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2 Corinthians chapter 12 · Scripture Unscripted

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2nd Corinthians chapter 12 Let us pray.
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Our Lord and our King, our God, our everything, the Lord of
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Lords, the King of kings, righteous, faithful and true.
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Lord, you are so good to us. Lord, thank you for waking us
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up, giving us life, giving us breath.
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God, thank you for our ability to come and to reason and to
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thank. Lord, thank you, God, that
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you've given us the truth, that you've chosen us before the
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foundations of the earth. Lord, I thank you that where you
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are we will be. God, I thank you that Christ is
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coming back soon. I thank you, Lord, that we can
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know you got to be known by you. Father, I thank you for who you
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are and what you do, Lord, and what you represent, the goodness
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that is in this world. God, you are the only good that
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is in this world. So, Lord, I pray in the name of
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Jesus that you will supernaturally fill us with the
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Holy Ghost, fill us overflowing, God.
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And I pray that we could be emptied out of ourselves,
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emptied out of this world, emptied out of vanity, Father,
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emptied out of pride, emptied out of reputation, emptied out
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Father of all of our discord and deceit, Lord, all of our wants
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and desires and passions. God, let us pour it all out on
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the altar. Lord, I pray that we can be a
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living sacrifice unto you today. Lord, come and burn us up.
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Lord, burn out all the dross. Lord, burn out the impurities.
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Polish us, God, so that you can see the reflection of Christ
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within us. Lord, I pray for a supernatural
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zeal to fill this house. God, I pray that we can push out
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all the merchandisers. God, I pray that you can drive
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them out with the cord. Lord, bring out.
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Lord, push out all of the ravenous wolves, the false
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teachers, and the heretics. God, I pray that we will not be
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apostate. Lord, I pray for the capital C
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Church, the ekklesia called out once to rise up in this moment
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and be the church. Lord, I pray that we will not
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just play church. God, I pray that we will not
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just go through the motions of traditions and ceremony.
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God, I pray in the name of Jesus for a supernatural filling and
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zeal. God, that goes out into the
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highways and the hedges and the byways.
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Father, I pray in the name of Jesus, God Almighty, that you
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will be magnified and glorified in the highest because it's all
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about you, King Jesus, it's not about me, it's not about us,
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it's all about you. We are but unprofitable
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servants. We are your hands and feet, and
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we could do no good thing apart from You.
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All of our righteousness is filthy rags.
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God, in comparison to Your holiness, let your glory come.
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Come and get your glory. Father, I pray in the name of
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Jesus for men and women to rise up, Father, to charge the hill,
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go into the darkest places. God, to tell every man and woman
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and child about you. It is your will that we are
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after God, It is your Kingdom that we are after.
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Let it come to this earth just as it is there.
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God, I pray for fresh bread today out of the oven.
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God, I pray that we will not be stuck in yesterday's successes
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and wins. God, but today is the day of
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salvation. God, I pray for living water
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today to flow. Lord, I pray that we can feast
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upon your flesh and your blood. Drink deeply.
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I pray God that we will be marked by your goodness and
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grace and mercy and love and joy, inexpressible, overflowing
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and abundant God, to every single person we meet.
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Let it go out God, and touch lives.
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Let people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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God, let him have a relationship with you through your Son.
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God, I pray that you will be magnified throughout all the
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ages of all generations. God, heaven and earth shall pass
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away, but not one of these words.
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God, let us not offend the little ones.
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Lord, I pray that we will be found taking the torch through
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our life God and handing it and passing it to the next
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generation. God, I pray that you, Lord, will
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reign supreme forever and ever. God Almighty, I pray that we
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will get out of our own way, get out of our own understanding,
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get out of our moralistic approach to you, Father, and
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we'll lay down at your feet and worship you in spirit and truth.
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For you are holy and holy, and holy is the Lord God Almighty,
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who was and who is and who is to come.
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We are the bride waiting for our groom.
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We adorn ourselves and we get ready.
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We watch patiently, but help us to wait.
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Well, Father, Father us, we love you.
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King Jesus, we worship you. Holy Spirit, come and teach us
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and guide us. I decrease as you increase.
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It's all about King Jesus. We set him on his rightful
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place, on the rightful place of the throne of our hearts and
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minds. God, we give you our very
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breath. We give you all of our senses.
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God, come and get your glory. Come and be our boss, be our
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king, be our Lord forever. It's in Jesus Christ, holy and
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precious name that I pray. Amen.
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Well, let's start in verse one. It is not expedient for me,
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doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and
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revelations of the Lord. Paul's going to talk a little
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bit about his superior super apostle status, which he says
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that he knows is not beneficial. But these Corinthians, they were
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stuck thinking that other apostles were much greater than
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Paul. And here Paul is this low in
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stature guy who didn't even ask for any money, and it caused the
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Corinthians to think less of him.
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And Paul's going to say, OK, you've got me to a place where
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if you want to hear about the visions and revelations that
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I've received from the Lord, sure, I will share in a very
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quick manner with you these things so that you can see that
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I have received from the Lord. Verse 2 I knew a man in Christ
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above 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell or
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whether out of the body I cannot tell.
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God knows such a one was caught up to the 3rd heaven.
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So Paul here perhaps is talking about himself and we can
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speculate and say sure he was, but he was being modest and
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practicing humility here and not trying to caused the Corinthians
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to exalt him to a higher position then he knew then Paul
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knew he deserved because Christ takes the highest position.
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So if we will serve Christ and serve Christ wholeheartedly, we
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will never desire a position that is exalted.
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And whenever you find a pastor who has taken that position of
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an exalted seat, it is not very long before he gets knocked off
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of it. Don't you dare put any pastor,
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any teacher on a pedestal because that pedestal will get
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knocked off and you will come to your end of faith because you
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put too much emphasis on the pastor, you put too much
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emphasis on the leader and they are just human.
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Only Christ gets that exalted position.
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And Paul understood this principle.
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It did not matter that Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a
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learned man. Paul did not glory in his
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education. Paul did not glory in his super
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apostle position. He gloried in Christ.
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And here he's going to paint a beautiful picture and he says, I
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was caught up that this man was caught up to the 3rd heaven.
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He's talking about beyond the clouds and beyond the stars and
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to the abode, the throne room of God, into the sea of glass
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mingled with fire, where the Lord is seated at the right hand
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of God. And Paul here was ushered up
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into his presence. And there are a lot of people
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who would capitalize upon this and they would hurry up and go
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write a book and they would put together a script and produce a
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movie so that we could see just how important they are in God's
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eyes. But Paul, for 14 years, he kept
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his mouth shut. And then he was also, his arm
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was twisted just to share the limited amount that he did.
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And we know that God desired for us to know that there is so much
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more going on than just what is here under the clouds or under
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the stars. There is a place, a dwelling
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place, the holiest of holy places, where when Christ died
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on the cross and ripped the veil from top to bottom, he allows us
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to come into friends and to dine and Sup.
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And I pray that you have experienced that.
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And Paul here is going to talk about it a little bit.
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And this is how we know that we know that we know that we know
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that there are Chariots and there are angelic hosts up on
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the hills waiting to come to our rescue.
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If we will increase our faith, He will give us the spiritual
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sight to be able to see all of the angelic hosts all around us
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fighting our battles. And we do not have to succumb to
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our feelings. We do not have to succumb to the
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ways of this world. We do not have to succumb to our
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emotions. Friends, we can know that God is
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the great I am. We rest in all the promises
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contained in this book. We need to increase our faith
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today to be able to peek into, peer into the spiritual realm.
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Verse 3 And I knew such a man, whether in the body or out of
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the body, I cannot tell. God knows.
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So here He's talking a little bit about this experience and
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we're not going to touch upon it for very long, but I will just
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say to you that when you worship the Lord God in spirit and
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truth, He will be well pleased to come in like a fighter jet
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and knock all of the pictures off the wall and you will be
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undone and undignified because His presence is glory.
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His presence is so overwhelming that the ministers cannot
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minister. His presence is so overwhelming
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that you cannot speak, and you lose all of your ability to hold
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back the tears, to hold back the snot and the slobber, Friends,
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that it is an undignified state. And a lot of people, they are
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approaching God from a moralistic approach and from a
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educational scholastic approach, friends, and from academia and
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they know all about it, but they have yet to experience this
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filling of the Holy Ghost. Friends, for how that he was
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caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words, which
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is not lawful for a man to utter.
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I pray that you can understand this.
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I pray that this was not just a one off for Paul.
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I pray that you have experienced this and this is not just some
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super spiritual experience just for those who have a greater
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measure of God's presence. This is available to every
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single believer who has received the Holy Spirit.
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But the measure that we receive His glory is exactly to the
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level that we will be poured out of this world.
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That's what I need you to understand.
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There is a great exchange. And if you are still holding on
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to the things of this world, you will never experience the
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fullness that God has to pour into you of His glory and His
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Holiness, friends. And that is the great exchange.
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And if you are still grasping at straws trying to hold on to this
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life, you will lose it. It is by losing your life that
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you gain eternal life. And he was caught up into this
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paradise. This is what Christ said on the
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cross to the thief. He said today you will be with
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me in paradise. He is the Alpha and the Omega.
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He's the beginning and the end. And God lives outside of time.
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And He doesn't just interject himself into time every once in
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a while to fix all of our problems.
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That is a very elementary pre-K view of how God works.
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God is period. He is, I am period and he can do
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anything. God is in heaven and does
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whatever he pleases. And how can we go to God and try
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to give him counsel and tell God how to behave?
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And tell God how he should work and how he should fix all the
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starvation in the world and cure all the diseases in the world,
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and make sure there's no poverty and there's no separation
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between those that have and those that have not, and all the
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things that plagued this world. And we go to God and we shake
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our fists at him, and we tell God that if he is really God, he
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would fix all these things. But that is where we go wrong.
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God knows everything that is happening in the whole entire
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world all at once. He is omnipotent, omnipresent,
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and he is omniscient, friends. He knows everything.
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He's everywhere all at once, friends, and He is all powerful
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and sovereign and everything that is going on in the world is
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moving in exact accordance to the Word of God and the revealed
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prophecies that He told us. But it's ignorance of the Word
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of God that plagues us. We do not understand all the
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prophecies and how all the intricate pieces of the tapestry
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fit together to point to an all powerful Creator who gets so
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much glory whenever we choose Him over this world.
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When we decide to choose him over our feelings and emotions
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and the morals that this world throws at us.
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This humanistic humanism that tells us that everything's going
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to keep getting better if we'll just marginalized God and faith
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and deity. Far be it from us to believe the
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lies and the deception of the evil one friends in the book of
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Isaiah tells us that the word that the world will wear out
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like a piece of clothing and that is what you are seeing now.
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And it's all culminating into the Lord's glorious return and
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His thousand year reign on planet earth.
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And when the tempter is taken out, friends, and we will be
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ushered into New Jerusalem for all of eternity thereafter, we
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cannot save ourselves. We need the blood of Jesus
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Christ to cover us from the top of our head to the bottom of our
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feet, friends. And that is the only way that we
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will ever get ushered into God's holy presence, this paradise
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friends with unspeakable words. It is not even lawful for a man
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to try to propagate and to write books and put movies together to
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try to get the swine to see the pearls that God has given us. 5
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such a one I will glory, yet of myself.
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I will not glory but in my infirmities.
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So Paul here, he's telling the Corinthians, he's saying this
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guy that I knew. Perhaps he's Speaking of
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himself, but he's saying this guy that I knew I I'll let him
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boast in his. But for me, I will boast in all
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of my infirmities. I'll boast in all of the lashes
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that I've taken, the beatings that I've taken.
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I'll lash in the shipwrecks that I have had to go through.
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I'll, I'll will boast in all of my infirmities.
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I will boast in all the things that have plagued me along this
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journey, because it is in my weakness that God Almighty is
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made strong. 6 For though I would desire to glory, I shall
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not be a fool, for I will say the truth.
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But now I for bear lest any man should think of me above that
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which he sees me to be, or that he hears of me.
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So Paul here is very limited in his description of what he saw
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in Paradise, in God's holy abode when he was ushered up into his
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presence. Perhaps this was during the time
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that he was blinded for three days.
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Perhaps this was during the time that he was in Arabia learning
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from the Lord. Perhaps.
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But we can only speculate because Paul is very vague in
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his description of what he saw. But he tells us and gives us a
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time stamp, friends and. We can trace it back and we can
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know that Paul did not try to go out as soon as he received it.
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He actually had time to process it before he even spoke about
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it. And we are eternally blessed by
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these very limited words. And you need to know that God's
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holy divine inspired words that are alive and active, They are
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just as profitable and what is not said as they are and what is
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what is said when in Genesis 1 it says that God created heaven
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and earth. Whenever we see those words.
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And Moses was very limited in his description of it all in the
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beginning, we just know and we trust.
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And it is in that that we produce faith, friends.
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And that is what it takes here. When Paul's writing about
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paradise. We have to have faith to take
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hold of these promises. And he doesn't just spell it all
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out. And God could cause all 8
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billion souls on planet earth today to give him allegiance.
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He would rend the heavens and his face is shown to the whole
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earth, and everyone falls down and tries to hide themselves
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from God's eyes as He looks upon us.
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But for right now we are moving in our own ways, in our own
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understandings, and He allows us to choose who you will serve.
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You will either serve sin and self, or you will serve God
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Almighty. 7 And lest I should be exalted above measure through
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the abundance of the revelations, there was given to
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me a thorn in my flesh, the messenger of Satan to Buffett
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me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
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So here, just like we see in the book of Job, here, God permitted
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Satan to inflict Paul with this thorn in his flesh, and Paul's
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going to go on here to ask God repeatedly to take it away.
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But God's purpose and plan was so that Paul would not glory in
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himself and glory in his own cleverness and glory in all of
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his knowledge, but that he would be completely and totally
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dependent upon God for all of his needs and wants and desires
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and for the entirety of his life.
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And so God put this infirmity and allowed Satan to strike him
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with it. And Paul here in the beginning,
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he could not understand where it was all coming from, so he
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pleaded with God to take it away.
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But it was revealed to Paul that it was God's purpose and plan to
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allow this in. And what a strange revelation
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for us that we can see God working through the disease.
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We can see God working through all of the things that plagued
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us in this life, friends. And that is God's plan.
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He could take away all of the cancer and take away all of the
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things that plague us, friends, all of the starvation and all of
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the desperation. In a moment he could.
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But we need to know that this is not our home.
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We are just pilgrims passing through a strange land, friends,
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and I pray that every day you can see it and that you're not
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trying to build your Kingdom here.
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God has a mansion for you. God is preparing a place for
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you, a room for you and abode, A heavenly abode for you.
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And it will be in the New Jerusalem that comes and touches
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down here on this planet earth. Friends, we'll read Revelation
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together, but I just want you to understand that for now it is
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work time. This is not play time.
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This is not rest time. We have much work to do.
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We put our hand to the plow, and we continue to press on, knowing
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that death is on the table. 8 For this thing, I beg the Lord
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three times that it might depart from me. 9 And he said unto me,
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My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect
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in weakness. Most gladly, therefore will I
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rather glory in my infirmities, then, that the power of Christ
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may rest upon me. So here what you need to
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understand is that Jesus Christ being mocked and humiliated,
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hanging on a criminal's cross to the entire world looked like
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embarrassment and humiliation. It looked as if the enemy was
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going to win. But look how God uses this this
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weakness to be exalted and glorified.
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And He flips the script, friends.
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And that is what you need to understand, that Paul here was
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tapping in to the mind of Christ when he went to Golgotha in
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Calvary friends and he was whipped and scourged when he was
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beaten beyond recognition and then was nailed.
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His hands at his feet were nail pierced and he suffered
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humiliation and mocking of the masses.
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And it looked like it was all over and the disciples were
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discouraged. But we can see on the third day,
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he snatched the keys to death in Hades and he got the victory in
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the same resurrection power that lives in Christ, lives in US,
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friends. And we need to understand that,
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that we will be raised to life with Christ and we can trust
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those promises. And here Paul is tapping into
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that. He's starting to understand that
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the Lord Jesus Christ grace is sufficient for us and that it is
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Christ strength that is made perfect in our weaknesses.
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Friends. And if we try to glory in our
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own strength, we try to glory in our own vanity.
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If we try to glory in pride and glory in all of our attributes
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and glory in our cleverness, and we're glorying in all of our
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learnedness and we're glorying in all of our abilities, we
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marginalized Christ. But it is in our weaknesses,
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friends, that God's power is on display.
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And therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
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necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake.
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For when I am weak, then I am strong.
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So that is what you need to understand is we do not invite
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these things, all of these woes of reproach.
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And when we're in need, in the persecution, in the distress, we
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do not invite them, but when they come, not if, but when they
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come, friends, we can delight in them because it shows us that we
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belong to him. And he told us that in the
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Beatitudes, whenever he says, when they revile you and say all
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kinds of false things about you, he said that we should rejoice
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because just like they did to all the prophets of old when
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they stoned and killed them. And they also treated our master
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that way. We know that we belong to him
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whenever we have to go through these things, friends, And we
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will be made strong through all of it.
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And we do not need to be cowards and we do not need to shrink
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back from death, Friends. Death is on the table every day
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and your life is but a vapor. And God help us to finish this
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race well, and to not try to hold on to this life and not try
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to save our own skin, friends, and to not shrink back in the
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face of adversity. Whenever the lion is roaring
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loudly, we call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shut
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the mouths of the lions, and he silences the accusations of the
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enemy. 11 I've become a fool and glory you have compelled me for
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I ought to have been commended of you for a nothing in my
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behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
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Paul had the right idea here he's saying, listen, I know you
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want to try to marginalized me and say well, he's not even a
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real apostle. He wasn't even actually walking
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with Jesus during his three-year ministry.
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And yeah, he supposedly saw him there on the road to Damascus,
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but we're still a little unsure about this Paul guy.
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And what you need to understand is that Paul says, listen, I
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have just as much authority in Christ Jesus as the apostles do.
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And you need to understand that Paul saw that he had this
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Apostolic authority, but he counted it as nothing.
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He was just like the dirt beneath the shoes.
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He did not try to glory in his position.
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And friends, that is the true mark of someone who has been
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sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ in the fullness is
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because you will not try to glory in your stature.
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You will not try to glory in your position.
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You will see yourself as just an profitable servant, though I be
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nothing. 12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among
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you in all patients and signs and wonders and mighty deeds.
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So he's showing them his credentials.
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He's saying, Check the track record, friends.
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I've got references that if you need them, that proves that
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Christ is with me, me and Christ and Christ and I and abiding,
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and you will produce much fruit. 13 For what is it wherein you
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were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was
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not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong, he's
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saying. Do you think that by me not
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asking for money shows that I'm weaker?
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Forgive me for not asking you for money. 14 Behold, the third
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time I'm ready to come to you, and I will not be burdensome to
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you. For I seek not yours, but you.
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For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the
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parents for the children. Paul uses this parental model to
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show the Corinthians that they're not mature enough yet
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for him to ask anything of them. All they have yet to do is to
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get together a little bit of a financial reprieve for the
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people in Jerusalem. Paul was not asking them to
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support his ministry, and he's telling them that he would spend
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on them his life and his energy and his efforts, and he would
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not ask of them for anything because they are still operating
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like little children. They have not yet to be grown
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up. They have not yet to mature into
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the adulthood that Paul desires for them. 15 and I will very
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gladly spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly
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I love you, the less I be loved. So what a heartbreak here,
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friends. You can hear Paul's cracked
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voice in this where he just says I want to be spilled out and
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poured out for your edification. I'm willing to go to death for
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you, but the more raw and real and transparent that I am with
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you, the more you pick me apart. 16 But be it.
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So I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I
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caught you with guile. So he is using a little play on
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words here and he's pricking their hearts with these words.
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And he's saying that they think that he is caught him, that he
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caught them by his craftiness and his guile.
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And Paul here showing them that they have erred in their
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thinking, that they somehow have viewed Paul as a minister who's
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coming in just asking for money and asking for support.
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And Paul here is glorying in the fact that he did not ask them
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for a single thing. He did not trick them into
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following Christ. He just laid it all out on the
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table. And these Corinthians were so
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immature and they were so steeped in carnality that they
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were barely even called Saints. But nonetheless, they are Saints
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and they are Christians. But at the most base level,
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friends there have not even left the landing pad yet.
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They're still at the station. They have not yet to start
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operating within all of the spiritual promises of God and
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all of the power that God desires to give to them.
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They're still operating in a get out of hell free card mentality.
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No, they're not going to have to go to hell.
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But their life doesn't look any different than the rest of the
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world's. 17 Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent
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to you? 18I desired Titus, and with him
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I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you?
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Did we not walk in the same spirit?
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Did we not walk in the same steps?
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He's saying I didn't try to get anything from you, and neither
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did Titus or this other unmentioned brother.
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We were all walking with the same accord, with the same mind
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of Christ. 1 Spirit friends 19 again, do you think that we
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excuse ourselves to you? We speak before God in Christ,
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but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying, for
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the building up of the church, let no unwholesome talk come
36:50
from your mouth, but only that which is useful for the building
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up of others. And that is what you need to
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understand, that Paul and Titus and this unmentioned brother,
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that's what they were doing all of 1 accord coming into Corinth,
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and they were not trying to make any kind of profit off of them.
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All Paul desired was for the Corinthians to give their lives
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wholeheartedly unto Jesus Christ. 24 I fear lest when I
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come I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be
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found unto you such as you would not, unless there be debates in
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beings, wrath, stripes, back, bitings, whispering, swellings,
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tumults. This is what marked the
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Corinthian church, and it is what marks the very present age
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of church today, Friends, when it's all about the suit and
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ties, the spaghetti suppers and the color of the carpet and
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church divisions and discords. When it's all about status and
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dress and attire. When it's all about what version
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of the Bible you read. When it's all about all of this
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back bitings and gossips and whisperings and these little
38:10
white lies. Friends when it's all about
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pride and prejudice, when it's all about all the things that it
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never should be. Friends and it is like little
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children who have a little Playhouse and in these little
38:23
paper mache leaders, Friends that are crushed with every
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single opposition that comes their way.
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When persecution arises, they give in to all the false
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doctrines that are being propagated at the highest
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levels. Friends, and far be it from us
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to be so incredibly desensitized and disconnected from God
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Almighty that we don't even know the Word of God, much less teach
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it. And if it breaks my heart, how
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much more does it break His? We'll end on 21.
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And lest when I come again, my God will humble me among you,
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and I shall be well. Many which have sinned already
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and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and
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the lustings which they have committed.
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And it's not about those who just sinned, friends.
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It's not that God is just some kind of killjoy who just wants
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to steal all of the joy of life away, but He desires for us to
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repent. He desires for us to turn away
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from this wicked, perverse world and turn to the only One that
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can give us true life. Friends, Life, abundant friends.
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But we choose this world over Him every day.
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We choose the things of this world over Him every day.
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We choose to go our own way every day, friends.
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And we're missing out on the fullness that God has for us.
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Let today be the day of salvation for you.
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Turn away from all of the evil desires that are plaguing your
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heart. From all of the images.
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Turn away from all of the unprofitable things of this
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world. Turn away from mammon.
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Turn away from greed. Turn away from lust.
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Turn away from lying. Turn away from anger and malice
40:58
and wrath. Turn away from self seeking and
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vanity. Turn away from perversion
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friends. Turn to a loving God who loves
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well all the way to the end. There we will be with him
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forevermore. Make Jesus Christ the Lord of
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your life today and follow him wherever he leads.
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Be in tune with the Spirit, Be full of the Holy Ghost.
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Have the mind of Christ. Have the peace of God to rule
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and reign over you for the rest of your days.
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I hope you've been blessed by this chapter.
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I know I sure have. I'm praying for you and I love
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you. So does God more than you know.
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Stay prayed up today and in the Spirit walk not after the lust
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of the eyes and the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
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Do away with those things. When you were a child, you spoke
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as a child, thought as a child. You reasoned like a child.
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But now he's calling you into adulthood.
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He's calling you to act like men and do away with all the
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childish silliness to walk upright the sight of God.
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We'll see you back here tomorrow.
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God bless you.