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Leveling Place - Bishop T.D. Jakes · Pst T.D Jakes -The POTTER'S HOUSE

• 0:14
  Speaker 1: In the gospel of St.
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  Speaker 2: Luke, chapter number 18, verse 9 through 14, that's where
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  Speaker 2: we're going to level up this morning. Yes, that's going
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  Speaker 2: to be leveling place the gospel of st. Luke chapter
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  Speaker 2: 18 verse 9 through 14 when.
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  Speaker 1: You have it say amen.
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  Speaker 2: And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in
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  Speaker 2: themselves that's who he's talking to people who trust in
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  Speaker 2: themselves That they were righteous.
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  Speaker 1: And despised others.
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  Speaker 2: Two men went up into the temple to pray. The
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  Speaker 2: one a Pharisee and the other a The Pharisee stood
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  Speaker 2: and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that
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  Speaker 2: I am not as other men are. Some people build
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  Speaker 2: their whole ministry around talking about other people. I thank
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  Speaker 2: you that I'm not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
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  Speaker 2: or even as this publican.
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  Speaker 1: I fast twice in the week.
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  Speaker 2: I give times of all that I possess. And the publican,
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  Speaker 2: standing afar off, would not lift up so much as
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  Speaker 2: his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God.
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  Speaker 2: Be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this
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  Speaker 2: man went down to his house justified rather than the
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  Speaker 2: other for everyone that exalted himself shall be a paste
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  Speaker 2: and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. So everyone
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  Speaker 2: that exalted himself shall be abased and he.
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  Speaker 1: That humbled himself shall be exalted.
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  Speaker 2: I thought about it and I decided to call it
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  Speaker 2: the leveling place. Because When I started reading the text,
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  Speaker 2: Brother Tudman, it seemed crooked to me. And I don't
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  Speaker 2: know what it is about me, but I can't stand.
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  Speaker 1: Crooked stuff.
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  Speaker 2: A picture leaning gets on my nerves. I have to
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  Speaker 2: go over there and straighten it up. I can't even stand.
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  Speaker 2: If you put something on one side of the wall,
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  Speaker 2: you got to put something on the other side of
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  Speaker 2: the wall or it gets on my nerves because it
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  Speaker 2: got to be level. If I bake a cake and
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  Speaker 2: it's not level, I keep it at home. Because I
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  Speaker 2: ain't going to send you no crooked cake. And it seems...
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  Speaker 2: that this text starts out crooked between the Pharisee and
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  Speaker 2: the publican, but it ends up leveled because the exalted one.
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  Speaker 1: Is brought down and the humble one is exalted.
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  Speaker 2: And so I submit for your consideration, ladies and gentlemen,
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  Speaker 2: brothers and sisters.
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  Speaker 1: That God's house is the leveling place.
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  Speaker 2: Spirit of the living God fall fresh on us now
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  Speaker 2: as we embark upon the mission of declaring your word.
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  Speaker 2: You know how I love your word. I esteem it
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  Speaker 2: above my necessary food. I believe your word is strength
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  Speaker 2: to my bones. Your word has guided me past troubled waters.
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  Speaker 2: Your word has kept me from my own folly. Your
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  Speaker 2: word has strengthened me when I was tired. It has
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  Speaker 2: protected me when I was attacked. It has been a
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  Speaker 2: lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.
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  Speaker 1: Speak.
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  Speaker 2: Speak. great God that you are. Thank you in advance
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  Speaker 2: for what you're about to do. Have your way in
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  Speaker 2: this place. In Jesus' name, somebody shout amen. You may
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  Speaker 2: be seated in the presence of God.
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  Speaker 1: It is.
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  Speaker 2: With reflection that I approach this text having many, many
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  Speaker 2: years ago had the privilege of traveling to the Holy Land.
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  Speaker 2: I know many of you have been there many times,
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  Speaker 2: but it was my first time going.
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  Speaker 1: I was in awe of the same.
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  Speaker 2: First time I went to the continent of Africa was
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  Speaker 2: the same year that I went to Jerusalem. Both my
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  Speaker 2: natural heritage and my spiritual heritage was experienced in the
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  Speaker 2: same year. And I won't bore you with all the
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  Speaker 2: pictures from my vacation yet. But what was astounding was
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  Speaker 2: how Jerusalem is still such a significant city. It is
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  Speaker 2: the epicenter of spirituality for not just Christians, but more importantly, Jews.
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  Speaker 2: And oddly enough, at the time that I was there,
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  Speaker 2: and I believe still now, the Holy Mount is controlled
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  Speaker 2: by Muslims. Isn't that strange that the temple is controlled
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  Speaker 2: by Muslims and we had to take off our shoes
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  Speaker 2: to go in? You remember that? And there inside of
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  Speaker 2: the Holy Mount, they showed us what they believe to
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  Speaker 2: be the rock where Abraham offered up Isaac is in
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  Speaker 2: the center of.
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  Speaker 1: The temple.
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  Speaker 2: It's not exactly the temple in our text today, but
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  Speaker 2: it is rebuilt in commemoration to the temple that is
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  Speaker 2: in our text. The temple is very important from the
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  Speaker 2: Mount of Olives you can see the temple and I
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  Speaker 2: sat on the Mount of Olives and imagined him coming
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  Speaker 2: through the western gate riding on a horse in glory
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  Speaker 2: I can tell that I'm not talking to a well
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  Speaker 2: seasoned church because you would know that he's coming back
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  Speaker 2: again You would know that he's going to split the
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  Speaker 2: eastern sky one day. As old folks used to say.
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  Speaker 2: But this is not, this is not, the Jesus coming
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  Speaker 2: back is not the Jesus in the text. The Jesus
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  Speaker 2: coming back is.
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  Speaker 1: The roaring lion of the tribe of Judah.
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  Speaker 2: The Jesus in the text is the Lamb of God
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  Speaker 2: about to be offered up. And he comes to us
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  Speaker 2: in this text teaching spiritual things in simplistic ways that
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  Speaker 2: we might be able to grasp the profundity of the
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  Speaker 2: text through parables. He has just finished a parable about
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  Speaker 2: prayer and the unjust judge and how important it is
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  Speaker 2: to pray. And I believe that the real power of
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  Speaker 2: prayer is it's not just being able to communicate with God,
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  Speaker 2: but in the process of prayer, the added benefit to
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  Speaker 2: talking to God is that you actually see yourself. I'm
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  Speaker 2: amazed at the people that do not know themselves. They
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  Speaker 2: know their representative. You understood me.
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  Speaker 1: But they don't know themselves.
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  Speaker 2: And so it's difficult to bond with people who do
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  Speaker 2: not know themselves because you can't give yourself if you
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  Speaker 2: don't know yourself well. You can't value yourself if you
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  Speaker 2: don't know yourself. You don't know what you need if
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  Speaker 2: you don't know yourself. You aren't even sure what you
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  Speaker 2: want if you don't know yourself. You don't know what
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  Speaker 2: you bring to the table if you don't know yourself.
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  Speaker 2: It's difficult for God to use you if you don't
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  Speaker 2: know yourself. If you don't know your strengths, your weaknesses,
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  Speaker 2: your tendencies, your liabilities, you don't know yourself. We're so
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  Speaker 2: busy trying to get to know other.
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  Speaker 1: People that we don't.
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  Speaker 2: Know ourselves I'm going to deal with this a little
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  Speaker 2: bit can I deal with this a little bit today
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  Speaker 2: so Jesus has come to the temple and I want
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  Speaker 2: you to understand that he is laboring in the temple
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  Speaker 2: with parables and I got distracted from the parable by
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  Speaker 2: the love that is represented with his continual coming back
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  Speaker 2: to a place where he is rejected trying to get
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  Speaker 2: them to see what they refuse to see There's almost,
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  Speaker 2: it's almost a love affair with pain every time he
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  Speaker 2: goes to the temple. And I'm going to talk to
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  Speaker 2: you about the temple, the two, and the truth. Three
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  Speaker 2: things that I've gone. The temple, the two, being the
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  Speaker 2: Pharisee and the publican.
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  Speaker 1: And the truth. The truth.
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  Speaker 2: Truth he comes to the temple as the glory.
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  Speaker 1: Of the latter house.
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  Speaker 2: He is the fulfillment of prophecy he is the promise
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  Speaker 2: that God gave to Zerubbabel's temple that the glory of
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  Speaker 2: the latter house shall be greater than the glory of
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  Speaker 2: the former house he comes to the temple as that
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  Speaker 2: glory How do you get that? Because the Bible said
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  Speaker 2: we beheld the wonder of his glory, the only begotten
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  Speaker 2: of his father, full of grace and truth. He comes
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  Speaker 2: to bring the glory back to a temple that has
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  Speaker 2: lost its glory. He is the embodiment of the missing
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  Speaker 2: Ark of the Covenant of the latter house. You see,
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  Speaker 2: they had been worshiping for years before a veil that
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  Speaker 2: had no Ark of Covenant. Isn't it amazing how long
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  Speaker 2: people can worship where God used to be?
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  Speaker 1: And fight you.
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  Speaker 2: For where God used to be. And perform ceremonies and
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  Speaker 2: rituals and nobody seems to notice that God is gone.
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  Speaker 2: The glory is departed and yet the ceremonies continue and
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  Speaker 2: the glory is back.
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  Speaker 1: Gone.
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  Speaker 2: His continued trips remind us of how long God strives
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  Speaker 2: with those he loves. He cannot be the stone that
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  Speaker 2: the builders rejected if he doesn't keep coming. It is
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  Speaker 2: his perpetual coming and pleading and telling different stories trying
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  Speaker 2: to compel them to see who he is. That makes
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  Speaker 2: him the stone that the builders rejected. You don't earn
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  Speaker 2: the right to say you're rejected when I say no once.
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  Speaker 2: You haven't put enough effort in it to determine whether
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  Speaker 2: you're rejected or not.
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  Speaker 1: Until you have put everything you.
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  Speaker 2: Got in it and got nothing back. You got no
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  Speaker 2: right to say you're rejected. Because I haven't even got
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  Speaker 2: to see you at your fullest self. Jesus has to
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  Speaker 2: make sure that he has exhausted every possible way to
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  Speaker 2: get them to see who he is. It is only
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  Speaker 2: then that he can walk away fully and say it
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  Speaker 2: is finished. It is only then that John can write
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  Speaker 2: he came unto his own and his own.
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  Speaker 1: Received him not.
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  Speaker 2: It's only after he has strived with you and strived
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  Speaker 2: with you and talked to you and counseled you and
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  Speaker 2: whispered you and given you mercy and chance after chance
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  Speaker 2: after chance.
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  Speaker 1: That he walks away. God is not placid.
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  Speaker 2: He is not temporary.
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  Speaker 1: He is not casual.
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  Speaker 2: He is focused and when he goes after something, he
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  Speaker 2: will spend whatever it takes to bring it in. Some
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  Speaker 2: of you are not here because God is cheap. You're
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  Speaker 2: here because God is full of grace. And he gave
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  Speaker 2: you a lot of grace. And he extended a lot
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  Speaker 2: of mercy. And he gave you a lot of opportunity.
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  Speaker 2: Somebody ought to shout me down right now. Eventually we'll
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  Speaker 2: see Jesus sitting on the Mount of Olives crying out
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  Speaker 2: to God. The Bible says in Matthew 28, 36, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 2: how oft would I have gathered you as a hen would.
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  Speaker 1: Her chicks under her wings, but you would not.
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  Speaker 2: The scariest thing about God is when God gives up.
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  Speaker 2: As long as he's convicting you and wrestling with you
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  Speaker 2: and talking to you and chastening you and chastising you
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  Speaker 2: and admonishing you, at least he's not through with you.
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  Speaker 2: What bothers me is when I can do anything and
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  Speaker 2: nothing bothers me, it might be a sign that God
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  Speaker 2: has given up.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft.
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  Speaker 2: Would I have gathered you as a hen does her chicks,
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  Speaker 2: but ye would not.
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  Speaker 1: He says that only after he has.
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  Speaker 2: Exhausted every possible method to reach them. Let me talk
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  Speaker 2: about the temple. So much of Jesus' life centers around
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  Speaker 2: the temple. He'd been carried there as early as eight
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  Speaker 2: days old. And there he was circumcised. The very first
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  Speaker 2: drop of blood recorded happens inside the temple. And the
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  Speaker 2: last drop of blood happens outside the temple. He gave
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  Speaker 2: his first blood to it. He withheld his last drop
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  Speaker 2: from it. Oh God, don't withhold. your blood from me
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  Speaker 2: don't let my stubborn ways bring you to a point
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  Speaker 2: that you stop dropping your blood down on me the
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  Speaker 2: first drop fell in it the last drop fell from
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  Speaker 2: it it is.
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  Speaker 1: An indication that he has given.
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  Speaker 2: Up on it The temple is everything to him. The
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  Speaker 2: temple was more than a sanctuary. It was a sacred
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  Speaker 2: source of an identity that had been besieged and altered
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  Speaker 2: as Jerusalem had become an outpost of Rome. The temple
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  Speaker 2: you see for the Jew is the place where they're
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  Speaker 2: holding on to the fragments of what they have left.
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  Speaker 1: Of their culture and their identity.
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  Speaker 2: Even though the temple was weak and convoluted by the
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  Speaker 2: influences of Herod and others, it was still a reminder
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  Speaker 2: of who they used to be. Sometimes you got to
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  Speaker 2: fight for what you got left. Rather than to just
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  Speaker 2: grieve over what is gone, you got to fight for
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  Speaker 2: what you got left. Because if the enemy gets you
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  Speaker 2: grieving over what's gone, he'll steal what you got left.
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  Speaker 2: Y'all don't hear what I'm saying. Y'all don't hear what
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  Speaker 2: I'm saying. That's a big deal right there. That's a
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  Speaker 2: big deal. That's a big deal. I can't tell you
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  Speaker 2: how many people I have seen hell bent on getting
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  Speaker 2: back what they lost and fooled around and lost what
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  Speaker 2: they had left. Because they didn't value the fragments. The
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  Speaker 2: fragments of their faith is embodied in this moment. And
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  Speaker 2: it is precious to them because they are captive in
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  Speaker 2: their own land.
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  Speaker 1: Controlled by monarchy.
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  Speaker 2: There are constant reminders that attest to the fact that
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  Speaker 2: they are free but... Not really. Have you ever been
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  Speaker 2: free but not? really that's what I think the Bible
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  Speaker 2: means when he said he whom the son have set
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  Speaker 2: free is free indeed because it is possible to be
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  Speaker 2: free but not really And whatever little bit of freedom
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  Speaker 2: you have left, you're holding on to it to remind
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  Speaker 2: yourself so that you can be centered because you can't
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  Speaker 2: level if you can't find your center. The first step
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  Speaker 2: to leveling out is finding your center. And some of
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  Speaker 2: you right now are trying to level yourself with your extremes.
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  Speaker 2: And you can't level yourself with your extremes. You can
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  Speaker 2: only level yourself with your center. I'll go deeper than that.
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  Speaker 2: This country's in trouble because we've lost our middle. Anytime
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  Speaker 2: you lose your middle, you're always going to be lopsided
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  Speaker 2: because you're trying to balance yourself by extremes. Extreme left
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  Speaker 2: is crazy. Extreme right is crazy. You got to find
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  Speaker 2: your middle before you can balance anything. It's true about
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  Speaker 2: the nation. It's true about you. So the devil is
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  Speaker 2: not after your extremes. He's after your balance. The Bible says,
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  Speaker 2: let your moderation be made known unto all men. The
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  Speaker 2: Lord is at hand, not going to either extremes. Don't
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  Speaker 2: be too deep, baby, because you're going to fall off
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  Speaker 2: trying to trip yourself and be so extra holy. And
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  Speaker 2: don't be so carnal that you got some kind of
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  Speaker 2: fictitious name. That disgrace is what you stand for. You
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  Speaker 2: got to be violent. You got to be violent. I'm
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  Speaker 2: scared of folk that's too deep. Deep folk make me nervous.
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  Speaker 2: Deep folk make me itch. Deep folk make me scared.
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  Speaker 2: You can't laugh. You can't joke. You can't have fun.
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  Speaker 2: You just so holy, you scare me. On the other hand,
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  Speaker 2: I can't stand folk that's so carnal. That a car
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  Speaker 2: could be sliding on ice and you can't even get
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  Speaker 2: a prayer through because you're so far away from God.
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  Speaker 2: I like to be.
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  Speaker 1: Balanced.
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  Speaker 2: My point is this. Jerusalem is captive in their own
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  Speaker 2: land unlike the Babylonian captivity where they are snatched Away
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  Speaker 2: from their own land. And as they are snatched away,
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  Speaker 2: wounded and bleeding and battered and tattered and torn and
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  Speaker 2: Jerusalem is on fire. They said, oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if
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  Speaker 2: I forgive thee. Let my tongue cleave to the roof
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  Speaker 2: of my mouth. And they found themselves in a strange land.
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  Speaker 2: And they asked them to sing a song. And they said,
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  Speaker 2: how can we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? See,
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  Speaker 2: that's what the enemy wants to do is get you
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  Speaker 2: in strange lands so he can mock you because your
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  Speaker 2: anointing won't work when you've gotten too far in a
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  Speaker 2: strange land.
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  Speaker 1: So they hung their harps by.
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  Speaker 2: The willow trees and they wept when they remembered Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: It's one thing to be captive out of your country.
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  Speaker 2: It's another thing to be a slave in your own house. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: It's one thing to have to go to work in hell,
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  Speaker 2: and it's another thing to get off work and come
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  Speaker 2: home to hell. You don't have to talk to me.
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  Speaker 2: I'll preach by myself. I can deal with crazy folk
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  Speaker 2: at church. I just don't want to roll over and
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  Speaker 2: bump into nobody crazy.
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  Speaker 1: No, no, no. I got to have some peace somewhere.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody can't be neurotic and unstable and out of their head.
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  Speaker 2: I've got to have some place to lay my head down.
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  Speaker 2: It's one thing to be captive in Babylon. It's another
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  Speaker 2: thing to be captive in Jerusalem. They're back home But
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  Speaker 2: home is not home. There is no king in Israel.
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  Speaker 2: The succession has dissipated. Instead, a Roman monarchy has taken
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  Speaker 2: control and little remained.
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  Speaker 1: Of what was. Make me want to sing, make it
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  Speaker 1: like it was. I'm just teasing. I'm just teasing. I'm
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  Speaker 1: just teasing.
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  Speaker 2: What did remain was a convoluted representation of both culture
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  Speaker 2: and oppression. It was Herod's temple, a painful reminder, and
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  Speaker 2: a pleasant memoir all at the same time. I want
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  Speaker 2: to talk to some people who have had bitter, sweet experiences.
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  Speaker 2: Where you can't really articulate how you feel about it.
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  Speaker 2: Because on one hand it's sweet and on the other
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  Speaker 2: hand it's bitter. Certain pictures you look at them and
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  Speaker 2: you look at them with fondness and they bring tears.
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  Speaker 2: Certain people when you think about them, you miss them and...
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  Speaker 2: Come on, talk to me real people. Talk to me
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  Speaker 2: real people. Talk to me real people. See, Jerusalem had
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  Speaker 2: become a very different place. It was inhabited by Jews
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  Speaker 2: and Romans. It was very cosmopolitan at this time. It
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  Speaker 2: was a city filled with diverse people, including Africans and
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  Speaker 2: Greeks and Gnostics and Samaritans. And many others converged upon
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  Speaker 2: the same city. It was the epicenter of culture and
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  Speaker 2: trade and commerce and all of that. That's why they
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  Speaker 2: were trying to kill Jesus when he was a baby.
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  Speaker 2: Because they heard he was king of the Jews. And
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  Speaker 2: that meant that Herod might lose control. Of the epicenter
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  Speaker 2: of trade and commerce. Which is why the wise men
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  Speaker 2: brought gold and silver. And when Herod heard about it.
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  Speaker 2: He was tripping out. Because normally he would have gotten.
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  Speaker 2: Y'all don't want to hear me talk. Can't you hear
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  Speaker 2: the marching of the Roman soldiers. On the cobblestone streets
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: of Jerusalem. Riding on their horses and their chariots. Compelling
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: the Jews to always remember that they are still in control.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Coupled by the side roads littered with crucified criminals. A
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: constant reminder that they were not truly free in their
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: own land. The presence of the temple still provides some
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: semblance of identity. Sometimes you gotta hold on to whatever
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: you got left. If it's a hairdo Sometimes you wear
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: your hair in defiance. Yes, snappy, curly hair.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: But it's mine.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: Sometimes you do certain things just to remind yourself you
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: ain't taking everything. Now, I'll conform to a degree, but
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: I'm going to fight back a little bit. You're not
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: going to take everything until I lose my sense of self.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Just to be in your circle, that's too much for
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: me to pay. To lose me so you like me
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: is too much. The temple is holding on to their culture.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: It still provides their identity so important to a culture
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: filled with uncertainty and longing for solutions.
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: Sounds a lot like us.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: Dissension, however, existed amongst the devout. Hence, verse 9 lets
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: us know that Jesus is telling this story, this parable,
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: to the backdrop of peril and mayhem. He is addressing
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: people who think they are better than their own people.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: You got to know why the story if you're going
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: to tell the story. The story is built around arrogance
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: and supremacy and people with their nose in the air
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: thinking they're better than other people.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: The story is to level up.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: Between these two extremes, there are people who call themselves
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Christians even, who will look down their nose at you
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: and act like you stink because you don't sit like
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: them or walk like them or dress like them or
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: clap like them or sing like them or look like them.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: or vote like them. They'll turn up their nose and
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: judge you in a minute.
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: Oh, y'all ain't gonna talk to me.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: See, it would be nice to think that if you
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: got together with the same beliefs, you would have the
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: same status. But sometimes your greatest wounds come from people
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: that are closest to you. Talk to me, somebody. It
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: would be nice to think that if we grew up
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: in the same house, I wouldn't have to watch my
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: back with you. It would be nice to think. that
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: I wasn't forced to sleep with the enemy. It would
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: be nice to think that at least amongst the Jews
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: there was agreement, but there was not. There was dissension,
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: which takes me from the temple to the two. Because
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: the two are an example of an extreme imbalance. On
• 30:51
  Speaker 2: one hand, You have the publican at the temple. The
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: publican is very unpopular because they were tax collectors. He
• 31:02
  Speaker 2: expects to be reprimanded. He expects not to be lacked.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: He comes to the temple with humility because he has
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: been hated to the point that he does not expect
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: to be loved. He is a tax collector and he
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: is working for Rome and he's a Jew. And of
• 31:24
  Speaker 2: all people, they hated publicans. Publicans were Uncle Toms. Publicans,
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: I know, I'm going to keep on until you get it.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: I'm going to bring it where you can feel it.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: I'm going to bring it right home to you. Publicans
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: were sellouts. Publicans were house thieves. Excuse me to all
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: my white members. I had to talk in code for
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: a minute. We'll tell you about that later. I had
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: to slip into another language for a minute to make
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: sure that you understand the words that are coming out
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: of my mouth. They had the kind of anger that
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: you have when somebody calls you a sellout. because they
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: were working for the Romans and worshiping with the Jews.
• 32:39
  Speaker 2: And once you have a history of being hated, you
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: don't expect to be loved. You can get so used
• 32:51
  Speaker 2: to being rejected that you stop offering. You stop asking.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: You stop smiling. You stop engaging. You stop connecting with
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: people because you already know how this story gonna go.
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: I'm not dating nobody. I'm not talking to nobody. I
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: don't need nobody. I don't want nobody. I can make
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: it by myself. It's just code for I have been rejected.
• 33:15
  Speaker 2: I have been hurt. I have been alienated and I'm
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: tired of the pain. So before I put myself in
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: a vulnerable situation, I don't need you no way.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: I don't like you no way. That's your pain talking.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: Keep on sitting there acting like you don't know what
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: I'm talking about. Your pain will make you assume the
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: position before the command was ever made. So the publican,
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: it's easy for him to humble himself because he's used
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: to being hated and And he smokes his breast in
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: the presence of Jesus and says, Lord, have mercy on me.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: I'm a sinner. It was easy for him to find.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Himself because nothing will make you find yourself like people
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: hating you. People hating you will drive you back inside
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: of yourself, make you become your own best friend oh
• 34:27
  Speaker 2: y'all don't hear what I'm saying people hating you and
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: rejecting you will make you become acquainted with who you
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: really are even if you don't tell nobody who you
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: really are if you are hated enough you become acquainted
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: with yourself when you have to take yourself out to
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: dinner when you have to buy yourself something for Valentine's
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: Day when you have to plan your holiday cause you
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: know ain't nobody else gonna be thinking about you you
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: get to know yourself You'll be shocked at the people
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: who know calculus and don't know themselves. Who know geometry
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: and do not know themselves. Who know politics and do
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: not know themselves. Who know scriptures and do not know themselves.
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: Who can sing but do not know themselves. Who can
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: preach but do not know themselves. Who are fine as
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: wine and do not know themselves. The one thing the
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: publican had going for. He knew himself. So he says, Jesus,
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: you don't have to discover me. You don't have to
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: expose me. He says, I am a sinner. Have mercy
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: on me. I am a sinner. You don't hear many
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: testimonies like that in church.
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: Have mercy on me, Lord.
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: I'm a sinner.
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: I'm a sinner. Used to be we'd say, I'm a wretch,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: I'm done.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: But now we're important. Important wretches. Dignified wretches. Educated wretches.
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: Witch wretches. but you still are rich. See, that's the
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: power of the text is that the Pharisee thinks he's better,
• 36:41
  Speaker 2: but he's not. He sees himself as superior, more moral,
• 36:46
  Speaker 2: not corrupted. The doctrine of human depravity exposes the fact
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: that there is a different story. Human depravity is simply
• 36:55
  Speaker 2: declares the fact that all of us fell in Adam.
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: We fell into sin, the state of sin, not the
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: act of sin. So while you might not have done
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: the same act I did, you still fell into the
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: same state I'm in.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: I ate banana pudding and you ate chocolate cake, but
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: we both got fat. And you say, how could you
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: eat banana pudding? That's nasty. Yeah, how about that chocolate
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: you're chewing on? We always push nasty away from what
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: we lack. Oh, ain't nobody going to shout today because
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: I'm walking kind of heavy today. You can't handle it today. Yeah,
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: whatever is nasty, freaky, or wrong is whatever you don't like.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: So you get to be better than somebody, which is
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: important to you to build up your self-confidence. You get
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: to say, at least I'm not lying. That's what's going
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: on in this text. So the publican says, I am
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: a sinner. The Pharisee starts talking about what he does.
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: I pay my tithes. I fast twice a week. I
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: am a Pharisee. He gives a job description, not an identity.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: The publican says, I am. The Pharisee says, I do.
• 38:44
  Speaker 2: People who need to tell you what they do are
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: trying to hide their Y'all ain't going to help me today.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: Let me go preach somewhere else. Ain't you sick and
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: tired of people that you walk up to and just
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: meet them and they tell you, you know, I want
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: a Grammy. You know, I'm Luther Vandross' cousin on his
• 39:08
  Speaker 2: mama's side. His auntie and my grandmama were sisters and
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: cousins on the third, fourth.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: Shut up.
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: I just said hello. I didn't ask you, are you
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: driving a Mercedes? I didn't ask you for your net worth.
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: I didn't ask you, do you speak in tongues? I
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: didn't ask you how many dates you had on your car.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Who are you?
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: You see the Pharisee is dressed up in camouflage. Camouflage
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: is what we wear to hide.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: Who we are. Camouflage.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: Camouflage is what God gave certain animals because they didn't
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: have teeth or they couldn't run fast or they couldn't growl.
• 40:02
  Speaker 2: He gave them camouflage as a defense so that they
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: could adapt to the color of the tree and thereby
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: become invisible. So maybe if I wear enough jewelry, you
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: won't see me. Maybe if I got enough degrees, you
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: won't see me. Maybe if I razzle dazzle you with
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: my talent, you won't see.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: Who I am.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: So ask me what I do, but don't ask me
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: who I am. Because the truth of the matter is,
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: I don't even know.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: Who I am. I'm trying to hide who I am
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: behind what I do.
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: And that is the problem with the Pharisee because nothing
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: in the description tells me who he is. Everything is
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: about what he does. And whenever people need to tell
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: you what they do, they either don't know who they
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: are or they don't want you to know. Can I
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: go deeper? There is a difference between what you do
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: and who you are. The fact that you can sing
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: don't mean you can handle money. The fact that you
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: can play the bass doesn't mean you ain't a liar.
• 41:21
  Speaker 2: The fact that you are fine and cute and good
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: looking don't mean that you're going to treat me nice.
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: Because one of them deals with how much time you
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: spend in the gym. But it don't have nothing to
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: do with how much time you can spend with me.
• 41:37
  Speaker 2: Your advertisement is good, but your product is bad.
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: Come on with me. I dare you to jump on me.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: I will knock you out this morning.
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: You've been living with the Pharisees and praying like the publican.
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: Aren't you tired of hugging camouflage? Aren't you tired of
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: doing business with people wearing camouflage? And you think you
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: got one thing and you got something else and you
• 42:18
  Speaker 2: think you got this and you really got that.
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: The Pharisee is a master of camouflage.
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: In the Bible, when God calls you a hypocrite, it
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: doesn't mean what it means today. In the Bible, a
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: hypocrite was an actor and actors said their lines behind
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: a mask. And the word hypocrite just means you're talking
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: behind a mask. I put on a face but this
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: ain't who I am. My face is smiling but I
• 43:04
  Speaker 2: don't like you. When you tell me how God bless you,
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: I put on a face like I'm happy for you,
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: but I really can't stand you. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: When I wear a mask, some of y'all are sleeping
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: with a man. Some of y'all are married to a man.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: Some of y'all are working with a mask. The Pharisees'
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: real problem is not the wretchedness of their sin. It
• 43:33
  Speaker 2: is the audacity of their mask. The publican just comes clean.
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: I'm a sinner.
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: The Pharisees start talking about all this stuff Jesus asked him.
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: I fast twice a week. I pay my tithes. I
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: go to the temple daily.
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: See, we go to church with both Pharisees and publicans.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: That's why it's hard to have worship. Because people who
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: wear masks can't worship. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They can
• 44:13
  Speaker 2: praise a little bit, but they can't worship. Because in
• 44:16
  Speaker 2: order to worship, you got to be real. You got
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: to be vulnerable. You got to come clean. You got
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: to open up. You got to be yourself. And you
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: don't mind clapping a little bit. But the reason you
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: can't really get down with worship service is because you're phony.
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: Worship will make you drop your disguise. Worship will make
• 44:38
  Speaker 2: you mess up your makeup. Worship will make you fall
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: down on your face. Worship will bring you down to
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: your knees. Worship will make you say yes to God.
• 44:49
  Speaker 2: Worship will make you open up your heart. and say
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: I'm broken and I'm lonely and I'm hurting and I
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: need you I need you I need you.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: I need you.
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: He can find a praiser anywhere let everything that have
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: breath praise the Lord But when it comes to a worshiper,
• 45:19
  Speaker 2: he has to seek for them. Because in order to worship,
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: you got to be real. No, no, no. You don't
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: have to be righteous. You don't have to be perfect.
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: You don't have to be talented. See, that's what's wrong
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: with our worship services. Our worship services are driven by talent.
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: I am tired of talent. It ain't about how many
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: riffs you can make. It's about how you can fall
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: on your face and lay out before God and say, Lord,
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: I surrender. Don't confuse camouflage with reality. Let the worshipers
• 46:14
  Speaker 2: make some noise in this place.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: Come on. Real worship.
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: Real worship. Worship will make you strip. Worship will make
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: you come clean. Worship will make you sell out. Worship
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: don't care how much you paid for your dress. Worship
• 46:55
  Speaker 2: don't care about how cute your hair is. Worship will
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: make you reach down in your belly.
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: And say, Oh, God! Come on.
• 47:16
  Speaker 2: Come on. Come on.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: Strip.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: Take off that phony stuff. Take on all that stuff
• 47:24
  Speaker 2: you're proud of and get in the presence of God
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: and say, I'm a wretch and I need you right now.
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: Open your mouth and holler to God. Yeah, yeah. Nudge somebody,
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: tell them I dare you to level up. I dare
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: you to level up. I dare you to come out
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: of your camouflage. I dare you to come out of
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: all your.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Isms and schisms.
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: I dare you to really worship God like you need
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: a touch from him. Like you can't face tomorrow without him.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: Like you need him more than you need your breath.
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: Is there anybody left in the church that knows how
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: to worship God in spirit and Here's my third point.
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: And in truth, you shall know the truth and the
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: truth shall make you free. God wants somebody to worship him.
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: In truth, to worship him lonely, to worship him tired,
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: to worship him confused. Whatever your truth is, that's what
• 49:02
  Speaker 2: God wants. He wants you to open up your heart
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: and not give him your titles, but give him your truth.
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: I don't know what to do without you. I can't
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: live without you. I can't walk without you. I can't
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: move without you. I can't stand without you. Come on,
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: open your mouth. Open your mouth. Rebuke the devil, you Pharisee.
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: Come on and open your spirit and talk to your gut. See,
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: we got too many people that are believing alternative facts.
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: Alternative facts. They're not facts. They're the truth we tell ourselves.
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: It's the camouflage we wear. It's our alternative reality. We
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: live in a false dimension which causes you to be
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: arrogant so you can look down your nose at somebody else.
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: But if we ever got down to the truth, There
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: is no difference between the Pharisee and the publican.
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: They're both wretches. They both need God.
• 50:44
  Speaker 2: If we ever get down to the truth, we won't
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: need dancers, instruments, worship leaders, praise singers.
• 50:55
  Speaker 1: Tambourines, bongos, drum sets.
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: And organs because truth will drag you down to the altar.
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: Truth will strip you at the feet of Jesus. Truth
• 51:11
  Speaker 2: will make you cry out to God. Is there any
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: true worshipers in the house today? Somebody shout, I need
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: more grace. I need more grace. If I'm going to
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: work this job, I need more grace. If I'm going
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: to stay in this marriage, I need more grace. If
• 51:47
  Speaker 2: I'm going to raise these kids, I need more grace.
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: If I'm going to deal with my pain, if I'm
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: going to deal with my problems, If I'm going to
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: stand the times. If I'm not going to lose my mind.
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: You see the Pharisees needed it. The publicans needed it.
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: The drug dealer needs it. The deacon needs it. The
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: church member needs it. The club owner needs it. The
• 52:26
  Speaker 2: alcoholic needs it. The altruistic need it. All we need
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: from Jesus is a little more grace. Grace is the
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: leveling place. So God says to the one that's up,
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: I'm going to bring you down. And the one that's down,
• 52:42
  Speaker 2: he said, I'm going to raise you up because I
• 52:45
  Speaker 2: got to level this thing out. Because you can't worship
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: without balance. And so you fake the worship. You have
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: a form of godliness denying the power thereof. Because if
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: real worship hit this place, cancer would have to run
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: out of here. Tumors would have to leap out the building.
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: If real worship hit this place right now, Alzheimer's would
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: have to get out of here. If real worship hit
• 53:13
  Speaker 2: this place, all swelling would come out of your joints.
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: Somebody lift your hands and worship till you feel the
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: power of God. Truth is I'm scared. Truth is I'm tired.
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: Truth is I'm lonely. Truth is I'm worried. Truth is
• 54:03
  Speaker 2: I'm frustrated. Truth is I.
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: Need more help.
• 54:07
  Speaker 2: Truth is I'm weary. Truth is I need a fresh
• 54:11
  Speaker 2: touch from God. Is there anybody here that's ready to
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: keep it 100%? this is.
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: This is.
• 54:27
  Speaker 2: The leveling place arrogant people stay on up there be
• 54:40
  Speaker 2: important in your cute camouflage desperate people fall out on
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: this altar like you lost your mind. Fall out on
• 54:57
  Speaker 2: this altar like you don't care what you got on.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: Fall out on this altar like if you don't get
• 55:02
  Speaker 2: help from God, you're going to lose your mind. Fall
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: out on this altar like you don't care what nobody thinks.
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: Fall out on this altar like you are tired of
• 55:12
  Speaker 2: camouflaging your pain and your situation and your circumstances.
• 55:17
  Speaker 1: Fall out on this altar.
• 55:20
  Speaker 2: Like you don't care if your makeup messes up. Fall
• 55:23
  Speaker 2: out on this altar like you want a touch from God.
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: Fall out on this altar like you need him more
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: than you need your next breath. Fall out on this
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: altar like you need a touch from God and you
• 55:35
  Speaker 2: didn't come to show off nothing except your desperation to
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: get more grace from God. Fall out on this altar
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: like you came to do business.
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: In the heavenlies.
• 55:47
  Speaker 2: Fall out on this altar like you're ready to open
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: up for God. This is a leveling place. This is
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: a leveling place.
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: I'm a sinner. I'm a wretch. I'm worried. I'm tired.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: I'm frustrated. I'm empty.
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: But I am what I am. And here I come
• 56:10
  Speaker 2: into your presence. Here I come into your presence. Here
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: I come into your presence.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: It's me, Lord. It's me.
• 56:21
  Speaker 2: It's not my representative. It's not my fake face. It's
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: not my camouflage. It's not my car. It's not my house.
• 56:31
  Speaker 2: It's not my degrees.
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: It's me, Lord. This is a troubling stage in my life.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: This is an.
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: Empty stage in my life. This is a frustrating stage
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: in my life. And I need a touch from God. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: how often would I have gathered you? Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
• 56:56
  Speaker 2: how many times would I have picked you up like
• 57:00
  Speaker 2: a hen does her chicks? But ye would not. Ye
• 57:07
  Speaker 2: would not. Ye would not. Ye would not. It's not
• 57:12
  Speaker 2: that I won't bless you. It's that you won't come clean.
• 57:16
  Speaker 2: It's not that I won't help you. Is that you
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: won't cry out. I'm not talking about telling your business
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: on Twitter. I'm not talking about telling your business on Facebook.
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: But God said when you come to me. You keep
• 57:29
  Speaker 2: trying to tell me what you got. And I want
• 57:32
  Speaker 2: to know who are you?
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: Who are you?
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: Who are you? Who are you? The publican got in.
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: The Pharisee was locked out. There is grace for the
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: Pharisee though. Because God said, I'm going to bring you
• 58:01
  Speaker 2: all the way down. If you don't come down on
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: your own. I'm going to bring you to a basement.
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: I'm going to bring you to a level place. I'll
• 58:11
  Speaker 2: bring you to your knees if I have to do
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: it in a wheelchair. I'll bring you to your knees
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: if I have to do it in a nursing home.
• 58:20
  Speaker 2: I'll bring you to your knees if I have to
• 58:22
  Speaker 2: do it in intensive care one way or the other.
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: I'm going to level you up. Either you come on
• 58:30
  Speaker 2: your own or I'm coming to get you Hallelujah Hallelujah
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: Hallelujah Hallelujah