Sexagesima Service

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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01:20

Well, you have all day. Okay. Well, will they reschedule it.

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No, I don't think they have ever really happened before, but this was

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Sunday. Yeah, but I don't know. I don't know. Yeah.

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That was last year, this weather is crazy. Yeah, it's gonna rain it's gonna pour for two minutes.

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Yeah, and then that's the end of it. That's right. That's the way it is.

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Probably not that chilly outside, I wouldn't guess I wouldn't gather. So bad for some reason, our sound is not coming in.

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Oh great, and I don't know why. Maybe it's, I don't, it's not on our end.

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It's not an RN, I don't believe I did. I did I don't believe it's on.

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It's not on our end. I'd rather see the church than music.

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Oh yeah we can do that. I don't want to see the music. Oh yeah yeah look. Yeah, like to see what

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I got to figure out how to swap it. How actually I figured out how to do that.

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Can you show me. Well I don't know if I can. Let's see, view options. Okay, regional size.

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No, that's not it. That's not a control. Click on the picture, because now it's not going anywhere.

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Let me see. Yeah, even I stupid me figured that one out, but this is not my computer either.

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I know it's the same one basically yeah it is. She how

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I did it. How about trying that one. This button here. Yeah. No, no, no.

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Hold on. First of all, I need to figure out why we're not you turn on the speaker bar but you are unmuted.

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I would like to welcome you all the Kongsbinger Lutheran Church. Today is sex agency my which is, you know, roughly translated 60th we have about 60 days out now between here and and Easter.

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And this is the second Sunday of three Sundays of pre Lent. So keep all of that in mind today will be following the order of divine service setting to the psalm tone will be psalm tone

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F as in farfetched Nugent. Which which if you remember the old

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Volkswagen commercials they claim that that was a German word for like the joy of driving or something like that farfetched

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Nugent. That's so F as in farfetched Nugent. So opening him today is 583.

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And if you are physically present here at Kongsbinger please rise for the opening him. In the name of the

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Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

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Let us then confess our sins to God our Father. Most merciful God we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean.

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We have sinned against you and thought word and deed by what we have done and by what we have left undone.

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We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.

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We justly deserve your present and eternal punishment for the sake of your son

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Jesus Christ. Have mercy on us. Forgive us renew us and lead us so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your holy name.

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Amen. Almighty God in his mercy has given his son to die for you and for his sake he forgives you all of your sins.

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As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by his authority. I therefore forgive you all of your sins in the name of the

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Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Psalm tone

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F. Awake why are you sleeping oh

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Lord. For our soul is bowed down to the dust.

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Oh God we have heard with our ears our fathers have told us.

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You with your own hand drove out the nations but them you planted.

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But you have saved us from our foes. In God we boast continually.

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Glory be to the Father and to the Son. And to the

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Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and will be forever.

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Awake why are you sleeping oh Lord. For our soul is bound down to the dust.

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In peace let us pray to the Lord. For the peace from above and for our salvation.

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Let us pray to the Lord. For the peace of the whole world.

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For the well -being of the church of God. And for the unity of all.

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Let us pray to the Lord. For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise.

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Let us pray to the Lord. Help save comfort and defend us gracious Lord.

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Glory to God in the highest. And peace to his people on earth.

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The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Oh God the strength of all who put their trust in you.

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Mercifully grant that by your power we may be defended against all adversity. Through Jesus Christ your

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Son our Lord who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit. One God now and forever. Amen.

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You may be seated. The Old Testament reading for Sexagissima is taken from the prophet

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Isaiah chapter 55. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there.

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But water the earth making it bring forth and sprout. Giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.

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So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth. It shall not return to me empty.

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But it shall accomplish that for which I purpose. And shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

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For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace. The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing.

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And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress.

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Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle. And it shall make a name for the Lord. An everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

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This is the word of the Lord. We'll speak the gradual together.

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Let your enemies know that you alone whose name is the Lord. Oh my

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God make them like whirling dust. Our epistle is taken from 2nd

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Corinthians chapters 11 and 12. For you gladly bear with fools being wise yourselves.

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For you bear it if someone makes slaves of you. Or devours you. Or takes advantage of you.

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Or puts on airs. Or strikes you in the face. To my shame I must say that we were too weak for that.

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But whatever anyone else dares to boast of. I'm speaking as a fool. I also dare to boast of that.

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Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the offspring of Abraham?

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So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one.

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I'm talking like a madman. With far greater labors. Far more imprisonments. With countless beatings.

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And often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes. Last one.

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Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.

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A night and a day I was adrift at sea. On frequent journeys in danger from rivers. Danger from robbers.

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Danger from my own people. Danger from Gentiles. Danger in the city. Danger in the wilderness.

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Danger at sea. Danger from false brothers. In toil and hardship. Through many a sleepless night.

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In hunger and thirst. Often without food. In cold and exposure. And apart from the other things.

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There is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak? And I am not weak.

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Who is made to fall? And I am not indignant. If I must boast. I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

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The God and Father of the Lord Jesus. He who is blessed forever. Knows that I am not lying.

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At Damascus. The governor under King Eratos. Was guarding the city of Damascus. In order to seize me.

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But I was let down in a basket. Through a window in the wall. And escaped his hands. I must go on boasting.

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Though there is nothing to be gained by it. I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ.

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Who 14 years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body. I do not know.

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God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise. Whether in the body or out of the body.

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I do not know. God knows. And he who heard things that cannot be told. Which man may not utter on behalf of this man.

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I will boast. But on my own behalf. I will not boast. Except of my weaknesses.

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Though if I should wish to boast. I would not be a fool. For I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it.

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So that no one may think more of me. Than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming too elated.

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By the surpassing greatness of the revelations. A thorn was given me in the flesh. A messenger of Satan to harass me.

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To keep me from becoming too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this. That it should leave me.

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But he said to me. My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses.

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So that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This is the word of the Lord. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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Luke the 8th chapter. When a great crowd was gathering.

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And people from town after town came to Jesus. He said in a parable. A sower went out to sow his seed.

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And as he sowed. Some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot. And the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock.

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And it grew up. It withered away because it had no moisture. Some fell among the thorns.

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And the thorns grew up with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil. And grew and yielded a hundredfold.

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And as he said these things he called out. He who has ears to hear let him hear. And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant.

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He said. To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God. For others they are in parables.

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So that seeing they may not see. And hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this.

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The seed is the word of God. The ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts.

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So that they may not believe and be saved. And the ones on the rock are those who when they hear the word.

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Receive it with joy. But these have no root. And they believe for a while. And in time of testing they fall away.

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As for what fell among the thorns. They are those who hear. But as they go on their way. They are choked by the cares.

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And the riches. And the pleasures of life. And the fruit does not mature. And as for that in the good soil.

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They are those who hearing the word. Hold it fast. And honest. And good heart. And bear fruit with patience.

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This is the gospel of the Lord. Sermon hymn is 823.

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You may be seated. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the

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Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You may be seated. In the name of Jesus. The word of God.

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Christ likens it to seed. And that seed is well. It's living and active. Sharper than a double -edged sword.

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It does stuff. But you'll note that people in the visible church of all places.

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Are quite inattentive. And often times hostile to the word of God. Notable historical examples.

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I think would be helpful here. And we'll note that during the time of the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church locked up the

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Bible in Latin. And unless you knew Latin. You weren't hearing the word of God. And I remember when

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I was growing up. My grandmother would take me to the Latin Mass. And I would sit there and I would know what was going on.

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Because I didn't know a lick of Latin. Might as well have been speaking in tongues. And then of course during the history of the

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Reformation. Those who were translating the scriptures into the vernacular of the people.

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Of the different nations. Many of them faced persecution. Some of them actually martyred. For doing what?

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Making the word of God available to them in their own language. What heresy, right?

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And then you'll note that now that we have the Bible. That doesn't mean that it always has free reign in the visible church.

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I would note in notable places. It is often times attacked. It is maligned. And I think about what's left of what you call the mainline churches.

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The Episcopal Church. The ELCA. Some parts of the Presbyterian churches.

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These people, from the pulpit, attack the word of God. Right before Christmas on the

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Fighting for the Faith YouTube channel. I played a video of a fellow who from the pulpit. While wearing vestments and everything.

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This fellow attacked the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. He says, we live in the 21st century.

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And we know how human procreation works. And this idea that Jesus was born of a virgin is preposterous.

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Of course, I sit there and go. Do you not think that the people of the ancient world had no clue how human procreation worked?

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Right? This is just nonsense. And so he postulated this idea that Jesus the virgin born was somehow some title.

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A legend to kind of show that Jesus was a very, very important fellow. Right. That's attacking the word of God.

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But then you'll note that in other churches. Oh, the word of God barely makes an appearance at all.

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Let me give you an example that I think we can all relate to now. Have you noticed that the Bougie said that they like these cups called

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Stanley cups? I don't understand the rage on the Stanley cups. Right. And those things are ginormous.

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Right. You see a woman walking around with a hot pink or Barbie pink Stanley cup. And you sit in there going, how much water are you drinking in a day?

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OK. If I were drinking out of a Stanley cup every day. I'd have to just set my office up in my bathroom.

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But the whole point is that those Stanley cups, they hold a lot of liquid. Right. That's a big deal.

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But at churches today, many churches, they don't get the word of God in Stanley cup proportions.

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When it comes to getting the word of God, they pull out one of those old thimbles, you know, that grandma used to use. And they get a water dropper and take a couple of drops.

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Here you go. Here's some word of God for you. Right. And God's word barely makes an appearance.

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But then again, also, you'll note that our old Adam is not keen on listening to the word of God or reading the word of God.

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The idea of, you know, reading your Bible, that dusty old thing, you know, that's sitting on your nightstand.

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That your old sinful Adam isn't really interested in that. And nowadays we live in a world where within the visible church, the word of God is like not trusted.

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In fact, you go to some churches and you start taking the Bible seriously. You know, you actually read the thing and you sit there and go, whoa, the

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Bible says this. But my church body says that something's wrong here. And you start to ask questions.

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And the first thing they do is they say to you, you know, you know, you need to stop taking that Bible so seriously.

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I'm a little concerned for you, brother, because don't you understand that head knowledge makes you arrogant?

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And, you know, we have heart knowledge here. And so we're just not interested in all your Bible knowledge. You need to keep that stuff to yourself.

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Right. Mmm. It's a terrible thing. But again, we ignore the word of God to our own detriment.

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The Apostle Paul prophesied our days and prophesied what would be the state of the church in the last days.

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Listen to what he prophesied in 2 Timothy chapter 3. Paul writes, I understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

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People will be lovers of self. This was before they coined the term narcissist. If they had that phrase back then, he would have used it because that's what he's describing here.

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Have you ever read the book The Narcissism Epidemic? You think COVID was bad, right? The Narcissism Epidemic is just running amok.

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And I fear that it's some kind of an airborne disease through casual contact with social media and things like this.

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You'll note how many people are all about taking those selfies and posting them up there. Their main goal in life isn't serving their neighbor in a godly vocation.

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Their main goal is to become an influencer, right? Oh, the Narcissism Epidemic is running amok, and it's in the church too.

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So people will be lovers of self, lovers of money. Proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self -control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

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I'm not describing the pagan world. I'm describing the state of the church. That's what Paul's doing here.

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This is the state of the church in our day. We might want to pay attention because Paul said that this is what it would be like in the last days.

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In other words, if you're paying attention to the Word of God, then you'll note that we're not that far away from the return of Christ.

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I couldn't tell you how long it's going to be. I only work in marketing, management team, and the Trinity, they never tell me what's going on as far as dates and stuff like that.

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But the point is this, we ought to pay attention to God's Word because it is screaming at us right now that things are going exactly the way

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God prophesied through the apostles that it would be going. It's happening in our days.

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We should be paying attention. Paul then says to Christians, avoid such people.

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Are you attending a church where you've got a narcissist leading you? Where there are lovers of money and proud and arrogant and disobedient to their parents and all these kind of other things?

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Avoid such people. Get to a good church. Among them, and listen to this description, talk about salient in our day.

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Among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women.

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Oh, that's right. It's actually perverse pastors, right? They're creepers. And in our day, you'll note that a big scandal has been brewing south of us in Kansas City, International House of Prayer.

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And just this past week, their church released a report done by an independent third party and claimed that Mike Bickle, not with one, but now two verified women, basically said things like,

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God told me that my wife Diana was going to die. And so it's okay for the two of us to be together and eventually we'll be married.

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And there were sexual things going on and stuff like that. And I sit there and go, wow. The apostle

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Paul, a true apostle of Jesus Christ who had the ability through the Holy Spirit to prophesy the future, he nailed it.

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Among those who are creeping to household, capture weak women, burdened with sins, led astray by various passions.

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And then listen to their description. Always learning, never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

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But the right question is, what are they learning? In those churches where God's word barely makes an appearance, do you know how long the sermons are?

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They're not four minutes long. Well, here's three sentences from five different texts and good luck figuring out what the rest of that is.

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No, their sermons go on for an hour. What are they talking about? I have no idea.

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But the one thing I can tell you, they're not talking about what God's word says. Always learning, never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

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And then here comes the point. Paul then uses a metaphor. Just as Janus and Jambres opposed

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Moses. Now, if you don't know who those two fellows are, think back to the book of Exodus. When Moses was finally sent by God to have a chat with Pharaoh.

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Yahweh says, let my people go. And Pharaoh goes, who's this Yahweh guy that I should obey him? And so Moses performed signs and wonders.

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And the earlier signs and wonders, Janus and Jambres were able to mimic using the dark arts of sorcery and things like this.

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Like turning water into blood and stuff like this. But eventually their magic tricks ran out. And the signs and judgments of God kept going.

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But no, Janus and Jambres then are held up as examples of people who not only oppose

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Moses, but they are an example to us of those men who oppose the truth.

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Don't you be bringing God's word to this church. We don't want to hear it, sir. Those who oppose the truth.

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And that's in so many different capacities. So many different examples throughout the visible church nowadays.

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It's a mess. So pay attention. Those who oppose the truth of God's word, we're not interested in hearing it.

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Or only selectively kind of smorgasbording it together. You know, kind of picking, well, we'll take a little bit of this, a little bit of that.

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But one thing for sure, we're not going to listen to it. Man, recently, just the other day,

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I saw a woman preacher. She was filling in at one of these ELCA congregations.

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And she was a guest pastor. And she gets up into the pulpit, and she says, Hi, my name is

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El, and my pronouns are she, them. And then, no sooner does she say that, she says,

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Now, I understand that many of you are alarmed by what we read. Now, understand, we followed the lectionary here, and what

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Paul said about women not being pastors and not able to do stuff like that. He was just a meany poopy head, and that he was part of the evil patriarchy.

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But we listen to Jesus, we don't listen to Paul. That's what she said. Just gasping, right?

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Holy smokes. Talk about opposing the truth. Paul nailed it. These people oppose the truth, but they will not get very far.

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Their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

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But you, however, Paul, now writing to young Pastor Timothy, you, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, and my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, which persecutions

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I endured. Yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

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Notice it didn't say some. It's kind of a bummer, right? It's like, well, you're getting it, but I'm not getting it.

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No, all, everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

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And we'll note here, that's legitimately the case. We're already experiencing soft forms of persecution within the visible church.

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Just wait until it breaks out in the world. And evil people and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

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And understand this. Your sinful nature is an evil person. Your sinful nature is an imposter.

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And your sinful nature desires to steer you back into the vomit of sin, like a pig wallowing in vomit, right?

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But as for you, you continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings.

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Paul's last letter, Peter's last letter, have a lot in common. This is

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Paul's last letter before he's going to have his head taken off his shoulders by a Roman soldier's gladius.

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He is pointing young Pastor Timothy to the sacred writings, to the scripture.

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And he says, they are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

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Again, the word of God is living and active. It is breathed out by God. That's what he says here.

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He says all scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and training in righteousness.

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It is breathed out by God. You're going to note here at the lectern when we read the word of God as a congregation,

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I say these words, this is the word of the Lord, and you say thanks be to God.

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But if I were to get up on a Sunday morning and say, you know, I really feel like the Lord is telling me right now that we're entering into a new season of breakthrough and stuff like this.

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If I were to say this is the word of the Lord, you guys take me outside and rock me. Right? Yeah, okay,

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I got confirmation from the elders. Good. Because is that the word of the Lord? No, it's not.

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But how many people are chasing after words that are not from God? But all scripture, it is breathed out by God.

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And I love that word, theanoustos. It's just this idea that just, it all comes from the very mouth of God.

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In one of our Bible studies yesterday, there was a great question, wonderful question, because what we did in the

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Bible study, looking at next week's text, we looked at the anointing of David with the prophet

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Samuel, and that text is just brewing with like tie -ins to Christ, and it's so messianic, it's fun.

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So we spent time looking at all the connections between the anointing of David and Jesus Christ, and it was a fun, fun, fun, fun

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Bible study. But then somebody asked the question, I've got some friends who get really nervous when we do things like this because they say the authors never intended us to look for Christ in the

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Old Testament. Bah, humbug. Bah, humbug. Are you not familiar with what

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Peter writes in 2 Peter? No prophet wrote according to his own will what he wanted to write, but they were carried along by the

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Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit is the common author of all of the scriptures, and do you think the

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Holy Spirit didn't intend for us to find Jesus in the Old Testament? Of course he did, right?

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That's kind of the point. So all scripture is breathed out by God. It's profitable for teaching, the next two are negative, for reproof, and for correction.

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Oh, that sounds so negative, right? Remember when Joel Osteen came on the scene and everybody noticed that he never preaches sin or repentance or anything like that.

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The guy is like the tyranny of the positive thinker, right? And somebody asked him about that.

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He says, well, you know, the Lord has called me to stay in my lane, and so I have a special calling to encourage people.

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No, you don't. No pastor has a special calling to not reprove, to not rebuke, but those are negative.

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You might hurt somebody's self -esteem if you did that. That's a good point. So if I say that what you are doing is sinful, that it's wrong, it's selfish, it is myopic, it's not loving

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God or loving neighbor, you sit there and go, oh, I'm offended. You hurt my self -esteem. My answer is good.

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Buck up, buttercup. It's about time your self -esteem had the hot air popped and dispersed into the atmosphere like a big fart that it is, right?

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That's what we call a strong rebuke, okay? But the point is this. You don't have a right to not be offended.

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You don't have a right to rule over God's Word with your self -esteem.

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If your self -esteem is in conflict with the Word of God, your self -esteem is in error and needs to repent.

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That's the point. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. These are the things that we're called to do.

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For the Word of God is profitable for training in righteousness, so that the man or the woman of God may be complete and equipped for every good work.

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There is no good work that God is going to call you to that the Word of God will not prepare you for.

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So then he goes on to say this to young Pastor Timothy, and note how firm, how stern this charge is.

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I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the

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Word. Jesus is coming back. He'll be here in five minutes. You know what you need to be doing during those five minutes?

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Preach the Word. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching, for the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine.

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They will hate the Word, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they will turn away from listening to the truth, and they will wander off into myths.

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Yep, and that's the thing. Our sinful nature doesn't want to hear this.

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Our sinful nature wants free reign to follow after our sins. I've heard more than one person say over the decades that the reason why that person is opposed to what that text says is because that text contradicts and confronts their favorite sin.

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And the problem is we all have favorite sins. And when God's Word convicts us, we're stuck.

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We don't like to hear that we're guilty. We don't like to hear that we have despised his

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Word, cast his Word behind our backs and despised it. And so we like to put on airs that somehow we've got our acts together.

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No, we do not. And if you don't believe me, then, well, when we start off the divine service next week, don't confess your sins with the rest of us.

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Right? So people will turn away from listening to the truth, wander off into myths.

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As for you, be sober -minded, endure suffering, do the work of the evangelist, fulfill your ministry. So pastors are to be about the business of preaching the

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Word. And note it says in season and out of season. A little bit of a note here. Every time

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I read this text, it is a call back to my childhood. It's the weirdest thing. But you guys remember

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Bugs Bunny? As a Gen Xer, I grew up on Bugs Bunny. It was part of my socializing catechism.

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And I learned snarkiness from Bugs Bunny. But one of my favorite episodes, my favorite episodes was when

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Elmer Fudd's out doing his hunting with his shotgun. And there's a debate between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as to whether or not it's rabbit season or duck season.

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And so they get into this verbal back and forth. Rabbit season, duck season, rabbit season, duck season, rabbit season, rabbit season, duck season.

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And as soon as Daffy Duck says duck season, he says fire and blammo! Blows the face off of Daffy Duck.

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And his bill goes... It's just the funniest thing ever, right? But here's the thing. There would be people today, and there have been people for a long time throughout the history of the church, who would tell us this is not

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Bible season. We don't need to be hearing that Bible stuff. No, no, no, no.

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We need to rethink Christianity. We need to reimagine it. It's time for us to forge on ahead and recognize that the people who wrote the scriptures, they had some important things to say, but we can just ignore those things.

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So the Bible, it's no longer Bible season. It's some other kind of season. And what's a pastor to do when their church body says, no more

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Bible season? It's something else. You know what he's supposed to do? He's supposed to break the rules.

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And he's supposed to preach the word even when people are screeching, no, no, no, it's not the time for that.

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Oh, it is always the time for that. In season, out of season, that's what we are to do.

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But you're going to note then, here, this first part of the sermon has pointed out the multitudinous ways in which we, all of us,

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Christians, have fought against God's word, refused to hear God's word, have not gladly heard it, have not hold it sacred, have turned away from it.

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In fact, every time we sin, we turn away from God's word. But you'll note then, that does not call us then to give up.

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Instead, it's only in God's word that we hear the good news of the Gospel.

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Jesus Christ laying down His life for your sins and mine. You can find this nowhere else than in the word of God.

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Only in the word of God will you hear that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

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Only in the word of God will you hear that God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.

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Only in the word of God will you hear that. So you are inattentive to God's word to your own demise, because without the

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Gospel, you are left trying to fumble your own solution to try to figure out how to be saved, because we all know we're going to stand before God on the day of judgment.

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But I assure you that your little mud patties that you're trying to put into some kind of a castle to impress

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God with, is not going to impress Him. Instead, it is only by the merit of Christ, only by the shed blood of Christ that you or anybody is saved.

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And I think about this past week, and what a great, powerful thing the word of God is.

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Back in the day when I was attending Christ College Irvine, there was this earthy man named

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Dr. Rod Rosenblatt. And man, he was earthy. I just, oh man.

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I was a Nazarene at the time. Self -righteous beyond belief. Pious, well, pretending to be, right?

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Struggling with sin like you wouldn't believe because I didn't understand the Gospel. And I was taking apologetics class with that man who, after every class, went out and had a cigarette.

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And from time to time during class, we're at a Christian university, he might let one of those four -letter words fly from time to time.

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And you sit there and go, what's wrong with this guy? And I was thinking, he cannot possibly be saved because he's not even trying.

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But the one thing he kept doing every single class was point to the shed blood of Christ.

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Every class, I heard him say things like, if my salvation depended even in part on my sanctification, then

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I'm damned. He would say, I'm gonna have to bet all the blue chips on Jesus. And I know that on the last day the ball's gonna fall on him.

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He put all of his trust, every bit of his confidence in the shed blood of Christ.

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And he found that in the Scriptures. In his famous lecture, The Gospel for Those Broken by the

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Church, again, it's very earthy. If you're prone to being offended by earthiness, don't watch it.

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But if you want to hear the Gospel, then watch it. In there he talks about how when we finally get to heaven, people will be saying things like, you mean it was only the shed blood of Christ and what he's done for us only that saved us?

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We'll all be damned. And he'd say things like this. And you sit there, you go, you can't say that, Rosenblatt, right?

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But he did, right? And that was kind of the point. And then he described the great joy that will be there for those who are in Christ.

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Whose only hope is his merit, his forgiveness, his mercy, his sinless sacrifice for our sins.

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Because God made him who knew no sin to be sinning for us so that we might be saved.

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He says, when they get to heaven, their joy will be such that they will be like calves leaping from the stall.

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I rewatched that this week because a couple of days ago, Dr. Rosenblatt slipped from this veil of tears.

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And he's now in the presence of Christ. And he is experiencing that joy that he preached.

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Because God's Word is true. God doesn't lie. And it's kind of weird thinking about Rosenblatt leaping around like a calf.

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It's kind of wrong. And at the same time, really right. And I'm so thankful for it.

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But to have the ability to go back and remember hearing the Word over and over from him.

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The truth. The truth that we're saved by grace through faith alone. I didn't believe it when

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I heard it from him. I challenged him on it. Pushed back as hard as I could. Because as a

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Nazarene, I didn't believe that we were saved by grace alone. And I remember going to him and saying,

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Rosenblatt, if what you're saying is true, then you're saying I can do whatever I want. Boy, that tells you something is wrong with me, right?

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What kind of theology says that if Christ bled and died for all of your sins, that means you can go out and live like a complete pagan.

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My theology was a mess. He says, of course, Chris. Now that Christ has set you free from slavery to sin, death, and the devil, what do you want to do?

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I wasn't prepared for that answer, right? But brothers and sisters, I would note this.

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This is exactly the point of our Old Testament text. It really legitimately is.

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Have you read our Old Testament in text? Why is there no segue from talking about God's Word accomplishing its thing to then just blammo, we're talking about the end of the world?

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There's a good reason for it. And if you want to follow along, please do. But here again, the words of our

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Old Testament text for today. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and they do not return there, but they water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower, bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.

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And here's the words. It shall not return to me empty.

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It shall accomplish that which I purpose, and it shall succeed in the thing for which

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I sent it. Why has God sent His Word? These things are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the

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Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in His name. God sent forth

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His living, active Word, and it will not return to Him empty because it returns to Him with you.

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It returns to Him with me. God sent His Word into the darkness so that you and I can be saved.

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His Word has gathered us here today. And we have heard the glorious words that our sins are forgiven.

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We'll feast on the body of Christ in a minute. And in feasting, we will hear these words.

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Take, eat, this is the true body of Christ broken for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

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Take, drink, this is the true blood of Christ shed for you for the forgiveness of our sins.

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His Word does not return to Him empty. It has accomplished it. It has gathered us together, and it will deliver us safely into His kingdom.

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We would despise His Word to our own loss of salvation, to our own damnation.

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God's Word has come to us, and it has gathered us. And this is why then, without any segue, for you shall go out in joy.

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Why? Because His Word has grabbed you and returned you to God. You will be led forth in peace.

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The mountains and the hills before you will break into singing. And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

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Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress. Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle. And it shall make a name for Yahweh, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

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So brothers and sisters, God doesn't want you to avoid His Word because He's ready to thump you on the head.

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He wants you to listen to His Word and not avoid it because through His Word, He's bringing you to Himself so that you can experience the joys of heaven, and God can experience the joy of His lost children being brought home because His Word truly does not return to Him void.

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Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. And we have heard the words of Christ, and God has given us faith, and He is saving us, and He is bringing us into His kingdom.

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So let us thank God for the Gospel, for the Word, which doesn't return to God empty because it has brought us to Him.

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In the name of Jesus, Amen. Sorry, I don't mean to blub during a sermon.

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It happens sometimes. Please rise. We confess our faith together in the words of the

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Nicene Creed. I believe in one

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God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible, and in one

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Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds,

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God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the

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Father by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the

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Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.

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He suffered and was buried, and the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the

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Father, and He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end.

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And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the

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Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

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And I believe in one holy Christian in apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

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Amen. Lord of the harvest,

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You send Your Word down on earth to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. You are living and active among us, calling to repentance and raising to new life.

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Lead us not into temptation, but protect us from the crafts and the assaults of the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, which do not want us to hallow

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Your Word or Your name. Let Your kingdom come, Lord, in Your mercy. Send forth laborers into Your harvest that we may be preserved in the pure teaching of Your saving

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Word, whereby our faith toward You is strengthened, charity increased in us toward all

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Your kingdom, extended in all the world. Lord, in Your mercy. Caring Father, visit the homes of Your people.

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Keep them from all harm and danger and grant that we would dwell together in peace under the protection of Your holy angels.

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Lord, in Your mercy. Almighty God, look favorably on the nations of the world and their leaders and all who receive the sword as Your servants would bear it according to Your command.

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We pray that war and hate and bloodshed would be overcome by peace, justice, and love. Lord, in Your mercy.

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Loving Father, have compassion on the sick and the suffering. We bring before You today Steve, Elizabeth, Jeremy, Alan, Debbie, Paul, Carrie, Becky, Jim, Steve, Christopher, Sheila, Ron, Melba, Bill, Michael, Cameron, Troy, Jim, Chloe, Ellen, Brooks, Gary, Natalie, Deb, Taryn, Candy, Todd, Bonnie, Brent, Roger, Kevin, Mark, Jeff, Joan, Sarah, Jessica, Josh, Ryan, Tim, Lori, Mike, Shirley, and Carol.

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We pray for Annie and Ethan, Sheila, David, Judy, Linda Jean, Tom, Dawson, Jim, Ellen, Pam, Chuck, Charmaine, Robin, Colin, Bill, Colleen, Heather, and Rich.

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We also pray for Estella, John, Rebecca, Jonathan, Miranda, Gerald, Renee, Martha, Susan, Una, Dick, Wolfgang, Rosanna, the

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Lange family, Danielle, Aubrey, Luke, Justin, Caroline, Jack, Stephen, Robert, Armando, Rich, Luis, Tim, Cam, Cindy, Barbara, Gloria, Karen, Tara, Robert, Linda, Charita, Robin, Luis, Patty, Jeff, Marco, Selena, Rachel, Mason, Aaron, Ashley, Elizabeth, Shane, Lou, Robin, Lauren, and Carrie.

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We ask that you would make them to know your peace, which the world cannot give, and bring them out of their troubles.

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Lord, in your mercy. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the faithful departed, especially

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Dr. Rod Rosenblatt. Cultivate the seed of your word in our hearts and to bring us to share with them in the joys of your unending feast.

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Lord, in your mercy. Almighty God, your son has promised to be with us always until the end of the age.

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Strengthen and preserve us today as he comes to us in his holy supper. Grant that we would faithfully receive his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and so obtain everlasting life.

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Lord, in your mercy. Heavenly Father, you have planted your word in the hearts of your children.

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Grant that we would rejoice to receive this gift and use it to bear abundant fruit in our lives.

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Lord, in your mercy. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we thank you that through your

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Son, Jesus Christ, you have sown your holy word among us. Prepare our hearts by your

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Holy Spirit that we may diligently and reverently hear your word. Keep it in good hearts and bring forth fruit with patience so that we may not incline to sin, but subdue it by your power.

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And in all persecutions, comfort ourselves with your grace and continual help through the same

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Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.