said something that was so true yet so simple and
• 46:13
  people who are still pursuing riches and the deceitfulness of
• 46:16
  riches, don't get it. This man says, I've reached a
• 46:20
  point in my life where I can spend anything and I can buy
• 46:23
  anything and it doesn't affect me one bit.
• 46:28
  And he said, you know, there are days when out when I was poor.
• 46:31
  And I thought to myself, when I become rich when I become
• 46:35
  wealthy, I'm going to buy this. Something about that, by this
• 46:37
  money by that. Is once I got there, I realized
• 46:39
  there's not so much things that you can buy.
• 46:42
  I mean, what can you really buy anyway?
• 46:44
  Okay, you buy a nice house. Then you buy okay you buy more
• 46:47
  cars. Okay you buy the fancy watch you
• 46:49
  buy 10 of them, okay, you fill your closet with clothes, then
• 46:52
  what? Then what?
• 46:55
  Tell me, what else don't actually tell me.
• 46:57
  People do sometimes. Don't What?
• 47:00
  What? What?
• 47:00
  Tell me, what else you going to get, huh.
• 47:03
  And that's why you look on the TV.
• 47:05
  You look on the social media and what do you see when you're
• 47:09
  unregenerate and you are extremely wealthy.
• 47:11
  The only thing that you have to live for us?
• 47:13
  Well, I got this well, so I have power.
• 47:15
  Let me exercise this power because they're sinful.
• 47:18
  It gets ugly. Let me save you the trouble.
• 47:25
  There's nothing worth living for a part from the one who gave you
• 47:28
  life Christ himself and letting him fill your heart with his
• 47:34
  goodness and day-by-day presenting to you.
• 47:37
  A Feast that will keep you satisfied and steady an
• 47:43
  immovable and no matter what you have on your back, no matter
• 47:46
  what brand the thing is no matter what you acquire in this
• 47:50
  world, you will be glad you will be glad upon one condition.
• 47:55
  To die to yourself. Let the Holy Spirit come in and
• 48:00
  let him dig up. All those other routes, let him
• 48:03
  remove the Thorns. Let him remove all those silly
• 48:06
  things that were worried about and we're willing to ignore
• 48:08
  Christ for all the things that were willing to put energy and
• 48:11
  effort and time and investment. Let him do that work.
• 48:15
  And then let him have your heart.
• 48:18
  And you'll be satisfied. And you will know.
• 48:23
  What we're going to discover next week that when the heart is
• 48:26
  good and it understands all that Christ is and what he demands,
• 48:32
  you will know fruit upon fruit, you will know fragrance upon
• 48:36
  fragrance, you will know life upon life.
• 48:40
  Pray with me. Lord, we are reminded again.
• 49:01
  That you alone are worthy. And we gladly confess a fresh,
• 49:08
  you are truly Lord Of Our Lives. Lord, we know that even as
• 49:13
  children of God, the cares of the world, knock on the doors of
• 49:17
  our hearts. We know that the riches of this
• 49:19
  world persuade us and promise satisfaction.
• 49:21
  We know that there are things in this life that have no problem.
• 49:26
  Kicking Christ out to have our dominant desires. so we ask that
• 49:33
  you help us Lord and protect us from these things, but for the
• 49:36
  person who initially receive Christ on the wrong premise, And
• 49:41
  thought that he can just fit one compartment.
• 49:45
  Do we pray that today would be the turning point?
• 49:49
  For you have given us this Parable, not just merely for
• 49:53
  reflection, but also for reflection, that leads to change
• 49:56
  if necessary. And so for the heart that can
• 50:00
  honestly say, since I said yes, to Jesus, there was no growth.
• 50:05
  There is no fruit in my life. There is nothing in me.
• 50:09
  That loves Jesus. I love 10 things.
• 50:11
  Before I love Christ, I love even one thing.
• 50:13
  More than Christ. Lord, may you have mercy?
• 50:18
  And save that soul from such deception.
• 50:25
  Thank you, Lord. That when we give up on
• 50:27
  everything else, we don't lose anything.
• 50:29
  We gain everything. And we asked, oh, Lord, that,
• 50:32
  that would be true for every person who does truly know you.
• 50:36
  They can say, all I have is Christ.
• 50:40
  And All I Need Is Christ. And yes, there are things I got
• 50:42
  to do in this life and I will enjoy the riches of
• 50:46
  relationships and marriage and food and vacations, but Christ
• 50:50
  has more than all of these things put together and because
• 50:54
  of Christ, all these things are possible.
• 50:56
  And even enjoyable, Lord may that be the theme of Our Lives.
• 51:00
  So we surrender to you and we sing to you and we worship you,
• 51:04
  Lord, you are worthy of everything.
• 51:06
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
• 51:10
  Hallelujah. Indeed, let's stand and Worship
• 51:12
  the Lord.