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One-of-Those-Upper-Downer-Days-Msg-10-22 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Please turn in your bibles to the Book of Genesis.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: We'll be looking together at chapter eighteen. We'll return to
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: it next time to deal with the issue of prayer
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: a little more in depth because of the uniqueness of
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  Speaker 1: the prayer at the end of this chapter, which really
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: doesn't come across as a prayer, but it is a
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  Speaker 1: passionate pleading of Abraham for the souls of those down
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in Sodom and gomorrow. We'll be looking at a selected
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: number of verses in the reading of Genesis eighteen. If
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: you've not noticed, in your worship folder, is an outline
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: that you can place in your lap or alongside your
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Bible to follow as we work our way through these
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: intriguing verses of a chapter where things begin to get very,
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: very complicated. I call today's message one of those upper
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: down days, and you'll see why as we get into
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: the subject. But once you locate Genesis eighteen, allow me
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  Speaker 1: to read excerpts from it as we stand together for
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the reading of scripture. Now, the Lord appeared to him
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: by the oaks of memory while he was sitting at
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  Speaker 1: the tent door in the heat of the day. When
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  Speaker 1: he lifted up his eyes and looked behold, three men
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  Speaker 1: were standing opposite him, And when he saw them, he
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  Speaker 1: ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: himself to the earth, and said, my Lord, if now
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  Speaker 1: I have found favor in your sight, please do not
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  Speaker 1: pass your servant by. Please let a little water be brought,
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  Speaker 1: and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree,
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  Speaker 1: and I will bring a piece of bread that you
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: may refresh yourselves. After that you may go on, since
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: you have visited your servant. And they said, so do
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: as you have said verse nine. Then they said to him,
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  Speaker 1: where is Sarah, your wife? And he said there in
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  Speaker 1: the tent. He said, I will surely return to you
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  Speaker 1: at this time next year. And behold, Sarah, your wife
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  Speaker 1: shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the
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  Speaker 1: tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: were old, advanced in age. Sarah was past child Mary.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah laughed to herself, saying, after I had become old,
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  Speaker 1: shall I have pleasure my Lord being old also? And
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  Speaker 1: the Lord said to Abraham, why did Sarah laugh, saying
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  Speaker 1: shall I indeed bear a child when I am so old?
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  Speaker 1: Is anything too difficult for the Lord At the appointed time?
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  Speaker 1: I will return to you at this time next year,
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  Speaker 1: and Sarah shall have a son. Sarah denied it, however,
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  Speaker 1: saying I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And
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  Speaker 1: he said no, but you did laugh. Then the men
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  Speaker 1: rose up from there and looked down towards Sodom, and
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  Speaker 1: Abraham was walking with them to send them off verse twenty.
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  Speaker 1: And the Lord said, the outcry of Sodom and Gamorrow
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  Speaker 1: is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I
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  Speaker 1: will go down now and see if they have done
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  Speaker 1: and entirely according to its outcry which has come to me,
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  Speaker 1: and if not, I will know. Then the men turned
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  Speaker 1: away from there and went towards Sodom, while Abraham was
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  Speaker 1: still standing before the Lord. You may be seend. It
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  Speaker 1: just may be that you hear words like how great
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  Speaker 1: our joy, and words that represent inner peace, contentment and
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  Speaker 1: truth be told. You find those thoughts foreign, for your
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  Speaker 1: joy has long since fled away, and the peace you
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  Speaker 1: may have once known, at least in part, is now
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  Speaker 1: a distant and sad memory. You may live in a
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  Speaker 1: place of disharmony. You may experience regularly a restlessness and
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  Speaker 1: an absence of peace in your own soul. So if
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  Speaker 1: you're like others, you come to a place like this
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  Speaker 1: hoping and thinking maybe maybe something will be said that
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  Speaker 1: will help bring back the joy and the peace. But
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  Speaker 1: you may not realize is that both are connected to
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  Speaker 1: a person. They're not simply ethereal thoughts and attitudes that
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  Speaker 1: float around. Joy is found in a person, the one
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  Speaker 1: who is the Prince of peace, Jesus, who died on
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  Speaker 1: a cross, knowing that you would not know joy or
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  Speaker 1: have a sense of peace without him, And in knowing him,
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  Speaker 1: you enter into not simply life, but life abundantly, and
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  Speaker 1: not simply a sense of contentment, but deep inner peace
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  Speaker 1: that takes you from time through death into eternity. But
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  Speaker 1: it's based on a decision you make. As you acknowledge
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  Speaker 1: God's love for you and Christ's death for you, you
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  Speaker 1: enter into that entirely new creation joy, peace, contentment. It'll
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  Speaker 1: make all the difference in your life. We're going to
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  Speaker 1: bow for prayer, just a few moments of prayer. This
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  Speaker 1: is a great time for you. If you are in
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  Speaker 1: that category of being without joy or much peace, to
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  Speaker 1: trust in the Savior. Do that now as we pray
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  Speaker 1: These ancient scenes that we pull from an ancient book
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  Speaker 1: have a relevant ring to them, for they speak of
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  Speaker 1: days that are both up and down. The delight of
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  Speaker 1: thinking that one would have a little baby, though old
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  Speaker 1: in age, How great is that? And then the sadness
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  Speaker 1: of looking down into the plain and realizing those cities
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  Speaker 1: not twenty miles away will soon be destroyed. What a mournful,
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  Speaker 1: tragic thought. Our days are often like that, our Father,
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  Speaker 1: and we come acknowledging that without you there is never
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  Speaker 1: a balance, there is never an ability to stay steady
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  Speaker 1: and stable, for our emotions give way. The up days
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  Speaker 1: we lose our thought and ecstasy, But the down days,
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  Speaker 1: the agony is unbearable without a cross to bridge both
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  Speaker 1: and to provide for us what we cannot provide for ourselves.
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  Speaker 1: At this time of the year, our Father, we paused
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  Speaker 1: before the child who was born God in flesh, and
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  Speaker 1: we worship him. We acknowledge he alone is Lord and Master,
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  Speaker 1: and that's what prompts us in return to give, having
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  Speaker 1: learned to do so from him who gave himself for us.
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  Speaker 1: These things, our Father, we lay before you, including the
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  Speaker 1: prayers of those who have now come to Christ, right
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  Speaker 1: in this place, right where they're sitting, and we give
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  Speaker 1: with great joy, filled with peace, in the name of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: Everyone said, Amen, all of us have known meaningful and
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  Speaker 1: memorable days. Sometime they are filled with such delight and
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  Speaker 1: excitement and fantasy and well anticipation, we can remember them
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  Speaker 1: for years to come. Those are upper days. Those are
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  Speaker 1: days I call my Psalm sixteen eleven days. You will
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  Speaker 1: show me the path of life. At your right hand.
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  Speaker 1: There are pleasures forevermore pleasures all day. We want them
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  Speaker 1: to last forever. We love days like that. And then
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  Speaker 1: we have all had days that are bad and sad,
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  Speaker 1: and we hate them. They steal our joy, and they
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  Speaker 1: rob us of a sense of direction and peace, And
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  Speaker 1: sometime they leave us disappointed and discouraged and even disillusioned.
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  Speaker 1: They're a bad mixture of things we want to quickly forget,
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  Speaker 1: but often can't. I call those my job fourteen one days.
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  Speaker 1: How frail is man, how few his days? How full
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  Speaker 1: of trouble? Upper days, downer days. Interestingly, some days are
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  Speaker 1: both Within that twenty four hour period we can offer
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  Speaker 1: and be up just almost as high as the sky.
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  Speaker 1: But before sunset we have dropped to the depths for
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  Speaker 1: whatever reason. Upper downer days, I call them upper downer days.
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  Speaker 1: No one is immune to them, not even preachers. One
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  Speaker 1: of the greatest was Charles Hadden's Spurgeon, who left in
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  Speaker 1: his legacy a number of works, none better than Lectures
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  Speaker 1: to my Students. And in that volume he includes a
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  Speaker 1: chapter called the Minister's Fainting Fits, where he describes, in
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  Speaker 1: a rather vulnerable manner, his own upper downer days. He writes,
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  Speaker 1: excess of joy or excitement must be paid for by
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  Speaker 1: subsequent subsequent depressions. Who can bear the weight of souls
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  Speaker 1: without sometimes sinking to the dust? He admits, how often
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  Speaker 1: on the Lord's Day evenings do we feel as if
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  Speaker 1: life were completely washed out of us? The times most
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  Speaker 1: favorable to fits of depression, so far as I've experienced,
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  Speaker 1: may be summed up in a brief catalog. First among them,
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  Speaker 1: I must mention the hour of great success. Listen carefully
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  Speaker 1: when a great triumph is achieved, then we are apt
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  Speaker 1: to faint afterwards. Next, before any great achievement, some measure
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  Speaker 1: of the same depression is very usual. Such was my
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  Speaker 1: experience when I first became a pastor in London. My
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  Speaker 1: success appalled me, and the thought of the career which
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  Speaker 1: it seemed to open up so far from elating me
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  Speaker 1: cast me into the lowest depth upper downer. Do you
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  Speaker 1: hear it? And again, in the midst of a long
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  Speaker 1: stretch of unbroken labor, the same affliction may be looked for.
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  Speaker 1: The bow cannot always bend without fear of breaking. There's
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  Speaker 1: an old Greek motto that says, you will break the
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  Speaker 1: bow if you keep it always bent. After a long
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  Speaker 1: period of labor, you can fall into a slump, a
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  Speaker 1: slew of despond I confess to you that my Sunday
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  Speaker 1: nights and Mondays are not always great times in my life,
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  Speaker 1: and I've been through this for many years. I can
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  Speaker 1: never fully explain it. But after a great, magnificent time
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  Speaker 1: of worship and the joy of being with God's people,
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  Speaker 1: It's like I fall off the edge of a cliff,
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  Speaker 1: and if I'm not careful, my emotions will take me
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  Speaker 1: down now deep upper downer days. No one is immune,
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  Speaker 1: not even parents. My heart went out to this set
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  Speaker 1: of parents, who, for example, in this case of upper downer,
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  Speaker 1: theirs was more upper. They got this letter from their
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  Speaker 1: daughter who was away at college. Your mom and dad
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  Speaker 1: just thought I'd drop you a note to clue you
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  Speaker 1: in on my plans. I've fallen in love with a
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  Speaker 1: guy called Jim. He quit high school after grade eleven
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  Speaker 1: to get married. About a year ago, he got a divorce.
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  Speaker 1: We've been going together for two months, and we planned
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  Speaker 1: to get married in the fall. Until then, I've decided
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  Speaker 1: to move into his apartment. I think I might be
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  Speaker 1: pregnant at any rate. I dropped out of school last week,
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  Speaker 1: although I'd like to finish college sometime in the future.
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  Speaker 1: It's called downer. Then, on the next page, she continues,
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  Speaker 1: Mom and Dad, I just want you to know that
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  Speaker 1: everything I've written so far in the letter is false.
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  Speaker 1: None of it is true. But Mom and Dad, it
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  Speaker 1: is true. I got a C minus in French and
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  Speaker 1: flunked math. And it is true I'm going to need
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  Speaker 1: some more money for my tuition payments. I have a
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  Speaker 1: feeling those parents sent her a wad of cash after
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  Speaker 1: getting the last part of the letter. Upper down her
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  Speaker 1: upper whatever. It's quite an experience Abraham had one of
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  Speaker 1: those days. The events occurred, and they have been recorded
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  Speaker 1: for us in the eighteenth of Genesis, where everything begins
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  Speaker 1: up up, It's wonderful. Where is he? Well? We read
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  Speaker 1: right here in the first verse that he is by
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  Speaker 1: the oaks of Memory, which is if you'll check out
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  Speaker 1: Genesis thirteen eighteen, you'll find that's located in Hebron, which
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  Speaker 1: is a community about eighteen miles north of Sodom and Gamorrow,
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  Speaker 1: down south in the plain today covered over by the
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  Speaker 1: southern end of the Dead Sea. But in those days
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  Speaker 1: you could stand in Hebron on a clear day you
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  Speaker 1: could see the peaks down below of Sodom and Gamorrow.
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  Speaker 1: But he wasn't looking in that direction. He was looking
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  Speaker 1: out on this hot day when it had happened. We
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  Speaker 1: read in the heat of the day, sun is high,
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  Speaker 1: and the sun is hot. He's sitting in the shade
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  Speaker 1: of either a tree or the tent, and he looks
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  Speaker 1: up and his day turns into an upper. There are
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  Speaker 1: three men coming toward him, and apparently they're going to
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  Speaker 1: spend some time with him. We read of them. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the text tells us as the chapter begins, the Lord
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  Speaker 1: appeared to him. We'll get to that in a moment,
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  Speaker 1: but right now, focus on these three men verse two.
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  Speaker 1: When he lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three
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  Speaker 1: men were standing opposite him, And when he saw them,
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  Speaker 1: he ran from the tent door to meet them, and
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  Speaker 1: he bowed himself to the earth. I mean, how great
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  Speaker 1: is this? It looked like another beginning of a boring
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  Speaker 1: hot day. But out of nowhere come three men. Before
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  Speaker 1: I go any further, let me identify the men for you,
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  Speaker 1: or you can't appreciate how up his day really was.
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  Speaker 1: Two of them are angels. According to verse one of
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  Speaker 1: chapter nineteen. They are the two who go down to
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  Speaker 1: Sodom and tomorrow later. But one hang on is a
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  Speaker 1: pre incarnate appearance of the second member of the Trinity.
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  Speaker 1: It's a pre incarnate appearance of Jesus. He happens along
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  Speaker 1: on occasions through the Old Testament's story, and this is
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  Speaker 1: one of those times when the Angel of the Lord
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  Speaker 1: another word for this one. I've identify it as the
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  Speaker 1: pre incarnate presence of Jesus. And let me show you why.
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  Speaker 1: I say that, because you could think, where did you
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  Speaker 1: get all of that out of three men? Well, it's
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  Speaker 1: not just there. Three men ran to meet him. Admittedly,
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  Speaker 1: verse two, verse three. Pay attention. Now this isn't closely.
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  Speaker 1: It's going to sound pedantic, but if you miss it,
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  Speaker 1: you'll miss an understanding. Pay attention to what is capitalized,
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  Speaker 1: and pay attention to pronouns. Look at the uncapitalized L.
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  Speaker 1: In the third verse, he said, my lord, this is
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  Speaker 1: not a reference to deity. It's a very courteous greeting,
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  Speaker 1: like I would say, gentlemen or men, welcome to the tent.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks for coming, my lord lowercase L. If I've now
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  Speaker 1: found favor in your sight, don't pass your servant by.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, stay a while, now, keep reading. Let
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: a little water be brought and wash your feet. Rest
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: yourselves under the tree, and I'll bring bread, and we'll
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  Speaker 1: read in a few moments. He slaughters of the one
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  Speaker 1: of the animals, and he feeds them this good hot
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  Speaker 1: meat on that day, and he provides through Sarah's cooking
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  Speaker 1: fresh baked bread verse six. And he ran to the
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  Speaker 1: heard and got that animal, and hurry to prepare it.
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  Speaker 1: Notice verse nine, They this would be the three men
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  Speaker 1: said to him, where is Sarah your wife?
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  Speaker 2: Wait?
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  Speaker 1: Wait a minute, thought they were strangers. How do they
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  Speaker 1: even know he's married? And how do they know her name? Well,
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  Speaker 1: you understand the two angels of traveling with the Lord
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  Speaker 1: Jesus in pre incarnate form, who knows everything. He's omniscient.
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  Speaker 1: He knows Abram. He knows Abraham's wife, He knows of
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  Speaker 1: his marriage, he knows of their situation. Now note verse ten.
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  Speaker 1: He said, I will surely return to you at this
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  Speaker 1: time next year. Notice closely, the H is capitalized. Angels
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  Speaker 1: don't make that happen. God does. God is speaking. The
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  Speaker 1: eye is the I am, this is one of the
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  Speaker 1: three men. This is the Angel of the Lord. This
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  Speaker 1: is a pre incarnate presence of Christ. I paused there
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  Speaker 1: to make sure you get that. The first reference to
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  Speaker 1: the Angel of the Lord in all the Bible appeared
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  Speaker 1: earlier in Genesis sixteen seven, where the Angel of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord found Hagar, who was running away from the disharmony
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  Speaker 1: of the home, and the Angel of the Lord appeared
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  Speaker 1: to her, and the Angel Lord spoke to her, and
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  Speaker 1: the Angel of the Lord encouraged her. Mentioned several times
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  Speaker 1: there in the sixteenth chapter. But back here he's not
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: called an Angel of the Lord. He simply called in
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  Speaker 1: this case he and he promises to return next year,
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  Speaker 1: and behold Sarah, your wife will have a son. Verse thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: The Lord, sorry, capital L. That's a difference from the
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  Speaker 1: lower case capital L. The Lord said to Abraham, why
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  Speaker 1: did Sarah laugh. How else would anyone know? She laughs,
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  Speaker 1: and she's behind the tent and laugh silently to herself.
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  Speaker 1: If you're the Lord, you know every laugh, you know
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  Speaker 1: every thought. Verse fourteen. At the appointed time, I not we,
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  Speaker 1: I will return to you and Sarah shall have a son. Fifteen.
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  Speaker 1: Sarah denied it, however, saying I did not laugh or
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  Speaker 1: she was afraid. And he said capital h. He is
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  Speaker 1: the Lord himself, the angel of the Lord, distinct from
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  Speaker 1: the other two. Verse seventeen, the Lord Captain l said,
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  Speaker 1: shall I hide from Abram what I'm about to do?
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  Speaker 1: Now you've got the idea. See where I'm going with this?
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  Speaker 1: You have three men look like men, they speak like men,
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  Speaker 1: they eat a meal like men, They see, they walk,
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  Speaker 1: they're engaged in relationships. But they are angels. And then
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  Speaker 1: there is the Lord himself. All of them mark this
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  Speaker 1: are in human form. They look like men, they sound
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  Speaker 1: like men, but they are angels that have come in
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  Speaker 1: human form. What makes this chapter so intriguing is the
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  Speaker 1: appearance of these individuals, and Abraham doesn't know they are angels.
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  Speaker 1: I love stories like this where the reader knows things
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  Speaker 1: that the people in the story don't. Now we are
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  Speaker 1: clued in. In fact, show you something you may have
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  Speaker 1: not seen, or maybe haven't seen for a long time.
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  Speaker 1: Hold your place here, it's worth the look. Hebrews, Chapter thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: Go far to the right into the New Testament, Titus
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: Phileman Hebrews. James over in that later section of the
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: New Testament. Locate chapter thirteen. Show you a couple of verses.
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  Speaker 1: Don't hear many pages turning. You're still with me. It's
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  Speaker 1: in the New Testament. Hebrews thirteen, Verses one and two. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: here we go. Let love of the brethren continue, keep reading.
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  Speaker 1: Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. For by
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: this some have entertained angels without knowing it. Look at
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: that now, wonder. I encourage you to be f when
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  Speaker 1: you shake hands with one another as we began our
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  Speaker 1: worship services. You don't know the person anymore than Abraham
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  Speaker 1: didn't know. These men. One could be an angel. They
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  Speaker 1: don't wear a name tag that says Gabriel Michael, I'm
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  Speaker 1: from Heaven. Doesn't work like that. They look just like
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  Speaker 1: any one of us. A matter of fact, as you
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  Speaker 1: go back to Genesis, I'll tell you a true story.
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  Speaker 1: While I was a student at Della Seminary about the
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: time the Earth's crust was cooling. I took a number
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: of courses from outstanding Bible teachers. One of them told
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  Speaker 1: a story I will never forget. He said, I have
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  Speaker 1: a missionary friend who was traveling from one site to
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  Speaker 1: another late at night. He had finished his meeting late
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday night. He needed to be at a place,
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  Speaker 1: a church on Sunday morning to preach again, so we
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  Speaker 1: would have to drive all night. He knew he would
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  Speaker 1: get sleepy on top of every anything else. It's stormy
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: and it's raining, and so he says to the Lord
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: as he gets in his car, Lord, I would like
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: so much to have a companion, because I know I
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: could very easily have an accident as I drive these
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: many miles to my destination. Wouldn't you know it. As
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: he turns around a curve, there's a man on the
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: street out there on the road, hitching a ride. He
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: picks him up, brings him in. They realize they have
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: the Lord in common. They strike up a conversation that's
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: meaningful and delightful. They laugh together, they talk together, they
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: pray together. It's a great time. And he doesn't get
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: sleepy at all. Dawn comes and the stranger says to him, well,
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: this is where I get off. This is that's great.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Before you leave, let's just pull up this little cafe
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: and have a cup of coffee together. So the missionary
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: and the friend walk up, go in, get the coffee,
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: and when they finish, he says goodbye and he leaves,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: and the man gets back in his car. The morning
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: is bright and clear, and he drives off, thinking, oh,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: I never even got the man's address. I want to
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: be able to stay in touch with him. So he
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: turns around and goes back to the little cafe, gets
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: out of his car and walks in. No one else
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: is in there, and he says to the cook, by
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: the way, did you see which way this gentleman went
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: that I was with? And the cook goes, what, gentleman,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: I wondered why you ordered two cups of coffee? He said,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: And I suddenly realized the night before, when he got
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: in my car, he was not wet an angel. Now
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: some of yours saying, you know what, Chuck, you're really
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: getting weird. You I mean, you let me tell you something.
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: You're weird if you don't understand this, if you could
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: see the swarming presence of angelic and even demonic beings
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: that hover over this place, waiting for moments to attack,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: listening to every word that's being said, Angels learning about
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: worship from our worshiping, and the demons planning their next assault.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: As the weak unfold, you would be shocked. They are
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: all about us at all times, and the adversary loves
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: it that you never think about him. The tragedy is
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: there are also angels whose presence come to encourage us
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: and minister to us that we forget about. My wife
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and I met a wonderful man not long ago who
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: has brought a great encouragement to us in our insight
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: for living ministry, and sent you to this day refers
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: to him as our messenger angel. That isn't weird, That's
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: very biblical. You see, we are so riveted to earth
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: everything thing is so tactile, it's so visible, it's so
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: filled with sight. We forget that the greater number among
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: us are those who are unseen. They're all about us,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: and sometime they appear in human form. Now back to
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Genesis eighteen. Suddenly it's intriguing because you know what Abraham
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: doesn't know nor Sarah. Here we are. They've had their meal.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Sarah's fixed the bread, Abrams killed a little calf. They've
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: enjoyed a hot meat dish. They've relaxed under the tree,
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: and now they've finished, and out of the blue verse nine,
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: where is Sarah your wife? And he said, oh, they're
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: in the tent. He must have wondered, how do you
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: know her? She's in the tent over there, he said,
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: Notice the pronoun. He said, I will return. I will
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: surely return to you at this time next year. Behold, Sarah,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: your wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: at the tent door, which was behind him. Can't you
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: see her have a son? It's the first time this
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: information has come directly to Sarah's ears from the Lord.
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: No doubt, Abram and she have talked about this, of
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: course they had, but never before was the messies delivered
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: from the mouth of the Lord himself. Until now. She's
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, put yourself in her ninety year old sandals.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: So it says in verse eleven, in case you've forgotten,
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in the age, Sarah
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: was past childbury. To give you a tip, She's about
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: eighty nine. He's about ninety nine. You don't usually send
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: out announcements to your friends at that age. So Sarah laugh.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Look at what it says, She laughed to herself. She
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: doesn't go ha ha ha, No, that's the way I laugh.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: She goes. So you couldn't hear her. She's behind the
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: tip flat, but this one hears her because he hears everything.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: With the Lord, there are no secrets. Look. Sarah laughed
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: to herself, saying, this is where it gets a little
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: bit funny. Allow me, after she's talking to herself, After
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: I have become old, shall I have pleasure my Lord
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: being old? Also? Who me? The Hebrew word used for
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: old means worn out, withered, and coming apart ah, and
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: that good. It's the Hebrew word below tea. Okay, think
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: bloated below tea. I'm no spring chicken. I'm a fat hen.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Everything hurts but doesn't hurt doesn't work. I'm at that
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: age where it's not working anymore. And the last time
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: I checked, that stud I'm married to is no Italian stallion.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, look at it, hardly get around. That's the
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: idea of all of this kind of a swindll paraphrase. Okay,
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: she's not being critical, you're being realistic. That's why she's laughing.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: You're a life guy. She don't know what's the Lord.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: You think it's some guy out there running over the
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: mouth a baby? Come on, shall I indeed bear a
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: child when I am so old? Now? Verse thirteen. Now
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: you understand why the Lord said to Abraham. Why does
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: Sarah laugh saying shall I indeed bear a child when
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: I am so old? Is anything too difficult for the
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: Lord at the appointed time? I will return to you
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: Look closely now. She's a little afraid because she's been hurt.
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Can you imagine what it would be like if we
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: could read your thoughts? Some of you would say, don't
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: tell anybody. We all have thoughts that we don't want
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: anyone to know. Mark Twain was right. We're all like
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: the moon. We have a dark side. We don't want
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: anybody to see. Her doubt is now made known, so
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: she denies it. She lies. She's cornered. She said no, No,
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: I did not laugh. Is that remarkable how we think
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: we can get away with statements like that? Says for
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: she was afraid, and he said no, please observe a
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: rather stern response, don't lie, that's exactly what you said,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: you did. Laugh. Suddenly there's a blank space, and Sarah's
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: got her chin on her chest, realizing this isn't just
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: anybody else. It's gotta be the Lord. What an upper morning? Huh?
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: What an upper day? I mean? You got the Lord visiting,
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: You got two angels missing, You fix a meal, you
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: serve a meal, you enjoy the time together, and then
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: Lord says, I have not forgotten my promise. I'm gonna
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: make it good. And Sarah this time next year is
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: gonna have that baby count on it. And Sarah, here's it,
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: and then gets caught up short and finally realizes he
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: did say nothing is too difficult for him. By the way,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: will you please remember that when you're attempted to say
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: never happen, there is no way. Why don't you remove
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: the words no way from your lips, unless, of course,
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: you qualify as the fourth member of the Trinity. Okay,
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: you don't know that. There's no way. If this means
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: what it says, nothing is too difficult for the Lord,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: and you can count on it. You take that one
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: to the bank. Nothing is too difficult for him, nothing
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: is too difficult. Well, while Sarah is catching her breath,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden the day turns to a downer.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: The pivot is at verse sixteen. Then the men rose
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: up from there and looked down towards Sodom. Abraham is
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: walking with them to send them off. He doesn't know
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: the plan, he's never read geness Is eighteen. He don't
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: know what's coming. He's walking along with them. They've all
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: had the meal, and they're looking down towards Sodom and
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: the Lord. So three are walking, and the Lord speaks
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: for the three of them. Shall I hide from Abraham
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: what I'm about to do? Very unusual moment where the
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: Lord talks to himself. Shall I tell Abraham what's going
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: to happen to Sodom and tomorrow? Since Abraham will surely
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: become a great and mighty nation, and a great and
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: mighty and in him all the nations of the earth
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: will be blessed, for I've chosen him, Shall I tell
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: him Verse twenty. Look very closely, always pay attention to keywords. Keywords.
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Look at the word outcry, The Lord said, the out
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: to cry of sodom and tomorrow is indeed great. Their
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: sin is exceedingly great. Oh. I check the word out cry.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: I'm intrigued by it. First of all, it's still used
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: by attorneys, especially attorneys and family practice who in dealing
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: with child molestation or wife battering or husband battering, or
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: some violence that happens in the home. The attorney often
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: wants to pinpoint the moment of the out cry. What
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: does the word mean? Definition a loud cry or clamor
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: a vociferous protest or objection. It is the outcry that
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: has motivated God's response. Innocent bloodshed cries out to the
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: Lord for vengeance, as in Genesis four ten, when the
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: Lord says to Caine of oh, and what about Abel,
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Same word outcry when people are oppressed and under the
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: heavy lash of the task master. Has happened in the
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: days of the Exodus. Just before the Exodus, the Lord
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: says to Moses through the burning bush Exodus three seven,
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: I have given heed to their cry because of their
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: task masters. But the cries do not always are not
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: always expressed to deity longing for rescue. Sometime they are
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: the wailing and moaning of grief. The screams of terror
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: are also a part of the outcry. A child being
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: molested tries out, if not verbally, in the heart. It's
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: that awful moment of being violated. It's the expression that
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: comes from the soul. Can you imagine the outcry from
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: sodom and tomorrow, or from New York City or Seattle
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: or Bangkok or Tokyo, or Berlin or Copenhagen or Sydney
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: or Dallas or Miami or Boston, Chicago. Think of the
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: outcry from the wickedness of the city. The Lord says,
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: I found that the outcry is great, and the sin
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: is exceedingly grave. And now Abraham, here's this. And he
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: puts two and two together, knowing this is going to
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: lead to judgment. Justice requires judgment, and he says, I
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: will go down now and see if they have done
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: entirely according to its outcry which has come to me.
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: If not, I will know. Then the man turned away
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: from there and went towards attom the men did. The
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: Lord says the men Chapter nineteen, verse one. The two
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: angels came to sotdom. But until that happens. Pause. Right here,
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: Abraham is at the bottom downer days have never been
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: worse than this moment. What about lot, My nephew lives
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: down there, What about his wife, his daughter's His heart
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: breaks over the thought of his family members and extended
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: family members. And so he begins with this passionate pleading.
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: It's a very unusual section of scripture. At the end
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: of chapter eighteen, look for yourself, look closely. Verse twenty three,
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: Abraham came near and said, will you indeed sweep away
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: within the city, Will you indeed sweep it away and
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: not spare the place for the sake of the fifty
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: righteous who were in it? Lord, Far be it from
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: are treated like you. Don't do that, Lord, You're just
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: You're fair. Verse twenty six. So it's compassion kicked in,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: and he said, if I find in Sodom fifty righteous
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: within the city, I will spare the whole place on
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: their account. Apram says, please forgive my my pressing the issue.
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: But let's take away five. How about forty five See
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: the word at the end of verse twenty eight. Just
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: follow along forty five verse twenty nine. Suppose forty verse
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: thirty thirty, what if there are thirty righteous? And verse
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: thirty one twenty What did you find twenty righteous in
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: the city, Oh Lord, he said, Oh, may the Lord
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: not be angry verse thirty two. And I shall speak
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: only this once more. Suppose ten are found there, just ten. Look,
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: he said on it. I'll not destroy it on account
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: of ten. But there weren't even ten righteous in the
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: cities of Sodom and Gomar, which is why he says
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: their sin is grave, exceedingly great. As soon as he
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: had finished speaking to Abraham, the Lord departed and Abraham
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: returned to his place. There are times I'm reading the
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: scriptures in my study and doing work, a serious work,
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: and reliving the scene, and I get a chill up
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: my back. That happened this week when I got to
• 44:40
  Speaker 1: the end of chapter eighteen. It's a frightening thought. Here
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: sit these metropolis, cities and others around them that will
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: be swept up in the same destruction which creates from Abraham.
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: This I should the dialogue where it seems as though
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: he's bargaining, Please, Lord, if you have fifty forty five,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: forty thirty twenty ten five. He could have gone on,
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: but he stops at ten. He's at the bottom. We
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: live in a day of extremes. People who have become
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: cynical see God only as a judge carrying a club
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: and waiting to strike people down at a moment's notice,
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: when finding delight in plunging them into hell. That's not
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: the God of the scriptures. He is not wishing that
• 45:41
  Speaker 1: any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: Listen to me, He's not wanting any of them to perish.
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Our God's heart breaks. He weeps over a city of
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem that has lost its way and no longer looks
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: to him for guidance. Be careful about pushing God into
• 46:07
  Speaker 1: the extreme of an angry, peeved deity. At the same time,
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: guard against God being all love, only love. Everything is love.
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: There is a justice and a love that balance him out.
• 46:24
  Speaker 1: There is a beauty in his goodness and grace, and
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: also there is a holiness in his justice and purity.
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: Both go together exactly as they should and must Abraham
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: appears to his compassion and says, let's say we can
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: find ten, just ten. And the Lord said find him.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: You couldn't find ten and Sodom and Kamara, and this
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: unfolds into such a horrible moment that Abraham is suddenly silent.
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: The downer days reach the end, What will I do
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: about a lot that gets us? In the next chapter,
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: I have four principles for you to remember and carry
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: with you on those upper downer days. You'll need them,
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: and when those days come, you'll need the reminder. Number one,
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: be aware that others you are with may be angels.
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: I'm serious here, I'm trying to be cute or clever.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: Be aware that others you are around maybe angels. Sometime
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: an individual will come along and rescue you. Might very
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: well have been an angel. Don't just put that out
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: of your mind and say, well, it was in biblical day.
• 47:56
  Speaker 1: I never find in the scriptures ever teaching that once
• 47:59
  Speaker 1: the Bible was written, they're no more angels present. No,
• 48:03
  Speaker 1: I find evidence of that in life now. I don't
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: see an angel behind every bush. Oh, we guard against
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: that kind of nonsense. I woke up this morning. It
• 48:13
  Speaker 1: was a bird chirping this Gabriel. Oh, it's wonderful. You
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: know what you need? A cup of coffee you need
• 48:21
  Speaker 1: to wake up and going to bed at night. Oh,
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: God spoke to me and I heard him. You know
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: it might be gased from a Mexican meal. Okay, just
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: stay balanced, Still go nuts over this? Are there angels? Absolutely?
• 48:38
  Speaker 1: Angels come every day? No, well, they're there, but I'm
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: not aware of them every day. I don't shake hands
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: with one a day to keep the devil away. It's
• 48:47
  Speaker 1: not like that. But I have shaken hands with some
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: that I didn't know were angels. And I never knew
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: were angels, because according to Hebrews thirteen to two, we
• 48:58
  Speaker 1: entertained angels without being aware of it. So let it be,
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: just let it be. I know you're smart, but you're
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: not smart enough to figure all of that out. So
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: please leave room for something you can't explain. It's good
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: for you be aware that others around you may be angels.
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: By the way, this will change your whole perspective. Really,
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: this will change your whole perspective. It's a great thought
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: to think, Lord today, whatever you have in mind, I'm
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: open to it. For all I know, I may encounter
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: an angel. You go through a terrible auto accident that
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: you walk away from it for all you know, the
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: one who was guarding over you, That angel escorted you
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: right out, hardly shed any blood or carry any scar
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: from the accident that didn't just happen. I've seen people
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: crawl out of cross spaces and crumpled up cars hit
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: by trains on the railroad track, and they walk out
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: with hardly a bruise that didn't just happen. Number two,
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: Be confident that nothing is too difficult for the Lord.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: Be confident of that. The first thought will change your perspective.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: This one will boost your attitude because everything within us
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: says that's impossible. There is no way, Like Sarah, there
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: is no way, Sarah. That's not a medical doctor out there,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: it's not an obgyn suggesting you may get pregnant. This
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: is the one who makes you pregnant. This is the
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: one who can do wondrous things in Abraham. There's nothing
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: too difficult for him. Please keep that in mind. It'll
• 50:39
  Speaker 1: boost your attitude through life, especially for days that begin
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: to get dark and moony. We need a heightened view
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: of the greatness of our God. He is the one
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: in charge, and it isn't who's running a country or
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: serving over our state. Number three, Stay sensitive to the Lord.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: Stay sensitive to the Lord. Have a running dialogue with him.
• 51:10
  Speaker 1: Stay sensitive. It'll strengthen your walk. Today, Lord, I'm facing
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: two or three tough decisions, and I get in my
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: car and I've turned the ignition and I'm back out,
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: and I say, Lord, I know at ten o'clock today,
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: I'm going to have a tough conversation. And I can't
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: make that person think a certain way, but you can.
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: I can't manipulate being believable, but you can convince her
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  Speaker 1: or him that I'm speaking the truth. Take care of that, Lord,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: or I get the report from the doctor and it
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: looks bleak, and I simply want to say, Lord, look,
• 51:48
  Speaker 1: you knew all about this from eternity past. Nothing on
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: this picture surprises. You. Help me through this time. I'm
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: going to trust you. Whatever you may have in mind.
• 52:00
  Speaker 1: He's sensitive to the Lord. That's why you have a savior.
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  Speaker 1: He's your friend. Number four, Stay passionate in prayer that
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  Speaker 1: will soften your heart. Care about the.
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: Lost, Think about those living in sodom, Think about those
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: who have never found their way think about those who
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: have found it and have now wandered away from it.
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  Speaker 1: When I meet someone who has a hard heart, I
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: know that that person is not a person of prayer.
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: There's something about praying people that soften their hearts. It's
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: wonderful to be around them passionately pray Lord forty five
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: forty thirty twenty ten. His heart breaks over any of
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: those that have broken ranks and are ash. It's amazing,
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: our Father, as we read these ancient words from an
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: ancient book, that all of it drips with today's relevance.
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  Speaker 1: It's like you've entered our world and you've given us
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: a fresh script to follow, guard us from being so
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  Speaker 1: thick and stubborn and stupid that we think we can
• 53:46
  Speaker 1: call our own shots or plan our own path. We
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  Speaker 1: need you, Lord, We need you desperately to hold us together,
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: to give us perspective, to bring incouragement when it's down,
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  Speaker 1: and to bring balance when it's up, so that it
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: would slump or soar into some kind of ex stasy
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: of dream world existence. We find ourselves on the edge
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: of excitement, only to drop off the edge, hanging on
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: with our fingertips, and we realize that You're the god
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: of both. You know what you're doing, so keep a soft,
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: sensitive open and ever aware that you're at work, even
• 54:33
  Speaker 1: though we're surrounded by people who would doubt that. Keep
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: us realistic, Lord and the process. If you wish to
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: bring an angel alongside, will be very grateful, even if
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: we don't know it. Thank you for all the assistance
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: you provide us. These dear people live in a world
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: just like I do, that has long since lost its
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: way common sense. This is gone. Rage has arrived, violence
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: at every turn, but none of it is too difficult
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  Speaker 1: for you. So we rest ourselves in your care for
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: your purpose and glory. In the strong name of Christ.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: We pray everyone said Amen. The preceding message, one of
• 55:35
  Speaker 1: those Upper Downer Days, was copyrighted in twenty twelve, twenty fourteen,
• 55:40
  Speaker 1: and twenty seventeen, and the sound recording was copyrighted in
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: twenty seventeen by Charles R. Swindall Ink. All rights are
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: strictly prohibited.