Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / It’s a Boy! │ Msg 1622

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It’s a Boy! │ Msg 1622 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: We are engaged in a study of the life of Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: Many have heard of Abraham, but few have made a
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  Speaker 1: study of his life. And interestingly, it is set forth
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  Speaker 1: very clearly through the early part of the first book
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  Speaker 1: of our Bibles, the book of Genesis. If you've not
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  Speaker 1: yet turned for the reading of the scriptures, please locate
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  Speaker 1: chapter 21 of this great book of Genesis. And if
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  Speaker 1: you will note also in your worship folder, you will
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  Speaker 1: find an outline as well as a chart that traces
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  Speaker 1: the life of Abraham from beginning to end. And the
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  Speaker 1: reason I emphasize that is because of that bold arrow
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  Speaker 1: that points to the climax of the book, which is
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  Speaker 1: where we have arrived today in chapter 21. All this time,
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  Speaker 1: in fact, for a quarter of a century, God has
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  Speaker 1: been promising Abraham and his wife, Sarah, that they'll have
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  Speaker 1: a baby. He began the promise when they were, she
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  Speaker 1: was 65 and he 75, which would have been a
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  Speaker 1: pretty bold promise, even if it had happened immediately. But
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  Speaker 1: the Lord waited 25 or so years until they were
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  Speaker 1: 90 and 100. And aren't we glad it's true of
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  Speaker 1: them and not of us? We are looking at a
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  Speaker 1: remarkable account in Genesis 21. I want to read for
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  Speaker 1: you the first seven verses. Let's stand together for the
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  Speaker 1: reading of the word of God. Then the Lord took
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  Speaker 1: note of Sarah as he had said, and the Lord
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  Speaker 1: did for Sarah as he had promised. So Sarah conceived
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  Speaker 1: and bore a son to Abraham in his old age,
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  Speaker 1: at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.
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  Speaker 1: Abraham called the name of his son who was born
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  Speaker 1: to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. Then Abraham
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  Speaker 1: circumcised his son, Isaac, when he was eight days old.
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  Speaker 1: as God had commanded him. Now Abraham was 100 years
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  Speaker 1: old when his son Isaac was born to him. Sarah said,
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  Speaker 1: God has made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will
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  Speaker 1: laugh with me. And she said, who would have said
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  Speaker 1: to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have
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  Speaker 1: borne him a son in his old age. Oh, how
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  Speaker 1: grateful we are that was true of them and not
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  Speaker 1: of us. You may be seated. God's full of surprises.
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  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, others around you may not
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  Speaker 1: know it, but as you look over your life, you
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  Speaker 1: quite likely could put your finger on surprises along the way.
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  Speaker 1: Perhaps a surprise for you today will be the realization
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  Speaker 1: that you have lived your life all these years without
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  Speaker 1: a personal relationship with the living God. I meet folks
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  Speaker 1: all the time like that. Oh, you've done well with
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  Speaker 1: your life, probably taken care of your responsibilities and maybe
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  Speaker 1: even been in and out of churches through your years.
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  Speaker 1: But when you stopped and you review, you cannot see
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  Speaker 1: a place where you, on your own, trusted in Christ
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  Speaker 1: as Savior. We always mention this in our service at
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  Speaker 1: various times, and at this time we do it before
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  Speaker 1: the offering. Think of it as offering yourself to God
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  Speaker 1: with your arms open, your heart open, nothing in your
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  Speaker 1: hands you bring, simply to the cross you cling, and
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  Speaker 1: you trust him. As others give today, This is your
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  Speaker 1: moment to trust in Christ. Our Father, we do love you.
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  Speaker 1: We love you in life, and we will love you
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  Speaker 1: in death. We will love you as long as you
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  Speaker 1: give us breath. How grateful we are, Lord, that your
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  Speaker 1: Son emptied himself of all but love, just as we
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  Speaker 1: have sung today. And we find in that truth the
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  Speaker 1: realization that you do love us with an infinite amount
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  Speaker 1: of love. That you who knows us the best loves
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  Speaker 1: us the most. Thank you that there is no sin
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  Speaker 1: that isn't forgivable. There is no heartache that isn't curable.
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  Speaker 1: There is no tragedy That becomes in itself the end.
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  Speaker 1: Because your plan is unfolding. From one day to the next.
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  Speaker 1: And we're reminded too Lord. How faithful you are. Even
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  Speaker 1: with the couple who lived in ancient days. And had
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  Speaker 1: been promised for years. That you would give them a son.
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  Speaker 1: And now we read. You have done so. May this
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  Speaker 1: encourage us, for all of us in one way or
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  Speaker 1: another are waiting for something. And we trust you in
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  Speaker 1: the waiting time. We have these offerings, our Father. These
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  Speaker 1: are gifts that we give you today. And we acknowledge
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  Speaker 1: that if it were not for you, we wouldn't have
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  Speaker 1: our health. And we couldn't hold down our occupation. We
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  Speaker 1: couldn't earn a living. We wouldn't be able to continue
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  Speaker 1: if it weren't for your mercy and your grace. So
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  Speaker 1: out of the abundance of all that you have provided,
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  Speaker 1: we have chosen today to give you these gifts. We
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  Speaker 1: want you to know they come from hearts of love.
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  Speaker 1: But we can't finish this prayer without thanking you for
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  Speaker 1: those who make it possible for us to worship in
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  Speaker 1: freedom without interruption in this world that's filled with violence.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for those in uniform today, many of whom
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  Speaker 1: love you dearly, and some of whom have already paid
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  Speaker 1: a major price with their wounds and their disabilities, and
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  Speaker 1: we pray for them today and for their families. Keep
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  Speaker 1: those men and women safe and remind them on this
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  Speaker 1: Lord's Day that you are at work. You have surrounded
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  Speaker 1: them with your presence. Strengthen them, Lord, for their calling.
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  Speaker 1: These gifts are yours, and with great joy, We lay
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  Speaker 1: them in these offering plates for your purpose and for
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  Speaker 1: only your glory. In the name of our magnificent, beautiful Savior,
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  Speaker 1: we pray. Everyone said amen. Have you ever had anyone
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  Speaker 1: break a promise? Of course you have. Happens all the time.
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  Speaker 1: You loan an amount of money to someone, even a friend,
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  Speaker 1: and there's the promise made that in a matter of months,
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  Speaker 1: sometime to the very date they give you, they promise
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  Speaker 1: they will pay you back. You're still waiting for the money.
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  Speaker 1: They broke the promise. Perhaps you work for an organization
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  Speaker 1: and they promise you that if you are willing to move,
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  Speaker 1: take your family and go from this area to that
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  Speaker 1: other area where they say they need you, you will
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  Speaker 1: not only enjoy a nice, nice raise, you will be
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  Speaker 1: promoted to a much higher position. And so you move
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  Speaker 1: and then they let you go in a month or so.
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  Speaker 1: They broke their promise. Your dad said he would be
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  Speaker 1: at the ballgame right up there in the stands watching
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  Speaker 1: you play your game. And as you played your game,
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  Speaker 1: you could not find him because your dad broke his promise. promise.
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  Speaker 1: You share something that is very confidential with a close friend.
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  Speaker 1: It's a bit of a secret, at least for now,
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  Speaker 1: and you need the promise. They'll keep it to themselves.
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  Speaker 1: They promise you that You can count on their confidentiality
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  Speaker 1: and why a week doesn't pass before you hear about
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  Speaker 1: it as it moves about the office or through the neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: That person broke his promise. Happens even when we're young.
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  Speaker 1: We've got a teenager and we've got friends coming over
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  Speaker 1: for dinner and we say to our daughter, you know, sweetheart,
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  Speaker 1: your room looks like a war zone. I really need
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  Speaker 1: you to clean it up. Make sure it's clean. I
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  Speaker 1: promise Saturday afternoon will be clean before we go. And
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  Speaker 1: I'm on my date. I promise you room will be clean.
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  Speaker 1: You're still waiting for the room to get clean. So
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  Speaker 1: you just close the door and realize another broken promise
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  Speaker 1: happens all the time. All the time. Matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: it happens so often. We're surprised when people keep their promise.
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  Speaker 1: Isn't it true? Someone said, I'll be there at 1130
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  Speaker 1: to pick you up. You think, oh yeah, right. You
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  Speaker 1: look out front, 1125, they're there. Isn't that amazing? They
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  Speaker 1: just kept their promise. He said to be on time.
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  Speaker 1: Or whatever may be the illustration, you can picture it
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  Speaker 1: in your mind. We're all surprised when somebody around us
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  Speaker 1: keeps his word. Whether it's a marriage where we take vows,
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  Speaker 1: Or it's a contract we sign that says we will
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  Speaker 1: make good on this promise. Covenants and contracts are broken
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  Speaker 1: every day. In light of all of those things, and
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  Speaker 1: I could have mentioned a dozen others, I want to
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  Speaker 1: give you four words that I hope will be cemented
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  Speaker 1: in your brain so that you never, ever forget them.
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  Speaker 1: Here they are. God keeps his promises.
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  Speaker 2: Ready?
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  Speaker 1: Together. God keeps his promises. There's a word for that.
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  Speaker 1: It's called veracity. Veracity. God dwells in constant truth. He
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  Speaker 1: not only does not lie, he cannot He has immutable veracity.
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  Speaker 1: The word means adherence to the truth. You say, well, no, no, no,
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  Speaker 1: he cannot. It's against his nature. It's impossible for God
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  Speaker 1: to lie. So when he makes a promise, you can
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  Speaker 1: stand on it and count on it. There it is.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, it's a good thing because he's made
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  Speaker 1: a lot of them. One wag has counted all of
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  Speaker 1: the promises through the Bible from Genesis all the way
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  Speaker 1: to Revelation, came up with this number. I have not
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  Speaker 1: read all the promises and I've not checked the number
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  Speaker 1: for sure, but let's go with it just for the
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  Speaker 1: sake of illustration. He says, from beginning to ending of
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  Speaker 1: the book, there are 7,474 promises in the Bible. 7,474.
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  Speaker 1: There are 66 books in the Bible, Genesis to Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: If you do the math, you come up with over
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  Speaker 1: 113 promises per book. Don't get out your iPhone and check.
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  Speaker 1: I've looked again and again to make sure I'm right.
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  Speaker 1: At least the math is right. Now, some books will
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  Speaker 1: have only three or four promises. Other books will have
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  Speaker 1: dozens and dozens of promises. Well over 113. The point is,
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  Speaker 1: the book is filled with promises. And because God keeps
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  Speaker 1: his promises, you can bank on it. I know theologians
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  Speaker 1: who sort of shrug at the promises God has made
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  Speaker 1: to the people of Israel. Oh, that was then, now
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  Speaker 1: this has taken its place. No, no, no, no. No.
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  Speaker 1: If he made a promise to the people of Israel
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  Speaker 1: and it's not yet been fulfilled, as he stated, it
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  Speaker 1: will come to pass. It may not be in our
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  Speaker 1: lifetime or in this generation, but it will take place. Why?
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  Speaker 1: He has veracity. He cannot lie. Now, let me warn you.
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  Speaker 1: There are some things we need to remember about God's promises. Okay?
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  Speaker 1: Get your pencil out. Write it on your outline so
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  Speaker 1: you won't forget these. Otherwise, you will find yourself moving
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  Speaker 1: into heresy rather easily. And you don't know that you've
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  Speaker 1: moved out of bounds. Because not every promise is for you.
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  Speaker 1: Or for me. Or for us. Okay? Okay? Number one,
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  Speaker 1: remember this about God's promises. God is not in a hurry. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: isn't that the truth? I ask all the time with
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  Speaker 1: people I don't know that well, are you waiting for anything? Invariably,
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  Speaker 1: I get an answer. Everybody I know is waiting for
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  Speaker 1: something to happen, waiting for some relief, waiting for some
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  Speaker 1: answer to prayer, waiting for some dream to be fulfilled.
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  Speaker 1: They're waiting. We're waiting. You see, to say that God
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  Speaker 1: doesn't break his promises, to put it positively, God keeps
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  Speaker 1: his promises, does not mean he keeps them by sundown
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  Speaker 1: or by next week. As one person put it, all
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  Speaker 1: God's accounts are not settled at payday. He waits. He
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  Speaker 1: isn't in a hurry. And by the way, he doesn't
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  Speaker 1: go by your time, peace, or mine. He doesn't check
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  Speaker 1: our calendar and determine what he'll do based on that.
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  Speaker 1: He operates in a realm beyond earthly time and the
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  Speaker 1: passing of days on a calendar. He's not in a hurry. Second,
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  Speaker 1: God never forgets what he has promised. He never forgets.
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  Speaker 1: I know people today who treat the whole country of
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  Speaker 1: Israel as if God hasn't really made promises to them,
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  Speaker 1: not yet fulfilled. And they sort of shrug it off like, well,
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  Speaker 1: you know, that was then. What he really meant was this. No, no, no, no.
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  Speaker 1: If he made a promise to Israel, he will keep
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  Speaker 1: that promise. It may not look like it. It may
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  Speaker 1: not feel like it. But as time passes, his mind
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  Speaker 1: doesn't fade. God is unable to forget. He remembers. He
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  Speaker 1: isn't in a hurry. He never forgets what he has promised.
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  Speaker 1: He's trustworthy. He's not like we are. If he makes
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  Speaker 1: a statement, you can count on it. It will be
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  Speaker 1: remembered and he will make it true. The Lord will
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  Speaker 1: descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
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  Speaker 1: the archangel, the trump of God, and the dead in
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  Speaker 1: Christ will rise first. That's a promise. Then we who
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  Speaker 1: are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them, who?
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  Speaker 1: The dead in Christ. And we will be caught up
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  Speaker 1: together with them in the clouds, and so shall we
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  Speaker 1: ever be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these words. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because it will happen. May not happen this week. May
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  Speaker 1: not happen next month. or even five years from now,
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  Speaker 1: it could happen by the way before sundown. But it'll
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  Speaker 1: be a promise he keeps, he won't forget. Here's the third,
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  Speaker 1: and this is where it gets sticky. God's promises are
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  Speaker 1: linked to their context. Their context. Please remember that. Otherwise,
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  Speaker 1: You'll be foolish. You'll make unwise decisions. Every promise is
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  Speaker 1: tucked away in a surrounding context. Every careful student of
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  Speaker 1: the Bible is a student of context. What does it
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  Speaker 1: say before this? To whom is he speaking? As it's unfolding,
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  Speaker 1: how will it affect them or us? More mistakes, more
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  Speaker 1: Foolish beliefs are formed by ignoring context than probably any other,
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  Speaker 1: even among people who quote verses from the Bible. How
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  Speaker 1: easy to quote them out of context and try to
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  Speaker 1: make the scriptures say what they don't say. So first,
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  Speaker 1: under this heading, ask yourself, is this a universal promise
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  Speaker 1: for everyone? Or is it a personal promise for one?
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  Speaker 1: Or a few? Is this universal? or is it personal?
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  Speaker 1: If it's universal, it will often say whosoever or whoever,
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  Speaker 1: as in whoever will call upon the name of the
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  Speaker 1: Lord will be saved. That's a promise for anyone. It's
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  Speaker 1: a universal promise. Whosoever will may come. That's a universal offer,
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  Speaker 1: a promise. And all who come to me, I will
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  Speaker 1: in no way cast them out. A universal promise. That's
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  Speaker 1: a promise you can claim. If you've not yet come
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  Speaker 1: to Christ, if you've not believed in the one that
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  Speaker 1: has died on the cross for your sins, you can come,
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  Speaker 1: whoever you may be, no matter what your background has
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  Speaker 1: been or how shameful you may feel about it. Whosoever
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  Speaker 1: will may come. It's a universal promise. You ask yourself,
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  Speaker 1: is this a universal promise? If it is, then it
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  Speaker 1: applies to me. Or is it a personal promise? Like Abraham,
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  Speaker 1: you and Sarah will have a son in your old age. Now,
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  Speaker 1: that's a promise to them. Let's say you got married
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  Speaker 1: late in life. And you would really love to have
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  Speaker 1: a family. You can't claim the promise God gave Abraham
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  Speaker 1: and Sarah. Say, honey, just because you're 68 and I'm 74,
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  Speaker 1: no problem. Look at what it says in the Bible.
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  Speaker 1: You will have a son in your old age. Out
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  Speaker 1: of context. Got it? It's a personal promise to Abraham
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  Speaker 1: and Sarah. Be careful about that. Certain promises are for Israel.
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  Speaker 1: They're not for us. Be careful about claiming Israel's promises
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  Speaker 1: for you. You say, well, you know what, Chuck, you're
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  Speaker 1: turning this into a study. You think? You think? Most
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  Speaker 1: dangerous people on earth are those who quote half verses
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  Speaker 1: or pull statements out of context and try to prove
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  Speaker 1: to you what the Bible says, even though they represent
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  Speaker 1: a cult. If you give them the context, they don't
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  Speaker 1: want to talk to you. Because they don't want you
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  Speaker 1: to realize this really isn't a promise that you can claim.
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  Speaker 1: It's out of context. So is it universal or is
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  Speaker 1: it personal? Here's another question. Is it unconditional or is
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  Speaker 1: it conditional? What do we mean by that? Well, just
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  Speaker 1: think of the word if. Proverbs 2 is a good example.
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  Speaker 1: My son, if you will do this and if you
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  Speaker 1: will do that and if you will do these things
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  Speaker 1: and those things, then, says in verse 5, I will
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  Speaker 1: do such and such. The condition is in the first
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  Speaker 1: four verses. The promise is in the fifth verse. Then
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  Speaker 1: I will do that. If then. That's conditional. In other words,
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  Speaker 1: you have a part in it and then God will
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  Speaker 1: do his part. You don't do your part. God will
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  Speaker 1: not fulfill the promise. because you're left with responsibility. It's
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  Speaker 1: a conditional promise. However, it may be unconditional. There's no if.
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  Speaker 1: It's just hanging out there for you to claim. Now,
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  Speaker 1: all of this ties in perfectly with what we find
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  Speaker 1: in the first seven verses of Genesis 21. Because God
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  Speaker 1: isn't in a hurry, they've been waiting 25 years. Since
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  Speaker 1: they left Ur of the Chaldeans, when the Lord first said,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to give you a son, he is going
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  Speaker 1: to be the fulfillment of my plan to begin a nation.
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  Speaker 1: And it will begin with that one son. Count on it.
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  Speaker 1: I'll take care of it. I'll keep my word. He's
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  Speaker 1: not in a hurry. So they've waited a quarter of
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  Speaker 1: a century. Second, because God doesn't forget, they could be sure.
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  Speaker 1: But because we are human, we tend to weaken as
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  Speaker 1: time passes. So Abraham went around to Egypt and got
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  Speaker 1: in trouble. Another time in his doubt, they ran ahead
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  Speaker 1: and had Hagar have a baby, and Ishmael shows up,
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  Speaker 1: and now domestic problems come, as we're going to see
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  Speaker 1: in our next study, because Abraham and Sarah weren't waiting.
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  Speaker 1: They weren't believing that God had remembered. See how it
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  Speaker 1: ties in? Now, here's the third point. Because God made
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  Speaker 1: the promise to them, and not to everyone, it was
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  Speaker 1: a personal promise. Abraham's best friend could not claim the
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  Speaker 1: promise God gave to Abraham and Sarah. God gave it
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  Speaker 1: to them. This tells us that we cannot claim that
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  Speaker 1: when we're getting up in years, God is going to
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  Speaker 1: open the womb of our wife and give us a
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  Speaker 1: child in our old age. That's twisting the scriptures, making
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  Speaker 1: it say something to you that the scriptures were only
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  Speaker 1: saying to Abraham and Sarah. They had no reason to
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  Speaker 1: worry or doubt. It was unconditional. Specifically designed for them.
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  Speaker 1: Now it's time to look again at the chart. Will
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  Speaker 1: you do that? Pick up your outline. Look at the chart.
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  Speaker 1: Study it for a few moments. Read it left to right.
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  Speaker 1: Beginning at chapter 12, where we begin to learn about Abraham.
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  Speaker 1: He is mentioned in chapter 11, but the details there
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  Speaker 1: are not important for the flow of his life. We
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  Speaker 1: take chapter 12 all the way to 21, and suddenly
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: we've come to the climax. All the way through, he's
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: promised a covenant. I'll have my covenant with you. I
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: will give you a son. And through this son, there
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: will be a full nation. And through the nation, all
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: the other nations of the earth will be blessed. Easy
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: to forget that. Easy to doubt that. So look under covenant.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: At the bottom there, look at age. It tells you
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: how old Abraham and Sarah are along the way in
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: these chapters. Look at the next one, covenant. It's affirmed
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: in chapter 12. It's reaffirmed in chapter 13. It's reaffirmed
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: in chapter 15. It's reaffirmed in chapter 7. Why? Why?
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Because they're human. Because they're human. Remember your kids when
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: you were taking a long trip? Remember After you got
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: just out of the cul-de-sac and took a left they
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: want to know are we there yet remember that? And
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: you found yourself as a parent saying yeah, we're we're
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: almost there. Oh Don't ever don't ever ever make that
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: mistake because almost means in how long dad Like will
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: the second hand be over it? No, no, no. No
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: you you can't why because they lose heart and And
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: so you say to them along the journey, you know what, kids?
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: We've got one more 50-mile part of the trip, and
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: we'll be there. Or we've only got 30 more miles
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: to go, only 10 more miles, and we'll be there.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: You're reaffirming your promise. You're keeping them from doubting. You're
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: being discouraged. The Lord doesn't want us to lose heart
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: with his promises. All the way to chapter 21, where
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: he says, now's the time. And guess what? Sarah is 90,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: and Abraham is 100. Now, you who are skeptics are going, yeah, right, yeah. Well, obviously,
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: you don't understand that God keeps his promises. You've been
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: trained wrong. You've been given information that's faulty. God has
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: no problem with age. He can cause any wound to
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: be fertile. at any age. And he chooses in their
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: case to do what he did for Sarah. I love
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: the way the chapter begins. The Lord took note of
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Sarah as he had said. Isn't that great? God keeps
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: his promises. He took note of Sarah as he had
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: said and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: The New Living Translation is even clearer. Listen, the Lord
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: had promised. I love it. This is reassuring. God said
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: way back when they were leaving their hometown Ur of
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: the Chaldeans, when they were leaving with all of their
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: stuff on their carts and all of their servants and
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: all of their cattle, holding nothing back, they took God
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: at his word. God said to them way back then,
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: I'm going to bring a nation through you two. You
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: can count on it. And all the way through that journey,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: all the way to where they wound up, near the
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Oaks of Mamre, all the way through, he's reaffirming it.
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: And so he remembers the promise. Verse 2, not surprisingly...
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: old age. You almost think a woman wrote that. In
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: his old age. And notice the next statement, at the
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: appointed time. Now, I don't know about you, but when
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: I read my Bible and I come across the appointed time,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: my ears prick up like a Doberman. appointed time. What
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: does that mean? Who appoints the time? Well, it's a
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: great question. That isn't answered here, but it is in
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: another book of the Bible. Turn ahead to the book,
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: hold on, Ecclesiastes. When is the last time we were
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: in the book of Ecclesiastes? I'm going to watch. There
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: are little dust pockets forming on In various places, we
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: don't turn to Ecclesiastes that often. The word means preacher.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: And the preacher in this case is Solomon. He wrote
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: the book, 12 chapters that provide wisdom for life. And
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: he deals with the issue of the impossibility of finding
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: happiness without God. You can't do it. And he writes
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: a whole book about that. And right in the middle
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: of the book, in chapter 3, early part of the book,
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: He says something about appointments and about time. Look closely.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: Are you there? Ecclesiastes 3, here we go. There is
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: an appointed time. See, when you read appointed time and
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: you read here appointed time, they're tied together. Even though
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: they're books separated from each other, the truth is emerging.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: There's appointment of time. And look at it. There's an
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: appointed time for everything. In case you missed it, there
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: is a time for every event under heaven. Don't do
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: it right now, but if you were to take the
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: time to count them, you would count 28 uses of
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: the word time in the next several verses down through
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: verse 8.
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: All
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: the way through this section you read of the appointed times.
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: Look at the first one. There's a time to give birth.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: and a time to die. Are they appointed? What does
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: the context teach? It says there's an appointed time for everything,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: for every event. Is a birth an event? Yeah. Is
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: a death an event? Yes. You mean it isn't a
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: premature death? Never with God. You mean it isn't a
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: surprising birth? An unexpected pregnancy? No, no such thing with God.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: It's an appointed time, you say. I don't know, Chuck,
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: if I can go along with this. Well, frankly, I
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: don't care. I'm not asking you, do you like it?
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Can you explain it? I'm just saying if you can't
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: explain it, you better believe it. You better hang on
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: to it because it's a lot better than where you
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: would go on your own. where life would be filled
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: with a lot of coin flips and chances, and well, maybe,
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: or this doesn't make sense, or all the hows, how
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: could that have occurred? How could my wife have died
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: so long before I died? How could I outlive my husband?
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: How could we lose our precious child? There's an appointed
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: time for everything. Let me teach you something else. See
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: the first statement, a time to give birth and a
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: time to die? Here's a word that you've not heard before,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: quite likely. It's a literary term, merismus, M-E-R-I-S-M-U-S. M-E-R-I-S-M-U-S. What's
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: a merismus? Well, there are 14 of them here in
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: this section. Listen closely. It is a statement of polar
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: extremes that provides a way of embracing everything between the extremes.
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: We have a saying as far as east is from
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: the west, that's a merismus, all the things in between.
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: We say between heaven and earth, that's a merismus. So
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: it's covering through polar extremes all the things connected between
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: these areas, a time to be born, a time to die. Frankly,
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: that's human life, which means you're not an accident, which
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: means the one you called unexpected was appointed by God.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: I was a surprise to my mother and dad. I
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: kind of liked that. They weren't crazy about it, but
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: they had had two children. My mother thought her childbearing
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: years were over. Hi. I show up. And it wasn't
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: easy for my mother. She didn't do real well with
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: little kids. And it was hard for her. She probably
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: had never been taught about the appointment for everything. I
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: was loved. I wasn't mistreated. Don't feel sorry for me. Well,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: I did have Lucy for a sister. But other than that, no,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: we joke about it. We couldn't be closer. It's a
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: fact that what we call surprises, God calls appointments. I'll
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: give you a few minutes on this because some of
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: you still look a little unconvinced. You've been taught wrong.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: You see, you're afraid of the word sovereignty. You're afraid
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: that might make you not that important. now that you
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: brought it up. Life isn't about you or me. And
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: in an age of entitlement that's really hard to convince
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: people of, they think the whole universe revolves around them.
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: Ask most teenagers. Hey, it's about me. I'm in it
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: for myself. It's why I'm in business. It's why I'm
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: pushing for a big profit. I deserve it. Worked hard
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: for this. Even the pro ball players always makes me go,
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: you know, one of these days your chest is going
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: to cave in on you. You're not omniscient. You're not omnipotent.
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: It isn't about you. You wouldn't have a breath in
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: your lungs if it weren't for Almighty God who appointed
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: you to have that kind of skill to play that game.
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: Back to this. Merismus. Merismus. I like the word. I
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: think there's something to it. Walt Kaiser writes this, this
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: is a beautiful plan, yet men and women do not,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, apprehend it because of their
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: prevailing worldliness. He means their worldly mindset. We get our
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: cues from our human education, not from God's truth. So vast,
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: so eternal, and so comprehensive in its inclusions is this
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: plan that man is both threatened and exasperated in his
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: attempts to discover it for himself. Nevertheless, being built by
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: God and made in his own image, man possesses a
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: hunger within his heart to know the vastness and eternity
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: of this plan. Oh, that's so true. But we want to.
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: In fact, we have the capacity to grasp what I'm
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: teaching right now, even though we can't fathom the full
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: extent of it. How do I know that? Look across
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the page at verse 11. The he is God. Look, 311.
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: God has made everything appropriate in, there's our word again,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: in its time, appropriate to him. It's according to his plan.
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: So he's made it appropriate in his time. He has
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: also set eternity in their heart. Yet so that man
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: will not find out the work which God has done
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: from the beginning even to the end. What does that mean? Well,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: it means you and I have the capacity to grasp
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: spiritual truth. Your dog doesn't. Your cat can't. No animal
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: has the capacity. We have a spirit within us that
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: resonates with God's spirit. And he communicates to us in
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: a realm that isn't understood outside homo sapien and divine guidance.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: He has put eternity in our hearts, but we're never
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: able to exhaust the truth of it. We will always
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: go so far, and then we say, you know, I
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: can't track it. That's right, you can't. If you could,
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: you'd be God. It's his plan. It's his appointment. The
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: universe has a flow. It has a rhythmic regularity to
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: it that is beyond our control. And wise is the
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: one who lives with an understanding that God is the
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: one who calls the cadence. God is at work. This
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: will save you hours and hours of doubt. or even
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: trying to put it all together and figure it all out.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: You can grasp much of it since you have eternity
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: in your heart, but there is a great deal of
• 39:29
  Speaker 1: it that we'll never be able to exhaust. I understand
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: that toward the end of his life, as Dr. Chaffer,
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: the founder of Dallas Seminary, had just finished a lecture
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: in the spiritual life course. I wasn't there, but one
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: of my profs was. Dr. Chaffer, by that time, pretty
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: much in a wheelchair. It was all men at that
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: time at the school, and all the men were sitting
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: there watching and listening, and he finishes this magnificent lecture,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: which had to do with the grace of God. He
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: rolled his chair over, and he turned off the light.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: No one moved. Dr. Chaffer turned and looked at everyone
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: and said, We have just begun to grasp a little
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: bit of the grace of God. It is inexhaustible. It
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: is beyond our ability to plumb the depths of it,
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: is what he's saying. My prof, who was then a student,
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: remembered sitting there, even when others got up to leave
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: and realized how much of the scriptures falls in that category,
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: how much of life. You see, because we are educated
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: beyond our intelligence, we tend to want to make everything
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: walk on all fours, our four, rather than say, you
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: know what? God has a plan. It is unfolding. I
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: don't have to know why. I need to trust him
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: through this. I need to trust him through this. We
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: call it an incredible tragedy not to God. It may
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: at that moment be that, but it's in the long
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: run not a tragedy to him. We call this birth
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: a sudden surprising thing. No, no, no, no. He knew
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: about it in the eternity past. And he found the
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: couple he wanted to use and to give them the child. Now,
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: I love stuff like this, but let's go back to
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 21 and look at the story and we'll
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: wrap it up. So here's Sarah having the baby And
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: we read, Abraham obeyed by calling his name, the one
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: born to him, Yitzchak. Isn't that a great name? Yitzchak.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: You say it right when something lands on the back
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: of the neck of the person in front of you. Yitzchak.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: It's a guttural. It's a great Hebrew word. You know
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: what it means? Laughter. It means he laughs. Look at
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: that name. What in the world would the Lord have
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: him naming Yitzchak? All his life, laughter. Well, because his
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: mom and dad both laughed. Years earlier, when God says,
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: you're going to have a baby, Sarah's listening through a
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: tent flap, and she's getting up in years, and the
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: angels are talking to Abraham about it, and you know
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: your wife's going to... She laughs, and so the angels say,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: come here, you laughed. No, no, no, I didn't laugh,
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: I didn't laugh. She was embarrassed, the fact that she
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: laughed about it. But she came to realize the last
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: laugh was on God. In fact, let's just make it firm,
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: let's name him, laughed her. You know what? I've never
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: known anyone named Laughter aside from a person named Isaac.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: I've known a Joy, a lady named Joy. I've known
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: ladies named Cheer. I've known men who have nicknamed Happy.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: Haven't you? Sure we have. But Laughter. Laughter. Abraham named
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: him exactly what God told him. Put it down, Abraham,
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: because some of this laughter will be a Laughter of
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: deep joy. You wait till you hold that little boy
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: in your arms at age 100. Abraham also circumcised his
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: son at the age of eight days. Look at that.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: Why would he do that? God commanded it. It's the
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: mark of the Jew. When you were a Hebrew, you
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: were circumcised. And in those days, there were not pediatricians
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: to do that. Dads did the circumcision. And then I
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: had to talk about this. I said, how do you think?
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: With a rock? You know, she said, it wasn't a rock.
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: It was a sword. No, wait, wait, wait, wait, honey.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: Let's don't go sword. Maybe a real sharp blade. But
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: the way he did it isn't important. It's that he
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: did it. Why? He put him under the covenant. It's
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: a covenant relationship. It isn't something that you necessarily enjoy doing,
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: although obedience is always breeds joy. But it's something that
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: God had commanded and said, when your baby is born,
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: eight days circumcise him. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And then
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: it unfolds rather quickly. Look at this. Abraham was 100
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: years old when his son, Yizkach, was born to him.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: And Sarah said, I love this. Sarah said, God has
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: made laughter for me. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: And she added, look at this one. Who would have
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? And I
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: have borne him a son in his old age. You
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: know what the thought is? I've borne this old man
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: a son. Interesting she sees him as an old man.
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: But Abraham was pleased with it. 100 years old. Walker
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: and a stroller. Walking along. how they must have loved
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: that boy. Think about it. All the time of waiting,
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: all the years that had passed, all the struggles, the
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: failures and the trust and the time of doubt, time
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: of going to sleep at night, sighing. And Sarah says
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: to Abraham, you know what, Abe? Something's happening. And I don't,
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: I can't imagine their conversation. And she begins to show.
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: And here's this 90-year-old woman in maternity clothes. How good
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: is that? Here's Abraham. Won't get along. Maybe snow on
• 46:39
  Speaker 1: the rooftop, but there's fire in the furnace, buddy. So
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: he's walking along, got this little baby on his way.
• 46:48
  Speaker 1: And how great of God to do this. He's not ashamed.
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: He's pleased. Why? Because it's God's appointment. When you see
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: these things in life as God's appointment, Your heartbreak stops,
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: your heartache, your surprises, your doubts, they're all laid aside
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: and put in a drawer because God's carrying out his plan,
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: whether you like it or not, even whether you can
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: understand it. Some of it is absolutely beyond our comprehension.
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: I checked. I found that the oldest woman on record
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: to have a baby is not quite 80. That's what
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: they think. There was a 90-year-old in here that had
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: a baby. 90 years old has a baby. Can you
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: imagine how they adored that child? Ever seen a grandfather
• 48:01
  Speaker 1: or grandmother with a newborn in their arms that came
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: from their daughter? Or their daughter-in-law. It's magnificent. But this
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: is not a granddad. This is a daddy. And you
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: know what? He's going to want to cling to him.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: He don't want anything to happen. After all these years,
• 48:34
  Speaker 1: we have our baby. Years ago, when our children were
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: very small, I was serving in another state, in another place.
• 48:49
  Speaker 1: Our youngest had just really about begun to walk, and
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: our oldest, nine years older than he, and two girls
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: in the middle. So the kids were little. It so
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: happened at our church in Fullerton, California, that Corrie Ten
• 49:05
  Speaker 1: Boom chose to attend there. And I would see her
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: from time to time and always felt she was such
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: a benediction to our place of worship, though she never
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: called attention. to herself, never, ever. Following a worship service
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: on one occasion where I'm standing at the door, which
• 49:26
  Speaker 1: we did at that church, and I was greeting people
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: as they were leaving, and they were all, of course,
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: crowded around her to visit with her, and finally they left,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: and it was just Corey and me. Never forget it.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: And the kids are playing all around. You know, one's
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: over here picking his nose, and the other's over here
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: jerking on her skirt. And she says, these your children?
• 49:52
  Speaker 1: I say, yep, these are all my children. Don't, don't
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: do that. It's Corrigan Blue. You're going to break her. No, no.
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: She said, no, no, it's okay. Give me your hands,
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: Pastor Spindahl. She held her little hands out. She's really
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: short and little stubby fingers. She holds her hands out.
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: And I put my hands in her hands. Kids are
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: playing around. She says, listen to me, Pastor Swindoll. Hold
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: everything loosely. Hold everything loosely. Because if you don't, it
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: will hurt from the fodder. Prize your fingers open and
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: take them from you. They're his, you know. You know that. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: I know that. And then she kind of pushed her
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: hands together with mine. She goes, hmm, kind of like that.
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: When I looked into her eyes, I could see Betsy,
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: whom she lost in the death camp in the war.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: She knew what she was talking about. Don't clutch. Don't cling.
• 51:17
  Speaker 1: They're not yours. They came at his appointed time. And
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: they will live their lives and leave at his appointed time.
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: In the meantime, you do what you should do as
• 51:34
  Speaker 1: a daddy, but hold him loosely. I'll never forget that.
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: Cynthia and I have had to remind ourselves of that
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: on various occasions. When we moved to Dallas, all four
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: of the kids were living elsewhere. Nobody moved with us.
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: We moved back to Dallas in 94. But one by one,
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: as God appointed it, they came to live around us.
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: One lives right next door to us. Another lives right
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: next door to him. Neighbors had no idea what they
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: were getting into. There's a swindoll compound here. Another one
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: lives about four or five miles away. Another one lives
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: about 12 miles. They're all forward here now. But little
• 52:31
  Speaker 1: by little, in God's timing, He has a way of
• 52:37
  Speaker 1: prying our fingers loose. Because I want them all right here.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: I want them all right here. That's not his plan.
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: And will you remember that, please? In fact, I want
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: to give you four little simple words and let you
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: fill in the blank. We're through. I want to tell
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: you something to remember and something to forget, something to
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: ask and something to forgive. Number one, remember. Remember God
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: is never accidentally late. He is never accidentally late. His
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: plan unfolds and he's right on time. Though in our
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: time piece, it's been delayed a long time. Usually what
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: God does comes later than I expected. But never think.
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: You can remember this, God is never accidentally late. Second, forget.
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: Forget about your own schedule and plans. This is one
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: of the insights you will be counting on as your
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: children grow older and as time moves along. Forget about
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: your own schedule and plans. Your own personal timetable. Forget that.
• 54:10
  Speaker 1: Do a quick reading of Ecclesiastes 3 when you get
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: a little bit high and mighty in your own planning. Remember,
• 54:17
  Speaker 1: God has an appointed time. Forget about your own schedule
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: and plans. Number three, ask. Ask the Lord for sustaining
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: strength and divine wisdom. Sounds pretty elementary, but it's sometime
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: a long time between Those occasions we do that. Ask
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: the Lord for sustaining strength and divine wisdom. Especially if
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: you're in a waiting period. Especially if one you loved
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: was snatched from you. Especially if you're given to doubt, discouragement.
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: Ask the Lord for sustaining strength and divine wisdom. Strength
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: to wait. Wisdom to release. Let him go. They're his.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: Number four. This will surprise you. I've never heard a
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: preacher say this. Forgive. Forgive yourself for being short-sighted. For
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: missing the big picture. Forgive yourself for clinging when you
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: should have released. Forgive yourself for failing to be excited
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: about what's ahead that wasn't in your scope or plan.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: Forgive yourself for that. I've learned that the last one
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: we forgive on this earth is ourselves. God forgives you.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: By the way, There would come a day not too
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: many years later when Abraham will be grateful he didn't cling.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: When you get to chapter 22, he and his growing
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: up son are walking up a mountain, Mount Moriah. His
• 56:24
  Speaker 1: boy's carrying the wood, so he's a pretty good-sized boy.
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: And when they get there, he ties him up and
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: puts him on an altar and gets the blade. maybe
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: the one he had circumcised him with, with plans to
• 56:40
  Speaker 1: thrust it into him until God intervened. But that's later. Realize,
• 56:50
  Speaker 1: my dear friends, that in the plan of God's appointment,
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: the best is always yet to come. The best is
• 57:01
  Speaker 1: not now. In his plan it unfolds and you finally
• 57:06
  Speaker 1: have that great, oh, that's where this was going. A
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: friend of mine sent me a great piece by Henry
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: Van Dyke. Listen to the words of Van Dyke. Let
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: me but live from year to year with forward face
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: and unreluctant soul. not hastening to nor turning from the goal,
• 57:35
  Speaker 1: not mourning for the things that disappear in the dim past,
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: nor holding back in fear from what the future veils,
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: but with a whole and happy heart that pays its
• 57:47
  Speaker 1: toll to youth and age and travels on with cheer.
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: So let the way wind up the hill or down,
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: Though rough or smooth, the journey will be joy. Still
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: seeking what I sought when but a boy. New friendship,
• 58:09
  Speaker 1: high adventure, and a crown. I shall grow old but
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: never lose life's zest because the road's last turn will
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: be the best. It's true. Our Father, we are all
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: so short-sighted, and we're so blamed selfish, it's almost impossible
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: for us to get out of our own stuff enough
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: to ponder truth that makes us insignificant. How stupid we
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: are to forget that it is all about you and
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: not us. It is all about fitting into your arrangement,
• 59:01
  Speaker 1: your appointment, and how severely we mess things up as
• 59:09
  Speaker 1: we do. try to manipulate and force our will. Show
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: us in the simple story of an old man with
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: an old wife and the joy of a newborn that
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: your appointment is always best. Our circumstances, not at all
• 59:32
  Speaker 1: like Abraham's and Sarah's, but you, the God of veracity,
• 59:37
  Speaker 1: you are the same. You're at work. Especially do I
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: pray that you would help parents who sit under the
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: sound of my voice today to hold everything loosely, especially
• 59:54
  Speaker 1: their offspring. Help Cynthia and me to do that. Help
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: us to do that all the rest of our lives
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 1: and to live with delight our children's dreams. May we
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: be an encouragement as they fly away. I ask for
• 1:00:24
  Speaker 1: Christ's sake. Everyone sit. Amen.
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, It's a Boy, was copyrighted in 2013
• 1:00:36
  Speaker 2: and 2014 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2014
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 2: by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 1:00:46
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.