Book of 1 Timothy - Ch. 1, Vs. 12-2|4 (03/31/2002)

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Bro. Otis Fisher

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We're in the book of 1st Timothy, chapter 1, verse 12,
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Paul is writing and he says this, and I thank
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Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry.
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He takes time out to thank Christ. He calls him his
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Lord. It is
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Jesus Christ that enables us to do anything. He put
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Paul into the ministry. How many
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Christians have been put into the ministry, Bill, all?
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Everybody is a minister. Some with more responsibility than others, but all equal in the eyes of God.
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You know we say that we elected this person to office or they appointed that person.
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How is it that he really got elected? God ordained it to be.
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Thirteen, who was before a blasphemer? And a persecutor and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
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Paul, we don't know a whole lot about his former life. We know bits and pieces, but he actively worked against the church.
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He was involved in taking
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Christians captive, taking them back to Jerusalem, seeing that they were killed.
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And he did all of this in ignorant unbelief. David, what is ignorant unbelief?
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We all were in ignorant unbelief. And the grace of our
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Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.
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Paul was saved by grace. Grace of God who brought him to the place of faith and love.
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And it's all in Christ Jesus. These are the things that will be manifested in your belief, in your life.
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Now we come to a very important verse and I want you to listen. For this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom
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I am chief. Burge, why did
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Christ come to the earth? Why did
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God send him? Why was it God's will? That's why he came.
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To save sinners. What if he hadn't come?
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What if he had come just in one locality? He came into the world.
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He was outside of the world. I believe he is not a slave.
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The whole world is not a slave. That's right. Some people. Yes. Well, people that see that sign and believe are ignorant.
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That's right. You're not ignorant anymore.
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Some of us are more ignorant than others. Christ didn't come to be the world's greatest teacher.
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He was, but that's not why he came. He didn't come to set a good moral example.
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He did, but that wasn't why he came. He came into the world to save sinners.
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I'm so glad that he did. When you give your testimony,
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I hope you don't talk about what you are, what
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I have. Remember, you're a sinner. You were a sinner, and Christ came to save you.
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To seek you out and to save that which was lost. You were lost in the garden.
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Paul claims the title of chief of sinners. He's not using exaggeration when he says that.
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He's not using some high -flung oratory. He's speaking the truth.
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He was the chief of sinners. 16.
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Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him, to life everlasting.
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Now, howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy.
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For what cause, David? That's right.
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You see, he needed mercy. Did he need it more than I did?
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Or you did? No, we need the mercy of God. That in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him, to everlasting life.
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Paul said that he was not only a preacher of, but also an example of the gospel.
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17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.
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Paul simply couldn't go any further without praising God. The King eternal.
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If he was not a king, would he be eternal? Could he be eternal without being a king?
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He is the Lord Jesus Christ. The eternal King. He is the only wise
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God. June, as though there were other gods. But there isn't.
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He is the only wise God. There are those who say that Paul did not teach the deity of Jesus.
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Don't believe that. Paul considered him God. This charge
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I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare.
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Although his letter to Timothy is very practical and has to do with the local church and Timothy's responsibility in it, it also reveals something else of the wonderful personal relationship that Paul had with Timothy.
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This is Paul's personal charge to Timothy as a young man in the ministry. Paul had led him to Christ.
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According to the prophecies which went before on thee, Paul had real spiritual discernment.
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Evidently God had directed him to take this young man along with him. Which he did.
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That thou mightest war a good warfare. You ought to never, never go into battle first, because you believe in your heart it's right.
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Second, that you're not going to lose. Don't ever go to war with the idea of losing.
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This country did that. And it was a shame. As a
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Christian, Timothy had a real enemy. He was involved in the spiritual warfare. Paul wanted him to fight a good fight and not to make shipwreck of the faith, as others were doing and have done.
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Holding faith and a good conscience, which some have put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck.
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Greg, of what value to you is a good conscience?
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It lets you know. All right.
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What does it mean here when he says some have made shipwreck? Can you...
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First of all, you have to believe it. Could you believe something wrong, the wrong thing, and it be right in your conscience?
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Yes, it can be. So there must be something ahead of conscience that you depend on.
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Well, he probably won't, but what
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I'm working with is your conscience right now. If you believe a certain thing and you're comfortable with it, that thing may be wrong.
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So there's something ahead of your conscience that is prompting. It has to be faith in Christ.
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It has to be someone else that has said something to you and makes you go back and check your conscience.
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Don't depend upon your conscience because it can lead you astray. You depend upon the
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Word, on Christ, on God, or guidance. Holding faith and a good conscience, which some have concerning faith, have made shipwreck.
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When it come to the faith in these people, they had made a shipwreck of it.
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They had ruined it. They need to go back to school if they ever were there.
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Living a Christian life is not as simple as some would like for you to believe. It is more complex than walking.
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When the light's green, when it's red, you don't walk. We have intricate personalities, and Paul is saying there is a real danger for us in our human inconsistencies and failures.
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Now, I assume that none of you are living in an ivory castle someplace above all the rest of us.
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There are some that believe that. They believe that they're above the landscape.
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They're small. They're way out there. But for those of us today who are walking on the sidewalks of this city, rubbing shoulders with rough humanity and the problems of the world, we will find that there are inconsistencies and failures in our lives.
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How else would you learn if it were not for other people? The danger we face is that of comprising our faith to our own failure.
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Nobody likes to admit they're wrong. When you and I fail, when there's an inconsistency in our lives, we ought to go to Him and tell
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Him that we have fallen short, that we haven't measured up, as we'll read a little later in Timothy.
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Then he comes to a man, Emmaus, of whom is
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Emmaus. I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
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Emmaus and Alexander. These were two men in Paul's life that had crossed his path, and he delivered them to Satan.
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I'm not going to ask you if you can do that today because you can't. This was something
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I believe that the Apostle had the authority to do and no one else. He mentions them elsewhere in Scripture.
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He doesn't have much good to say about them. Whom I have delivered unto
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Satan, these men had failed. They were apostates. Paul exercised a ministry which
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I feel only an Apostle can exercise. He says, I have delivered them unto
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Satan. Now this is not something we could put under the name of ecclesiastical theology or discipline or excommunication.
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It's Paul exercising what was his prerogative. And position as an
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Apostle. He hands over those men to Satan. In the name of the
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Lord Jesus, when we are gathered together in my spirit with the power of the
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Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such and one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh.
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This is an authority the Apostles had which we do not have today.
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We have no right to deliver any man over to Satan. But Paul did that.
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He was commanded to be an Apostle. Well, who else exercised that authority?
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Peter did. If we could speak to Sapphira and Ananias I think we'd find out something about that authority.
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Now for a few minutes I want to get into the second chapter. What was it?
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Did I not read that? That they may learn to not blaspheme.
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I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme. I don't know when they come back but they certainly left.
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They had done evil to Paul. And in the power of the
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Apostle he turns him over to Satan that their flesh may be destroyed not their soul, their flesh.
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In 2 Timothy we have I exhort therefore that first of all supplication, prayers, intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men.
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Now, in this chapter he switches the word all around. Here it means everybody.
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That first of all we must give supplication for everybody. We must offer prayers for everybody.
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Intercession and giving of thanks be made for all men. For kings and for all that are in authority.
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That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
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Paul says that Christians are to pray for the public. And I take it that he meant that prayers were to be made in the church.
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To bring this up to date he is saying that Democrats ought to pray for the Republicans.
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And the Republicans ought to pray for the Democrats. Many years ago a famous chaplain of the
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Senate was asked by a visitor do you pray for the Senators? He replied no.
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I look at the Senators and I pray for the country. That's exactly what
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Paul says we need to do. We need to pray for our country.
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And we need to pray for those who have authority over us. If you're a
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Republican and a Democrat that's in office, pray for them. If you're a
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Democrat and a Republican that's in office, pray for them. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
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Savior. Period. This is what is acceptable and good in his sight.
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For who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth?
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There's no way I can finish this verse. Who will?
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Most other translations have to wish or desire. Have all men to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
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Now if we take this to mean it's God's will then we'll have to take the all to mean all men.
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Not women, men. That's not the way it is.
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Epinosus is the word for truth. This is a the highest truth you can learn which is of God.
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For all men to come to the knowledge of God. Knowledge and understanding of God.
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Where it states that the whole world has gone after him. Did all of the world go after him?
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No. Then went all
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Judea and were baptized of him into Jordan. Was all Judea?
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No. Are all Jerusalem baptized into Jordan?
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Ye are of God, ye little children. And the whole world lieth in the wicked one.
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Did the whole world lie in the wicked one? No. The words world and all are used in some seven or eight senses in the scripture.
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And it's very rarely the all means all persons taken individually.
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The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts.
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Some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor. He has not restricted his redemption to either
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Jew or Gentile. First of all, this is Jesus speaking. He wishes all men everywhere to be saved.
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Now, here are some of the other translations. In DBY, Darby's, Who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge?
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BBE has who desires it is that all men have salvation.
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And several others. Were all the people amazed?
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No. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
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Not every man. But he said unto them,
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All men cannot receive this saying. Some could.
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And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek thee, men seek for thee.
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Have all men sought for him? No. Just as John 3, 16,
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For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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He's talking about only those that believe in and will be saved.
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So all in is his desire. But he knows that it's not what's going to happen.
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I would like to spend more time on this, but my voice is about to give out. Most of the calamities of life are caused by simple neglect.
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My neglect of education, children grow up to ignorance. My neglect to farm grows up to weeds and briars.
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By neglect the house goes to decay. By neglect of sowing, a man will have no harvest.
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By neglect of reaping, the harvest would rot in the field. No worldly interest can prosper where there is neglect.
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Don't neglect your salvation. I want to stop with the fifth verse,
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David. And I'll come back to that fourth verse if David doesn't get on to it next week.
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Is there anything anybody would like to add? Greg, dismiss us, please.