Unspotted From the World

Ascension Presbyterian Church Longwood

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Please turn in your Bibles to James and chapter 1 I'll begin reading in verse 16 through the end of the chapter and we'll be focusing on verse 27 today

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This is God's holy and infallible word James 1 16 do not be deceived my beloved brethren every

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Good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the father of lights

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With whom there is no variation or shadow of turning of? His own will he brought us forth by the word of truth

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That we might be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures So then my beloved brethren

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Let every man be swift to hear slow to speak slow to wrath

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For the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and Receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your souls

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But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves

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For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror

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For he observes himself goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was but he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and Is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work this one will be blessed in what he does

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If anyone among you thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart

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This one's religion is useless pure and undefiled religion before God and the

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Father is this to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and To keep oneself unspotted from the world

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May the Lord bless our continued study in the book of James Please pray with me.

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Oh Lord, we cry out to you and say we want a pure and undefiled religion

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We want the purity of union with Christ We want a

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Comprehensive exhaustive holiness to wash over us

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We want to obey your commandments because they're better than anything the world has to offer your pleasures are more enjoyable than the cheap tricks of the world

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Oh Lord impress upon us the goodness of your grace and your mercy to us

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Convince us that your way is so much better and far superior

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To any other and we ask this in Jesus name Amen Please be seated.

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The title of the message today is there in your bulletin unspotted from the world

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We're looking at verse 27 and there are Three points of outline that couldn't be more simple.

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The first is found in the first words of 27 pure and undefiled religion

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That's point one Second is to visit orphans and widows in their trouble

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The third is to keep yourself unspotted from the world

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James Wants his hearers to have the substance of genuine faith

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We can talk a lot about theology. We can have a lot of knowledge

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James wants us to possess the substance of faith James is trying to compel us to be doers of the word and and today again

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We could say that we are seeking pure and undefiled religion in practice

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Let's consider the first point pure and Undefiled religion

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What does it mean? Well the word pure means cleanliness

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And the root word of which if you're looking for a great children's name

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Catherine comes from the word pure in Greek I know two

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Catherines my great -grandmother and my niece and they were spectacularly godly women

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Cleanliness Unstained Guiltless Upright free from everything that is false first Timothy 1 says now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart from a good conscience and from sincere faith

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Second Timothy 2 says flee also youthful lust but pursue righteousness faith love peace with those who call upon the

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Lord out of a pure heart

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First Peter 1 Since you purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit and sincere love of the brethren

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Love one another fervently with a pure heart

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This religion is a clean religion it's unstained and In fact one of the appropriate ancient uses of this term would be connected to a bright vibrant diamond with no occlusions on unmarred

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Gemstones with perfect color and clarity that flawlessness

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That integrity of person is what we want to be And undefiled is a synonym to pure on the one hot hand we have the elevation of cleanliness in that word pure And when we think of undefiled we think of it being free of contaminants

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Two sides of the same coin two ideas. My my faith is clean and it's pure It's like a bright

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Vibrant diamond that shines brightly when the light hits it all those facets display the glory of Christ It's an unmarked precious

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Gemstone it it has perfect color and clarity it reflects the goodness and grace of God But it's also

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Untainted and I think this falls very closely to the third point This idea of pure and undefiled religion is largely found in keeping yourself unspotted from the world

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We want to be untainted free from contamination pure from sin

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We want to be unsoiled We want to be free from that which by nature is

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Deformed and debased or it impairs the force and vigor of a person

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Hebrews 13 says marriage is honorable among all and the bed undefiled

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But fornicators and adulterers God will judge first Peter 3 the last part of the verse who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance

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Incorruptible and undefiled The inheritance of Christ has no raw rust or moths

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Our precious faith in Christ is to be pure clean and free from Contamination.

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This is a big challenge for us This religion which we learned last week.

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I'm going to repeat that definition That was cited by Webster and referencing

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James Religion and its most comprehensive sense includes a belief in the being and perfections of God in the revelation of his will to man in man's obligation to obey his commands in a state of reward and punishment and in man's accountableness to God and Also true godliness or piety of life with the practice of all moral duties it therefore comprehends theology as a system of doctrines or principles as well as practical for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver

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And without reference to his will or commands is not religion religion as distinct from theology is godliness or real piety in practice

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Consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow man

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In obedience to his divine command or motivated For the love from the love of God and his law

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As I was reflecting on this term religion again My thoughts turn to the goodness of our creator

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The appeal to our first parents is that God would be withholding some good thing from them

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And the world pulls us and draws us and says

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We have something better for you than what God offers It's all a lie

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He made us He loves us He does not withhold any good thing from us we have to get this lie out of our minds that the world has something for us that there's anything lacking and what

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God has supplied a true religion recognizes the goodness of God and sees with great discernment the snares of the devil as we heard again today in our

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Sunday school, we have to have the perfect union of Orthodoxy and orthopraxy

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We have to have purity of doctrine That's important to reform people, but what about purity of practice?

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These things are linked together they're intertwined they are unable to be torn or pulled apart and James is determined that us his hearers would be fully convinced of this truth

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That we might order our lives accordingly this glory of salvation by God's grace the gift of faith in Jesus Christ and the relentless pursuit of the beauty of holiness

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About you, but I could say that my life Falls a little short of the relentless pursuit of holiness

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And I pray and I want to be that man and may God make it so in you and in me that that we would relentlessly pursue the holiness of God and that we

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Ourselves would be holy as he is holy that we would love it and treasure it and prize it

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Above all things This is what a life Adorned with Christ and his righteousness would look like second thing

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I'd like us to consider today is The visiting of orphans and widows and their trouble

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What does it mean? to visit Well, this word is very interesting and I don't remember

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I've taught through James before I don't remember this coming out in my study before but This word means more than dropping by and I knew that but I don't think

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I knew how far it went In order to visit an orphan and widow and in their trouble we have to inspect them

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We have to look upon them. We have to go see them it's used in the

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New Testament of the poor and the afflicted and the sick

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If you take this concept from the Old Testament is to look upon in order to help or benefit to look after to care for and to provide for and surprisingly, it is from the same root as Episcopal which is overseer or bishop so to visit orphans and widows is to Exercise oversight on their behalf and to look after them

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It's not just praying for them or mailing a check to them there's a greater level of commitment and duration to this idea

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This term is also used of God's visiting his people in order to help strengthen and Encourage them if there be widows and orphans in our midst we must help strengthen and Encourage them

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One of the great tyrannies of statism has is the church has abdicated its role in the care of widows and orphans

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And relegated to the function of the state This abdication has dimmed our gospel light

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And created a void in our witness Our doing to the least of these has been marginalized

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Therefore the lost and dying world doesn't see the love of Christ on display

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The state is seen as a god and The idolatry that follows when the people agree with that is soul -damning.

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I may have told you this is a very Famous story for people like Mark and me and my wife and our age group

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Because we were living in the Cold War era and I remember hearing this story probably 40 plus years ago and say they're around 40 years ago

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And the story was about Castro in Cuba, and I think I've mentioned this one other time in a message and Castro was bringing in a communism an authoritarian communism that was completely atheistic

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And he went to an elementary school, and he he told all of the children

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I want you to pray to God that he would send you ice cream And the little children prayed and God did not send ice cream and He waited for a period of time and he says if you ask of me

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I will give you ice cream and his attendants rolled out all of the ice cream to the children to indoctrinate them into that Abyss of hell that that country would become

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The church has lost her way here We need to be people who are looking after the least of these and you know culturally

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We'll get more into it. They were the most desperate This idea of visiting is more than sending money

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It's an active commitment to bear the burden of another And a commitment to ongoing ministry tangibly and meeting of needs and through prayer beseeching

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God to remember his promise to Look after the poor and bereaved and scripture after scripture.

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We know that God is eager to look after them But it's interesting it seems that the instrumentality that God most often uses is his people

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He doesn't magically send money and things out of the sky

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He usually has the people of God move and act and they get a privilege of participating in this great relief effort that God has initiated

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Culturally we have seen the significant breakdown of the family

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The immorality of sexual impurity is almost universally Accepted Unrighteous unholy promiscuous women are praised and adored

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We have men who have Abandoned their wives and children to satisfy their lusts

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The prisons are full of fatherless men and it's not because their daddies have died

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So there's a an application Strand that we could look at there is a practical fatherlessness in our culture because of the wickedness of our people

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This fatherlessness happens due to fornication adultery abdication

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Women bear guilt and responsibility as well. They unite themselves to unholy men and they

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Experience a world of heartache and grief the church its officers and members

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Must visit look after care for and provide for the weak

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The deacon it should be diligent to set aside time and resources to render this kind of aid

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What happens for us as we're sitting here? We say the church should do something about the widows and orphans but individual

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Christians and Families should take it upon themselves to meet these needs and recruit other believers to serve alongside

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The church can then come and help If you encounter a widow or orphan and you are able to help them you should help them

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You shouldn't call us first. You should meet the need as far as you're able in The ministry of the

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Saints we always think someone else will do it Well, I hope somebody made some food for Lunch today because I'm hungry.

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I hope someone will clean up after the meal Somebody's gonna do it

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Someone's going to have the bread and the wine ready. Someone's going to prepare a message

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Someone's going to choose the music There's no one else

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It's us it's you That there's a lot of work to be done. Don't wait to be recruited you yourself

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Take the initiative to meet the need For those who are in affliction.

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We need to get our hands dirty and in this message

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About orphans. I wonder how far we'll go If there is a

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Non -widow situation where a man is abdicating his responsibility and you come upon a fatherless child

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I wonder how many of us would do something and reach out to that man and convince him and implore him of the duties and blessing of being a father and To work with him and plead with him and show him the way that he might be

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Reintegrated into his family the church needs to be doing those kinds of things in our ministry to others

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You and I need To get our hands dirty

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John 14 15 says if you love me Keep my commandments and I will pray the father and he will give you another helper

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That he may abide with you forever in verse 18 says

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I will not leave you as orphans I Will come to you there's always going to be poor people mark 14 says and orphans and widows are a special class of the of the poor and a

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Remarkable thing if you need something to do this afternoon for the Lord's Day In Job 31

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Job's defense of his uprightness Catalogs the way in which he is looked after the widow and the orphan

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Some people think he's contemporary to Abraham or possibly even earlier than Abraham He didn't have the law of Moses Adam and Noah Instructed their descendants that they were to look after widows and orphans prior to the codification of it in places like Exodus 22 you shall not afflict any widow or orphan if You afflict him at all and he does cry out to me.

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I will surely hear his cry And my anger will be kindled and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless interestingly in Deuteronomy 14 it says and the

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Levite because he has no portion nor inheritance with you and the stranger and the

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Fatherless and the widow who are within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied That the

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Lord your God may bless you and all the work of your hand which you do

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Preceding context of that section is and Appeal that in every third year

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That they would bring out the tithe of the produce And stir it up within store it up within your gates that you might be able to provide for the widows and orphans

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Our church now in recent months and year has developed a diaconal fund and we're at the start

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Of being able to do this It's a good thing Deuteronomy 24 you shall not pervert justice due to the stranger or the fatherless

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Nor take a widow's garment as a pledge So and you're out there in the world and you're hearing things if you hear of widows and orphans being taken advantage of Get involved and stop the the fraudulent one from hurting them

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Get in the way of the widow and the orphan. We talk about masculinity and being

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Roman how many of us will stand up and defend the fatherless and the widow

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When you reap your harvest in the field and forget a sheaf in the field you shall not go back to get it

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It shall be for the stranger the fatherless and the widow that the

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Lord your God may bless you and all the work of your hands and Verse 20 of that same chapter it refers to olive trees provide olives in that same way grapes same way in Verse 22 and you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt Therefore I command you to do this thing

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Christ has promised that he would not leave us as orphans Our elder brother has adopted us into his father's holy family

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We would be Orphans we would not have God as our father, but but in Christ we have a father we have an elder brother and Now that we are no longer orphans

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Our eyes are attuned to the needs of those who are orphans because we understand how difficult and how painful that must be

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And so we act this is of course the Gleaming principle that becomes so prominent in places like the book of Ruth We were slaves to sin

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And God has shown us mercy We have been given talents and callings that we might thrive in industriousness sometimes we speak ill of Being a diligent worker and making a good living

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I think you should excel in your vocation and calling and try to make as much money as you possibly can for the glory of God in Particular with the mind that you're going to help those who are in need

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Not to be driven by greed, but your frugality your your thriftiness

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Your budgeting ability that you would able to to scrape a nickel together instead of paying a dime and That you would use that knowledge and wisdom to be a blessing to those who are hurting and to teach others how to do this you see part of the idea and the application of Looking after widows and orphans is to have our lives in such an order and such freedom that we're able to help them

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Psalm 10 says God is the helper of the orphans

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Psalm 68 says he's the father of the fatherless and the judge for the widows

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Proverbs 23 says do not move the ancient boundary or go into the fields of the fatherless

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For their Redeemer is strong He will plead their case against you

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Widows and orphans had little standing and in terms of property rights

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Isaiah says learn to do good seek justice reprove the ruthless defend the orphan plead for the widow

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The orphan in biblical times was often in dire Circumstances there was a scarcity of resources no legal standing and they were in need

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And they're largely dependent on others for survival do we want them to go to the state and Receive that false idolatrous religion or do we want them to come into the church?

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The church has missed this opportunity to put our love for Christ on display

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Dirty hands sweaty brows and really inconvenient to your schedule

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Are you willing to get in the business of helping? Orphans well,

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I have some applications under the orphans Package that I'd like to give you first You and I need to seek out the fatherless to minister to them, and they're not just those classic

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Widowed sons and daughters there are fatherless children, and I believe it's close to 50 % of Households are single -parent wide open door for the church to step in and for a

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Man to take under his wing a younger man who doesn't have a father. I couldn't remember the name of it

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There's a guy who's making a huge amount of money on YouTube, and you know what he's doing

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He has a YouTube site that says questions you would ask your dad because he didn't have a dad

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And now he has videos showing boys how to tie a tie and how to change a tire and do all of those things

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The church should be in that space The church the people of God the men of God the women of God should be there

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Second we need to Call wayward men back to their families

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Need to admonish them to lead their children and most surprisingly you say well

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I don't know any widows. I don't know any orphans Make sure your wife and children aren't practically widows and orphans

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That's how we have to apply these texts. You can't see the tentacles. Where does it go? You need to be present in your house

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You need to spend a lot of time with your wife and your children You need to put your phone down and your laptop down and they need your undivided attention

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They need your leadership and your shepherding I'm gonna be terrible for a

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Christian family Seemingly intact to be a family of widows and orphans

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Well, let's consider the widows now In the simplest terms this word, of course means lacking a husband

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And this isn't singleness this comes with mourning and sadness because They have found a husband and the husband has has died

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And widows have been shamefully treated even the scribes and the Pharisees took advantage of their their lack of ability to own

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Property and the failure of kinsmen redeemers to be raised up and to take care of it

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Matthew 23 Jesus says woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites For you devour widows houses and for a pretense

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Make long prayers Therefore you will receive greater condemnation

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I'm going to ask you now to turn back to first Timothy in chapter 5 Believe this is the only turning we're going to do today

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There's a world of wisdom here in this section Begin reading in verse 1

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Chapter 5 first Timothy do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father

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Younger men as brothers older women as mothers younger women as sisters with all purity

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If the people of God would do that Prostitution would go away

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Pornography would be rendered ineffective Do you imagine that if a man a godly man viewed older women as mothers and younger women as sisters

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With a view toward purity all of this debauchery would be over The people of God the men of God could end all of this human trafficking to be no customers pedophilia no customers no participants verse 3

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Honor widows who are really widows But if any widow has children or grandchildren let them first learn to show piety at home and to repay their parents

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For this is good and acceptable before the Lord Before God excuse me now she who is really a widow.

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I'll pause there if you have a widow in your family I Don't think you should call the church.

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I think you should first take care of her if you need some help Maybe call the church. It's your responsibility to care for the widow

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Verse 5 now she who is really a widow and left alone trusts in God and continues in supplication and prayers night and day

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So the widow has to be a woman of Christlike virtuous character this pure and undefiled religion

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Goes to even people who have had hard things happen in their lives. They're expected to live as Christians But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives and these things command that they may be blameless

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But if anyone does not provide for his own especially for those of his household he has denied the faith and Is worse than an unbeliever?

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Do not let a wind widow under 60 years old be taken into the number and not unless she has been the wife of one man

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Well reported for good works if she has brought up children if she has lodged strangers if she has washed the

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Saints feet if she has relieved the afflicted if she has diligently followed every good work

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But refused the younger widows when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ they desire to marry having condemnation because they have caught cast off their first faith and Besides they learn to be idle

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Wandering about from house to house and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies saying things which they ought not

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Therefore I desire the younger widows marry bear children manage the house

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Give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully

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For Some have already turned aside after Satan if any believing man or woman has widows let them relieve them and Do not let the church be burdened

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That it may relieve those Who are really widows

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We have a lot more responsibility Than we think I said to Mark and you guys are such a great group of people and wonderful Church, and I said an offhanded comment to Mark.

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I don't know if he Remembers, but I said I wonder if we're not expecting enough of our people

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We have to have higher expectations for ourselves our families our church the elders need to have higher

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Expectations of you the people as you serve and do the work of ministry

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You're responsible for orphans and widows. It's not the diaconate Strange isn't it?

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You always think it's diaconate Diaconate will get there. There'll be real widows who'll need the diaconate

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But we are to be the ones who relieve the widows and the orphans

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There was no life insurance there was no welfare the church filled the void and as a result the world knew about our love a couple of applications that are surprising under this discussion of widows

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Preserve your health men. Our days are numbered But we need to be healthy and strong for our wife and our children and our grandchildren be productive and prosper and This is going to help us with getting away from worldliness if we're producers

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We're not going to be consumers of the world and its wickedness We're going to be producing abundantly for the supply of our family for an inheritance for our grandchildren

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But also to relieve the needs of the widow and the orphan put your life in order that you might be free to help others and women a strong application for you today

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If you have a husband You need to cry out to God for Thanksgiving that you have a living breathing husband who loves you

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Because you could be a widow Children you should be so thankful that your daddy is around And you should be filled with joy and Thanksgiving that you have a dad a father a husband a wife

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Read the book of Ruth It's about widows It's about a kinsman

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Redeemer who would be a grandfather So many greats back of Christ a man named

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Boaz who was the kinsman Redeemer who? rescued a gleaning Ruth out of her despair and she became a pillar of the people of God and a grandmother of King David and Jesus Christ sure back to our text in James Want you to write down and I want you to go to this reference.

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I want you to Meditate this children. This would be a great Bible verse for you to memorize because very easy

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It's a way to have pure and undefiled religion Galatians 6 10 says

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Therefore as we have opportunity Let us do good to all

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Especially to those who are of the household of faith It would be utterly shameful

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If there were a widow or an orphan who was not provided for by God's people in the church

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We could never be that kind of Person well that takes us to the third and final point today

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This one is harder It's even harder than that Keep yourself

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Unspotted from the world To keep means a regular continuous action

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To keep yourself unstained from the world is the continuous obligation of God's people without qualification or exception

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If it's commanded of us in Scripture Elevating our own

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Expectations of our obedience what we require of one another if God has commanded it we should do it

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No explaining it away. No It's not that important if God has commanded it we should do it first Peter again says therefore gird up the loins of your mind and be sober and Rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ so gospel salvation grace

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That's where it starts Don't ever get this confused I'm Admonishing you and exhorting you to do these things because of the grace of God in your life you are the people of God you're saved in Christ and Here it is as Obedient children

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Not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance

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But as he who called you is holy you also be holy in all your conduct

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Because it is written be holy as I For I am holy

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It continues on verse 18 Knowing that you are not redeemed with corruptible things like silver and gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers

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But you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ pure and undefiled

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Christ Produces pure and undefiled religion in the people. He's a lamb without blemish without spot

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Those who belong to God are to be characterized by moral and spiritual purity by unstained and unblemished holiness

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Only Christ lived perfectly and sinlessly And when we sin, we shouldn't just say oh, it's no big deal.

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I'm just a sinner. We should have great appreciation for his perfection

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He never succumbed to temptation and he has in his mercy conferred upon us his righteousness

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James speaks of the central commitment and orientation of our lives.

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We are keeping Ourselves unspotted so I have to ask you

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Are you continuously with regular? attentiveness Keeping yourself unspotted

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Well, what is? the world this word is the cosmos word is

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Has a wide range of uses it refers to the earth it refers to the universe it refers to fallen mankind generally and to the ungodly disorderly system that they embrace

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From Satan Their values their morals their

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Philosophies are corrupt The best text for this is found in 1st

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John chapter 2, I believe And it says do not love the world or the things in the world

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If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him That should cause you to be circumspect

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Has your life revealed some worldliness? some love of the world

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For all that is in the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the

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Father But is of the world Every good and perfect gift comes down from the

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Father of lights But this wretchedness comes from the depth of our corrupt souls and it's from the devil

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It's wicked That list in Romans 1 and I'll read the list in Galatians 5 that precedes the fruit of the

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Spirit The works of the flesh are evident Which are adultery fornication uncleanness lewdness idolatry sorcery hatred contentions

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Jealousies outbursts of wrath selfish ambitions dissensions heresies envy murders

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Drunkenness revelries and the like of which I tell you beforehand That those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God this is why our

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Religion must be pure and undefiled Thinking of this for two weeks now.

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I've Like to conclude with an illustration I think might be helpful for us

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To understand this principle. I don't want you to imagine you to imagine as a believer in the

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Lord Jesus Christ that he has Put on the garment of his righteousness on you and I picture maybe even this coming

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Saturday Sada coming down as a bride and that white bright dress

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If we be in Christ, we are clothed in Christ's righteousness

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It's definitive. It's something that we possess as the people of God And I would argue that this gown is even stain resistant

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It repels Soiling but you and I cannot go play in the world's dung puddles our

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Righteous garment will be soiled And if it's soiled there's hope for us that that we can scrub it with in the power of the

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Holy Spirit With repentance and new obedience and and all of that trash and all of that dung that comes on us

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Somehow miraculously in Christ that we have a white gown again, so we cannot lose hope

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He has clothed us In the garment of his own righteousness

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He washes his bride in the water of the word We repent and we turn and we start walking in new obedience and we find that our soiled garment

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Has been made clean so for us to Keep ourselves unspotted from the world.

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We can't jump into dung holes But if we find ourselves soiled

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We have a Savior who is Christ the Lord He's willing he's ready he will wash you and purify you and make you clean repent of all of your worldliness

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And be clean And free from in contamination

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That you might have a pure And undefiled religion

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Please pray with me. Oh Lord, we

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We see deficiency in ourselves and we see excellency in Christ. Oh Lord make our religion pure and undefiled

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Pleasing in your sight Help us to see our responsibility to the widow and the orphan

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And oh Lord help us not to limit our gaze upon the technical orphan and widow

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But also those who have been mistreated by wicked men that we would see ourselves as Upholding the virtues of parenthood and marriage that we would not have orphans and widows

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In our own families that we would be present and active and discipling and loving our children

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That that wives would be grateful for their husbands who are a pain in the rear end

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Because they're alive and they're still battling and striving and fighting for faith in Christ and new obedience

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And Oh Lord, I pray that you would pierce us with your word and the power of your spirit

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Expose us and all of the ways in which we have stained ourselves with the world

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The fragrance of Babylon is on us Oh God, and we pray that you would wash us and give us wisdom and discernment to see our own

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Defilement that we might repent and be scrubbed and made clean by Savior who's

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Christ we ask all these things in Jesus name