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Where Do I Sign? · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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I hope you've made your way to Genesis chapter 15, Genesis 15.
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As we continue in our series, we've titled Answering God's
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Call, following specifically Abram on this journey as he has
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answered God's call on his life. I don't know if you've ever
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noticed how much you have to sign your signature just to do
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life. You ever noticed this?
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You didn't make it out of the hospital you were born in until
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someone did what Till someone signed?
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You didn't live where you live or call your house home until
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you or somebody signed. You didn't drive the car that
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you drove here today until someone.
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You didn't get a driver's license until someone signed,
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right? You can't enroll in school
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without someone's signature. You can't get married unless you
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sign. You can't open a bank account
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unless you sign. You can't book a vacation, play
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Little League skydive, file your taxes, or take a job until you
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and those are just the things I could think of off the top of my
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head. There's a zillion more.
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When we sign, what are we doing? We are stating with our
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signature that we're agreeing to keep the terms and the
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conditions of the what the agreement, whatever it is, be it
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house, be it car, be it expenses or whatever it may be, we're
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agreeing to the terms and conditions of the agreement.
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I want you to just hang on to this question that we're going
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to answer in the course of our time today in God's words, in a
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simply this question and we're probably not going to answer it
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in the traditional way, but here's the question, Are you
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ready? When it comes to the Christian
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life, where do you sign? When it comes to the Christian
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life, where do you where do I, where do we sign?
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We're going to answer that question as we go.
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But first we're going to read God's word picking up in chapter
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15, verse 7 and following listen to God's word.
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And he that's God said to him, him as Abram, I am the Lord who
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brought you out from ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land
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to possess. But he that's Abram said, O Lord
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God, I'm out to know that I shall possess it.
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He God said to him, bring me a heifer 3 years old, a female
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goat three years old, and a ram 3 years old, a turtle dove, and
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a young pigeon. And he brought him all these,
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cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other, but
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he did not cut the birds in half.
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But when birds of prey and when birds of prey came down on the
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carcasses, Abram drove them away.
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This text is not your normal text of Scripture, if you've not
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noticed, but by the way, all Scripture is inspired by God and
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profitable, the whole council of God, profitable for what?
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Our instruction for our teaching right for training in reproof
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and correction, all in righteousness that the man or
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woman of God may be adequate and equipped for every good work.
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I believe God was going to show you, I hope this morning just
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how relevant this text is, as odd as it may sound.
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So just hang in there with me. You know, Abraham has been
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believing God. If you've been following this
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journey, Abram has been believing God.
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Abram believed God when he left house, when he left home, when
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he left country, and when he left Kindred.
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Abram's been believing God. But if you follow the
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conversation between God and Abram, you notice that Abram's
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fate isn't perfect. Dude struggles along the way.
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And here again he's struggling and it's obvious in conversation
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with God. In fact, in verses one through 6
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of chapter 15 we looked at last week, God said, Abram, I'm going
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to promise you again, the offspring in Abrams like God,
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he's not singing kumbaya. I believe you saying God, I'm
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not sure I believe you. Where is it at?
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Where is it at? I've been waiting all this time.
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Abraham's faith was struggling, was fighting to believe Abram
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was a man as high as we think of him was not a man of perfect
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faith. In fact, what I just want you to
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be encouraged by is sometimes we read of the greats in the Bible,
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Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and David and all the, all the
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above. And we think, well, my faith
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could never be like that or I could never be like that.
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I, I struggle to believe too much.
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I'm too weak in my faith. I've failed too much.
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I have too much. I've got too many flaws, too
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many weaknesses. Listen, you obviously hadn't
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read your Bible. Like I'm serious.
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Because if you do, you're going to really realize really quick,
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wow, these people, far from perfect, These people are full
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of flaws. These people who made the hall
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of faith, Hebrews 11:10 and 11:00, they struggled mightily
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at times with their with their faith.
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This ought to be encouraging, right?
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So here in verses 7 through 11, God is reaffirming another one
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of his promises to Abram. This one's not about offspring.
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It's about the land the God has promised to give Abram and his
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offspring. And Abram's like God.
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How can I be sure? How can I be 100%?
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What evidence is there that I can trust you that I can believe
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and not doubt because I'm doubting.
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And of course, in our day and time, this is where the lawyers
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would have pulled out the paper and handed each a pen and said,
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you sign here and you sign here. But that's not what they did
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back then, back when they came to agree to the terms of the
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agreement or the covenant. When?
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How do they know the house is mine, the land is mine, or the
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car? The money we signed, they didn't
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sign then. They didn't use pen and ink.
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They used a knife and blood, not pen and ink.
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Literally, as you're about to see, God says here, bring me
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Abraham a heifer. Now, in case you don't know what
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that is. All right, that's a female cow
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who's yet to have a cab. Don't call anybody that.
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The Bible uses it in context, right?
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Guys says bring me a heifer, bring me a female goat, bring me
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a ram, a turtle dove, and a young pigeon and pigeon.
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Abram brings all of them. He knows exactly what to do,
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because this is what they did back then, when they came to
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commit themselves in the most serious and critical of ways.
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Abram cuts each animal in half, and then he lays each half over
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against the other side of the half he just made.
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Again, it's not pen and ink. This is knife and this is blood.
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In case you've never butchered an animal before, this is an
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incredibly messy process. Had it only been deer season?
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I actually thought about demonstrating for you.
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I promise I didn't won't do that, but I promise you it
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crossed my mind because most people are familiar with the
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meat section of the grocery store.
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They've just got no idea what it looks like before it lands right
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there. And let me tell you, it ain't
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pretty. Let me tell you as he would have
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sliced open these animals and lay it half against half, blood
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would have flowed everywhere. Abram would have been covered
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himself. And this is incredibly labor
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into animals when they're dead. Don't cooperate in the process.
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This is labor intensive work. This is bloody, visceral work
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that Abram was forced to do. Death was very real.
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We're often so insulated from it in our modern day lives.
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They were not, I guarantee you back then and literally by blood
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and by knife. They were in the process of
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making an agreement. Birds of prey.
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The Bible says see the slaughter and wanted to do what they do
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help come and clean up and yet that would have made these
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animals prepared for the purpose of sacrifice unclean.
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Abram had to act to protect what God had called him to collect
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and cut to keep clean for the purpose of the covenant that
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they were about to make. This is not in your notes, but I
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just want to drop you something along the way here and I've
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already kind of done it, but in case you want to write something
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down in this first section here, I think this is what I would
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write down. Again, all Scripture is inspired
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by God and profitable for teaching.
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Here's one of the things that it teaches us here in seven through
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11. You ready.
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Faith that's real is not perfect.
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Faith that is real is not perfect.
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Faith does not have to be perfect in order to be real.
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We see Abraham's faith here. Even as God is about to make the
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highest and greatest of commitments to him, Abraham's
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faith is still struggling. I don't know where you are in
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your faith or if you thought, man, I thought I'd be further
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along by now. I thought I'd be here by now.
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I thought I wouldn't be struggling with this still.
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Now, faith is real doesn't mean that at times our faith doesn't
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struggle. And God wants to fortify
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Abraham's faith. He wants to fortify yours as
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well. Let's pick up and keep reading.
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In verse 12 through 16, as the sun was going down, a deep sleep
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fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great
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darkness fell upon him. And then the Lord said to Abram,
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no, for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in
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a land that is not theirs, and will be servants there, and they
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will be afflicted for 400 years. But I will bring judgment on the
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nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out
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with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your
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father's in peace. You shall be buried in a good
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old age, and they shall come back here in the 4th generation.
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For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.
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No doubt it took Abram quite a while to collect all the animals
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God commanded to slaughter them, to process them in the right
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manner and way for the making of this covenant.
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And it's labor intensive work. As I've already mentioned, Abram
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now is at the end of the day is in a deep sleep.
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God puts in the Bible, says in a deep sleep causes that deep
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sleep to fall on him. And not only does sleep come
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over him, but this mysterious supernatural deep darkness also
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envelops him as well. I'm talking about a deeper
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darkness than just when the sun goes down.
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There is something supernatural type of darkness that is going
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on here. And in this deep sleeping, great
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darkness, God says some amazing things to Abram.
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Now I just want you to think if you struggle to believe that the
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Bible is true, well, just look at what God says hundreds of
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years before it happens that you can verify in your history books
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that happened. Look what God says.
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Your offspring will be sojourners in a foreign land.
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That foreign land is Egypt. They will serve as slaves for
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400 years, which they did, but I'll judge the nation that
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afflicts them. God certainly did with 10.
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What 10 plagues. They will exit the nation with
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great possessions. Why?
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Because God says way hundreds of years before and you will
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plunder the Egyptians. They're going to give you their
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gold off their bodies and their backs for you to take with you
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into the wilderness. You, Abram, will die in peace at
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a good old age. Your offspring will enter the
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land that I promised you after the 4th generation.
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Why 4 generations? Why 400 years later?
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Look at verse 16. Don't miss this little what
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seems like random statement because the iniquity of the
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Amorites is not yet complete. What in the world is going on?
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God has given Abram a supernatural sedative, like
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supernatural melatonin right here knocked him out.
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God is acting as as an anesthesiologist, if you will,
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here before he shows up. Why?
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So that Abram doesn't die. You know why?
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Because no unholy human can be in the full manifest presence of
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a holy God and survive it. So God is protecting Abram by
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putting him to sleep, and not just that, but putting him under
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a supernatural cloak of this darkness to protect Abram from
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the full exposure to the holiness of Almighty God.
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And that's not strange. This is not a wicked sinister
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darkness. This is a protective, veiling
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Abram from the full holiness of God darkness, just like God did
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when there was great darkness and clouds and smoke and rain
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and lightning and Thunder on Mount Sinai.
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The people from God who would come down to manifest himself.
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By the way, God said also that in the temple that Solomon
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built, when he said he would inhabit there, he speaks of
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clouds and great darkness enveloping his presence there.
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Why? To protect the people from the
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manifest presence of God dwelling among them.
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This is a protective darkness that God is putting around him
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because God is about to show up. God doesn't want anybody to die,
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but the animals already laying half off offset from each other.
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Abram, he wants protected. The next thing God does is
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speak, and what he says is again, overwhelming.
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In case you're wondering, let me just give you the specifics on
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this. 215 years in advance, God tells Abram his offspring will
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move to Egypt. 286 years in advance, God tells Abram his
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offspring will be enslaved in Egypt. 430 years in advance, God
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tells Abram his offspring will exit Egypt with great
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possessions. Meanwhile, Abram, you will live
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long and die in peace. Ladies and gentlemen, this is
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what we call the good, the bad, and the all.
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Hear from God. God doesn't hold back, God just
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gives it all while he's fortifying.
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Abram said it's honestly quite rare that God so pulls back the
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veil to reveal his plan. But again, Abrams asked for
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confirmation. How can he know?
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And God is graciously giving him long in advance confirmation of
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his plan, even parts of the timeline.
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And one of the reasons God gives Abram for the event and
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especially don't know, misses the timeline of how he can
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anticipate and when he can anticipate in the future is
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because notice verse 16 for the iniquity of the Amorites is not
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yet complete. What in the world is God saying?
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Well, whether we first of all realize it or not, we need to
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understand that God is God over every tribe, over every tongue,
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over every language of every nation and every people group
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from Amorites in ancient history to Americans in modern day.
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God is sovereign above, and He's the one in charge of all
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peoples. And whether that nation or those
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peoples realize it or not, there is a King of kings who rules
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over them, who is the one who establishes their kings and
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deposes them, who raises up nations and overthrows them.
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In fact, if you don't believe me, read this is the what the
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Bible says. Psalm 47 Eight God reigns over
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the nation's. Psalm 47 seven through 8.
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For God is the king over all the earth.
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Daniel 221 God removes kings, and God establishes them.
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Psalm 2228 Dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the
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nation's job, 12/23 He makes nations great and he destroys
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them. He enlarges nations and he leads
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them away. Finally, Psalm 3212 in light of
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all that, no wonder the Bible says blessed is the nation who's
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what God is the Lord. You mark it down.
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Whether people realize it or not.
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God is reigning and ruling from heaven and He is in charge of
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the events of world history. He's in charge of the number of
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breaths in your lungs. He knows the number of hairs on
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your head and He's in charge and in control of who sits as king
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and who doesn't anymore. That's who God is.
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He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords.
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And in verse 16, God gives us y'all some incredible insight
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into how he deals with peoples and nations.
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So who are the Amorites? Well, this is a name of a people
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that inhabited the land of Canaan.
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Now sometimes the Bible will use this word Amorites to describe
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really all the people that lived in Canaan, or sometimes it can
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refer to one of the specific groups of many diverse groups
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that lived in the land of Canaan.
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But the Amorites are descendants of one of the sons of Canaan.
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And I actually told you a little bit about them.
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Part of the Amorites included the Raphaim, and one of their
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last kings was a king by the name of Ogg, whose bed was 13
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feet 13 1/2 feet long, 6 feet wide.
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This man was probably estimated 10 to 11 feet tall.
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He was one of the last of the giants there that lived in the
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land. They were tall and strong,
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fierce warriors. But these people were idolaters.
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They were rebels against the God of heaven and God list, the sin
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list that he found so detestable multiple times in Scripture.
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I'm not going to get into it again.
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I've already shared it with you some.
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But again, the sin, why is that? He's Speaking of the sin of the
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Amorites. What was their sin that God was
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Speaking of? Here it is you ready?
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Idolatry, sexual immorality, violence, corruption, and child
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sacrifice. The God who rules over every
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nation says here that judgement is coming for the Amorites, but
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not yet. Why not yet?
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Why not yet? He says here that the limit, in
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other words, of God's patience and God's mercy for their sin
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had not yet been reached. What in the world does that
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mean? Let me tell you a couple things.
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It means number #1 it means this.
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It means God is incredibly gracious and kind and merciful.
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God is looking over as King of kings, a people group in total
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rebellion against him. And he says, I'm going to
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continue to give them hundreds of years to repent.
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I'm going to give them hundreds of years more of my patients.
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What they're doing is an abomination in my sight.
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The mercy and the love and the graciousness of Almighty God
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continuing to pour out year after year after year after year
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of them to do otherwise. God's God is merciful.
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God is kind. He is compassionate.
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He is full of grace. And yet #2 this means that
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they're in a very real time. There is a very real time when
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God says enough is enough, when there's sin.
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Many scholars have described this as the legal limit of sin.
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When God says sin has come up before him to a degree that is
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enough, that his judgment, it's time, His patience, his mercy,
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his kindness has been extended. But God, who is holy, must judge
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sin. So just judgment for their sin
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is coming. God says it's just not coming
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yet. It's going to come, and you know
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how it's going to come. It's going to come when God
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leads his people, Israel into the promised land to do what?
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To dispossessed, to overthrow these nations, including the
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Amorites, for their idolatry, for their corruption, for their
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unrighteousness, for their child sacrifice, for all their
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wickedness and oppression, for all that rebellion against God.
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God says there's a time coming when I'm going to send in my
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just judgment. I'm going to dispossessed 1
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nation. I'm going to raise up another,
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which is actually what happened, but only after hundreds of years
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of God's patience. Y'all just to share a little bit
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with you of what I processed as I process this text is I can't
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help. Perhaps you can't help, or I
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hope we can't help but draw some connections between ancient
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Amorites and modern day Americans.
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We would do the text injustice not to realize the connection.
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For their sins for which God said judgement is coming but
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just not yet. You can find in every
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manifestation in the present modern day context of the
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country in which we live, idolatry, sexual immorality,
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violence, corruption, child sacrifice at about 100,000 kids
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a month killed in the womb in our country.
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I don't know how many of the Amorites did, but I bet it
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wasn't that many. God gave them hundreds of years
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of patience. You can't help if you're being
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honest when you read the Bible and you look around, ask
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yourself God, how long do we have?
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How long do we have? Because there's a there's a
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time. God says enough is is enough
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people. Often, sometimes you'll hear
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people argue about whether or not we're a Christian nation.
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I actually think that discussion is quite honest at the end of
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the day, unprofitable. Because I don't really think God
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cares what we call ourselves. I think God cares what we are.
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God doesn't so much want a name, a country in name only.
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And by the way, there is absolutely no doubt that
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judeo-christian values are in the DNA of our inception, and
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it's one of the reasons God's hand has been on our nation.
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But what God wants is a nation. Blessed is the nation whose God
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is the Lord. That that's not just for
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America, that's for any people, because what God wants is a
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nation whose leaders and whose people acknowledge God is God,
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know him personally, and dedicate themselves to honor him
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in every area of their lives. That's what God wants.
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Call it what you want. God wants us to know him and
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live by honoring him. And so as those who do, our
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quest beginning right here in Cartersville is to seek as the
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people of God, to live as those who know Jesus and to obey him.
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And then from sea to shining sea, to see that people from our
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mouths hear about him so they can know him and obey him.
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And then from the ends of the earth, we go right here from
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Cartersville so the people can know him and obey him.
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Because you know what happens when a leader group of leaders,
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when a country, when a people know God and honor him as God,
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you know what happens? Knowing and honoring Jesus
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eliminates it's idolatry. Knowing and honoring Jesus leads
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to sexual purity. Knowing and honoring Jesus stops
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violence, drives out corruption, smothers greed and injustice,
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and causes us to value and protect the sanctity and dignity
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of human life, of those made in the image of God that we
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sacrifice on the altar of worship to the God of our
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convenience. Ladies and gentlemen, you can't
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help but ask how much time do we have?
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He said, Kyle, I need a little bit of hope right here.
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Let me just tell you what God says.
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God gives us a principle in Scripture, just how he deals
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with sin. There he talks to us in the same
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about how he deals when people are ready and willing to respond
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in light of what they've seen. Second Chronicles 714 says this.
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If my people who are called by my name, well, what humble
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themselves and pray and do what seek my my face and turn from
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their wicked ways, and God says, I'll hear, I'll hear from
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heaven, I'll forgive their sin and I'll heal their land.
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Listen, the God who is the King of kings and Lord of Lords is
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looking and longing for people to humble themselves and pray
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and repent of sin and come running back to him and saying,
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Oh God, oh God forgive us. Oh God have mercy on us.
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Do we deserve it? No.
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Could we ever earn it? No.
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Does God say He'll give it when we ask humbly to seek him?
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Yes. If you're taking notes here, I
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want you to write this down. I'm going to give you a lot of
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words for God, but there's reasons why.
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Number one, God is holy, sovereign, merciful and just.
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God is holy, sovereign, merciful and just can I just give you a
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little insight when you're reading your Bible and you're
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reading a text like this and you don't have a fig Newton's idea
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what in the world that means for your normal Monday morning life.
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You ever been there? OK, you may be still be
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wondering that about this sermon.
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I'm not sure but listen, here's here's what you do.
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You ask yourself, what is this text teaching about God?
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Because anytime you ask that question, you'll start to see
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clearly what is this text of the Bible teaching me about God?
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And what is teaching you about God is that God is holy, that
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God is sovereign, that God is merciful, and God is just.
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He has all of those things and more at the same time.
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And when you start seeing who God is clearly, because you can
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see that through His word, then you can see clearly how one
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ought to adjust one's life to live, to know and honor God, who
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alone is God. And all the sudden that becomes
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very relevant on Monday morning and Friday night when you get a
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clear glimpse of who God is and who he is and how he operates.
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And the Bible will always reveal that if you just ask that
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question when you're reading it. So God is holy, sinful man
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cannot be in his presence, completely exposed without his
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protection or his forgiveness in the righteousness of Christ and
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survive. God is sovereign.
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He's in complete control of kings and kingdoms and peoples
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and nations. He's merciful, right?
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He's extending hundreds of years of patience and mercy to people
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in complete rebellion against him.
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He's finally just. He always judges sin at just the
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right time and in just the right way.
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Even if we don't understand God, who is infinite in his wisdom
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and completely and compassionate beyond our understanding, also
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holy, justly judges sin. All those things are true about
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God. Final section beginning in verse
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17. When the sun had gone down and
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it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch
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passed between these pieces. And on that day the Lord made a
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covenant with Abram, saying To your offspring, I give this lamp
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from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
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Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kinozites, the
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Cadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Raphaim, the
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Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.
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The sun has set. It's dark, but it's not just
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dark, it's real dark. It's the kind of dark that's not
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natural dark. It's darker than that because of
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a supernatural darkness that God has brought.
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Abram is fast asleep, but he's wide awake spiritually.
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All Abram can see is this smoking fire pot in a flaming
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torch. I want you to think about if
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you've ever cooked with a Dutch oven or an ancient way.
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They would have cooked before modern electricity or gas.
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They would have used an oven flamed by fire to cook their
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food. I want you to picture this
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boiling pot, this ancient oven with fire and a flaming torch.
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These two things represent, with fire, if you will, in purity the
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very presence of Almighty God. That's what you're seeing here,
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represented by these things. And Abram sees the smoking oven
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in the flaming torch. Watch this pass between the
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pieces of the carcasses that he split in half and then laid the
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halves opposite each other. He watches the smoking pot in
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the flaming torch pass through the middle through where the
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blood had flowed, where the bodies were split, where they
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were cut, where the blood was. That's where he sees the
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presence of God go. Literally the Bible says here
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when you read in English, your God made a covenant with Abram.
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Literally the Hebrew language, God cut a covenant with Abram.
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For that's how a covenant was made, not with pen and ink, but
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with blood and a knife. And what's fascinating about
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this is that during these days when agreements would have been
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made like this or covenants would have been entered.
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What we know from history is that when a king entered one
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with a servant, often times the way this would have worked is
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that the animals would be split open.
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The blood would have flowed, A passageway would be between the
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middle and the servant was required to walk between the
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pieces. And by walking between the
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pieces, what they're saying is this.
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They're not signing their name. They're saying, let it be unto
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me as these I walk between. Should I violate the terms of
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the agreement between you and I? Let I be split open, Let my
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blood be spilt, Let this happen to me.
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Let the curse that fell on these animals fall on me.
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Should I violate? But in what we know from history
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is that the king didn't walk through, The servant would, but
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it was assumed that the king would keep the terms of the
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agreement without actually having to walk through the
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blood. This is the only recorded one we
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have in history where the servant doesn't walk through.
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Who walks through? The king and only the king?
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Say, Kyle, what in the world does that mean?
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It means that God himself was walking through the pieces of
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these animals saying let it be done to me.
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Let what happened to them happened to me.
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Let my blood be spilled if I were to violate Abram, the
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covenant that I'm cutting with you.
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But guess who doesn't walk through?
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Abram doesn't walk through. Why doesn't Abram sign?
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Because God signed for him by signing for him and for Abram
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God walks through saying Abram, if I fail to keep, then let it
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be done unto me. And Abram, if you fail to keep,
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let it also be done to me. Do you see what God is doing
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when God is committing himself by him being the one to walk
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through the cutting of the covenant with it all falling on
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him? God signs for both sides, for
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both parties. When God cut this covenant, 2
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didn't sign one sign for two. The covenant could not fail,
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therefore, because God himself cannot fail, and he's the one
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whose Son y'all. This is actually one of the
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clearest pictures of Christ in the Old Testament.
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Let me see if I can make it even more clear for you.
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Watch this. Are you ready?
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As Abram was in a deep sleep, so too you could say in a spiritual
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way the New Testament says we are dead in a quote spiritual
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deep blindness state of sleep. In our sin we are blinded to the
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goodness and grace of God. In our natural state we can't do
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anything to save ourselves. The Bible says.
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The Gospels then tell us that when Christ died, a what
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descended on Calvary in the middle of the day?
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A darkness, Not a natural darkness.
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A supernatural darkness where the sun refused to shine on the
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crucifixion of the Christ Jesus's body was broken there on
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a tree. No, it wasn't cut in two and
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laid and laid one side of the but it was split with a spear
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wide open where blood did flow. And his body was broken for
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sinners, and there his blood flowed for sinners.
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And just as it would have been quite a visceral scene when
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Abraham slaughtered those animals, so it was for the Son
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of Man who was marred beyond human recognition, Isaiah 53
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says mangled by men to the point where one could not, they would
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turn your face away from him. Was God dying?
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Was the Son of God? Was Jesus, who is fully man and
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fully God, dying because he, God, had not kept up his end of
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the bargain? Was God dying because you and I
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have not kept up our end of the bargain?
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Was God dying because He's the one who signed?
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He's the one who signed the covenant with Abram.
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Abram, should you, should your offspring ever not keep this
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covenant and fail the covenant we have?
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Amen. Fail to keep up our end of the
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deal, sinned and fallen short of the glory of God we all have.
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But God signed for you and for me with the body and the blood
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of His Son. In a way, God walked through the
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pieces of the broken body of His Son to sign with His body and
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His blood for sinners, including you and me, so that His
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signature is what we would depend on for our salvation, not
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ours. Amen.
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Because guess what? If my salvation depended on my
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John Hancock, I would have failed and failed over and over
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again, and so would so would you.
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But God signed in your place. And guess what?
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What God starts God, what God completes.
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Aren't you glad God signed for you #2 write it down.
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God signed His covenant for you with the body and blood of His
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Son. When it comes to the Christian
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life, friends, where do you sign?
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You don't, because God's already signed for you.
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God makes a covenant with Abram, not Abram with God, and all
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Abram has to do is trust in the covenant.
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By what? By faith, for by grace you've
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been saved through. It's not of your own doing.
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It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should
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boast, right. We don't make a covenant with
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God. God makes one with us.
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We don't sign. God signs for us.
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We couldn't pay for our sin. God paid for our sin for us with
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the body and blood of this. And the Christian life, friends,
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is not so much Gods are our commitment to God.
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The Christian life is far more God's commitment to us.
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When it comes to the Christian life, where do you sign You
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don't because God has already signed for you.
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The question is, have you put your faith in God's signature
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for you through His Son who bled and died for you?
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In your place? John and praise team are going
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to come out. I have a few different responses
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I want you to consider. I think one of these three will
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apply to everybody in the room. Number 1 is this, if you've
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never by faith trusted in Jesus Christ, whose body was broken
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and blood was shed to pay for your sin so that you can be
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given forgiveness and life, y'all, today is the day.
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God says He gave the amorite hundreds of years of his
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patients. How many years?
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How many days of God's patience has God-given you?
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And you've yet though his arms are outstretched to you to trust
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him to receive his Son, but you've refused it thus far and
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God says today is the day. Why refuse it another day?
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Why not call on God to save you, you who died for you?
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That's why I'm going to stand right here when we respond in
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our time of invitation, you can step out and say I need to trust
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Christ. Pastor Kyle, today needs to be
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my day. You come #2 you might be in the
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room. And to go back to where we
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started with Abraham, whose faith was real, but it was often
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weak. Maybe you're there, Kyle.
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My faith is real. I've been saved, but man, Satan
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is all over me because I've been failing.
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I've been walking in disobedience.
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I've been struggling to believe, struggling to obey, struggling
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to honor God and Kyle, right now, I quite honestly feel like
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maybe God's giving up on me, or at least I feel that way.
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Or I feel far from Him. And you need to be reminded, you
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need to be encouraged that God didn't sign with His Son so that
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His Son could let go of you. You've trusted in Christ.
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You've received the salvation that Jesus offers.
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I don't it it, it doesn't matter how you've messed up God saying,
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would you trust and what I've done for you?
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Would you let me pick you back up and put you back on the path?
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Maybe you need to come and say, I need the Lord to just restore
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me to the commitment that he's that I know he's made to me and
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I've made to him and I need to, I need to ask him to renew my
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fortify my faith #3 if God says if my people will humble
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themselves and pray, I can't help but think these are days we
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need to be praying. Amen.
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How could we not as the people of God?
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How could we not based on what we see in our day, in our
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culture, on the forces of darkness that are at work and
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pressing the evil agenda of the enemy all around.
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How could we as the people of God not seek to humble ourselves
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when we come? And perhaps you want to come
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humble yourself, get on your knees or come stand or some come
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and sat on the front row, the first service and just just
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pleaded with God on behalf of our nation, just asking God for
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mercy, saying God, open our eyes.
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Let us live with boldness and kindness and courage in the face
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of evil, in the face of the agenda of the enemy God, knowing
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that there is a time when you say enough is enough.
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Let us not be asleep at the wheel of life and eternity and
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what God's doing and what he wants to do.
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So I'm going to, I'm going to ask you to intercede for our I'm
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going to ask you to intercede for America, for our leaders.
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Who cares what we're called? God cares what we call him and
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how we choose to obey him and honor him.
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And that's what we need to pray is true in our lives, in our
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county, our community, our state, and beyond.
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Father God, I pray that this morning we'd respond to you
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boldly, wholeheartedly, full of faith and trust in what you've
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done. Have your way in these next
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moments, I pray in Jesus name, Amen.
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Would you stand? Would you come use this altar?
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Come talk to me. Come, let us pray with you.
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You come as the Lord leads.