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From Stone to Heart | The Promise of the New Covenant (Oct 18) · 1 Year Audio Bible Podcast

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  The day will come, says the Lord, when I will make a new
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  covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant
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  will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them
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  by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke
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  that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves
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  his wife, says the Lord. But this is the
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  new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the
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  Lord. I will put my laws in their mind and I will write
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  them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my
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  people. What is the Old Covenant and
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  what is the New Covenant? How are
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  they different? How are we to be walking?
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  Are we supposed to be in the Old Covenant or the New Covenant?
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  These are the questions we're going to unpack and look at today.
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  Listen in. Welcome to the One Year Audio Bible
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  Podcast. Today is October 18th.
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  Now let's continue our journey reading through the entire Bible in
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  one year. This week we are reading from the New Living
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  Translation for the Old Testament and for the New
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  Testament.
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  Jeremiah 31:27-32.
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  The time will come, says the Lord, when I will greatly increase
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  the population and multiply the number of cattle here in Israel and
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  Judah. In the past I uprooted and tore down
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  this nation. I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon
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  it. But in the future I will plant it and build it
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  up, says the Lord. The people will no longer
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  quote this proverb: The parents eat sour grapes, but their children's
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  mouths pucker at the taste. All people will die for
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  their own sins. Those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose
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  mouths will pucker. The day will come, says the Lord, when I
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  will make a New Covenant with the people of Israel
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  and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors
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  when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of
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  Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband
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  loves his wife, says the Lord. But this is the New
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  Covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,
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  says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds,
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  and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God,
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  and they will be my people. And they will not
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  need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their families,
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  saying, You should know the Lord. For everyone,
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  from the least to the greatest, will already know Me,
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  says the Lord. And I will forgive their wickedness and will
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  never again remember their sins. It is the
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  Lord who provides the sun to light the day and the moon and stars
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  to light the night. It is He who stirs the sea into
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  roaring waves. His name is the Lord Almighty,
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  and this is what He says: I am as likely to reject
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  My people Israel as I am to do away with the laws of nature.
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  Just as the heavens cannot be measured and the foundation of
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  the earth cannot be explored, so I will not consider casting
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  them away forever for their sins. I, the Lord,
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  have spoken. The time is coming, says the Lord,
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  when all Jerusalem will be rebuilt for Me. From the Tower of Hananel
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  to the Corner Gate. A measuring line will be stretched out
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  over the hill of Gareb and across to Goah, and the entire area,
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  including the graveyard and ash dump in the valley,
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  and all the fields out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far
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  as the Horse Gate, will be holy to the Lord.
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  The city will never again be captured or destroyed.
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  The following message came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 10th
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  year of the reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah. This was also the
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  18th year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.
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  Jerusalem was under siege from the Babylonian army,
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  and Jeremiah was imprisoned in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace.
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  King Zedekiah had put him there because he continued to give this prophecy:
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  This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over
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  to the king of Babylon. King Zedekiah will be
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  captured by the Babylonians and taken to the king of Babylon to be
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  judged and sentenced. I will take Zedekiah to Babylon and will
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  deal with him there. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will
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  never succeed. At that time the Lord sent
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  me a message. He said, Your cousin Hananel son of Shallum
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  will come and say to you, Buy my field at Anathoth.
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  By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone
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  else. Then, Just as the Lord had said He would,
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  Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said,
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  Buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin.
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  By law, you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone
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  else, so buy it for yourself. Then I knew for sure
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  that the message I had heard was from the Lord.
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  So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel 17
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  pieces of silver for it. I signed and sealed the deed
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  of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.
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  Then I took the sealed deed and an unsealed copy of
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  the deed, which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase,
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  and I handed them to Baruch son of Neriah and grandson of
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  Mashiach. I did all this in the presence of my cousin Hananel,
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  the witnesses who had signed the deed, and all the men of Judah who were
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  there. Then I said to Baruch, as they all listened, The Lord
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  Almighty, the God of Israel, says, Take both this sealed
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  deed and the unsealed copy and put them into
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  a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time. For the Lord Almighty,
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  the God of Israel, says someday people will again
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  own property here in this place and will buy and sell
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  houses and vineyards and fields. Then,
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  after I had given the papers to Baruch, I prayed to the Lord.
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  O Sovereign Lord, You have made the heavens and earth by Your great power.
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  Nothing is too hard for You.
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  You are loving and kind to thousands, though children suffer for their parents'
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  sins. You are the great and powerful God, the Lord Almighty.
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  You have all wisdom and do great and mighty miracles. You are
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  very aware of the conduct of all people. And You reward
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  them according to their deeds. You performed miraculous signs and wonders
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  in the land of Egypt, things still remembered to this day.
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  And You have continued to do great miracles in Israel and all
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  around the world. You have made Your name very great,
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  as it is today. You brought Israel out of Egypt with mighty
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  signs and wonders, with great power and overwhelming terror.
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  You gave the people of Israel this land that You had promised
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  their ancestors long before. A land flowing with milk and
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  honey. Our ancestors came and conquered it and lived in it, but they
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  refused to obey You or follow Your Law. They have hardly done
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  one thing You told them to do. That is why You have sent this terrible
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  disaster upon them. See how the siege ramps
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  have been built against the city walls. Because of war,
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  famine, and disease, the city has been handed over to the Babylonians,
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  who will conquer it. Everything has happened just as You said it
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  would, and yet, O Sovereign Lord, You have
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  told me to buy the field, paying good money for it before
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  these witnesses, even though the city will soon belong
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  to the Babylonians. Then this message came
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  to Jeremiah from the Lord: I am the Lord,
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  the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything
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  too hard for Me? I will hand this city over to the Babylonians
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  and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and he will capture
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  it. The Babylonians outside the walls will come in and set
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  fire to the city. They will burn down all these houses where
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  the people caused my fury to rise by offering incense to
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  Baal on the rooftops and by pouring out drink
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  offerings to other gods. Israel and Judah have done nothing but
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  wrong since their earliest days. They have infuriated Me
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  with all their evil deeds, says the Lord. From the time this city
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  was built until now, it has done nothing but anger
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  Me, so I am determined to get rid of it. The sins of Israel
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  and Judah, the sins of the people of Jerusalem, the kings,
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  the officials, the priests, and the prophets stir up My anger.
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  My people have turned their backs on Me and have refused to
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  return. Day after day, Year after year I taught them right
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  from wrong, but they would not listen or obey.
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  They have set up their abominable idols right in My own Temple,
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  defiling it. They have built pagan shrines to
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  Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and there they sacrifice
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  their sons and daughters to Molech. I have never commanded such
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  a horrible deed. It never even crossed My mind to command
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  such a thing. What an incredible evil, causing Judah
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  to sin so greatly! Now I want to say
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  something more about this city. You have been saying, it will fall to the king
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  of Babylon through war, famine, and disease.
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  But this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I
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  will surely bring my people back again from all
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  the countries where I will scatter them in my fury.
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  I will bring them back to this very city, and let
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  them live in peace and safety. They will be My people,
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  and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart
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  and mind to worship Me forever, for their own good and for
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  the good of all their descendants. And I will make an everlasting
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  covenant with them, promising not to stop doing good
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  for them. I will put a desire in their hearts to worship Me,
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  and they will never leave Me. I will rejoice in doing good
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  to them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant
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  them in this land. Just as I have sent all these calamities upon
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  them, so I will do all the good I have promised them.
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  I, the Lord, have spoken. Fields will again
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  be bought and sold in this land about which you now say it
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  has been ravaged by the Babylonians, a land where people and animals have
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  all disappeared. Yes, fields will once again be bought and sold,
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  deeds signed and sealed and witnessed in the land of Benjamin
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  and here in Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah
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  and in the hill country, in the foothills of Judah and in the Negev
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  too. For someday I will restore prosperity
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  to them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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  1 Timothy 3:1-16.
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  It is a true saying that if someone wants to be an elder, he desires
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  an honorable responsibility. For an elder must be
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  a man whose life cannot be spoken against. He must be faithful to his
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  wife. He must exhibit self-control, live wisely,
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  and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests
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  in his home and must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy
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  drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, peace-loving,
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  and not one who loves money. He must manage his own family well,
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  with children who respect and obey him. For if a
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  man cannot manage his own household, how can he take care of
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  God's church? An elder must not be a new Christian
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  because he might be proud of being chosen so soon,
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  and the devil will use that pride to make him fall. Also,
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  people outside the church must speak well of him so that he will
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  not fall into the devil's trap and be disgraced. In the same
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  way, deacons must be people who are respected and have integrity.
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  They must not be heavy drinkers and must not be greedy for money.
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  They must be committed to the revealed truths of the Christian faith
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  and must live with a clear conscience. Before they are appointed
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  as deacons, they should be given other responsibilities in the church
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  as a test of their character and ability. If they do well,
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  then they may serve as deacons. In the same way, their wives
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  must be respected and must not speak evil of others.
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  They must exercise self-control and be faithful in everything they
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  do. A deacon must be faithful to his wife, and he
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  must manage his children and household well. Those who do
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  well as deacons will be rewarded with respect from others and
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  will have increased confidence in their faith in Christ Jesus.
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  I am writing these things to you now, even though I hope to be with
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  you soon, so that if I can't come for a while, you will know how
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  people must conduct themselves in the household of God. This is
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  the church of the living God, which is the pillar and support
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  of the truth. Without question, this is the great
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  mystery of our faith: Christ appeared in the flesh
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  and was shown to be righteous by the Spirit. He was seen
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  by angels and was announced to the nations. He was believed on
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  in the world and was taken up into heaven.
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  Psalm 88:1-18.
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  O Lord, God of my salvation, I have cried out
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  to you day and night. Now hear my prayer,
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  listen to my cry, for my life is full of troubles and
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  death draws near. I have been dismissed as one who
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  is dead, like a strong man with no strength left.
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  They have abandoned me to death, and I am as good as dead.
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  I am forgotten, cut off from Your care. You have
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  thrust me down to the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.
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  Your anger lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs
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  me. You have caused my friends to loathe me; You have
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  sent them all away. I am in a trap with no way of
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  escape. My eyes are blinded by my tears.
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  Each day I beg for Your help, O Lord. I lift my
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  pleading hands to You for mercy. Of what use to the dead are Your
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  miracles? Do the dead get up and praise You?
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  Can those in the grave declare Your unfailing love?
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  In the place of destruction, can they proclaim Your faithfulness?
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  Can the darkness speak of Your miracles? Can anyone in
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  the land of forgetfulness talk about Your righteousness?
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  O Lord, I cry out to You. I will keep on pleading day
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  by day. O Lord, why do You reject me?
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  Why do You turn Your face away from me? I have been sickly
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  and close to death since my youth. I stand helpless
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  and desperate before Your terrors. Your fierce anger has overwhelmed
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  me. Your terrors have cut me off.
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  They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.
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  They have encircled me completely. You have taken away my
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  companions and loved ones. Only darkness remains.
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  Proverbs 25:20-22.
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  Singing cheerful songs to a person whose heart is heavy is as
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  bad as stealing someone's jacket in cold weather or rubbing
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  salt in a wound. If your enemies are hungry, give them food
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  to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
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  You will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward
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  you. I want to speak to you today from our reading from Jeremiah chapter
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  31, and I want to zoom in on verse
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  31 to 33 where
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  it is written, the day will come, says the Lord, when I will make a
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  new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant
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  will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them
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  by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke
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  that covenant, though I loved them as a husband
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  loves his wife, says the Lord. But this is the new covenant
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  I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord.
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  I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them
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  on their hearts. I will be their God and they
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  will be my people. So I want to talk to you today a
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  little bit about the Old Covenant or the First Covenant that
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  was made at Mount Sinai with Moses when he brought the Ten Commandments down
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  to the people and this New Covenant that is spoken of here
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  in Jeremiah 31:31. Under the
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  First Covenant, the one from Moses,
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  All who were ethnically descended from the family of
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  Jacob— he had the 12 sons which became the
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  12 tribes— they were considered to be part of God's
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  family. So it's basically Jews only.
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  The problem with this is that they broke this covenant.
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  They were unfaithful. And so now God is inaugurating,
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  bringing in a New Covenant. And in this New Covenant,
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  all who put their faith in Christ are now members of God's
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  family. So the rules for how to become part of God's
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  family have changed. You did not have to
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  be ethnically descended from Jacob,
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  from Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.
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  Membership in God's family now is determined by our faith
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  in Jesus Christ. It's not based upon our ancestry.
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  It's Jew or Gentile. Anybody is now invited
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  to be a part of God's family. It's not just based upon ethnicity.
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  And so when a person puts their faith in Jesus Christ
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  and they repent of their sin, they become part of membership
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  in God's family. And so in the
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  Old Covenant, this was given to the nation in the Kingdom of Israel,
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  and it did not include the Gentiles. But in the New Covenant,
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  membership into God's family is open to all people
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  groups, all tribes, all nations. It's not
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  about ethnicity. It's about faith. It's not about whether you're
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  Jewish or not Jewish.
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  So it's about having a new heart. In the
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  Old Covenant, the law was inscribed on 2
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  stone tablets, and the people under Moses did all they could
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  to be obedient to it, but they fall— they failed.
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  They were not able to keep the law, the laws of God.
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  It was based upon works and based upon performance.
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  But in the New Covenant, it's based upon faith, faith in Jesus Christ.
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  And now you have a new heart. When you repent and
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  you ask Christ into your heart, you get a new heart.
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  And now you're indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And by the Holy Spirit,
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  you follow the commands of Christ and you follow
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  the Word of God because now His Spirit is energizing you.
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  So it's so important to walk in—
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  that you begin in faith and you continue to walk in faith.
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  That you don't fall into religion or works
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  or performance. That our head is not Moses.
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  Our head is Jesus Christ. He is our head, and we
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  are led by the Holy Spirit. So all
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  the different things that are talked about in the Old Testament
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  about the feasts, Passover and
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  Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles,
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  Christians optionally can participate in those
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  things, but they are not required.
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  All of those things that were outlined, the food laws and the feasts
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  and all of that, That was written to a particular audience. It was written
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  to— those commands were given to the children of Israel.
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  And we are not Jews. We are Gentiles.
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  It was written for them, and it was
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  under the Old Covenant. But in the New Covenant, we are not
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  required to keep Old Covenant laws like
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  animal sacrifices, Levitical priesthood, eating kosher,
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  keeping the Sabbath and feasts. It is not required in
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  the New Covenant. The most important thing is
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  that we have a new heart,
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  that in the New Covenant when we repent,
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  God takes out our heart of stone and He gives us a heart of flesh,
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  and He begins to write His Word upon our heart.
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  That is what is most important.
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  Have a blessed day and we'll see you tomorrow.