Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Overcoming Fear │ Msg 1414 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Overcoming Fear │ Msg 1414 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: As I begin this message, I'm calling overcoming fear. I'd
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Speaker 1: like to remind you of an account back in John
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Speaker 1: chapter six, when Jesus helped the disciples overcome fear by
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Speaker 1: calming a great storm. Remember that the disciples had piled
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Speaker 1: into a boat to sail across the Sea of Galilee.
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Speaker 1: The smooth the evening waters were shattered by a fierce
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Speaker 1: wind and merciless waves. The disciples rowed furiously, but their
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Speaker 1: desperate efforts proved futile, and ultimately they feared for their lives.
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Speaker 1: Then they looked up. It was Jesus walking toward them.
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Speaker 1: It is I, he said, do not be afraid. That's
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Speaker 1: all it took to settle their fears. Suddenly the sea
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Speaker 1: went slack, and they found themselves safely on the other
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Speaker 1: side at the shore. Perhaps Jesus took his disciples through
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Speaker 1: that harrowing experience to prepare them to face an even
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Speaker 1: fiercer storm the night he was arrested. This time, Jesus
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Speaker 1: would not come walking across the waves to rescue them. However,
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Speaker 1: he promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with
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Speaker 1: them always. When the Spirit came, they would never again
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Speaker 1: face another storm alone. Jesus promises the same spirit of
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Speaker 1: peace to all of his followers. Allow me to read
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Speaker 1: what Jesus says in John fourteen twenty five to thirty one.
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Speaker 1: I'll be reading from the New Living Translation, a very
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Speaker 1: readable version of the Bible that I now use when
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Speaker 1: I preach. Turn there with me, please, John fourteen twenty
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Speaker 1: five to thirty one. Jesus says, I am telling you
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Speaker 1: these things now while I am still with you. But
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Speaker 1: when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that
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Speaker 1: is the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything and
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Speaker 1: will remind you of everything I have told you. I
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Speaker 1: am leaving you with a gift peace of mind and heart.
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Speaker 1: And the peace I give is a gift the world
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Speaker 1: cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what
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Speaker 1: I told you. I am going away, but I will
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Speaker 1: come back to you again. If you really loved me,
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Speaker 1: you would be happy that I'm going to the Father,
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Speaker 1: who is greater than I am. I've told you these
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Speaker 1: things before they happen, so that when they do happen,
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Speaker 1: you will believe. I don't have much more time to
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Speaker 1: talk to you. Because the ruler of this world approaches
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Speaker 1: He has no power over me. But I will do
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Speaker 1: what the Father requires of me so that the world
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Speaker 1: will know that I love the Father. Come, let's be going.
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Speaker 2: At seven o'clock last Friday morning, I was having breakfast
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Speaker 2: in a student cafeteria at the Florida Bible College. There
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Speaker 2: were perhaps four or five hundred other students in this
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Speaker 2: same cafeteria that morning, but I'm convinced that sitting across
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Speaker 2: the table from me was the most remarkable of the
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Speaker 2: entire thirteen hundred student body. Let's call this young man Danny.
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Speaker 2: Danny was born with serious birth defects. It affected not
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Speaker 2: his mind but his body. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 2: if you could see his torso from the waist up,
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Speaker 2: you could hardly notice any difference except for his arms.
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Speaker 2: His right arm is terribly deformed and virtually useless. His
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Speaker 2: left arm is very little more than a small section
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Speaker 2: of arm, and then a tiny hand that seems twisted
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Speaker 2: and again without much use or power. But in that
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Speaker 2: hand he held his fork. He crooked his thumb over
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Speaker 2: it on one end and curled his little finger around
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Speaker 2: it on the other, so that he was able to
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Speaker 2: hold it and eat the eggs and toast and sausage.
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Speaker 2: As we were talking together. If you were to push
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Speaker 2: this aluminum chair in which he will live the rest
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Speaker 2: of his life back away from the table, you would
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Speaker 2: see a couple of small legs that hang limp, not
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Speaker 2: anywhere near the bottom of the chair. He will never walk,
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Speaker 2: He will never know what we would call a normal life. Ah,
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Speaker 2: But what a young man here. He is approaching the
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Speaker 2: last years of his college education, anticipating with great delight
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Speaker 2: seminary years ahead, and perhaps even a PhD course beyond that,
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Speaker 2: With all the hope and excitement in the world. Danny
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Speaker 2: and I talked about his past, just briefly. I discovered
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Speaker 2: that his number one difficulty in coping with life from
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Speaker 2: the days as early as he could consciously be aware
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Speaker 2: of his surroundings was the problem of fear. Man's most
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Speaker 2: ancient enemy. Fear of what people would say, Fear of
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Speaker 2: the kids at school who spoke without mercy, as cruel
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Speaker 2: kids tend to do. Fear of the rigors of the training,
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Speaker 2: fear of failure, fear of just the problem of getting
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Speaker 2: on in life, fear of growing old as a victim
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Speaker 2: of this terrible tragedy from a human point of view.
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Speaker 2: Then he said to me, you know, there came a
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Speaker 2: time when I trusted Jesus Christ as my personal savior.
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Speaker 2: I heard the Gospel, and I realized that God loved
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Speaker 2: me terribly unlovely as a person. He loved me when
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Speaker 2: probably no woman will love me for the rest of
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Speaker 2: my days as a husband. And I gave myself without
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Speaker 2: reservation to Jesus Christ nothing more to do, and needed
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Speaker 2: to do nothing more than to believe. And I believed
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Speaker 2: in Christ the difference he's made. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 2: if I could save a lot of time by simply
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Speaker 2: saying that his goal in life is the very thing
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Speaker 2: you would never expect, and that is to have a
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Speaker 2: writing ministry. He's already begun to publish some tracks, and
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Speaker 2: some booklets of his are going into print before long.
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Speaker 2: He hopes to get into the whole main line of
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Speaker 2: Christian writing. Keen mind, But that old problem with fear
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Speaker 2: sound familiar to some of you, And yet we with
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Speaker 2: so much more going for us, the same Savior, same world,
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Speaker 2: same realm of potential. Frequently, if not often, succumb to fear.
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Speaker 2: It's nothing new, Frankly, Genesis chapter three tells us that
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Speaker 2: fear is the oldest result of sin. If you'll look
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Speaker 2: with me into the sixth verse, you will see when
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Speaker 2: sin reared its ugly head and the results of it.
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Speaker 2: In verses eight through ten. Genesis three is the account
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Speaker 2: of the fall of man, and when man fell under
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Speaker 2: the pollution of sin in his bloodstream, in his nature,
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Speaker 2: he suffered the results of fear. Notice the woman mentioned
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Speaker 2: in verse six is eve. The scene is the garden
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Speaker 2: of Eden. The woman saw that the tree was good
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Speaker 2: for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes,
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Speaker 2: and that the tree was desirable to make one wise.
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Speaker 2: She took from its fruit and ate. There's the first
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Speaker 2: occurrence of sin among man. She ate of the fruit
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Speaker 2: she gave to her husband, and he with her ate.
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Speaker 2: There's another occurrence. At this juncture, sin has come. Drop
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Speaker 2: down to verse eight. They heard the sound of the
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Speaker 2: Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of
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Speaker 2: the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves
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Speaker 2: from the presence of the Lord God among the trees
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Speaker 2: of the garden. And the Lord God called to the
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Speaker 2: man and said to him where are you, as if
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Speaker 2: to say, why are you where you are? Adam. Now,
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Speaker 2: God wasn't really in need of knowing where he was.
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Speaker 2: He wanted Adam to realize why he was there. Where
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Speaker 2: are you, Adam? And now Adam's response is of him
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Speaker 2: interest to us. He said, I heard the sound of
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Speaker 2: thee in the garden. Now I notice the first reference
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Speaker 2: in all of time. I was afraid. There you have it.
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Speaker 2: Sin came and on its heels came fear. Adam said,
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Speaker 2: up till now we've known a harmony. But now I'm afraid.
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Speaker 2: And it even goes on to say I was naked
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Speaker 2: and I hid myself. Man, not only is succumbing to fear,
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Speaker 2: we also are engaged in the constant activity of covering
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Speaker 2: it up, hiding ourselves, hiding it from others. Stop and
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Speaker 2: think about it. That there are phobias more than we
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Speaker 2: could name this morning. Fear of depths, fear of crowds,
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Speaker 2: fear of what people will say, fear of loss of job,
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Speaker 2: fear of a job itself, fear of people, fear of authority,
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Speaker 2: fear of the dentist, fear of the doctor, fear of
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Speaker 2: a doctor's exam, fear of disease, cancer, fear of death.
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Speaker 2: I have a friend named Ronald who was working his
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Speaker 2: way through college in a terrible fear of heights, but
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Speaker 2: he needed the best paying job he could find, so
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Speaker 2: he got a job with a construction company, and he
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Speaker 2: prayed that it would not be his experience to have
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Speaker 2: to go up very high to work in this construction company.
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Speaker 2: And that worked for a month. God had other plans.
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Speaker 2: The second month that summer, the fellow ahead of him
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Speaker 2: lost his job. He frankly was injured on it, and
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Speaker 2: Ronald was given the job. They were building a hospital addition,
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Speaker 2: it was already five stories high and they were adding
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Speaker 2: nine more and they needed somebody on the top structure
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Speaker 2: to set up the structural framework so the welders could
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Speaker 2: put it in place. Can you imagine, dear friend of
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Speaker 2: mine was so scared, he was absolutely speechless. He worked
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Speaker 2: three or four days, and finally the foreman watched this
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Speaker 2: guy just suffering terribly, and he said, what's the matter
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Speaker 2: with you kid? You afraid? Ron answered back, afraid, I've
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Speaker 2: been trying to tell you for four days. I quit.
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Speaker 2: We hide it, We don't want anybody to know it.
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Speaker 2: We don't want to talk about it, or we cover
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Speaker 2: it up with superstition. Like the lady next to me
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Speaker 2: on the plane as we were landing in Fort Lauderdale,
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Speaker 2: a little tiny spoon that she wrapped around her fingers,
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Speaker 2: and she said it kept her from being afraid when
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Speaker 2: they landed the plains and when they took off. Doesn't
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Speaker 2: make sense, does it? Neither does silence. Most foolish thing
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Speaker 2: in the world is our superstition, but many are engaged
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Speaker 2: in keeping up the same age old pattern to cover
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Speaker 2: up our fears. The disciples were afraid. That's what chapter
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Speaker 2: fourteen is all about. Frankly, it all hinges of one
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Speaker 2: what Jesus had said in chapter thirteen, and they were
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Speaker 2: so hung up on that statement that Jesus dedicated the
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Speaker 2: first part of his Upper Room Discourse to quietening their hearts,
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Speaker 2: to taking away their fears. John chapter thirteen, verse thirty
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Speaker 2: three gives us jesus comment that started it all off,
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Speaker 2: thirteen thirty three, Little children, I'm with you a little
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Speaker 2: while longer meaning what meaning I'm going to die. I'm
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Speaker 2: going to the cross. And then he added to that statement,
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Speaker 2: you will seek me. And as I said to the
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Speaker 2: Jews where I am going, you cannot come now. I
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Speaker 2: say to you, not only am I leaving that's bad
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Speaker 2: enough for them to hear, but you cannot go, and
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Speaker 2: that was the worst thing they could have heard. In
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Speaker 2: their eyes, they were being deserted. So the confusion of
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Speaker 2: how they would get on in life, what they would
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Speaker 2: do without the catalyst of encouragement and guidance and instruction,
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Speaker 2: what they would do in a world that was hostile
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Speaker 2: to the claims that they had been declaring. They were
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Speaker 2: confused and therefore fearful. Now Jesus spoke of their troubled
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Speaker 2: hearts in the first twenty four verses of chapter fourteen,
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Speaker 2: begins with letting not your heart be troubled, and then
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Speaker 2: he spoke of fearful hearts and verses twenty five through
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Speaker 2: thirty one. As he says in that key phrase at
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Speaker 2: the end of verse twenty seven, don't let your hearts
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Speaker 2: be troubled, neither let them be fearful. I don't want
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Speaker 2: you to succumb to this fear. And in order to
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Speaker 2: help them overcome the fear, he left them, And I
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Speaker 2: want to suggest indirectly he left us with some guidelines
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Speaker 2: on how to overcome fear Verses twenty five through thirty one.
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Speaker 2: We have four guidelines or helpful hints and overcoming fear. Now,
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Speaker 2: let me be very accurate and specific with the text,
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Speaker 2: and say these were first spoken to the disciples, and
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Speaker 2: they therefore relate directly to those eleven men who were
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Speaker 2: to become the apostles of the church. However, indirectly they
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Speaker 2: apply beautifully to every generation. The first guideline is depend
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Speaker 2: upon the person of the Holy Spirit, that would be
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Speaker 2: Verses twenty five and twenty six. These things I have
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Speaker 2: spoken to you while abiding with you. But he's leaving.
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Speaker 2: See he's no longer going to be abiding, and so
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Speaker 2: someone will take his place. Verse twenty six tells us
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Speaker 2: who that will be, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
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Speaker 2: whom the Father will send in my name or in
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Speaker 2: my place. He will teach you all things and bring
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Speaker 2: to your remembrance all that I said to you. It's
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Speaker 2: a wonderful promise the men. You are not going to
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Speaker 2: be alone. You won't have me here in the flesh.
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Speaker 2: But the Faithful Father, the Father God of Heaven, will
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Speaker 2: send in my place the Holy Spirit, and you can
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Speaker 2: depend on him. That's implied.
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Speaker 1: Now.
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Speaker 2: Specifically, the disciples would receive the Spirit at Pentecost. By application,
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Speaker 2: believers today receive the Spirit of God at salvation. You
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Speaker 2: need never pray God, send your spirit. Many hymns are
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Speaker 2: written with that same request, send your spirit. I'm sure
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Speaker 2: the writer occasionally means bring him upon us in filling power.
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Speaker 2: But the idea of sending the spirit is erroneous. It's confused.
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Speaker 2: From Pentecost on, the Spirit of God has found residence
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Speaker 2: in the believer. In Jesus Christ at salvation, you have
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Speaker 2: the spirit. The need is not to have the spirit,
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Speaker 2: but to depend upon the spirit you have within you.
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Speaker 2: When you find fear surrounding you, men, says Jesus, draw
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Speaker 2: upon the power of the abiding Holy Spirit. Now, lud,
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Speaker 2: you look at verse twenty six. Two things are told
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Speaker 2: us that the Spirit will do. Don't miss either. One. First,
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Speaker 2: when the helper comes, he will teach you all things.
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Speaker 2: One of the first works of the Holy Spirit in you,
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Speaker 2: child of God, is to instruct. He will teach you
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Speaker 2: all things. Now, notice something that has often missed. The
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Speaker 2: Spirit of God will also remind you of the truth
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Speaker 2: you have learned. He will bring it to your remembrance.
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Speaker 2: Isn't that terrific? That exciting. The disciples learned truth at
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Speaker 2: Jesus's feet. Jesus left them at the ascension. They never
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Speaker 2: saw him again in visible form, nor will we ever
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Speaker 2: until He comes for us. But in that interim period
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Speaker 2: while he is away, before he returns, his spirit rests
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Speaker 2: within his children to instruct and to remind the truth
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Speaker 2: that has been instruct You stop and think about that
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Speaker 2: Spirit of God during a worship service such as this
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Speaker 2: or a Sunday school class. And I hope you are
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Speaker 2: engaged in the Sunday School ministry where in smaller groups
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Speaker 2: you can wrestle with and reckon with truth as it
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Speaker 2: comes from gifted teachers ignited by the spirit of God.
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Speaker 2: God teaches you something in those sessions. You learn that truth,
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Speaker 2: it gets embedded in your head. And then during the
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Speaker 2: week to come Thursday Friday, you're miles away from here,
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Speaker 2: but suddenly you're in need of a reminder. Maybe you're
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Speaker 2: in a predicament. It's altogether unplanned. You're there, and the
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Speaker 2: truth that you've picked up in a word ship service
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Speaker 2: or a teaching session on a Sunday suddenly is prompted
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Speaker 2: back in your mind. A spark thought fires away. You
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Speaker 2: know who does that, the Spirit of God. It isn't
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Speaker 2: just a good memory. People with great memories seem to
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Speaker 2: have great struggles with handling the Word of God. Occasionally
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Speaker 2: I had a mental block. Just last Thursday. I was
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Speaker 2: Wednesday night. It was I was speaking at a church
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Speaker 2: and I wanted a particular verse, a couple of verses
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Speaker 2: of Scripture in Peter, and for the life of me,
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Speaker 2: I could not think of what they were. And finally
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Speaker 2: I looked around at the pastor and I said, where
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Speaker 2: is that found? And for the life of him, he
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Speaker 2: could not remember either. I felt badly for him, and
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Speaker 2: then so one prompted it from the congregation. Now that happens.
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Speaker 2: How marvelous an experience it is. When you're all alone
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Speaker 2: and you're in this situation, Suddenly you get just the
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Speaker 2: truth you need and it just calms the waters. That's
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Speaker 2: the work of the Holy Spirit. When you are given
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Speaker 2: to fear, you are forgetting the truth of God, and
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Speaker 2: the Spirit of God puts the ammunition right where it's
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Speaker 2: needed and fires it right into the head, so that
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Speaker 2: we take that truth and we use that truth in
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Speaker 2: that fearful moment. One thing that always seems to accompany
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Speaker 2: a Christian when he goes to the hospital, this is Bible.
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Speaker 2: It's the most common scene in the world is a
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Speaker 2: God's book Why Because in the fearful experiences of hospital time,
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Speaker 2: nothing like the truth, nothing like the Spirit's reminders. Just
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Speaker 2: to cement purpose and meaning in that moment depend upon
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Speaker 2: the Holy Spirit. He is as real as the Father.
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Speaker 2: He is as real and dependable as the Son of God.
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Speaker 2: He's there to give that kind of calming effect. Now
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Speaker 2: there's a second. There's a second piece of helpful information
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Speaker 2: here verse twenty seven. Claim the peace of Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: That second, not your own peace that you work up,
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Speaker 2: Not peace from circumstances, but claim the peace of Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: Twenty seven. Peace I leave with you my peace I
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Speaker 2: give to you. Not as the world gives. Do I
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Speaker 2: give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor
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Speaker 2: let it be fearful. I want to suggest that Jesus
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Speaker 2: left these disciples a legacy and a treasure. First, a
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Speaker 2: legacy peace I leave with you, a treasure, My peace
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Speaker 2: I give to you. Jesus was facing death, but he
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Speaker 2: had such peace in it. He said, men, when I
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Speaker 2: am gone away from this earth, my peace is yours.
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Speaker 2: To claim the very peace that you see in me.
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Speaker 2: Right now, look at sixteen thirty three, Chapter sixteen. The
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Speaker 2: last verse these things. I have spoken to you that
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Speaker 2: in me you may have peace. In the world, you
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Speaker 2: have tribulation, but take courage. I've overcome the world. I
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Speaker 2: smile when I read that verse, because the Spirit of
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Speaker 2: God just reminded me of that verse while I was
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Speaker 2: talking on another verse, and I just realized I lived
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Speaker 2: out the very truth that I just shared with you
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Speaker 2: a while ago. Hadn't planned to say it, and I
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Speaker 2: hadn't even mentioned it in the other two services. But
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Speaker 2: there's an example. He reminded me of a truth located
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Speaker 2: very near what we were just seeing. Look at what
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Speaker 2: Jesus says. In the world, you will have tribulation, but
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Speaker 2: take courage in my peace. I've overcome the world. That's
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Speaker 2: why he says over in chapter fourteen, I don't give
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Speaker 2: the peace that the world gives. The world doesn't have
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Speaker 2: a peace to give. All it has is a transfer
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Speaker 2: of one of panic to another. Like the Wizard of Oz,
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Speaker 2: Judy Garland sang, somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly somewhere
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Speaker 2: over the rainbow. Why then, oh, why can't I where
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Speaker 2: troubles melt like lemon drops. That's where you'll find me.
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Speaker 2: And she took her life didn't she she didn't find
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Speaker 2: trouble melting like lemon drops because there is no peace,
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Speaker 2: says my God, there's just a transfer of location. Take
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Speaker 2: a trip, get away for a while. Try this drink,
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Speaker 2: or how about this scene. Oh, you haven't lived till
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Speaker 2: you've worked on this one. That's the counsel of the wicked.
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Speaker 2: They haven't got anything to offer because they haven't got
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Speaker 2: any peace. All they can do is transfer that moment
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Speaker 2: of panic, can put it off to a later moment.
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Speaker 2: Jesus says, when you claim the peace I've got, you
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Speaker 2: depend upon my spirit. You can know how to face
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Speaker 2: whatever comes, because I've got peace to offer. If you're
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Speaker 2: noting these things, you might put in the margin of
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Speaker 2: your Bible a very helpful parallel passage Isaiah fifty seven,
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Speaker 2: twenty and twenty one, and will go on that says
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Speaker 2: that the peace that the world has is like the
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Speaker 2: trouble see when it cannot rest Isaiah fifty seven, twenty
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Speaker 2: and twenty one. Let's go to the third right here
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Speaker 2: in this passage, verse twenty eight, along with the following verse,
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Speaker 2: gives us the third condition. Remember the first two depend
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Speaker 2: upon the Holy Spirit. He's a person can depend upon him,
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Speaker 2: claim the peace of Jesus Christ. Third, accept the plan
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Speaker 2: of the future, God's plan. He has a prophetic plan
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Speaker 2: that will bring peace. Twenty eight. You heard that I
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Speaker 2: said to you, I go away and I will come
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Speaker 2: to you. Please notice those two statements put together, They
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Speaker 2: are the plan of God. I go away, I will
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Speaker 2: come to you. Then, he says, if you loved me,
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Speaker 2: if you really had your eyes on me, if you
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Speaker 2: really accepted me and this plan of the Father, you
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Speaker 2: would have rejoiced. Because I go to the Father, and
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Speaker 2: he's greater than I. And now I have told you
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Speaker 2: before it comes to pass, before what comes to pass,
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Speaker 2: before I leave, for the spirit of God comes before
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Speaker 2: I return. I lay all of this before you so
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Speaker 2: that when it does come to pass, you may believe.
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Speaker 2: Will you notice something that is easily overlooked, that when
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Speaker 2: it comes to pass, not if.
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Speaker 1: Not if.
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Speaker 2: The Father's plan is not an if plan, it's a
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Speaker 2: when plan. Not beautiful. The arrangement that the Father has
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Speaker 2: laid out for the events of the future are as
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Speaker 2: clearly defined as the arrangements of history that we can
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Speaker 2: read in the books. It is impossible to really accept
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Speaker 2: the plan of the future and to stay pessimistic impossible. Now,
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Speaker 2: you won't dance and waltz your way all the way
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Speaker 2: through these end times. But I'll tell you, every time
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Speaker 2: you read another section of the Times, the la Times,
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Speaker 2: and you read another murder, another rape, another scene of disaster,
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Speaker 2: you will have the spirit of God tap you on
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Speaker 2: the heart and say, it's just as he predicted in
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Speaker 2: the last days. Perilous times will come. You may not
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Speaker 2: even smile, but in your heart will be that settled peace,
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Speaker 2: that nod of agreement. He knows what he's doing, and
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Speaker 2: all the powers of man will not change his arrangement.
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Speaker 2: Had they really accepted it, they would have been rejoicing.
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Speaker 2: It's just a carrying out of the plan of prophecy.
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Speaker 2: Now I ask a very direct question to you that
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Speaker 2: are here, you that are Christian's when's the last time
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Speaker 2: you took a very direct look at God's prophetic plan.
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Speaker 2: I mean a serious investigation of what his arrangement is
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Speaker 2: on this earth from now to the end. You say,
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Speaker 2: can you know? Oh, that's one of the great benefits
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Speaker 2: of God's word. His word spells it out and you
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Speaker 2: can see it. Couple or three good volumes. You should
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Speaker 2: get a hold of to help you see the plan
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Speaker 2: of God in the future. You can't remain long faced
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Speaker 2: as long as you're really plugged into His prophetic plan.
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Speaker 2: Speaking of that, I want to add that every waking moment,
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Speaker 2: you can have your eyes your focus in one of
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Speaker 2: five different areas. Just listen to them. You can focus
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Speaker 2: on yourself. You will either become discouraged or conceited. If
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Speaker 2: you're in the blase, you'll be discouraged. If you're having
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Speaker 2: a high day, you're liable to feel smug. Second, you
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Speaker 2: can have your eyes on your circumstances. Quickest way I
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Speaker 2: know of to be depressed is to get locked into
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Speaker 2: your circumstances. It's the way the Hebrews lived. And the
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Speaker 2: key word is they grumbled, they griped because they focused
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Speaker 2: on their circumstances. Third, you can focus your attention on things,
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Speaker 2: getting thing possessions, and that's a dead end street. You
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Speaker 2: know it before it's even amplified. Fourth, you can focus
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Speaker 2: on other people. You will become disillusioned because they'll let
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Speaker 2: you down, or you'll become idol makers as they're in
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Speaker 2: their Prima Donna era really counting and they're gonna fall.
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Speaker 2: You're gonna be dissillusion or Fifth, you can focus on
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Speaker 2: the Lord, Jesus said to these disciples, if you had
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Speaker 2: really known the Father's plan and focused on him, would
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Speaker 2: have had a praise gathering for believers up here in
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Speaker 2: the upper room. Man, But that's not where your focus is.
33:30
Speaker 2: If your focus is on yourself, your circumstances, your things
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Speaker 2: are others Christians, you will not know peace. It's got
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Speaker 2: to be on the Lord that brings us to our
33:46
Speaker 2: fourth follow the pattern of obedience. That's the fourth piece
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Speaker 2: of advice Jesus leaves to us in verse thirty and
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Speaker 2: verse thirty one. I will not speak much more with you,
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Speaker 2: for them, ruler of the world is coming. That's Satan. Now.
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Speaker 2: That could have reference either to the coming of Judas
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Speaker 2: who was in dwelt by Satan, or the whole Satanic
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Speaker 2: scene where he wanted so much to gain victory over
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Speaker 2: the cross he could not. Jesus says, he has nothing
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Speaker 2: to me. He is not in this scene. Is nothing
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Speaker 2: in me, but that the world may know that I
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Speaker 2: love the Father, as the Father gave me commandment. Even
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Speaker 2: so I do. There you have it. That's obedience, as
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Speaker 2: the Father gave me commandment. I do the world will
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Speaker 2: know that I love the Father. They bothered to make
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Speaker 2: an investigation. The Father's plan was this for me, and
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Speaker 2: I'm carrying it out, persisting in obedience. Look at verse
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Speaker 2: thirty one. Will you look at the last part of
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Speaker 2: the verse. As the Father gave me commandment, it's another
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Speaker 2: word for as he gave me his word. I do
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Speaker 2: now look up here. That's the Father's commandment, his word.
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Speaker 2: That's what the Father would have you know. More than that,
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Speaker 2: that's what the Father would have you do. First of all,
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Speaker 2: are you coming to know his word? Child of God?
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Speaker 2: It is not related to are you coming to church.
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Speaker 2: That's a wonderful byproduct of being in the family of
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Speaker 2: God and walking in dependence upon Him. You need times
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Speaker 2: of worship, but you following the pattern of obedience, you
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Speaker 2: will never know peace in the life of disobedience. I
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Speaker 2: could easily say the most miserable souls on earth today
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Speaker 2: are children of God, not walking with God. The carnal Christian,
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Speaker 2: most miserable people you will ever have to deal with.
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Speaker 2: They're not even under the wrath of God, but they're
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Speaker 2: living as though they are the discipline of God meeting
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Speaker 2: out upon their lives. Because they're walking against the pattern
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Speaker 2: of obedience. Now that's self explanatory. I assume, children of
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Speaker 2: God that have heard this message, that you have the
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Speaker 2: Spirit of God upon whom you wish to depend, You
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Speaker 2: have the peace of Jesus Christ. You wish to claim
36:58
Speaker 2: you're into the plan of the future. Sure you want
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Speaker 2: to accept that. It falls back on the matter of
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Speaker 2: doing what you know the scriptures say to do, following
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Speaker 2: the pattern of obedience. Now, if you're like me, you
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Speaker 2: might be even more pragmatic. You'd like to know what
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Speaker 2: do I do to make this stick? How can I
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Speaker 2: make fear obsolete once for all? How can I put
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Speaker 2: it out of my experience? The word obsolete means no
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Speaker 2: longer in use. How can I hang fear on the
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Speaker 2: shelf and go right on from now to the end
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Speaker 2: of my time without it as a companion? I want
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Speaker 2: to give you four very simple words of advice. They
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Speaker 2: work for me, perhaps they will be helpful for you. A, B, C,
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Speaker 2: and D. Let's let them start with those four letters. A.
37:53
Speaker 2: Acknowledge your source of power. You already have power. Acknowledge
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Speaker 2: source of power, that's the Holy Spirit. You acknowledge it
38:05
Speaker 2: by depending upon him. When you come to those moments
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Speaker 2: when you would ordinarily fear tell the Holy Spirit. Right now,
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Speaker 2: you're depending on him to get you through that situation. Acknowledge. Second,
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Speaker 2: begin your day with prayer, not a memorized prayer. You
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Speaker 2: know that I'm not referring to that. I'm talking about
38:28
Speaker 2: communication with God. You know that, unless I am sick
38:31
Speaker 2: or some emergency has gotten me up earlier than usual,
38:35
Speaker 2: every day of my life I begin in this fashion.
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Speaker 2: I wake up by His grace, and I get my
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Speaker 2: glasses and I put them on so I'm sure I
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Speaker 2: know where I am. I sit up and I put
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Speaker 2: my feet on the floor right next to bed, and
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Speaker 2: I sit there, my hands on both sides of my body,
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Speaker 2: and I look out the window that looks over Fullerton.
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Speaker 2: I say, Lord, this is your day, it's not mine.
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Speaker 2: Now I say something like, I am in your care,
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Speaker 2: available to do as you wish. Please use my life
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Speaker 2: for your glory. Today. I claim your presence, I claim
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Speaker 2: your peace. Such words as that I may sit there
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Speaker 2: two minutes, and I may sit there ten minutes, but
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Speaker 2: I begin the day touching base first of all with
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Speaker 2: my heavenly Father in prayer. It's a tremendous source of
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Speaker 2: power and peace. Third, correct your habit of pessimism. One
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Speaker 2: way to do that would be to become a student
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Speaker 2: of the prophetic word. I say again, it is virtually
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Speaker 2: impossible to know the future of God's plan and to
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Speaker 2: stay pessimistic today. It'll keep you optimistic even when every
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Speaker 2: rug seems to come out from under you correct the
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Speaker 2: habit of pessimism. There's a fourth. Devote yourself to persistence.
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Speaker 2: Devote yourself to persistence break a habit. If you want
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Speaker 2: to break an age old habit that you've fallen into,
40:29
Speaker 2: it will take persistence, as the spirit of God gives
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Speaker 2: you that kind of discipline. I left Danny's presence about
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Speaker 2: quarter to eight to go back to my room, and
40:42
Speaker 2: when I did, I committed myself a fresh and a
40:46
Speaker 2: new to God, as if for the first time, because
40:49
Speaker 2: I had been moved by this young man's words. But
40:53
Speaker 2: on my journey back up to my room, I walked
40:56
Speaker 2: by an office where I saw a little sheet of paper,
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Speaker 2: and on it were written words that this secretary was
41:07
Speaker 2: getting ready to frame and put up in the room
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Speaker 2: of her boss there at the school. I looked it
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Speaker 2: over and I said, would you make me a copy
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Speaker 2: of that. It ties in beautifully with what I want
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Speaker 2: to say on Sunday relates to persistence. It says, press on.
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Speaker 2: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
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Speaker 2: Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men
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Speaker 2: with talent.
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Speaker 1: Genius will not.
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Speaker 2: Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not.
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Speaker 2: The world is full of educated derelicts, but resistance and
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Speaker 2: determination are omnipotent. I don't quibble over the last term.
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Speaker 2: We know the only omnipotent one is God, and I
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Speaker 2: think it fits perfectly into the Christian's life. When the
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Speaker 2: omnipotent God gets a hold of a soul that is persisting, determined,
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Speaker 2: disciplined to overcome this life of fear, it's remarkable how
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Speaker 2: that life can be turned around. As a matter of fact,
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Speaker 2: there's only one group of people here that has a
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Speaker 2: right to be fearful, you that don't know the Lord.
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Speaker 2: Donald Barnhouse used to close many of his services with
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Speaker 2: a prayer something like this, Lord, dismiss us with your peace,
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Speaker 2: except for those who don't know you, and keep them
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Speaker 2: miserable until they come to know the principeace. I don't
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Speaker 2: think there's a person under the sound of my voice today,
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Speaker 2: who would not want to overcome fear? You're very sick
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Speaker 2: if you have any other feeling. So we've struck a
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Speaker 2: universal note. But some of you just simply will never
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Speaker 2: be able to do it in your present condition. Jesus
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Speaker 2: tells his children in the words of Paul, I haven't
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Speaker 2: given you the spirit of fear. He even tells us
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Speaker 2: through John's words that his perfect love casts out fear.
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Speaker 2: But the way of the transgressor is hard. Some of
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Speaker 2: you this day are given to a life of disobedience. Actually,
44:08
Speaker 2: you've never known the Lord Jesus Christ. You've never really
44:15
Speaker 2: known peace. Peace begins at the Cross. That's where he
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Speaker 2: won our peace. Peace begins with being reconciled to God
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Speaker 2: through the death of his son. You can come to
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Speaker 2: terms with this this very moment. God offers you the gift,
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Speaker 2: just like he offered it to Danny. All you've got
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Speaker 2: to do is receive it. You've got to believe that
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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ died for you and rose from the dead
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Speaker 2: for you, and you will be saved, delivered from fear, insecurity,
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Speaker 2: secure in a destiny. That's the most optimistic, beautiful plan
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Speaker 2: you can imagine. That's about together.
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Speaker 1: Shall we, my friend, to receive God's gift of salvation,
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Speaker 1: all you need to do is believe in His son
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Speaker 1: as your personal savior. We're saved by God's grace through
45:29
Speaker 1: an act of faith. Salvation is not something we must earn. It's,
45:36
Speaker 1: in fact a gift from God, a gift he's offering
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Speaker 1: to you today. If you'd like to receive that gift today,
45:46
Speaker 1: but you're not certain what to say, you might pray
45:51
Speaker 1: a prayer something like this follow after me. As I pray,
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Speaker 1: Dear Father, thank you for securing my peace with you
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Speaker 1: when you atoned for my sin through the sacrifice of Jesus.
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Speaker 1: I now place my faith in Christ Jesus as my savior.
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Speaker 1: I receive his salvation. And as I receive that salvation,
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Speaker 1: I also accept the complete pardon for my sins. I
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Speaker 1: trust in his promise of eternal life. When he said,
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Speaker 1: those who listen to my message and believe in God
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Speaker 1: who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be
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Speaker 1: condemned for their sins, but they have already passed out
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Speaker 1: of death into life. I not only believe that promise,
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Speaker 1: I cling to that promise today and forever. And I
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Speaker 1: pray this in the name of Jesus, my Savior and
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Speaker 1: my Lord. Amen. Now, if this very moment you have
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Speaker 1: placed your trust in Christ as your savior, please contact
47:18
Speaker 1: us at Insight for Living Ministries let us know of
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Speaker 1: your decision. It would be a privilege for us to
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Speaker 1: pray for you and to help you along your spiritual
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Speaker 1: journey from this day onward.
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Speaker 3: The preceding message, Overcoming Fear, was copyrighted in nineteen seventy five,
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Speaker 3: nineteen eighty seven, two thousand and twenty eighteen, and the
47:44
Speaker 3: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty eighteen by Charles R.
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Speaker 3: Swind All Ink. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of
47:53
Speaker 3: copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.