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Voddie Baucham - Why We Deny Jesus - John 18_15-27 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Right, this morning I have a few announcements that I'd
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: like us to take note of. And so, as we
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: start our morning service, take note of the following announcements.
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  Speaker 1: The first one is that we'll be having a vacation
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  Speaker 1: Bible school for children in August during the school holidays.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: And registration is actually ongoing, and therefore you are encouraged
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  Speaker 1: to get to the information desk, which is located in
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  Speaker 1: the building right behind you, but in front of me,
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: when the service is done, so that you can get
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  Speaker 1: a bit more details and register your children to attend
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  Speaker 1: the Vacation Bible School in August. The second announcement is
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: that we will have an ordination service next Sunday, 18th
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  Speaker 1: June 2023. We will be ordaining Pastor Mwindulambewe as our
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  Speaker 1: resident pastor. And Pastor Conrad Mbewe will be the one
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  Speaker 1: speaking on that Sunday. We will also have our Ordinary
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  Speaker 1: General Meeting on Saturday, 24th June, 2023, at 9 hours,
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  Speaker 1: and all members are therefore encouraged to come.
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  Speaker 3: The meeting will be here at church.
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  Speaker 1: We will also have a baptism class commencing in the
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  Speaker 1: month of July, and therefore those who are believers and
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  Speaker 1: are not yet baptized are encouraged to to register their
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  Speaker 1: names for the baptism class. Registration can be done again
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  Speaker 1: at the information desk in the building right behind you.
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  Speaker 1: Then this coming Saturday, the 17th of June, the ladies
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  Speaker 1: will be having a prayer meeting here at church at
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  Speaker 1: seven hours. So all ladies are encouraged to attend the
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  Speaker 1: prayer meetings. Shall we turn our Bibles to the book
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  Speaker 1: of Psalm chapter 95?
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  Speaker 3: And we will read the entire chapter.
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  Speaker 1: Psalm chapter 95, I begin reading. Come, let us shout
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  Speaker 1: joyfully to the Lord. Shout triumphantly to the rock of
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  Speaker 1: our salvation. Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving. Let
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  Speaker 1: us shout triumphantly to him in song. For the Lord
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  Speaker 1: is a great God, a great king above all gods.
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  Speaker 1: The depths of the earth are in his hand. and
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  Speaker 1: the mountain peaks are his.
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  Speaker 3: The sea is his. He made it.
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  Speaker 1: His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us worship
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  Speaker 1: and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker,
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  Speaker 1: for he is our God. And we are the people
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  Speaker 1: of his pasture, the sheep under his care. Today, if
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  Speaker 1: you hear the voice, do not harden your hearts as
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  Speaker 1: the Mary on that day that Martha in the wilderness
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  Speaker 1: where your fathers rested, where your fathers tested me. They
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  Speaker 1: tried me, though they had seen what I did. Verse 10.
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  Speaker 1: For 40 years, I was disgusted with that generation. I said,
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  Speaker 1: they are a people whose hearts go astray. They do
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  Speaker 1: not know my ways.
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  Speaker 4: Eleven.
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  Speaker 1: So, I saw in my anger, they will not enter
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  Speaker 1: my race.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 5: Good morning, church. Good morning, church.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning.
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  Speaker 6: Thank you very much. Honored to stand here this morning.
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  Speaker 6: My name is Freeman Chabala, and I'll be the one
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  Speaker 6: that is going to be leading the order of services
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  Speaker 6: this morning. And before I go any further, I'll just
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  Speaker 6: ask us to bow our heads and pray together.
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  Speaker 5: Let us pray, shall we?
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  Speaker 6: O gracious Father in heaven, we humble ourselves before your throne.
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  Speaker 6: We bring glory to your holy name and we thank
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  Speaker 6: you because this is an opportunity that is ours to
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  Speaker 6: come into your house and worship a great God. Father,
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  Speaker 6: we know that this is an opportunity because we know
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  Speaker 6: that the Bible says where two or more are gathered in.
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  Speaker 5: My name, there too am I.
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  Speaker 6: So we know that, Father, you are with us this morning,
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  Speaker 6: and we know that you are a God that hears
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  Speaker 6: our prayers. So we pray this morning that you will
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  Speaker 6: be with us and incline our ears and open our
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  Speaker 6: hearts so that we can hear your words and see
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  Speaker 6: the wondrous things that are written in your law. Eternal Father,
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  Speaker 6: we know the dispensation of our hearts is to sin
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  Speaker 6: and wickedness. But we know, Father, that by your grace
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  Speaker 6: and your unmerited grace alone, you saved us. You chose
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  Speaker 6: through the counsel of your own wisdom to save us
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  Speaker 6: even before the foundation of the earth. Through the ransom
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  Speaker 6: sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, O God, you consoled
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  Speaker 6: us unto you. So we can worship a great and
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  Speaker 6: holy God whose holiness is unfathomable in comparison to ours.
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  Speaker 5: So, Father, we thank you that you've made this possible.
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  Speaker 6: This morning, O Father, we ask you that in everything
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  Speaker 6: that is going to be preached, and all of us
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  Speaker 6: that are going to be leading your people, will you
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  Speaker 6: be with us and imbue us with your Holy Spirit.
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  Speaker 5: We pray for our brother, Dr.
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  Speaker 6: Vody, as he comes to mount your pulpit, oh Father,
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  Speaker 6: that will you fill him with your Holy Spirit, and
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  Speaker 6: you guide him and give him fluidity of speech, so that,
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  Speaker 6: oh Father, this may even be an opportunity for the
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  Speaker 6: salvation of those that are not yet saved, and of
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  Speaker 6: course be a comfort and encouragement for.
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  Speaker 4: Those of us that are Christians.
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  Speaker 6: I also pray for myself, O Father, as I stand here,
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  Speaker 6: a man who is not pure, but of course counting
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  Speaker 6: on your salvation as well as counting on your sanctification. That,
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  Speaker 6: O Father, will you fill me with your Holy Spirit
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  Speaker 6: so that I lead your people even for the glory
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  Speaker 6: and honor of your holy name. Our brother Geshem, as
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  Speaker 6: he comes here to read your word, and of course
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  Speaker 6: our brother Gordon Mackay, as he has repented. as he
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  Speaker 6: comes here with the intercessory prayer. Father, we pray, O God,
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  Speaker 6: that you will be with all of us as we
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  Speaker 6: do this work. And we do it to the glory
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  Speaker 6: and honor of your holy name. So, Father, as we
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  Speaker 6: start this morning to sing songs to you, we ask
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  Speaker 6: you that you give our hearts joy so that we
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  Speaker 6: can sing, O Father, with a joyful heart, remembering, O God,
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  Speaker 6: that we are singing to a great God and a
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  Speaker 6: king and rock of our salvation. Do these things for
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  Speaker 6: us because we ask them in the name of our
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  Speaker 6: Lord Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 4: Amen.
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  Speaker 6: So this morning, we are going to worship our Lord
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  Speaker 6: through singing of songs and just probably to reiterate the
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  Speaker 6: words that are written in the psalm that.
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  Speaker 5: Was just read by Elder Makai.
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  Speaker 6: Psalm 95 says, which was calling all of us to
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  Speaker 6: come and sing a song to our Lord. It also
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  Speaker 6: called us that we should make a joyful noise to
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  Speaker 6: our God because in 93 it says we are singing
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  Speaker 6: to a great God and a great King above all gods.
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  Speaker 5: So let us sing. as we are singing to the
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  Speaker 5: rock of our salvation.
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  Speaker 6: To do this, I would ask us to stand together.
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  Speaker 6: Maybe before we do that, I would ask our choir
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  Speaker 6: to just give us a glimpse of what the song
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  Speaker 6: we are going to sing, which is All People That
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  Speaker 6: on Earth Do Dwell. just to give us a glimpse,
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  Speaker 6: maybe just two stanzas of this song so that everybody
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  Speaker 6: gets a feel of how this song is going.
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  Speaker 4: To be sung.
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  Speaker 6: So let's just do the first two stanzas for everybody.
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  Speaker 7: O people that on earth.
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  Speaker 8: Do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice, Hymns
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  Speaker 8: that with peace praise foretell. Come ye before him and rejoice.
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  Speaker 7: The Lord we know is God indeed.
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  Speaker 2: Without a head.
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  Speaker 8: He did us make. We are his folk, he doth us.
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  Speaker 5: Thank you.
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  Speaker 6: I heard some of you already joining in, which means
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  Speaker 6: that we are already getting a catch of the song.
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  Speaker 6: So please let's stand together and sing this song. All
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  Speaker 6: people that on earth do dwell. A song written in
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  Speaker 6: 1595 by William Cotton.
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  Speaker 9: O people that on earth do dwell, sing to the
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  Speaker 9: Lord with cheerful voice. Him serve with peace, praise for death.
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  Speaker 8: Bow me before him and rejoice.
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  Speaker 7: The Lord, ye.
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  Speaker 2: Know, is God indeed.
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  Speaker 8: Without our aid he did us make.
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  Speaker 2: We are his.
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  Speaker 7: Folk, he doth us feed.
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  Speaker 8: And for his sheep he doth us take.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, enter then.
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  Speaker 8: His gates with praise. Approach with joy His courts unto.
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  Speaker 8: Praise the Lord and bless His name always. For it
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  Speaker 8: is simply so to do.
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  Speaker 7: For why the Lord our God.
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  Speaker 8: Is good His mercy is forever sure.
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  Speaker 7: His truth at all times firmly stood.
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  Speaker 10: And shall from age to age endure To Father, Son,
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  Speaker 10: and Holy Ghost. The God whom heaven and earth adore.
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  Speaker 11: From man and from the angel host. Be praise and
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  Speaker 11: glory evermore.
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  Speaker 5: Thank you very much.
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  Speaker 6: We continue singing and bringing praise to this holy God.
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  Speaker 6: And in doing this, I would ask us that we
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  Speaker 6: sing another song entitled, I am a new creation. I
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  Speaker 6: am a new creation. a wonderful song which I would
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  Speaker 6: want us to sing. Again, I would ask the choir
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  Speaker 6: to just show us how this song goes with two stanzas,
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  Speaker 6: and then we go back and sing it together.
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  Speaker 8: I am a new creation, no more in work or.
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  Speaker 2: Pension, here in.
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  Speaker 6: And I could see Dr. Bodhi saying, let's just go
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  Speaker 6: with this. So let's do this again, shall we, with
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  Speaker 6: a very loud voice.
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  Speaker 5: And I appreciate the way you're singing.
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  Speaker 8: With that grace of God I stand. And I will
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  Speaker 8: pray to the Lord. I will pray to the Lord.
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  Speaker 8: I will sing of all that you have done. With
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  Speaker 8: joy and love for me. And life has filled my spirit.
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  Speaker 8: I am a new creation, no more in condemnation, here
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  Speaker 8: in thy grace of God I stand.
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  Speaker 2: My mind is overflowing, my life just keeps.
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  Speaker 8: On going, here in thy grace of God I stand.
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  Speaker 5: Thank you very much. That was wonderful singing.
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  Speaker 6: And I think just to quickly get us back to
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  Speaker 6: the point where it says, I am.
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  Speaker 5: A new creation. No more in condemnation.
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  Speaker 6: Here in the grace of God I stand. So we
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  Speaker 6: stand in the grace of God and we are no
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  Speaker 6: longer condemned. At this point in time we want to
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  Speaker 6: continue singing these songs of praise to the Lord and
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  Speaker 6: we are going to sing the song of the month.
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  Speaker 6: This song is entitled Christ, Our Hope in Life and Death.
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  Speaker 6: We sang this song last week as well. I believe
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  Speaker 6: we already have a hang of how this song is sung,
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  Speaker 6: so it asks us that we bust out and sing
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  Speaker 6: this song.
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  Speaker 5: As we are singing to a great God.
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  Speaker 2: What is our hope in life and death?
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  Speaker 7: Christ alone, Christ alone.
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  Speaker 4: What is.
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  Speaker 7: Our only confidence? That our souls.
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  Speaker 8: To Him belong.
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  Speaker 2: Who holds our day?
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  Speaker 7: Hand what comes apart from his command and God.
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  Speaker 8: Will keep us to the end the love of Christ
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  Speaker 8: in which we stand oh sing hallelujah.
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  Speaker 2: Our hopes bring.
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  Speaker 8: Eternal Oh, sing hallelujah Now and.
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  Speaker 7: Ever we confess Christ our hope in life.
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  Speaker 2: And death.
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  Speaker 7: What truth can calm the troubled soul?
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  Speaker 8: God is good, God is good. Where is His grace
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  Speaker 8: and goodness now?
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  Speaker 2: In our great Redeemer's love. Who holds our.
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  Speaker 8: Faith when fears arise?
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  Speaker 11: Who stands above the stormy tide?
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  Speaker 8: Who sends the waves that bring us nigh? Unto the shore,
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  Speaker 8: the rock of life. Oh, sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal. Oh,
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  Speaker 8: sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess Christ our hope
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  Speaker 8: in life and death. To the grave.
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  Speaker 2: What shall we see? Christ it is, Christ it is.
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  Speaker 8: And what we want will heaven be. Everlasting life we need.
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  Speaker 2: To meet the Lord, then sin.
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  Speaker 8: And death will be destroyed, and we will be in
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  Speaker 8: endless joy when Christ is ours forevermore.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, sing high Hallelujah.
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  Speaker 8: Our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah, now and ever
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  Speaker 8: we confess. Christ, our hope in life and death.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, sing hallelujah.
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  Speaker 8: Our hope's great eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah.
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  Speaker 2: Now and ever we confess.
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  Speaker 8: Christ our hope in life and death.
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  Speaker 7: Now and ever we confess. Christ our hope in life
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  Speaker 7: and death.
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  Speaker 5: Thank you. That was wonderful singing. And as we sit,
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  Speaker 5: I just want us to.
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  Speaker 6: Just quickly look at how this power verizes it and saying,
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  Speaker 6: now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life
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  Speaker 6: and death. knowing that in life Christ has brought us salvation,
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  Speaker 6: and in death he holds.
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  Speaker 5: The keys to the grave. Thank you so much. At
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  Speaker 5: this point in time, I would ask our brother to
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  Speaker 5: just come and pick it up from here.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning again.
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  Speaker 1: Before we pray, I'd like to take this opportunity again
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of the elders to introduce one of our brothers.
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  Speaker 3: Who has applied for membership.
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  Speaker 1: He was introduced in absentia last week, but since he's
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  Speaker 1: in today, I would like him to stand so that
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  Speaker 1: you can see him and interact him for the next
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  Speaker 1: one week. before the church or the elders can consider
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  Speaker 1: to welcome him and his wife into membership. Our brother
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  Speaker 1: Gabriel Konayuma, if you can just stand.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, sure. Thank you very much. You may take
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  Speaker 3: your seat.
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  Speaker 1: Today also, as a church, we are happy that we
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  Speaker 1: will be welcoming our brother into membership who applied for
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  Speaker 1: membership and interacted with the elders and also some of
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  Speaker 1: you church members. Today we are pleased that we will
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  Speaker 1: be welcoming into membership our brother Chabala Sunkutu. So what
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  Speaker 1: I'll do is first of all I'll share the prayer
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  Speaker 1: items and then before I pray I'll ask him to
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  Speaker 1: come and stand up front here and then I'll pray
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  Speaker 1: and And also pray for him. And after that, I'll
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  Speaker 1: extend a hand of fellowship on your behalf to him.
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  Speaker 1: And then he will take his seat. Let me just
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  Speaker 1: share the prayer items that I will be praying for.
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  Speaker 1: They are all coming from the ladies' ministry. Thanksgiving items.
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  Speaker 1: The first one is that we need to thank God
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  Speaker 1: for good attendance during the ladies' Bible study. Secondly, we
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  Speaker 1: need to thank God for the lessons that they went
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  Speaker 1: through in the book of Titus. We pray that they
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  Speaker 1: may not be puffed up with knowledge, but that they
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  Speaker 1: may reduce that knowledge into practice. Third one is that
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  Speaker 1: we need to thank God for consistency in the girls' class.
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  Speaker 1: Thank God for availability of teachers and the good attendance
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  Speaker 1: by the girls. Fourth one, thank God for the monies
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  Speaker 1: being made available by members to reach out to ailing
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  Speaker 1: and bereaved families, both members and non-members. And fifth, Thank
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  Speaker 1: God for the monies raised for the lunch that we
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  Speaker 1: had during the elders ordination service and the upcoming pastors ordination.
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  Speaker 3: Items of petition.
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  Speaker 1: The ladies started a series of study in the book
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  Speaker 1: of Jude. Pray that teachers may be available. and the
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  Speaker 1: ladies may understand what the Lord has in store for
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  Speaker 1: them as they take the study in this book of Jude.
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  Speaker 3: Secondly, pray that the.
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  Speaker 1: Ladies may not grow weary in working for the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: especially that they have a lot of activities that are
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  Speaker 1: lined up for them in the next six months. Pray
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  Speaker 1: for salvation of the girls that are being taught. And
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  Speaker 1: then pray for the non-Christian ladies that are being followed
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  Speaker 1: up and those that we gather.
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  Speaker 3: With during.
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  Speaker 1: The ladies Bible studies that through the interaction they may
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  Speaker 1: come to know the Lord as their Savior. And finally,
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  Speaker 1: pray for the coordination of the lunch during a pastor's
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  Speaker 1: upcoming ordination service, that all may go well as they
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  Speaker 1: have planned. Allow me now to call upon our brother,
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  Speaker 1: Chawala Sunkutu, to come up front. Just stand up there
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  Speaker 1: and face the congregation.
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  Speaker 3: Let us pray together.
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  Speaker 1: Our blessed God and our Father who art in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: we come before you this morning because you've enabled us
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  Speaker 1: to come into this house of worship in this manner.
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  Speaker 1: We are grateful to you for the way that you
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  Speaker 1: keep us in good health and grant us life. And
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  Speaker 1: we are also mindful that, Father, we cannot take credit
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  Speaker 1: for this life and good health that we are enjoying
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  Speaker 1: because there's nothing good in us to warrant this. It
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  Speaker 1: is all because of your love and your mercy And
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  Speaker 1: also because of the great work that your son, Jesus Christ,
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  Speaker 1: did for us on the cross of Calvary.
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  Speaker 3: By buying us back to yourself.
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  Speaker 1: We want to thank you this morning, also our Father
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  Speaker 1: in heaven, for the ladies' ministry that has been levering
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  Speaker 1: here at Hillview Baptist Church. We do want to thank
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  Speaker 1: you for how you've continued to deal with them through
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  Speaker 1: the ministry. ladies' meetings that they normally have. Thank you
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  Speaker 1: for the consistency in attendance among them to this means
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  Speaker 1: of grace. And, oh Lord, we want to thank you
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  Speaker 1: that our Father, you enabled the ladies to go through
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  Speaker 1: the book of Titus as they looked at that series.
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  Speaker 1: And now how we pray that our Father in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: as knowledge has been shared and passed to one another,
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  Speaker 1: that this knowledge may not make them to grow big-headed
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  Speaker 1: as it were, but that, O Lord, our Father in heaven,
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  Speaker 1: this knowledge that they've acquired may be able to build
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  Speaker 1: them up and that, O God, this knowledge may then
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  Speaker 1: also be reduced to practice, that they may, O God,
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  Speaker 1: walk this way, they may talk this way, they may
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  Speaker 1: sleep this way, and they may do your way as
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  Speaker 1: it has been taught. We pray that our Father in
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  Speaker 1: heaven through the studies that have been conducted that oh
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  Speaker 1: God you may take the pleasure in saving those other
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  Speaker 1: women that they meet with who may not yet be
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  Speaker 1: Christians praying also at the same time that our father
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  Speaker 1: in heaven as you have also granted them and continue
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: to do so the opportunity to interact with the other
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: ladies that are not members of this church that they
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: follow up that our father in heaven Use them, O God,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: as a great means through which the gospel can be
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: shared with those ladies. And O Lord, peradventure that you
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: may save some from death and indeed bring them to
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: yourself that they may know your son and acknowledge him
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: and accept him as their personal savior and have life
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: and life eternal. We do also want to thank you,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: our Father in Heaven, for how you dealt with us
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: a month ago when we had the ordination service for
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: the elders at.
• 31:38
  Speaker 3: Hillview Baptist Church.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Thanking you, O God, for this feat that you enabled
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: us as a church, a great milestone to achieve by
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: your grace. we are grateful for how you dealt with
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: us and how you provided us.
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: With all the logistics that we needed.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: And oh, our Father, how you dealt with us, even
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: through the preaching of the word.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: Through our brother, Joshua.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: How we pray and ask that our Father in heaven,
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: that we may continue to be built up and that
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: we may be made ready for your service. We now
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: do want to also pray ask that our Father in Heaven,
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: as we plan to ordain our brother, Pastor Mwindo Lambewe,
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: next Sunday, O Lord, to call him as our resident
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: pastor here at Hillview Baptist, how we pray and ask
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: that our Father in Heaven, our plans, you may be
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: able to bring them to bear fruit, because we plan
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: And indeed, sometimes our plans are not in accordance with
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: your plan. And so how we pray that our plans
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: may all God's indeed be in harmony and in tune
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: with your will. And that you may be able to
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: help us even to ordain our brother and our pastor,
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: Mwindo Landewi, as our elder and as our resident pastor here.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: We want to pray for the ladies who are busy
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: preparing for the logistics and all that is required during
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: that day. But we also want to pray for the
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: elders who have been earnestly praying and, oh, God, also
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: preparing for this day, that, oh, God, you may be
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: with them, grant them much grace and much wisdom, but
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: also pray for the members who equally have been in
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: much prayer about this matter.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: We pray that our Father in heaven.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: you may grant us one mind and one objective, that
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: on this day that we are planning to ordain our brother,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: that all may go well, and that indeed your name
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: may be praised, your name may be glorified, and that
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: you may be honored as you shower the blessings upon us.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: We also want to pray now for the ladies as well.
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: Oh God, we know that they are scheduled between now
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: and the next six months is fully packed with activities.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: We want to bring these ladies to you in prayer
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: asking that our Father in heaven you may again deal
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: with them graciously and that they may not grow weary
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: because of the much work.
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: That lies ahead of them.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: We pray that you may help them to indeed do
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: all that they have and that all God, through that work, indeed,
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: they may be able to see much fruit being born. Now,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: our Father in heaven, we are grateful to you that
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: you have continued to do greater exploits among us as
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: Hillview Baptists. Today, our hearts are pleased and excited as
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: we receive our brother, Chabalasungtu, into membership how we pray
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: and ask that indeed our brother Chabala will find Hillview
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Baptist to be a spiritual home, a home where he
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: will find brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, uncles and
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: aunties that he will be able to interact with, share
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: in the gospel, and also share in the work of.
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: The Lord, that all God, your kingdom, indeed may be enriched.
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: How we pray that you may use him to use
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: his gifts and talents to save you and to save
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: his people here at Hillview Baptist Church. But also, it
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: is our prayer that our Father in heaven, as all
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the members of the church, we will receive our brothers, indeed,
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: one of us, and that, O God, we will be
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: able to grant him the support that he needs, even
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: in his walk with you, our Father in heaven. We
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: pray that together, O God, you may continue to build
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: us and to use us, even for the extension of
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: your kingdom. How we pray and ask that these things
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: you may be able to do for us, for we
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: ask in Jesus' name. Father, we now are about to
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: enter into our service, and our brother, Dr. Vaude Bocan,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: will be mounting the pulpit in a few moments. we
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: pray and ask that, O God, use him like you
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: have used him before, and even more, to bring forth
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: your weight to your people. That, O God, the weight
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: that will be preached today will find room in our
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: hearts and we'll be able to receive it as it were,
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: and that it may be able to work within us,
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: indeed to transform us, that we may be able to
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: walk in newness of life and that, O God, we
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: may daily be transformed into the likeness of.
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: Your Son, Jesus Christ.
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: This is our prayer we ask, that may you respond
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: to us and do all these things as we ask.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Use him, O God, mightily to bring that which you've
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: indeed placed upon his heart, that he may share the
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: mind and will of God to us, that today we
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: may know and indeed understand what your mind and your
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: will is for us, even as we gather as a church.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: O God, praying also that you may continue to attend
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: to us in a manner that is pleasing before your sight,
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: and as we continue with our service, that O God,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: all that we do, you will receive us an aroma
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: that is beautiful into your nostrils, and that, oh God,
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: you may be able to attend to us in this way.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: We do want to ask now that you may continue
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: being with us from now till the very end of
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: our time together this morning. For we do pray and
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: ask in Jesus' name.
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 38:55
  Speaker 4: Good morning, church.
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: Good morning, church.
• 38:59
  Speaker 8: Thank you. That's better.
• 39:01
  Speaker 12: Please, if you have your Bible with you, turn to
• 39:04
  Speaker 12: 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles, and we'll be considering chapter 27.
• 39:10
  Speaker 12: 1 Chronicles chapter 27. I'll ask the ushers, if you
• 39:17
  Speaker 12: don't have a Bible with you, by show of hands,
• 39:20
  Speaker 12: just raise your hand. Just raise it a bit higher
• 39:23
  Speaker 12: so we can See those hands?
• 39:26
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the ashes, please.
• 39:27
  Speaker 12: They'll bring a Bible to you that you can use.
• 39:30
  Speaker 4: For now.
• 39:31
  Speaker 12: But the Bible that they'll give to you is not
• 39:33
  Speaker 12: one that you should go home with. If you need
• 39:36
  Speaker 12: a Bible to go home with, we have another set
• 39:39
  Speaker 12: of Bibles that can be given to you. And after
• 39:42
  Speaker 12: the service, you can visit the information desk and you'll
• 39:46
  Speaker 12: be attended to. Keep those hands up. 1 Chronicles 27.
• 39:51
  Speaker 12: And I'll be reading from the English Standard Version. Okay,
• 40:19
  Speaker 12: 1 Chronicles 27. We'll read the entire chapter. Verse 1.
• 40:27
  Speaker 12: This is the number of the people of Israel, the
• 40:31
  Speaker 12: heads of fathers' houses, the commanders of thousands and hundreds,
• 40:38
  Speaker 12: and their officers who served the king in all matters
• 40:43
  Speaker 12: concerning the divisions of that came and went month after
• 40:49
  Speaker 12: month throughout the year, each division numbering 24,000. Jehoshabim, the
• 40:58
  Speaker 12: son of Zebedee was in charge of the first division
• 41:03
  Speaker 12: in the first month. In his division were 24,000. He
• 41:06
  Speaker 12: was a descendant of Perez, and was chief of all
• 41:15
  Speaker 12: the commanders. He served for the first month. Verse 4.
• 41:21
  Speaker 12: Dodiah the Alhite was in charge of the division of
• 41:26
  Speaker 12: the second month. In his division were 24,000. The third
• 41:31
  Speaker 12: commander for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada,
• 41:37
  Speaker 12: the chief priest. In his division were 24,000. This is
• 41:43
  Speaker 12: the Benaiah who was a mighty man of the 30
• 41:48
  Speaker 12: and in command of the 30. Amizabad, his son, was
• 41:53
  Speaker 12: in charge of his division. Asahel, the brother of Joab,
• 41:59
  Speaker 12: was fourth for the fourth month. And his son, Zebediah,
• 42:05
  Speaker 12: after him in his division were 24,000.
• 42:07
  Speaker 4: Verse 8.
• 42:08
  Speaker 12: The fifth commander... For the fifth month was Shamhath, the Israelite,
• 42:17
  Speaker 12: in his division were 24,000. For the sixth month was Ere,
• 42:24
  Speaker 12: the son of Ekesh, the Telkite, in his division were 24,000.
• 42:32
  Speaker 12: For the seventh month was Helez, the Pelonite, of the
• 42:36
  Speaker 12: sons of Ephraim, in his division were 24,000. Eighth For
• 42:43
  Speaker 12: the eighth month was Sibekaya the Hushathite of the Zerachites,
• 42:49
  Speaker 12: in his division were 24,000. Ninth, for the ninth month,
• 42:55
  Speaker 12: was Abiezah of Anathoth, a Benjaminite, in his division were 24,000. Tenth,
• 43:01
  Speaker 12: for the tenth month, was Mahari of Netopha of the
• 43:09
  Speaker 12: Zerahites in his division were 24,000. Verse 14, 11th for
• 43:16
  Speaker 12: the 11th month was Benaiah of Pirathon of the sons
• 43:21
  Speaker 12: of Ephraim in his division were 24,000. 12th for the
• 43:27
  Speaker 12: 12th month was Heldiah the Netophathite of Othniel in his
• 43:34
  Speaker 12: division were 24,000. Verse 16. Over the tribes of Israel,
• 43:42
  Speaker 12: for the Reubenites, Eliezer, the son of Zechariah, was chief officer.
• 43:47
  Speaker 12: For the Simonites, Shephati, the son of Meachah. For Levi, Hashbiah,
• 43:54
  Speaker 12: the son of Kumel. For Aaron, Zedok. For Judah, Elihu,
• 43:59
  Speaker 12: one of David's brothers. For Issachar, Omri, the son of Micah.
• 44:04
  Speaker 12: For Zebulun, Ishmael. the son of Obadiah. For Naphtali, Jeremoth,
• 44:10
  Speaker 12: the son of Azrael. For the Ephraimites, Hoshea, the son
• 44:15
  Speaker 12: of Azaziah. For the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joel, the son
• 44:20
  Speaker 12: of Pediah. For the half-tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Ido,
• 44:26
  Speaker 12: the son of Zechariah. For Benjamin, Jassel, the son of Abner.
• 44:32
  Speaker 12: For Dan, Azariel, the son of Jeroham. These were the
• 44:37
  Speaker 12: leaders of the tribes of Israel. David did not count
• 44:42
  Speaker 12: those below 20 years of age, for the Lord had
• 44:45
  Speaker 12: promised to make Israel as many as the stars of heaven. Joab,
• 44:51
  Speaker 12: the son of Zeruiah, began to count, but did not finish.
• 44:57
  Speaker 12: Yet wrath came upon Israel for this, and the number
• 45:01
  Speaker 12: was not entered in the chronicles.
• 45:04
  Speaker 3: Of King David.
• 45:05
  Speaker 12: 25. Over the king's treasuries was Asmaveth, the son of Adel.
• 45:14
  Speaker 12: And over the treasuries in the country, in the cities,
• 45:18
  Speaker 12: in the villages, and in the towers was Jonathan, the
• 45:22
  Speaker 12: son of Uzziah. And over those who did the work
• 45:27
  Speaker 12: of the field for tilling the soil was Ezri, the
• 45:31
  Speaker 12: son of Caleb. And over the vineyards was Shimei, the Ramathite.
• 45:38
  Speaker 12: And over the produce of the vineyards for the wine
• 45:41
  Speaker 12: cellars was Zabdi, the Shemite. Over the olive and sycamore
• 45:48
  Speaker 12: trees in the Shepala was Baohanan, the Giderite. And over
• 45:53
  Speaker 12: the stores of oil was Joash.
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: 29.
• 45:58
  Speaker 12: Over the herds that pastured in Sharon was Shitri, the Sharonite.
• 46:04
  Speaker 12: Over the herds in the valleys was Shaphat, the son
• 46:08
  Speaker 12: of Adliah. Over the camels was Obel, the Ishmaelite. And
• 46:15
  Speaker 12: over the donkeys was Jediah, the Merothite. Over the flocks
• 46:20
  Speaker 12: was Jazzes, the Hagrite. All these were stewards of King
• 46:25
  Speaker 12: David's property.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: 32.
• 46:29
  Speaker 12: Jonathan, David's uncle, was a counsellor. being a man of
• 46:34
  Speaker 12: understanding and a scribe. He and Jehel, the son of Hachmoni,
• 46:40
  Speaker 12: attended the king's sons. Ahithophel was the king's counselor, and Hushai,
• 46:47
  Speaker 12: the archite, was the king's friend. Ahithophel was succeeded by Jehoiada,
• 46:53
  Speaker 12: the son of Benaiah, and Abiathar. Joab was commander of
• 46:59
  Speaker 12: the king's army. ends the reading of God's word.
• 47:19
  Speaker 4: Amen.
• 47:20
  Speaker 6: As we prepare to listen to the preaching of the
• 47:24
  Speaker 6: word of the Lord, we want to sing the next song.
• 47:29
  Speaker 6: The song was penned down around 1772, December, by John Newton.
• 47:36
  Speaker 6: John Newton was previously a slave trader who actually survived
• 47:44
  Speaker 6: a shipwreck. A popular song that was later given a
• 47:51
  Speaker 6: new chorus by, I think, Chris Tomlin quite recently. A
• 47:56
  Speaker 6: song close to my heart because on my baptism in
• 48:01
  Speaker 6: April 7th, 2019, the chorus is what I requested to
• 48:05
  Speaker 6: be played. Stand with me please as we sing Amazing Grace.
• 48:11
  Speaker 6: My chains are gone.
• 48:36
  Speaker 8: Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
• 48:47
  Speaker 8: I once was lost, but now I'm found.
• 48:55
  Speaker 7: Was blind, but now I see.
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: Was great.
• 49:10
  Speaker 8: Bless my fears relieved How precious did.
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: It feel that grace appear.
• 49:22
  Speaker 8: The hour I first believed. My God, my Savior, has
• 49:38
  Speaker 8: ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy rains. An
• 49:49
  Speaker 8: ending love, amazing grace. The Lord has brought these good
• 50:05
  Speaker 8: to me. His word my hope secures. He will my
• 50:16
  Speaker 8: shield and portion be.
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: As long as I live. My chains of God have
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: been set free.
• 50:30
  Speaker 8: My God, my Savior, has ransomed me. And like a flower,
• 50:38
  Speaker 8: His mercy rains.
• 50:39
  Speaker 2: I live in love, amazing grace.
• 50:58
  Speaker 10: Shall soon dissolve.
• 51:02
  Speaker 8: Like snow the sun forbear to shine but God who
• 51:13
  Speaker 8: called me here below will be forever mine.
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: You are forever mine. My chains are gone. I've been
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: set free.
• 51:39
  Speaker 11: My God, my Savior, has brought to me.
• 51:46
  Speaker 2: And like the.
• 51:51
  Speaker 8: Mercy with unending love, amazing grace.
• 52:00
  Speaker 4: Please take your seats. If you have your Bibles with you,
• 52:11
  Speaker 4: please open them to John chapter 18. We'll continue in
• 52:18
  Speaker 4: John chapter 18. and continue our journey here in the
• 52:36
  Speaker 4: Gospel of John. Today we'll be looking at verses 15
• 52:43
  Speaker 4: through 27. We looked at the first section in this
• 52:50
  Speaker 4: chapter on last week, where we saw the denial, the
• 52:56
  Speaker 4: betrayal of Judas. And in this section we look at
• 53:02
  Speaker 4: the denial.
• 53:04
  Speaker 8: Peter.
• 53:06
  Speaker 4: It's interesting that we come right out of the Lord's prayer,
• 53:11
  Speaker 4: that high priestly prayer in John 17 into a betrayal
• 53:18
  Speaker 4: and then into a denial. And as you've been reminded
• 53:23
  Speaker 4: of several times, once we get to chapter 13 in
• 53:26
  Speaker 4: the book of John, everything slows down. No longer is
• 53:30
  Speaker 4: there a weak or month or year between verses or
• 53:36
  Speaker 4: chapters but now all of a sudden everything is happening
• 53:39
  Speaker 4: in this one last night and that's precisely where we are.
• 53:45
  Speaker 4: The Lord and his disciples go into the upper room
• 53:48
  Speaker 4: and now they've come out of the upper room and
• 53:51
  Speaker 4: we see the events that eventually lead to the crucifixion.
• 53:57
  Speaker 4: And over these events there's a couple of things that
• 53:58
  Speaker 4: happen and one thing that happens is the number gets
• 54:03
  Speaker 4: smaller and smaller. Eventually, we go from a large number
• 54:11
  Speaker 4: of people who would have been gathered with Jesus in
• 54:14
  Speaker 4: the upper room to just the 12. And eventually, after
• 54:20
  Speaker 4: the betrayal, it's just the 11. But if you remember,
• 54:26
  Speaker 4: even in the garden, the number goes down from the
• 54:29
  Speaker 4: 12 to.
• 54:31
  Speaker 4: Just those few who he brings with him further into
• 54:35
  Speaker 4: the garden to pray. Those three. And now in our
• 54:40
  Speaker 4: text today, we see that the number goes down to
• 54:43
  Speaker 4: just two. Eventually whittling its way all the way down
• 54:49
  Speaker 4: to when Jesus goes to the cross alone. When there
• 54:54
  Speaker 4: is no one left standing with him. No one left.
• 55:01
  Speaker 4: standing beside him. Because the redemptive work that he has
• 55:05
  Speaker 4: to do is work that he must do alone. It
• 55:08
  Speaker 4: is also work that he is the only one who
• 55:11
  Speaker 4: is qualified to do. The only one qualified to participate in.
• 55:20
  Speaker 4: The other thing that we see here, especially in our
• 55:23
  Speaker 4: text today with the denial of Peter, you know, when
• 55:27
  Speaker 4: you look at the betrayal of Judas, It's easy for
• 55:33
  Speaker 4: us to say to ourselves, I'm glad that's not me. Amen?
• 55:42
  Speaker 4: I'm glad that's not me. That won't be me. I
• 55:45
  Speaker 4: am a true Christian. I am not a false professor.
• 55:49
  Speaker 4: I am not pretending. I've actually been converted. I'm glad
• 55:54
  Speaker 4: that's not me. Right? And we just sort of look
• 55:57
  Speaker 4: at that and we shake our head and how Judas
• 56:01
  Speaker 4: could betray Jesus. The interesting thing about our text today
• 56:07
  Speaker 4: is that no one is able to look at the
• 56:10
  Speaker 4: denial of Peter and say, that could never be me.
• 56:16
  Speaker 4: I mean, you could say that, but you would be
• 56:18
  Speaker 4: wrong because actually Peter also said that would never be me.
• 56:25
  Speaker 4: And it was. And it was. So this text causes
• 56:31
  Speaker 4: us to check ourselves. It causes us to examine our
• 56:36
  Speaker 4: own hearts. And prayerfully, it causes us to be on guard.
• 56:43
  Speaker 4: To be on guard against the potential in every last
• 56:47
  Speaker 4: one of us to be deniers of Jesus. Let's look
• 56:54
  Speaker 4: here at our text. Matthew 18. beginning at verse 15.
• 57:05
  Speaker 4: Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since
• 57:10
  Speaker 4: that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered
• 57:13
  Speaker 4: with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest. But
• 57:17
  Speaker 4: Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple,
• 57:21
  Speaker 4: who was known to the high priest, went out and
• 57:24
  Speaker 4: spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the
• 57:26
  Speaker 4: door and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the
• 57:31
  Speaker 4: door said to Peter, You also are not one of
• 57:35
  Speaker 4: this man's disciples, are you? He said, I am not.
• 57:41
  Speaker 4: Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire
• 57:44
  Speaker 4: because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves.
• 57:50
  Speaker 4: Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. The
• 57:55
  Speaker 4: high priest then questioned Jesus about his disciples saying, his teaching.
• 58:01
  Speaker 4: Jesus answered him, I have spoken openly to the world.
• 58:05
  Speaker 4: I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple
• 58:09
  Speaker 4: where all Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.
• 58:15
  Speaker 4: Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard
• 58:19
  Speaker 4: me what I said to them. They know what I said.
• 58:23
  Speaker 4: When he had said these things, one of the officers
• 58:26
  Speaker 4: standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, Is that
• 58:30
  Speaker 4: how you answer the high priest? Jesus answered, If what
• 58:34
  Speaker 4: I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong. But
• 58:38
  Speaker 4: if what I said is right, why do you strike me?
• 58:42
  Speaker 4: Annas then sent him bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.
• 58:48
  Speaker 4: Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they
• 58:52
  Speaker 4: said to him, You also are not one of his disciples,
• 58:56
  Speaker 4: are you? He denied it and said, I am not.
• 59:02
  Speaker 4: One of the servants of the high priest, a relative
• 59:04
  Speaker 4: of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,
• 59:09
  Speaker 4: Did I not see you in the garden with him?
• 59:13
  Speaker 4: Peter again denied it. And at once the rooster crowed.
• 59:21
  Speaker 4: Let's pray. Our gracious God and our Father, we thank
• 59:26
  Speaker 4: you and we praise you. this opportunity to gather in
• 59:31
  Speaker 4: your presence and among your people and to worship you
• 59:35
  Speaker 4: to set our minds attention and hearts affection on you
• 59:37
  Speaker 4: and to praise you for who you are and for
• 59:39
  Speaker 4: what you've done to gather together before your word to
• 59:46
  Speaker 4: seek you therein so that we might indeed know more
• 59:53
  Speaker 4: of you and particularly that we might know more of
• 59:57
  Speaker 4: the work that you have done through the person of
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 4: your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We ask
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 4: that by the presence and power of your Spirit, you
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 4: would open our eyes and cause us to see, that
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 4: you would soften our hearts, that you would give us
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 4: a will to obey. We ask, Father, that you would
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 4: do these things so that we might indeed be conformed
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 4: to the very image of your Son, and that Those
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 4: among us who have not come to know him in
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 4: the pardon of their sin may in fact do so
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 4: and come to repentance and faith. This is our prayer.
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 4: We do ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. So the
• 1:00:50
  Speaker 4: question that we need to ask and answer today is,
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 4: why do we deny Jesus? Not why did Peter deny Jesus,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 4: but why do we deny Jesus? And before you say
• 1:01:10
  Speaker 4: so quickly, I would never deny Jesus, let me just
• 1:01:14
  Speaker 4: give you a few instances. Because we deny Jesus all
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 4: the time in ways both large and small. We deny
• 1:01:24
  Speaker 4: Jesus when our friends or family blaspheme him in our
• 1:01:29
  Speaker 4: presence and we remain silent. You ever done that? We
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 4: deny him when our boss requires us to do something
• 1:01:39
  Speaker 4: that we know is contrary to Christ's demands or to
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 4: Christ's commands and we do it anyway. We deny him
• 1:01:50
  Speaker 4: when our atheist professor asks a question in class and
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 4: And we choose not to answer the question of our
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 4: atheist professor in class because we might be identified as
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 4: a Christian and therefore we might be penalized when the
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 4: grades come out. We deny him when we want to
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 4: date that man or that woman who's not a Christian
• 1:02:15
  Speaker 4: and we know that we've been commanded not to be
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 4: unequally yoked with unbelievers. We deny him when we like
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 4: blasphemous and sinful posts on Facebook or on Instagram and
• 1:02:33
  Speaker 4: the like. We deny him even when we participate in
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 4: family traditions that are in fact heinous and blasphemous. But
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 4: we do it anyway because after all, it's our family, right?
• 1:02:51
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 4: These are just some of the ways that we deny Christ.
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 4: Lest we think too highly of ourselves and look at
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 4: Peter in this text and shake our fingers at him
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 4: because he did something that we would never dare to do.
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 4: The fact of the matter is we do it all
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 4: the time. If you can't say amen, you ought to
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 4: say ouch. Because we do. But the question is why?
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 4: Why do we deny Jesus? We deny him for the
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 4: same reasons that Peter did. First of all, we deny
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 4: Jesus because we put confidence in the flesh. Look at
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 4: verses 15 and 16. Simon Peter followed Jesus and so
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 4: did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the
• 1:03:47
  Speaker 4: high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of
• 1:03:50
  Speaker 4: the high priest. But Peter stood outside the door. So
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 4: the other disciple who was known to the high priest
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 4: went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 4: watch at the door and brought Peter in. Here's what
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 4: I want you to understand here. Peter is not a coward.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 4: Peter is not a fearful man. On the contrary, we
• 1:04:17
  Speaker 4: saw earlier that Peter is a man of action. The
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 4: mere fact that Peter has decided to come here to
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 4: the courtyard when only one other disciple has decided to
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 4: come to the courtyard, we don't know who this disciple is.
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 4: Some have argued that this disciple is John. Some have
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 4: argued that this is another unnamed disciple who was known
• 1:04:42
  Speaker 4: by the high priest. We don't know who it is,
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 4: but what we know is that out of all of
• 1:04:46
  Speaker 4: the people who've followed Jesus, Out of the thousands who
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 4: have flocked to him. And we know thousands flocked to
• 1:04:53
  Speaker 4: him because he would teach and he had to feed 4,000
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 4: and he had to feed 5,000. So thousands flocked to him.
• 1:05:00
  Speaker 4: We know that there were probably over 100 people in
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 4: the upper room at one point. We know that there
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 4: were a dozen who were his core disciples. We know
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 4: that among those dozen disciples that there were three who
• 1:05:17
  Speaker 4: were the core of the core disciples, and yet the
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 4: only one named here is Peter. He's not a coward.
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 4: He's a brave man. And perhaps that's why he puts
• 1:05:37
  Speaker 4: so much confidence in the flesh. Look what happened just now.
• 1:05:46
  Speaker 4: in our message last week. Verse 10, then Simon Peter,
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 4: having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's
• 1:05:55
  Speaker 4: servant and cut off his ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Now,
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 4: by the way, in case you were wondering whether or
• 1:06:02
  Speaker 4: not that was relevant to our text, John makes sure
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 4: to emphasize in verse 26 in our text today, one
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 4: of the servants of the high priest, one of the
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 4: men that he was warming himself next to by the fire,
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 4: one of the servants of the high priest, a relative
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 4: of the man whose ear Peter cut off, asked, did
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 4: I not see you in the garden with him? John
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 4: gives us this little detail, that this was a relative
• 1:06:33
  Speaker 4: of the man whose ear Peter cut off. Now remember
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 4: what we heard on last week. This was not just
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 4: Judas and one other official who came to arrest Jesus.
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 4: This was a large number of trained soldiers who came
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 4: to arrest Jesus. Peter was not a well-trained, you know,
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 4: Roman Navy SEAL Special Forces commando officer. who had now
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 4: come to serve with Jesus. No, Peter was a fisherman.
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 4: He was not a warrior. And yet this fisherman, when
• 1:07:11
  Speaker 4: confronted by professional soldiers, his natural inclination, his visceral response
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 4: was to draw his sword and swipe at a man's head.
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 4: He didn't deny Jesus because he was a coward. And yet,
• 1:07:35
  Speaker 4: he denied Jesus. Jesus was not surprised by this. If
• 1:07:42
  Speaker 4: you look back in chapter 13, John 13, look at
• 1:07:48
  Speaker 4: verses 36 through 38 in John 13. And this gives
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 4: us an indication of what the problem was. Simon Peter
• 1:08:07
  Speaker 4: said to him, Lord, where are you going? Jesus answered,
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 4: where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 4: you will follow me afterward. Peter said to him, Lord,
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 4: why can I not follow you now? I will lay
• 1:08:22
  Speaker 4: down my life for you. Jesus answered, will you lay
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 4: down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you,
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 4: the rooster will not crow till you have denied me
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 4: three times. Not once, not twice, three times. Peter, who
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 4: put so much confidence in the flesh, there's his problem.
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 4: Said to Jesus, you just tell me where you're going
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 4: and I'll go with you. I'll follow you anywhere. In fact,
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 4: I'll lay down my life. life for you. And Jesus,
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 4: recognizing this confidence that Peter is putting in the flesh, says, Peter,
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 4: you're going to deny me three times before the morning comes.
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 4: This very night, and we're already into the night, This
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 4: night you will deny me three times. Within hours of
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 4: you saying to me that you'll die for me, you
• 1:09:27
  Speaker 4: will deny me not once, not twice, but three times
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 4: because you are not nearly as strong as you think
• 1:09:35
  Speaker 4: you are. You are a weak and wicked and frail man.
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 4: And you will see that before the night is out.
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 4: Peter's problem was that he trusted in the flesh. He
• 1:09:54
  Speaker 4: put too much confidence in the flesh, not just in
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 4: his own flesh, by the way. You see, Jesus believed
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 4: that the Messiah, he believed what most Jews of his
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 4: day believed and what many Jews today still believe, that
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 4: the Messiah was going to be a political deliverer, that
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 4: the Messiah would come and that he would deliver the
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 4: nation of Israel. Peter believed that the Messiah was going
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 4: to come, raise an army, defeat the Romans, kick them
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 4: out of the promised land, and reestablish the Davidic kingdom.
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 4: That's what he believed was going to happen. That's what
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 4: he believed Jesus was going to do. He had seen
• 1:10:40
  Speaker 4: Jesus perform miracles. Peter's the one who walked out onto
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 4: the water. And until he looked down, he was walking
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 4: on the water. Peter was the one who saw him
• 1:10:51
  Speaker 4: calm the storms. Peter watched these miracles and he stored
• 1:10:55
  Speaker 4: these things up and he believed that Jesus had come
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 4: to deliver Israel as a nation in the flesh. And
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 4: so he put confidence in the flesh. He drew his
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 4: sword because he believed the moment had come. The moment
• 1:11:09
  Speaker 4: for political, military deliverance. Deliverance in the flesh. Deliverance by
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 4: the flesh. And he was wrong. He was wrong to
• 1:11:24
  Speaker 4: put confidence in the flesh. He was wrong to think
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 4: about the kingdom in such an earthly way. And it
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 4: was his putting confidence in the flesh that led him
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 4: down the road to denial. I would love to say
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 4: that this changed that night, but it didn't. It didn't
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 4: change that night. It didn't change the next day. It
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 4: didn't change with the crucifixion. It didn't even change with
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 4: the resurrection. Look at Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1.
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 4: So the disciples have now seen jesus crucified they've seen
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 4: jesus resurrected he has walked with them in his resurrected
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 4: body they they they they now know that jesus has
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 4: come to defeat death and hell and the grave so
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 4: now of course they've given up on this idea of
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 4: a political messianic deliverer right wrong acts chapter one Beginning
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 4: at verse 6. So when they had come together, they
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 4: asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the
• 1:13:00
  Speaker 4: kingdom to Israel? Almost like saying, hey, that whole, you know, death, burial,
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 4: resurrection thing, that was awesome and we really appreciate that.
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 4: Now will you do the political deliverer thing? Now will
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 4: you be the Messiah that we expected you to be?
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 4: Now will you deliver our physical nation from the Romans
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 4: and give us this physical land that we've so desperately
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 4: been waiting for? He said to them, it's not for
• 1:13:41
  Speaker 4: you to know the times or seasons that the Father
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 4: has fixed for his own authority, but you'll receive power
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 4: when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 4: will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 4: Samaria and to the ends of of the earth. It's
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 4: not about here. It's not about now. This kingdom is
• 1:14:03
  Speaker 4: not of this world. It's not about the flesh. And
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 4: so many times our desire, our denials are rooted in
• 1:14:12
  Speaker 4: the fact that we are putting confidence in the flesh.
• 1:14:15
  Speaker 4: And when you put confidence in the flesh, you begin
• 1:14:20
  Speaker 4: to do things in order to manipulate circumstances and get ahead.
• 1:14:27
  Speaker 4: I'll manipulate the circumstance with my boss so that I
• 1:14:30
  Speaker 4: can get ahead. I'll manipulate the circumstance with my family
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 4: so that I can get ahead. I'll manipulate the circumstance
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 4: with my professor so I can get ahead. Because if
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 4: I get ahead, then I can do more for Jesus.
• 1:14:52
  Speaker 4: You see? That's the way we think about it. No, no, no, no, no.
• 1:14:56
  Speaker 4: I know that I'm not supposed to be doing this
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 4: thing that my boss wants me to do. But if
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 4: I want to keep this job and advance in this
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 4: job so that I get more authority on this job,
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 4: I'll do it now so that later I can operate
• 1:15:13
  Speaker 4: more like a Christian. No, no, no, no, no, no.
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 4: I know that what my family's asking me to do
• 1:15:21
  Speaker 4: It is wrong and it's blasphemous. But I'll just follow
• 1:15:25
  Speaker 4: the family tradition for a little while longer until I
• 1:15:29
  Speaker 4: finally get to a place where I can share the
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 4: gospel with my family and then all of these things
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 4: will change. No, no, no, no, no. I know that
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 4: I shouldn't have anything to do with this person who's
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 4: not a believer, but maybe eventually I'll be able to
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 4: share the gospel with them, and then I'll have a
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 4: mate who's actually a Christian. And so I'll just deny
• 1:15:51
  Speaker 4: Jesus so that my plan in the flesh can work
• 1:15:57
  Speaker 4: itself out later. Not only do we deny him because
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 4: we put too much confidence in the flesh, but we
• 1:16:12
  Speaker 4: deny him because we get too comfortable with the world.
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 4: John uses a technique that he's used before. We've talked
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 4: about this technique of framing. And the framing here is obvious. First,
• 1:16:33
  Speaker 4: we have Peter's denial, and we know that there are
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 4: three denials. Jesus has told him that he's going to
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 4: deny him three times. But in the first part of
• 1:16:45
  Speaker 4: the text, up to verse 18, we only see one denial.
• 1:16:52
  Speaker 4: Then in the last part of the text, we see
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 4: the other two denials. And in the middle of that,
• 1:16:59
  Speaker 4: we have Jesus before Annas. So there's framing here. Not
• 1:17:07
  Speaker 4: only is there the framing of first part of the story,
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 4: another story, second part of the story, but look very
• 1:17:14
  Speaker 4: closely at the words that are used. Look at verse 18.
• 1:17:19
  Speaker 4: Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 4: because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves.
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 4: Listen to these words. Peter also was with them, standing
• 1:17:29
  Speaker 4: and warming himself. Then look at verse 25. And verse
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 4: 25 we read, Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself.
• 1:17:42
  Speaker 4: So on both sides of the frame, you have the
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 4: exact same words. And the words are, Peter is standing
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 4: and warming himself. Peter is standing with the servants around
• 1:17:59
  Speaker 4: the fire, and he is warming himself. Jesus, meanwhile... is
• 1:18:06
  Speaker 4: inside being interrogated while Peter is outside warming himself. Jesus
• 1:18:15
  Speaker 4: is inside being a faithful witness and refusing to deny
• 1:18:20
  Speaker 4: anyone or anything while Peter is outside denying, denying, denying,
• 1:18:26
  Speaker 4: and warming himself in the company of those before whom
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 4: he's denying Christ. Jesus is inside making it clear that
• 1:18:39
  Speaker 4: there is a distinction between you and me and between
• 1:18:43
  Speaker 4: what your agenda is and what my agenda is. And
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 4: they have nothing to do with one another. while Peter
• 1:18:51
  Speaker 4: is outside warming himself by the fire trying to say
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 4: I'm not with them I'm with you he denies Jesus
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 4: because he has found a comfortable place And he does
• 1:19:13
  Speaker 4: not want to become uncomfortable. And we deny Jesus for
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 4: the same reason. We find places of ease and comfort
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 4: and we do not wish to disturb them. And we
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 4: know that if we are open and honest in affirming
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 4: not only that we are Christians, but also affirming that
• 1:19:47
  Speaker 4: Jesus is who the Bible says that he is, that
• 1:19:52
  Speaker 4: our comfort will be short-lived. We see an interesting example
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 4: of this in politics right now. All the stories about
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 4: Uganda and their new homosexuality law. And what's interesting about
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 4: Uganda's is that it puts them at odds with the
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 4: majority of the world. And the rest of the world
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 4: has no qualms and no problems saying to Uganda, you
• 1:20:28
  Speaker 4: are wrong, you are out of line, this law is evil,
• 1:20:33
  Speaker 4: you are wrong to condemn homosexuality. And Uganda's response over
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 4: and over again is, the Bible does it. Amen. The
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 4: Bible does it. We might not be in line with you,
• 1:20:49
  Speaker 4: but we're in line with the scriptures and we're in
• 1:20:51
  Speaker 4: line with the God of the scriptures. And what's interesting
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 4: is the rest of the world now looks at Uganda
• 1:20:58
  Speaker 4: and says, you are backward. You are out of step
• 1:21:02
  Speaker 4: with the times. You are on the wrong side of history.
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 4: You are ignorant. You are immoral. You are evil. So
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 4: guess what a lot of other countries are not going
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 4: to do? Make laws against homosexuality. Why? Because it will
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 4: upset our ease and comfort in the world. We'll just
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 4: warm ourselves by the fire. I know on the inside
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 4: who I am. Jesus knows on the inside who I am.
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 4: No need for me to say things outwardly that are
• 1:21:53
  Speaker 4: going to upset all of these people. Let's just get
• 1:21:56
  Speaker 4: through this moment. And so we deny. And so we deny.
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 4: Even connected with that, there are some of us and
• 1:22:09
  Speaker 4: there are some of you who on your job or
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 4: at your school or even among your family members... This
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 4: new story has been brought up. What do you think
• 1:22:20
  Speaker 4: about this? And for some of us, the response has been,
• 1:22:25
  Speaker 4: I don't know. I haven't looked at it all that closely,
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 4: all that carefully. I don't know. Because we do not
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 4: want to upset our ease and our comfort. Which leads
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 4: to the third reality. We deny Jesus because of fear
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 4: of men, which is incredibly ironic. I already said that
• 1:22:58
  Speaker 4: Peter is brave, and he is an incredibly courageous man
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 4: to do the things that he did just to be
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 4: in this place at this time, just to have gone
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 4: this far and to have gone into the courtyard. He
• 1:23:19
  Speaker 4: is a brave and a courageous man. And yet, even
• 1:23:24
  Speaker 4: as a brave and courageous man, he struggles with fear
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 4: of men. What's the difference? Being a brave and courageous
• 1:23:40
  Speaker 4: man means that I will face my fear for a
• 1:23:48
  Speaker 4: greater cause. Not that I'm not afraid, but I will
• 1:23:53
  Speaker 4: face my fear for a greater cause. I will face
• 1:23:57
  Speaker 4: my fear and move forward in spite of my fear
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 4: for a greater cause. That's what a brave and courageous
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 4: man does. Men don't win medals in war because they're
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 4: unafraid of bullets and bombs. They win medals in war
• 1:24:11
  Speaker 4: because in spite of the fact that they are afraid
• 1:24:14
  Speaker 4: of bullets and bombs, They move forward because of a
• 1:24:19
  Speaker 4: greater cause. Fear of men is a completely different thing.
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 4: A courageous man will put his body in harm's way.
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 4: But fear of man is not about your body being
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 4: put in harm's way. Fear of man is about me
• 1:24:39
  Speaker 4: caring what you think about me more than I care
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 4: what God thinks about me. In other words, Peter is
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 4: brave and courageous because he wants to be a part
• 1:24:57
  Speaker 4: of the political deliverance of Israel more than anything else
• 1:25:02
  Speaker 4: in the world. He wants to be a part of
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 4: that more than almost anything else in the world. There's
• 1:25:09
  Speaker 4: one thing in the world that's more important to him
• 1:25:12
  Speaker 4: than the political deliverance of Israel, and that is what
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 4: other people think about him. And that's fear of men.
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 4: Verse 17. The servant girl at the door said to Peter,
• 1:25:37
  Speaker 4: You are not one of this man's disciples. I'm sorry.
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 4: You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?
• 1:25:44
  Speaker 4: He said, I am not. The wording there is incredibly awkward.
• 1:25:48
  Speaker 4: But the wording there is in the Greek. The idea is,
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 4: that this man who brought you in, we know he's
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 4: one of Jesus' disciples. Are you one of Jesus' disciples
• 1:26:06
  Speaker 4: like this man who brought you in? Because remember, the
• 1:26:10
  Speaker 4: unnamed disciple goes into the courtyard and the unnamed disciple
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 4: is known to the people in the courtyard. He's known
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 4: to the priest. The unnamed disciple is gets the servant
• 1:26:24
  Speaker 4: girl to go let Peter in. So when the unnamed disciple,
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 4: who's known as a disciple, goes and gets Peter let in,
• 1:26:35
  Speaker 4: the natural question is, he's asking me to let you in.
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 4: He's one of Jesus' disciples. Jesus is here being questioned.
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 4: Are you one of Jesus' disciples as well? And Peter says, no,
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 4: I'm not. Not, you know, I don't really, sorry, I
• 1:27:04
  Speaker 4: can't hear you. What? I'm going over. You know how
• 1:27:10
  Speaker 4: we try to not lie? He didn't do that. He
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 4: said no. Verse 25. Now Simon Peter was standing and
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 4: warming himself, So they said to him, you also are
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 4: not one of his disciples, are you? Same wording, same
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 4: awkward wording, trying to get to the same point. This
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 4: other guy is one of his disciples. Are you one
• 1:27:41
  Speaker 4: of his disciples? He denied it and said, I am not.
• 1:27:49
  Speaker 4: One of the servants of the high priest, a relative
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 4: of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 4: Did I not see you in the garden with him?
• 1:28:04
  Speaker 4: Peter again denied it. Think about the progression here. Your
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 4: friend just brought you in. Are you a disciple too?
• 1:28:18
  Speaker 2: Nope.
• 1:28:20
  Speaker 4: Not me. Me, I'm not.
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 5: Right?
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 4: No. Okay, fine. Now you go warm yourself by the fire.
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 4: Somebody else says, wait a minute. You're with this guy.
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 4: This guy's with Jesus. Are you a disciple too?
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 13: Nope.
• 1:28:34
  Speaker 4: Not me.
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 2: I am not.
• 1:28:37
  Speaker 4: And now the relative of the man whose ear was cut.
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 4: off says, wait a minute. I saw you in the
• 1:28:44
  Speaker 4: garden with Jesus. Peter must have been somebody else. Not me. Meanwhile, Jesus,
• 1:29:05
  Speaker 4: knowing that he is about to face the cross, will
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 4: deny no one and will deny nothing. And then the
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 4: rooster crows. John doesn't include some of the details that
• 1:29:26
  Speaker 4: the other gospel writers do. about how this absolutely crushed Peter.
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 4: But he learned right then and right there that he
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 4: too was capable of denial. Just like you and I
• 1:29:47
  Speaker 4: learn over and over again that we are capable of denial.
• 1:29:53
  Speaker 4: But there's a part of the text that we haven't
• 1:29:57
  Speaker 4: paid much attention to that we need to. Because it's
• 1:30:02
  Speaker 4: one thing for us to learn that we're capable of denial.
• 1:30:05
  Speaker 4: It's one thing for us to learn what those things
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 4: are in us that cause us to move toward denial.
• 1:30:12
  Speaker 4: But here's what I also want you to know. There's
• 1:30:14
  Speaker 4: hope for deniers. Amen? There's hope for deniers. Number one,
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 4: there's hope for deniers because Jesus doesn't deny us. We
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 4: see that in what's happening in those middle verses. In
• 1:30:31
  Speaker 4: verses 19 to 24, Jesus is holding fast. Jesus is
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 4: holding firm. Jesus is not denying his disciples, and Jesus
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 4: is not denying his father. He is not denying his mission.
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 4: He is embracing it in spite of the fact that
• 1:30:48
  Speaker 4: he knows that it's coming. Paul says this in 2
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 4: Timothy 2, 11 through 13. The saying is trustworthy, for
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 4: if we have died with him, we will also live
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 4: with him. If we endure... We will also reign with him.
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 4: If we deny him, he also will deny us. If
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 4: we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.
• 1:31:13
  Speaker 4: Even when we are faithless, he remains faithful. And he
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 4: cannot deny himself. So what hope is there for a denier? Well,
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 4: a couple of things. Number one, In a very short while,
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 4: Jesus is going to go to the cross and he's
• 1:31:33
  Speaker 4: going to die. He's going to die for sin. Christ
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 4: died for sin once for all, the just for the unjust,
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 4: in order that he might bring us back to God.
• 1:31:43
  Speaker 4: Christ dies even for the sin of denial. Christ dies
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 4: for that sin that we commit before our boss, before
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 4: our friend, before our family when we deny him. His
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 4: blood is sufficient to cover that sin. Those who come
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 4: to him in repentance and faith can be forgiven even
• 1:32:08
  Speaker 4: for denial. And in case you have a hard time
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 4: believing that, I want us to look at another section
• 1:32:15
  Speaker 4: of scripture. We'll eventually get to there in John. But
• 1:32:20
  Speaker 4: I want us to look at another section of scripture.
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 4: No exegesis of it now, but I want you to
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 4: read it in light of this. It's in John 21.
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 4: It's in John 21. There are a lot of ways
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 4: that people try to interpret this event in John 21.
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 4: Some make a big deal out of the two words
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 4: that Jesus uses here for love, but I think that
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 4: misses it completely. I think only when you look at
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 4: this in light of our text does it make sense.
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 4: Beginning of verse 15. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 4: said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you
• 1:33:11
  Speaker 4: love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord.
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 4: You know that I love you. He said to him,
• 1:33:18
  Speaker 4: feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon,
• 1:33:24
  Speaker 4: son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord.
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 4: you know that I love you. He said to him,
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 4: tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon,
• 1:33:36
  Speaker 4: son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved
• 1:33:41
  Speaker 4: because he said to him the third time, do you
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 4: love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything.
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 4: You know that I love you. Jesus said to him,
• 1:33:52
  Speaker 4: feed my sheep. Why The third time. Why the third time?
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 4: Do you love me, Peter? Of course I love you, Jesus. Again,
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 4: this is after the resurrection. Feed my sheep. Peter, do
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 4: you love me? Yeah, you just asked me that. Of
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 4: course I love you. Feed my sheep.
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 6: Peter.
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 5: Peter.
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 4: Do you love me? Three times. Why? Before the rooster crows,
• 1:34:38
  Speaker 4: you will deny me three times. The worst day of
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 4: Peter's life. He denies Jesus. And then he has to
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 4: witness Jesus being crucified right after denying Jesus. He will
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 4: never forget that day that he denied Jesus. He will never, ever,
• 1:35:03
  Speaker 4: ever get over that day when he denied Jesus three times.
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 4: And Jesus restores Peter by asking him this question, not once,
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 4: not twice, but three times. You denied me three times.
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 4: I will affirm you three times. And I will affirm
• 1:35:31
  Speaker 4: you in your calling to feed my sheep. You, the
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 4: denier I'm calling to feed my sheep. You, the one
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 4: who denied me in the courtyard while you warmed yourself
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 4: by a fire while I was beginning my trial that
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 4: eventually led to my execution, my death on the cross. You,
• 1:35:52
  Speaker 4: I'm affirming You I've forgiven. You I'm going to use mightily.
• 1:36:02
  Speaker 7: Why?
• 1:36:03
  Speaker 4: Because there is forgiveness even for deniers. Hear that saints.
• 1:36:13
  Speaker 4: Believe that. Know that. You who have denied Jesus time
• 1:36:20
  Speaker 4: and time again know that there is forgiveness even for
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 4: that because of the cross and because of our merciful Savior.
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 4: So go and deny no more. Let's pray. Father, we
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 4: thank you and we praise you for your overwhelming grace
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 4: grace and kindness toward us. Even while we were yet sinners,
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 4: Christ died for us. Even while we deny you again
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 4: and again, you redeem us. Grant by your grace that
• 1:37:18
  Speaker 4: we might hold fast to this truth. and hold fast
• 1:37:25
  Speaker 4: to Christ. And for those under the sound of my
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 4: voice who wrestle with putting confidence in the flesh, who
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 4: wrestle with fear of men, who wrestle with comfort in
• 1:37:47
  Speaker 4: the world, would you grant that by your grace we
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 4: might hold more firmly and more dearly to our Lord, Master, Savior, Redeemer,
• 1:38:06
  Speaker 4: and Friend than we do to what men think of
• 1:38:13
  Speaker 4: us or than we do to our ease and our comfort.
• 1:38:22
  Speaker 4: Grant this, we pray, For we ask it in Jesus' name.
• 1:38:27
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 4: Let's stand together. And as we stand together and sing
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 4: our hymn of response, there was a line in this
• 1:38:37
  Speaker 4: hymn to which I wish to draw your attention. It
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 4: is prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to
• 1:38:46
  Speaker 4: leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord. Take
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 4: and seal it. Seal it for thy courts above. We
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 4: are all prone to wander, like Peter. Amen? But God
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 4: is bigger than that. Let's stand and remind ourselves of
• 1:39:05
  Speaker 4: that truth.
• 1:39:27
  Speaker 8: On the count of every blessing.
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 13: Tune my heart to sing Thy praise Streams of mercy
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 13: ever-sweeping All for songs of.
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 7: Loudest praise Teach me some melodious sonnet Sung by.
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 8: Fam'ly tongues above. Raise the mountains, feast the morning. Mount
• 1:40:08
  Speaker 8: of God, the changing light. Here I raise my heaven
• 1:40:18
  Speaker 8: is now. Be the byline of my God. my good gracious,
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 8: send me to our.
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 2: Right hand home.
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 8: Jesus, Lord, beware the stranger, wanting for the Lord of all.
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 8: Be to save my soul from danger, lift up all
• 1:40:56
  Speaker 8: these precious All to grace now, grace and grace now,
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 8: daily I'm lost, yet to be. Let thy grace, Lord,
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 8: light the.
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 2: Way now, light.
• 1:41:17
  Speaker 8: My wandering heart today. Born to walk now, Lord, I'm living.
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 2: Seal it from thy.
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 8: Thoughts above Won't you wander Lord I feel thee Won't
• 1:41:52
  Speaker 8: you live the Lord I love Is my heart Lord
• 1:42:00
  Speaker 8: Take and seal it Seal it from thy.
• 1:42:19
  Speaker 6: Indeed, we thank the Lord for the wonderful sharing of
• 1:42:23
  Speaker 6: his word and for our brother Dr. Vody waking us
• 1:42:27
  Speaker 6: up to how and why we design Jesus Christ. At
• 1:42:33
  Speaker 6: this point in time, I just want to welcome Those
• 1:42:37
  Speaker 6: of us that are visiting us, if you're visiting us
• 1:42:40
  Speaker 6: for the first time, I would request that you raise
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 6: your hands so that we can recognize your presence. Visitors, please,
• 1:42:49
  Speaker 6: if we have any, kindly raise up your hand.
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 5: Perfect. I was almost pointing you out, so it's good.
• 1:42:58
  Speaker 5: So keep your hands up.
• 1:43:01
  Speaker 6: A brochure is going to be brought unto you, and
• 1:43:03
  Speaker 6: with this brochure there is a tear-off section where you
• 1:43:06
  Speaker 6: can fill in your details as clearly as possible. And
• 1:43:10
  Speaker 6: once the service is done, kindly remain in your seats.
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 6: You will have somebody to see you and get to
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 6: know more about you. Church, let's welcome our visitors in
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 6: a usual way. This clapping of hands is there to
• 1:43:28
  Speaker 6: signify how pleased we have We are to have you here,
• 1:43:32
  Speaker 6: and in case you have any questions as a visitor,
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 6: you can either ask the person that comes to see you,
• 1:43:39
  Speaker 6: or right behind there, there is a door where there
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 6: is somebody who is in the information desk. If you
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 6: want to know more, as somebody that has been attending
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 6: with us and you have questions, you can either ask
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 6: the ushers or just visit our information desk right behind.
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 6: Another thing that I just want to remind you as
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 6: we go out, we have our ushers who have the
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 6: offering bags. So if you have your offerings or you
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 6: have your tithes, you can leave them in there.
• 1:44:13
  Speaker 5: Otherwise, the rest.
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 6: Of the information I think has already been raised, including
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 6: the fact that there is going to be a virtual
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 6: Bible school that.
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 5: Is going to be there in August.
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 6: And this is going to run for three days, so
• 1:44:29
  Speaker 6: you might go ahead and register your children. And of course,
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 6: the forthcoming ordination of Pastor Mindo Mbewe next week, which
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 6: is going to coincide with our special lunch. So kindly
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 6: find yourself there. The preacher is going to be Pastor
• 1:44:48
  Speaker 6: Conrad Mbewe. We are very soon, also on the 24th
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 6: of June, going to have our ordinary general meeting.
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 5: So you are encouraged to come in as members. So
• 1:45:04
  Speaker 5: thank you for attending. I think we are dismissed.
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 6: And as we go out, I would ask our ushers
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 6: to lead us out from the front.
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 5: And as we do this, we are going to sing
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 5: a hymn. This hymn is going to be sung in Bemba.
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 6: You may be familiar with the English version, which is,
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 6: Pass me not, O gentle Savior.
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 5: Now we sing it in Bemba.