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Romans 11:33-36 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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A very good morning to everybody. It's very good to see you this Lord's Day.
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Let me ask you to tape your copy of God's Word, which I hope you have with you this day, and turn to Paul's epistle to the Romans chapter 11.
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We've been working our way through Romans now for quite some time, and we have finally arrived at verse 33 of chapter 11,
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which starts a doxology. Many people call this the doxology. In fact, the song that we sang earlier,
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which I hope is actually getting this ingrained in your mind, that you've even possibly memorized these four verses as a result of that song,
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is called the doxology, but it in fact is just a doxology in the Scriptures, which translated in Greek means literally glory saying.
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It's a phrasing that ascribes praise to God, and we find them all throughout the Scriptures.
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Paul, on numerous occasions, kind of bursts into these doxologies as he's writing his letters.
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And here we come in Romans to the end of 9, 10, and 11, working through the sovereign grace of God in his purpose of election,
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what that means for both Gentiles and for Jews, and here he bursts into this one.
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Let's read it together, beginning in verse 33.
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He says,
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Amen.
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Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?
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For from him and through him and to him are all things.
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To him be glory forever.
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Amen.
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Pray with me.
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Father, I pray this morning you bless the preaching of your word.
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That as I prepared this week and studied it,
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that you will, by your spirit, have true words come from my mouth.
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That you will help us to understand and apply the truths contained herein,
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appropriately in our lives.
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That we might serve you and advance the kingdom as you're working and moving through us.
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By the truth.
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We pray this in Christ's name.
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Amen.
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So as I said, he's coming to the end of this, these great truths that he's presented.
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We're about to turn in Romans.
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The last five chapters become a much more practical outworking of our faith in Christ.
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I don't believe that the response in 33 through 36 is just simply to chapters 9, 10, and 11.
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Although it certainly has fueled it on.
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But from the whole book.
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He starts out in the beginning talking about man's fallen state.
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The fact that no man, Jew or Gentile, before God can be justified by his works.
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By anything.
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His lineage.
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His blood.
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His blood.
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Any of those things.
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But must be justified by faith alone.
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Through grace alone.
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In Christ alone.
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Chapter 3.
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Martin Luther called the center of the whole Bible.
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We see that our justification comes by Christ alone.
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He is the propitiation for our sin.
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The replacement for our sin.
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Then he moves into talking about what it means to live by the Spirit.
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And that then he moves to talk about the sovereign saving and keeping power of God in chapter 8.
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And then he wrestles through 9, 10, and 11 with the implications of God's sovereignty over all things.
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Including our salvation.
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And then he comes to verse 33.
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But before we talk in more depth about 33 through 36.
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Let me just draw your attention to some of Paul's other doxologies in his writing.
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He always writes in this way, springing forth from some great exclamation of truth about who God is.
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And my question for you as we look at these doxologies is, does the truth do the same for you?
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I picture Paul, this is total conjecture, but I picture Paul as he's pinning these letters.
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Suddenly getting very exciting as he's writing these great truths about who God is.
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And he picks up his pace a little bit and he bears down a little bit harder.
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And he writes out these doxological statements for us.
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Great excitement.
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Probably stood up and kicked back his chair and had to just walk around the room a little bit.
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He was so excited.
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And then he sat back down.
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Does the truth bring forth praise from you in that way?
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We have sang two beautifully true songs already this morning.
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We won't count the sheep song.
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The two following that.
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Beautiful, beautiful truths contained therein.
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And how often do we stand numb to the songs that we sing?
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Gospel songs.
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You notice that the songs we sing here are always gospel presentations.
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Thematically, exactly alike.
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And it ought to cause us great joy.
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The same should be true of any good sermon.
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And I will not say that every sermon I've ever preached has been a good sermon.
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But a good sermon presents the gospel truth to you.
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And it ought to cause you to praise.
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It ought to spring forth from within you these great and glorious truths.
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So, he does this quite often in his writing.
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From speaking of who God is and God's provision in his life for the spiritual provision of saving faith and strength for obedience.
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As well as the temporal provision.
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So, usually this time of year, today is going to be our Thanksgiving Sunday as a church before many of you will go home to celebrate the actual day of Thanksgiving.
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And around that time, we often as families share things that we're thankful for.
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And what do we typically share?
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Typically temporal things, right?
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We're thankful for the food.
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We're thankful for our families.
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We're thankful for the homes we get to live in.
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Which are certainly things that we should be thankful for, right?
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We're thankful for turkey, right?
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Today, you're not allowed to be thankful for turkey.
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We attempted to do turkey in a hole.
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And I will say, I'm thankful for how much fun we had trying to pull it off.
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But they were raw this morning.
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And we are not feeding them to you.
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We scrambled and replaced them with some ham this morning.
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But just the same.
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So, those are things that we ought to be thankful for.
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Certainly, all of the things that we have, all of the things that we experience,
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the relationships that we have, which are temporal, should be praised.
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We should be thankful for them.
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But ultimately, we should praise the one who provides those things.
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So, Philippians 4, 19 and 20.
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Paul says,
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And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.
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And then he says in verse 20,
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To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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So, you're picturing him talking about the provision of God to us for our temporal needs in Christ.
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And then he pins quickly, and I think bearing down harder,
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To our God and Father be glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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For the temporal blessings that he's given us.
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How about saving faith?
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Galatians 1, 3-5.
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You can turn that with me if you want to.
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It's okay if you don't.
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Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
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Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age,
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According to the will of God our Father.
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And here it is, verse 5.
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To whom be glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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Because of the provision of saving faith,
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We ascribe to him glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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Ephesians 3.
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Do turn to this one.
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Verse 20.
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I'm sorry, let's start in 14.
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Chapter 3, verse 14.
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For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
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From whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
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That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power
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Through his spirit in your inner being,
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So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,
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That you, being rooted and grounded in love,
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May have strength to comprehend with all the saints
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What is the breadth and length and height and depth,
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And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
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That you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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And there's the great proclamation of truth,
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And then the doxology.
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Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think,
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According to the power at work within us,
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To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations,
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Forever and ever.
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Amen.
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Does it warm your heart to hear such truths?
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Last week we finished the last week of our CFC 101,
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Our new members class.
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And that week I shared with them,
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I was just glancing back over our statement of faith,
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And I was reading the statement on the freeness of salvation.
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And I cried.
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It was so moving the word,
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Because it was the gospel presented there in our words,
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Pinned down as a statement of faith for our church.
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Does it move you in that way?
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About the provision,
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The spiritual provision of strength for obedience.
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We've been given a high calling in Christ,
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To be set apart,
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And to be holy.
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Right?
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But God provides for all that he asks.
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1 Timothy,
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Chapter 6,
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Beginning in verse 13,
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I charge you in the presence of God,
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Who gives life to all things,
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And of Christ Jesus,
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Who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,
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To keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach,
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And to the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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Which he will display at the proper time.
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And here it is again.
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He who is the blessed and only sovereign,
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The King of kings,
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And the Lord of lords,
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Who alone has immortality,
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Who dwells in unapproachable light,
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Who no one has ever seen or can see,
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To him be honor and eternal dominion.
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Amen.
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Isn't that good?
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And again in Hebrews,
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Chapter 13,
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Verse 20,
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Now may the God of peace,
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Who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,
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The great shepherd of the sheep,
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By the blood of the eternal covenant,
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Equip you with every good that you may do his will,
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Working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
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Through Jesus Christ,
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To whom be glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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And the last one,
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2 Timothy 4.18,
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The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed,
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And bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom,
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To him be the glory forever and ever.
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Amen.
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So these truths,
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And these are just a sampling,
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Of just Paul's doxologies,
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Much less all the ones contained in the scriptures,
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These truths move him,
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To ascribe to God,
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All the glory,
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All the dominion,
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All the honor,
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Forever and ever.
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Amen.
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Let it be the case.
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And that's what happens here,
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In verse 33.
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Some beautiful truths,
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Contained herein.
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He begins in verse 33,
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By saying,
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Oh,
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The depth of the riches,
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And wisdom and knowledge of God,
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How unsearchable are his judgments,
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And how inscrutable his ways.
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Now some have said,
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That what Paul is saying,
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Is that it's impossible to know,
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God's purpose in sovereign salvation.
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We can't really fully understand it.
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It's really,
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It's really not ours to have.
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But that is not what Paul is saying.
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Right?
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Paul is saying,
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The things that we can understand about God,
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Have been given to us.
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It's the mystery that he refers to,
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Earlier in chapter 11.
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We have been shown,
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Aspects of God's saving grace.
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We can know those things.
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But oh,
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The depth of such knowledge.
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How can we possibly know,
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The beginning from the end?
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How can we possibly know enough,
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To stand in judgment,
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Over God's word?
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Romans chapter 9.
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But he has spoken,
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By his word.
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And if you are a believer,
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You have a spirit,
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And you can understand,
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The words here.
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Will we know all things?
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No.
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But we certainly can know,
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The purposes of sovereign salvation.
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We can see it.
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He's written it down for us.
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He just got done explaining it to us.
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Did he not?
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And we ought to search it out.
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We ought to seek to understand.
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The word inscrutable,
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If you're looking in the ESV,
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In other translations,
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May say,
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Unknowable,
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His ways.
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Refers to tracks.
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I say tracks in the snow,
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Or in the sand.
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You can see the tracks,
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That are before you,
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But you don't know,
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From where they came,
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Or to where they're going.
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So we've come to that place.
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We've seen here,
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Justification by faith alone,
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That God is entirely,
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Sovereign over.
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We can see that,
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And we can know it to be true.
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And it can benefit our living.
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But yet we don't know,
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The beginning of that.
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And we don't know,
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Ultimately,
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The end of that.
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How unsearchable,
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Are His judgments,
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And inscrutable,
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His ways.
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A reference,
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A great cross reference for this,
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Is Psalm 77,
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19.
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It says,
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Your way,
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Your way was through the sea,
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Your path through the great waters,
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Yet your footprints were unseen.
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So we ought to seek.
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Many have used this as a,
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As an excuse to go,
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Well,
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I can't know anything about God.
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Right?
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There's so much,
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Of the great depth,
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Of God's character,
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Contained in the scriptures.
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And we ought to seek it,
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And we ought to know it,
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For all that it has,
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Herein.
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We ought to say with Paul,
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Oh,
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The depths,
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Of the riches,
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Of the wisdom,
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And knowledge of God.
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And then accept,
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That we're not going to know,
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It all.
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Right?
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God has given to us,
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A very specific amount,
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Of revelation.
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And it's perfect,
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Sufficient.
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Right?
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The sufficiency of scripture,
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Is a doctrine you ought to,
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Take hold of.
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And as such,
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You ought to know,
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Your scriptures.
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And then he asks,
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Two rhetorical questions,
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In verse 34,
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And 35.
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Right?
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He asks,
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For who has known the mind of the Lord?
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Or who has been,
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His counselor?
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The obvious answer to which is,
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No one.
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Or who has given a gift to him,
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That he might be repaid?
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No one.
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Right?
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He's quoting roughly,
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In verse 34,
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Isaiah 40,
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13.
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Who has measured the spirit of the Lord?
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Or what man shows him,
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His counsel?
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Job 15,
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8 says,
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Have you listened,
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In the counsel of God?
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And do you limit wisdom,
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To yourself?
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Right?
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God,
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Is,
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God.
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If you can,
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Know his mind entirely,
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And counsel him,
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He ceases by definition,
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To be God.
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Right?
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God's wisdom is a great theme,
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In the scriptures.
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His wisdom,
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Set against ours,
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Makes us,
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Foolish,
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Foolish,
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Men.
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Who has given a gift,
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To him,
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That he might,
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Be repaid?
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Job 35,
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7 says,
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If you are righteous,
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What do you give to him?
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Or what does he receive,
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From your hand?
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Job 41,
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11,
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Which is the,
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Citation,
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Who has first given to me,
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That I should repay him,
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Whatever is under the whole heaven,
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Is mine.
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All that we have,
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All that we possess physically,
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Our giftedness,
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Our mental astuteness,
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Any talents that you possess,
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Were given to you,
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As a gift,
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By God.
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Don't think you have,
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Anything within yourself,
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That puts you above him,
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To serve him.
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Right?
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He doesn't need,
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You.
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He uses you,
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Because he loves you.
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You've become a means,
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To his ends,
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And you ought to employ,
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All of the things,
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That he's given you,
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To his service.
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But not because,
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He needs it.
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Right?
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It's his.
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If he really needed it,
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And you weren't willing,
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To give it to him,
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He would take it away,
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And he would use it,
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Some place else.
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Right?
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Don't think,
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Don't elevate yourself,
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To be a God.
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It's the great sin,
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Of Adam and Eve.
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The great sin of Satan,
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That they wanted to be,
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Like God.
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God is God,
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And you are not.
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Verse 36,
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Connects into,
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This is the reason that,
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Verse 34,
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33,
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34,
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And 35,
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Are realities.
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For from him,
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And through him,
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And to him,
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Are all things,
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To him be glory,
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Forever.
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Amen.
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For from him,
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And through him,
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And to him,
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Are all things.
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In God's great revelation,
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Of his name,
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To Moses.
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When Moses says,
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The scene with the burning bush,
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Who shall I tell them,
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Sending me?
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He says,
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I am.
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Tell them,
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I am,
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Is sending you.
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Isn't that an odd name,
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To give yourself?
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I am.
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It speaks to the,
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Self-sustaining power,
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Of God.
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Right?
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God is,
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Everything.
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And everything,
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Then flows out of him.
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You've heard me say,
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That everything plugs into God,
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God plugs into nothing.
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God needs,
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No one.
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God needs no thing,
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To sustain his power.
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Right?
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He is God,
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And he is at the center of,
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Everything.
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Right?
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If you take something with you,
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I want you to hear this.
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From,
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Through,
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And to.
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From him,
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Through him,
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To him.
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The Greek words here are,
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Ek,
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Dea,
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Ice.
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You remember that?
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Ek,
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Dea,
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Ice.
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He is the source,
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He is the sustainer,
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And he,
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Is the goal.
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Right?
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God came down from heaven,
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And died,
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Not ultimately for us.
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We're the great byproduct,
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Of his character.
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We're the wonderful recipients,
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Of his grace,
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Because he is gracious.
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Right?
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It's meant to point back,
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To him.
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Right?
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The glorious proclamation,
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Of the gospel,
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And the conversion of sinners,
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The building of the church,
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The final perfection of it,
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Is meant to cause,
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Praise,
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And honor,
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To him.
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Not to us.
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Right?
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Ek,
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Dea,
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Ice.
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He's a source,
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The sustainer,
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And the goal,
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Of all,
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Things.
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First Corinthians,
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Eight,
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Six.
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Paul writes,
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For us,
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There is one God,
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The Father,
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From whom are all things,
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And for whom we exist,
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And one Lord,
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Jesus Christ,
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Through whom are all things,
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And through whom we exist.
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Colossians 1,
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16 and 17,
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Excuse me,
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15 through 17,
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He is the image,
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Of the invisible God,
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The firstborn of all visible,
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And invisible,
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Whether thrones,
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Or dominions,
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Or rulers,
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Or authorities,
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All things were created,
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Through him,
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And for him,
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And he is before all things,
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And in him,
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All things hold together.
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Have you ever even thought about,
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What it is that holds you,
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In the shape of you?
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Don't say science.
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Right?
20:35
That is the means,
20:36
To his ends.
20:38
It is the very power,
20:40
Of God's word,
20:41
That sustains this shape.
20:43
Right?
20:44
Whether or not you like your shape,
20:46
God is holding you,
20:46
In that shape.
20:48
Yet if God ceased,
20:50
By his word,
20:51
To have me be me,
20:53
All my atoms would just,
20:55
Expand.
20:57
Right?
20:57
I would no longer exist,
20:59
To be.
21:00
He holds it,
21:01
All,
21:02
Together.
21:03
Last night,
21:04
To fall asleep,
21:05
To get my brain to disengage,
21:07
I usually watch,
21:07
Some sort of boring documentary.
21:10
There are a lot of them,
21:11
Out there,
21:12
On the computer.
21:13
And last night,
21:15
I watched a documentary on,
21:17
It was essentially on volcanoes,
21:18
This plate tectonics.
21:20
Right?
21:20
Which is really fascinating.
21:22
Our earth,
21:23
If you didn't know this,
21:24
Is a giant ball,
21:25
Of revolving magma.
21:27
And if it's the size,
21:28
Of a basketball,
21:29
The crust that we live on,
21:30
Would be the size,
21:31
Of a sheet of paper.
21:32
So if you can imagine,
21:33
This huge ball,
21:35
Of molten rock.
21:36
And they were talking,
21:37
About how this,
21:38
Moves the world,
21:39
Gravity is created by it,
21:41
All of these things,
21:42
The revolution of the earth,
21:43
Is created by the revolving,
21:45
Of this magma.
21:46
And they talk about,
21:46
How it revolves,
21:47
How it cools,
21:48
And settles,
21:49
And does all this stuff.
21:50
And then,
21:51
The narrator said,
21:52
But no scientists know,
21:53
What sustains,
21:55
This revolution.
21:57
Right?
21:59
And I was like,
21:59
Dozing at that time,
22:00
And I went,
22:01
I do.
22:02
I said it out loud,
22:02
I do.
22:05
God,
22:06
By the power of his word,
22:08
He holds the power,
22:10
In its sway.
22:11
Right?
22:11
The beginning of Hebrews,
22:12
That's where we get the word,
22:13
Providence from.
22:15
Hebrews chapter,
22:16
1 verse 3,
22:17
I believe.
22:18
Where we get the word,
22:19
Providence from.
22:19
He holds it,
22:20
By the power,
22:21
Of his word.
22:22
He is God.
22:24
Ek,
22:25
Dia,
22:26
Ice.
22:26
It all,
22:27
Springs,
22:28
Forth,
22:29
From him.
22:32
The great,
22:33
Culmination,
22:34
Of God's character.
22:35
We can see it,
22:36
Expressed,
22:37
In so many ways.
22:40
Crazy documentaries,
22:41
From National Geographic.
22:43
We can see,
22:44
That God is in fact,
22:45
The ruler,
22:46
The source,
22:47
Sustainer,
22:47
And goal,
22:47
Of all things.
22:48
But the great culmination,
22:50
Of all of that,
22:51
Of his character,
22:52
And everything,
22:54
Was the cross,
22:55
That Jesus Christ,
22:56
Died on.
22:57
All of it,
22:57
Came together.
22:58
This great story,
22:59
Of who God is.
22:59
It compacted,
23:00
Right into this,
23:01
Into this scene.
23:03
And now it's being,
23:03
Expanded again,
23:05
In the redemption of the world.
23:06
All of it,
23:08
The great display,
23:09
Of his goodness,
23:10
His kindness,
23:11
His severity,
23:12
His wrath,
23:13
All came down,
23:14
In that moment.
23:16
Christ,
23:18
Bleeding,
23:19
Dying,
23:19
Being resurrected,
23:20
That whole scene,
23:22
Is the great culmination,
23:23
Of that.
23:25
In that,
23:26
In Jesus Christ,
23:28
All the promises of God,
23:29
Are yes.
23:32
It's in 1 Corinthians.
23:33
All the promises of God,
23:35
Are yes,
23:36
In Christ.
23:38
The provisions that we have,
23:40
For the spiritual blessing,
23:41
Saving faith,
23:43
Our perpetuation,
23:44
Our final,
23:45
Keeping as Christians,
23:47
Our temporal provision,
23:50
Everything,
23:51
That we possess,
23:53
In Christ.
23:55
All of those things.
23:57
So when we proclaim,
23:58
The gospel to one another,
23:59
It ought to cause us,
24:00
To leap up,
24:01
With joy.
24:03
It ought to work in us,
24:05
An abiding joy,
24:07
To understand who we are,
24:10
To know,
24:11
Beginning in chapter 1 of Romans,
24:12
That we are sinful,
24:14
Absolutely.
24:14
We inherited it,
24:15
And we willingly sin.
24:18
Enemies of God.
24:20
To feel the weight of that,
24:22
I pray that in your life,
24:23
At some point,
24:23
You felt the weight,
24:25
Of your sinfulness.
24:26
You have known,
24:27
What a wretch you are.
24:29
If you've never felt that,
24:30
You are a wretch.
24:33
An enemy of God,
24:35
Before Christ.
24:38
If you're in this room now,
24:39
And you've never placed,
24:40
Saving faith in Jesus Christ,
24:42
That's where you are.
24:42
An enemy of God.
24:43
Your final destination,
24:44
Is destruction.
24:48
If you have Christ,
24:50
If you've believed in him,
24:51
You've been made new.
24:52
You're being made back,
24:56
Into the image,
24:57
Of your creator.
24:58
He is working on you,
25:00
And I know that sometimes,
25:01
It feels so,
25:02
Incredibly slow.
25:04
You still feel,
25:06
The baggage,
25:07
Of your sinful flesh.
25:08
I know I do.
25:10
But he's working,
25:11
By his spirit in you,
25:12
Bringing about,
25:13
Regeneration,
25:14
Change.
25:15
You're being,
25:15
Sanctified.
25:17
Finally,
25:18
Fully,
25:18
One day,
25:19
You will,
25:20
Be perfect.
25:21
You'll shed the baggage,
25:22
Of your sin,
25:23
Your flesh,
25:24
And we will praise God,
25:26
Forever,
25:27
And ever.
25:29
This is the reality,
25:30
Of the world.
25:32
Ek,
25:33
Dia,
25:34
Ice.
25:36
This is the way,
25:37
God,
25:37
Has shown,
25:39
Chosen to show himself,
25:40
To us.
25:42
As the great source,
25:44
Sustainer,
25:45
And goal,
25:47
Of all things.
25:49
Let's pray together.