Sinner Anatomy, (Romans 3:9-20 Jeff Kliewer)

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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org Romans 3:9-20

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If you are a young adult, young adults, there is a meeting tonight with Tim, young adult meeting tonight.
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What time, Tim? 7 .15. 7 .15. So right after the prayer meeting. Okay. A couple of announcements.
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Some of you know Barbara Curto from First Service. So if you're a Second Service person, you might not know her, but she is a wonderful godly woman and a widow.
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And she lives next door to a widower. And they've gotten to know one another.
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And in September, they are getting married. So let's give a hand clap for Gus and Barb getting married in a couple of months here.
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We need some help in the AV sound booth in the back. So if you're a technological kind of person and you'd like to help out, sometimes we need to sub in other people to help with that.
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We also need help cleaning the church. Many of you know Antoinette and she cleans the church like every
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Saturday, but she's going to be out of town for a few weeks in August. So we could really use some more people to help clean the church, especially in August.
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Quick public service announcement. Watch out for scams. There are scammers everywhere and they particularly love to target churches.
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One of the things they do against our church is they will actually make an email address using my name and send that out to people to try to get you to send gift cards.
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If anybody ever asks you to go buy gift cards, do not do it.
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It is a scam. Okay? So gift cards, that's a tell, but just watch out for scams in general.
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I'm never going to ask you to do something on the side, like get gift cards for somebody. So those are fake emails by scammers if that ever happens.
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Very exciting. We have a baptism service on September 8th. So I want you to mark your calendars and if you can, please come.
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We're going to go down the shore. Who here says down the shore and who says down to the shore? When I came from Florida, I was like, down the shore?
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You're missing a preposition there. Down to the shore. Down the shore.
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September 8th, after second service, we will do that. But if you have not yet been baptized, you really should think about being one to get baptized on September 8th, down the shore.
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And there are classes on August 11th, 18th, and 25th. So you need to have the baptism prep classes to get ready for that baptism.
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So it's beginning in a couple of weeks from now at 1030 AM. And then lastly, we have some very sad news.
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Our brother, Bob Nichols, maybe you haven't heard, he has been struggling with cancer, but he unexpectedly passed away this week.
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His battle is over, but his joy in the Lord is unspeakable right now.
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We grieve, but not as those who have no hope. I personally am very hurt and hurting because Bob's a friend.
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We spent a lot of time together. We used to, like, Bob had a desire to go share the gospel and wanted to make a difference.
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So he wanted us to go and see Dennis Prager and give him one of my books. So I went with him and we didn't get to see
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Dennis, but he gave it to Chris Stegall, this other radio host. He was always eager to serve and wanting to see this country turned around.
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And he has finished his race. And so what I'd like us to do as we go into a time of worship, let's begin by praying for Susan, his wife, and for his two kids and their family and all of us who are grieving the loss of our brother.
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Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the salvation we have and that we know that Bob right now is running and walking and leaping and praising
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God and his eyes are beholding the King. We thank you for his salvation, the sure hope that we have behind the veil.
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And we pray, Lord, for Bob's family, for Susan and their children, their grown children and all of the family,
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Lord, that you would comfort them. We pray in the name of Jesus, help them, Lord, and help us as we grieve,
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Lord, comfort us as well. And Father, now as we turn to a time of worship, we pray that you would fill us with praises, fill our hearts with joy and remind us of the gospel that we could sing to you in such a way as you deserve.
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Help us to sing like Bob is doing in heaven right here on earth. Let our hearts be undivided and pure in your sight.
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Help us to remove every distraction and worship you as you deserve. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand,
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Isaiah 12 -2, behold God is my salvation,
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I will trust and will not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.
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Lord God, we just pray for your
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Holy Spirit to just come in, lead and guide and direct everything that takes place in the sanctuary this morning,
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Lord God. We pray that hearts, that heavy hearts would be lifted up, that they would be lightened by the good news of your gospel for what you've done for us.
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For when the guilt of sin is forgiven, the penalty for sin has been taken away, Lord God, and we rejoice in you.
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He became sin under no sin, then
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He might become His righteousness. He humbled
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Himself and carried the cross, a love so amazing, a love so amazing.
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Jesus, Messiah, the name above all names, the blessed
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Redeemer, Emmanuel, the rescue of sinners, the ransom from heaven,
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Jesus, Messiah, the
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Lord of all. His body the bread,
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His blood the wine, broken and poured out all for love.
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The whole earth trembled and the veil was torn, a love so amazing, a love so amazing.
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Jesus, Messiah, the name above all names, the blessed
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Redeemer, Emmanuel, the rescue of sinners, the ransom from heaven,
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Jesus, Messiah, the
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Lord of all. All our hope is in You, all our hope is in You, all the glory is in You, God.
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The light of the world,
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Jesus, Messiah, the name above all names, the blessed
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Redeemer, Emmanuel, the rescue of sinners, the ransom from heaven,
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Jesus, Messiah, the
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Lord of all. Jesus, Messiah, the
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Lord of all, Lord of all.
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It's continuing with Isaiah 12. With joy, you will draw water from the wells of salvation. Lord, we just come to you.
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God, we just think back on the week that just concluded and think about the week that is to come.
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Lord God, God, we just give you thanks that you walk with us every day, no matter the situation,
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Lord God. In the good days and in the bad, Lord God, you walk with us, you hold our hands, you keep our foot from stumbling,
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Lord God. God, we just give you thanks and glory and we praise you every step of the way,
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Lord. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Amen. before us and all who will sing the song of ages to your name is the highest your name is the greatest your name stands above the law of thrones and dominions of powers and positions your name stands above the law and the angels cry holy all creation cries holy you are lifted high holy holy forever and if you've been redeemed sing a song forever and if you are in freedom and if you bear his name sing a song forever sing a song forever and the angels cry holy all creation cries holy you are lifted high holy holy hey people sing to the king you always be holy for your name is the highest your name is the greatest your name stands above Oh Jesus your name is the highest your name is the greatest and a million powers and positions your name stands above the angels cry
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Oh creation cries
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Oh you were lifted high
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Oh Oh And Leviticus 6 .13
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says, The fire shall be kept burning on the altar continuously. It shall not go out.
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And I just, I read that earlier this week, I was reading through Leviticus and I crossed that verse and I read it and I read it again and it just kept coming back to it all week that the fire shall not go out.
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That was a command by God, it was not a statement, it was not something that he said would just happen.
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He was commanding that the fire should not go out and I just bring that into my own life.
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We're called to be living sacrifices and I heard someone say the problem with the living sacrifice is it continuously tries to crawl off the altar and God just help us to, to be faithful daily, to spend time with you in prayer, to spend time in your word, to keep coming back to the altar so that our fire will remain bright and burning, fiery and hot.
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And, and it's not on our own. The funny thing is only God can do that. But as we spend time with him, he is faithful to, to keep that fire burning and we need him.
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Amen. Every day we need him. I confess.
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Now we hear. I find my rest.
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Without you, I fall apart.
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You're the one that guides my heart.
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Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you.
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Every hour I need you.
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My one defense. My righteousness.
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Oh God, how I need you.
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Where sin runs deep, your grace is more.
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Where grace is found, is where you are.
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And where you are, Lord, I am free.
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Holiness is Christ in me.
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Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you.
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Every hour I need you.
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My one defense. My righteousness.
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Oh God, how I need you. So teach my soul to rise to you.
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When temptation comes my way. When I cannot stand,
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I'll fall on you. Jesus, you're my hope and stay.
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Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you.
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Every hour I need you.
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My one defense. My righteousness.
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Oh God, how I need you. Lord, I need you.
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Oh, I need you. Every hour
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I need you. My one defense.
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My righteousness. Oh God, how
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I need you. My one defense.
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My righteousness. Oh God, how
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I need you. To be an orphan is a picture of needing help.
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There is no father, there is no mother, there is no shelter. The orphan is in need and God is the rescuer of the orphan.
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And all of us have the need of rescue from our sin. And that way we are like orphans.
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And one of the ways that we can express our gratitude to the
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God who rescued us from our sins is to care for orphans in this world.
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What a privilege we have. And it's been awesome to watch the pictures of the orphanage being built.
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Beginning in January, every month we've shown you a picture. And the orphanage in Malawi has been built.
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It's named the Cornerstone Safe House for Girls. But this morning, we have an even greater privilege than seeing the building rising from the dust.
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And that is, we have now the opportunity to introduce you to the first three girls that have moved in to the orphanage.
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On the screen here you have Shalon, Rivera, and Bernadette. Let's give a hand clap.
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Praise God, they're finding shelter. They're also finding the gospel of Jesus Christ as they will be taught and discipled in the truth.
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Someone in First Aid Service, Paula, mentioned that she would like to write letters to these three.
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So I'm going to put their names in my Thursday email. If you would also like to write a letter to each of these girls, we'll collect them next
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Sunday, and we'll put them together and mail them to the Cornerstone Safe House in Malawi.
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Wouldn't that be encouraging to these three girls? And remember to pray for them. Let's pray now and then ask for God to bless the preaching of the word.
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Father God, we thank you so much for what you have done, rescuing these girls from the streets of Lelongwe, Malawi, and giving them a home, and more importantly, giving them the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Thank you, Lord, for what you have done. We pray for them now that they would have saving faith in the
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Lord Jesus, that they would be discipled and learn to walk in the light. We thank you for each of them.
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We thank you for Shallan, for Rivera, and for Bernadette. Bless them,
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Lord, and keep them. Guard them from the evil one. Don't allow a hair of their heads to be harmed,
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Lord. Keep watch over them by your angels, and by your spirit, bring them life.
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We thank you for them, Lord. And now for ourselves this morning, we pray that our hearts would be open to your word.
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Perform a surgery in us. We are the ones with this malignant cancer of sin.
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And you alone, God, can remove that and heal us. So we pray that you would work so by your word in Jesus' name.
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Amen. Well, if any of you were watching the Olympic inaugural ceremony the other day, you may have noticed that it was a pagan offering.
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Pagan. And this is not surprising because the Olympics originally were offered to Apollo and to Zeus.
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And even in our day, there have been some that made such an offering. But it was shocking to see what was formerly a
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Christian nation, the nation of France, now turn completely against Jesus and mock him in this way.
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At this festival, there was a red creature with flaming hair in a decapitated head, beheaded, singing with fire coming everywhere as a picture of the flames of hell.
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This was a picture of Satan. There was also some half -naked
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Smurf guy singing and prancing around, and a bearded man dressed as a woman.
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Worse even than that is they began to dance with children, teaching the children in this way.
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And surely that is a form of pedophilia amongst this group. And worse yet than that, they stood up and mocked the
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Last Supper. They depicted Jesus as a woman with the sun around her head, an image from the book of Revelation of really the false antichrist system.
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And picturing the twelve disciples around the table of the Last Supper were men dressed as women and women dressed as men, gyrating and dancing around this false antichrist.
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It was a mockery of a very solemn moment where Jesus promised
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His blood for the forgiveness of sin and His body broken for sinners. Peter Jones is an expert in paganism, a strong Christian who explains the view of paganism and the
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Babylonian mystery religions that began at the Tower of Babel and are still pervading under the surface in cultures all around the world, especially including
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France. He says that sexual perversion and the elimination of sexual distinctions are not incidental footnotes of pagan religious history, but represent one of paganism's fundamental ideological commitments.
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This sexual androgyny, this wickedness on display, is part of paganism.
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He said the pagan priesthood is identified across space and time with the blurring of sexual identity via homosexual androgyny.
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This was the essence of monistic paganism, the collapsing of all distinctions into one essence, one spirituality.
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It was a pagan worship ceremony devoted to Satan.
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Now, when I saw that, the first thing I thought was, how bad I felt for these athletes that trained for four years to prepare for this moment only to have to see it offered in pagan ritual religion.
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I feel bad for them. I think, however, if I were an athlete about to compete having witnessed that,
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I would probably catch a cab to the airport and fly back to the United States of America.
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I would boycott the Olympics. Now, we can't boycott the
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Olympics because we're not in the Olympics. But here's my commitment.
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I refuse to watch even a moment of what NBC is putting on television in front of billions of people.
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So my commitment, I think some of you agree with that commitment.
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Now, I would say, I don't think that that is a matter of every person's conscience to do the same. If it's within your conscience to support the athletes and you want to watch, you don't have to participate in that.
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I think Ephesians 5, 11, for my part, means take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them.
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That's what I feel convicted to do. But I don't think it's sin for any Christian to watch the
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Olympics if they feel led to do that. But I will say this. There's something that will send a much stronger message and something that's far more important than not watching the
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Olympics. You see, when Satanism was put on full display for the world to see, when paganism became the moment of the hour,
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I believe Satan overplayed his hand. Because if there is a devil and demons, that means that there is a
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God. And this brazen display of evil ought to motivate every
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Christian to go out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. How about this?
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More important than whether or not you watch the Olympics. How about every person in this room commit to do everything you can to get at least one child from your neighborhood or family who doesn't know the
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Lord Jesus Christ to come to vacation Bible school beginning next Monday. You help them get signed up.
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You give them an invitation. You get them here in order that this next generation in the
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United States of America will be raised with the gospel of Jesus Christ. America is not
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France. We are not given over the way France evidently is.
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There is yet hope for this country and there is a movement in our country. Look at how full this room is.
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And first service was the same way. And every conservative church I know around this country has been growing like this.
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God is doing something that we have a part in. And you know what? I'll tell you this.
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When I say that, that's what I'm going to do. Church, turn with me to Romans chapter 3.
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What you saw on display in France this last weekend, it's what humanity actually is.
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We think of the worst displays of evil, murder, and all of the immorality we saw paraded as just being the aberration, the outside of the norm.
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The truth is that level of evil is intended within every human heart.
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And it's only the common grace of God that restrains the evil of man so that we live within the relative peace in which we do.
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The true condition of the heart is not good. When Jesus performed miracles in Jerusalem, they saw the signs that he did and many believed in him.
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They became his disciples. But we're told in John 2, 24 and 25, Jesus did not entrust himself to them because he knew all men.
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He did not need a witness about man because he knew what was in a man. Jesus knew the true condition of the human heart.
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He knew what was in a man, and that was sin. Many of those who had begun to believe in him would fall away.
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They would become false converts. He knew the true condition of man.
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There was a famous textbook on human anatomy that's still actually used in many medical schools today called
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Grey's Anatomy. Grey's Anatomy. It's also the name of a very boring
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TV show that by some strange oddity is still being shown on TV to this day.
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Grey's Anatomy was originally a textbook about the human body and still is to this day.
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But the Bible gives us sinner anatomy. Human anatomy, not in terms of the function and the physical body, but rather, what is the true condition of man?
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What is in a man? Jesus knew, and the Bible tells us, from the lips and the tongue and the throat, the mouth, and the words that the mouth form, the feet that are swift to shed blood, hands raised in violence, and eyes that behold evil and reveal the evil that's intended in the heart.
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This is the true condition of man, and Paul pulls no punches in Romans 3, 9 -20 in describing sinner anatomy.
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Let's read this. Romans 3, 9 -20. What then?
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Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both
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Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written, none is righteous, no, not one.
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No one understands. No one seeks for God. All have turned aside.
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Together they have become worthless. No one does good.
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Not even one. Their throat is an open grave. They use their tongues to deceive.
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The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
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Their feet are swift to shed blood. In their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.
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There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.
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So that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
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For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
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What an indictment of the human condition. It stresses all.
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In verse 12, all have turned aside. Together they have become worthless.
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And there is no one who does good, not even one. The point of our text this morning is to shut every mouth before the holy
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God. You know, we like to compare one another and compare ourselves to other people to figure out if we're doing good.
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Am I doing well enough? By this comparative righteousness, we think we're okay.
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If we're not quite as bad as the worst, what you see on the Olympics, then we feel like we're doing all right.
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But the proper answer to seeing something like that is actually to say, but for the grace of God, there go
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I. We are capable of the worst sins.
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What restrains the evil in the world is God's common grace holding that down in everybody, believer and unbeliever alike.
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We talk about total depravity, that people are completely depraved. That doesn't mean that people do as many evil things as possible or do as bad as other people.
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It's not about comparative righteousness. Someone might do better than others, but that does not justify a person in God's sight.
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What is the standard then? I actually learned from Tim McCormick as he was teaching a community group on a
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Thursday night that the point of the Sermon on the Mount can be summed up in one word. What is it?
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Righteousness. You're in that group, so you should know. And you did. Righteousness. The thesis of the
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Sermon on the Mount comes from Matthew 5, 20, where it says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into heaven.
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The scribes and the Pharisees were supposedly the most righteous. They wore phylacteries on their head with Scripture literally on their forehead.
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And they made long prayers. And they performed the requirements of the law in the eyes of everyone to the best of their ability.
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Now, we know their hearts were actually wicked in many cases and set against God, but from the outside, they sure looked righteous.
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If you compare yourself to them, boy, I don't know how I'm doing. But Jesus goes on to say in the
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Sermon on the Mount, in verse 48, but be perfect as your Father is perfect.
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The standard is not the scribe or Pharisee or any other person. Comparative righteousness does not make you good.
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You're not good enough. But the standard is the perfect and holy righteousness of God.
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And so you've heard that it said, you shall not murder, but if you even have hatred in your heart, you violated the deeper meaning.
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You shall not commit adultery, but if you even have lust in your heart, you violated the deeper meaning.
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The standard is perfection. That's the point. And so when you begin to read
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Romans 3, 9 to 12, all people fall short of that standard with the exception of one.
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He did not inherit sin from an earthly father. Joseph was not his father.
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Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary, born without sin. The only human who never lied, never sinned, never strayed from God's perfect holy will, the sinless one.
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Muhammad is a sinner. Buddha was a sinner. Confucius, every presidential candidate, every great athlete in the
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Olympics, every man a sinner. Let God be true and every man a liar, but Jesus is
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God in flesh. Sinless, the only one. Let's look more carefully at ourselves.
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Romans 3, 9 to 12. Notice that as Paul progresses through this indictment, he begins not with words his own, but the words of his father, his own words, as given in the
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Old Testament. He says in verse 10, notice, as it is written.
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As it is written. As God has already said. Notice that little word is.
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Depends on what the meaning of this word is is. The word is here is in the perfect tense.
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It's not a past action that's one and done, but the perfect tense communicates an action in the past, the giving of God's word, which then has continued application.
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A continuing of that action. In other words, God gave the word once and he still says what he said before.
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As it is written, it stands written and continues to stand written.
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God's word never fails. What he said in the Old Testament is applied here in the new without distortion.
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It's the same word. Now notice what follows as it is written is a string of six quotations.
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Paul will quote from six passages and this term.
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That refers to a string of passages being quoted. Is charas charas.
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It was a rabbinical method. A rabbi like Jesus or other rabbis would take a string of passages from the
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Old Testament, put them together. The word charas is a string of pearls like you would make in a necklace.
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Charas. That word is not found in Romans 3. It's what Paul is doing. A charas is a string of pearls.
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Here, like a string of pearls, Paul will take a string of Bible passages and put them together to emphasize a point.
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Does that make sense? He'll begin in verse 10.
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He's quoting from Psalm 14. I'd like for us to go back to the Bible passage here.
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Don't blame me for all the turning today because we're going to look at a lot of Bible verses. It's Paul's fault.
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He put these together. Go back with me to Psalm chapter 14 verses 1 to 3.
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David is the author of this psalm. It appears from the psalm that the wicked are one group of people and the righteous are another group.
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How is it that Paul is quoting only the first three verses and applying it to everybody and not making a distinction with the righteous?
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We're going to see that. Let's read Psalm 14. The fool says in his heart, there is no
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God. Sounds like an atheist, right? In actuality, he knows that there's a
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God, but he's suppressing that knowledge as atheists do today. They know there's a
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God. Paul has made this point in Romans 1. The eternal power and divine nature of God are clearly seen in what has been made.
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But not desiring to worship, they exchange that glory for idols and they suppress the knowledge of God in unrighteousness.
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So when he says there is no God, he's convincing himself. He knows there's a God to whom he's accountable, but he's chased that thought out of his mind.
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He's stamped it under his foot to the point where he can act as if there is no God and say in his heart, there's no
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God. Keep reading in verse 1. They are corrupt. We're in Psalm 14 now.
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They are corrupt. They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
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They have all turned aside. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not even one.
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David's point absolutely is to establish that all people alike are under sin.
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But I want you to notice something. Even in the Old Testament, there was justification by faith.
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And so reading verses 4 to 7, we have a picture of some who call upon the Lord, who find refuge in the
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Lord, and by faith turning to God, God credits righteousness to them.
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Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, whose transgressions
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God does not count against them. Paul will quote those very verses referring to Abraham and David when we get to chapter 4.
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So Paul understands that there are righteous people who become righteous by faith.
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The righteousness of God clothing them. So now let us read Psalm 14, verses 4 to 7.
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He's not negating the first point. That's the human condition apart from being saved.
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But now, have they no knowledge, all the evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the
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Lord. There they are in great terror, for God is with the generation of the righteous.
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You would shame the plans of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion, when the
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Lord restores the fortunes of his people. Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
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Here in Psalm 14, it ends not just with the indictment of man in the first half of the chapter, but in the salvation that God gives to his people.
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Did you know that Psalm 14 is quoted nearly verbatim in Psalm 53?
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Hold your finger at Psalm 14 and flip a few pages to Psalm 53.
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As I was looking up the quotes from the Old Testament that Paul gave us, I was surprised to find this.
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I didn't know this. That Psalm 14 and Psalm 53 are almost word for word.
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The only difference comes in the second to last sentence with a slight modification. But if you notice, as you look back and forth between the two, you'll notice that it is essentially the same
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Psalm. So why are there two of the same
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Psalm in the book of Psalms? I think the biggest clue comes in the heading.
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Do you notice the difference? Psalm 14 says to the choir master of David, this is
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David's original psalm because psalms are songs. But notice now in 53,
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David sends out another one. He calls this to the choir master according to Mahalath, a mascal of David.
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So what I think we have here is a remix. It's the same song, but he rebooted it, changed a couple of words.
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You'll see at the end of Psalm 53, notice there is no terror in verse 5, for God scatters the bones of him who encamps around you.
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I think that was a good line to add to what you had going in Psalm 14. It's a very graphic picture of those who stand as evildoers.
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Notice there is no terror. They think there's no God, but there is a God who will scatter their bones.
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Every army standing against God will one day be scattered, their bones strewn across the land,
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God of victor in vengeance, in wrath against the evildoer. And that's the point of adding that little line in there.
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But the terrifying thing now as we turn back to Romans 3 is that Paul is making the point that everybody in this room is an evildoer.
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All of us fall in this category of the sinner, that we are under sin.
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That's the point. And as we move into verses 13 to 18, we have the anatomy of a sinner.
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How can we prove that Paul's assessment of the human condition is right?
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Most people in your lives fundamentally believe that people are good. They have good intentions.
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Even if they differ with you over this point or that, people are essentially good. Their environment makes them do bad things.
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Maybe they were raised the wrong way or they were dealt a bad hand or they ran into some trouble and made some mistakes, but people are generally good.
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That's the worldview in this world, in this culture, and especially in post -Christian cultures like France.
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But look at Paul's indictment, how he proves that man is not good, but wicked.
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What he does is an anatomy of the sinner. He looks, and I thought, what is this charaz, this string of pearls?
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What unites each of these verses? When Paul is reciting the book of Romans, and Tertius is just scribbling it down as fast as he can, and here
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Paul goes from Psalm 5 to Psalm 140, and then he jumps back to Psalm 10, and then he goes over to Isaiah 59, verses 7 and 8, and then jumps to Psalm 36, 1.
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Why is Paul's mind jumping where he goes? And the answer is, every one of those verses refers to the anatomy of a human tongue, lips, mouth, throat, feet, eyes.
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That's what unites the string of pearls, and he's showing that everything that comes from human anatomy, from us, the actions of our hands, the intentions of our heart as seen in the eyes, the words of our mouth, fallen under sin, him the breath of life, and he became a living man.
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Adam stood with lips now that could praise God. He could take air, the breath of life, into his lungs, and think of the miracle of this, that the thoughts of his mind, by the operation of a tongue and lips and throat and vocal cords, could fashion words.
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The mind could be expressed in words, and those words were to praise God, holy, holy, holy, to worship him.
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The breath of life in the lungs, but what happened when Adam sinned? Adam died, and now he has the breath of death in his lungs.
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From his lungs come curses and bitterness, and so Paul chooses Psalm 5 and 10 and 140, goes to Isaiah 59, let's look just real briefly, we won't look these up, but follow
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Paul's quoting, Romans 3 verse 13, their throat is an open grave.
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The breath of death coming from a man made in the image of God.
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He is under sin. They use their tongues to deceive. Jesus is truth, pure light.
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The devil is a deceiver and a liar. When he lies, he speaks his native language.
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Man does not use his tongue always to praise God, always to bring glory to God, but at times will lie to one another, deceiving.
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But this imagery of an open grave, imagine the picture.
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After a body has been put under earth and days and weeks have gone by, the most horrible thought is to unearth that body and go into that grave or to allow the stench, the pure stench of that rotting corpse to hit you and to receive that air into your lungs.
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Horrible thought, isn't it? Paul wants you to think like that and say, that's what your words are like.
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When you have told a lie, that's how God sees your lie. You say, it's just a white lie or it's what everybody does.
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I'm just human. God says, this is what it looks like to me. This is what it smells like to me.
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This breath that I've given you to praise you, you're made in the image of God and these are the words that come from your mouth.
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He's opening your eyes to see how wicked we really are. Then he jumps from Psalm 5, 9 to Psalm 140, verse 3 and he says, the venom of asps is under their lips.
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Venom, like of a snake or of a spider. Piercing words, cutting words.
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Words that tear down another person made in the image of God. And then in verse 14, he cites from Psalm 10, their mouth is full of cursing.
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Not blessing, but cursing. The name of God to be lifted up and revered and only spoken in reverence.
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People take his name in vain as a curse word and bitter complaining.
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This bitter root. Given breath from almighty God and yet complaining about the circumstances of life.
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A sinner who deserves wrath still walking on the earth, not six feet under and yet filled with bitterness and shaking a fist at God.
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The mouth reveals a wicked heart. Next he says from Psalm 59, their feet are swift to shed blood.
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In their paths are ruin and misery and the way of peace they have not known.
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Note those words, path, way. The anatomical mnemonic, the way you can remember this is by your feet.
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What do your feet tell you about how you really are apart from salvation?
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Consider your ways. Psalm 1 is about this. There are the ways of the wicked, the ways, the paths of the righteous.
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We have ways, we have patterns and habits. When you wake up in the morning, you either brush your teeth or you don't.
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Right? You either pick up the word of God and you read it or you don't. You either begin to pray and talk to God or you don't.
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Your ways throughout the day, you handle responsibilities or you don't. There are things that you do all day long.
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These are your ways and your feet demonstrate your ways.
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He points to the feet. That's that next string in the pearl. The first four, the lips, the tongue, the mouth, and the throat.
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These are your words. This is what you do. What do you do with your day? And does it bring glory to God?
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The point here is you often go off the straight and narrow path. Everybody in this room is prone to wander, to step off of the straight and narrow.
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I would encourage you to read Isaiah 59, where this is quoted from, later today.
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In verses 7 and 8, we have this quote. But earlier in the chapter, Isaiah will do the same thing with the human anatomy.
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In verses 3 and 4, lips and tongues and feet, how all of these show our sinfulness.
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And then he speaks here about the feet that shed blood. The violent things that we've walked into.
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But at the end of Isaiah 59, God looks out at the world and there's none.
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None righteous. No one to intercede. Everybody together is fallen in sin.
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And he marveled that there was none to intercede. So do you know what God did? You know this.
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In Psalm 59, it says, he put on righteousness like a garment and he himself came to earth.
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It's a gospel promise. And he comes in vengeance against those who say there is no
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God. Evildoers. But he comes, verse 20, Isaiah 59, 20, as a redeemer to Zion.
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And those like Isaiah, who hold to the word, he grants righteousness to them.
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He comes and gives them what they cannot have for themselves. Lastly, we look at Romans 3, verse 18.
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And this really is a summary of the problem. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
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The eyes. Look into your own eyes in the mirror and they'll tell you the story.
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The eyes are a window to the soul. In Psalm 36, it says that the eyes show the inmost being.
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What's really in the heart. And what Paul is doing with this statement is to say, what do your eyes look for?
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What are you beholding? What are you living for? It's the desires and motivations of the heart.
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Even if someone has outwardly kept the law, but in the heart they've broken it. Their eyes longing and coveting what other people have.
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This coveting is itself sin. So Paul ends this indictment by saying there is no fear of God before their eyes.
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There should be a fear of God because look at 19 and 20. Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law.
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Who does that include? Everyone. So that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
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For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight.
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Since through the law comes knowledge of sin. All are under the law.
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All are guilty and will be condemned. But now, when you get to verse 21 and we'll start studying this next week, it's all gospel.
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It's all good news. It's the remedy for this cancer that's in every person. And the only remedy is
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Christ as a propitiation for sins. It is only through the shed blood of Jesus.
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So in application, in order to rightly diagnose the human condition, the anatomy of a sinner, one must rightly understand the lips, the tongue, the throat.
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Look at these things not for what they can do, but for the words that they form and what that reveals about the heart from which it comes.
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Out of the abundance of the mouth, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
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Look at your feet, your own ways. Consider your ways, where you go and what you prioritize in life.
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And diagnose that you are under sin. And look at your eyes. Study the eyes for what they long for.
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Diagnose that the heart is under sin. Listen, if you rightly diagnose sin, who you really are, your true human condition, then you will know your need for a
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Savior. But if you misdiagnose the disease, the malignancy, you won't know your need to be saved.
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Don't you know the condition? There's surely someone here that's not yet born again.
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And the reason is you don't know how bad the condition really is. You've always assumed you're okay.
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Not as bad as someone else, but that's not the standard. God's holiness is the standard.
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Perfection is the standard. And we all fall short. Let the
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Word of God today, as it is written, it never changes, reveal the true condition of your heart.
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God's arm is not too short to save. And I want to tell you that studying this, understanding what
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Jesus did for a sinner like me, is the most hopeful thing imaginable.
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Who wants to hear about a throat like an open tomb, and feet that shed blood, and eyes that are beholding evil?
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Who wants to think that of themselves? Here's how I think about it from this side of the cross.
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That God knows the worst thoughts that have ever crossed my mind.
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The worst things that you've ever done. And He loves you. That while we were yet sinners,
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Christ died for us. The accuser will say to you, look how wicked you are.
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Look how bad you are. How could God ever love you? And the answer for us to Him, to the devil, is you don't know the half of it.
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You have no idea how wicked, because He's not omniscient. He doesn't know everything. He doesn't see your thoughts.
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But God does. He knows every intention of your heart. He's seen every vile thing you've ever done.
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And He loves you. While you were yet a sinner, He sent
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His Son Jesus to bear the weight of our sin, to take the punishment. The only innocent one, the only one not described in Romans 3, 9 to 12, laid down His life for us who believe in Him.
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This is the best news you've ever heard. He knows you to be known and to be loved.
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He's willing to forgive all sin. So look to Him.
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Look to Jesus. The one whose lips never spoke a lie or any unholy thing.
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The one who was put myrrh and vinegar on His lips while He hung on the tree.
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The one whose words had been precious gold, dripping honey every day of His life, giving us the golden rule and every beautiful parable.
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Everything He said was beautiful. And on the cross, what did
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He say about us? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
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Look to the body of Jesus. His feet never shed blood, although He could have trampled the enemies of God.
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Instead, He allowed His feet to be struck through with a stake into the cross, pierced for our transgressions.
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Look at His feet, bleeding for sinners like us. Look at His eyes, blazing like fire, holy and pure.
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And looking through the cross for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the
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Father. Look at Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father. You will see
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Him face to face, and you will know Him as He knows you. You will be fully known, and you will know
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Him, if you put your faith in Him right now. Look to yourself, and you will be damned.
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Look at Christ, and you will be saved. Martin Luther said, when I look at my own sinfulness,
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I can't see any way to be saved. But when I look at Christ, I can't see any way that I would be lost.
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Look at Christ, and let's go to Him in prayer. Father, we thank
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You so much for sending Your one and only Son to die on a cross for sinners like us, like me.
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All of us, without exception, are described in Romans 3, 9 to 20.
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And it's been hard to look at ourselves in that mirror, but by the law comes the knowledge of sin.
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I pray, Lord, that every person hearing this word today would make no more excuses, would no longer consider themselves okay and good enough, but would see their wretched condition and repent of their sin and look to Jesus and so be saved.
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Father, thank You for the blood of Jesus shed for sinners like us. Thank You for a righteousness not our own, in which
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You clothe us when we come to You in faith. Thank You for the righteousness of Christ credited to our account, these wicked sinners that we are, now counted righteous by the blood of the
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Lamb. Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son. Thank You for loving us while we were yet sinners.
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We now know the depth of our own sin, and we know the
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Savior who has made us clean. Thank You for saving us. In Jesus' name.
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Amen. To a virgin came the
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Word From a throne of endless glory To a cradle in the dirt
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Praise the Father Praise the
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Son Praise the Spirit Three in one
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God of glory Majesty Praise forever
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To the King of kings To reveal the kingdom coming
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And to reconcile the lost To redeem the whole creation
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You did not despise the cross For even in Your suffering
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You saw to the other side Knowing this was our salvation
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Jesus for our sake You died Praise the
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Father Praise the Son Praise the
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Spirit Three in one God of glory
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Majesty Praise forever
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To the King of kings And the morning that You rose
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All of heaven held its breath Till the stones were forgone
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For the Lamb had conquered death And the dead rose from their tombs
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And the angels stood in awe For the souls of all who come
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To the Father are restored And the Church of Christ was born
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And the Spirit lit the flame Now the gospel truth of old
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Shall not kneel, shall not faint By His blood and in His name
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In His freedom I am free For the love of Jesus Christ Who has resurrected me
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Praise the Father Praise the
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Son Praise the Spirit Three in one
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God of glory Majesty Praise forever
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To the King of kings Praise forever
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To the King of kings
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Bob Nichols funeral will be Friday So the funeral will be at 6 Viewing will be from 4 to 6
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So if anybody can make it, please do But we know he is seeing the
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Lord And he is dancing in the presence And singing joyfully So we give praise to God for that We grieve but not like those who have no hope
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Final benediction Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom And knowledge of God How unsearchable are
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His judgments And how inscrutable His ways For who has known the mind of the
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Lord Or who has been His counselor Or who has given a gift to Him That He might be repaid
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For from Him and through Him and to Him Are all things To Him be glory forever