"Endure" Part 2 February 18, 2018 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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"Christ Ascended = the Church's Provision" Part 3 May 27, 2018 AM

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Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for the reminder this morning from that hymn that all that we have is

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Christ. That if everything else, truly if everything else was taken away, the

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Lord is my portion and your mercies are new every morning.

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Great is your faithfulness. Lord, this morning

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I pray that as we look at your text, as we look at these words that you have given to us by your Holy Spirit through your prophet, that we would receive an unmistakable, indelible vision of Christ that we may endure.

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We pray these things for his sake with whom you are well pleased. Amen. We're going to be in Jeremiah chapter 15 verses 10 through 21.

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As we were last week, last week we were talking about endurance, the grind of endurance, endurance looking at what

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Jeremiah had to endure to be the prophet of God, to faithfully discharge his duties.

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He had to endure much persecution for what he spoke in the name of the

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Lord, what he said in agreement with God was incredibly offensive.

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It inflamed the hatred of the people. He was the target of persecution.

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He also had to endure isolation, not that he was hiding, not that he was a hermit in a cave, but that what he was saying and what he believed naturally isolated him from his own countrymen, from his own relatives, that they did not believe the same things that he believed.

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They did not see the world the same way that he saw the world. And there was this isolation where he could not be in harmony with those around him.

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He also had to endure depression. We find

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Jeremiah weighed down. We find him bemoaning the day of his birth.

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We find that doubt has infected his prayers and he's praying to God and he's telling

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God that it feels like God's providence is simply yanking his chain. He doesn't seem to have a sense of stability anymore.

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Jeremiah, in this passage, is called to endure the way in which God responds to the prayers of Jeremiah, the way in which

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God gives the message to Jeremiah shows that God is calling

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Jeremiah to endure. And we also find in the passage that God gives to Jeremiah everything that Jeremiah needs to endure.

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That God, in fact, ensures that Jeremiah will not fail. And so we'll find as well that God gives us everything that we need to endure as followers of Christ and that through Christ, God ensures that we will indeed endure.

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If you would please stand with me, I'm going to read again Jeremiah chapter 15 verses 10 through 21.

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As I do, think with me about how many times

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God declares that he will do something.

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Beginning in verse 10. Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me as a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land.

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I have not lent nor have men lent money to me, yet everyone curses me. The Lord said, surely

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I will set you free for purposes of good. Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in a time of disaster, in a time of distress.

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Can anyone smash iron, iron from the north or bronze? Your wealth and your treasures,

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I will give for booty without cost, even for all of your sins and within all your borders.

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Then I will cause your enemies to bring it into a land you do not know for a fire has been kindled in my anger.

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It will burn upon you. You who know, oh

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Lord, remember me, take notice of me and take vengeance for me on my persecutors.

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Do not in view of your patience, take me away. Know that for your sake,

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I endure reproach. Your words were found and I ate them. And your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.

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For I have been called by your name. Oh Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, nor did

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I exult because of your hand upon me. I sat alone for you filled me with indignation.

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Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?

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Will you indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable?

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Therefore, thus says the Lord, if you return, then I will restore you before me.

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You will stand. And if you've extracted the precious from the worthless, you will become my spokesman.

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They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them. Then I will make you to this people, a fortified wall of bronze.

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And though they fight against you, they will not prevail over you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the

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Lord. So I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violent.

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You may be seated. This is the word of the Lord. May he give us ears to hear.

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We read Hebrews 12 verses 1 through 3 last week, saying this very important phrase, that we are to run with endurance the race that is set before us.

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And very clearly, we understand how we're to do that because it immediately then says, fixing our eyes upon Jesus and gives us many, many reasons why.

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And I think we'll have even more reasons as we look at this passage this morning. You will notice if you have the handout that I have way too many points, but the point is in the number of the points.

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I trust that by surveying all of the facets of the diamond grace of endurance in the text,

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I will see what an abundance God gives to us.

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And this abundance is to us in Christ. The main heading is the grace of endurance.

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And I'm emphasizing the preposition because prepositions matter. Some of you know that. Prepositions matter.

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The bullet passed by me is qualitatively different than the bullet passed through me.

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It's the second one that makes the impact. And saying grace towards endurance is qualitatively different from the grace of endurance.

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It's the second one that makes the impact. Our endurance in Christ and for Christ is the grace of God through Christ.

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It is not that what God does in Christ gives us a pretty good shot at making it.

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It's not that God through Christ makes salvation potential and we just might endure, but that what

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God does through Christ includes the fullness of our salvation, every aspect of our endurance.

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In other words, a groom does not give the diamond to his bride at the end of the marriage, but at the beginning.

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And all the grace we need for endurance is in Christ from the very beginning.

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Let's notice in the passage this running theme as God deals with Jeremiah.

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And Jeremiah is wavering. He is having difficulty. He is struggling because he is having to go through this grind of persecution and isolation and depression.

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And yet throughout this entire passage, God repeatedly says, I will.

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I will. Twelve different times God declares what he will ensure, what he will do, what surely will come to pass as a part of his will.

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I think it is important for us to note that when Jeremiah needs to endure, God reminds Jeremiah that of his own will, of his own power.

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Now, we know the importance of willpower. Anybody who made a resolution around New Year's, I don't know how many resolutions are still yet survive here in the middle of February, but if they survive, it was because of some degree of willpower.

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In this text, we see it's God's willpower as the reason why

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Jeremiah endures. It is God's willpower. All of the

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I will statements, God will do this. How can he be doubted? Consider even verses 12 through 14, this statement where God promises to judge and to judge thoroughly.

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How is that helpful when you read a like that? Three verses about the terrible way in which

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Judah will be utterly judged. God said, I will do this, and I will do that, and I will do the further.

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How is that encouraging to Jeremiah? Because by the same power, the same power by which

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God judges, he also saves. If he will surely do this, if he can surely do this, he can surely do that.

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This is a powerful God. His power is praised in the text. The beginning of verse 15, he is the

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God who knows. He's not the God who's ignorant. He's not the

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God who can't figure it out. He's the God who knows. And there at the end of verse 16, he is called the

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Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts, Lord Sabaoth, his name.

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It means that he is the commander of everything.

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His hosts may be locusts, and his hosts may be stars.

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His hosts may be a physical army. His hosts may be a spiritual army, but he is the

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Lord of hosts because he's the Lord of everything and everyone. He is the

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God of power. It is by God's power that Jeremiah is going to endure because of what

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God will do. That should be encouraging. It's not based on our willpower.

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It's based on God's willpower. The supreme expression of God's power is in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

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Perhaps some may quibble and say, well, creation is pretty impressive. Speaking the space -time continuum into existence, ex nihilo, out of nothing.

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And that indeed is very impressive. There are many impressive miracles in the Old Testament. The parting of the

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Red Sea, the plagues upon Egypt, the stopping of the sun in the sky. But I'm sure that you would agree that when it comes to a work of art, the manufacturing of the canvas and the gathering of the paint supplies is not nearly as impressive as the masterpiece that is painted there.

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And it is Christ who is the central focal glory of the entirety of all of history, the entirety of all of creation.

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The supreme expression of God's power is in the incarnation in Jesus Christ, the God -man, fully

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God and fully man for us and for our salvation, and that he lived this life in which he perfected and fulfilled the law of God and then died upon the cross as our satisfying sacrifice unto

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God in our place and for our sake, and that he rose from the dead the third day, and he's ascended to the right hand of God.

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He is soon to return. The focal point of God's power, the most excellent expression of the power of God is in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

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And it is precisely because of the power which God has displayed in Jesus Christ that we who know

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Christ as our Savior, we who are united to Christ by faith, know

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God's power in our lives to endure. We will endure because God has willed it in Christ.

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What will overcome this grind of persecution and isolation and depression?

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It is God's will power, his will accomplished by his power.

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And there's further good news. Not just power, but promises. These are connected.

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2 Peter 1 verses 2 -4 says, Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and our

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Jesus Christ our Lord, seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.

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What was granted to us for our endurance, for our life of godliness?

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What was granted to us by the power of God? Everything. Everything.

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We don't lack anything for our endurance.

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It is granted to us by the power of God in Christ. This is through the true knowledge of him, the saving faith in Christ who called us by his own glory and excellence.

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For by these, he has granted to us his gracious, his precious and magnificent promises.

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So we move from power to promises so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in this world by lust.

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As we look at the text and we have all of these wills of God, I will do this and this will surely happen, proving his power.

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These expressions come to us in the form of promises. We will endure by God's power and what will help us endure is that we take hold of the promises of God.

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And there are many in the text. Here is Jeremiah struggling. He's actually praying to God saying, you're like a wadi.

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You're like this desert ditch that sometimes is filled with water and sometimes is bone dry.

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I can't figure you out, God. But God is speaking to Jeremiah and he's revealing his power to Jeremiah and giving him many promises to cling to.

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Promises in verse 11, the Lord said, surely I will set you free for purposes of good.

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Surely I will cause the enemy to make supplication to you in a time of disaster and a time of distress.

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He promises freedom to Jeremiah. He promises good to Jeremiah. He promises vindication to Jeremiah so that Jeremiah will endure.

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In verses 12 through 14, we have already said, there are the promises of judgment.

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God will surely do this. As certain as the day of judgment, so certain is

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Jeremiah's perseverance, his preservation.

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We also find in verse 19 that God promises restoration.

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Therefore, thus says the Lord, if you return, then I will restore you before me. You will stand.

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And if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become my spokesman. What does he promise?

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He promises restoration. He promises acceptance. He promises an honorable position.

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In verse 20, that I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze.

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Until they fight against you, they will not prevail over you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the

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Lord. And verse 21, so I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and I will redeem you from the grasp of the violence.

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What does he promise? Protection, salvation, deliverance. He says twice.

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He speaks of redemption. He promises victory. Jeremiah is struggling.

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God gives him promise after promise after promise to strengthen

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Jeremiah so that Jeremiah will surely endure. There are many promises in the

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Bible. Many, many promises in the

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Bible. I confess that as I first read through this passage,

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I didn't notice how many promises there were. But if you stop and give yourself some time, you see the

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Bible is stuffed full of the promises of God.

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And here's something else. Second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20 says, as many as are the promises of God, and it would be a very tall task to count them all, as many as are the promises of God in Christ, they are yes.

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They are yes. These promises of God, where he says you will endure, where he says there will be victory, where he says there will be ultimate salvation, all the promises of God, count them up, find them, locate them, categorize them, do whatever you want with them when you read them, but they are all yes in Christ.

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He's the one who effectively brings about the will of God.

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He is the logos. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was

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God. What does it mean that he is the word? What does it mean that he is the logos? It means he is the executor of God's will.

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What God wills, he not only speaks through Christ and Christ speaks himself, but Christ makes sure that it happens.

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He brings it about. All the promises of God are yes in Christ, therefore preach

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Christ to your soul. Preach the promises of God to your downcast soul.

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Hope in God. Take up those promises that you find in the Bible when you stare carefully and appropriate them in your faith in Christ.

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Is Christ your Savior? Is Christ your Savior? Are you a co -heir with Christ?

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Then the promises that he fulfills are for you as well.

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Appropriate the promises of God in Christ, for they are yes in him.

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We also notice that God has a purpose for Jeremiah. Is there anything more devastating to our souls than when we suffer and we don't understand why?

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It isn't that exponentially more difficult when we're suffering and we don't even know why.

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But God has a purpose. God has a purpose. He tells Jeremiah in verse 11,

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I will set you free for purposes of good. For good. That's a very general purpose, but it's a purpose.

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It's a clarifying purpose. Jeremiah, there is good ahead of you. I am purposing good for you.

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Doesn't that help us endure when we know that there's a good reason why we suffer? There's a good reason why we follow doctor's orders.

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There's a good reason why we continue working together in our marriages. There's a good reason.

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There's something good ahead of us. It helps us to endure. Particularly, God says to Jeremiah that the good purpose that he has for him is that Jeremiah will stand before him and continue to be his spokesman, literally, to be

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God's mouth. Jeremiah is going to endure through the suffering and the good that God has for Jeremiah is this position of speaking what

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God wants to be said. He has a purpose. It is

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God's purpose that we unfailingly endure in Christ, being renewed in his image so that we would declare who

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God is. To who we are and what we say, being renewed in the image of Christ, that we would be those on earth who declare who

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God is, who image him forth. That we would be a people called out of darkness for the expressed purpose of proclaiming the excellencies of God.

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This is who we are. Why do we suffer? Why is there persecution? Why should we endure?

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Why are we isolated in our worldview, in our beliefs, in our value systems? Why do we have to go through times of depression?

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Why do we endure for the purpose, a good purpose, that we would be renewed in the image of Christ and therefore proclaim the excellencies of the

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God who made us and saved us so that others would see the glory of God, the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

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Also in verses 15 through 18, as we see Jeremiah praying, we find him declaring things, asking for things.

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We find him lamenting the way things are going. He asks God many questions. Here is a man with a robust prayer life.

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And do you know that prayer is part of the grace of endurance?

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Prayer is part of that grace of endurance. Now God told

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Jeremiah he was to stop praying for Judah that nothing bad would happen to them, that the time of judgment was surely to come and he must no longer intercede for them concerning that.

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But as far as Jeremiah praying for himself, God hasn't put any restrictions on him and Jeremiah is praying to God.

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What a grace that we would be able to pray to our Maker, to our

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Savior. Do we know prayer as part of that grace of endurance? If we are praying, we are enduring.

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We may be in a difficult place, we may not have the answers, we may not see very clearly the purpose, and our minds may be muddled, but if we're praying to God through Christ, we're enduring.

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We're enduring. Now this passage ought to be familiar and it ought to be read often.

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Romans 8. In Romans 8, we have a chapter that deals with how we are to understand suffering as Christians.

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If it is true so far in the book of Romans, if it is true that we are saved in this glorious way, why then do we still struggle with sin?

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Paul answers this. And then why do we still suffer in this life? And Paul answers that in chapter 8.

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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but as we continue through this life, we're going to suffer.

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How do we understand that and what do we do in the meantime? And there is a great emphasis on prayer.

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Beginning in verse 26. In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we should.

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That is part of endurance. Praying, but not really sure how we're supposed to pray due to the kinds of suffering, the kinds of difficulties that we're encountering.

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But the Spirit himself, God the Holy Spirit himself, intercedes for us.

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He prays for us. He mediates prayerfully for us between us and God the

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Father with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the

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Spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

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The will of God. The power of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him and who are called according to his purpose.

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We are praying in accordance with his power, in accordance with his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son so that he would be the firstborn among many brethren.

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And these whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And these whom he justified, he also glorified.

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These are the promises of God in salvation. What then shall we say to these things?

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And let me point out in verse three, what shall we say to these things? Saying something at this point is not mere theological musings.

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What shall we say? Let's make some application in context from verse 26.

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We don't know how to pray as we should. What should we say to these things? What are we saying in our prayer life?

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We consider the power and the promises and the purpose of God. What shall we say to these things, even in our prayers?

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If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare his own son, he who did not spare his own son but delivered him over for us all, how will he not also with him freely give us all things?

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What do we lack in terms of life and godliness? Nothing. We lack nothing.

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We lack nothing in Christ. Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies.

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Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is he who died, yes rather who was raised, who is the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

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The Holy Spirit is interceding for us. The God, the Son is interceding for us. How is it possible that we end up anywhere in the place of condemnation?

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Are we going to endure? If we're in Christ, we're going to endure. We have the

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Spirit praying for us and the Son praying for us as we are praying.

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We're enduring by the grace of God. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

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Will tribulation, will distress, will persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long.

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We were considered sheep as to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through him who loved us.

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How do we conquer? Through Christ who loved us. We don't conquer through our love for Christ.

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We conquer through Christ who loved us. For I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our

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Lord. So this is why

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I'm saying it's the grace of endurance, not the grace towards endurance, it's the grace of endurance.

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And as part of that we also are put under some pressure. Back in Jeremiah, verse 17, we find that God's hand is upon Jeremiah, not in the way that we often say.

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In this sense, his hand is heavy on Jeremiah, and Jeremiah is filled with indignation at the way in which the sin of his nation is multiplying.

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He is indignant, therefore isolated. In other words, God put some pressure on Jeremiah which kept him holy, which kept him holy, kept him thinking straight.

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Any parent knows that from time to time pressure is required to help children follow through, right?

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Parents know pressure needs to be applied to help children follow through. And maybe in the basic chores of the day or in the task of cultivating a skill or a talent that will benefit them for the rest of their lives, pressure is needed of some kind.

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And God is our Heavenly Father, and he knows what we need, and he puts pressure on us. God was heavy on Jeremiah to keep him holy.

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God did not toss him aside when Jeremiah was struggling. But no, God put pressure on Jeremiah to repent.

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Verse 19, if you return, if you shoove, if you come back, if you turn about, if you come back to me, if you return,

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I'll restore you, and before me you will stand. God put pressure on his child to repent, and repentance is a grace from God.

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He gives him further instructions and says, you're not going to stop, you're not going to stop, let's keep going, here's some more things that I want you to be doing.

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Don't turn to those who may turn to you. We talked about that last week. Further instructions, Jeremiah, this is the way in which you're going to endure.

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What does Christ say? Take up your cross, deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow me.

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He's putting pressure on us. Do you know what? He also says, my sheep know my voice.

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They know my voice, they hear my voice, and they follow me. He's calling us to follow him, putting pressure on us, and those who are his follow him.

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We follow him and we endure. The call to follow Christ is this spirit -filled life, is the grace of endurance from the cross.

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So God puts pressure on us to keep us moving in the right direction. Praise be to God. There's also praise in the text.

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Verse 15, the Lord who knows. You see how Jeremiah praises

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God in his prayers? God, you're the one who knows. He says, you're the

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God of hosts, you're the Lord of hosts. He gives him praise in the middle of his prayers.

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That's a special facet of the grace of endurance, that we would praise

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God. We would praise God. The story becomes stereotypical, but we have

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Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail, in stocks, suffering for Christ, and what do they do?

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They sing hymns of praise. Hymns of praise. Don't discount that. Jesus Christ is the one who reveals

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God to us. We may know who he is. We may give praise to him. No one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten

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God who is in the bosom of the Father. He has explained him. We know who God is because of Christ.

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So we may praise God and give him the glory. Why is this important? Remarkable series of self -preachments in Psalm 42 and 43.

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Three times we hear this says, Psalm 42 verse 5, why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me?

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Hope in God, for I shall again praise him for the help of his presence.

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Do you hear that? Psalmist soul is downcast. He's having trouble enduring.

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What does he do? He praises God. Psalm 42, 11, why are you in despair,

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O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him the help of my countenance and my

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God. The same thing said again, Psalm 43 verse 5. We endure as we praise the one who has been revealed to us.

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A special notice I think as well in the text, verse 15, Jeremiah 15. Do you see

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Jeremiah? He says, do not in view of your patience take me away.

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Jeremiah does not say, in view of my performance do not take me away.

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He says, in view of your patience do not take me away. God is patient.

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God is very, very patient with us. He's very patient with me. My endurance, praise be to God, is not because I have done enough to merit a little more time.

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It's because God is patient with me. He's patient with me. That's why

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I can endure, because God has patience with me. Why is he patient with us?

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So that Christ will have the full reward for which he died. Not only in inheritance of nations, but that those who he inherits are fully renewed into his image.

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Also in the text, we have God proclaiming his word to Jeremiah.

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The word, the Lord is speaking to Jeremiah. And notice what he says in verse 16.

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Jeremiah says, your words were found and I ate them. And your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.

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Jeremiah is reflecting on a previous time in his walk with the

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Lord, and he's remembering to what degree the scriptures, the revelation, the special revelation of God helped him.

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Your words were found and I ate them. Your words were found.

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Words were found. They found the book of the law in Josiah's reign.

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Jeremiah was very young, and the words were found. The words of the Lord were found, and they began to be read, and they began to be copied again.

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And Jeremiah rejoiced in the scriptures. He found them, he ate them, and they were a joy to his soul.

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God gives us his words that we may endure. He proclaims his truth to us through the scriptures to comfort us, to enliven us, to correct us, to direct us so that we may endure.

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And because the scriptures are all about Christ, they all sanctify us. They all renew us into his image.

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And lastly, in verse 20, another facet of endurance. After he makes these many promises, notice at the very end of verse 20,

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God says, for I am with you. I am with you. For I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the

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Lord. His presence, not only his proclamation, his patience, and his praise, and his pressure and prayer as a gift to us, and his purpose and promises and power, but his presence with us.

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He is with us. God's power is not cold, distant, but is warm and near.

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The God who promises does not shout at a distance, but he has revealed himself to us in words that we can clearly understand.

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Words that, hidden in our soul, are used of the Holy Spirit to encourage us and direct us.

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The God whose purpose defines our very existence does not design in the abstract, but he carves and molds us hands -on.

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The God we pray to, he is not hard to reach. He condescends to us readily, hearing us, even giving us his

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Holy Spirit to intercede for us. The Heavenly Father, who prods us and puts pressure on us, does not do so with a whip from on high, but with a hand upon the shoulder.

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The God we praise is not completely hidden in mystery from us, but revealed to us in the humanity of Jesus Christ.

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And the God who suffers long with us has already suffered greatly as one of us.

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And the God whose word fills the universe, he also fills our souls.

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And how is that? How is this great God with us and so for us? He is with us and so for us in Christ.

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He is with us. He is with us. And so we endure.

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So we endure. I have been greatly encouraged by this passage this week, giving praise to God for the completeness, for the bounty of the salvation that we share in Christ.

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Let's pray. Father, I pray that you would help these differing facets of the diamond grace of endurance to glimmer in our hearts.

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There is so much to think about, even more to think about, than we see in this passage that you give to us in Christ.

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Father, strengthen our faith. Strengthen our faith. Increase our praise.

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Well, we thank you. We thank you for the bounty that you provide to us in Christ, that we may endure and help us to do so.

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Always, always looking to Christ, fixing our eyes upon him, the author and the finisher of our faith.