Latest / CCC West Covina / The Model Life: Adoration, Part 2

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The Model Life: Adoration, Part 2 · CCC West Covina

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Charles Wesley was a a great hymn writer.
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Not just a preacher, but a but a hymn writer.
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He wrote over 6500 different hymns and one of them in
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particular deals with what it is we are discussing this morning.
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That hymn titled is Joyful, Joyful, We adore thee.
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In each stanza of that hymn, he talks about the joy, the
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rejoicing, the gladness that comes from the Lord.
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Listen to what he says, Joyful, joyful, we adore thee.
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God, a glory, Lord of love. Hearts unfold like flowers
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before thee. Opening to the sun above, melt
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the clouds of sin and sadness, Drive the dark of doubt away.
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Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.
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All thy works, with joy surrounding earth and heaven
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reflect thy rays. Stars and angels sing around
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thee. Center of unbroken praise,
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Fields and forests, Vail and mountain, flowery Meadow,
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flashing sea, chanting bird and flowing fountain.
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Call us to rejoice in Thee. Thou art giving and forgiving.
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Ever blessing, ever blessed wellspring of the joy of living
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ocean depth of happy rest Thou our Father, Christ, our brother,
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All who live and love are thine. Teach us how to love each other.
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Lift us to the joy. Divine mortals, Join the mighty
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chorus which the morning stars began.
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Love divine is reigning o'er us, Leading us with mercy's hand.
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Ever singing March we onward victors in the midst of strife.
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Joyful music leads us sunward in the triumph song of life.
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He understood that rejoicing is the aspect of adoration.
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The model life is all about learning to adore the king.
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And so the model life is lived in, in adoration, and
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particularly in three ways, being joyful, rejoice always,
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being prayerful, pray without ceasing and being thankful for.
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And everything we are to give thanks for.
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This is God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you.
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What does it mean to be joyful? What does it mean to rejoice
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always? Paul was the master of
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rejoicing. No matter what the circumstance,
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no matter what the situation, there was a joy about his life.
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And I wonder how many of us today are able to rejoice
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always. You know, when situations arise
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and they are devastating, how is it you rejoice in times like
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that? Let's say you you heard that a
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loved one close to you just just died.
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How do you rejoice in that kind of time?
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Or the doctor comes back and says you have a terminal
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illness, you have not very long to live.
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Do you rejoice always in that situation?
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Or you, you have a child that rebels against your authority,
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runs away from home, not interested in following the God
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you serve. Do you rejoice always in that
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situation? You see, Paul, Paul was
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concerned that those in Thessalonica who had already
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rejoiced when they received the the gospel, First Thessalonians,
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one verse #6 amidst much tribulation.
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So he knew that rejoicing was a part of their lives.
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So he gives his command at the end of chapter 5.
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Rejoice always because he wants to never to forget that that the
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hallmark of Christianity in our adoration to God is to live a
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life rejoicing no matter what. And so last week we began to
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explain that to you. How is it you truly rejoice
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always? And so we gave you principle #1
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and that was to rest in His Providence that that God is in
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control of every situation, in every circumstance, and
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everything that happens in me to me, because Romans 1133 to 33
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six says that all things are from him and through him, and to
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him to God be the glory forever and ever.
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Amen. That's why Paul could say we
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know that all things will work together for good to those who
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love God and are called according to His purpose.
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Why? Because God has a plan, He has a
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purpose. And the Providence of God is
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working through every situation, every detail of my life, and
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therefore I can trust Him and rest in His Providence.
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Listen to what the psalmist said in Psalm 37, Psalm 37, verse #1
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do not fret, do not worry, do not be anxious, don't be be
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filled with anxiety. How many of you are fretting
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today because you're anxious about tomorrow when the Bible
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says take no thought of tomorrow?
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For each day has enough trouble of its own?
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But we're always thinking about tomorrow or next week or the
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next thing down the Pike, and God wants us to rest in his
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Providence and trust Him. So Psalmist says, do not fret
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because of evil doers. Be not envious toward
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wrongdoers, for they will wither quickly, light the grass and
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fade like the green herb. Instead, he says, trust in the
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Lord, do good, dwell in the land, and feed on the
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faithfulness of God. Your food is His faithfulness.
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Your food is His guarantee. Your sustenance centers around
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what God does for you every day. So feed on His faithfulness.
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Delight yourself in the Lord. He will give you the desires of
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your heart. Commit your way to the Lord.
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Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
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He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and
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your judgement as the noonday. Rest in the Lord.
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Wait patiently for Him. Then he repeats it.
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Do not fret, do not be anxious. Do not worry because of him who
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prospers in the way, because of the man who carries out wicked
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schemes. Cease from anger and forsake
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wrath. Do not fret because why?
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He says it leads only to evil doing whenever you worry,
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whenever you're anxious, whenever you fret, it's going to
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lead inevitably to something evil in your life.
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It's not leading you closer to the Lord, it's leading you
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further from the Lord. So the psalmist makes it very,
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very clear, do not fret, don't do this.
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Trust in the Lord, rest in his Providence.
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Trust what God's going to do. Wait patiently for him and He
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will give you the desires of your heart.
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Commit your way unto the Lord, resting in his Providence.
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So important. I love.
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And in Acts chapter 5, after the apostles had been flogged, you
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know what that means, don't you? When you're flogged, your, your,
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your, your whipped 39 different times.
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And the whips they use were devastating.
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And so it says the verse #40 of Acts 5 calling the apostles in.
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They flogged them, order them not to speak in the name of
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Jesus, and then release them. Just a very quick statement.
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Bottom in, beat him silly, then let him go.
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So they went on their way from the presence of the Council,
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rejoicing. Rejoicing that they had been
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considered worthy to suffer shame for his name.
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It wasn't that he felt good, but I feel great.
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Hit me again. Wasn't like that, but they had
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been been flogged because of what they had said in the name
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of Christ. And so it says.
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And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept
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right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
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A little bit of flogging. Was it going to stop them from
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preaching the gospel? They just kept right on doing
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what God had called them to do, and they rejoiced in the midst
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of it. They rejoiced always.
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But so here's the point. Rest in His promises, and
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there's a Part B to that. Rest in His Providence.
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Excuse me. And the promises that go with
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it. Rest in His Providence and the
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promises that go with it. God's word is filled with
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promises. Listen to this Isaiah chapter
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43. God is speaking to Israel.
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He says in verse #1 But now thus says the Lord your creator, O
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Jacob, lets them know that, that, that that I created you.
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I I formed you, I put you together.
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I am the the master architect of the nation.
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God is the designer of Jacob, so he says, your creator, Jacob, I
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am the one who formed you of Israel.
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I formed you. I've done this.
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Do not fear, because I'm your creator.
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I am your designer. I am the master architect of the
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nation. I have a a plan, and the
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Providence of my plan will be fulfilled as I have designed it
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to be fulfilled. So therefore do not fear, for
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whatever comes your way, I am in charge of so he says, Do not
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fear, for I have redeemed you. I have purchased you.
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I called you out of slavery, out of Egyptian bondage.
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This is what I've done. I have called you by name.
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You are mine. You're my possession.
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You're possessed by me, the God of the universe, the creator of
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the world. They says this.
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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
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Not if you pass, but when you pass through the waters.
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Sometimes the waters begin to overflow.
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Sometimes the waters are deeper than we imagine.
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Sometimes the the, the, the waters have waves that rise way
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above our heads. Because when you pass through
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the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they
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will not overflow you. Then he says when you walk
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through the fire, not if you walk through the fire, but when
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you walk through the fire, notice they're not running
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through the fire. You ever been in a fire?
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Nobody walks out of the houses on fire.
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You're running out of the houses on fire.
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You're high tailing it out of there.
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You're gone. But notice He says when you walk
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through the fire, He says, you will not be scorched, nor will
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the flame burn you, for I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of
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Israel, your Savior. Then verse #5 He says, do not
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fear, for I am with you again, do not fear, do not fret, do not
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be anxious, do not be scared. I am with you.
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I'm your creator, O Jacob, I've chosen you.
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I will comfort you later he says in chapter 49 of Isaiah.
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These words, Isaiah 49 verse #14 but Zion said Zion is Israel.
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Zion is a place, of course, Mount Zion, but it's also a
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people in the Scriptures. And so Israel or Zion has said
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the Lord has forsaken me and the Lord has forgotten me.
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You've been there. You've said those kinds of
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things. You you have faced difficulties
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or hardships or, or painful experiences, and you're
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thinking, wait, wait a minute. Maybe the Lord stepped off the
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throne for a moment, or maybe the Lord blinked and didn't see
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my situation, or maybe the Lord was preoccupied with someone
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else, so much so that he could not see or understand my
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situation. We always get to the place
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where, Lord, have you forsaken me?
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Have you forgotten me? Yoohoo I'm here but God knows
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everything, you're his. So he says.
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Can a woman forget her nursing child and had no compassion on
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the son of her womb? Yes, yes, many women forget
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their nursing children, have no compassion on the son of their
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womb. Many children, many moms give
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their children away and walk away from them.
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It says even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
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Even a mother's love for her child, which is the the greatest
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bond in the world. A mother and her child is a by
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nature the strongest bond in the world.
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And even though a woman can forget our nursing child, God
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says I will never forget you, I won't do that he says behold, I
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have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
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Your walls are continually before me.
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I know you like I know my hand. I see my hand every day.
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I know my I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands.
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You are written right there. How can I ever forget you?
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And therefore all your walls are continually before me.
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You see, when you rest in the Providence of God, you rest in
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His Providence and the promises that go with that Providence.
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So important. I could spend weeks here.
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I'm not going to do that, but I could because this is just so
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profound. The Providence of God in the
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working of God. The Bible is filled with how you
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begin to understand the workings of Almighty God in the lives of
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people. It's amazing.
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He's never out of control. God's, God's never up in heaven
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going wringing his hands thinking, man, I sure hope they
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make it through this, but I sure hope they don't say that.
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I sure hope things turn out for the better for them.
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God doesn't do that. God's in charge.
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He's in control of everything, and we just learn to rest in His
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providential control and the promises that go with it.
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And there are so many promises in the Scriptures, but we must
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move on. Gosh, time goes by so fast, so
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let's hurry. All right, Rest in His
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Providence and the promises that go with it #2 embrace His peace.
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Embrace His peace. Turn to 2nd Thessalonians
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chapter 3, Second Thessalonians chapter 3.
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Listen to what Paul says in a second letter to the
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Thessalonians. He says, now may the Lord of
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peace himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.
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The Lord be with you all. Now may the Lord of peace.
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Continually grant you peace. Peace is a gift that God gives
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to his own. The wicked will never receive
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that gift. Isaiah says twice.
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There is no peace for the wicked.
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There isn't. The peace that God gives, He
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gives to his own. John 1427 My peace I give unto
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you, not as the world gives, but my peace I give unto you.
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I, I give to you the, the, the non fragile, non superficial,
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real, serene, calm life. I give you my life because I'm
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the God of peace. The Father is the one who
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provides peace, the Son purchased peace, the Spirit
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produces peace, and the Scriptures promote peace.
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That's why the Bible says in Psalm One 19165 Great peace have
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those who love thy law, and nothing causes them to stumble.
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Great peace have those who love thy law at the coming of the
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Messiah, peace on earth toward those with whom he is pleased.
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God grants peace to those with whom he is pleased.
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Who is that? Psalm 147 tells us that those
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who fear the Lord are those who please Him.
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So the only ones who receive the peace of God are those who fear
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God. He says May the God of peace
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continually grant you peace. In other words, it's a non
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interrupted kind of peace. May he continually do this on a
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regular basis. Grant you the peace that you
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need. You need to embrace this so
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important. You see, sin can can disrupt
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your peace. Disobedience can disrupt your
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peace. Rebellion can disrupt your
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peace, but that's you doing it, not God doing it, because He's
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granted you his peace. And so Isaiah 26 three says that
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I will keep him in peace. Peace whose mind is stayed or
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fixed or focused or steadfast on me, I will keep him.
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In perfect peace. You'll experience peace.
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Peace. There was no way for for the
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writer to describe the the overwhelming peace that God
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gives, so he just repeats it. The translator is called it
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perfect peace in Hebrew. It's peace.
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Peace because it's something that goes beyond anything you
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can ever imagine for those whose mind is stayed on thee.
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In fact, the Bible says in Colossians 316, let the peace of
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Christ rule in your heart. The word for rule means to to
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umpire, to call the shots. In other words, let the let the
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fact that you're at peace with God because of Christ, let the
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fact that you're at peace with God be the governing factor in
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every decision that you make. In other words, because we're on
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God's side, we need to realize that he's calling all the shots.
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So we subject ourselves to the one who calls all the shots.
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That's what letting the peace of Christ rule in your hearts mean.
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So Paul comes along and says, I want the the Lord of peace, the
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God of peace to continually grant you peace in every
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circumstance. That that's just in every
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circumstance, not in certain circumstances, but in every one
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of them. Meaning that there can be peace
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in every every issue in life, whether it be turmoil or
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tragedy, whether it be happiness or joy, whether it be a
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difficulty or depression. Peace is continually granted.
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But you need to embrace that peace, and you can only do that
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because you rest in the Providence of God and the
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promises that go with it. So he says the last phrase, the
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Lord be with you all. We'll see this.
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To our Third Point, not only do you rest in the Providence,
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Providence of God and the promises that go with it, not
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only do you embrace this peace, but #3 journey in His presence.
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You journey in his presence. They say, well, isn't God on the
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present? Isn't God everywhere at all
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times? Isn't God occupying the past,
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the present, and the future all at the same time?
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Isn't God eternal? Isn't God immutable?
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Isn't God everywhere? How?
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How can I journey outside the presence of God?
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Well, theologically you cannot, because God is on the presence.
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But practically, you can walk out on your own, do your own
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thing, make your own decisions as if God is not even present
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among you. We, we kind of do this all the
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time, right? We, we make decisions without
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ever consulting God. We make decisions about jobs, we
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make decisions about purchases. We make decisions about our
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family. We make decisions about all
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things in our life where we go to school without ever
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consulting God because we think we're smart enough to do that,
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that we can. We, we're autonomous and we're
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independent and we can make decisions.
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We don't need God to guide us. I'm smart enough to make this
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decision on my own. That's not journey, journeying
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in the presence of God, that's that's walking away doing my own
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thing. That's why the psalmist said in
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Psalm 42, these words, I love this, it's so precious.
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He says, why are you in despair, O my soul?
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So let me ask you that question. Why is your soul in despair
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today? Why?
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Why is your soul downcast today? Why is your soul depressed
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today? That's the question that
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Psalmist asks. Why?
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And why have you become disturbed within me?
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What is your soul disturbed? Hoping God for?
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I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.
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Isn't that great? I will hope in God and I will I
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will praise him because he is present with me.
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It's it's the help of his presence.
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Turn back with me if you would, to the book of Exodus, the book
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of Exodus, the 33rd chapter. You'll remember these words,
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Exodus chapter 33, verse 12. Then Moses said to the Lord,
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See, you say to me, Bring up this people, but you yourself
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have not let me know whom you will send with me.
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Moreover, you have said, I have known you by name, and you have
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also found favor in my sight. Now, Now, therefore I pray you,
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if I have found favor in your sight, let me know your ways,
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that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight.
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Consider too that the nation is your people.
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These are your people, God. He says this and he said, my
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presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.
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God says to Moses, My presence will go with you, and I will
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give you rest. Now this is the words of Moses.
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They said to him, If your presence does not go with us, do
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not lead us up from here. We're not going anywhere without
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you, Lord. We're not making a step.
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We're not. We're not branching out to do
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anything unless you go with us because we can't do it on our
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own. That's a man who has learned to
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depend upon the the presence of Almighty God in his life.
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And Moses was a great leader. He was educated in the finest
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school system of his day. He was a powerful, strong man.
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When he slayed the Egyptian trying to convince the nation of
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Israel to follow him, he was nixed in line to be the Pharaoh.
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He was a great leader. He had all the external
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capabilities and opportunities before him, but he turned it all
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the way to follow the Lord. He forsook the riches of Egypt,
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he forsook fame in Egypt, that he might seek and follow the
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name of his God. And now at the end of his life
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he is saying, Lord, I'm not going anywhere unless you go
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with us. Read on.
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For how then can it be known that I have found favor in your
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sight? I and your people?
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Is it not by your going with us, Said we, I and your people may
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be distinguished from all the other people who are upon the
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face of the earth. What distinguishes you from
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everybody at work? What distinguishes you from
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everybody at school? What distinguishes you from
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everybody in your neighborhood? It's the presence of God with
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you. That's what it is, that there's
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something about your life, there's something about who you
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are that that just exudes the presence of God.
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You walk into the room and people, they smell the presence
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of God. It's everywhere.
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It overrides your Cologne and perfume.
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It over overrides the clothes that you wear.
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It's the presence of God among you.
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And Moses says, this is what's going to distinguish us from
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everybody else. We can't go anywhere, Lord,
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unless you are going with us. And that he says, the Lord said
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to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken,
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for you have found favor in my sight, and I've known you by
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name. This is so precious.
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I know you by name, Moses, you found favor.
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You've been graced in my sights. I'm going with you all the way
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journey in his presence. I just I can't emphasize this
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enough. It's called walking in the
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spirit. So you don't fulfill the lust of
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the flesh, right that that's Paul's way of saying it in
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Galatians and and Ephesians. Walk in the Spirit, walk in the
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presence of Almighty God and you'll be distinguished from
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everybody else because there's something unique and special
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about you. Note this.
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The Psalm was said in Psalm 16 verse #8 I have set the Lord
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continually before me because he is at my right hand.
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I should not be shaken. How do you know You journey in
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the presence of God? Because you'll continually place
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the Lord before you. He's at your right hand and you
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never fear. You're never shaken, you never
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stumble. Because God's at your right
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hand. He is continually before you.
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You're focused and fixed on Him. If I had time, I I would tell
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you that the Prince of God supports and sustains you in
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your service. Just read the book of Joshua.
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Read the book of Deuteronomy. Read the book of Matthew.
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When you're journeying God's, God's presence, he, he comforts
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you amidst your crises. All you have to do is read
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Paul's account in Acts 18 and Psalm 23 verse #4 that when you
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walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you'll fear no
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evil, for He is with you. He comforts you in your crisis.
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He sustains and supports you in your service.
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He strengthens you in your suffering.
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Only the Lord can do that. That's Deuteronomy 3327 and 2nd
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Corinthians 1 verses 3 and following.
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And then you realize that He alleviates your anxiety.
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He alleviates your anxiety. I'll have to read this one to
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you. Isaiah chapter 41, he says,
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verse #9 you whom I have taken from the ends of the earth and
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called from its remotest parts, and said to you, you are my
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servant. I have chosen you and not
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rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with
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you. Do not anxiously look about you,
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for I am your God. I will strengthen you.
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Surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with my
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righteous right hand, the presence of God.
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When you journey in this presence, He alleviates your
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anxiety, He comforts you and your crisis.
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He is the one who sustains and supports you in your service,
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and He is the one who strengthens you amidst your
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suffering. I like this one.
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Wish I had time for this. He eliminates your enemies.
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All you got to do is read first Samuel 17 story of David right.
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He went against Goliath with the Lord of hosts by his side, the
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Lord of armies. And Saul told David before he
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went, the Lord be with you, David.
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And that's kind of quite ironic because the same Lord would have
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been was Saul had Saul gone after Goliath.
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But you see, he was afraid, but David wasn't.
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He knew that the Lord would eliminate his enemy because he
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had already alleviated his anxiety.
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He'd already comforted amidst his crises.
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He knew that He would strengthen him in his suffering and support
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and sustain him in His service For the King.
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That's what it means to journey in His presence.
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Do you do that? You want to rejoice always Rest
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in His Providence and the promises that go with Him.
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Embrace His peace. Journey in His presence.
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Next number 4. Obey his precepts.
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Obey his precepts. Listen, there is no joy and
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disobedience. You can't rejoice when you
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disobey. You can only rejoice when you
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obey that. That's why the woman, some woman
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in the crowd, Jesus is walking by in Luke 11 says blessed is
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the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you.
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And Jesus stops and says, oh, On the contrary, blessed are all
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those who hear my word and obey my word.
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That's where the blessing comes, that that's why John 13 is so
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important. John 13 begins the, the evening
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of the last night of our Lord's life, John 13 through 17.
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And we get to our study of John. We'll spend we'll spend months
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in those chapters, John 13 to 17, because it's the last night
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of our Lord's life on earth and he begins that night.
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Remember, there's an argument that arises among among the
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disciples about who's the greatest in the Kingdom and, and
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and Jesus begins to get up and and tie his slaves apron around
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his his waist and and gets a wash basin and begins to wash
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the disciples feet. You know that story.
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And Peter said, what are you doing Lord?
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Well what I'm doing Peter is I'm I'm washing your feet.
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He says no, let me wash your feet.
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Christ says if I don't wash you, you have no part with me.
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Peter says throw the whole bucket of water on me then I
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want to be cleansed. Christ says you don't need a a
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cleansing you just need a, a washing because the wash
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disciples feet and what's all said and done.
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He says you've seen what I have done for you.
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I've set you an example. John 1317 And blessed are you,
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joy is yours when you do what I have done unto you.
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And people think, well, the joy must be in washing somebody
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else's feet. Are you kidding me?
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There's no joy in that. We don't want to wash your
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crusty toes and all that kind of stuff.
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There's no joy in that. That's, that's not what the, the
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Bible says. Well, where's the joy?
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The joy is that when you are suffering isolation and
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loneliness and nobody cares about you because the disciples
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didn't care about Jesus. They just argued about who was
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the greatest in the Kingdom. So Jesus says, you know, when
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nobody cares about you, when you're completely isolated and
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nobody's praying for you in all your suffering and no one's
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paying attention to the fact that you're going to die for the
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sins of man, know what you do? You serve your fellow man, you
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serve him. That's where the joy is.
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That's how you rejoice, always obeying the precepts of God.
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When it's the hardest to do so, when you don't want to do so,
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that's where the joy is. So you say I'm going to serve my
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fellow man when my fellow man could care less about my my
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future tomorrow, could care less about my physical condition,
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could care less about anything going on in my life.
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But in our narcissistic society, we are so consumed with
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ourselves we can't even look outside of the wash basin
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because all we can think of is me, me, me, me, me, me, me.
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And that's why you have no joy. That's why you can't rejoice
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always. It's all about you and God's
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program. It's all about Him and everybody
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else. So you rest.
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I know I'm late, but I'm going to finish this today.
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You rest in His Providence and the promises that go with Him.
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You embrace His peace, you journey in his presence, you
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obey his precepts, and then you identify with his plans and his
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purposes. Not your plans and purposes, his
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plans and purposes. You must identify with his
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plans. That That's why the Bible says
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in Romans 12, you present your body a living sacrifice wholly
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acceptable in the God, which is your only logical form of
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worship, that you may be able to prove what is that good and
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acceptable and perfect will of God.
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But but you, you must present your your life as a living
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sacrifice. That is see the problem with the
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living sacrifice is that you can jump off the altar whenever you
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want to, right. When things get a little hot,
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you jump off the altar. When the blade looks really
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sharp, you jump off the altar. But when you present yourself as
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a living sacrifice, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're
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seeking to please and, and honor the name of God because you want
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his will done in your life. So you have this scenario in
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Matthew chapter 16 where, where Jesus asks, who do men say that
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I am? And Peter makes that great
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confession now with the Christ, the Son of the living God, and,
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and, and Christ commence him for what he says.
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Flesh and bloods not reveal that to you my friend Simon, but my
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Father in heaven is revealed to you.
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Then you had that scenario where Christ begins then to talk to
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them about his crucifixion, his death, his beatings and how it
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rise again. And Peter says, oh, far be it
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from you, Lord. Peter began to rebuke him, says
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Can you imagine rebuking Jesus, Peter?
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Peter was so comfortable with Jesus, he felt like he could
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rebuke him, said Lord that that's not going to happen to
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you. What did Christ say?
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Get thee behind me, Satan, for you do not have in mind the
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plans and purposes of God. You see, Peter only had his
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plans and purposes in mind. He had his idea about the way
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the Messiah should be. He had his idea about the way
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Christianity should be. He had his idea about the way
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church should be. He had his idea about how he
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should walk with the Lord. He didn't have the Lord's idea
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in mind. The Lord's mission was to was to
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suffer and die and rise again. That was his mission.
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Peter didn't want that. He wanted something different
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because he thought his way, his plans, his purposes were better
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than Jesus's plans and purposes. You ever been there?
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Sure you have. Yeah.
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You you want to marry somebody, right?
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And they're not a believer. That's your plan.
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That's your purpose. And God says don't do that.
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I got my own plan. I got my own purpose.
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And God says don't do that. It's OK.
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I got this, Lord, don't worry about it.
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They'll get saved later down the road and they don't see what we
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we have our own plans and we think that they're right, but
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for the most part they're, they're wrong because they're
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not in line with what the Lord has said His word.
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So you must identify with his plans and his purposes.
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But you can only, only do that when you obey his precepts.
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And the reason you obey his precepts is because you embrace
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his peace. And the only way you embrace
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this peace is because you're resting in the province of God.
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And the promises that go with them make sense.
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Of course it does. Two more Consider, say again,
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I'm just, I'm just getting started.
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Consider his person. Consider his person Hebrews
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chapter 12. Therefore, since we have so
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great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside
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every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us,
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and let us run with endurance the race that I set before us,
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fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of faith,
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who for the joy set before Him endure the cross, despising the
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shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners
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against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose
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heart. You must consider Him His
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Person. He did what he did because of
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the joy that was set before him. You know, there's only one time
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in the New Testament that says that Jesus rejoiced only once,
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and that's in Luke's Gospel, the 10th chapter, when it says that
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Jesus rejoiced greatly. Why?
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Because He told his men that even though you got back from
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ministry and you saw great things happening, rejoice in
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this, that your names are written down in heaven.
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And then he says he rejoiced greatly, because His Father in
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heaven has hidden these things from the wise and the
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intelligent, but has offered them up to the infant, the
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lowly, that they might embrace the Messiah.
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The joy before Him was the salvation of lost souls.
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And so when you, when you have, when you consider the person of
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Christ, you're considering the joy that was before him, and the
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joy was the salvation of lost souls.
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You rejoice always when the salvation of lost souls is
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preeminent in your mind as it was in the mind of Christ.
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Rest in His Providence and the promises that go with them.
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Embraces peace. Journey in His presence.
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Obey His precepts. Identify with His plans and
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purposes, and then consider His person.
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Once you do that, you can finally enter His gates with
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praise. Psalm 100, which says these
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words. Shout joyfully to the Lord all
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the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness.
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Come before Him with joyful singing.
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Know that the Lord Himself is God.
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It is He who made us, and we, not ourselves.
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We are His people in the sheep of His pasture.
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Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, and His courts
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with praise. Give thanks to Him.
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Bless His name, for the Lord is good.
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His loving kindness is everlasting and it's
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faithfulness to all generations. You want to rejoice always,
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that's how you do it. R Rest in His presence and the
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promises with Him. E Embraces peace.
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J Journey in His presence. O obey his precepts, right.
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I identify with his plans and purposes.
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C Consider his person. E enter his gates with praise.
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You want to rejoice always. That's where it begins.
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And May God give us the grace to obey the command that says
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rejoice always, let's pray together.
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Father, we thank you for today, the opportunity you give us to
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look into the Word of God so much we did not even touch on
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today. And yet, Lord, we trust that the
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things that we have learned would be with us and grow us
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deep and our walk with the Lord. And so, Lord, I pray for every
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one of us in the room. And I don't know what's
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happening in families or workplaces or schools, in the
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individual lives of those who are here, but you do.
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And that's all that matters. You're with them.
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You've inscribed them on the palms of your hands.
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You know them intimately in every detail.
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May they embrace the peace that you give them because you give
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it to them continually. May they rest in the in the
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Providence of Almighty God, journey in your presence, obey
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your precepts, identify with your plans and purposes, and
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consider you the great God of the universe, that they might
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enter your gates with praise and Thanksgiving, shouting joyfully
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unto the name of our God. Pray this in the name of Jesus
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Christ, our coming King, Amen.