September 18, 2022 – Sunday Service Live Stream

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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In a moment we're gonna prepare our hearts for worship. I just wanted to make reference to one thing.

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Anything that we have for announcements that go on are in our slack channel, the various slack channels that we have.

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Many of you know that well, but if you are uncertain, if you have access to it, or maybe missing something, just let us know.

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We'll make sure. That's where we usually make some of the announcements and things that are going on in the body and the life of the church.

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I just wanted to make reference to that. Now let's prepare our hearts for worship. My brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace be unto you from God our

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Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ and welcome to the corporate worship of our God.

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Please stand. Oh come and let us sing to the

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Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving.

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Let us shout joyfully to him with psalms. For the Lord is the great

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God and the great King above all gods. In his hands are the deep places of the earth.

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The heights of the hills are his also. The sea is his for he made it.

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In his hands formed the dry land. Oh come let us worship and bow down and kneel before the

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Lord our maker. For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the sheep of his hands.

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Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we have come to worship and bow down and kneel before you, the

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Lord our maker. For you are our God and we are the people of your pasture and the sheep of your hands.

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We come to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

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He is our advocate with you. He is our mediator between God and man.

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He always lives and makes intercession for us. Through him we come boldly to your throne of grace.

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In his name we earnestly seek you. Oh Lord, our souls thirst for you, our flesh yearns for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

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Bow your heavens and come down. Inhabit the praises of your people. Remember your promise, oh spirit of Christ, to be present in the midst of your worshipping people when two or more are gathered in your name.

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Condescend to grant us the joy of your fellowship. Speak to us through your word and be blessed by our praise and adoration.

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Amen. As you are able, please kneel for the corporate confession of sin.

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Let us join together in confessing our sins. Please stand while the light shines around me.

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Take the scales from my eyes and grind to dust my heart of unbelief.

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Please stand for the assurance of pardon. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

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This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

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If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

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But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin.

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Oh, the bliss of that glorious thought. Our sin, not in part, but the whole, was nailed to the cross.

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For those who are in Christ Jesus, be joyful. Your sins are forgiven. Amen. Let us take up the hymnal and open to hymn number 179,

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Hallelujah, Thine the Glory, hymn 179. The insert for our

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Psalm of the week, which is Psalm 137, but on the insert it says 274, beside the streams of Babylon.

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I'm going to ask Alyssa to play through it one time and then we will join in. Be our great joy, let us weep, we'll sing, for his venture is done.

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Please remain standing and open your Bibles for our scripture reading to Jeremiah 31.

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Jeremiah 31. At the same time, says the Lord, I will be the

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God of the families of Israel, they shall be my people. Thus says the

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Lord, the people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness. Israel, when

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I went up to give him rest. The Lord had appeared of old to me saying, yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love.

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Therefore, with loving kindness, I have drawn you again. I will build you.

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You shall be rebuilt, oh, virgin of Israel. You shall again be adorned with your tambourines and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.

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You shall yet plant vines of the mountains of Samaria. The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food.

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For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, arise and let us go up to Zion to the

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Lord, our God. For thus says the Lord, sing with gladness for Jacob and shout among the chief of the nations.

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Proclaim, give praise and say, oh, Lord, save your people. The remnant of Israel behold,

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I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them, the blind and lame, the women with child and the one who labors with child together.

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A great throng shall return there. For they shall come with weeping and with supplication

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I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters and in the straight way, which they shall not stumble.

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For I am the father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the

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Lord, oh nations, and declare it in the aisles of far off. And say who scattered

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Israel will gather him and keep him as the shepherd shepherd does his flock. For the

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Lord has redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of one stranger than he stronger than he.

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Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, streaming to the to the goodness of the

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Lord for wheat and new wine and oil. For the young of the flock in the herd, their soul shall be like a well watered garden.

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And they shall sorrow no more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance and the young men of old together.

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For I will turn them from their mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

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I will satiate the soul of priests with abundance and my people will be satisfied with my goodness, says the

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Lord. Thus says the Lord, a voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.

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Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children because they are no more.

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Thus says the Lord, refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears. For your work shall be rewarded, says the

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Lord, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the

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Lord, that your children shall come back from their own border. I have surely said

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Ephraim bemoaning himself. You have chastised me and I was chastised like an untrained bull.

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Restore me and I will return for you are the Lord, my God. Surely you are turning.

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I have repented. And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh. I was ashamed.

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Yes, even humiliated before I bore the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraim my dear son?

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Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still.

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Therefore my heart yearns for him. I surely have mercy on him, says the Lord. Set up signed posts, make landmarks, set your heart towards the highway, the way in which you went.

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Turn back, O Virgin of Israel, turn back to your cities. How long will you gad about,

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O backsliding daughter? For the Lord created a new thing in the earth. A woman shall encompass a man.

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Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel. They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah.

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And in its cities I will bring back their captivity. The Lord bless you, O home of justice and mountains of holiness.

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There shall dwell in Judah itself and in its cities together farmers and those going out with flocks.

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For I have satisfied the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul. After this

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I awoke, look around, and my sheep was sweet to me. Behold, the days are coming, says the

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Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and seed of beast.

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And it shall come to pass that I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict.

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So I will watch over them to build and plant, says the Lord. In those days shall be no more.

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The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die.

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For his own iniquity, every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.

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Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah.

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Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in that day, that I took them into the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.

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My covenant which they broke, though I was husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant

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I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds, and right on their hearts.

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And I will be God, and they shall be my people. No more shall each man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,

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Know the Lord, for all they shall know me. From the least of them to the greatest of them, says the

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Lord. I will forgive their iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more.

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Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day, the ordinance of the moon and stars for the light by night?

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Who disturbs the sea and its waves? If this ordinance depart for me, says the

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Lord, then the seed of Israel shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus says the

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Lord, if heaven above can be measured, and the foundation of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, says the

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Lord. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the

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Lord, and the tower of Hanau, and the corner gate. The surveyor's line again extended straight forward over the hill of Gereb, then it shall turn toward Goeth.

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And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the brook

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Choradom, to corner of house gate, horse gate, towards the east, shall be holy to the

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Lord. It shall be plucked up, or thrown down, any more forever.

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Thus says the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us join our voices together, proclaiming our common

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Christian faith, and the singing of the Apostles' Creed. Who was conceived by the

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Holy Spirit, born in spirit like church, the communion of saints.

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Let us once more take up the hymnal, and turn to hymn number 455, And can it be that I should gain.

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Hymn 455. And seeing the multitudes,

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Jesus went up on a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

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Lord, lead us in a life of repentance. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

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Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

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Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

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As we look to our neighbor, cause us to remember how you have put our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.

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Be merciful to forgive. Prevent us, God, from this,

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God, and do it by causing us to remember Christ, you don't hold a grudge against us.

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We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see

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God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

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Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.

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Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who worked for you.

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And to these things we say, amen.

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Please stand and take up the insert once again for the Psalm of the month, which is listed as Psalm 83.

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Do not be silent, God, or unresponding. Psalm 83. In awe this morning because in the providence of God we are reading in Jeremiah and that theme speaks to the same prophetic word that I have in Zechariah.

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We are singing sequentially for 137 weeks it must be through the

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Psalter and it's the context is the same as we're learning in Zechariah and the

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Psalm of the month there is a little bit more intentionality there but it is astounding to me that the

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Lord and his providence would orchestrate the liturgy in this way.

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Please turn your Bibles to the book of Zechariah. I'm going to ask you to turn to chapter 2 and I'm going to read the whole chapter.

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Zechariah 2. This is God's holy and infallible word.

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Then I raised my eyes and looked and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.

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So I said where are you going? And he said to me to measure

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Jerusalem to see what is its width and what is its length and there was the angel who talked with me going out and another angel who was coming out to meet him who said to him run speak to this young man saying

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Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls because of the multitude of men and livestock in it for I says the

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Lord will be a wall of fire all around her and I will be the glory in her midst.

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Up up flee from the land of the north says the Lord for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven says the

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Lord up Zion escape you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon for thus says the

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Lord of hosts he sent me after glory to the nations which plunder you for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye for surely

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I will shake my hand against them and they shall become spoil for their servants then you will know that the

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Lord of hosts has sent me sing and rejoice oh daughter of Zion for behold

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I am coming and I will dwell in your midst says the Lord many nations shall be joined to the

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Lord in that day and they shall become my people and I will dwell in your midst then you will know that the

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Lord of hosts has sent me to you and the Lord will take possession of Judah as his inheritance in the

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Holy Land and will again choose Jerusalem be silent all flesh before the

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Lord for he is aroused from his holy habitation amen please pray with me oh

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Lord we thank you for the treasure of your word we thank you for this obscure prophecy which many have never read or never heard a sermon from we thank you for the providential care that you and grace you have shown to us today to let us sing and to pray and meditate upon these wonderful things in preparation for the message oh

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Lord I pray that the lesson you instructed Israel with here through your prophet would pierce our hearts and we too would flee

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Babylon and dwell in your glorious presence we ask these things in the name of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen please be seated as we have seen throughout

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Zechariah there is complexity but there is also a plain message that is being conveyed to us today

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I have two headings for you to organize your thoughts under for an outline very simple first there is a command flee from the land of the north escape from Babylon and number two there is a promise

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I am coming and I will dwell in your midst many nations will be joined to the

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Lord in that day and they shall become my people a command and a promise the

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Lord is aroused from his holy habitation let all the earth tremble the people are returning from Babylon to reinhabit

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Jerusalem in the land of Judah to redeem my people the people's ancestors broke covenant and found themselves in exile they did not heed the words turn now from your evil ways and your evil deeds let us make sure today that we do heed those words we too need to turn from our evil ways and our evil deeds we too need to believe in faith that the the barren fields of Judah yet restored are better than the prosperous lands of Babylon or Persia we too have to believe it is better to dwell in the house of God with his people in fellowship with him than to have all the honors this world could bestow we too have to come out of Babylon last couple weeks we've learned joyfully that the

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Lord is still jealous for Jerusalem and Zion the

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Lord is zealous and jealous for your heart as well what a great lover he is never relents in his pursuit of us always coming after us always drawing us back in what a glorious God we serve the

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Lord has been exceedingly angry with the nations that he has used to chasten his people after their rebellion the four horns as we learned a couple of weeks ago represented nations like Babylon and Edom Moab the

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Edomites the Assyrians all of these pictures a reference in our minds to the old nation of Egypt there's something interesting here for us to consider there is a redemptive pattern

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God allowed his people to be enslaved in Egypt as the young nation of Israel Jacob as 70 persons goes down to Egypt and they are there for 433 years that they bore heavy burdens under the oppression of the

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Egyptians but God would not leave them there for they must come out of Egypt the northern tribes are carried away to Assyria and most of them don't return but Judah has been taken captive by Babylon and through providential visitation of the

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Lord a working of his spirit in the hearts of what appeared to be an otherwise wicked man Cyrus they are implored to go back to their land and back to their home and rebuild their lives in honor and glory to God and Israel his people are going to return his mercy comes back to Jerusalem his temple house will be built in it the city walls that that cannot contain the growth and prosperity of the people will return and last week you'll remember our message concluded with a climactic exaltation

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I will be a wall of fire all around her he said in verse five and I will be the protector and defender of my people the enemies of the church of God would have to pass through the wall of his consuming fire to get to us not a hair on our head will fall to the ground without him allowing it they cannot pass through that wall of fire more importantly we've learned that God will be present with them and will be the glory in her midst the promises the hope the future but not everyone sees this this way look at verse six why does

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Zechariah have to implore the people to flee from the land of the north the people of God have been living in exile in a foreign land but beloved it's the only land that they know they are fully integrated really into Babylonian society there's 40 or 50 ,000 people who have come back to Jerusalem but how many hundreds of thousands have remained they've not come back yet I've noticed something about myself and maybe it's true about I know this for the

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Zenos I know it's true for me not so much for my wife because she has to live with me but I live in the neighborhood that I grew up in I feel most comfortable of all the places in the world in that part of Orlando that's where I'm from when we think about the people of God we think of them they're from Israel they long to be in Jerusalem they long to be in Canaan they want to see the worship of God they want to go into his temple they've never seen it most of them they've never been in the temple most of them their home is here their fields are here their prosperity is here how can they go back is the

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Lord going to forget us again I'm surviving I'm doing okay here in Babylon but Zechariah urges the people he says up up come out listen listen flee from the land of the north

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I was thinking about our children there might be some helpfulness for you to think about this in this way today there are two modern nations that you are familiar with they've been in the news in recent years those are the countries of Iraq and Iran Persia formed the southwest part of what is now known as Iran and Babylon was the southern part along the

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Euphrates River 50 miles south of Baghdad the capital city of Babylon northeast of Israel the people of God have been supplanted and transported to Iraq and Iran you know where Israel is they've been taken away those are hostile peoples to us

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Israel they would say but they're used to it now they're comfortable there they don't want to come back it's been nearly 70 years and Babylon was their home it's the only life that they knew the prophet here cries out to the people of God to flee

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Babylon they've been scattered they would be potentially scattered again but destruction is coming upon their enemies go up Zion climb the holy hill people of God go back to Jerusalem escape those useless you who dwell in the daughter of Babylon the reason for this command is that the

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Lord is reversing the fortunes of the Babylonians as you know

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Babylon's become synonymous with the world powers and opposition against God and his people they were so treacherous and so brutal and their dealings with God's people they have been elevated to that place of disgust as Egypt and Sodom they are hostile to God the fortress of Babylon is now vulnerable why because the

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Lord is going to bring his calamity upon them it's reminiscent of what will happen to the glorious people of God in the church in the first century they are going to flee when the hammer of Rome comes and crushes

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Jerusalem the people of God need to heed the voice of God and when he calls us to flee we are to flee that Bible on vulnerable ready to receive the

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Lord's calamity his people should flee let's look at verse 8 chapter 2 they've been spread to the four by the four winds the

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Lord himself has done it we read the end of chapter the middle of chapter 1 just as the

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Lord of hosts determined to do to us according to our ways and according to our deeds so has he dwelt with dealt with us we have deserved to be sent into exile they would say look at verse 8 thus says the

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Lord of hosts he sent me after glory to the nations which ponder you the

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Babylonians in their violence toward the people have made a colossal mistake they have poked

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God himself in the eye the object of his affection is

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Israel and when they poked Israel they poked the apple the most sensitive part of God's eye he's now acting in response to these treacherous acts the once powerful

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Babylon is now being plundered the plunderers are being plundered and reminiscent of that language of the first message

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Joshua 5 the captain of the Lord's armies Christ had himself has been sent out notice in verse 8 the capital image of the and me rather this is none other than the

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Lord Jesus Christ he is going to break the backs of those who have been hostile to the

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Lord in his people he uses means he uses armies he uses calamity he uses pestilence but this is the work of the

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Lord himself he says in verse 9 for surely

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I will shake my hand against them and they will become spoiled and they will fail for their servants this is happening presently with Persia Persia formerly servants now make

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Babylon their spoil and so he cries out

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Babylon is not your home return to Jerusalem I wonder for us if there's any modern application these are historical things historical events that happen in Israel we know that they point to greater future realities some of which we have experienced partially at least the fullness of which we will experience on the last day but we have to ask the question is there a principle that that has modern application for us the people who remained in Babylon were under the sway of a world system that the

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Lord himself is aroused against I don't know if you know this or not this is a country with a great heritage a great history a great founding but you live in Babylon Babylon is around so the question for us is there's three classes of people that we're going to kind of encounter in this section of Zechariah the first are the people who are residing in Jerusalem that is probably most representative of us here at APC today we've come to God's house we want to hear

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God's word we want to to dwell in his presence but we're a little bit shaky about how it's going to work out things don't look so great around us we might say then there's another class of people the the people of God who have remained back in Babylon there may be some of us here today who have stayed in Babylon we need to flee

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Babylon and return to the Lord and dwell in his presence you and I are familiar with the customs of Babylon it's all around us there is pagan worship all around us and it doesn't even cause us to blush it doesn't even cause us to give it another thought the wicked practice of the

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Babylonians is all around us and we don't see it for what it is dare

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I say even the church the people of God have incorporated through syncretism the practice of the pagan

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Babylonians and their own lives come out from them and be separate destruction is coming upon the wicked why would the

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Christian go and participate in those things that will rain down the hellfire of God on the wicked why would we partake and dabble in Babylon we need to return to the

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Lord and the fellowship of his people all the Lord has to do is is shake his hand look at verse nine and the nations will be toppled the

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Lord shakes his hand and they're destroyed come out of the world that is in rebellion against God and run to his glorious presence should ask yourself the question to look at your own lives the the fruit of your own lives how are you staying behind in Babylon what are the areas in which you are familiar with and comfortable with the customs of the world that are in opposition to our

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God you need to repent to turn away from those things apply the principle here articulated in the history of Israel in the history of Israel is the future of the church we're going to see that in a couple of moments come out from among them and be separate come out of Zion flee from the land of the north

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Jerusalem and Judea are in ruins but the presence of God is coming there come to that place where God is and meet with him there verse 9 for surely

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I will shake my hand against them and they shall become spoil for their servants then you will know that the

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Lord of hosts has sent me all of these things of course come to pass

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Babylon is going to be destroyed Syria destroyed

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Edom destroyed the Roman Empire destroyed let's look at verse 10 back in Jerusalem God commands his people to sing and to rejoice why the

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Lord is coming soon to dwell in Jerusalem how much more should our singing and rejoicing be energized by the fact that there's not just a faraway promise of the

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Lord's return but the Lord is here dwelling in the midst of his worshipping covenant people we are standing and living right now in this moment in the presence of God if we ever are it's here and it's now may the glory of God fill his this place may the glory of God fill our hearts may we be moved by the

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Holy Spirit to walk in his righteousness we should sing with great zeal we should be rejoicing what

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Christ has done in our lives the Lord has come he is coming to dwell in Jerusalem another question for you it seems here that the deep longing and desire of God's people is that they might dwell in the presence of God the the drumbeat of our section is

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I am coming and I will dwell in your midst this is the thing that is getting the people of God most excited that God would be with them today what is the deep longing and desire of you in your heart is it that you might dwell in his presence it is

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Christ here did he save you to make the rest of your life a little bit better to to prosper your business to give you a nice little family is that what you've reduced the glory of Christ to Christ makes your life the things you really want to do better is that what you've reduced

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Christ to be we need to turn our hearts back to him the deep longing of the

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Christian heart the desire of God's people is that they might dwell in his presence this is what heaven will be the glory of heaven will be the perfect dwelling with God in his presence that that's the the ultimate expression of the human condition to be in the glorious presence of God eternally in that perfect glorified state that is what heaven will be it seems to me that a little bit of heaven has come down and we should zealously pursue us living before the face of God dwelling in his presence and finding in him the fullness of joy and satisfaction that should be what our life is characterized by Christ is our life he doesn't make our life better he's everything to us the best part of this life is to dwell in God's presence now we've been on a repentance movement here but like our spiritual forefathers we have to be reminded that we have by his grace been united to him we've been united to Christ Christ in us

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Christ with us Christ the hope of glory Christ is our life we're gonna shift now to the second and last point there's a promise verse 10 is the transition it fits in both the command we're commanded to come out we're commanded to sing and rejoice and the promise is in the last half of verse 10 for behold

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I am coming and will dwell in your midst says the Lord and here's the astounding part you remember up to this point the two nations the two visions have dealt very roughly with the nations the nations outside of Israel they are set and scheduled for calamity to fall upon them from the hand of the

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Lord but what's happening in verse 11 it says many nations shall be joined to the

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Lord in that day and they shall become my people I want you to imagine if you will these

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DNA tests they have that we can take our DNA some kind of swab send it back and they give us some kind of profile of our genealogy

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I think for the vast majority of us this is very exciting for the vast majority of us who would find that our families at the time of Zechariah's prophecy were living in pagan lands not a clue about who

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God was in fact probably the majority of our ancestors have perished in their sin when thinking about it in that way many nations shall be joined to the

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Lord in that day here on this day what is the date September 18th at Ascension Presbyterian Church the

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Saints of Ascension and guests they have ascended Zion's Holy Hill and met with God there we are living breathing examples of the fulfillment of the prophecy in verse 11 many nations all of us most likely come out of the nations and we are now the covenant people of God he's done it before and he's going to continue to do it the gospel of Jesus Christ is going to triumph on this earth many nations will be joined to the

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Lord in that grand eschatological day and they will become my people he says

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God is returning the promises being realized in real time in Jerusalem God is returning to his people he is responding to his enemies they are being overthrown his people are being established

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Oh sing and rejoice Oh daughter of Zion the Lord reigns the

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Lord is coming how much more should we sing and rejoice Christ has come the great hope for the post exiled

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Judeans the longing of their heart is our very present reality they couldn't fathom the day almost they had to peer with eyes of faith for a long awaited day and it's here and many nations have gathered the

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Lord has come in the flesh and dwelt among us we have beheld his glory the walls of Jerusalem you'll remember from our earlier messages they cannot contain the growth of God's kingdom we read about that in Jeremiah 31 as well it's a little city with a little wall around it this has to be a city without walls

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Jerusalem is going to the four corners of the world see if my theory holds up in just a moment we have come to Mount Zion in the city of the living

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God a faraway land Florida how far away is this land the

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Lord dwells here in our midst Christ says here through Zechariah when this happens then you will know that the

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Lord has sent me to you we know we know the Lord has sent him to us this is a reality underappreciated by us as the people of God Christ is our life let's turn to Psalm 84 really quickly

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Psalm 84 is it really a blessed thing to dwell in the house of God if you derive no pleasure from the worship of God with his people you could still be his child but you're living in Babylon you love

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Babylon and her ways it's familiar it's comfortable to you and you're forsaking the true riches to stay there come out of Babylon come out people of God come back to God go meet with him there

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Psalm 84 exclamation points should be used sparingly and talk to my wife

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English lady in our text today they have not been used sparingly how lovely is your tabernacle

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O Lord of hosts my soul longs yes even faints for the courts of the

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Lord my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God that's the real heart of the real

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Christian person that's what they desire and love above all else they want to be in communion with God even the

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Sparrow has found a home in the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young even your altars

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O Lord of hosts my God my king blessed are those who dwell in your house they will still be praising you blessed is the man whose strength is in you whose heart is set on pilgrimage

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I'm in Babylon I want to go home the presence of the Lord that's where I want to dwell as they pass through the valley of Bacchus they make it a spring the rain also covers it with pools they go from strength to strength each one appears before God in Zion O Lord God of hosts hear my prayer give ear

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O God of Jacob O God behold our shield and look upon the face of your anointed for a day in your courts is better than a thousand

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I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of wickedness it's true for the post -exilic

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Jerusalem dwellers it's true for Israel and Egypt it's true for us it's better to be a doorkeeper in the house of God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness for the

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Lord God is a son and shield the Lord will give grace and glory and no good thing will he withhold for those who walk uprightly

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O Lord of hosts blessed is the man who trusts in you his presence among his people should yield jubilant worship shouts of joyous singing we read about in Jeremiah 31 the future of what's going to happen the nations are going to be brought in as the

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Judean heed God's call and stream back to Jerusalem so too in the future the future in which we now live the nations will stream into the kingdom of God turn on the way back to our text to Isaiah chapter 56 salvation seems impossible to a rebellious people but God says return to me and I will return to you

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Babylon is being sacked by the Persians they're pagans but God's going to do a work and he's going to to save some of them and bring them into the house of God as well the promise of Gentile inclusion a mystery huge theme of the

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New Testament the worldwide expansion of God's kingdom outside of a narrow strip of land along the

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Mediterranean this kingdom has no limits or end and has a king whose power and reign has no limits the gospel in Christ is going out to the whole world and it's already done it redemptively scripturally this is a an astounding reality thus says the

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Lord Isaiah 56 keep justice and do righteousness for my salvation is about to come and my righteousness to be revealed the

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Lord is going to dwell in Jerusalem in a rebuilt temple but his real idea is that the temple is going to reside in the person of his son

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Jesus Christ the temple of God is Jesus Christ his salvation is coming it's coming in Christ his righteousness is coming it's coming in Christ blessed is the man who does this and the son of man who lays hold on it who keeps from filing the

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Sabbath and keeps his hand from doing evil what about the foreigners in our midst this promise is for the descendants of Abraham we might say verse 3 do not let the son of the foreigner who has joined himself to the

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Lord speak saying the Lord has utterly separated me from his people nor let the eunuch say who would be considered an accursed person in some ways here

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I am a dry tree I have no way to have descendants for thus says the

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Lord to the eunuchs who keep my Sabbath and who choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant even to them

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I will give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters

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I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut out also the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the

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Lord to serve him and to love the name of the Lord to his servants everyone who keeps from defiling the

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Sabbath and holds fast my covenant even them I will bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations salvation looks hard for the

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Jews committed the oracles of God they're God's people in Christ salvation comes to the

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Jews and to the Gentiles even to the pagans of the nations they're being drawn in and brought in to the kingdom of God the implications of these truths let's go ahead and go back to Zechariah the implication of these truths that are revealed in Isaiah and Zechariah is that the

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Jews will out of the nations forsaking their idolatry and giving their exclusive covenantal loyalty to the

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Lord they will all be gathered in they will be made into we learn in the

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New Testament one body and dwell in the Lord's presence forever in Zechariah Jerusalem is presently a humble place in need of that restoration but God is again coming and choosing

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Jerusalem therefore let all flesh be silent before the Lord who is rousing from his holy habitation and is about to act

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I mentioned today in our prayer with the men before the service I've wondered why there is such a lack of reverence and awe associated with the

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Lord's advent his incarnation his sinless life his crucifixion and atoning death his burial his resurrection his triumphant ascension his powerful sending of his spirit all of this should utterly leave us in awe we might not feel that reverence and that awe because a little bit of our heart is in awe because we be confronted with the truth of this the things of God are cold to us because we have hearts that pine after Babylon we have to repent our

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God is rousing from his holy habitation he's going to act again the

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Lord is poised to act the vision of the man with the measuring line which encompasses chapter 2 promises that God will once again be present in the midst of his people verses 5 verses 10 and 11 for those coming in post exile the promise of transformation it's a promise that the

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Lord is going to transform Israel the holy city now in ruins will be restored their vulnerability replaced with the firewall of God's protection the barrenness of their fields and flocks replaced with that fruitful harvest bottomless vats of wine teeming streams flocks without number the question is how is

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God going to do this the Lord has declared here that he's going to transform the world by entering it the promise is fully realized in the incarnation of the

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Son the Lord Jesus Christ God has really come and dwelt with us he's fully present with his people his name

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Emmanuel given that title to the expectant day of the virgin born son

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Jesus Emmanuel what does it mean God with us in Christ the glory of heaven has entered into our realm like the

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Jerusalem of Zechariah's vision Jesus was the embodiment of God's presence in Christ God has walked among us exemplified all righteousness and suffered with and for us

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Jesus Christ as I've already mentioned said he was the real temple the true dwelling place of God on earth

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John chapter 2 in his resurrection his presence among us is signed and sealed forever

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I want you to picture this in the incarnation he moves from heaven to earth in his resurrection and ascension he moves back again but in this instance on the return he carries us with him truly our citizenship is in heaven because we are united to Christ and that's where he is between heaven and earth and back again taking us with him at the end of the great commission he says behold

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I am with you always even to the end of the age and at his ascension he triggers the descent in power of the

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Holy Spirit to abide with us and empower us as we walk in faith since Christ is the true temple in the church his body his bride is united to him in this one flesh union with him then the church becomes the dwelling place of God on earth picture this

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God's promise in Zechariah he's going to come and dwell with the people this is amplified exponentially in the arrival of Jesus Christ in the flesh

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Christ has so bound himself and tied himself and united himself to the church that now the church is the dwelling place of God on earth let's turn over really quickly

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I'm going to hit a couple texts 1st Corinthians chapter 3 so there's a temple that they're trying to rebuild this is not an insignificant thing this is a redemptive salvific picturesque thing that's happening but we now are fast forwarding to the post resurrected

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Christ and the building up of the church 1st

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Corinthians 3 16 do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwells in you remember the temple is the place formerly behind a curtain obscured from view where the presence of God is now it says that the temple of God dwells in you

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God dwells in you the presence of God is where the temple is the ultimate expression the exact representation of his person is the

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Lord Jesus Christ he has united himself to the church therefore the church is the temple of God if anyone defiles the temple of God God will destroy him for the temple of God is holy which temple you are turned over to chapter 6 1st

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Corinthians beginning in verse 16 do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her for the two he says shall become one flesh but he who is joined to the

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Lord is one spirit with him flee sexual immorality every sin that a man does outside the body but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body or do you not know that your body is the temple of the

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Holy Spirit who is in you whom you have from God and you are not your own for you were bought at a price therefore glorify

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God in your body and in your spirit which are our gods all of this language of the

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Old Testament fully undergirds and helps us understand this language of the new God's holy presence it resides in the temple think about all the holiness all the all of the degree of difficulty to accomplish and execute the temple worship service but now because we're united to Christ that that dwelling place of God in the spirit is the people of God the church you gotta be careful how we live we can't live in Babylon we're united to the

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Lord turn over to Ephesians chapter 2

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I venture to guess that your genealogy is not listed in the scripture most of you verse 19 this advance of the kingdom is going to go to the ends of the earth verse 19 value therefore are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets

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Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole body whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the

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Lord in whom you are also being built together for a dwelling place of God in the spirit they don't build temples in Babylon not the right kind of temple those are only built on the holy land lastly let's turn to first Peter first Peter chapter 2

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I think of this text so often to come to him first Peter 2 4 as to a living stone rejected indeed by men by chosen by God and precious you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ it seems that the renovation project and temple rebuilding and Haggai and Zachariah with that undercurrent of heart building renovation is pointing to the real end of this all we are the dwelling place of God in the spirit

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I'm not going to have you turn there

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I want you to listen to the powerful working of the Holy Spirit his people in some way incarnate

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God's presence in the world so how does that happen we work as God's ambassadors and seek the transformation of men and nations through the proclamation of the gospel knowing therefore the terror of the

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Lord we persuade men we are well known to God and I trust we are well known in your consciences for we do not commend ourselves again to you to give you opportunity to boast on our behalf that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart verse 14 for the love of Christ compels us because we judge thus that if one died for all then all died and he died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again if Christ has saved you you can't go on living back there in Babylon skipping down verse 17 second

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Corinthians five if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation old things have passed away behold all things have become new now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation that is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation you and I are called to work as God's ambassadors and to seek the reconciliation of the world through our neighbors and families one at a time through the proclamation of the gospel

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Paul says then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us we implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to the world through our neighbors and at a of the implore you on Christ's reconciled to the world through our neighbors and families one at a time through the word of we implore you on We are the visible expression of what a transformed people in Christ should look like.

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We shouldn't have the practices of the pagans here. As the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long -suffering, bearing with one another, forgiving one another.

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If anyone has a complaint against you, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

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But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

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And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you are also called in one body, and be thankful.

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Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the

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Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the

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Father through him. The church also,

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I'm not going to turn there because we read it last week, Revelation 21, 3 -5. The church today also points to what it will be in the future.

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The glorified state dwelling in the presence of God. Christ is making everything new by his transforming presence.

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Christ has come, and he will come again. What would be the implications if the church faithfully displayed all of this?

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The whole world would keep silent before the Lord. Her reverential awe would lead to jubilant worship and shouts of joyous singing.

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They would see the world acted upon by the

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Lord and undergo an eternal transformation by his presence.

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My friends, God in history, it seems sometimes as though he's resting.

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But our God has been roused from his holy habitation. We are witnessing the rapid advance of his kingdom and the triumph of his gospel, and there's going to be a day that we will revel in where all of his and our enemies will be defeated.

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Let's give thanks to the Lord in all of this in prayer. Please pray with me. Oh Lord, we thank you for the prophecy of Zechariah, which seems so far away to us.

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We thank you that you have brought it near to us in Christ. Lord, help us to see and reveal to us the

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Babylon in our hearts, but also to see the open, welcoming arms that you extend to us who repent and return.

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It's an amazing love, God, that you would deal with us in this way.

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Oh Lord, we ask that you would cause us to be filled with joy and thanksgiving and awe and reverence and hope and love as we consider what you are doing in Christ, that you would allow us to be faithful ambassadors, that the world would see what a transformed people look like, and that we would be eager to draw them in with your gospel and to love them as brethren, wherever they come from, from whatever nation, whatever background, that there be a place for them in your church.

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We ask most of all that Christ would be exalted in our hearts today and that our hearts would be transformed because he has, by his presence, transformed it.

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We ask these things in Jesus' name. Let's continue our worship through the presentation of tithes and offerings.

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Please stand and let's pray together. Oh Lord, we thank you for the lives that you have given to us, the work you've given us to do, the stewardship, responsibility for all these things.

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We ask that you would receive our return to you, what is yours, and that you'd use these offerings to advance your kingdom.

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We ask this in Jesus' name. It would seem that lackluster singing would be impossible when we've heard the imperatives of Zechariah.

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They sang with great joy for hope of a temple that was to be built, that God may come and dwell among them.

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But we are the temple and God has dwelt among us. We have been united to Christ.

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It seems to me that the gloria patria, this gloria patria should be better than any we've ever done.

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Let's sing it together. Ever thinking again.

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There was a promise in Zechariah that God would be with you. And we are going to experience in the communion a realization of those promises fulfilled.

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So when I say the Lord be with you, don't say it yet. When I say that, think about all of the implications of what that means.

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The Lord be with you. And also with you. Lift up your hearts.

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We lift them up to the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord. It is good and right, so to you.

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It is right and a good and joyful thing that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to you.

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Oh, holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, because you sent your beloved son to redeem us from sin and death.

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And to make us heirs in him of everlasting life. That when he shall come again in power and great triumph to judge the world, we may without shame or fear rejoice to behold his appearing.

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Therefore, with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven, we praise and magnify your glorious name, evermore praising you and singing.

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See in your incarnation, your condescending love for us.

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The promises that you would be

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God to us, that we would be your people, are more easily, readily seen in your incarnation.

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We thank you, oh Lord Jesus Christ, for fulfilling all righteousness.

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And imputing that righteousness to us who have not earned it and giving it to us as a gift by your grace.

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And oh Lord, I pray that we would see through these creaturely elements of bread and wine that we would discern the body and blood of Jesus Christ crucified for us.

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We would also see, oh Lord, that you have made us one with yourself.

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You have taken us to be your own. You have bound yourself with cords of love that can never be broken.

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Oh Lord, help us to see what communion is in that vertical sense. But oh

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Lord, help us to also see that those bounds of love extend to our brethren in you.

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And that our hearts would be filled with great love for all the saints who are united to you, both those present and those in other churches today.

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And we ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Take, eat, this is my body.

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Christ took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

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Drink from it, all of you, for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

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Lord's death. Christ died,

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Christ is risen, Christ will come again. In great humility, let us approach the table now by praying in unison.

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We do not presume to come to this your table, oh merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies.

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We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table, but you are the same

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Lord who always shows mercy. Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of your dear

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Son, Jesus Christ, and to drink of his blood. That our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood.

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And that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen. Christ, our

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Passover, has been sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feasts, the gifts of God for you, the people of God.

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Thanks be to the Lord. What a privilege it has been to assemble, to dwell as God's temple in his presence.

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Let's make this commitment sincerely before the Lord. Almighty and ever -living

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God, we thank you for feeding us with the spiritual food of the most precious body and blood of your

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Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And for assuring us in these holy mysteries that we are living members of the body of your

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Son, and heirs of your eternal kingdom. And, O Lord, grant us this other benefit, that you will never allow us to forget these things, but having them imprinted on our hearts.

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May we grow and increase daily in the faith which is at work in every good deed.

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And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our

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Lord. To him, to you, and to the Holy Spirit, the honor and glory, now and forever.

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Amen. Please stand. Great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will.

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Working in you what is well -pleasing in his sight. Through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory forever and ever.