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A Time of Deliverance · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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  We can turn back to our reading in Deuteronomy chapter 29.
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  ! We're going to be looking at the whole chapter.
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  We can read again at verse 9.
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  ! Deuteronomy 29 at verse 9.
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  Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them,
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  that you may prosper in all that you do.
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  A nation stands on the threshold of freedom,
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  having been under the rule of a foreign nation for many years.
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  The people are being encouraged to make a choice,
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  to make a stand that will affect their future
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  and the future of generations to come.
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  It sounds like something we hear almost on a daily basis just now,
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  whether we're looking at our own nation or other nations around the world.
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  People looking for deliverance, people looking for a way forward.
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  But this is not a present-day political rally.
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  This is turning to the Word of God and what we see here in the book of Deuteronomy
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  is this very kind of setting.
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  And it's hard for us to imagine what it has taken for the children of Israel
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  to arrive at this point that we're reading of in chapter 29 of Deuteronomy.
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  They have come through so much.
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  When we were singing there in Psalm 114,
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  we were given a little taste of just the kind of things that they came through,
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  coming out of Egypt, having been an oppression there for many years as slaves
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  and suffering under the cruelty of that,
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  and then being led out of Egypt, but not an easy way,
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  a very difficult way, coming through many different challenges,
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  to such a point that the people cried out,
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  would it not have been better for us to stay in Egypt where we were?
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  And yet all the time God was leading them to that promised place,
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  a place that's described as flowing with milk and honey,
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  a place that the spies spied out.
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  And only two of them, Joshua and Caleb,
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  came back saying,
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  here is a great land,
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  a place that God has prepared for us that we can go into.
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  And others said,
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  no, it is too difficult.
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  They've come through so many challenges.
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  And from that point,
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  when the spies returned and said,
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  no, it's too difficult,
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  and the people went along with them,
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  they were then 40 years wandering in a wilderness,
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  so that none of those who actually came out of Egypt,
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  far from Joshua and Caleb,
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  would go into the promised land.
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  The rest lost their way.
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  They lost their focus on God.
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  But what Moses is here doing
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  is bringing them to that point
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  where they're here on the border of the promised land,
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  saying, how are we going to go forward?
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  How are we going to go into this land?
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  How are we going to go from strength to strength?
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  And Moses is saying it is by putting the Lord central to it all,
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  by keeping the Lord as our focus.
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  Otherwise, we lose our way.
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  Otherwise, the devil comes in and displaces us,
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  misguides us, leads us in the wrong ways.
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  In the former Soviet Union,
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  government frequently published maps that were inaccurate.
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  They had false information put on them.
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  It was vague.
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  Towns, rivers, roads,
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  they were all misplaced or mislabeled.
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  Why?
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  Why?
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  Why would anybody want to do that?
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  Well, it was for national security.
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  That's what they said.
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  So if anybody came and tried to spy the land
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  or find a way or where a city was,
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  then they would be confused.
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  They would be in the wrong place.
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  They would be looking in the wrong places.
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  But it caused confusion for everyone.
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  It was a tactic called maskerovka.
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  It means misdirection or misinformation.
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  But all it does is lead to confusion.
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  And you can almost say that's a devil's tactic, maskerovka.
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  It's the kind of thing that he wants us to fall into as well.
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  Misdirection, confusion,
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  not knowing the way we should go by looking in the wrong place.
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  But God speaks to us and God guides us.
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  And that's what we need.
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  We need an accurate map to have an accurate way.
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  And God's word is just that.
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  And that is what Moses is giving to the people here in Deuteronomy.
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  As they're about to go in to this great land that they've been promised.
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  He speaks from the outset of the book in this way.
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  He says in Deuteronomy 1 verse 1,
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  These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness.
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  God was speaking through Moses.
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  And you see it here again in 29 verse 1.
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  These are the words of the covenant
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  that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel.
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  God was speaking.
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  God was giving them guidance.
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  A nation to go forward.
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  A nation to be blessed.
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  A people to be blessed.
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  It was by trusting in the Lord.
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  You know when we think of nations and our own nation today.
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  Leaders will produce manifestos.
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  They will talk about this is the way we are to go forward.
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  This is the way we will go forward and prosper in so many different ways.
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  Information and plans for a better future.
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  But does it become reality?
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  So often it doesn't.
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  So often it doesn't because the promises that are made just cannot be fulfilled.
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  But above all there's no thought of God.
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  There's no putting God first in it all.
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  And for God's people, whether it's in the days of Moses or our own day,
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  what we need is God first and foremost.
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  And that's what Moses is doing here in Deuteronomy.
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  He's giving them a manifesto, if you like.
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  A manifesto to live and to prosper and to be blessed.
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  A road map that is one that is accurate, that is true.
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  And so we need it to go forward.
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  And as with any manifesto, there's key points.
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  And that's what we're going to think about this morning,
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  the key points of what Moses is telling the people here in chapter 29.
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  You see, there's four things just very quickly we want to look at.
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  An overview, an observation, an outcome, and an offer.
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  An overview, an observation, an outcome, and an offer.
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  So the first thing is an overview.
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  The book of Deuteronomy can be outlined,
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  and it's been outlined by some people like this.
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  Chapter 1 to 4, it's about looking back.
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  End of chapter 4 through to chapter 26, it's about looking up.
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  And then chapter 27 to 34, it's looking forward.
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  That's the kind of outline you have in the book of Deuteronomy.
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  But it's hard just to separate them, isn't it?
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  You can't look forward without looking back and looking up.
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  You can't look back without looking up as well.
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  They all just go together.
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  But so often we can be guilty maybe of just maybe taking one or two of these things.
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  We can be guilty of looking back and looking forward without looking up.
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  And you can just rehash them all.
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  Because we need to have all three, really.
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  And that's what you see with Moses here in chapter 29.
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  And as he is seeking to go forward, he does it by both looking forward,
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  but also looking back.
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  But above all, looking up.
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  Looking up to God.
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  Because when you see in the outset of this chapter, what you see is this overview of things,
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  this review of things like any kind of manifesto would have.
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  Where are we now?
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  What resources do we have?
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  What kind of infrastructure do we have?
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  How can we go forward?
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  Moses does this with God in mind.
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  And that's what you see at the outset.
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  These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel.
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  And then in verse 2, he summoned the people to him.
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  You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt.
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  So he's taking them back.
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  He's taking them back there to Pharaoh, to all his servants,
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  and then to the journey that they've had coming through to the point they're at now.
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  The great wonders that they have seen.
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  All the different things that are going on.
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  So there's a whole overview of things here for them.
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  And it's a good thing to do.
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  As we think of anything that we're involved in in church or as a people,
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  we need to look at the bigger picture.
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  To look at what's going on.
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  He reminds them here that they can look back and see that God has been with them faithfully
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  through 40 years.
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  40 years of wandering through the wilderness.
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  And he's never failed them.
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  And you see it in just the way the clothes that they wore, the shoes that they wore.
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  They had food, they had drink.
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  For 40 years, everything.
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  God has been faithful.
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  What do we see?
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  What do you see when you review your life?
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  When you do an overview of your life?
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  Looking back over all your years, what do you see?
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  Each of us might see different things.
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  We will.
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  We've all come through different experiences.
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  Some will say, I was my happiest when I was close to God.
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  I knew great blessings.
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  I was lost before I came to faith and everything was wonderful.
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  But others might say, well, my life I felt was good before I found the Lord, before the Lord found me.
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  But when I came to faith, suddenly my life started to unravel in so many different ways.
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  How can we marry the two together?
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  Why should one person have one and another person another?
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  We cannot understand.
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  You just have to look at the last words of this chapter.
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  God has revealed to us a way of faith.
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  God has revealed to us a way of faith.
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  So that in any overview that we're looking at, we have to look at it in the bigger picture.
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  That God has allowed things into our lives.
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  Some are good.
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  Some are hard to understand.
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  But all the time, God knows.
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  And God is leading.
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  And we come to a point where we can look back and say, God has been with us every step.
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  Never failed us.
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  Can you look back like that?
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  Are you able to see the bigger picture?
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  To see in an overview of all things the way the Lord has led to this point?
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  Are you able to say, hitherto, the Lord has helped.
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  What a blessing it is when you can.
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  And if you can't.
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  If today you're saying, I just cannot see God in the midst of my life.
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  He is calling you to look to him.
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  To trust in him.
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  To lean upon him.
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  He is saying that, keep pressing on.
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  They couldn't see it in all these years.
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  40 years of wandering through the wilderness.
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  Just what was ahead.
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  But they were kept going.
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  They were kept.
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  And that is the way we are to be as well.
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  The Lord will keep us.
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  Through the hardships.
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  Through the joys.
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  Through it all.
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  The Lord keeps us.
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  So the first thing we see here is an overview.
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  And in an overview we see our need of God.
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  And how God is there for us.
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  The second thing we see here is an observation.
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  In the bigger picture we focus in on some of the smaller issues as well.
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  We hear problems today.
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  The usual problems when people are talking in a political way.
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  Poor health care.
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  Unemployment.
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  Poverty.
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  Education.
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  The economy.
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  Crime.
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  All of these things are mentioned.
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  But what is the observation that comes from Moses here?
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  When you come to this place.
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  When you come in to this land.
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  What are they going to find?
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  What are they going to see?
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  Well the biggest problem is idols.
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  Idols.
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  But it points them back to the observation overall.
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  That the problem with the people is the heart.
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  Because our hearts are drawn towards idols.
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  Do you think that's true of yourself today?
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  How is your heart with God today?
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  Are you feeling that sense of closeness?
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  Are you trusting in him?
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  Or are you leaving him out?
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  Are you pushing him away?
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  That's the problem that the people here were facing in the days of Moses.
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  They are going forward but what to?
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  There are going to be many different challenges for them.
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  They are familiar with idols.
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  They have seen them before.
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  You look at verse 16.
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  You know how we lived in the land of Egypt.
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  And how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed.
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  And you have seen their detestable things.
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  Their idols of wood and stone.
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  Of silver and gold which were among them.
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  Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe.
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  Whose heart is turning away today.
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  Whose heart is turning away today.
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  It is the heart that is being led astray.
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  John Calvin once said,
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  The heart is an idol factory.
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  In other words, the heart is able to produce idol after idol after idol.
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  And an idol is something we put in the place of God.
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  And he is warning them here.
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  This is the observation that he has.
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  This is going to be your greatest danger going forward.
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  Your heart.
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  Frank Sinatra said,
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  I did it my way.
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  It's a common song at funerals.
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  And it's what we see in this chapter as well.
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  We see that that is the danger of this attitude.
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  Of making it out that it is about our ways.
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  Look at verse 19.
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  One who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant,
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  blesses himself in his heart, saying,
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  I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.
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  There is the attitude of doing it my way.
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  What is the idol of your heart today?
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  What is it that comes between you and God?
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  What easily leads you astray?
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  There are so many because we can just produce them over and over.
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  Pride.
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  Pride can so often be in our hearts.
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  Humility can stop us coming to God.
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  Now that doesn't sound right, does it?
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  Humility.
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  We are told to be humble,
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  and yet we can have a false humility.
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  And say that my heart is just so wretched,
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  so wicked that I'm not good enough to come to God.
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  It's a false kind of humility.
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  But it can be a big problem.
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  Stubbornness.
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  Or too easily led us astray.
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  They both seem like opposites,
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  and yet they can lead us in the same direction,
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  the wrong direction.
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  Greed or covetousness.
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  There's just so many.
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  Think of this little story of a salesman.
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  He used to go around
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  and would make hundreds of sales,
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  going door to door.
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  How did he do it?
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  Well, just in a few words.
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  He would say to the people he was visiting,
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  let me show you something.
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  Several of your neighbors have said you couldn't afford.
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  What does that make you do?
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  What would that make you do
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  if someone said that to you at your doorstep?
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  It makes you want to prove them wrong, doesn't it?
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  That stubbornness,
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  that covetousness,
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  that pride,
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  it can so easily come in.
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  And Moses knew the kind of people he had.
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  He knew how easy they would be led astray.
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  He knew the challenges
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  that they were going to face up to,
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  the challenges we read there in verse 16 to 18.
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  And he says,
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  beware,
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  beware.
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  And look at how seriously he puts it
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  at the end of verse 18.
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  Beware lest there be among you
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  a root bearing poisonous
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  and bitter fruit.
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  That's how dangerous it is.
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  Poisonous
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  and bitter fruit.
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  That's how easily the heart
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  can become hardened against God
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  and against his people
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  and against his ways.
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  When we are led astray,
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  when we are led by idols,
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  false gods,
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  and turn away from God,
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  a poisonous
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  and a bitter root
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  takes over.
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  And that is one thing
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  we have to guard against
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  at all times.
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  So we have an overview,
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  we have an observation.
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  Then thirdly,
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  we have an outcome.
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  An outcome predicted.
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  Any kind of manifesto,
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  anything that's looking
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  to the way ahead,
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  it always tries to predict
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  the outcome.
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  If we go this way,
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  we will prosper,
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  we will do well.
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  But it's always so difficult
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  to predict.
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  Over the years,
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  people have always tried
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  to predict
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  the way things would go.
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  Famously,
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  Thomas J. Watson,
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  who was chairman
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  of the board of IBM
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  back in the 1940s,
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  said,
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  I can see a market
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  for computers
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  in the world
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  of only five.
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  Five computers.
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  That was then.
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  Look at the world
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  we live in today.
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  There's computers
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  everywhere.
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  There's computers
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  in your hands.
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  Another man,
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  an author,
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  Geoffrey Gittimer,
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  I think it is,
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  he said back in 1963
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  when I graduated,
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  there were no
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  personal computers,
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  no cell phones,
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  no internet,
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  no credit cards,
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  no cassette tapes,
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  no satellite TV.
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  In the space of 60 years,
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  all of these things
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  have come.
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  In fact,
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  some have come
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  and gone.
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  Cassette tapes,
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  now people don't even
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  know what they are.
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  Back in 1963,
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  they hadn't been produced.
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  It's hard to predict.
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  But what God does
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  is deal in certainties.
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  In certainties.
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  Because there's nothing
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  hard for God
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  to predict.
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  And the predictions
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  that he gives
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  in this chapter
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  are warnings.
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  If you continue
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  in your own way,
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  if you turn
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  to these false gods,
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  you see it
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  in verse 24
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  to verse 26.
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  A long list
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  of predictions
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  and disasters,
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  but there's a reason
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  given why.
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  Verse 24,
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  all the nations
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  will ask,
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  why has the Lord
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  done this to the land?
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  Why this fierce,
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  burning anger?
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  And the answer
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  will be,
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  it is because
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  this people
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  abandoned
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  the covenant
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  of the Lord,
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  the God of their fathers,
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  the covenant
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  he made with them
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  when he brought
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  them out of Egypt.
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  They went off
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  and worshipped
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  other gods
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  and bowed down
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  to them,
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  gods they did not know,
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  gods he had not
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  given them.
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  This is the outcome
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  predicted.
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  They will go
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  because that's
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  their natural way.
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  But when they go
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  they will find it
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  empty.
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  They will only
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  find destruction.
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  That is the warning.
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  It's the same warning
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  as Jesus gives
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  in the Gospel
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  of Mark,
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  chapter 8.
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  What does it
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  profit a man
• 21:12
  to gain the whole
• 21:13
  world and forfeit
• 21:14
  his soul?
• 21:16
  what's it worth?
• 21:20
  What's your soul
• 21:21
  worth today
• 21:22
  to you?
• 21:23
  Is it worth
• 21:24
  turning away
• 21:25
  from God
• 21:26
  and losing it?
• 21:30
  It's not something
• 21:31
  God wants.
• 21:33
  And you see that
• 21:33
  as you go on
• 21:34
  into chapter 30
• 21:36
  in this book.
• 21:39
  Repentance
• 21:40
  and forgiveness
• 21:40
  is the heading
• 21:41
  at chapter 30.
• 21:42
  But just look
• 21:42
  at verse 6.
• 21:45
  The Lord
• 21:45
  will God
• 21:46
  will circumcise
• 21:47
  your heart
• 21:47
  and the heart
• 21:48
  of your offspring
• 21:48
  so that you
• 21:49
  will love
• 21:50
  the Lord
• 21:50
  your God
• 21:51
  with all your
• 21:51
  heart,
• 21:52
  with all your
• 21:52
  soul,
• 21:53
  that you may
• 21:54
  live.
• 21:54
  He doesn't
• 21:56
  want you
• 21:57
  lost.
• 21:58
  He wants
• 21:59
  you to live.
• 22:01
  And that is
• 22:01
  the power
• 22:02
  that He is
• 22:02
  able to
• 22:03
  produce in
• 22:03
  your heart.
• 22:05
  To circumcise
• 22:06
  your heart
• 22:07
  means to
• 22:07
  open your
• 22:09
  heart before
• 22:09
  God.
• 22:11
  To change
• 22:12
  your heart.
• 22:13
  That is the
• 22:14
  power that He
• 22:15
  has.
• 22:16
  And that's
• 22:17
  what God
• 22:17
  wants.
• 22:20
  That is the
• 22:21
  outcome He
• 22:22
  is looking
• 22:22
  for.
• 22:23
  not that
• 22:25
  we would
• 22:25
  perish,
• 22:26
  but that
• 22:27
  we would
• 22:27
  live.
• 22:29
  And that
• 22:29
  leads us
• 22:30
  to the
• 22:31
  final thing.
• 22:32
  Because the
• 22:33
  final thing
• 22:34
  we see here
• 22:34
  is an
• 22:35
  offer.
• 22:36
  An offer.
• 22:39
  You see it
• 22:39
  again in
• 22:40
  chapter 30
• 22:41
  verse 11
• 22:42
  downwards,
• 22:43
  the choice
• 22:43
  of life
• 22:45
  and death.
• 22:47
  You see it
• 22:47
  here in
• 22:48
  chapter 29
• 22:49
  verse 9
• 22:50
  that we read,
• 22:51
  therefore keep
• 22:52
  the words
• 22:53
  of this
• 22:53
  covenant
• 22:53
  and do
• 22:54
  them that
• 22:55
  you may
• 22:55
  prosper in
• 22:57
  all that
• 22:57
  you do.
• 22:58
  That you
• 22:58
  may live.
• 22:59
  That you
• 23:00
  may know
• 23:00
  deliverance.
• 23:02
  That is
• 23:03
  what He
• 23:03
  wants for
• 23:04
  His people
• 23:04
  here.
• 23:05
  That is
• 23:06
  what He
• 23:06
  wants for
• 23:06
  His people
• 23:07
  today.
• 23:10
  The choice
• 23:12
  that is put
• 23:13
  before us.
• 23:14
  The choice
• 23:15
  that is
• 23:15
  there.
• 23:15
  Choose
• 23:16
  God
• 23:16
  and live.
• 23:19
  That is
• 23:20
  so often
• 23:20
  the choice
• 23:21
  that we
• 23:22
  see
• 23:22
  throughout
• 23:22
  Scripture.
• 23:23
  The choice
• 23:23
  that God
• 23:24
  calls us
• 23:25
  to.
• 23:27
  That is
• 23:27
  the real
• 23:28
  call of
• 23:29
  this passage.
• 23:30
  To find
• 23:31
  a way to
• 23:31
  prosper.
• 23:32
  To find a
• 23:33
  way of
• 23:33
  deliverance.
• 23:34
  To put
• 23:35
  our trust
• 23:36
  in God.
• 23:37
  That is
• 23:37
  what verse
• 23:37
  9 asks
• 23:38
  of us.
• 23:39
  To
• 23:40
  consider.
• 23:41
  To look
• 23:42
  at all
• 23:43
  that we
• 23:43
  hear in
• 23:44
  these words.
• 23:44
  keep the
• 23:45
  words of
• 23:46
  this
• 23:46
  covenant.
• 23:48
  A
• 23:48
  covenant
• 23:49
  is a
• 23:50
  promise.
• 23:52
  God
• 23:52
  makes His
• 23:53
  promise
• 23:53
  to us.
• 23:55
  He will
• 23:55
  be our
• 23:56
  God.
• 23:58
  We will
• 23:58
  be His
• 23:59
  people
• 23:59
  when we
• 24:00
  put our
• 24:01
  trust
• 24:01
  in Him.
• 24:04
  And it
• 24:04
  comes with
• 24:05
  a warning.
• 24:07
  There is
• 24:07
  always a
• 24:08
  warning.
• 24:10
  Just think
• 24:10
  of Jesus'
• 24:11
  teaching in
• 24:12
  the Sermon
• 24:12
  on the
• 24:13
  Mount in
• 24:13
  chapter 7
• 24:14
  of Matthew.
• 24:15
  There He
• 24:16
  presents that
• 24:17
  great picture.
• 24:18
  Enter by
• 24:18
  the narrow
• 24:19
  gate, for
• 24:19
  the gate
• 24:20
  is wide,
• 24:21
  and the
• 24:21
  way is
• 24:21
  easy that
• 24:22
  leads to
• 24:22
  destruction,
• 24:23
  and those
• 24:24
  who enter
• 24:25
  by it
• 24:25
  are many.
• 24:27
  For the
• 24:27
  gate is
• 24:28
  narrow, and
• 24:28
  the way
• 24:29
  is hard
• 24:29
  that leads
• 24:30
  to life,
• 24:31
  and those
• 24:31
  who find
• 24:32
  it are
• 24:33
  few.
• 24:33
  He puts
• 24:33
  the choice,
• 24:34
  the broad
• 24:35
  road and
• 24:35
  the narrow
• 24:36
  roads.
• 24:38
  The choice
• 24:38
  between life
• 24:39
  and death.
• 24:40
  It's that
• 24:41
  stark.
• 24:44
  The choice
• 24:45
  that Joshua
• 24:47
  and Caleb
• 24:48
  put before
• 24:49
  us so
• 24:51
  often as
• 24:52
  well, when
• 24:52
  you go back
• 24:53
  to Numbers,
• 24:53
  before they
• 24:54
  went into
• 24:54
  the promised
• 24:55
  land, Joshua
• 24:56
  and Caleb
• 24:57
  said to the
• 24:58
  congregation of
• 24:59
  the people in
• 24:59
  Numbers 14
• 25:00
  verse 6 to
• 25:01
  9,
• 25:01
  the land
• 25:02
  which we
• 25:02
  passed
• 25:03
  through to
• 25:03
  spy it
• 25:04
  out is
• 25:04
  an exceedingly
• 25:05
  good land.
• 25:06
  If the
• 25:06
  Lord delights
• 25:07
  in us, he
• 25:08
  will bring
• 25:08
  us into
• 25:09
  this land
• 25:09
  and give
• 25:10
  it to
• 25:10
  us.
• 25:11
  Only do
• 25:11
  not rebel
• 25:12
  against the
• 25:12
  Lord and
• 25:13
  do not
• 25:13
  fear the
• 25:14
  people of
• 25:14
  the land.
• 25:15
  The Lord
• 25:16
  is with
• 25:16
  us.
• 25:16
  Do not
• 25:17
  fear them.
• 25:18
  There was
• 25:19
  a choice.
• 25:19
  They chose
• 25:20
  to turn
• 25:21
  away from
• 25:22
  that, to
• 25:22
  turn away
• 25:23
  from God,
• 25:23
  and they
• 25:24
  ended up
• 25:24
  being lost
• 25:25
  in the
• 25:25
  wilderness.
• 25:26
  And here
• 25:27
  we are now
• 25:27
  40 years
• 25:28
  later, and
• 25:30
  they're waiting
• 25:30
  to go on
• 25:30
  again.
• 25:31
  And which
• 25:33
  way would
• 25:33
  they choose?
• 25:35
  That's what's
• 25:35
  being put
• 25:36
  before them.
• 25:37
  Keep the
• 25:38
  words of
• 25:38
  this covenant
• 25:39
  and do
• 25:39
  them that
• 25:40
  you may
• 25:40
  prosper.
• 25:42
  What does
• 25:42
  it mean
• 25:43
  for you?
• 25:44
  What does
• 25:44
  it mean
• 25:44
  for us
• 25:45
  today?
• 25:47
  Keep the
• 25:48
  words that
• 25:49
  God puts
• 25:50
  before us.
• 25:51
  The words
• 25:52
  of his
• 25:52
  covenant.
• 25:53
  The covenant
• 25:54
  fulfilled in
• 25:56
  Jesus Christ.
• 25:58
  That deliverance
• 25:58
  is found in
• 25:59
  him.
• 26:00
  And when we
• 26:01
  put our
• 26:01
  trust in
• 26:02
  him, we
• 26:03
  are to
• 26:03
  follow his
• 26:04
  ways, all
• 26:06
  the ways
• 26:07
  that he
• 26:07
  commands us.
• 26:10
  And there
• 26:10
  are many
• 26:11
  things that
• 26:11
  that leads
• 26:12
  us to.
• 26:13
  Love the
• 26:14
  Lord your
• 26:15
  God with
• 26:16
  all your
• 26:16
  heart, soul
• 26:17
  and mind
• 26:18
  and strength.
• 26:19
  And love
• 26:20
  your neighbor
• 26:20
  as yourself.
• 26:22
  That's the
• 26:22
  summary of
• 26:24
  it.
• 26:25
  Is that
• 26:26
  what we are
• 26:26
  doing?
• 26:27
  is that
• 26:29
  the way
• 26:29
  that we
• 26:29
  are living?
• 26:31
  Is that
• 26:32
  the way
• 26:32
  that we
• 26:33
  are going
• 26:34
  forward?
• 26:35
  Because if
• 26:36
  it's not,
• 26:37
  there is
• 26:38
  that danger
• 26:39
  that we
• 26:39
  read of
• 26:40
  here,
• 26:41
  a poisonous
• 26:42
  and a
• 26:43
  bitter fruit
• 26:44
  when we
• 26:45
  turn away
• 26:45
  from God.
• 26:47
  So let
• 26:48
  us turn
• 26:48
  to him.
• 26:50
  Let us
• 26:51
  look to
• 26:51
  him and
• 26:52
  go forward
• 26:52
  trusting him,
• 26:55
  honoring him,
• 26:57
  loving him
• 26:57
  with all our
• 26:58
  hearts,
• 27:00
  loving our
• 27:00
  neighbor as
• 27:01
  ourself,
• 27:03
  seeking his
• 27:03
  blessing and
• 27:05
  his good
• 27:05
  to us.
• 27:06
  he is
• 27:08
  faithful who
• 27:08
  has promised.
• 27:10
  Let us
• 27:10
  be faithful
• 27:11
  to him.
• 27:13
  Let us
• 27:13
  pray.
• 27:16
  Lord,
• 27:16
  our
• 27:17
  gracious
• 27:17
  God,
• 27:18
  we thank
• 27:18
  you for
• 27:18
  the promises
• 27:19
  that you
• 27:19
  give to
• 27:20
  us,
• 27:20
  that you
• 27:20
  are a
• 27:21
  faithful
• 27:21
  God,
• 27:22
  that you
• 27:23
  are the
• 27:24
  God of
• 27:24
  Abraham,
• 27:25
  Isaac,
• 27:25
  and Jacob
• 27:26
  of old,
• 27:27
  but that
• 27:27
  you are a
• 27:27
  God for
• 27:28
  all your
• 27:28
  people down
• 27:29
  through all
• 27:30
  generations,
• 27:31
  that your
• 27:31
  promises we
• 27:32
  see fulfilled
• 27:33
  in Jesus
• 27:34
  Christ,
• 27:35
  our Lord,
• 27:35
  the one
• 27:36
  who directs
• 27:37
  us,
• 27:37
  the one
• 27:38
  who shows
• 27:38
  us the
• 27:39
  way,
• 27:39
  and may
• 27:39
  you help
• 27:40
  us to
• 27:40
  walk in
• 27:41
  his ways.
• 27:42
  May you
• 27:43
  lead us
• 27:43
  by your
• 27:44
  spirit,
• 27:45
  may you
• 27:45
  guide us
• 27:46
  by your
• 27:46
  truth,
• 27:47
  may you
• 27:47
  forgive us
• 27:47
  in all
• 27:48
  our sin
• 27:48
  as we
• 27:49
  ask it
• 27:49
  all,
• 27:50
  in Jesus
• 27:50
  name,
• 27:51
  Amen.
• 27:58
  We'll
• 27:58
  conclude by
• 27:59
  singing to
• 28:00
  God's
• 28:00
  praise in
• 28:01
  Psalm 138,
• 28:03
  Scottish
• 28:03
  Psalter
• 28:04
  Version,
• 28:04
  page 431
• 28:06
  of the
• 28:07
  Psalm
• 28:07
  books,
• 28:10
  Psalm 138,
• 28:13
  we'll
• 28:13
  sing from
• 28:13
  verse 3
• 28:14
  to 5.
• 28:18
  Thou didst
• 28:19
  me answer
• 28:19
  in the day
• 28:20
  when I
• 28:20
  to thee
• 28:21
  did cry,
• 28:22
  and thou
• 28:22
  my fainting
• 28:23
  soul
• 28:23
  was strengthened,
• 28:24
  strengthen
• 28:25
  inwardly.
• 28:26
  All kings
• 28:26
  upon the
• 28:27
  earth
• 28:27
  shall give
• 28:29
  thee praise,
• 28:29
  O Lord,
• 28:30
  when as
• 28:31
  they from
• 28:31
  thy mouth
• 28:32
  shall hear
• 28:32
  thy true
• 28:33
  and faithful
• 28:34
  word.
• 28:35
  We'll
• 28:35
  sing from
• 28:35
  verse 3
• 28:36
  to 5
• 28:36
  to God's
• 28:37
  praise.
• 28:38
  O tits
• 28:46
  me
• 28:46
  answer
• 28:48
  in
• 28:51
  the
• 28:52
  day
• 28:53
  when
• 28:54
  I
• 28:56
  to
• 28:57
  thee
• 28:58
  did
• 28:59
  cry,
• 29:02
  and
• 29:03
  thou
• 29:04
  my
• 29:06
  painting
• 29:08
  soul
• 29:09
  with
• 29:11
  strength,
• 29:13
  this
• 29:14
  strength
• 29:16
  and
• 29:17
  inwardly.
• 29:22
  All kings
• 29:25
  upon
• 29:26
  the
• 29:28
  earth
• 29:29
  that
• 29:31
  heart
• 29:32
  shall
• 29:34
  give
• 29:35
  thee
• 29:36
  praise,
• 29:38
  O
• 29:39
  Lord,
• 29:41
  when
• 29:42
  last
• 29:44
  they
• 29:45
  from
• 29:47
  thy
• 29:48
  mouth
• 29:49
  shall
• 29:50
  hear
• 29:52
  thy
• 29:53
  true
• 29:55
  unfaithful
• 29:57
  word.
• 29:59
  In
• 30:01
  the
• 30:04
  righteous
• 30:07
  wish
• 30:07
  of
• 30:09
  God,
• 30:10
  with
• 30:13
  pout
• 30:15
  this
• 30:15
  they
• 30:16
  shall
• 30:17
  sing,
• 30:22
  great
• 30:22
  the
• 30:23
  glory
• 30:24
  of
• 30:26
  the
• 30:28
  Lord,
• 30:32
  who
• 30:32
  doth
• 30:34
  forever
• 30:38
  reign.
• 30:42
  After the
• 30:42
  benediction,
• 30:43
  I'll go to the
• 30:43
  door to my
• 30:44
  right.
• 30:44
  We'll close
• 30:44
  with the
• 30:45
  benediction.
• 30:46
  Now may
• 30:46
  grace,
• 30:47
  mercy,
• 30:48
  and peace
• 30:48
  from God,
• 30:49
  Father,
• 30:50
  Son,
• 30:50
  and Holy
• 30:51
  Spirit,
• 30:51
  rest upon
• 30:52
  and abide
• 30:53
  with you
• 30:53
  all,
• 30:54
  now and
• 30:54
  forever
• 30:54
  more.
• 30:55
  Amen.
• 30:55
  Amen.
• 31:23
  Amen.