Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Time for Strong Resolve │ Msg 44 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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A Time for Strong Resolve │ Msg 44 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Courage is just another word for inner strength. Courage is
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Speaker 1: the determination to hang in there, to persevere, endure hardship, fear,
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Speaker 1: and all manner of difficulty. The fact is it's impossible
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Speaker 1: to live victoriously for Jesus Christ without courage. We cannot
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Speaker 1: honor God in a godless culture without courage. The real
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Speaker 1: test of courage isn't so much for those fighting on
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Speaker 1: the battlefield, or for witnessing in the midst of opposition,
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Speaker 1: or even facing down a burglar in our homes. Real
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Speaker 1: courage demands a strong resolve that goes much deeper than
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Speaker 1: all of that and is much more demanding. Be assured
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Speaker 1: that in some way your resolve will be tested today
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Speaker 1: and every day. Your test of courage may not be
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Speaker 1: as exciting as a beachhead landing, or sailing around Cape
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Speaker 1: Horn or making a space walk. Instead, it may be
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Speaker 1: as simple as saying no to an improper invitation. It
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Speaker 1: may be as uneventful as facing a pile of laundry
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Speaker 1: with a positive attitude. It may be a private or
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Speaker 1: unknown struggle within yourself between right and wrong. Remember God's
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Speaker 1: Medal of honor winners are made in secret. Because our
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Speaker 1: most courageous acts occur down deep inside, away from the
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Speaker 1: view of the general public. That takes courage, It takes
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Speaker 1: a strong resolve. I think that's why the Apostle Peter
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Speaker 1: issues us a warning in his first letter the final Chapter.
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Speaker 1: Listen to his pressing warning. First Peter five, verses eight
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Speaker 1: and nine. Stay alert, Watch out for your great enemy,
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Speaker 1: the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking
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Speaker 1: for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be
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Speaker 1: strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and
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Speaker 1: sisters all over the world are going through the same
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Speaker 1: kind of suffering you are. For the past seven days,
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Speaker 1: I have gotten my eyes open to another world. I
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Speaker 1: haven't been alone in that experience. A number of our
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Speaker 1: pastoral staff members and wives were with me as we
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Speaker 1: concentrated our time, energy and attention on a rather sizable
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Speaker 1: group of ministers and their mates. It was a time
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Speaker 1: of of a great reward and it was quite revealing.
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Speaker 1: Quite honestly, it was also a time of real draining
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Speaker 1: of energy, and I must admit there were occasions when
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Speaker 1: it was a bit discouraging. We listened to stories of
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Speaker 1: great success and a joyful experiences as God had given
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Speaker 1: his blessing and his growth and his favor to certain ministries,
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Speaker 1: and we sighed with those who told their stories of
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Speaker 1: pain and brokenness and loneliness. As expected, we heard one
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Speaker 1: account after another of how legalism had eclipsed grace, and
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Speaker 1: in spite of the efforts of a faithful minister to
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Speaker 1: tach the truth about God's wonderful freedom that comes through Christ,
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Speaker 1: it seems as though the enemy is still winning some victories.
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Speaker 1: Matter of fact, the last morning we were together, Cynthia
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Speaker 1: and I having breakfast, one of the men stopped by
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Speaker 1: to express gratitude to all of us who had participated
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Speaker 1: in the leadership of this pastor's conference, and he said,
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Speaker 1: as he requested prayer for his future in the church,
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Speaker 1: that God had led him to lead. He said, in
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Speaker 1: years past he had begun to see the grace of God,
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Speaker 1: and he had become bold enough to preach the grace
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Speaker 1: of God, and it was frowned upon by his particular community.
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Speaker 1: And as a matter of fact, a number in the
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Speaker 1: church began to question his teaching, and no less than
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Speaker 1: three hundred of them had left rather abruptly. When he
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Speaker 1: decided it was time to get specific about the grace
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Speaker 1: of God to free people from the bondage of traditionalism.
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Speaker 1: Those three hundred left not because he was in doctrinal
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Speaker 1: error or because he was morally defecting from the faith,
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Speaker 1: but rather because he announced publicly it would now be
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Speaker 1: all right for Christian women to wear pants. They didn't
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Speaker 1: have to wear dresses or skirts, they could wear pants.
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Speaker 1: He lost his choir some years later, along with all
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Speaker 1: those in music leadership, when he permitted the singing of
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Speaker 1: new songs, one of which was the Great Peace Majesty.
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Speaker 1: That was just too much for some of them, and
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Speaker 1: they left. Yes, our hearts were broken over stories like that.
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Speaker 1: Not all of them were that dramatic. Our theme for
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Speaker 1: the conference was a time to renew your joy. And
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Speaker 1: I'm horse today not because I preached all week, not
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Speaker 1: just because of that, but because I laughed with them
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Speaker 1: all week. It was great to see some of them
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Speaker 1: laugh for the first time in a public meeting. One
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Speaker 1: layman said it had been almost two years since he
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Speaker 1: had laughed out loud in his church, and he said,
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Speaker 1: this week, I've made up for the next five years
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Speaker 1: and the fun we've had together. We deliberately had fun
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Speaker 1: and laughed and enjoyed The Lord together and opened his
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Speaker 1: word to the theme of grace, and some of them
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Speaker 1: just sat and wept. It was great to be with them.
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Speaker 1: They were so open, so teachable, so warm, some of
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Speaker 1: them in tough places. One man told of how his mentor,
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Speaker 1: who had taught him so much of his theology in
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Speaker 1: his formative years, had recently turned on him, because the
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Speaker 1: man had, in studying the scriptures, come to the realization
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Speaker 1: that he no longer believed a person was saved by
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Speaker 1: being baptized, and he no longer believed that once you
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Speaker 1: came to know the Lord Jesus, you could lose your salvation.
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Speaker 1: And when he publicly testified against baptismal regeneration, and when
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Speaker 1: he spoke of eternal security at the close of the service,
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Speaker 1: that mentor came forward and publicly discredited him and said,
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Speaker 1: the man is a deceiver and cannot be trusted. Yes,
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Speaker 1: there were also accounts of moral defection as well. One
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Speaker 1: man told of being in the unhappy place of confronting
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Speaker 1: a long time fellow minister with his moral failure. And
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Speaker 1: the deeper they dug, the more they uncovered, and found
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Speaker 1: that the man had been living a life of duplicity
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Speaker 1: for twenty five or more years adultery with women on
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Speaker 1: the side and preaching with vigor every Sunday, and as
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Speaker 1: a matter of fact, is still engaged in ministry. And
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Speaker 1: the man spoke, holding back the tears as he and
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Speaker 1: his wife talked of how they have become the marked
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Speaker 1: people because they are the ones that are negative rather
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Speaker 1: than the ones standing for the truth. What a privilege
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Speaker 1: it was to be in a new scene and to
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Speaker 1: talk to people who were all the way north, far
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Speaker 1: as north as Canada, and as far south as Jamaica,
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Speaker 1: and from most of the states in these great United States,
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Speaker 1: and to rub shoulders with some of the great men
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Speaker 1: in ministry. The authenticity and the joy were wonderful. We
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Speaker 1: were from all varying personality he's in temperaments, and yet
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Speaker 1: our last time together, we arm in arms, stood in
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Speaker 1: that place and we sang we are one in the
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Speaker 1: bond of love, and we closed with the Lord's prayer.
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Speaker 1: As the conference came to a close and SENTI and
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Speaker 1: I winged our way home along with our other staff
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Speaker 1: members that were there. The Lord began to impress on
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Speaker 1: me three or four thoughts that I have not been
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Speaker 1: able to ignore. They sort of kept me awake through
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Speaker 1: the night thinking about speaking today to all of you.
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Speaker 1: First I thought of this, the enemy is hard at work,
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Speaker 1: and this is no time to slacken our efforts. If
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Speaker 1: indeed the enemy is at work in secular places, I
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Speaker 1: can assure you he is alive and well. In the church.
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Speaker 1: He is at work assaulting and assassinating the lives of
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Speaker 1: men who were once strong in the pulpit. He is
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Speaker 1: cutting the feet out from under individuals who were once
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Speaker 1: effective and full of zeal and courageous songs and sermons.
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Speaker 1: The enemy is hard at work. If he's done anything
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Speaker 1: in this final decade, he has rolled up his sleeves
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Speaker 1: and intensified his efforts, hopefully to discredit those who now
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Speaker 1: have integrity. Second, I thought, the pressure and the needs
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Speaker 1: are enormous on people of all walks of life. Have
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Speaker 1: you begun to notice that it's especially true of those
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Speaker 1: who are engaged in some kind of spiritual leadership. You
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Speaker 1: may be in music leadership, or you may be in
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Speaker 1: teaching leadership, or you may be in missions or educational leadership.
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Speaker 1: But if you are a Christian and you are influencing
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Speaker 1: people for the cause and the good of Christ, you
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Speaker 1: are under pressure. Perhaps like you've never known before. My
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Speaker 1: Bible is open to a couple of verses of scripture
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Speaker 1: from Peter's pen. First Peter, Chapter five, verses eight and nine,
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Speaker 1: seem to say it better than I and all of
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Speaker 1: my struggling efforts can say them. Listen to these words
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Speaker 1: and let them sink in though they are familiar. First
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Speaker 1: Peter five eight. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.
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Speaker 1: Why why does he say that with such passion? Why
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Speaker 1: does he write that with such a heavy pen? Because
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Speaker 1: your adversary, it isn't the adversary of some distant body
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Speaker 1: of prelates, some small group of influential leaders who are
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Speaker 1: doing the work of ministry. Your adversary, fellow Christian, fellow minister,
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Speaker 1: fellow leader, fellow teacher, fellow elder, fellow deacon, your adversary,
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Speaker 1: Christian parent, Christian leader, Christian businessman or woman. Your adversary,
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Speaker 1: the devil look at his method, prowls about. Isn't marching
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Speaker 1: to some heavy cadence, invisibly, insidiously, cleverly, brilliantly, with stealth
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Speaker 1: and strategy. Your adversary prowls about like a roaring lion,
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Speaker 1: and he is on a pursuit. He is deliberately seeking
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Speaker 1: someone to devour. Put your name in place of someone.
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Speaker 1: I'll do that like a roaring lion. He is seeking
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Speaker 1: to devour Chuck Swindall, or the Swindall family, or the
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Speaker 1: integrity of the Swindall name. You do that with your
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Speaker 1: name and with your family. He deliberately is prowling about
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Speaker 1: to ruin, to discredit, to take the ring from your
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Speaker 1: voice and the power from your influence. So be of
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Speaker 1: sober spirit, be on the alert. Now what do I
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Speaker 1: do with an enemy like that? This is no day
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Speaker 1: for a whimp. I don't know that it has ever
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Speaker 1: been so for people in ministry. As I read through history,
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Speaker 1: I find that that is just from one battle to another.
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Speaker 1: As the Church has stood against all odds, this is
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Speaker 1: certainly no time for her. Hiding resists him is the command,
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Speaker 1: and doing it firm in faith, not in the energy
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Speaker 1: of your own strength, but firm in faith, knowing that
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Speaker 1: you're not alone. The verse concludes, knowing that the same
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Speaker 1: experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who
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Speaker 1: are in the world. And I've got a whole new
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Speaker 1: group of brethren that I didn't know ten days ago,
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Speaker 1: who are in the same world. I'm in the same
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Speaker 1: world you're in, and they're going through the same stuff
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Speaker 1: we're going through. We're in this together, the long haul
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Speaker 1: for the cause of Christ. I also thought of this. Thirdly,
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Speaker 1: the temptation to overreact is great, perhaps greater than ever.
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Speaker 1: By overreacting, I mean just giving in. The pressure mounts,
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Speaker 1: a greater and greater tests come, and it's easy to
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Speaker 1: just succumb, sort of quietly surrender, to compromise the message.
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Speaker 1: Just don't make waves, just keep the peace at any price.
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Speaker 1: Or another reaction is to fight back with a with
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Speaker 1: a bigger fist. And if you're being shouted at, shout back.
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Speaker 1: If you're being accused, accused in return. If you're being assaulted,
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Speaker 1: then roll up your sleeves and find a way to
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Speaker 1: assault in an even more evil manner. Or simply the
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Speaker 1: ultimate overreaction is to quit, just fold up the book
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Speaker 1: and go into some other work, just get away from
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Speaker 1: the pressure. It is a little frightening, men and women
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Speaker 1: for me to realize afresh how many ministers today, in
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Speaker 1: confusion or whipped like dogs, are intimidated by a few
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Speaker 1: powerful people in their church. It's a little frightening for
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Speaker 1: me to remember how many today minister from hearts that
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Speaker 1: are angry or even bitter. If God ever wanted to
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Speaker 1: do a significant work, it is now. It is now.
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Speaker 1: Some of us, by grace, have seen the beginning of
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Speaker 1: this century, but to see the end of it, they
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Speaker 1: very well be your last days. How important not to
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Speaker 1: end them in a whimper or with a sigh, which
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Speaker 1: leads me to the fourth and causes me to move
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Speaker 1: into the message that I really have from the Lord today.
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Speaker 1: For all of us, this is a time for strong resolve.
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Speaker 1: It's time for strong resolve. We cannot, we dare not
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Speaker 1: just sit back and sort of hope for the best.
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Speaker 1: You with small children, you cannot simply fold your hands
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Speaker 1: or go out into the workplace and just earn enough
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Speaker 1: money to give them the best and hope they turn
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Speaker 1: out right. They need attention and training and time and
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Speaker 1: discipline and love and care and affection. They need it
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Speaker 1: deliberately from parents. They need touch, they need affirmation, They
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Speaker 1: need presents. This is a time of strong resolve. It
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Speaker 1: is a time of strong resolve for people in Pulpits
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Speaker 1: for those who write music, for those who put into
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Speaker 1: pages of books truth for the next generation to read.
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Speaker 1: Billy Graham's perhaps best book, released back in the late sixties,
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Speaker 1: was entitled World of Flame. I have quoted from this before,
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Speaker 1: but it's worth repeating. In a declining culture, says the evangelist,
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Speaker 1: one of its characteristics is that ordinary people are unaware
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Speaker 1: of what is happening. Only those who know and can
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Speaker 1: read the signs of decadence are posing the questions that
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Speaker 1: as yet have no answer. Mister average man is comfortable
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Speaker 1: in his complacency and as unconcerned as a silverfish ensconced
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Speaker 1: on a carton of discarded magazines on world affairs. He
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Speaker 1: is not asking any questions because his social benefits from
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Speaker 1: the government give him a false security. This is his
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Speaker 1: trouble and his tragedy. Modern man has become a spectator
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Speaker 1: of world events, observing on his television screen without becoming involved.
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Speaker 1: He watches the ominous events while he SIPs his beer
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Speaker 1: in a comfortable chair. He does not understand that his
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Speaker 1: world is on fire and that he is about to
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Speaker 1: be burned with it. Now understand, as I present to
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Speaker 1: you a number of resolutions, but I am not advocating
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Speaker 1: that leadership take on an iron fist or that they're
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Speaker 1: no longer longer be vulnerability among those who are God's
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Speaker 1: spokesmen and women. I'm not suggesting that there be influenced
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Speaker 1: by intimidation, or by mind control, or by verbal threats.
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Speaker 1: You know me well enough to know that I stand
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Speaker 1: against everything that represents I'm not calling for bullies in
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Speaker 1: pulpits or for unteachable and inaccessible teachers in places of importance.
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Speaker 1: First and foremost, I want to promote the idea of
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Speaker 1: modeling truth authenticity as always, patterning our lives after the
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Speaker 1: one who came before us and has gone on beyond us,
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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who came Remember full of grace and truth,
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Speaker 1: perfect balance. But we need strong resolve. I don't think
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Speaker 1: Christians can survive the next ten years, certainly as the
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Speaker 1: events on the horizon began to emerge into reality. I
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Speaker 1: don't think we can survive sort of yawning our way
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Speaker 1: through the through the decade, taking our cues from the media.
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Speaker 1: While in prayer about so much of this, I was
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Speaker 1: led ever so gently back into the Great Book of
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Speaker 1: Songs in Scripture, the Book of Songs. How unusual it
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Speaker 1: seemed to me that God would lead me there, stop
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Speaker 1: off at Psalm one two. I, like you, have always
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Speaker 1: thought of the songs as a book of great praise
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Speaker 1: and a book of devotion. But suddenly it seemed to
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Speaker 1: pulsate with exclamation points that were inherent in the tech
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Speaker 1: Psalm one hundred two, for example, if I may set
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Speaker 1: the stage for five strong resolves for the decade, Psalm
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Speaker 1: one hundred two. If you read the superscription, which is
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Speaker 1: originally in the in the Hebrew text, we're told it
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Speaker 1: is a prayer of the afflicted when he is faint
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Speaker 1: and pours out his complaint before the Lord. We don't
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Speaker 1: know who he is. No one knows. We know who
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Speaker 1: wrote Psalm one hundred one, because the superscription reads a
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Speaker 1: Psalm of David, and the same for one hundred three,
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Speaker 1: a Psalm of David. But there's no man by name
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Speaker 1: connected with one hundred two. Could have been one of
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Speaker 1: the lonely prophets, could have been a man that is
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Speaker 1: never named in scripture. But for some reason, the spirit
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Speaker 1: of God chose his writings and included them in the
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Speaker 1: sacred text. But what a moving account of a man
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Speaker 1: in need. It's a pleading psalm. Hear my prayer, Oh Lord,
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Speaker 1: let my cry for help, Come to thee. I can
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Speaker 1: just see his hands lifted in a dark place, and
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Speaker 1: he pleads to be heard. He pleads for divine assistance.
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Speaker 1: He says, do not hide thy face from me in
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Speaker 1: the day of my distress. Incline thine, ear to me
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Speaker 1: in the day when I call, answer me quickly. There's
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Speaker 1: urgency in his words, isn't there? For My days have
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Speaker 1: been consumed in smoke. Listen to the vivid imagery, My
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Speaker 1: days consumed in smoke. My bones scorched like a hearth.
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Speaker 1: My heart has been smitten like grass. You get the
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Speaker 1: meter of the psalm. My days, my bones, my heart consumed, scorched,
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Speaker 1: smitten like grass, and withered away. There's a loss of
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Speaker 1: motivation and passion. My heart has been smitten like grass,
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Speaker 1: and something is withering inside me. Let me tell you something.
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Speaker 1: The person who speaks for God knows the mandate. And
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Speaker 1: there is nothing so depressing as feeling that the blow
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Speaker 1: has gone out of the voice, or the passion is
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Speaker 1: now missing that was once there, or that there is
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Speaker 1: indifference an apathy in place of zeal and direction. There's
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Speaker 1: nothing more tragic than a leader who has lost the
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Speaker 1: drive to lead. Maybe he was one of those. There's
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Speaker 1: also a loss of appetite, he says. Indeed, I forget
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Speaker 1: to eat my bread because of the loudness of my groaning,
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Speaker 1: my bones cling to my flesh. Have you ever been
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Speaker 1: so distressed, so discouraged, that fixing a meal seems a
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Speaker 1: Hurtlian task? You see a time to stop and eat
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Speaker 1: as an interruption in your grief and mourning, and involuntarily
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Speaker 1: you realize that you're losing weight. Oh for the good
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Speaker 1: old days. I can hear some of you say, but
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Speaker 1: what gets you there is misery and heartache, And you say,
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Speaker 1: when will I ever get back on my feet? There's
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Speaker 1: a loss of self respect. Look at how he refers
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Speaker 1: to himself. I resemble a pelican in the wilderness. How
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Speaker 1: become like an owl in waste places? And worst of all,
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Speaker 1: I am like a little lonely bird on a house top.
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Speaker 1: I talked to men last week like that. Not all
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Speaker 1: of them, and maybe not even most in places of
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Speaker 1: leadership today or like that. But I want to assure
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Speaker 1: you many are like that. I don't know when my
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Speaker 1: heart has been so moved over those who have God's
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Speaker 1: message and have the position and the authority to declare it,
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Speaker 1: and they're not doing it because of such a distress.
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Speaker 1: Look at verse eleven. My days another analogy, or like
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Speaker 1: a lengthened shadow, and he repeats that I wither away
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Speaker 1: like grass, whole loss of determination. He's being eaten alive
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Speaker 1: with anxiety. Psalm one hundred and nine is a similar
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Speaker 1: sounding psalm again, now it's from David, but similar scenery.
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Speaker 1: Oh God of my Praise, do not be silent, he says,
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Speaker 1: ever begun a prayer like that. Lord, listen up, Lord, listen, listen.
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Speaker 1: I care about this. God. Don't don't turn them, don't
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Speaker 1: turn your back on me. Don't ignore me. Lord, that's
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Speaker 1: the that's the passion of verse one. Oh God of
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Speaker 1: my Praise, don't be silent. The implication is, speak israre
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Speaker 1: into my world. And here he realizes the causes of
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Speaker 1: those losses we just thought about. They the ubiquitous, they
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Speaker 1: they're always those, always, those people, those sources of discouragement.
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Speaker 1: We all have them. For they have opened the wicked
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Speaker 1: and deceitful mouth against me. They have spoken against me
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Speaker 1: with a lying tongue. Remember his command, don't be silent, Lord,
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Speaker 1: listen to where I am. They have surrounded me also
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Speaker 1: with words of hate and fought against me without cause.
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Speaker 1: In return from my love, they have accused me. I'm
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Speaker 1: in prayer about it. Thus they have repaid me evil
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Speaker 1: for good, hatred for love. Lord, don't be silent. I'm
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Speaker 1: withering under the accusations and under the evil and hateful attacks.
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Speaker 1: Speak Lord, enter in act, defend one more one some again.
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Speaker 1: There's no author named, but it's yet another plea. The
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Speaker 1: writer is in trouble, and he admits it. One of
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Speaker 1: the wonderful things about prayers. You can tell it all
28:42
Speaker 1: and nobody will tell. God won't tell anybody. You can
28:47
Speaker 1: unload your heart and he will hear, accept, understand, and renew.
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Speaker 1: He says. I'm in my trouble. I cried to the Lord. Now,
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Speaker 1: he says, he answered me. Deliver my SOULO Lord, from
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Speaker 1: lying lips. That's plural, and from a deceitful tongue. I
29:09
Speaker 1: take it literally, that's singular. One deceitful tongue has created
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Speaker 1: numerous lying lips who believe the deception. And now I'm
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Speaker 1: the victim of the verbal assaults. What shall be given
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Speaker 1: to you and what more shall be done to you?
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Speaker 1: You deceitful tongue, strong arrow, sharp arrows of the warrior,
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Speaker 1: with the burning coals of the of the broom tree.
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Speaker 1: Whoa is my situation? Woe is me? For I sojourn
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Speaker 1: in Meshak, I dwell among the tents of Kedar, and
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Speaker 1: too long has my soul head its dwelling with those
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Speaker 1: who hate peace. Look at that. I am called to
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Speaker 1: keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
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Speaker 1: I'm called to be a man or a woman, a
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Speaker 1: leader of peace. But there are those that want to fight.
30:00
Speaker 1: They want war. Look at the last verse. I'm for peace,
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Speaker 1: but when I speak, they want to fight. They're for war. Oh,
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Speaker 1: tragic stories made me appreciate all over again. This great
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Speaker 1: church God has raised up and has maintained over the years.
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Speaker 1: Why would his favor rest on us like this? He
30:29
Speaker 1: is in a situation where where he speaks for peace
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Speaker 1: and shalom is his theme, but he's surrounded by those
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Speaker 1: who want to fight back. They want to wrestle, they
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Speaker 1: want to bear arms. I don't know what all of
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Speaker 1: this is saying to you, but you can't deny. The
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Speaker 1: scenery is stormy and the battle is raging. It occurred
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Speaker 1: to me that it's time for some strong resolve. As
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Speaker 1: I said earlier, we can't just sort of sail and
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Speaker 1: drift aimlessly and expect to do much that will change much.
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Speaker 1: The idea of resolutions is nothing new you. Jonathan Edwards
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Speaker 1: seventeen o three to seventeen fifty eight. Listen to those
31:22
Speaker 1: dates from the early to the mid eighteenth century. This
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Speaker 1: strong philosopher, theologian, this preacher of grace set forth resolves,
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Speaker 1: listen to a few of his resolved that I will
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Speaker 1: do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory
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Speaker 1: of God and my own good, profit and pleasure, in
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Speaker 1: the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time,
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Speaker 1: whether now or never, so many myriads of ages. Resolved
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Speaker 1: to do whatever I think to be my duty and
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Speaker 1: most for the good and advantage of mankind in general.
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Speaker 1: Resolved never to lose one moment of time, but to
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Speaker 1: improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.
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Speaker 1: Resolved never to do anything which I should be afraid
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Speaker 1: to do if it were the last hour of my life.
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Speaker 1: Resolved never to do anything out of revenge, continues Resolved
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Speaker 1: never to speak evil of anyone, so that it shall
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Speaker 1: tend to his dishonor more or less upon no account
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Speaker 1: except for some real good. You know what I'm talking
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Speaker 1: about in these resolutions, I want to suggest I'm talking
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Speaker 1: about your character. I'm talking about being people of character
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Speaker 1: even more than reputation. John Wooden, former coach of the
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Speaker 1: UCLA Bruin basketball team for so many championship years. Rights
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Speaker 1: care more about your character than your reputation. Your character
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Speaker 1: is what you really are. Your reputation is only what
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Speaker 1: people think about you. How want you to care about
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Speaker 1: your character more than your reputation, and I think these
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Speaker 1: strong resolutions will help make it happen. You may not
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Speaker 1: be the type to write things down, and I understand
33:38
Speaker 1: if you're not, But if you are, I suggest you
33:40
Speaker 1: locate a blank page in the front or back of
33:44
Speaker 1: your Bible and put at the top of it your
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Speaker 1: own writing strong resolutions. And I want to suggest, with
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Speaker 1: a little bit of time, I have left five statements
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Speaker 1: that I want to resolve before you, and I will
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Speaker 1: ask nothing of you that I will not give myself
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Speaker 1: to with equal vigor and commitment. First, resolved to be
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Speaker 1: alert to the presence of evil and the strategy of
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Speaker 1: the adversary. I am resolved to be alert to the
34:29
Speaker 1: presence of evil and the strategy of the adversary. Admittedly,
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Speaker 1: I know much of what we face does not come
34:40
Speaker 1: directly from the devil, but I want to assure you
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Speaker 1: most of it, if not all, indirectly, is from the
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Speaker 1: pit of hell, who wants nothing more than to demoralize
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Speaker 1: and discourage and discredit every one of us, myself included.
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Speaker 1: He is the original murderer, the first deceiver. He is subtle,
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Speaker 1: he is invisible. He masks and masquerades, He has insidious plans.
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Speaker 1: His strategies are clever, May I even say brilliant, more
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Speaker 1: than you and I would ever imagine. Be alert to
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Speaker 1: his presence and to the ugly workings of evil. I
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Speaker 1: so resolve second, resolved to stay fervent in prayer. I
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Speaker 1: want to make that resolution public so that you can
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Speaker 1: hold me accountable. I want to be more a minister
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Speaker 1: of prayer than I have ever been. I resolve you,
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Speaker 1: if you are with me, resolved to stay fervent in prayer.
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Speaker 1: Let me add a thought to that. Not hesitating to
35:56
Speaker 1: call down supernatural assistance, not hesitating to call down supernatural assistance,
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Speaker 1: and when necessary divine discipline to stay fervent in prayer,
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Speaker 1: and to call down supernatural assistance without hesitation, and when necessary,
36:20
Speaker 1: divine discipline. All the way through the Psalms, I read
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Speaker 1: courageous words, strong words. In fact, you would think the
36:28
Speaker 1: man wrote them out of sheer anger as he commands
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Speaker 1: in prayer, commands God to silence the enemy, to confuse
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Speaker 1: the chronic complainer and critic, to remove the cause of unrest,
36:43
Speaker 1: to make miserable the one who makes war. Those are
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Speaker 1: strong prayers. And let's make a decade that will follow
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Speaker 1: this year, a decade of passionate petition and courageous intersation.
37:00
Speaker 1: Let's fight our best battles on our knees, how about it,
37:05
Speaker 1: rather than becoming better at debate and more clever in
37:10
Speaker 1: our sarcasm. And if you are in ministry using the
37:13
Speaker 1: pulpit as your favorite hammer, let's drop to our knees
37:19
Speaker 1: and do our best work on our knees. And if
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Speaker 1: it's some great cause, if it's some great vision, if
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Speaker 1: it's some great concern, whether it be worldwide or in
37:30
Speaker 1: your own tiny cubicle of life, take it first to
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Speaker 1: God to stay fervent in prayer through the decade. Third
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Speaker 1: resolved to refuse to retaliate in the energy of the flesh.
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Speaker 1: I so resolve to refuse to retaliate, take our own revenge,
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Speaker 1: and the energy of the flesh. When I'm swung at
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Speaker 1: the Great Tennessee has to swing back. I was taught
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Speaker 1: how to do that. It comes naturally, and so it
38:14
Speaker 1: is with most of you. The adversary loves it when
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Speaker 1: we take him on one on one. He really loves that.
38:23
Speaker 1: Remember the story I told you some time ago about
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Speaker 1: the man who had listened to me preach in another
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Speaker 1: occasion and he had come to know Christ. And early
38:35
Speaker 1: on he gave me a phone call and he said,
38:37
Speaker 1: I just want to tell you, Chuck, I'm a new
38:39
Speaker 1: Christian and I'm ready for the devil one on one.
38:43
Speaker 1: Oh boy, I said it. Wait, wait, wait, no, don't
38:46
Speaker 1: kid yourself. Well, he called me just the other day.
38:49
Speaker 1: It's been several years now, he says, Chuck, remember me,
38:51
Speaker 1: I'm the one who called you and said. I said, yeah,
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Speaker 1: I remember. He says, I'm not ready to take the
38:55
Speaker 1: devil on one on one. I said, you've learned. He said,
38:57
Speaker 1: have I learned? That's like my taking on Larry Bird
39:03
Speaker 1: one on one in the game of basketball. Are you laughing,
39:10
Speaker 1: or Michael started to say, Michael Jackson, that's not the
39:14
Speaker 1: right name. Michael Jordan, Michael Jordan, you know who I
39:20
Speaker 1: need to take on Larry. I need a substitute. I
39:22
Speaker 1: need Magic Johnson, who could beat both of them at
39:25
Speaker 1: the same time, one on one. He certainly could win.
39:34
Speaker 1: But I couldn't hold a candle. I could get two
39:36
Speaker 1: dribbles and watch them do a layup. I can't do
39:39
Speaker 1: it because they are better. They are stronger, they are taller,
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Speaker 1: they are more capable, more gifted, and so is your adversary.
39:50
Speaker 1: You attempt to retaliate in the energy of the flesh,
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Speaker 1: you will experience defeat again and again. Joseph wouldn't do
39:57
Speaker 1: it with his brothers. David wouldn't do it with Saul.
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Speaker 1: Paul wouldn't do it with Alexander the Copper Smith, his
40:06
Speaker 1: last lines in the Dungeon. Lord, you take care of
40:11
Speaker 1: Alexander the Copper Smith. He has been misery to me
40:13
Speaker 1: in the ministry. It doesn't mean at times you won't
40:18
Speaker 1: confront and it doesn't mean that you don't as a
40:22
Speaker 1: leader at times have to do a strong thing and
40:25
Speaker 1: make tough decisions. But it means you are not by
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Speaker 1: nature a fighter. You are, by nature one who substitutes
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Speaker 1: when you know you are out manned. How important to
40:42
Speaker 1: stay accountable, Not to live our lives as Christian lone rangers.
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Speaker 1: Not to think we can handle whatever pressure comes. We cannot.
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Speaker 1: We cannot, We are inadequate. So we resolve to refuse,
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Speaker 1: to retaliate in the energy of the flesh. Listen to
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Speaker 1: the Living Bibles rendering of Psalm five eight to ten.
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Speaker 1: Just sit and listen. Lord, Lead me as you promised
41:17
Speaker 1: you would. Otherwise my enemies will conquer me. Tell me
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Speaker 1: clearly what to do, which way to turn. For they
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Speaker 1: cannot speak one truthful word. Their hearts are filled to
41:32
Speaker 1: the brim with wickedness. Their suggestions are full of the
41:36
Speaker 1: stench of sin and death. Their tongues are filled with
41:40
Speaker 1: flatteries to gain their wicked ends. O, God, hold them responsible,
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Speaker 1: catch them in their own traps, Let them fall beneath
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Speaker 1: the weight of their own transgressions, For they rebelled against you.
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Speaker 1: What wise perspective. The enemies of righteousness are not your enemies.
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Speaker 1: They're enemies of God. He can handle them. Let him
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Speaker 1: tell him, release them to him. The devil is given
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Speaker 1: an advantage whenever we retaliate in the flesh and he
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Speaker 1: comes in like a flood. Fourth resolved to refuse to slacken. Yeah,
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Speaker 1: the word is slacken. To refuse to slacken, surrender, or
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Speaker 1: quit the path of obedience, no matter how intense the pressure.
42:57
Speaker 1: To refuse to slacken, surrender or quit the path of obedience,
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Speaker 1: No matter how intense the pressure. It is so easy
43:06
Speaker 1: to agree to this and think, yeah, that's us. We're
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Speaker 1: all sitting together ho it around the same book. But
43:16
Speaker 1: I'll tell you when it's Tuesday afternoon, in the middle
43:18
Speaker 1: of June and you feel all alone, are your thousands
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Speaker 1: of miles from home, and a temptation drops in your lap,
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Speaker 1: I'll tell you it's another story. Unless this is your
43:30
Speaker 1: strong resolve. Ours has become a soft generation men and women,
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Speaker 1: a generation of greed, a generation of self satisfaction. For
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Speaker 1: whatever reason, we are now more prone to give up
43:44
Speaker 1: or take a path of least resistance. Many of us
43:48
Speaker 1: raised by work ethic parents picked up a work ethic mentality,
43:54
Speaker 1: but our kids have not. And the whole idea of
43:59
Speaker 1: hard work at tough times and standing like a steer
44:02
Speaker 1: in a blizzard at cold times are against all odds
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Speaker 1: at tempting times is foreign to many. In our times,
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Speaker 1: chances are good. Our children are weaker than we are,
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Speaker 1: and the last some of them have learned it from us.
44:22
Speaker 1: Let's take on resolve. Let's stop the whole idea of
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Speaker 1: if it's uncomfortable, then just don't pursue. If it might
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Speaker 1: offend someone, then don't make waves. No obedience is a
44:34
Speaker 1: lonely path. Let's walk it together. Let's determine today to
44:37
Speaker 1: walk it together. I hope you can say, as you
44:42
Speaker 1: watch my life, and as you hear my words, and
44:45
Speaker 1: as you read what I write in the coming decade,
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Speaker 1: I hope you can say, there is a man who
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Speaker 1: has not slackened, or surrendered, or quit the path of obedience.
44:56
Speaker 1: I hope that are so resolved, fifth and finally resolved
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Speaker 1: to seek to glorify the Lord God and trust the
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Speaker 1: word of God regardless, To seek to glorify the Lord
45:18
Speaker 1: God and to trust the word of God regardless. How
45:26
Speaker 1: much do I mean that? I mean that more than
45:28
Speaker 1: pleasing people, I mean that, more than promoting self, I
45:35
Speaker 1: mean that more than escaping affliction. This ultimately becomes the
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Speaker 1: major filter of one's life. Whatever we do in word
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Speaker 1: or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
45:46
Speaker 1: Jesus for the glory of God, the Father, in the
45:49
Speaker 1: power of the Spirit of God. What a way to
45:52
Speaker 1: live doesn't mean we become killed joyce grim reapers in
45:56
Speaker 1: a day of joy. No no one can laugh like
45:59
Speaker 1: a belief. No one has a freer conscience than one
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Speaker 1: whose conscience and heart had been washed for the blood.
46:06
Speaker 1: No one has reason to laugh at life like the believer.
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Speaker 1: To glorify God doesn't turn life into a into a
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Speaker 1: series of grim demands. It's it's it's it's load lifting,
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Speaker 1: it's freeing. May I repeat the resolves, one after another.
46:31
Speaker 1: To be alert to the presence of evil and the
46:33
Speaker 1: strategy of the adversary. To stay fervent in prayer, not
46:38
Speaker 1: hesitating to call down supernatural assistance, and when necessary divine discipline.
46:43
Speaker 1: To refuse to retaliate in the energy of the flesh.
46:47
Speaker 1: To refuse to slacken, surrender, or quit the path of obedience,
46:50
Speaker 1: no matter how intense the pressure. To seek to glorify
46:56
Speaker 1: the Lord God, and to trust the word of God
47:00
Speaker 1: and that little word. Regardless you might think this is new,
47:10
Speaker 1: I don't think anything like this ever been said around here,
47:13
Speaker 1: this isn't new. I did little research and found Martin
47:18
Speaker 1: Luther's words a couple of years ago fifteen thirty one,
47:24
Speaker 1: and I got new courage from a sermon preached in
47:29
Speaker 1: the early part of the sixteenth century. Listen to this
47:33
Speaker 1: courageous man. Christendom must have people who can beat down
47:39
Speaker 1: their adversaries and opponents, and tear off the devil's equipment
47:43
Speaker 1: and armor, that he may be brought into disgrace. But
47:48
Speaker 1: for this work, powerful warriors are needed who are thoroughly
47:56
Speaker 1: familiar with the scriptures and can country all false interpretations
48:03
Speaker 1: and take the sword from false teachers, that is, those
48:06
Speaker 1: very verses which false teachers use, and turn them round
48:11
Speaker 1: upon them, so that they fall back defeated. But as
48:16
Speaker 1: not all Christians can be so capable in defending the
48:19
Speaker 1: Word and articles of their creed, they must have teachers
48:22
Speaker 1: and preachers who study the scriptures and have daily fellowship
48:27
Speaker 1: with it, so that they can fight for all the others.
48:32
Speaker 1: Yet each Christian should be so armed that he himself
48:35
Speaker 1: is sure of his belief and of the doctrine, and
48:41
Speaker 1: is so equipped with the sayings from the Word of God,
48:43
Speaker 1: that he can stand up against the devil and defend
48:47
Speaker 1: himself when men seek to lead him astray, a man
48:54
Speaker 1: of great resolve, Are you sure you have the power
49:04
Speaker 1: within to make these resolutions occur? These are not New
49:10
Speaker 1: Year's resolutions said in passing after some New Year's Eve party.
49:18
Speaker 1: These are strong resolutions that can only be a reality
49:24
Speaker 1: through the power of Jesus Christ living through us. So
49:30
Speaker 1: these imply that you know Him in a personal way.
49:33
Speaker 1: Let's take care of that. Let's pow together. You may
49:42
Speaker 1: have said patiently through this message and heard words that
49:48
Speaker 1: for the most part, you agree with. You accept the
49:53
Speaker 1: analysis that we are a people who have become indifferent
49:57
Speaker 1: and even somewhat apathy, and you are at a loss
50:04
Speaker 1: to know why that continues to be the plague of
50:06
Speaker 1: your life. Could it be you've never received the power
50:11
Speaker 1: that only Christ can give if you become more a
50:16
Speaker 1: defender of your reputation than one whose character models righteousness. See,
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Speaker 1: you're surrounded in this world today by Christians, people who
50:29
Speaker 1: have admitted their inability to do it on their own,
50:32
Speaker 1: and they've come with sins in hand to the cross,
50:38
Speaker 1: and they've acknowledged the only way to find relief from
50:42
Speaker 1: sin and power for the future is through faith in
50:46
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. And they've deliberately and consciously we have turned
50:52
Speaker 1: our lives over to him who can make a difference,
50:56
Speaker 1: who can transform us and give us radical things and
51:01
Speaker 1: passionate zeal and wonderful forgiveness. Come today, Come today, give
51:13
Speaker 1: your life to Jesus Christ. Father, Thank you for strength
51:19
Speaker 1: that comes in just verbal reminders of the truth. Now
51:26
Speaker 1: as we attempt to take truth that has been verbalized
51:29
Speaker 1: and appropriate, it make us men and women of courage
51:37
Speaker 1: that will create within us men and women of character.
51:43
Speaker 1: Begin today building a body of strong saints, so that
51:49
Speaker 1: we are able to resist the adversary, firm in faith,
51:58
Speaker 1: enable us to see the future as a challenge, not
52:02
Speaker 1: as a tragic problem, and to see victory written across it.
52:05
Speaker 1: Because of the victory of Jesus Christ in his mighty
52:12
Speaker 1: and powerful name, we pray and everyone said amen. The
52:20
Speaker 1: preceding message, A Time for Strong Resolve, was copyrighted in
52:24
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety two, thy twenty fourteen, and twenty twenty four,
52:28
Speaker 1: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four
52:31
Speaker 1: by Charles R. Swindall Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide
52:36
Speaker 1: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.