Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Singing Savior & His Scattered Sheep | Mark 14:26-31 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series)

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The Singing Savior & His Scattered Sheep | Mark 14:26-31 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  I invite you to turn with me to the Gospel of Mark in chapter
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  14, beginning in verse 26. Mark 1426 and the passage will
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  end at verse 31. And when they had sung.
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  A hymn. They went out to the Mount of
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  Olives, and Jesus said to them, You will all fall away.
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  For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
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  be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will
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  go before you to Galilee. Peter said to him, Even though
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  they all fall away, I will not. And Jesus said to him, Truly, I
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  tell you this very night before the rooster crows twice, you
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  will deny me three times. But he said emphatically, if I
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  must die with you, I will not deny you.
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  And they all said the same. Lord, help us understand this
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  passage. Give us your help.
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  We need you and we believe you in Jesus name, Amen.
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  My prayer is really simple. My prayer for our time together
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  is that the explanations and the applications of this very text
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  that we just read would do one thing.
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  It would awaken the eyes of our hearts to the splendor of the
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  Savior. I hope that if anything moves
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  you today, it will be a refined understanding of the nature of
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  the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, my prayer is that each of
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  us here would be fixated on Him, fixated by his fascinating
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  fortitude, his unbreakable love, his breathtaking loyalty.
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  And the stage that is set to display His glory remains in
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  that upper room, the same room where Jesus and his.
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  Disciples honor the Passover. Where the Lord discussed his
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  betrayer while eating with him, and where Christ instituted the
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  Lord's Supper for His church. So much has happened already in
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  one evening, and yet there's still more to discover.
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  And I want us to explore those things by the Spirit's help.
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  Again, my agenda with this message is by the grace of God.
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  It's to reveal the heart of Jesus.
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  To you and his heart for you. I mean, just providentially,
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  these songs that we're singing are just praising God that so
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  much on Christ, so much on his love, so much on his nature.
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  Yes, we do that weekly, but I feel as though the songs that
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  were chosen for this time fits perfectly with what we're going
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  to see in the Lord today. So where shall we begin?
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  Where we started? Let's meditate on verse 12 for a
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  brief time. Again, it says here, and when
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  they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
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  Be honest, how many of us would just brush over a verse like
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  that? We would simply deem it as a
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  transition, but it's not. It pulls us to meditate.
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  It draws us into consider what's happening here.
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  Do you realize that this is the only place in all the Gospels
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  that we're told Jesus sang? And more than singing, we have
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  two actions here that offer powerful thoughts, each offering
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  profound insight. So you have to understand that
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  as the Lord here and his disciples are concluding the
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  Passover celebration, they chose to pause and do what we tend to
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  do when we end any service as we gather together and sing and
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  sing. And it's likely that the Lord
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  who has been delegating and directing this whole meal also
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  at this time conducted this intimate doxology.
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  He was the one behind it. Can you imagine it?
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  Jesus singing? Think about it.
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  You know what thought came to my mind when I was meditating on
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  it? What did his voice sound like?
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  How strong was it? What kind of emotion did he have
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  as he sang those stanzas and those verses?
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  What kind of? Focus did he have?
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  Did it carry the same authority as he had when he preached, only
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  left to imagine? And additionally, I thought,
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  what did they sing? It says here generally that the
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  saying of hymn. But what hymn the Spirit doesn't
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  tell us. But we may have a hint from the
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  Jewish Talmud, which is a collection of writings that were
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  brought together by rabbinical teachings around the 1st
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  century. And in that set of documents
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  we're told how some of the Jews, the time of Christ, would have
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  celebrated these feast, these Old Testament feast.
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  And there is a set of Homs called the halal psalms, Halal
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  being the same word that we have in Hallelujah, praise in Hebrew.
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  And those psalms are grouped by Psalm 113 to Psalm 118.
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  And it is believed that throughout, specifically the
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  Passover, those psalms would be sung throughout the evening.
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  And the last Psalm, the concluding Psalm, would have
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  been Psalm 118, which is very likely what Mark referred to
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  when he said that Jesus and his disciples sang to him.
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  Is it for certain? No, because it's not in
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  Scripture. But you know what is certain?
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  Maybe not what he's saying, but when he sang it.
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  When he sang it, which is just as profound.
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  What's the context? Jesus Christ chose to lift up
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  his voice with a melody right after revealing that he was
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  going to be betrayed from one of the 12.
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  And even right before he tells his own disciples that they're
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  all going to abandon him. That is when Jesus Christ chose
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  to lift up worship to the Lord with a tune.
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  And you have to be aware of of believing that when Jesus Christ
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  made predictions or declared prophetic insights that he did
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  so with unfeeling manifestations of omniscience.
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  When Christ spoke about His betrayer, don't think He did so
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  mechanically. When Christ understood that His
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  disciples were going to run away from him, don't think that He
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  did so without emotion. And if you doubt that for any
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  reason, go to the Gospel of John.
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  Look at one verse that will dispel any misconception about
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  Christ's heart, His humanity in this moment.
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  In verse 21 of John 13, listen to how the Holy Spirit pens it
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  from John's perspective. After saying these things, Jesus
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  was troubled in His Spirit and testify truly, truly.
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  I say to you, one of you will betray me.
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  He was disturbed with that reality.
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  Oh, he knew it, the scriptures foretold it, but it didn't
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  cancel out the pain with it. He was troubled in His spirit as
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  he shared these things, and though troubled in His spirit,
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  he sang. Still, though distressed, he
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  mustered up the strength to give this truth in song to God and
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  before His people. Why couldn't He have concluded
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  the evening because of the heaviness of His heart with no
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  song and just move on to the Mount of Olives?
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  He could have, but why didn't He not?
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  Because of mere custom. The Lord Jesus never did
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  anything out of mere formality. Never.
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  He did it because of why He did everything.
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  The Father was worthy of it. He sought to glorify the Father
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  in every way, including this way.
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  You know, the book of Hebrews tells us that we are to offer up
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  to God continually, a sacrifice of praise.
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  A sacrifice of praise. That's for us.
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  What language? Sacrifice of praise.
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  And then He describes what that sacrifice looks like.
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  That is the fruit of the lips which acknowledge His name.
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  So praise isn't internal. It should come from the inside,
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  but it manifests outwardly. It manifests with a sound.
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  And according to God, when you and I choose to praise, even
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  when it feels like a sacrifice, that is a pleasing aroma to God,
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  that moves God, that honors God, that glorifies God.
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  See, what we did here wasn't just the appetizer for the Word
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  of God. What we just did in the past 30
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  minutes was worship. It was pleasing to God, both
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  insight and sound. And here's the Lord Jesus Christ
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  modeling this for us. Despite the distress and His
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  soul, He gave to the Father words that blessed him and even
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  blessed His people. Now hypothetically, if Jesus did
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  sing Psalm 118, I don't know what parts of it he's saying.
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  I don't know if it was the entire thing, but I just love to
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  imagine Him singing these particular verses.
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  After learning He was troubled in spirit, knowing what's ahead
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  of Him, He was still able to posture himself in such a way to
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  give God such honor. Would you like to see it with
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  me? Go to Psalm 118.
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  Look at the first few verses and with everything that you just
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  heard, imagine the Son of God in flesh in that upper room, hours
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  away from his arrest, betrayal, torture, and him being able to
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  do and say this in Psalm 118 verse one.
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  Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast
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  love endures forever. Let Israel say his steadfast
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  love endures forever. Let the House of Aaron say his
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  steadfast love endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord say
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  his steadfast love endures forever.
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  You're singing that in light of the fact that in a few moments
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  you're going to be beaten and bruised, where the Father is
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  going to turn his face away with those who have claimed
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  allegiance to you will leave you to yourself.
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  You're, you're going to be able to say his steadfast love
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  endures forever. That's what a sacrifice of
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  praise looks like. It's you being able to sing
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  these truths, whether or not you're experiencing them in the
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  moment, whether or not you believe them necessarily with
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  your circumstances. It's saying that this truth is
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  truth. Whether or not my flesh is in
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  total agreement. I know in my heart, I know
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  because this is God's word, that these things are true of Him,
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  whether or not the circumstances are favorable.
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  But singing also has a secondary effect.
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  Not only does it produce a savoring thing unto God, it
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  strengthens you and I does it not?
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  That is a unique way when you lift up your voice of, of
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  engaging and gathering and stirring every part of you to
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  face the truth, to entertain the truth, to exercise truth and
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  every faculty of your being. When you and I sing it, it, it
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  emboldens us, it comforts us, it builds us, it refreshes us, it
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  helps us to remember, and essentially it draws out
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  something from you that other ways and mediums can't.
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  God designed singing to do that for you.
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  Remember what John said, that Jesus was troubled in His
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  spirit. Now I wonder if in His humanity,
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  when Christ sang certain verses of Psalm 118, that it quieted
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  His soul. Imagine verses like this.
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  Look at verse five of Psalm 118. Out of my distress, I called on
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  the Lord. The Lord answered me and set me
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  free. Now look at this.
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  He's going to be betrayed. Do you understand that?
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  He's going to be abandoned. Look at verse six.
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  The Lord is on my side. I will not fear.
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  What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my
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  helper. I shall look and triumph on
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  those who hate me. Yes, that is true.
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  So what can you learn from the first part of verse 12 in your
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  suffering? Sing.
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  Because when you choose to do that, even if it's a sacrifice.
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  It will strengthen you, it will supply a grace for you to to
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  know an endurance and longevity as you serve him, even when it's
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  extremely difficult to do so. But it's not the second movement
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  of that verse of verse 26. And when they had sung in hymn,
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  the second thing is they went out to the Mount of Olives.
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  They went out to the Mount of Olives, and that's interesting
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  to me because they were celebrating the Passover.
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  Their instructions, many detailed instructions about how
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  one ought to celebrate the Passover, including where each
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  faithful Israelite ought to be as they observed it.
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  So turn to Exodus 12 and look at verse 22 and you'll see what I
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  mean. And with this as a background
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  insight and make you question why Jesus and the disciples made
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  this transition, Exodus 12, verse 22.
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  Moses and the Israelites were told that the inauguration of
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  this feast take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood
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  that is in the basin and touch the lentil and the two doorposts
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  and the blood that is in the basin.
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  And look at this. None of you shall go out of the
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  door of His house until the morning.
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  So when you observe the Passover as Jesus and the disciples did,
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  part of that celebration is that you would remain indoors until
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  the morning. Well, we know from the gospel is
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  that when Jesus left to the Mount of Olives with the
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  disciples, it was still at night.
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  So why did they leave? Well, a simple answer could be
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  well, they didn't honor every single detail of the
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  instructions of the Passover. I'm not too comfortable with
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  that. I believe Jesus is doing this
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  intentionally, and he's doing this symbolically because what
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  happened in Exodus 12, if you left the protective canopy of
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  the blood that was smeared at your door, the first born of
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  your family would die. And so you were called to
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  refrain and trust and wait for the Angel of death to Passover
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  and that you would be spared, especially the first born.
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  So to leave the house would be to walking into your death
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  because of unbelief. And here Christ, hundreds of
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  years later, chooses to walk out.
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  To walk out symbolizing what? Christ is not hiding from death.
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  He's embracing it. He's walking out to it.
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  He's ready to be struck. That's what we read later,
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  right? That the shepherd will be
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  struck. And here's Christ symbolizing
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  that act, ready to go out. And to do what?
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  To institute a new exodus. Remember when the original
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  Passover was observed? It preceded them escaping Egypt
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  and going into the Promised Land.
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  And when did Jesus choose to establish the Lord's Supper?
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  The eve before another exodus. Not a deliverance from the
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  slavery of a country or a tyrant, but of sin and death.
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  So Christ here is establishing a new exodus.
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  He's bringing about a new deliverance through his death.
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  And so he is walking straight into the mouth of the grave with
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  No Fear, no hesitation, no second thought.
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  So they went out to the Mount of Olives.
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  And on their way to the Mount of Olives, in verse 27, Jesus said
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  to his disciples, you will all fall away.
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  For it is written, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will
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  be scattered. So this is more devastating
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  news. He just finished telling that
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  one of you, one of the 12, is going to betray me.
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  And now he says, you know what? Actually, all of you are going
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  to fall away. Now.
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  He's not speaking about the same level of treachery.
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  Judas would be a permanent abandonment for these other
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  eleven. It would be momentary.
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  They would fail because of the lack of courage, though they
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  would be restored. But just like Judas, the fearful
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  desertion of the disciples was predicted by the prophets.
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  Remember we learned that Judas and what he would do to Christ
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  was told in the Hebrew Scriptures.
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  And now Christ opens our eyes even again and more and he says,
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  actually, even you abandoned me. That's been that's been written.
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  And he quotes Zechariah 13 seven.
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  I will strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
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  Now be careful how you interpret this, because some might, as
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  they think about passages like this, come to the conclusion
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  that you know this might be unfair then for for God to
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  predict something and then for the disciples to be held
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  responsible for it. How do we make sense of that?
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  If if the disciples walking away from Christ, as the argument
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  goes, has been determined, so to speak, then how can these
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  disciples be blamed for their lack of faith and boldness and
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  devotion? And here's a simple way of
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  answering this. I know some people would answer
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  it differently, but this is what I believe is the answer.
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  You cannot confuse God's foreknowledge with His
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  determinism. For God to predict something
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  does not always mean He orchestrated the event in order
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  for it to be realized. That is especially important
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  when you realize God Speaking of something concerning man's
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  sinful ways. For God to say this will take
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  place and it deals with something evil in nature does
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  not mean His prediction was also his production, lest he become
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  blamed and responsible for the very thing that He said would
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  take place. There are some things that He
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  says and He is behind for it to be accomplished.
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  There are other things that he says and it's purely his
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  knowledge of what is going to transpire and for these
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  disciples to scatter from the shepherd who would be struck is
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  fully on them. It's just been foretold by the
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  Spirit of God showcasing His omniscience.
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  But I want to spend less time on that and more time on what this
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  verse is all about that he quotes because Jesus only quotes
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  the second part of it. And so when you look at
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  Zechariah 13-7, you see that there's a more complete thought.
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  And it is astounding when you take the time to look at it and
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  to ruminate over the jewels that it presents.
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  Listen to what it says in Zechariah 13, seven.
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  Jesus quotes the second part, but here's the first part.
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  Awake, O sword against my shepherd, against the man who
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  stands next to me, declares the Lord of hosts.
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  Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.
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  I will turn my hand against the little ones.
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  So Jesus looks at his disciples. He goes, you're about to walk
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  into what Zechariah said would happen, and he identifies
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  himself as the shepherd that would be struck in Zechariah,
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  and he identifies them as the. Sheep that will be scattered.
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  But reel back and consider the wider implication.
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  Who's the one speaking in Zechariah 13, Seven, We're told
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  here the Lord of hosts. So it's God Almighty who is
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  saying awake, O sword against my shepherd, against the man who
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  stands next to me. He's not speaking about a
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  literal sword. This is metaphorical for justice
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  being applied, divine justice being activated.
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  And so to understand this as God being the speaker and the
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  initiator in this case means that the Father was the one
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  behind through the hands of evil men, the Son being slain and the
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  Son joyfully working with the Father to see that that would be
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  accomplished. Do you know why that's
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  important? Do you know why it's important
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  for God to be the one to say, awake, O sword against my
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  shepherd? Because Jesus was not as
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  helpless victim. Jesus was not spontaneously and
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  surprisingly overtaken by the wrath of his enemies.
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  No, Jesus was strategically and submissively given over to the
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  wrath of God, the wrath of God. There are people out there who
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  believe that when Jesus died, he was not the object of God's
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  wrath. There are people believe that
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  because they think that's cruel, they think that's brutal.
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  They believe that's unloving. He did die, but there was a
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  different reason why he died. He did surrender his life, but
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  it was separate from the Father's activity.
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  This was a a willing death on his part to do a cleansing work,
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  separate from God's feeling towards the sin upon him.
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  There are people who believe that.
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  We don't believe that. And if you want to prove text
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  that would reject such a notion, Zechariah 13 Seven is massive
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  because it's God who says awake O sword.
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  Against my Shepherd. This is me demonstrating my
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  justice against my Shepherd. But there's something else here
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  to consider. You can't afford to miss the
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  detailed description of who the Shepherd is.
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  Look at it again, Zechariah 13 Seven awake, O sword, against my
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  shepherd, against the man who stands next to me, declares the
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  Lord of Hosts. So if you have a new King James,
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  it would read against the man, against my companion with a
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  capital C. If you have the NASB, it would
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  say against the man, against my associate.
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  You have the King James, it would say against the man,
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  against my fellow. Whatever faithful translation
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  you hold, the original Hebrew word speaks of a close neighbor
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  and outside of Zechariah 13, seven, it is only used in the
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  book of Leviticus over and over again to express or explain one
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  who is close in proximity, a fellow neighbor here or there.
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  And yet the Lord of hosts says of this shepherd in the ESV, one
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  who stands next to me, this is who the shepherd is.
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  So you understand the implications of this, right?
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  The shepherd is a close confidant to the Lord.
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  He is a nearby friend. What the Lord is saying here is
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  that we share in our interest, in our affections, in our
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  fellowship, and even in our nature.
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  So there's a clear clue here that whoever the shepherd is,
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  he's otherworldly. But he's not just otherworldly,
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  because what did he say before him?
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  Saying that he stands next to me against who?
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  The man. So his origins are otherworldly,
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  and yet at the same time he is a man.
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  And so here again, you and I have more evidence about the
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  prophesied dual nature of Jesus Christ.
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  He stands next to the Lord of hosts, but he's also a man.
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  And more than that, here we read that he is referred to as my
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  shepherd. So he's not a random man.
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  He's a man who's been appointed by the Lord of hosts to be sent
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  into the world to save lost sheep.
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  And this one who is close to the Lord, but also a man who's been
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  appointed as a shepherd to save lost sheep, would save them how?
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  By being struck by the sword of the Lord of the hosts.
• 26:00
  So you have gospel right here in Zechariah 13, seven.
• 26:04
  Us believing that God became flesh is not a New Testament
• 26:07
  idea. It's been prophesied hundreds of
• 26:10
  years before, and Christ fulfilled those prophecies
• 26:13
  perfectly. And if you are a person who has
• 26:17
  trouble believing in the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, then
• 26:21
  you have to take it up with him because back in our main text,
• 26:24
  he identifies himself as this shepherd from Zechariah.
• 26:28
  He's the one who's saying I'm that shepherd who will be
• 26:30
  struck. And when you go to Zechariah 13,
• 26:33
  you realize that the Lord says he's a man, but he's also close
• 26:37
  to me, near me, my companion, my associate.
• 26:42
  Jesus Christ is the God man and he believed that and he
• 26:46
  proclaimed that. But he says something in verse
• 26:50
  28. He says, But after I am raised
• 26:53
  up, I will go before you to Galilee.
• 26:58
  So he doesn't finish there. He tells his disciples of his
• 27:01
  impending death and their swift desertion, but he also comforts
• 27:05
  them with two thoughts. He comforts them with two
• 27:09
  points. The first one deals with his
• 27:11
  resurrection. He says one and 28.
• 27:13
  But after I am raised that what a gloriously triumphant
• 27:16
  statement. I'm going to be struck.
• 27:19
  I'm going to be abandoned, but I'm getting out of that grave.
• 27:23
  I will be raised up. So as much as he was looking
• 27:26
  forward to his death, he knew what was coming on the other
• 27:28
  side. He was going to be resurrected.
• 27:31
  And he's telling his disciples, listen, I'm going to be raised
• 27:34
  and we can spend the rest of the message talking about that.
• 27:37
  But I want to focus on the second comforting thought.
• 27:39
  The first one deals with His resurrection.
• 27:41
  I will be raised. But the second part deals with
• 27:44
  His reunion. Look again.
• 27:47
  What does He say? I will go before you to Galilee.
• 27:54
  I'm going to meet you in Galilee after I'm raised.
• 27:58
  You know what happened in Galilee?
• 27:59
  You don't have to turn there, but you read it on your own in
• 28:02
  Matthew 28. That's where Jesus issued the
• 28:04
  great. Commission in Galilee.
• 28:07
  So what is Christ saying about his own?
• 28:09
  He's telling them I'm planning to be reunited with you after
• 28:14
  when? My resurrection, even before
• 28:16
  that, after your betrayal, after you walk away from me, I want to
• 28:22
  let you know that I'm planning to meet with you.
• 28:26
  I'm planning. To fellowship with you.
• 28:28
  And I'm planning to use you. Inconceivable.
• 28:34
  Well, that's Christ. The point of what Jesus saying
• 28:39
  in this brief verse is so profound.
• 28:42
  He's aware more than you are of your frailty.
• 28:48
  You know, he tells his disciples, you're going to all
• 28:49
  walk away from me. And they couldn't believe it.
• 28:53
  They couldn't even register and understand how they can do that
• 28:55
  to Christ. Christ knew them more than they
• 28:57
  knew themselves. And though he knows the depths
• 28:59
  of your weakness, of your potential airings, you know
• 29:05
  what? Jesus shows them, I still desire
• 29:07
  to be associated with you. I still desire to fellowship
• 29:11
  with you. I still desire to have a future
• 29:13
  with you. You know what happens when you
• 29:16
  and I become aware of other people's imperfections?
• 29:19
  Can I tell you I'm no prophet, nor am IA son of a prophet.
• 29:22
  I just know human nature because I'm a human.
• 29:24
  When we discover people's weaknesses, we distance
• 29:26
  ourselves from them. That's not Christ.
• 29:29
  You know what Christ does? He wants you to draw nearer to
• 29:32
  Him with your weakness. How different is He from us?
• 29:38
  And we see here that this is the heart of your Lord and mine.
• 29:43
  He knows they're going to betray him, and he wants to meet them
• 29:47
  in Galilee. Why?
• 29:48
  So he can slap them up a little bit.
• 29:50
  No, He commissions them to do a work.
• 29:54
  And this is so difficult for us to grasp as it was for the
• 29:58
  disciples to grasp. Do you know how I know that?
• 30:01
  Because Jesus repeats himself to the disciples even after he
• 30:04
  resurrects. Listen, look, verse 28.
• 30:07
  You know what verse 28 is useful for in terms of application?
• 30:11
  Praying against what the disciples operated in in
• 30:17
  response to Jesus truth because why?
• 30:19
  He tells I'm going to be resurrected again.
• 30:20
  And guess what? They didn't believe it because
• 30:23
  I'll be raised up. And what they did, they stuffed
• 30:25
  themselves in a room and locked the door.
• 30:28
  Did they just not believe in his resurrect?
• 30:30
  No, they also didn't believe in the fact that he wanted to
• 30:31
  reunite with them. Let me show you how you're in
• 30:34
  Mark, I hope. Go to Mark 16.
• 30:36
  This is the last chapter of our study in Mark.
• 30:38
  And notice what Jesus says to the woman who came to the tomb
• 30:44
  so that they can relay the message to the frightened
• 30:47
  apostles in Mark 16, verse 6. And he said to them, do not be
• 30:55
  alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who
• 30:57
  was crucified. He has risen.
• 30:59
  He is not here. See the place where they laid
• 31:02
  him. So what did Jesus say back in
• 31:03
  Mark? He says I'm going to be raised
• 31:05
  up. And he tells some of the ladies
• 31:08
  there, the sisters, He's not here, He's risen.
• 31:12
  But notice the next part in verse 7.
• 31:13
  But go tell his disciples and Peter that He is going before
• 31:18
  you to Galilee. There you will see Him just as
• 31:22
  He told you. You know what I take out of
• 31:25
  this? Here's what I take out of this,
• 31:26
  that if there's any missed message that is difficult for
• 31:29
  disciples of Jesus to grasp, it is the wonderful truth that
• 31:33
  Christ longs to be reconciled with us after you fail him.
• 31:41
  They had difficulty grasping it. And boys stick around the church
• 31:44
  long enough with genuine believers, and genuine believers
• 31:47
  have a difficulty understanding it.
• 31:49
  You're telling me that after I messed up in this colossal way
• 31:53
  or in a series of way, that this Christ that I pledge my
• 31:56
  allegiance to wants to still deal with me and use me and
• 32:04
  reveal himself to me? Yes.
• 32:08
  That's why we read the Word of God.
• 32:10
  That's why we're in Mark, so we can know what the heart of
• 32:12
  Christ is like. And we see here that this is for
• 32:16
  us, that like these disciples, you and I have to rehearse that
• 32:20
  truth over and over until it's trusted, until it's really
• 32:24
  trusted. That's the heart of my Jesus for
• 32:27
  me. Now, I'm aware that there will
• 32:30
  be some who will distort this truth and use it as a proof text
• 32:33
  to convince themselves. So listen up.
• 32:35
  If this is you, that would use a proof text like this to try to
• 32:40
  convince themselves and others that you know, God will accept
• 32:43
  you as as you are. Meaning you can live and sin all
• 32:48
  you want consciously and the Lord will just gush over you.
• 32:54
  Well, there is one crucial aspect of the Lord's gracious
• 32:57
  instructions here that cannot be overlooked.
• 32:59
  It's not in Mark, it's in Luke's account.
• 33:01
  When Luke talks about the betrayal of the disciples, he
• 33:04
  focuses in on Peter. And notice what the Lord told
• 33:08
  Peter as he was speaking in the presence of the other disciples.
• 33:12
  And Luke 22, verse 31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to
• 33:23
  have you, that he might sift you like wheat.
• 33:28
  But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.
• 33:33
  I can't wait for the day that as a church we'll talk about Jesus
• 33:37
  intercessory ministry because he died, he was buried, he rose
• 33:42
  again and we we think now that Jesus is just waiting in heaven
• 33:45
  for the world to get really bad so he can come back.
• 33:47
  No, Jesus Christ has been working since he rose and
• 33:51
  ascended. He is praying for us,
• 33:55
  interceding for us every single moment of your life and mine.
• 34:02
  He tells Peter, I've prayed for you that your faith may not
• 34:06
  fail. Notice what he says in the last
• 34:08
  part. And when you have turned again,
• 34:14
  strengthen your brothers. You see that crucial part?
• 34:20
  I know you're going to fail me, Peter.
• 34:22
  Not just you, but all of these guys are going to fail me.
• 34:25
  But I'm going to wait for you in Galilee.
• 34:27
  I have a wonderful plan for you with this contingency when you
• 34:32
  have turned again. So should I believe that the
• 34:37
  Lord is willing to deal with me even in my disobedience, Walk
• 34:41
  with me, love me, promise things to me amazingly, yes, as long as
• 34:46
  you do your part. What's your part?
• 34:48
  Live repentantly before him. It's not necessarily the absence
• 34:54
  or presence of sin. It's what you do with that sin.
• 34:58
  And if you like Peter? Even in denying Christ more than
• 35:02
  once choose to turn back again to Him, which Judas failed to
• 35:06
  do. Christ is always waiting with
• 35:08
  open arms. So this truth that I hope is a
• 35:11
  balm to the hearts of believers who love the Lord but know that
• 35:14
  they are greatly able to fail Him, is not.
• 35:18
  For those who would try to abuse his grace, there are other
• 35:21
  prophecies in the Bible. For you, my friend, they're not
• 35:25
  comforting, they're terrifying. But for the true Christian, know
• 35:31
  that this is your inheritance. He loves you, He desires you,
• 35:37
  even on the other side of you, falling on your face and
• 35:40
  disappointing Him over and over again.
• 35:46
  How does Peter respond? Since we're talking about him,
• 35:49
  he's going to become the focus of our concluding verses in Mark
• 35:52
  1429. Peter said to him, even though
• 35:55
  they all fall away, I will not. Oh boy.
• 36:03
  And Jesus said to him, truly, I tell you this very night before
• 36:06
  the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.
• 36:09
  But he said emphatically, you know what's amazing?
• 36:11
  The word emphatically there is only found in Mark.
• 36:15
  You won't find it in the other Gospel accounts.
• 36:17
  And you remember how we opened up Mark, right?
• 36:21
  We came to the conclusion that Mark wrote this under the
• 36:23
  guidance and the inside of the apostle Peter.
• 36:28
  And there's so many internal clues of how Peter was really
• 36:31
  the author behind Mark's writings here.
• 36:34
  And I think this is one of them, because in the other Gospel
• 36:38
  accounts it says Peter said. But here we have the emotion
• 36:41
  behind it, emphatically said with passion, and it just makes
• 36:47
  me wonder if Peter. Brought that to Mark's
• 36:49
  attention. He's like, make sure that when
• 36:51
  you write this that I had every intention, that my emotions were
• 36:55
  wrapped up behind my response. I emphatically said it.
• 37:01
  And amazing how surgically precise the Bible is.
• 37:05
  But he said emphatically, like it bothered him.
• 37:07
  It caused his blood to boil, in a sense.
• 37:10
  If I must die with you, I will not deny you.
• 37:17
  And that passion must have been contagious, because it says here
• 37:19
  and they all said the same Peter.
• 37:22
  Peter had a way of leading people, whether he knew it or
• 37:24
  not. Many years ago I preached the
• 37:28
  message on several occasions called the stages of
• 37:32
  backsliding. You can still find that message
• 37:36
  online. And the essence of that teaching
• 37:38
  was to examine Peter's actions and attitudes leading up to his
• 37:42
  denial of Christ. And how they reflect the same
• 37:46
  pitfalls that Christians encounter before finding
• 37:50
  themselves in a perilous spiritual condition.
• 37:55
  And if you want to listen to that message in its entirety,
• 37:57
  you can. But if you want a little
• 37:58
  preview, what Peter does here is stage one for many people as
• 38:03
  they slip into a vulnerable and unpleasant spiritual state.
• 38:08
  You know what that is? Here's stage 1 overconfidence.
• 38:15
  Jesus didn't ask the disciples if they were going to fall away.
• 38:18
  Jesus told them they were going to fall away.
• 38:21
  Like it's going to happen. And the way that this man
• 38:25
  answers him reveals that he is. Rejecting what the Lord said
• 38:29
  would happen and Peter's response should not be
• 38:34
  misinterpreted as fiery fidelity, right?
• 38:36
  He's not saying like I. He's saying this in pride and if
• 38:41
  you doubt that, then see how he actually compares himself to the
• 38:45
  other disciples. What does he say in verse 29?
• 38:48
  Peter said to him, even though they all fall away, I will not.
• 38:54
  Is that inspirational to you? No, that stinks with arrogance.
• 39:00
  He didn't do that privately by the way.
• 39:01
  He did that in front of the disciples.
• 39:04
  So Jesus, you're all going to fall away and he goes, they
• 39:08
  might, not me. So you just got to think a
• 39:12
  little bit and consider what these implications are when
• 39:14
  people use these certain words and how they're saying it.
• 39:18
  What should have been Peter's response?
• 39:20
  I believe there should have been a humble admission and inquiry
• 39:22
  about the possibility of him failing the master.
• 39:25
  But there's no evidence of that. There's no probing, there's no
• 39:30
  brokenness, there's no investigation, there's no
• 39:34
  examination. Just not me.
• 39:37
  Not me. And we see here that Peter is
• 39:44
  essentially declaring that it is not possible for anything or
• 39:47
  anyone to derail his devotion to Christ.
• 39:52
  And when you have that kind of a heart posture.
• 39:56
  It will eventually encourage you to indirectly challenge some of
• 40:02
  the warnings in the Bible about your flesh.
• 40:05
  Because you are now beginning to believe that they don't apply to
• 40:08
  you. And over time, when you don't
• 40:12
  acknowledge what the Bible says about your flesh, you will fail
• 40:16
  to invest in the holy boundaries and disciplines that are meant
• 40:19
  to guard you and protect you from the very things that you
• 40:22
  think won't affect you. And that is exactly what happens
• 40:29
  to Peter. So he says to Jesus
• 40:32
  emphatically, I'm not. And what happens after this?
• 40:38
  Jesus calls him and two other disciples to pray with him in
• 40:41
  the garden at a very critical juncture.
• 40:44
  How did Peter end up doing there?
• 40:46
  He falls asleep. Jesus wakes him up and says,
• 40:51
  watch and pray lest you fall into temptation.
• 40:55
  And the very thing that Peter said wouldn't happen to him,
• 40:59
  happened to him because prayerlessness.
• 41:04
  Is the following stage in backsliding?
• 41:09
  If you don't believe that you're able to walk away or fail in
• 41:14
  certain areas, certain sins, then you won't make this
• 41:18
  necessary measures and create the spiritual reinforcement in
• 41:23
  the disciplines that God has given us to stay strong.
• 41:25
  That's exactly what happens to Peter.
• 41:29
  And he drifts. And as he drifts, he confirms to
• 41:34
  us we're backsliding begins. Do you know where reverting to
• 41:39
  old sinful way starts? Where it started For Peter in
• 41:44
  the heart. In the heart doesn't just
• 41:47
  appear, it's in seed form and then it is nourished indirectly.
• 41:55
  Can I prove that to you? It's in Proverbs 1414.
• 41:58
  The Bible says the backslider in heart, the backslider in heart
• 42:05
  will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
• 42:08
  It starts in your heart, starts in what you believe about God,
• 42:11
  what you believe about his Word, what you believe about yourself.
• 42:15
  That's where all the trouble begins.
• 42:17
  And in Peter's situation, his heart was calloused by
• 42:20
  overconfidence, and that overconfidence blinded him from
• 42:24
  seeing the urgency of this moment.
• 42:26
  So he doesn't pray. Oh, let me say this in love.
• 42:30
  I'm not talking about momentary times or some days where you
• 42:34
  don't pray. I'm talking about a lifestyle,
• 42:35
  prayerlessness. Many people, when they realize
• 42:38
  that they've come to a point of backsliding, acknowledge it far
• 42:43
  too late. Many people have been
• 42:45
  backsliding, they just haven't been realizing it.
• 42:51
  When I fail to come to the Lord in an awareness of my neediness
• 42:55
  of Him to sustain me and to strengthen me, when that's gone,
• 43:01
  you're at a stage that you don't want to be at.
• 43:08
  And if you begin to think, well, this won't affect me, you're
• 43:12
  falling into the same trap that Peter did.
• 43:18
  So what's the appropriate response to what Peter does
• 43:20
  here? Is it to simply admit as a
• 43:22
  church all right, we're all going to fail him eventually,
• 43:25
  Then sing a couple songs, half heartedly, hang our heads low,
• 43:27
  and then go and have a picnic and try to forget about the
• 43:30
  conviction we felt? I don't believe so.
• 43:35
  I believe that the appropriate response is to do what Peter
• 43:38
  didn't do and that is so wholeheartedly acknowledge our
• 43:43
  need for Christ and then to seek Him for what he's able to
• 43:47
  supply. As I kicked back and meditated
• 43:52
  on all the wonderful promises of the sustaining mercies of God,
• 43:58
  this particular text, and it's our closing one, came to mind.
• 44:01
  And I present it to you with the hope that it will energize you
• 44:04
  in the way that it energized me. Jude 24.
• 44:10
  Do you know that verse? Listen to it now, to Him who is
• 44:15
  able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless
• 44:20
  before the presence of His glory with great joy.
• 44:25
  Who's the source of a stumble free life?
• 44:29
  Who's the source of evaporating any concern?
• 44:33
  What will I, what will become of my faith in the future?
• 44:37
  I love. I know I love the Lord, and I
• 44:39
  know I'm serving the Lord and I know I'm honoring the Lord.
• 44:41
  But what will become of me 10 years from now?
• 44:43
  What will become of me when things get really ugly in
• 44:46
  America? What will become of me?
• 44:48
  Look at you, 24 now. To Him, He's your source who is
• 44:54
  able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless.
• 45:01
  Are we blameless before God? Yes, because of what Christ has
• 45:03
  done. But practical blameless is also
• 45:07
  available and possible for us as you realize that He's the source
• 45:10
  of it. He's able to keep me, not me.
• 45:13
  Peter thought I was in him. I'm able, I, I, I not.
• 45:17
  Lord, keep me from doing this against you.
• 45:20
  That wasn't His heart, it was me, but it's him.
• 45:27
  So here's how I end. How do you draw from that
• 45:29
  source? If he is the source, how do I
• 45:30
  draw from it? Is it separate from any action
• 45:34
  on my part? No, there is something on your
• 45:36
  part yet it's so simple. So he says in June 24, not to
• 45:40
  him was able to keep you from stumbling.
• 45:42
  I want that Peter didn't have the wrong desire and wanting
• 45:46
  that. His problem was he looked to the
• 45:48
  wrong source and realizing it. I want to never ever hurt my
• 45:54
  master. And I hope that's your heart cry
• 45:56
  as well. So how do I draw from the power
• 45:58
  the only can come from him? Look at Jude 20.
• 46:02
  But you, beloved, building yourselves up in the most holy
• 46:04
  faith. And praying in the Holy Spirit.
• 46:08
  Keep. Yourselves in the love of God,
• 46:11
  waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to
• 46:13
  eternal life, praying in the Holy Spirit.
• 46:17
  That's what I want you to see. This is the exact opposite of
• 46:21
  what Peter did. Peter saw the source of his
• 46:23
  strength in himself, and he failed to pray and to receive
• 46:26
  the grace to endure the temptations that were coming
• 46:28
  that night. And Jude tells us he's able to
• 46:32
  keep you from stumbling, but you have to keep yourselves in the
• 46:35
  love of God. And one of the ways in which you
• 46:38
  keep yourself in the love of God is that you pray in the Holy
• 46:40
  Spirit. How do I pray in the Holy
• 46:43
  Spirit? You know the mind of God.
• 46:45
  You know the promise of God, the warnings of God, and you
• 46:47
  translate that in prayer. And you ask him, Lord, let these
• 46:50
  things be true of me, Let these things be real in me, and He
• 46:54
  will keep you from stumbling. Lord, we ask that in this
• 46:58
  afternoon that would be true of each of us.
• 47:01
  We. Pray, Lord, not with the
• 47:03
  arrogant attitude that we're able to endure in our own power
• 47:08
  and wisdom. We ask that this promise in June
• 47:12
  24 would become our reality. Lord, I pray for those who
• 47:22
  might, who might have struggled, believing that you're willing to
• 47:27
  meet us in Galilee even after we've failed you miserably
• 47:34
  again. May we see the heart of Christ
• 47:36
  for us and for those who might be in another place.
• 47:39
  For those who are in the web of deception, as Peter was at this
• 47:43
  time, may you remove those webs from our thinking.
• 47:48
  It may help us see that you're the source.
• 47:49
  And. Then we draw from that source
• 47:53
  through what we're doing right now.
• 47:55
  Help us, help us. So Lord, at this time we choose
• 48:01
  to sing to you no matter what we are experiencing, the prayers
• 48:07
  that await to be answered, the pain that might be riddling
• 48:10
  through our bodies. Even now.
• 48:13
  We see Jesus as our example and we choose to give you a
• 48:16
  sacrifice of praise because you're worthy of it and because
• 48:19
  we know we will be strengthened by the truths that we joyfully
• 48:24
  bring to you. In Jesus name we pray.
• 48:27
  Amen. Let's stand together, shall we?
• 48:30
  As a praise team comes. I wonder even if there is one
• 48:37
  person here who might have heard this message and thought, what
• 48:43
  does it take to be able to sing when it doesn't make sense to
• 48:48
  sing and to trust when it doesn't make sense to trust?
• 48:54
  How can I have that? And I think that there are many
• 48:59
  answers to how that can be realized.
• 49:02
  And I want to let you know that there is a passage in the book
• 49:05
  of Job that informs us that God is the one who gives us songs in
• 49:10
  the night. God is the one who gives us
• 49:13
  songs in the night. And for you to know, the ability
• 49:16
  to express faith and concrete confidence can only be realized
• 49:22
  when you know God. If you don't know God, then you
• 49:26
  won't be able to receive those songs in the night.
• 49:28
  So I wonder even if there is one person here you've heard in the
• 49:32
  past hour and a half through song and through preaching about
• 49:35
  the wonders of Jesus Christ. And my question is, before we
• 49:39
  conclude this meeting, is do you know Him?
• 49:42
  Do you know Him? There are many questions that
• 49:45
  people ask in life. The most important question is
• 49:50
  who is Jesus Christ? And with it is do you know Him?
• 49:56
  Do you know Him? If you don't know Christ, let me
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  briefly tell you who He is. He is God Almighty, who entered
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  into this world taking on flesh, not so that He can give this
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  world teachings and maximum proverbs and ideas for society
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  to thrive and harmonize. He came to die.
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  He came to die, and he came to die a death that would apply to
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  you and me and every other person in this world.
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  And the way that his death makes sense is when you understand
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  that the wages of sin is death. Why do we die in this world?
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  Why do your loved ones die? Why is there not one part of the
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  world where you can escape this thing called death, the
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  cessation of life? It's because we've all been
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  plagued with sin, and the consequence of that is that we
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  cease to live in our bodies. And then there's something
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  called the second death in which we are judged for all eternity
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  unless you put your faith in Christ.
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  When Christ died, he paid a price on your behalf.
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  He died so that you would not have to die, not not in this
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  life, but in the life to come. And death in this life is no
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  longer a fearful thing is it's really just a door for you to
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  enter into everlasting life. Christ transformed everything
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  when he died and the reason why he did is because he didn't stay
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  in the grave. He rose from the grave.
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  Do you know what it means? When Jesus rose from the grave,
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  when he was resurrected from the dead, that was God's Amen to
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  what he did on the cross. That was God saying, I approve.
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  This satisfied my justice, my wrath for humanity, sin.
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  Jesus Christ satisfied God's. Wrath.
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  And when you hear that as you heard it now, and you accept
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  that truth for yourself and believe on that truth, the
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  blessings associated with his death and resurrection are now
• 51:46
  yours, and you receive that inheritance where death doesn't
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  have a sting anymore and everlasting life is your future,
• 51:56
  not everlasting death. You're saying this sounds too
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  good to be true. That's why we Christians call
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  this the gospel. The gospel means good.
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  News. It's a good news.
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  That's why we sing, because we're so happy.
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  That's why I hope we smile a lot because we realize that our
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  hearts have been changed and we have the greatest treasure that
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  you can have in this life. I want you to have that gift
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  saying how much does it cost? It's free.
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  Wait, what do you mean it's free?
• 52:24
  It's free. When you get a gift from
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  somebody, I hope you don't have to pay them halfway or do
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  monthly returns. You just accept the gift and
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  Jesus extends his gift to you, and you just, you open your
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  hands and you receive it. And if you really receive it,
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  then they will change you. So I invite you to repent and
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  believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 52:49
  I invite you to bring your filthy sins, even your filthy
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  acts of righteousness, and to come before the foot of the
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  cross and say, I surrender this. If you wrote a check to pay off
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  my debt, give me that check. I'm I'm tired of paying for it
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  for myself. I can't the the amount is too
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  great. And if you really do that today,
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  you'll leave here a brand new person.
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  Not only will he have your name written in the Lamb's book of
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  life, but he will give you his spirit.
• 53:17
  New life comes to you now and then this word becomes your
• 53:20
  bread and prayer becomes your breath, and the people of God
• 53:24
  become your company. And now you have a whole new way
• 53:27
  of looking, because Jesus promised that when you put your
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  faith in Him, He changes you. Today, repent and believe.
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  I wouldn't wait for you to even leave this door to do that.
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  I would block out all this noise, sit back on that Pew
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  while people are hugging each other, and you talk to this God
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  for yourself, and He will hear you.
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  Lord, we ask that if there's even one who doesn't know you,
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  may your Holy Spirit work in Him as He has worked in us, that
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  that one person would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
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  Lord, for us, we're walking this pilgrimage for those who have
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  put your your gospel truth on our hearts.
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  We believed on that truth. Help us, help us live believing
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  your love for us, not just when you save this, but as you're
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  sanctifying us. Help us believe that you love us
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  and you wash our feet gladly even when it gathers the dirt of
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  this world. So Lord, please help us believe
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  the things that we heard today. Only You can make them real to
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  us. And we trust that you will.
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  And now, Lord, as we go on fellowship as a family, bless
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  that time. May we know joy, may we know
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  hope, May we know counsel, may we know laughter.
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  May we know fellowship the way you intended it to be.
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  Give us a piece of heaven this afternoon.
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  In Jesus name we pray, Amen and Amen.
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  Amen. Amen.