The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost Service

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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I would like to welcome you all to Kongsvinger Lutheran Church.

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Today is the 25th Sunday after Pentecost. We'll be following the order of divine service setting three, yeah, and I think we're using psalm tone

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E as in ecstasy, ecstatic, weird stuff like that. There's proper context for such words.

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So if you are here present at Kongsvinger, please open, rise for the opening hymn.

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Divine service setting three, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Beloved in the

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Lord, let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching him in the name of our

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Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

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I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord. Almighty God, merciful

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Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities with which

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I have ever offended you and justly deserve your temporal and eternal punishment.

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But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray you of your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved

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Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

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Upon this, your confession, I, by virtue of my office as a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my

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Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all of your sins, in the name of the Father and the Son and the

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Holy Spirit. Intro today we're going to be using psalm tone

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E, psalm tone E. Hear my prayer,

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O Lord, give ear to my pleas for mercy. In your faithfulness.

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Enter not into judgment with your servant. I remember the days of old,

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I meditate on all that you have done. I stretch out my hands to you.

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Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. For your name's sake,

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O Lord, preserve my life. Glory be to the

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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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Amen. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my pleas for mercy.

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In your faithfulness. Glory be to God on high.

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The Lord be with you. Let us pray.

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Almighty and ever -living God, you have given exceedingly great and precious promises to those who trust in you.

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Dispel from us the works of darkness and grant us to live in the light of your Son, Jesus Christ, that our faith may never be found wanting, through the same

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

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Amen. You may be seated.

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The Old Testament reading for this, the 25th Sunday after Pentecost, is taken from the prophet

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Zephaniah, chapter 1. Be silent before the

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Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests, and on the day of the

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Lord's sacrifice I will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.

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On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud.

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On that day, declares the Lord, a cry will be heard from the fish gate, a wail from the second quarter, a loud crash from the hills.

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Wail, O inhabitants of the mortar, for all the traders are no more, all who weigh out silver are cut off.

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At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, the

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Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill. Their goods shall be plundered, their houses laid waste.

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Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them. Though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.

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The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening fast. The sound of the day of the

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Lord is bitter. The mighty man cries aloud there. A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpet blast and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the lofty battlements.

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This is the word of the Lord. We will speak the gradual together by half verse.

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These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. Blessed are those whose strength is in you.

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The epistle is from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you, for you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the

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Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape.

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But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day.

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We are not of the night or of the darkness, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

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For those who sleep, sleep at night. Those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

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For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him.

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Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

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This is the word of the Lord. The Holy Gospel according to St.

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Matthew, the 25th chapter. Jesus said,

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It will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.

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To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability.

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Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more.

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So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

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Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them, and he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more, saying,

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Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here I have made five talents more. His master said to him,

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Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.

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Enter into the joy of your master. And he also who had the two talents came forward saying,

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Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I have made two talents more. His master said to him,

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Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much.

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Enter into the joy of your master. He also who had received the one talent came forward saying,

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Master, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed.

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So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours.

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But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed?

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Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

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So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.

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But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away, and cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.

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In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the gospel of the Lord. 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.

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And in one 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

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Scriptures and ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the 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 worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

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And I believe in one holy Christian and 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. You may be seated. In the name of Jesus.

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Amen. All right, hear the words of the epistle to the Ephesians, chapter 2, verses 8, 9, and 10.

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For by grace you have been saved through faith. This is not your own doing.

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This is the gift of God. It is not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

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For we are His, God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

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God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. It's necessary to read this out at the beginning because we want to take off the table the false twisting of this passage whereby people somehow think, or even worse, preach, that we are somehow saved by our works.

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We are not. We are saved unto good works, and you're going to note that faith is the thing that precedes our good works.

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Faith is not the thing that follows our good works. It must be preceding it. Therefore, as we look at our gospel text today, we can take that whole idea that we're saved by our works, and if you don't get a doubling of whatever

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Christ has invested in you, then off to hell you shall go. Right? That's not what this text is about at all.

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In fact, before we get to our gospel text, we're going to do a little cross -reference work.

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I kind of figured since we're not having Bible study, I might be able to just sneak in a longer sermon, but don't tell the church council.

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Okay. All of that being said, we're going to take a look at the book of Joshua.

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We're going to look at chapters two and also six, and we're going to note here, this is where we're going to start to unlock what it is that's going on in our gospel text.

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How is it that these two fellows hear the words, well done, good and faithful servant, while the other guy hears depart from me, you wicked servant, and the terrible outcome?

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Well, it hinges on their view of the master. That's really the point.

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And so we're going to do a little comparative work. So in the book of Joshua, chapter two, we hear this account.

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Joshua, the son of Nun, sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies saying, go view the land, especially

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Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was

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Rahab and lodged there. I know you pronounce it Rahab, but that's not how it works in Hebrew.

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Her name is Rahab, and you have to roll the R. That's a necessary component of this. But I want you to consider what's going on here.

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Children of Israel are on the cusp, on the very edge, the border of taking the promised land.

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And so Jericho in the types and shadows, if you would, prefigures Christ's return in glory to judge the living and the dead.

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And so the whole marching around the walls of Jericho, the walls come a -tumbling down, you'll note there was a cry, there was a trumpet blast, many trumpet blasts indeed.

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And those things hearken to what Christ says that when he returns, that he will return with the cry of the archangel and the trumpet.

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You get the idea? That's what this is all pointing to. So this is really kind of a type and shadow of eschatology.

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And so these two men who are sent by Joshua to spy out the city of Jericho find themselves in of all places the house of a prostitute, which doesn't seem like a normal place for Jewish boys to end up.

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I'm just saying that the backstory to this has got to be interesting. But that's how this all goes down.

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This is a woman who now the children of Israel, because they have received God's revelation from Mount Sinai, they can legitimately say this is a woman who's made her living breaking the sixth commandment, you shall not commit adultery.

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This is not the kind of woman that you bring home to mom. This is not the kind of woman that you want to be seen in polite company with.

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She's a woman of the night. In fact, we have words for people like this. And while we call them prostitutes, we call them hookers.

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And in those countries where it is legal for prostitution, which makes no sense to me, they call them sex workers.

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What a lovely concept, right? It's like they're trying to take this horrible thing and put a veneer of somehow professionalism over it.

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There's no professionalism involved here. This is a horrible, grievous sin against God and against others.

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And here she's now harboring two spies who are spying out for the purpose of destroying the city where she lives and ruining her living, if you would.

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So what's going on here? Why? Why would she even give any kind of quarter for these fellows?

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Well, it goes on and says this. And it was told to the king of Jericho, Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.

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Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab and said, Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.

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But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, Well, it's true. The men came to me, but I did not know where they were from.

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And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went.

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Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. So not only is she a prostitute, she's a liar.

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What is going on in this story? I always like to remind you all that sometimes we

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Christians, sometimes we human beings are put into circumstances where the only way we're going to get out of that circumstance is by actually sinning.

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And so when you are given the choice between sin and sin, the idea here is that you choose the one that will result in somebody's life being protected.

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Had we all lived in Europe during the time of the Nazi occupation, and we were hiding Jews in our houses and our floorboards and in our attics and stuff like this, and the

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Gestapo comes and knocks on your door, and they say, are you hiding Jews in your house?

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You say, of course not, but you're welcome to come in and look if you'd like. That's the right answer.

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And so you know, she gives that answer, which then makes it so that these men's lives are spared.

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But why? Why is she going through all of this trouble? Why is she endangering her own life for the lives of these men?

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The text goes on to say, She had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof.

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So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords, and the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

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And before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and she said to the men, I know that Yahweh has given you the land.

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Listen to the confession. It actually, she uses and invokes the name of Yahweh.

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She knows his name, and she knows that Yahweh has given the land to the

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Israelites, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land, they melt away before you.

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For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the

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Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction.

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And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you.

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For Yahweh your God, he is God in heavens above and on the earth beneath.

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Wait, what? She recognizes that Yahweh is the true

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God? She believes that? And here's where you begin to see a dividing line.

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And let me kind of put it this way. Where everybody else in that region, all the other Canaanites, who were steeped in idolatry and in the worship of false gods, they see, all they see is

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God as an angry God of judgment, and he's coming for them next. This is how this works.

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Have you ever had a conversation with somebody where they basically say, you know, I don't really like the God of the Bible. He seems really grumpy.

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It seems like he always wakes up on the wrong side of the stars or something like that, and he wakes up and tries to figure out who he's going to smite today.

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They've never used the word smite in a sentence until they apply it to Yahweh. And so what do they think of him?

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He's evil. He's mean. He's cantankerous. He's unjust. He's guilty of all kinds of genocide.

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In fact, he's the head of the evil patriarchy, right? If only he were woke.

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And you Christians, the reason why you're so repugnant and so hateful and spiteful is because you're just like that hateful, spiteful, evil

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God. Right? This is how they talk, right?

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And oftentimes it's just couched in the kind question like, why is God so upset in the

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Old Testament? Why is he so mean? But here's the thing. This prostitute, she sees in God's act of judgment something completely different than all the people of her land.

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You know what she sees? She sees a people who were in slavery in Egypt. She sees a

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God who acted in mighty acts of judgment by sending the ten plagues, by destroying the armies of Egypt in the

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Red Sea. And she sees God acting in mercy, grace, kindness, deliverance towards a people group.

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And so on the one hand, there is judgment for sure. But she sees the other side of it, and she sees grace and mercy.

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She sees God's kindness. And her, very different than everybody else, she then sees

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God as he rightly is. You'll note that God is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, pardoning iniquity.

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Indeed, this is how he is. And God does punish when provoked. But God's nature is one of love and kindness and mercy and grace.

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Where everybody else was steeped in a false image of Yahweh, which was really an idol of their own making,

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God saw to it that she, in hearing the reports, focused on something completely different, where she was then able to rightly understand who

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Yahweh is and what he's really all about. He's really about mercy and forgiveness and kindness and grace.

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So then she then, betting her own life on that kindness of Yahweh, says in verse 12,

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Now then, please swear to me by Yahweh, that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from death.

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Now wait, what? A woman who has made her living breaking the sixth commandment, who we know is completely a liar, she now banks on the forgiveness, mercy, and grace of God, and she doesn't want it just for herself.

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Oh, I want my father, my mother, my sisters, my brothers, all of their children and grandchildren, all the way out, the whole household.

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And rather than saying, Lady, you're nuts, we're here to destroy you, thanks for giving us a place to stay overnight.

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They recognize that this woman believes rightly. So the men said to her, All right, our life for yours, even to death.

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If you do not tell this business of ours, then when Yahweh gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.

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So then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall.

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And she said to them, Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there for three days, until the pursuers have returned.

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Then afterward you may go your way. So the men said to her, We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear.

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Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and your mother and your brothers and all your father's household.

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This sounds a lot like the Passover, right? And that scarlet cord invokes the blood of the lamb, the sacrificial lamb of the

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Passover. That blood needs to be on that window where they let the spies down.

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And when God sees that cord, that blood that it invokes, he will pass over her house as well.

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And they will not be destroyed. That had to be quite the house party, by the way.

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Had to be quite the house party. So then he says, If anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless.

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But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.

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And she said, According to your words, so be it. That's faith.

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So then she sent them away, and they departed, and tied the scarlet cord in the window.

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And you're going to note, she had faith to hide the spies. She had faith to put the cord in her window.

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All of the deeds that she does show that she already believes. She believes and she trusts in the kindness and mercy of God, and so her deeds follow her faith.

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That's the point. So they departed, and they went into the hills, and they remained there for three days until the pursuers returned.

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And the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun.

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And they told him all that had happened to them. And they said to Joshua, Truly Yahweh has given all the land into our hands and also all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.

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Except for Rahab and her family. They don't melt away. They confidently hang on to the promise of life.

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Chapter 6. Now Jericho was shut up inside and out because of the people of Israel. None went out.

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None came in. And Yahweh said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and the mighty men of valor.

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You shall march around the city. All the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.

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Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark. The imagery is unmistakable.

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Six days plus a seventh, right? This invokes Genesis chapter 1 where God made the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh.

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Those numbers invoke the current creation that we are in. Eighth day is the stuff of the new creation.

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You can see what's happening. This is, if you would, a dress rehearsal for the day of judgment when

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Christ returns not to destroy Jericho, but to destroy the earth for its sin, its idolatry, its rebellion against God.

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And for us to finally, who trust in Christ, to receive from Him the promised inheritance of a world without end.

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You can see it all, how it plays out. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark.

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On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets and when they made a long blast with a ram's horn then you will hear the sound of the trumpet then all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up, everyone straight before Him.

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So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of ram's horns before the ark of Yahweh and he said to the people, go forward, march around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Yahweh.

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And so they did. They did exactly as they were commanded. And it says this then as we get close to the seventh day.

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Verse 15, on the seventh day they rose early at the dawn of the day and they marched around the city in the same manner seven times.

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It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times and at the seventh time when the priest had blown the trumpets

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Joshua said to the people, shout for Yahweh has given you the city and the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to Yahweh for destruction only

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Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live because she hid the messengers whom we sent.

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And the walls did come tumbling down. The ram's horns were blown.

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The shout went forward. The walls came down except for her house.

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It's fascinating. In my collection, in my book collection I've got a book that is a reproduction of a book that was published in German of the original archeological dig in the walls of Jericho that still exists to this day.

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And they found, they found the place where the walls didn't fall down and they postulated this had to be the place where Rahab the prostitute and her family were is just as God said.

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It's a very fascinating book. Unfortunately it's in German but that's a whole other story, right?

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But all of that being said we can see then here what happens but the story doesn't end there.

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The question is what then becomes of Rahab and her family? And you're going to note something amazing happens.

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Something that isn't supposed to happen but it should have happened this way.

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In the book of Matthew chapter 1 it reads the book of the genealogy of Jesus the son of David, the son of Abraham.

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Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac the father of Jacob. Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.

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And Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar. And Perez the father of Hezron. And Hezron the father of Ram.

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And Ram the father of Aminadab. And Aminadab the father of Nashon. And Nashon the father of Salmon.

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And then verse 5. And Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab. Let me kind of paint the picture for you.

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If the fall of Jericho is the picture then of the end of the world.

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God acting in judgment. And those being spared and saved who have faith in Him.

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Who rightly believe in who He is and what He's like and what He does. That He rewards those who call out to Him.

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He forgives the sins of those who cry out to Him and ask for forgiveness. That He shows grace and mercy and deliverance for those who rightly believe in the great works that He has done for our salvation.

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That we are the bride of Christ. We are in Jericho. Today the blood of Christ will sustain us on our way.

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But you can think of it that way. That scarlet cord hangs out of all of our windows this day. And we collectively are the bride of Christ.

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Rahab the prostitute stands in now as the bride of Christ. In the types and shadows.

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And sometime after the fall of Jericho. We don't know how long it took.

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Salmon, the guy who was the next in line in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

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He cast upon her an eye that desired her to be his bride.

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It's a beautiful love story. But one that has to have heads a -scratchin'.

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Really Salmon, don't you think that you would do better with a virgin

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Jewish girl than this Canaanite prostitute? But again it has to be this way.

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Because we are Rahab. We are her. Each and every one of us.

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Born dead in trespasses and sins and under the dominion of darkness. And it is only by God's grace that we get out of here alive and have a hope of the world to come.

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You see the difference between Rahab and all of Jericho is that she believed. She trusted.

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She had faith. And that's the thing that made the difference. That she would dare to make such a request that her and her family be spared.

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And I would note this type of audacious faith shows up throughout the scriptures. Most notably while Jesus is on the cross.

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You'll note that when Christ was crucified he was crucified between two criminals. And these criminals were rightly getting the just punishment for the crimes that they had committed.

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And so it says in the Gospel of Luke one of the criminals who were hanged with Jesus railed at him saying, if are you not the

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Christ? Save yourself and us. The foolish comments of a man who doesn't understand.

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A man who truly doesn't believe. But the other rebuked him saying, do you not fear

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God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds.

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But this man has done nothing wrong. What a beautiful confession of his own sins.

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And a confession that Christ was innocent. And he knows that's the case. And then in faith he asked the most audacious question you could potentially ask of Christ at all.

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While this fellow is rightly being put to death for his sin. And he confesses that what he's been sentenced to is indeed just.

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He is not complaining. He is not deflecting. He is basically bearing up under the very just punishment of his thefts.

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But he looks at Jesus and he says, Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.

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Whoa. Let that sink in for a second. Because this guy must know a thing or two about the

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Scriptures. Must have heard about the Messiah. Know the true nature of God. Even though he lived a life of sin and died for it.

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Because the Scriptures are clear. That when God remembers you, this is a good thing.

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It means salvation. This request of his is loaded with that biblical language from the

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Old Testament. When God remembers his people. But when God remembers your sin, that is a terrible thing.

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You don't want God to remember your sin. Then you want God to remember you. And so in this request,

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Jesus please remember me when you come into your kingdom. He is legitimately in shorthand.

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Shorthand he learned by knowing the Old Testament Scriptures. Asking Christ to forgive him of his sins and to remember him when he comes into his kingdom.

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And of course, Jesus' correct response should have been, are you out of your mind? In about four hours you're going to be in hell where you deserve to be.

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But he doesn't. Jesus instead says to him, truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

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And he was. This is our God. This is his true nature.

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God is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, pardoning iniquity. God remembers our sin no more because Christ has carried and borne all of your sin.

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The sin that you were born with from Adam to the last sin you commit on your deathbed.

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He's bled and died for all of it and he absolves you and forgives you for every last one of them.

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And he's promised in his grace and mercy to give you the inheritance of the new earth all by grace.

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And so you'll note then, we who are Christians who know the true nature of God, who believe rightly regarding him, we are not idolaters.

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We worship God in spirit and in truth and as a result of it, we then go about the business of doing the good works that Christ has told us to do because how could we not?

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And so this then forms our understanding as we look at our gospel text. One that is steeped in this dichotomy.

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The dichotomy between the true faith and understanding of God and who he is and what he's done for us and his true nature and one who is steeped in idolatry.

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A false Jesus who cannot save. Have you ever thought about it?

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You've maybe heard other pastors and myself talk about this. If you have a false Jesus, that Jesus cannot save you.

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This gospel text brings this out so clear it's undeniable. Christ says, it'll be like a man.

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The kingdom of God will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and trusted them with his property.

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Jesus is that man and by the way, everything you have belongs to Jesus.

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You are merely a steward of it. From your body to the possessions that you have, to the home, to the car you drive, every last bit of everything you have belongs to him because there is nothing made that he hasn't made and so when we fashion the matter that God has made into implements like a car or a desk or a cooking pot or things like this, all of these still belong to God.

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We are stewards over the good things that God has created on this earth and he's entrust us with all of this and we are to be about the business of using

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God's property for his purposes, his kingdom and the good works that we are created in Christ Jesus to do.

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Good works like changing diapers, good works like feeding hungry children, good works like helping them with their homework, good works like caring for your elderly parents as they are getting ready to die.

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These are the good works that we are called to and we are to devote ourselves in love to neighbor because we are saved, not in order to be saved.

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To one he gave five talents, to another he gave two, to another he gave one, each according to his ability and then

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Jesus went away and he would receive the five talents when at once and traded with them and made five talents more.

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A little bit of a note here. A talent is not talking about your ability to shoot a basketball. Yes, we can all say that Michael Jordan was talented but that's not what this is about.

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A talent is a lump sum of money. It's 100 pounds of gold and you'll note even the guy that was given one talent was given a truckload of money.

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Not a small paltry amount but a truckload and you'll note then that this is

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Jesus' stuff and we're supposed to do business with Jesus' stuff and if you have a false view of Jesus, you're gonna have diarrhea thinking about using his stuff to do anything with it because you're gonna be afraid that you're gonna somehow mess it up.

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What if I go and trade with Jesus' stuff and I lose it all? What's Jesus gonna do, right?

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I'll tell you what Jesus is gonna do if you take his stuff and you lose it all while serving his kingdom and serving your neighbor.

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He's gonna say to you, well done because that's what Jesus is like.

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That's who he is but the person who sits there and goes, oh man, I have anxiety.

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I'm all cramped up. That shows that they do not understand who

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Jesus is. They have a false Christ so he would receive the five talents, went at once and traded with them.

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Wait, what? You were given five talents and you're trading with Jesus' stuff? What if you lose it? Who cares? He goes out and does business with it and gains five talents more.

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So also the one who had two talents, he made two talents more. He went out and traded with Jesus' stuff and good night, it just doubled.

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Jesus' stuff is kind of that powerful if you think about it but he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money.

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Where your treasure is, your heart will be also. If your treasure is on earth, it's in the dirt.

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If your treasure is in heaven, then it's something completely different. Now after a long time, yes, that's right,

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Jesus is going to take his time in coming back. I have no idea when he's coming. By the way, the end of the world will be next

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Sunday but that's only for the readings. If Christ doesn't return after that or before that, we will continue on with the beginning of the church year with Advent, when the following week.

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Keep that in mind. We always celebrate the end of the world at least once a year here at Kongsvinger as well we should but that being the case,

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I don't know when Jesus is coming back. He can be another 1 ,200 years off.

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Maybe another 3 ,000. What if Christ is determined that he ain't coming back until 6 ,000 years from now?

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It's none of our business, is it? No, so he's going to be gone for a long time. So, keep busy.

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So he had received the one, went and dug it in the ground. After a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with him and he who had received the five talents came forward bringing five talents more and listened to the joy in this man's voice.

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Master, you delivered to me five talents here. I have made five talents more. Now a little bit of a note here.

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I don't know if this goes according to royal protocol. You'll note we Americans were terrible when it comes to royalty and protocol as it relates to royals, right?

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Remember when Trump made a visit to the United Kingdom, state visit to the United Kingdom and there was a time when he was actually walking in front of Queen Elizabeth?

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He wasn't supposed to be doing that. It's completely annoying. It's very embarrassing for us but I would note here that some guy blurting out,

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Master, you gave me five talents. I made five talents more. I'm not even sure he went through all the proper protocols to make this blurt, right?

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But he sure was excited and you know what he was banking on? The goodness, the kindness of Christ that even if he broke protocol in saying such words, he knew that Jesus is kind and he knew this about Jesus that Jesus saves sinners and so he said to him, well done, good and faithful servant.

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You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much and then listen to the words. Enter into the joy of your master.

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You see, it was the joy set before him why Christ went to the cross and bled and died for our sins.

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The joy of eternal life, the joy of forgiving sinners, the joy of being reconciled to us who have been deceived by the devil and plunged into sin and darkness and rebellion and for us to be brought to repentance and for God to receive his children back whom he loved so much that he sent his son.

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It is for the joy set before him that Christ went to the cross for you and I and then on that day when we finally see him face to face and we can say,

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Lord, you entrusted to me these children. You gave me that job. You gave me the opportunity to preach the gospel and I traded with what you have given me and it has made more.

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It is for the joy set before him and Christ says, well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master.

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This is the joy that Christ bled and died for. What about the guy with two?

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I mean, he only had two. He also who had two blurted out,

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Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here I've made two talents more and his master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant.

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You've been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

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He also who had received the one talent came forward saying, and listen to these weird words.

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Master, I knew you to be a hard man reaping where you did not sow, gathering where you scattered no seed.

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You are the head of the evil patriarchy. So I was afraid and I went and I hid your talent in the ground.

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Here, have what is yours. That's a false

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Jesus. That's an idol. His hatred sounds like the exact hatred of the devil.

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The devil who wants to be God and replace God and has a hate and disdain for Christ and all of his saints.

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This guy is dripping with that satanic false narrative, that idolatrous notion that Satan put into the heads of human beings as well as a third of the angels of heaven that God is somehow some evil ogre meany pants who's just keeping you back from experiencing your best life.

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Who doesn't want you to achieve your potential because he's so little in his thinking. Right?

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So, a false Jesus cannot save you.

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Having faith in a false Christ will land you in hell. And this text definitively shows it.

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The true Jesus, the one who's merciful and kind and forgiving. The one who laid down his life so that you and I can live.

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He then judges this man based upon his false Jesus. He says, you wicked and you slothful servant.

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You knew I reap where I have not sowed and gather where I scattered no seed. Well, then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers and at my coming

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I should have received what was mine with interest. So take the talent from him, give it to him who has ten talents for to everyone who has will more be given and he will have an abundance.

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But from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away and cast that worthless servant into outer darkness and in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

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In other words, to hell he goes. Now, here's where we're different than the

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Baptists. The Baptists will preach, well, you need to make sure that you're ready, brothers and sisters.

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What? And if you haven't yet confessed Jesus as Lord and Savior, you need to come up to the altar.

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We're going to have an altar call right now and it's time for you to ask Jesus to come into your heart. Wrong. Listen to the words of the

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Apostle Paul in our epistle. Concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you.

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For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. But it's only a thief in the night for those who do not believe or believe falsely regarding Christ.

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While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape.

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But you, you are not in darkness.

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Brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of the light.

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You are children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. So then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

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For those who sleep, sleep at night. Those who get drunk are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, not that we potentially belong to it, we belong to it now.

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We have this today. We are now the children of God. Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

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For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. And that I can preach to you confidently. You who are hearing me today and you trust in Jesus, baptized into his death, into his resurrection, you have had your sins washed away.

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You have been gifted the forgiveness of your sins and faith itself and eternal life has been lavished upon you all because of God who is that good, who is that kind, who is that gracious, who doesn't just hold his goods to himself, but freely gives them to you as a gift.

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God has not destined you for wrath. Instead, he has destined you to obtain salvation through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, whether we are alive or we die in faith, that we might live with him.

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And therefore, we are to encourage one another and build one another up just as you are doing.

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So brothers and sisters, be built up. Be encouraged. The end of the world is coming. It's just around the corner.

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Ah, the sun is almost ready to peak over the horizon. And note this.

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It'll be a glorious day for us when we will finally see the joy of Christ fulfilled in us being brought into the new earth, having been forgiven of all of our sins.

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You are not destined for hell. You are destined for eternal life. Be encouraged by these good words and continue to trust in the real

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Jesus rather than the false Jesus who sends people to hell. In the name of Jesus, amen.

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We rise for the offertory. Let us pray for the whole

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Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. Lord God, enter not into judgment with your servants for no one living is righteous before you.

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Have mercy on those haunted by guilt and shame and faithfully convince them of your grace and holiness for them in Christ Jesus.

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Lord, in your mercy, teach us to do your will for you are our

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God. Strengthen pastors to meditate on all that you have done and to proclaim your word and its truth and purity that your good spirit may lead us on level ground holy and righteous before you.

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Lord, in your mercy, Father in heaven, you have made us children of the light and of the day.

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Bless our homes, especially parents, as they teach their children your ways. That your people may walk as those adorned in faith, love, and salvation.

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Lord, in your mercy, Holy God, a nation that despises you will be as a sacrifice to others for it has rejected you and its strength and shield.

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Grant repentance in our land that our laws may be just, our transactions honest, and our love for others fervent.

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Lord, in your mercy, Almighty God, give ear to our pleas on behalf of the afflicted.

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Today we lift before you the COVID patients at Good Sam's in East Grand Forks.

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Debbie, Paul, Carrie, Becky, Jim, Steve, Christopher, Sheila, Ron, Melba, Joanne, Bill, Donna, 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, Judy, Linda, Jean, Tom, Dawson, Bruno, Jim, Ellen, Pam, Chuck, Charmaine, Robin, Colin, Bill, Colleen, Heather, and Rich.

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We also lift up before you Martha, Susan, Una, Dick, Wolfgang, Rosanna, the Lang family,

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

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We also pray for those who mourn, lifting before you the family of Jose Estovera.

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We ask, Lord, for your namesake, to preserve the lives of those whom we've prayed for.

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Grant them healing according to your will. In your righteousness, strengthen their faith through all trials, and bring their souls out of trouble.

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Lord, in your mercy. Holy God, you have not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Until the day of his coming in glory, grant that we may welcome him at the altar, even as we are welcomed to him, receiving his body and blood for our forgiveness.

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Lord, in your mercy. God of life, your son died for us, so that whether awake or asleep, we might live with him.

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Receive our thanks for your kindness to all who have died in the faith. Comfort those who mourn with the consolation that all who die in Christ live with him forever.

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Lord, in your mercy. God of grace, preserve us from the temptation to consider you a hard and unmerciful master.

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Keep us mindful that you give us every good thing in abundance. Most of all, a place in your household.

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For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one